The Good, Bad, and Ugly

Let’s start with the “good”. The flooring is finished and I’m finished with doing anymore flooring. The final total for flooring in the remodel was 75 boxes of tile and 25 boxes of laminate flooring. In the end, I only had one box of tile and three boxes of laminate left over. 

Wall trim will be added as soon as the cabinets are installed.

The “bad” news is that the concrete work was a disaster. The contractor had no idea what he was doing. Erika and I made the BIG mistake of choosing someone who was recommended by a relative. He was also the cheapest. This was a huge mistake. We did not check his credentials and blindly hired him. Okay, I admit it…we were foolish and stupid. This guy is a con-artist and he sure conned us. Here’s just a small sample of the “ugly” mess that was left behind.

The concrete is full of waves. I can't find a single flat spot!

Many areas were not even finished...it's just a lumpy mess!

The gaps were either too large or small or completely curved!

This was his idea of repairing a crack I found in the brand new concrete!

This is so bad I can't even look at it!!

Fortunately, the contractor that installed our block wall a year ago has agreed to make everything right. He’ll remove all of the concrete mess and do the job correctly. He was sick to his stomach when he saw what the other person did. He sympathizes with our dilemma and has offered to give us a really good price for his work. I just wish we had not been so cheap in the first place. Well, so much for installing the gazebo during Golden Week.

Speaking of remodel…I’m currently building the last of the cabinets for our home. Seven cabinets for the guest bedroom, cabinets for the utility room, doors for the kitchen cabinets, and cabinets for places not yet determined. Please stay tuned…

If seeing is believing...

...then, black holes exist. Wow!!!!!

This picture was taken by a group of telescopes strategically located around the Earth. What that means is that a telescope the size of the Earth took this image. Incredible! Basically, a black hole is a gigantic sun (6.5 billion suns) which collapsed onto itself (due to gravity) into something much smaller. The gravity is so dense that nothing can escape...not even light. That's why black holes are, well, black. The center of each galaxy has at least one black hole. They are so small and so far away that it was thought to be impossible to take an image of one. This is an interesting article from the N.Y. Times explaining this incredible image in more detail.

When I see an image like this I'm reminded about how trivial our  every day troubles are. This is an amazing example of humans working together to achieve an impossible goal. Fantastic!!

New project: The front yard (Driveway and Pergola)

It’s been a couple of months since I posted anything on the blog. I’ve been very busy trying to finish the remodel before the end of June. The tiling is complete on the second floor.

I’m working on the final section of laminate flooring in the hallway leading to the guest bedrooms. After completion of the flooring, wall trim will be added.

The last big items, I will be making several built-in cabinets in the guest bedroom, under the stairs, and in the utility room. The kitchen will require some finishing touches including stained glass doors on two cabinets.

Cabinets above the washing machine will be made to hide the water faucet and to provide storage for laundry supplies. Shelving will be used to provide storage for guest towels. A  built-in seat will also be available.

Both kitchen cabinets will have stained glass. New doors above the refrigerator will also have stained glass. Lots of new trim will be added around the counters to finish the kitchen.

Several built-in cabinets will provide a useful storage area in this triangular shaped space.

The built-in cabinets on both sides of the desk will blend in the (soon-to-be) newly painted desk. All of the clutter will be neatly stored away. I'm looking forward to starting this project.

Did I mention that I was very busy? Well, the front yard is also being worked on.

The pergola will go here. It should provide a nice area for our guests to have a bar-b-que when the weather is not so nice. The pergola is completely screened from insects. Please stay tuned for the installation.

A new driveway and concrete floor for a large pergola (10 x 14) are being poured next week.

During Golden Week, Erika and I will be assembling the pergola. I’m guessing that it will take most of the vacation to finish that project. Thankfully the pergola comes with an instructional video on how to assemble it. There are a lot of parts! It should be fun...I hope.

What a difference a day makes!

What a difference a day makes! It snowed overnight and snow is expected for the next couple of days .

We've had about 12 cm so far and another 12 cm may fall today.

A lesson we learned a few years ago is to drive on the roads every couple of hours to keep the roads clear. Four years ago we were stuck because the roads had too much snow. 

This is Erika's favorite time of year. She feels that everything is fresh and clean. Me, well, I think it's cold. Time to shovel...

Dry winter

It’s been an unusually warm and dry winter. Lucky and Kiley have been enjoying the woodstove in the mornings. 

In the afternoon, the doggies enjoy bathing in the warm sunlight.

While the doggies were relaxing, Erika was busy creating a log wall masterpiece. I think we need a bigger wood shed.

My goodness that’s a lot of wood! 

Erika is good with a chainsaw. She's very fast and accurate. 

I had a chance to get the second floor (guest room) rail painted. Without paint, the rail and the logs create a "too woodsy look". The painted rail provides a clean finished look that goes well with the white trim around the house.

 The floor is ready for tile and the walls have been prepared for paint. The room is large and will require 450 square meters of tile. The tile will have a high gloss finish giving the room an even larger appearance. I’ll be posting pictures in the next post. I’m still on schedule for a June 2019 completion. 

The entryway needed some color, so I made some flower arrangements. The flowers provide a nice warm touch to the entry.

       Up next…progress on the upstairs guest bedroom. Stay tuned.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  Not much snow (yet) this season. It’s been cold and the doggies have been enjoying the wood stove.

I haven’t been imaging because of the persistent jet stream. The winds up at the higher elevations (30 to 40,000 feet) have been bloating my stars (average FWHM 5.0) for the entire month of December. It’s been frustrating, but no one says that astrophotography is easy.

I’ve removed the rotator and focuser from the imaging train (back of the scope). I finally figured out that the combination was creating “sag” and some dramatic tilt in my images. This was replaced with a solid adapter (2.156”) to provide an unobstructed light path to the main and autoguider cameras. I also installed the KISS Focuser for the autoguider and the Lacerta for Lodestar Focus Aide. I’ll post an update of my results as soon as I have a clear night to run some tests.

Currently, I’m able to image unguided for 300 seconds since beefing up the imaging train. I only have a 50 point T-Point in place. I’ll be trying to improve my PA and later my tracking after I run another T-Point of 400-500 points. I read on Richard Wright’s blog (Software Bisque) that the higher number is needed to model a longer focal length rig as in my case. Hopefully, after I do this I’ll be able to image unguided for a relatively long time (600-1200 sec.). I know I’m asking for a lot since I image at 1960mm @f7, but it’s worth a try.

On another note, while I’m playing in the observatory, Erika has been working hard cutting and splitting mountains of wood. I’m very lucky to have such an understanding wife.