Mungkee's miscellany blog

House renovations continued

2011-02-17T09:57:00.003-05:00

Where I last left off the house renovations was with the stair and short wall in the dining room. Oddly, I feel like I haven't done much since then, but looking back through what I posted last I suppose I really have done a decent amount of work.

When I ripped out the wall for the plumbing, I also removed the old ductwork that was running to the upstairs bath and a small register for the dining room also. I had never done ductwork before, so it was a learning experience for sure. After a few failures of how to "build" the ductwork, I was able to install a full new run upstairs. No more black lungs (the old duct was DIRTY). The pictures are at the end of this post.

After the ductwork was complete, I decided to rip the basement door out and move it 90 degrees to the top of the steps. This created a nice little alcove type area and hides the basement door when in the dining room and living room. This was of course like all jobs so far, interesting. The light at the top of the steps appeared to be new wiring, yet all they did was take the nob/tube wiring and put a piece of romex sheathing over it. Wooo....fun.

Here are the basement door photos:

After the basement door was complete, it was time to rebuild the wall. Nothing too exciting here other than drywall. It took a bit to figure out exactly what I wanted to do with what was basically unused space, so I opted to install some inset shelves that would house special beer bottles I have collected.

In addition to the drywall, we also wanted to paint the party wall, which required me to re-plaster some areas and then do a skim coat of drywall spackle to even out the rough spots. For the paint, we wanted a texture to make it seem more like masonry so I added a sanded mixture to the base coat. Once it was up, it was WAY too light blue, so we then did a sponge technique on top of that with a darker color.

Below are the pictures of the entire duct work construction and wall rebuilding/painting (along with a few shots of a new case for my antique cameras):

This was all done since September. Well that, and the topic of my next post....the completion of BAR MINNICH....

Updates have been slow

2010-09-06T22:35:00.002-04:00

It's been quite a while since my last blog post. Seems like just yesterday I finished the bar, yet it was about 8 months ago. Wow.

Anyway, in that time it feels like I have done so little, but looking back at my pics I realize that I've actually been quite busy.

Going back to the rationale for the bar, I built it to better determine how to build the step between the dining room and living room. It took a bit to figure out what I wanted to do with it. Have a whole step all the way across? Then how would I stand near the bar? Where would I get a 12 inch wide, 15 foot long board nice enough to use as a step? I finally decided to build a 1/4 wall along the exposed brick wall, then make a seat at both the living room end of that wall as well as at the bar.

Below are the results (and the process):

So now that the step and bar are complete, what next? Well I first looked into doing the wiring, replacing the last bit of knob & tube that is left in the house. Of course, nothing being simple, the knob/tube is wired in a way that I can't do it piecemeal. All or nothing, and the circuit is down until all of it is replaced. So I decided that my time might be better spent rerunning the plumbing and wire to the upstairs bath.

The plumbing was a mess (as can be seen in the house pics earlier) within the ceiling of the dining room. It turns, jogs, cuts back, and generally is crazily run to get to the sink. Little did I think the same was true in the basement. Apparently someone thought it wise to run the hot water line an extra 15 feet or so, running past where it needed to go up the wall and back on itself. So I figured I could rerun it with a tad less line.

I chose to use PEX tubing instead of copper. First, it is WAY cheaper. Second, I didn't have to sweat many joints, making life much easier during installing. Not to mention I could run the PEX with slight bends, curves, and not need to be perfect. I bought 100 feet of PEX, the tools, the connectors and all other miscellaneous for slightly more than what 100 feet of copper pipe alone would have cost me. So here's a few shots of the plumbing, even though it is not the most beautiful stuff to look at:

Another bonus of the plumbing work was that I could easily replace the ancient nasty toilet in the bathroom. We opted to install this dual flush from Home Depot that scored well in testing, and it cost only $100:
Toilet

And now onto the next project....ductwork reinstall followed by refinishing the wall I removed to do the plumbing and wiring to the bathroom.

THE bar...

2010-01-24T21:49:00.004-05:00

My office was closed between Christmas and New Years so I had about a week off. I had (have) so many projects to work on around the house, where do I start. The bar.

Okay, most people wouldn't think that a bar is the best place to start rebuilding after all I have ripped out of my house. I do, for a few reasons. I enjoy drinking, we enjoy having others over to drink, and actually, I need to build the bar before I can figure out where the step needs to go. So bar it is.

I began working on it conceptually by laying out my mental plan on the floor with tape. I wanted a bar to fit a fridge, or at least have room, so I planned a two foot deep bar, a space and a back bar area. WAY too big when I laid it out. It took up literally a quarter of the room. So I scaled it back a bit.

After the tape came the cardboard estimates. I took old boxes and made a cardboard bar to see how big it would be. I decided on dimensions based upon some standards for bar height and depth, etc. I ended up with a design of 5 feet wide, a one foot deep cabinet, and an 18 inch bar top with a 10 inch overhang. I also realized building a back bar could wait until phase 2.

I spent the week off of work building, cutting, sanding, to make the bar. No where near done in a week. So I begin working at night and weekends to complete it. I finally finish on January 24th, a mere three and a half weeks later.

All in all, I am quite proud of myself. I used nearly all salvaged materials from my walls. The shelves, bar top and some small fascia boards were purchased new. The bar structure, the boards, the rails, even the corner trim was all made from the pieces I've removed from the walls of the house. I used bottlecaps laid randomly and epoxy-ed in place as the bar top. A large amount of this bar is reused and repurposed.

So here it is....the process from cardboard cutout to final product:

Home renovation, a.k.a. demolishing

2009-08-12T12:28:00.002-04:00

The following pictures show the progress my house has undergone since we purchased it in December. We made the choice to start removing walls, doorways, etc back in February, and it hasn't stopped. Luckily we haven't spent very much money on the house remodeling yet, as everything has been removing what already exists. Our first "big" purchase was last week, which is a new ceiling fan, which is now being readied for installation.
Anyway, there are captions for these pictures, as it is sometimes difficult to figure out what you are looking at.

Thesis...doneish

2009-07-30T09:09:00.003-04:00

Finally. After what seems like an eternity since it started, I am done my masters thesis. From a fledgling idea back in September/October, to a 50 page paper, it is finally done.
Is it my best work? No way. I got bored with the topic only a few months into the work, which was about 4 months ago. But it's done.
Now my next steps are to defend it in a week or so, then turn in the actual hard copy to be bound and stored at the University for others to read. Of course I doubt anyone will ever read it, and if they do, I truly feel sorry for them.

Who cares?

2009-07-09T08:40:00.002-04:00

Since my friend was surprised I hadn't mentioned him, I will...
Michael Jackson died. WOW...so sad... Not really, I could care less.
People are shocked at my lack of care about it. At work they were surprised I didn't even like him. I never did. I remember when his Thriller video was out and everyone loved him. I didn't care for his music then, nor do I now. Guess it all feeds into my lack of liking anything pop-y or my needing the heavy thrashing noises I listen to.

I did find his death interesting though. I'm curious to know if we will finally learn why his nose became so small, his skin so white, and his chin made to look like an ass. Will they decay? If he's entombed, will his skin even shrink?

Another funny piece of this whole story was my nephew. He's 16. He didn't even know Michael Jackson was black, or that Janet was his sister. Hahahahahaha

Random...

2009-06-10T13:13:00.002-04:00

Read this at lunch and it made me laugh. It is an excerpt of an article on AutoblogGreen about Bob Lutz from GM talking about the Volt:

The whole thing is well worth a read, which is to be expected coming from Lutz, who's quotes we're sorely going to miss when he eventually retires for good. Nowhere else will you read such choice gems as this: "As I've said, just because the grocery store expands its offering of organically grown vegetables doesn't mean it shuts down the meat counter."

Original post

Being an avid organic food eater, and also almost 100% non-vegetable eating, it really struck me as humorous.

Philly Rocks (for the most part)

2009-04-29T22:53:00.003-04:00

So....I got to go to a release today...of a plan to make Philadelphia sustainable, to be the greenest city in the US. Big goals, but ones I can support.
Anyway, I got to see Van Jones present our mayor. Van Jones now works for Obama....President Obama. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Jones) He presented Mayor Nutter, who officially released Greenworks Philadelphia.
Wow. My city. Becoming THE greenest city. Can it be real?
Well, I certainly hope so. Either way, here's the plan:
http://www.greenworksphila.org/

April Fools Day

2009-04-02T09:47:00.001-04:00

So I read a lot of various April Fools Day posts to many different websites. Some of the funnier ones were car related, one being a Kia Soul with a wind deflector bigger than the car itself. Anyway, I missed this one yesterday, and since it ties my passion for cars with a sustainable option, I had to post it.

Link

Prague, our last long day

2009-03-19T18:02:00.003-04:00

So today we set out to do a final few things in Prague, as tomorrow will be an early day since we have to catch a taxi at 3:50am Sat morning.
We took the subway to the tram to walk across the Charles Bridge....in the snow. We went outside today around 10, and it had been snowing for a few hours. No accumulation really, but still a weird morning. At the end of the bridge, we saw pissing moving fountains that will write what you text to a number, a wall dedicated to John Lennon, the same artists' babies from the tower on the ground with smooshed faces, and a memorial to communist era rebels.
From there we wanted to get to the Prague Eiffel tower, aka Petrin Tower. We went to take the Funicular, a tram similar to Pittsburg's hillside cars. CLOSED. So we took a tram all the way around to the top, walked to the tower, and CLOSED. Oh well, at least the view on the way down was nice.

After that, we had no goal really. We revisited the one place we went Monday to see what we missed, then headed to the center area.
For dinner we ended up at another of the brewpubs, where I had Svickova. Interesting combo of food. Our 2 meals, 3 beers, and a mug with tip was ~$30. Love the prices here.

Well, likely my last post from Czech Republic. It has been fun, but I can't wait to be home.

Prague notes (on beer)

2009-03-19T04:40:00.004-04:00

So I went alone through parts of Prague yesterday in search of beer. I have been here almost 2 weeks, and have drunk many types of pilsners. I went out to find some I hadn't had, as well as ones for me to bring back to the US. On Tuesday night I found a Guide to Beer in Prague book. (I bought a similar book in England about Belgian beers.)
Anyway, I now had a guide to take me to the best beer around. Guess what, more pilsners. I can't say I have ever been a huge fan of pilsner beer, but now I have a better appreciation for the variety of them. And it didn't stop me from buying 4 more bottles to bring back.
We also ended up eating at a brewery in Prague. They had one called Oldgott, and another called X33. The X33 was touted as the strongest beer in the world based on initial sugars. It was, well, sweet and tart. Much like a Flemish sour without the sour fruit flavor.
But at least I got a few new beers to me. While I may not fully understand the tradition of only what I'd consider to be "lite" beers, I can at least say I have experienced them now.

Brewery:
http://www.umedvidku.cz/

Czech Republic - Prague Day 1 & 2

2009-03-17T04:23:00.010-04:00

We spent about 5 hours walking the city on Monday. Many hours, many miles. We saw a lot of various sites, but the intent was to wander about with no real aim. We went to a huge church to the south of the downtown area, and spent some time in and around the square.
Yesterday, we went to see the Prague Castle, and meet up with Jana, the student we met in Slavonice that attends the University here in Prague. Here are some pics to start.

Prague Astronomical Clock:

Prague Castle:

Prague as seen from castle walls:

Czech Update

2009-03-12T20:47:00.002-04:00

Well, the days finally went fairly quickly, even though the days have been really long. I last talked about Day 2, and it is already Day 6. Wow...
To start, we've done a lot since Day 2. We worked all day Monday and Tuesday gathering data for our designs. It was long and annoying sometimes. We had to do surveying for the sites because there were no contour maps of the city. I spent about 3 hours Monday afternoon in the snow and wind measuring elevations. Not exactly what I imagined.
Tuesday, I assisted another group gather their elevations since my team spent the time drawing out our data. I helped as I could, taking pictures, running errands, etc. However, by Wednesday night, I was thoroughly annoyed at the one person in my group. She was an arrogant B**** that didn't ask for me to help, but instead commanded me. I kinda got vividly annoyed...oh well.
We did have a good time Wednesday before then though. We visited Brno, which is about 2 hours from Slavonice. It is the fourth largest city in the Czech Republic, which means it is even smaller that Pittsburgh. Either way, it was a nice change from the slower life here in Slavonice.
We spent the day with our new teams (no more B****) working on a portion of the city. I like the new team, and actually provided some design input. They are no where near thinking sustainably, but at least I was able to provide a rainwater harvesting system and some other simple measures. I guess I can't ask for much. Honestly, after I left school last night, I walked for about 45 minutes in the snow through the dead city, just thinking. None of the UPenn students really comprehend the meaning. They just design aesthetics, not design sustainable aesthetics. Very infrequently has anyone truly wanted to change this city to be greener, more conscious of people, nor more economically viable. It is all about pretty hardscapes and trees.
Anyway....it is about 2am, and I should leave since we travel to Vienna tomorrow. I can't wait to see it. I overheard we may have time to ourselves. It is possible I will wonder off completely alone and just scope the city for myself. Who knows...

Czech Day 2 Update

2009-03-09T18:00:00.014-04:00

So day number 2 in Slavonice was even more packed full. We went on tours of neighboring towns, ate at a restaurant, came back to the city, then went to see a concert. Yes, a concert in a town of around 2700 people.
The tour was amazing. I saw a few really great castles like these:

Oh, BTW, that one is for sale too.

I also toured the exterior of a gothic church:

And that one....it had a vault full of human bones stacked in a pile within the wall around the cememetary.

The remainder of the tour was great, from driving through the countryside, to the small towns, to seeing the old abandoned (and even some never used) bunkers, to being atop a bunker and capturing this panoramic photo:

(Apparently, as I stood atop the bunker taking photos, my long hair flowing in the high winds, my friends waiting for me in the vans thought I looked like a heavy metal album cover.)

After we went back to Slavonice, we were presented with two presentations. One was on the Green Belt that is planned to replace the swath of land previously dominated by the iron curtain. The second presentation was a more specific program of how to attract visitors to that green belt in a way to support cross-country usage and cooperation.

Then the finale. A group of us (about 6-8) went to see a band labeled as "Grind Core" that was here from Brazil. I couldn't pass up the chance to see crazy music in a small town. Our Czech colleague declined the invite, for she had been to such events. The warning she gave made us think it would be drunks/drugs and violence. It had drunks, but none of the other two. It was not my musical preference, but being there was a lot of fun. Of course those of us there REALLY stuck out.

I returned to my room...and again the jet lag making me not tired, so I again stayed up transferring the hundreds of pictures from the day before.

DAY 3 - TO BE CONTINUED

Mungkee's Blog, Czech Edition

2009-03-09T17:36:00.009-04:00

I am writing this from my quiet room in Slavonice, Czech Republic. I do not have internet here, so I am writing this in Word to be pasted into my blog tomorrow.
Anyway….
Today is my second full day here in Slavonice. It honestly feels like I have been here much longer. Both days have been loooong, and I have seen/experienced a lot. However, I know that a week from now, it will feel like I haven’t been here long at all.
Yesterday (March 7th) was our first full day of activities. We started the day with a locally made breakfast comprised of various cakes, and some odd dishes I didn’t really understand. (Neither did our Czech student that joined us.) We spent the morning getting a general tour of Slavonice. We visited the well regarded vault inside the building:

Vault pic:

From there, we were told about the structure of the city including the underground tunnels that wind through the town. We prodded them to allow us to go into the tunnels briefly. Here are some shots of that tunnel:

Entrance to tunnel:

Tunnel:

(Honestly, I must be old. Today, my thigh still hurts from crouching in the tunnel and walking that way.)
After the tunnels, Sascha continued the tour of the city, which while small, has very many conflicting aspects to it. Here are some of the major highlights:

After we ate lunch (I had a chicken leg/thigh with some rice), we went back to the school where we had another tour of the city. This tour took us through the main square. The tour guide was Czech, and the interpreter apparently left out some words, as I was talking to Jana (the Prague student) that told me she was not repeating everything.
The tour concluded, and we were assigned our groups for working. I am paired with 3 Landscape Architecture students from Penn and the student from Prague, who is doing sorta the equivalent of a duel LA/Arch degree. We grouped later in the day to tour our portion of Slavonice, the North end.
At 6:00, we returned to the school to be greeted by the city. Wines, hors d'oeuvres, some small talk, then off to dinner. There were about 5-6 of us that needed more food. We went to the one local bar/restaurant. I asked Jana her opinion on local food, and they had a special called Skokova,a beef dish with cranberries and dumplings. It came out on a plate, with the meat topped with a lemon and whipped cream.

Dinner:

After dinner, we had been invited to go to the “Rough pub” by Sascha. As a group we went, expecting a horrible time. We arrived in this cellar pub, to find it smokey, but otherwise beautiful. Brick arches, nice tables, clean atmosphere. We stayed, played fusball, finally leaving around 1 AM. Once we returned, I was not tired, so I transferred pictures, took some more, and stayed up until 2:30ish.

DAY 2 TO BE CONTINUED...

The Wonders of a House

2009-03-03T20:39:00.005-05:00

I have recently begun to slowly remove pieces of my house. The idea was to enhance the current very segregated room situation, to make the house flow better. Well, as expected I would come across some interesting finds. Well, I was ready for a lot, but not some of what I found.
I removed two doorways from the stairwell into the adjoining kitchen and dining room.

Original doorways:

First weekend:

Second weekend:

With them both, there were 3x5 posts used to construct the door frame. 3x5! Non-load bearing even. Just to frame a doorway. Oh, and they also were old construction... based on the square head nails used to put it together.

Anyway, when I removed the walls, I was greeted by holes in the floor. You'd figure they go to the basement, which they kinda do, but they also go to my stone foundation. Directly....no insulation, no anything in between, just a hole and a few loose foundation stones, right there, behind the base molding.
Anyway, that was only a part of it.

One great thing though, was the discovery of the beautiful brick work under the plaster and lath. (Yes, just plaster and lath, nothing else until my exterior brick wall.)

So after having removed two doorways, I felt the need to start on the living room. A prior owner installed a drop ceiling. The wonders of the 80s will never cease to amaze me. I knew that under the drop ceiling, there was around another foot of ceiling space, and I really wanted to open it up. So I figured I'd remove the tiles.

So what to do next? Ceiling was off, but the lights are still mounted to the ridiculous metal drop ceiling frame, so it couldn't come down without a replacement light setup. Well, I decided to remove the "box" over one window set. What was this "box" exactly...no idea. We knew we had a leak in it, but what was underneath it?

Well, after a few hours of diligent and careful removal (again, I am deconstructing with the intent of reusing everything I can), I found it hid.....
nothing but framing.

Well, I still had a little left in me. And I could now see the beauty of the wood floors on the second floor from underneath. I had this idea before even starting that if the joists were in good condition, I'd expose them and build in between them to hide the floors. But the floors....wow. They are old aged dark wood, with no imperfections. No reason to cover them. So....I exposed some of them to see the beauty.

Imagine that over the entire ceiling of the living room. Heavy large joists with beautiful wooden slats above it. Why was it ever covered with plaster and then dumb 1980's drop ceiling????

Anyway, I am off of house deconstruction duty for a few weeks as I am headed to the Czech Republic later this week. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't be picturing/imagining my next steps. The ceiling, the large wall to be removed, the green wall outside to insulate the brick......

Oh, did I mention I plan on finishing all this before I die?

Czech Trip

2009-02-12T20:17:00.002-05:00

So I am posting this after about 2 weeks of knowing, but I am going to the Czech Republic for at least 12 days this March.
It is for my grad program, and I am going with another student. We are adjuncts to this trip, which is based on Landscape Architecture grad students from U Penn. Not quite sure of our exact role yet, but from what I understand, it is a design charrette for this town:

View Larger Map
A small town, located just across the Austrian border. A few nights in Vienna, a few in Prague....

So when will my recent luck fade away? I don't think I have ever had so many amazing things happen to me in such a short time before.

Philadelphia Sustainability Awards

2009-01-15T09:36:00.004-05:00

So I was approached by the partner of the architecture firm I now work for on Friday. I was asked to help write a nomination to the Philadelphia Sustainability Awards. This is the third year of the awards, and I have attended the previous two. Well, I was expecting him to ask me to do it for one of our clients, but it was for something much more close to me. It was for my summer coursework.
I spent the day writing the nomination (with help from a great friend) to nominate not just the course itself, but the teachers and more importantly the students.
Now I don't know if we will win an award, but to even be considered is more than I could have imagined just two years ago. I recall two years ago...working at Philips, talking to my current classmate, and he and I both talking to who would the following year be our program director and a professor. Two years later, he and I along with 4 other classmates are nominated. Who would have believed it then?
Here is our nomination

Election!!!

2008-11-05T12:48:00.003-05:00

We won!
We WON!

F Bush...

Oh, and BTW, here is the results from Philly:
83% Obama

Vespa Restore Part1

2008-10-12T12:53:00.008-04:00

I bought a 1964 Vespa GS160 about two years ago. My best friend and I dismantled it a few months after that. A mere year and a half or so later, it is finally undergoing the transformation back to a road worthy scooter.

Here are the photos of the scooter being brought back to life:

Ireland

2008-08-27T08:30:00.013-04:00

Just returned from a long trip to Ireland. 10 days, 1500 miles, ~1000 pictures. Tons of fun, very tiring, but still enjoyable.

First 500 pictures:

Second set of pictures:

Summer class

2008-08-07T09:52:00.002-04:00

We are finally done our summer class, Green Design Build. Took all summer, starting before Memorial Day, and to be completed next week. Check out our class blog here:
Green Design Build

Car guy and environmentalist

2008-07-13T15:14:00.002-04:00

I read AutoBlogGreen pretty much daily. I have always enjoyed cars. Yet I am an environmentalist. This article on AutoBlogGreen references an article on Edmunds by some idiot. Article
He takes the stance of many idiots, and that the world is ours for the taking. He writes the article proud he can't be labeled an environmentalist.

I of course, love cars, and also love being an environmentalist. No reason I can't be both.

Followers

2008-06-22T00:14:00.004-04:00

So I am a true believer that people as a whole are quite sheepish, following someone for whatever reason they can. However, I find pleasure in the fact that the Obama campaign has turned the former thing into a way to attract idiots....I mean "moderates".
Anyway, here is something I consider pure genius. A way to attract those "moderates":
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/20/when-the-obama-logo-and-presidential-seal-morph/

Dr Suess made me who I am

2008-06-02T22:34:00.004-04:00

I think we are all very familiar with Dr Suess. We have grown up with his fanciful tales of elephants and green eggs and grinches. But I just now realized the stories had a much greater impact on me. I bet others have noticed, but I just noticed that there are a few stories that helped shape who I am.
Perhaps the stories fit me, perhaps I fit the stories. However, out of my three favorites, the two that I just realized are a part of me are the Lorax and the Sneetches.
The Lorax taught me environmentalism. The Sneetches taught me anti-discrimination. wow...
So if you want, here is a video of the Lorax.

(And BTW, the third story "What Was I Scared Of" probably taught me something too...but not nearly as profound.)

This is a total WTF

2008-05-27T13:45:00.001-04:00

So there are now developers making bombs that are safe for the environment. Huh? How about we don't use bombs. Maybe that will be safer for the environment.
Ugh...
Article

Random

2008-05-26T23:13:00.002-04:00

Not much to say of recent. I've been busy, yet not too busy. Kinda just humming along, unable to take time to do things beyond what I have to.
This weekend was nice though. Spent a lot of time outdoors. Whether I was trimming my hedges at the house, or hiking through Wissahickon, I was outside. Really makes me hate doing the 8-5 M-F thing.
Anyway, Happy Memorial Day, even if it is a direct function of our pro-military country. (Still have to respect those that serve, regardless of reason.)

Walkability

2008-05-12T23:05:00.002-04:00

So there is a way to calculate how good your address is to walk to conveniences. I will likely use this during home searches. My current place gets an 82.

http://www.walkscore.com/

Great news, and a bit of math help?

2008-04-30T09:08:00.002-04:00

Here is an article about a new solar "plant" to be installed at the Philadelphia Naval Yard. The article also mentions one placed at the landfill near where I grew up, which is awesome as it is apparently the fourth largest in the country (and also sad when you think about that fact).
Anyway, apparently the new facility will produce ~1MW of power, supplying electricity to ~200 homes. Yet the facility in Fairless Hills will produce ~3MW of power, supplying electricity to ~2400 homes. So does that mean 200 * 3 = 2400, or are units of electricity non-linear?
Here is the article:
Solar Electricity

Ethanol and laziness

2008-04-30T08:52:00.002-04:00

This Colbert clip summarizes exactly what is wrong with Ethanol in our culture. Do people not realize that it is a net negative energy, or that it produces more greenhouse gases, or that the world doesn't even have enough cropland to be able to support ethanol?
Anyway, without linking to all the facts and research, this summary will have to do:

From music to blogs

2008-04-25T22:40:00.002-04:00

I listen and buy almost all CDs from a band called Ministry. They are a very anti-Bush group. They had great music with Bush Sr, and many great albums under Bush Jr. Their latest album, The Last Sucker, has a song on it called The End of Days, which contains portions of a speech so prevalent to today's situation. The scary aspect is that it was given by Eisenhower, in 1961. I love listening to that song...reminding me of the horrible government we have. Here is the full speech:
http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_04_20_archive.html#450899786027895334

Dem Debate Blog

2008-04-16T20:35:00.017-04:00

I can't watch the debate without banter of some form....so I will blog my comments (of course from my living room on a big screen):

8:35 - This has been a bunch of he said she said so far. Obama reiterates the same punch line, Clinton touts years of experience. I think George Stephanopoulos (wasn't he a big elephant on Sesame Street?) was a Clinton cabinet member or speech writer or something, and keeps softballing Hillary.
Then again, the moderators both seem to be on an attack mode of questions instead of asking questions about platform items.

8:40 - Oooo....a PA resident video asked Obama if he loves the American flag. Why do they do this. I don't care about a flag, it is just a flag. How about asking the candidates their stance on something important like the environment?!?!

8:45 - Another Clinton comment about her doing better vs. McCain...and Obama counters with the same....so thrilling...

8:50 - commercials...they sound relaxing compared to this crap. So far, Obama is rhetoric only. Clinton is mostly rhetoric, but seems more poignant in her comments. Still no decision on my part. I have a feeling that at the end of this, I will be even more sure I am too liberal for democrats. (Deer Park Eco-Shape water bottle???? WTF? How about not using plastic to bottle WATER!)

8:55 - Finally, an Iraq question...even if it too was phrased in a way to put Clinton on a defensive posture.
"Will you remove troops even though Patreaus said blah blah"....uh...yeah, since he is a Bush-tard.

9:00 - "If Iran attacked Israel, would that be ok?" I would love to see one candidate just blow off an obvious question like that. Answer humorously like "Eh, depends on what part of Israel." I mean really...is either person going to say we won't support Israel.

9:05 - Oh my...showing McCain saying that Dems will raise taxes. Is there a more tried and true Republican attack than that? Clinton says no new taxes. Obama says he will cut them. I guess McCain will have to say that we can tax him to beat them now.

9:10 - Capital gains tax question to Obama. First really good response I've seen from him tonight. Had data, made an argument, tied it into McCain and Bush policies.

9:12 - Nice...Clinton states she wants to invest into the green economy to aid growth in general economy. Didn't run with it, but at least she mentioned it.

9:18 - Finally a bit of heat...about taxes and social security. The back and forth, yet no clear winner. Clinton still sounds much more well defined in her arguments. Obama still seems minorly flustered.

9:25 - Gun control topic. Finally I can hear their takes on it.
Clinton's take - Cops program. Assault weapons ban. Give police access to federal tracking info. Balance, lawful use. And she used "bridge the divide" quote from Obama!
Obama's take - Asked slightly different question...about handguns. Then asked about DC handgun ban. He doesn't really have good basis.
Clinton asked about DC ban. She supports the ability to regulate on a local level. No firm answer from Obama.

9:35 - Affirmative action to Obama....ugh...ask something good already. Environment, gay rights/marriage, something!!!

9:40 - Energy independence....wait...almost glossing over...wait...
Obama says raise fuel efficiency on cars...good start...and?
$150B to new project to find alternative energy. Good...but still no hard facts.
aaaannnd we are already past it....

Damn...commercial than ending question, and I still have no good policy differences. WHY!?!?!?!?

9:45 - And the final question...pledged delegates...no...how they will approach the nomination if the delegate thing doesn't make a deciision. Greeaat. I just wasted 2 hours of my life on this.

And neither closing comment was powerful...so I spent 2 hours without being able to sway my decision...now what?

See...I'm not the only one that thought ABC sucked:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/04/17/the-reviews-are-in/
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/04/16/attention-abc-youre-hurting-america/

Taxes

2008-04-15T00:08:00.003-04:00

Yay...done...
Why do I procrastinate when I get a return? Oh yeah, that is what I am good at doing.

Used Turbo Tax for the first time. I actually spent money to e-file so I didn't have to mail stuff and find a post office tomorrow. I'd rather spend money than time....wow, I have sold out.

Jeeps are fun

2008-03-31T14:00:00.004-04:00

So I've been to this little out of the way place a few times now. Took Cathy there finally this time, scared her too.
Just a small little area smack dab between the airport and I-95...
Here is the place:
MAP

And what happened to my Jeep there:

No wonder SEPTA is never on time....

2008-03-25T21:16:00.005-04:00

So my father takes the train into the city now to go to the hospital. Saves time gas and effort for him. One day, he stopped at the ticket counter to get a return fare, and grabbed a SEPTA Center City Philadelphia Street and Transit Map. He wanted to make sure he knew where to take the train or subway in case he felt like stopping at Reading Terminal Market.

Well, as you can see from the map scanned above, the Reading Terminal Market has apparently moved into the Independence Visitor Center on 6th and Market. Yes, it actually shows that...

Not only that, but apparently Penn's Landing, where like boats come into port, is on 5th and Lombard. A mere 6 blocks from the nearest RIVER!

Anyway, there are many amusing such mistakes on this map....enjoy SEPTA's wisdom by finding them all.

HDTV

2008-03-20T21:44:00.002-04:00

Wow...
I am posting this, sitting in my living room, using a wireless keyboard as I have my eyes burned by the bright 42" LCD HDTV I am using as a monitor.
I got this computer to be the Bill Gates dream of a Media Center PC. Sadly, I am impressed with Microsoft's attempt at centralizing the home Media Center.

Then again, that could just be because I can now play games on a HUGE screen with surround sound.

Beer & Repulicans...must be Budweiser

2008-03-18T17:10:00.004-04:00

CNN reports that beer drinkers go for McCain. I love beer...and there is no way in hell I'd ever vote for McCain.
They must be referring to all those wonderful Bud and Coors drinkers. Not the typical beer drinker I know. The ones that ponder political items over a good Imperial Stout, or a Belgian Tripel.
Ugh...
Anyway, here is the article.
Link

Wow...environmentalism and a video game....

2008-03-14T23:17:00.003-04:00

Saw this on Autobloggreen....great car oriented environmental site. Anyway, as the post there said, for a game trailer, it is kinda freaky.

Timing of a head cold

2008-03-11T08:28:00.002-04:00

I didn't get a cold at all this year, when everyone else around me had one. I end up getting my typical head cold the one week I am the most busy, and have a beer/food tasting event to go to. So now I get to drink lambics that have hints of this and notes of that, but I will only be able to say it is a liquid.
I hope this goes away before long...I hate head colds. They annoy me more than anything.

Jeep

2008-03-07T09:04:00.002-05:00

So I've owned my new Jeep for about 2 months now. Still love it, except for the one fatal flaw, the gas mileage.
It is no worse than my previous Jeep, and this one has more power and is much larger. Problem is, I want to offset my impact to the environment. I would buy carbon offsets, if it actually was anything more than a way for people to exchange money.
So how do I make my statement of being an environmentalist and still drive my toy?

Primary

2008-03-04T22:11:00.002-05:00

Ugh....looks more and more like I am gonna have to register for a party to vote in April. The one time I'd rather the choice be made before I got the chance to vote.
So for anyone else that needs to switch, or to even just register, here is the link:
http://www.dos.state.pa.us/voting/lib/voting/02_voter_registration_applications/onlinevoterregformblank.pdf
And if you just want some good non-partisan voting info, go to http://www.seventy.org/

Habitat for Humanity Green Conference

2008-03-03T09:51:00.002-05:00

So I guess I will use my blog to promote my activities, since I already started it with the whole EGB event thing.
So that event is a part of a much larger conference being put on by Habitat for Humanity's Philadelphia chapter. They had one last year that sold out to like 200 people, so this year it became a larger 3 day event. I was asked to help out as a liaison to the DVGBC, so I have helped out with the planning along with a few others. So to shamelessly self promote something I helped with, here is the link:
http://www.habitatphiladelphia.org/news/workshops.php

Beer week? A whole week?

2008-03-02T18:45:00.002-05:00

I really wish I had free time this week. Why is it I seem to always be busy the week of beer week? I mean a whole friggin week about beer, in my city, and I am too busy to even have one drop. Ugh.
Anyway, here is the info for those few that know I have a blog:
http://www.phillybeerweek.org/

EGB Kickoff meeting!

2008-02-29T15:00:00.001-05:00

Fridays at work...

2008-02-29T13:47:00.002-05:00

Why are Friday's always so hard to accomplish work stuff, but so easy to progress doing non-work items?
I have a decent number of non-work things to do, from class to DVGBC organizing. I find Fridays that I end up doing that instead of work.
Maybe it is those small brown bottles of elixir at lunchtime called Hop Devil...

To blog?

2008-02-27T20:06:00.000-05:00

So I now have multiple friends having blogs.
I have no time to write blogs, yet feel compelled to do so.
Not sure what to write about on a blog, having so many varied interests. Do I write about beers? What about sustainability? Politics? Random monkey-related nonsense?
If only a monkey that drank beer was running for office for the Green Party, I'd be all set.