In February I got sick. I felt horrible. I didn't feel like crap. I felt like the way crap would be after sitting in a damp environment with repeated sun exposure after a couple of weeks... and maybe the occasional rain. It was evening. I was watching TV through dry eyes, and the phone rang. It was my sister. She and I talk a lot, but I was in no mood for conversation, so I didn't answer. Five minutes later, she called back. I didn't answer. Three minutes later, she called back. All sorts of things ran through my mind regarding possible issues with her, her kids, or our parents. Ultimately, I was in no condition to adequately respond to any of those, so I didn't answer. Four minutes later, my cellphone rang. I didn't answer. However, that time I texted her that I was sick and not in the right mind set to talk. I'd talk to her the next day. She immediately called back. I didn't answer. Note that she did not leave a message regarding the urgency.

I got up the next morning, a Monday, and started a dreary trip to the lab. It was sunny, which is unusual for a February morning here, so even though I was sick, I was actually more on the chipper side of dreary. I had just passed the Saratoga library, which is the first place beyond which I can have a relatively stable cellphone signal, and the phone rang. It was my sister.

Everyone in the family was fine, but she started the conversation with those horrible words, "I did something, and I don't want you to be upset with me." Oh crap. Was this about her or me? Knowing her, it was probably about me. I was hoping that she just wanted to confess to someone that she went to a bar, drank a bunch of tequila shots, jumped on a table, danced and flashed her boobs, and threw up on the spectators. However, my sister would never go to a bar, would not do shots, would not flash her body, and would probably run five miles before she would allow herself to vomit with witnesses. I knew it was something else.

No. She did something worse. She was at a regional meeting for the Missouri National Education Association, and she felt compelled to say the following to a lady: You... should... meet... my... brother... In a movie, that entire line would have to be given in slow motion with all the audio manipulation that makes it sound like death is around the corner. I have made it clear to friends that I do not want to be 'set up.' Not because I don't trust them, necessarily (and I trust very few), but because if it doesn't go well, the Setter-Upper takes it personally. Then I am a jackass. I can be a jackass without help, thank you very much.

I think it was then that I asked the quintessential question: "Um, where does she live?" Yup. She lives in Missouri... 2,000 miles away. I think I have tried this. It can't work, can it!?

I told her that it was ok. No harm done. She told me wonderful stories about the lady. Virtually none of which made me make sense of why she would do this. The only one that made sense was the one that happened after she had made the suggestion to the lady. This lady, this Holly, stood up from her chair and put her jacket on. It was a Harley jacket. My sister asked Holly if she rode a Harley, and Holly replied (probably with some defiance - knowing Holly), "yes." My sister just looked smug. She replied, "my brother rides a Harley."

A couple conversations had transpired regarding why Holly should talk to me, but Holly never really intended to pursue it. Like me, she had been through enough relationships, and was finished. Finito. Fini. Put-a-fork-in-it. It's done. Before they left, my sister pulled out a card and wrote something down. Holly figured it was a number, a work thing, anything but what it was: my blog page address.

In defiance of nature, Holly decided to read my rantings. Probably against her better judgment, she wrote my sister that she would like to be introduced to me. My sister called me (I answered this time) and told me as much. I was a little concerned. I reminded my sister that I am a little right of center politically, and that this person was a contact through the teachers' union, which is predominantly considered liberal. She responded, "I know! But she read your blog and one of the first things on there was your feeling on gun control! And yet, she still wants to meet you!"

Perplexed, I sent Holly an introductory e-mail. The next thing you know, we are talking on the phone. We went through countless stories on each other, and came to that particular point in a relationship. The kind of point that you can not understand if you have not been in a long-distance relationship. We had to meet in person. On impulse, we booked a flight for her to come to California. Her family went ballistic. The biggest concern was that I might kidnap her, and she balked. She canceled the trip... Until the day before she was scheduled to fly.

We had a great weekend together. I think we knew then that this was the right thing to do. My sister thinks that there was some divine intervention on the whole thing. I don't believe in that sort of thing, but I can not deny that this is incredible. We spent so much time on the phone, texting, and e-mail that we had already learned more about each other than most people do after a year of dating locally. Annie had a volleyball tournament in Reno in the spring, and suggested that Holly should come out and join us. Holly got time off from school, and did! Most of the drive to Reno, she and Annie talked about I don't know what... I was paying attention to the road. At one point, Holly moved to the front seat, and they were both texting like mad. I asked who was texting. They were texting each other... front seat to back seat... They both started laughing hysterically.

In May I was slated to fly out to Missouri and spend a few days with her and her boys. I spent the first day moving from classroom to classroom talking about technology. However, I had walked in to a jeweler a week before. I had a picture of the ring I wanted. They could get it, but I was looking at what they had to offer. I found one I liked even better. It had leaves on it with diamonds in the petals. That's what I wanted. I picked a diamond and they put it together. I know the people, and while the wife and I were talking, her husband surprised me by interrupting other work to get everything done. Good people. I walked out with the ring. Now, back to the school visit.

I had ideas about when I wanted to propose. None of them seemed to be good. I was afraid she would say no. I was afraid I would distract her from work. Around lunch time, there was some drama in the school. She was very frustrated and stressed. Students had left the room. I held her hands and told her that I hoped it would all be alright. I told her how much I admired her... how important she was... then I dropped to my knee. She said yes!

The boys and I had a blast working around the house. We fixed the garage door, I taught them how to replace electrical sockets, and generally played around. Some bodily functions may have come to play when Holly was not around. Safe to say, we got along famously.

So, here we are. The boys and Holly have come out to visit. We have played and worked together. We know what we have in front of us. We just have to make it happen. I think we have each finally found the right connection.

Now, we just need the court to agree.
Am I supposed to be this happy?

I attended the 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility a week ago. Don't laugh. It may not sound exciting, but it is what I do for a living. At any rate, on Wednesdays of the Symposium, we have our big dinner. This year, the Symposium was in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and we were outside of a hotel next to the beach. It was very nice, and I dare say the food was better than some of the symposia I have attended. I was talking to one of my professors from UMR, and a young Japanese engineer/student came up and asked if she could have her picture taken with him (he is extremely well known among my professional community). I humbly backed away, and she and her boss/professor talked to my professor for awhile. I waited by the side to finish my conversation with him, when the young lady turned to me and asked if she could have her picture taken with me.

I was confused. Why? Her boss/professor came up to me and said that I was famous in Japan! We were at the same table for dinner, and I saw/heard him point at me and tell her my full name, which I thought was strange as well. He told me that everyone in Japan has my papers on... stuff... that I worked on during graduate school, and it has been translated as well. 'They' (the people that do my kind of job in Japan) all know my work! The picture was taken, and I walked off in humble awe.

It is kind of cool to know that someone else looked at your work and found value.

I'm so bad, I'm worldwide!

It has been a long time in the making, but I am finally able to make use of a fully functional master bathroom! I confess that it has been about three years in the making. I worked on it when I had enough money saved up to do what I needed. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of what it used to look like, but then again, it might be safer that I don't! After all, I live in Santa Cruz County. I mean, really, all I did was re-paint the walls. If I did more than that, I'd have to have a really expensive permit to have someone from the county come out and tell me if I did an acceptable job or not. Since I am not very self critical about my work, I would have really needed them to ensure I did things according to code, which is available mostly online.... so I've been told. No, I did not take it down to the studs. I did not repair the rot in the floor and walls. I did not rebuild the entire closet drain for the toilet. I did not build a brand new tiled shower on my own. After all, I have never done this level of concrete work. Why would I do something like this for my first attempt? I would not have completely gutted the electric and replaced it, including a really cool towel heater that has a control module that is connected to the computer in the study to save energy and only power it during times when a warm towel is desirable. I just used the same Hans Grohe shower head with body sprays and automatic temperature control. I certainly did not add a new wet wall to improve the functionality for multiple people in the bathroom. I mean, how would I ever have managed to move all of the plumbing when one of the walls is positioned over a huge beam? How the heck would I have been able to connect to the original vent pipe from across the room? No. Everything is as it is, with a fresh paint/plaster application. The door to the bathroom, and the doorway to the closet are exactly where they were, and were not moved two feet to provide better accessibility. I do not have the patience or diligence to save up for new Kraftmaid cabinets and Corian countertops/sinks. I also would never replace the strange door that led out to the deck with a glass block window. Nor would I ever add 2" strips to the ceiling joists to provide enough room for a shower fan/vent. The tile floor looks really good for having been there for thirty plus years...

At any rate, yes, it took me three years to re-paint the bathroom and give me access. In fact, it was only last weekend that I managed to take the time to clean the now new looking glass walls for the shower. I even had to hire a contractor to come in and clean it for me so it looks like new.

It was quite difficult to find a good position in the bathroom to take decent pictures of the... um... new paint. Nevertheless, here is a glimpse:

Frankly, the pictures do not do it justice. Every morning I take a shower now, I have to pause for a moment with the water rushing over me, and grin. Not too bad for an electrical engineer. I mean, for a fresh paint job.

Not a contractor... but I play one in my dreams.

It hit 105 degrees here today. Just now, I took a break from work... I have to interrupt myself here. I've been working from the deck today. The computer is hotter than heck under my hands, but I can sit on the deck and punch away. When the sweat started rolling down my arms, I shed my shirt. That's right. I am working and getting paid to sit outside with no shirt, and my slight gut leaning out over my jeans. That last part I do not like, but so be it. On top of that, I haven't shaved in two days... and I haven't gone to the grocery store in long enough that I am out of soap. You can figure out what that means about my current fragrance...

Anyway, by the end of yesterday, I had exceeded fifty hours of work this past week. So, when I had a break a couple of hours ago, I mixed up a bag of mortar to put in the forms I had previously constructed. This particular bag is supposed to set quite quickly, and it is recommend that cold water be used to mix it if the ambient temperature is warm. So, I did that. However, I noticed that the water got absorbed instantly, and even after I exceeded the maximum recommended water addition, it wasn't right. I grabbed the mixture with my bare hands, and noticed that it had to be in excess of 90 degrees. I tried to use it, like an idiot, and it would not pack. It set up almost instantly in the wheel-barrow. In fact, the only place that it set up well was in the wheel-barrow. I will have to chisel it out, now. I tried to clean up what I had installed, and will have some more work to do with that tonight. I dumped the load down the hill side. I would be concerned about Al Gore showing up at my house to complain about the environmental impact, but I figure he is too busy sitting in his house with the air conditioning set at 65 degrees staring at his Nobel Peace Prize for environmental conservancy.

At any rate, I did have some good news. Home Despot called today to tell me that the rest of my order is in. I can procrastinate the final concrete work on the bathroom in favor of putting up cabinets, which I feel more confident that I can do well...

Not gitin 'er done...

I have had a lot on my mind, and frankly just have not felt like writing about it. However, I just finished something that has been nagging on my mind for a while. It may not look like much, but it is one of the more involved plumbing constructions I have done.

The shower and the hand wand piping was nothing, but getting over to the body sprays was tricky. I was worried about the pressure drop along the way, and still have concerns that it will not be sufficient to have the shower and the sprays on at the same time. I thought I would finish it last night, but I had one joint in the pressure balancing configuration for the body sprays that did not go together right. It was the last joint I had to do, of course, and everything was too tight to make it work. I had to rip it apart this morning to get it all to fit correctly. There are fifty solder joints in all that had to be made after I had the valve rough in completed. None of them leak. Not too bad, actually, for an electrical engineer!

By the way, none of those scorch marks are mine. They were there from old plumbing. Now that I think about it, that one on the left for the shower wand might have been me. I can’t remember for sure. Also, I ended the soldering with just over two inches of solder wire left.

My only concern now is that I may have misjudged the thickness of the wall when it is all done. I remember the shower wand fitting really tightly in the hall bathroom, and I didn’t want to come up short. I guess we will see in another freakin’ year when the whole thing is done…

Plumber's butt tools have been put away...

Yeah, I am not kidding myself. I am going to hell. God and I haven't spoken in five years. I have tried several times, but it is a lot like calling my friends when I really need to talk. I get an answering machine, a busy signal, or "due to high call volume, we can not complete your call." I am sure that if he is really there he has better things to do than deal with me.

Unfortunately, Lucifer has a better support network. Why not? Come on, they love their jobs. I have discovered what hell will be like for me: drywall mud. I will spend an eternity mudding corners and seams. The room will be an infinitely long hall that bends and twists with no corners being at right angles. Every time that I work a seam or corner, I'll go back and check it, sand it, and get ready to do the next coat. At that point, the demons assigned to me will magically put lumps in the mud, and bumps in the walls. They will have tools that spread drywall dust around to interfere with the smooth layering of the mud, and add dust to the bucket to ensure that it is lumpy as well. I will add coat after coat, sand it, smooth it, rough up the freakin' paper, try again, and ultimately wish I could start over.

Dante obviously never tried drywall work, or he would have added a level to his description of hell.

In preparation for my eternity, I will continue to do the mud in the bathroom/closet, and given our terrestrial living environment, I'll get to a point of acceptance. Hell will be another setup.

Bring it on.

That's right, I have earned my Plumbers' Butt Merit Badge. I have re-routed the drains and vents for one sink and the shower, and created a whole new drain and vent for the other lavatory. That's right. I freakin' rock. Plumbing is an interesting job. If you have ever had to hire one, you probably freaked at the cost, but I believe plumbers earn it. What I like is the amount of thought and logic that comes in to play. I imagine that new construction can be done serially: one piece, and then the next. However, remodeling requires careful logical planning. Pipes seldom move in a way that allows one to insert something. The holes in the studs leave little give for movement. Sweating joints leaves a rigid fixture, and cement sets very fast. Which parts can be connected before the next step takes place? It's actually pretty cool for a geek like me.

The new wet wall was a total pain, but I think I did a good job. Diddo with the new shower drain. Well, also with the re-plumbed original drain. Everything is where it should be for my planned bathroom. I even ran the hose in and flooded the drains to check for leaks. Nothing noticeable, so I think I am good. One of those horrible things that comes with remodeling is the replacement of wood that no one will ever know about. It was while replacing a large section of sub-floor that I realized I should remove the old toilet water access and put a new pipe in so that I could flush up with the wall. It went beautifully and looks perfect. I rock. Have I said that?

While I was cutting out the 4'x7' area of subfloor (8' wouldn't meet the joist), Lilo found the hole. He spent the afternoon exploring under the house and in the yard. I chiseled out the rotted footings, replaced them, built a new support for the subfloor near the footings so that the floor wouldn't sag. I put down some Liquid Nails (love that stfuff), and nailed the new piece of subfloor in. Everything looks perfect. This stuff takes me forever, but I am pleased with how everything is coming together. It's funny, but I have always been able to visually see the goal. It is that way with everything I do. I don't look at the studs and problems and see them. I see what it will be, and that is what it will be. I know it.

Whatever. Electrical is next. That is going to be another problem, but I'll figure it out. Then comes the glass block. That has me nervous...


All is good: Annie comes home tomorrow!

My vacation day (yesterday) was not good. I started plumbing in the new wet wall, and it was horrible. The solder would not sweat into the joints. I knew it, but I tried it anyway, thinking maybe I was being over critical. Well, I was a bit over critical, but one joint sprayed water out all over the place. I ran into town to get some parts, and tried again. It freakin' sprayed out at the same place. It was too late to continue working on it, so I had to wait until today.

Today, however, was a new day. I bounced between plumbing and work. First change was the flux. I used paste flux, and everything worked. The solder got sucked in so well that on one sleeve a big gob hardened on the inside where a pipe was supposed to go, and I had to clean it out. I rebuilt the cold line, and it went so smoothly, I went ahead and put in the hot line. Everything is now holding. The joints even look professional. Gotta love it.

The area this all had to go was not pleasant or easy to work. Sweating joints right against wood is a bit scary. However, a few folds of aluminum foil does wonders to protect the wood. It melts fast, so you have to use several layers, but I did not set the house on fire. I am not positive that's a good thing, but well, I didn't. Plumbing under the house is not fun. I didn't plan on it being comfortable, but it is difficult to position one's self to be able to heat a joint and sweat it without having solder drip on you. I can't say I was completely successful, but my stomach and back feel like I just had a major workout.

I have also learned that like most things, plumbing does not respond well to swearing. It heats much better if coaxed to take the solder before you have to shift your position, set the house on fire, or drop something. Although, being threatened that if it doesn't work it is going to be cut out does seem to help.

By the way, the bread trick works pretty well...

Four to go...

Well, we'll start not quite the day after, but last night. As usual, bedtime was difficult. One of the girls has a tendency to say she understand my instructions, and then goes and does what she wants. No, it wasn't mine. The girl in question would pretend to go to bed, and then start bouncing around. I started to drift off at almost 10:30, hoping they would just go to sleep. At that moment, the girl's mom called. I recognize that that family keeps late hours. Everyone does their own thing. It took me hours after that to fall asleep, so I'm really tired... Especially, since Annie and another girl woke up at 6:30 am. I was awake as a result of my internal alarm clock, but I wasn't quite ready to get up...

Well, the morning progressed with only a few problems. They all had donuts on my bed while watching a movie. They spent pretty much all of the time on the trampoline. I was the audience while they demonstrated a routine they had developed among the four of them. It was great!

All the kids were gone by 2:00 pm, and Annie and I ran down to the lumber yard to get some plumbing supplies. It was $130. Holy crap. The only good news was the lady/girl that was at the checkout counter (I had to make sure not to say checking me out) is way too young for me, but might be the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Annie agreed, and also commented on how nice she was (and she always is). Alright, enough about that...

I spent some time under the house before we went to the lumber store. Murphy and Karma had not had time to move things around before I went under, fortunately. Some of the things I was worried about are going to be easier than I thought, some of them are going to be harder... I will get the wet wall installed...

Annie has been vegging on the couch for a while, but she needs me, so I will stop now...

Plumber extraordinaire...

I ran to Home Despot this morning. Well, actually I drove. I entered with all the dread that usually is included with a trip to that location. It took me 25 minutes to find the parts I needed. They were scattered all over the place. Half of that time was spent rummaging through the DeWalt area of the shelves to no avail. At one point, a 'worker' walked by and asked a guy if he was finding everything ok. The guy replied in the affirmative, and the 'worker' made eye contact with me. I was ready to answer in the negative, but he turned and walked on. I could have flagged him down, but my apparent invisibility might have resulted in his having a heart attack. I spiraled out from that section until I found what I needed. The battery was in a special display forty feet away, and the saw was in the saw aisle, where I admit it belonged, but I was confused by all of the other offerings in the DeWalt aisle.

Armed with my goodies, which included new saw blades for the circular saw (yes, I remembered those). I quickly ventured off to the bath area. I wanted to see if there was anything remotely like I want for the shower wall. There wasn't. I know they can order it, though, from previous searches there. Next, I went to the cabinetry section to see if I could resolve one of my concerns regarding plumbing location and vanity construction. I walked around, and around, and around... Finally, I hid my cart, and walked to the design desk. The lady was very busy (not being facetious). I stood patiently until she looked at me. "Are you John?" No. "I didn't think I recognized you." Anyway, she asked what I needed, given that she was with a customer, and I told her I just had a couple of quick questions. After I asked my first question, she asked in return, "are you a contractor?" No. "Wow, you sound like one." I took that as a complement, my contractor experiences notwithstanding.

I returned home, worked for Sun for several hours while the batteries charged. Then, I took comp time and finished the closet access. You thought I was exaggerating about the headers in the walls, didn't you? Well, here's proof...



After the left hand corner is the door that goes outside... for now. That door has always been a pain. It interfered with the bathroom access door that used to be in the room, and, um... visitors felt uncomfortable with sitting on the toilet with that window in the door. At the left side of the long wall is the original door when I moved in. Now you see how it interfered with the other door. Next is my new door. That's where it belongs, and that's what makes sense. You'll see when it is all done. Then there is about 20" of no header. Shocked, I know. Then comes the header for the original door from 30 years ago. It continues to the end of the wall.




Now we have the closet wall. The header on the left is the original access to the closet. Stairs were added about 20 years ago that made it difficult to access the closet. They weren't as low as the ones you see, but if I explained that it would be incriminating. I haven't changed anything, just 'fixed' the problems. To the right is the access I just built. Yes, the stairs still pose a problem, but the left side is almost 6' from the floor. Well, the subfloor. Then there is 20 more inches of no header. 260" of wall length - 40" not covered with a header. May God have mercy on the person that decides to move the doors the next time someone remodels.

Of course, Lilo helped...


Progress is slow, but steady...