wa wa wee

Still slaving away at work, coming home to slave in the kitchen, and then occasionally venture over to the inlaws' house to slave around a little bit more. But you know what? We're making progress. The counters have been installed and they look AWESOME. I was so used to craptastic nature of our old kitchen that the first time I walked in, I couldn't stop saying "WOW!" for about five minutes. Thankfully, the reality hit me again when I realized I still had to do all the plumbing for the sinks, hook up the disposer, and stop the dishwasher from tipping over every time it's opened.

In any case, see for yourself:

true...

everything but the kitchen sink

This is not life, this is a study on chronic exhaustion. Work has been crazy lately, as we rolled out the big portal update that we've been working on for months - of course, without the pilot that we've been asking for. Now we have to deal with all the feedback that's coming in at once, instead of using it to help us iterate in a test environment.

Susan's parents are fixing up their new house at a feverish pace, and we're helping them where we can. What that means in practice is that after working a full day, I drive over to their place and pitch in where I can. Afterwards, I'm back to my own place, where we've entered a critical stage in our kitchen remodel - the period of time when the sink and the water supply has been removed. Doesn't sound too bad in theory, but even getting a glass of water becomes a production now. Aye!

Actually, this picture is outdated now - the counter installer suggested that we replace the island, which makes perfect sense... seeing that what's there now is a piece of crap created out of plywood. So I have more drilling and soldering to look forward to in order to reroute the water lines.

(un)expected visit

Daisuke, Myuki and Mark came down from New York this weekend, apparently escaping the confines of their apartments and the craziness of the stock market. We spent most of Saturday walking around Boston in the most perfect autumn weather ever, and wrapped up our night by watching the Sox... in their most drawn-out defeat ever. Wow, what a great reminder of why I never watch baseball.

On Sunday, we went for dim sum, checked out Oktoberfest in Harvard Square, and, once the guests left, headed for IKEA. Ah yes, we were saving all the excitement for last.

IKEA had a crazy sale on some items - like, out of control crazy. Flooring that's normally over $1.15/sq. ft. was being sold $0.49 - or, at least, has been sold before we got there. Still, we scored a great modern-looking dining table with six chairs for $199.

First, we had to get it home, though. Let me tell you - my car is not designed to haul 8ft-long boxes that weight over 100lbs!

Somehow, we made it home (driving 20 miles an hour below the speed limit on Boston roads - not recommended). It'll be a while until we get around to fixing up the dining room - kitchen comes first - but at least we can rest knowing that we have a sweet table waiting for us.

another one for the books

Just like that, and Jonas is married.

Well, OK, it wasn't that quick. What kicked off the very sweet and romantic ceremony was the rambling sermon from an older wedding officiant. Not that it was lacking in humor - the line about letting Melanie buy whatever she wants got quite a laugh - but his circular narrative prompted Jonas' brother (also his best man) to suggest that we move on to something better... like the first dance:


For me, the wedding was a great opportunity to catch up with good friends. Schrock and Annabelle hosted me for the first night, and introduced me to the wonderfully frustrating family bonding time called the jigsaw puzzle (told you I'd find that piece!). Then Kathy took me on a search of a cold beer at a bluegrass festival (mission NOT accomplished), and finally Dave and Jen took on the role of a Stan-sitter. By the way, their kid is totally the cutest thing ever, even when packaged in a plastic tote:


Dave was even nice enough to drive me to the airport on my last day. Too bad that only after the check-in kiosk gave me the blank stare did I realize that I f'ed up my reservation and was flying out of SFO and not SJO. One letter, $100 cab ride difference. On the way, Susan poignantly observed that I, indeed, must be related to my brother, who managed to show up at a Paris airport a day late for his return flight. I wonder what gene controls the inability to follow an itinerary.

sf

I'm in San Fran, y'all! Jonas Kong is getting married after all, and I wouldn't miss it for the world. Unfortunately, Jude will, due to a viral sickness of some severe sort. Rough. Oh well, we'd have to carry on, and channel Jude's spirit as we go along.

couldn't wait to blog about this, also

The House should stop wasting time on the bailout package, and immediately pass a measure to stop Sarah Palin from using the word "also" at the end of every sentence. Argh!

shortcut?

Got an interesting mailing from the Department of English at the Texas Tech University. See, when an institution of that caliber sends you mail, you sit up and pay attention. I first thought that they wanted to protest my use of run-on sentences or something like that, but the truth was much more sinister. Our friends in Lubbock, TX are now offering a "User Experience Professional" certification. Three days and $1800 is all it takes to become a pro, apparently.

On a related note, my dad finally rebelled against me using his house for archival storage, and brought over several boxes of paper. Some of it is from my Tufts days, and some from Michigan. It will take me more than three days just to sift through thick packets of SI504 assignments and SI501 papers… so hey, maybe Texas Tech is the way to go?

more kitchen

Yup, this thing is definitely taking over our lives. Now I understand why people that have lived through a kitchen remodel give you a sympathetic stare and a wink when you tell them what you're doing... and this goes for people who've hired a contractor!

At this point, all the cabinets are more or less in place, and the wiring is complete. More importantly, the plumbing is done! The geometry of the pipes would leave Euclid scratching his head, but everything seems to work without leaking. Now we just need to get the counters in place, to replace our cardboard variety.