The Besttechie Cafe'

[Vile_DR]

Thanks for the pastry LIZ, and if you ever need any hot weather, I'll send some to you...80+ is just to much...'stupid Florida'...

What year is your Victorian Home? Is it one of the old fashioned ones re-done, or one of the new sytle homes? My parents just bought one a few years ago that was only title Victorian Home, still nice though, but I don't think it represents the real Victorian Houses...

[blim]

Hi Vile,

My house was "started" in 1857, I am told. It was originally only 2 rooms and has been added on to since--the latest being a "too small" back porch in the 1950's. It looks like your typical 2 story Victorian farmhouse--no turrets or bay windows. It still has wood siding with pretty gingerbread on the top windowframes, "roofers nightmare" steep roof, the tall skinny "wavy" glass windows (well, some panes have been replaced over the years) and the bottom floor has birdseye maple wood floors throughout. The "first parlor" (living room) is square and a couch just won't fit right--it was designed for the little table in the center and chairs--so we have a living room with no couch At least it has a "second parlor" (family room) which is big enough for a couch and an antique settee!

I have been restoring it for 20 years--a neverending process--removing dropped ceilings--they used to wallpaper ceilings back then, what a scraping job that was--and the reason why the ceilings were dropped was to conceal the wiring to the ceiling light fixtures--electricity and plumbing were afterthoughts--my sculpting skills came in handy burying the wires into the plaster--, ripping up carpeting and vinyl and reshellacing the floors, refinishing the staircase (which was painted white originally--never found any shellac under the paint) It will never be done but I love the work!

I have 2 sisters in Cape Coral, FL and parents winter in Ft. Myers after wintering in Marathon for 10 years--grandparents used to winter in Ft Lauderdale--I love Florida, even in August!!!

[thesidekickcat]

You home sounds lovely Liz!!! It's the people that make it a home, not just a house, so I know yours is great!!!

It does need a turret or two though. I have no idea why I love turrets so, as I have never lived in a house with one...sigh, but think they are fantastic.

Does it have sliding pocket doors between dining room and living room? I lived in victorian era house that had those. Really nice to open up the two rooms for entertaining, but oh so drafty in winter, actually whole house was totally uninsulated, brrrr!

It takes a labor of love to take on the job of restoring an old house.

Luckily ours was a plain old (1919) house with no distinct features except a big front porch. So we could do what it needed to update it, though it too may never be finished at least at the rate we are going. Now things need redoing that we did when we first bought it. I think that is a sign of it's time to sell it and start fressh somewhere with a newer place!!!

Minor errands today, bank had some real good peanut butter cookies and we were there early enough that the coffee was still fresh. Nice treat.

Took the abnormal reading blood pressure machine back to Kaiser pharmacy yesterday. They let us return it and gave us our money back, Praise God, (being Sunday with different crew probably helped too), even though they had told us it was no return when we bought it. I think the 96/59 reading that I had with it this weekend and a grocery store machine test showing 159/72, convinced them it was haywire.

Now to get my blood pressure back down now that BP machine stress is gone.. hahaha!

Hubby is stopping at the store tonight to buy more celery, plus I added a zip loc bag of frozen celery leaves, and of course onions, to the split pea with ham soup I am making today.

There will be plenty of soup for everyone tonight. I overdid myself on throwing in good stuff, to the point of having to switch kettles as my usual Dazey 6qt electric kettle was nearly overflowing. Soup is such a good way to clean out refrig, and odds and ends in freezer and cupboard. All through the month I freeze leftover vegetables and juice, and meats and drippings, etc, in freezer bags or containers, then make soup once or twice a month, depending on mood and weather.

Cold and rainy, with possible thunder showers again later today. So it's a great soup day.

Rained so hard last night that my rose bushes and blooms are drooping and look terrible. One yellow climber had hundreds of blooms just opening up, sure a sad looking mess today.

Had a big chemical explosion at a factory here in Portland early (4:30 am) this morning, but thankfully the heavy rains helped keep the chemical fumes and smoke from spreading all over town. I haven't heard yet if anyone was hurt.

Take care folks.

God bless everyone.

[blim]

Sidekickcat, I agree, a proper Victorian needs Turrets, gables and all the trimmings! We have a some beautiful Queen Annes from the "Lumber Baron Era" in the city nearby (Bozodog, ever been to the Hackley House in Muskegon?), but they are in bad neighborhoods now:(

And I agree about lack of insulation--blowing that in was the first and best improvement we made! Although the tall ceilings sure are nice in the hot weather. No pocket doors--the dining room was an addition and there is an unusual arch between the two rooms (we call it our conversation piece) which after years of research, I think the arch was originally a picture window with stained glass above (sure wish that was kept).

I see you live in an antique, too--1919--a Craftsman or a Bungalow? Can you tell that I would have loved to be an architect till I found out about the math involved.....

Your freezer soup brought back memories--I used to make it too, when the kids were little and we actually HAD leftovers!! One time Hubby put baked beans in it ("what, they're vegetables"), and it was delicious!! Never woulda thought....

Thank God the chemical explosion wasn't dangerous--that is really, really scary!! Especially at a time when most folks are asleep!! Our tornado sirens malfunctioned around 11:30 pm last night and rang for over 30 minutes--we weren't worried as Lake MI keeps tornados away, the skies were clear, we knew it was broken, but I guess a lot of complaints to Town Hall were made this morning

Liz

[Vile_DR]

Your House does sound incredible Liz...can't wait until i hit the big bucks and move out of the house i grew up in. My parents gave it to me a few years ago, and i have done minor things to it...wooden floor in the living room, tile in the family room with a round cut rug, bedrooms have wooden floors and i am currently working on the master bathroom...I am kinda going girlish with the colors (no offence) because of the fiance. The one thing that i do like about my house, just because i am a electronic freak/guru, i have every house including the bedrooms and garage, with separate surroundsound systems and i can make them all play the same thing. Every room has a computer except for the family and garage, and here is the kicker...2 remotes control everything...granted they are NASA remotes, but that is sweet...

I have been in Florida, Jacksonville, for over 15 years and there isn't to much that i don't like about it. I don't have to go very far to get anything done, travel out of the country with the thousands of airports we have here, and there are a lot of themes/vacations you can escape to in Florida...

Talking about the chemical explosion Liz, in highschool about 6 years go, me and 4 other friends used Drain-O, a chlorine tablet (for a pool), a 20oz soda bottle and cyran wrap to blow a Port-a-potty apart that caused school to be out for a week because, one of the smell, two because of the crap everywhere, and three because the mixture of methane and the other chemicals together blew apart part of the covering over the walk way along with the completely destroyed port-a-potty...The entire surrounding areas stank for weeks...

[thesidekickcat]

Hi everyone,

I think I need a cup of coffee folks, still cool here and drizzly, to warm up tomorrow to near 70 for several days.

There were some incredible amounts of rain in past 48 hours or so around the state. Especially on the coast, and even in the desert part of the state. Cascades had low (5000 ft) snow levels and got several inches of snow. We had over an inch of rain though it felt like alot more, and enough wind to take some tree branches down, even some power lines I heard. It hit Washington too, and again the Yakima (central Wa.) area had another funnel cloud show up but no touch down this time.

Another one of those kooky counterclockwise storm patterns from the South with a low as low as what we would expect in a winter storm.

As for the chemical plant explosion, luckily the 4 people inside had warning sirens go off in time for them to escape. Looking at the pictures of totally blown apart (debris was found a quarter mile away) or collapsed and burned buildings, it is amazing anyone survived. The company makes chemicals for basis of medicines used in the war against aids in Africa, according to the news yesterday.

Liz, our place is just one of zillions of bungalows built for/by the GIs returning from World War 1. Though plenty of nice Craftsmans around town, and Victorians too.

Your place sounds so nice. Birds Eye Maple floors (or anything else) are to dream for!!! I agree with the architect thing, I grew up designing floor plans by using rocks to outline rooms. I was an only child on a farm, so had to entertain myself. I told Mom once I wanted to design houses, she said try layouts outside in space between house and sheds. So with lots of rocks and a vivid imagination, that's how I spent the summer after the chores were done, out of her hair.

Have you done a geneology of house? I forget the proper name for it, but tracing the house owners back to the beginning is what I mean. My folks did on their land, and I know some of the history on this one back 50 to 60 years, and the other (1902) house back to the 30's. Most we discovered from neighbors, or by accident. And all were long term owners. I call it the octupus effect of this town, once here you get so tangled up it is hard to break free.

Dr V... what is the rest of the story about you and your friends blowing up the porta potty? How long was the suspension? Did they ever let you return to that school to graduate? Curious minds want to know here.

Now we know we have to watch out for both Mac, and Dr V.

God bless everyone.

[blim]

Hi All!

Vile, why does it not surprise me that you have all that gadgetry in your house Aren't non carpeted floors great? Just Swiff or vacuum up the doghair tumbleweeds in the corners and no steam cleaning! Only downside is when you drop your coffeecup, its a goner. I too want to know how long you were suspended with the porta potty explosion Or did you ever get caught?? Brilliant prank! Sure hope Son doesn't read it!

Sidekickcat, I never did an abstract (thats what its called, I think) but I was lucky enough to visit with a lady who lived in our house for 20 years who did have one made. Thats how I found out about the different additions and the year it was started. My sister had an abstract done on her house and said it was "just expensive and hard to read" so first hand information from Mrs. Bryant was better! She sure was upset that we pulled the carpeting, though, as it was wool-- but it was.....teal. How many colors go with teal without making your eyes hurt? And the fact I had toddlers at the time, "dirt colored taupe" maybe, but teal??

Liz

[macmarauder]

HA HA HA HA HA that was a good one Dr. Vile

WOW!! i live in a cardboard box compared to you blim. that house really sounds nice. i like old houses like that. just imagine when your done. hopefully i can see it someday.

thesidekickcat that sounds like a heck of an explosion. wish i could've seen it. glad everyone got out in time. your blood pressure will get better and if not you can blame your husband for it.

sorry for being away for so long guys. between mothers day, the many many many projects, and trying to get my GF to come back i've been real busy. you know for being unemployed i seen like the busiest guy sometimes. and it's really hard to find a woman who understands me and my weird life.

i got good news today though. i got to talk with an old friend from leoville and he's going to try and get me something over at NASA. not an actual job but he thinks that i might think of something that they're missing on a project that he's working on. now maybe i can send my GF to the moon.

[handplane]

Hey mac,

Believe it or not, you were missed.

BTW, is your real is Ralph?

If so, your GF must be Alice???

"i got good news today though. i got to talk with an old friend from leoville and he's going to try and get me something over at NASA. not an actual job but he thinks that i might think of something that they're missing on a project that he's working on. now maybe i can send my GF to the moon."

[JSKY]

a project that he's working on. now maybe i can send my GF to the moon.   

You could make a mint with that idea macmarauder....LOL. Are you selling stock options?

Hi all.

It's been awhile, getting some free time to go over alot of post to see what i've missed.

Things are fine with me out here in the midwest. Getting alot of thing done. But it takes time to do it all. Then on top of all this renovation we're doing. My brother-in-law just bought a new home and gave us all his fire wood. We just have to get it all in a couple of weeks. But it's all cut to lenght. Just need to get and split it all. We have 3 full loads in, and 4 more to go. That will take care of us for a good year and a half. Normally we don't even start thinking of firewood until the end of August. The way we see it right now, by the end of July, we should be done with all the major work around here. And for once have the most of the Fall season to enjoy ourselves.

Been slow here the last couple of days. Rain...rain...and more rain. And tonight we are supposed to start getting up to 3 feet of snow. We can use all we can get. But this time of year it will be a wet heavy snow. And for this poor fool who lives on a corner lot.....(if you ever had to shovel alot of snow. I need say no more).

I have some pics of the new place. Just have to take the time to get them up. So maybe with the snow a-comming.

Liz..

Your house sound like a fantastic place. You must be working as much as we are to keep it up. Now I don't feel left out....LOL

Sounds like a beautiful place you have. I'm glad for you.

OK enough for now, back to catching up on what I've missed.

Edited May 11, 2005 by JSKY

[thesidekickcat]

Good to see both Mac and JSKY back.

I hope you get the girl back Mac, and that the job consult turns into a good job for you.

JSKY where are you that so much snow is on the way? Yikes!

That is so neat to get so much wood stored up for the future. By the way, have you ever tried "the ove glove" for feeding firewood into stove or fireplace? My hubby bought me two of them (one to a pkg) a couple of years ago (Walgreens). Now I wonder how I ever managed wood stoves all my life without these great protector gloves. Good for barbecues too I understand.

Yes a corner lot does have it's drawbacks when it comes to snow removal, or paying for sidewalks or road improvements by the foot of your frontage.

Here is the local ch 2 tv news story on the explosion. The people living nearby were in houseboats on the Columbia river. They said it rocked their places, and some thought at first it might have been a terrorist attack.

Ch 2 tv news Portland chemical plant explosion

Had an easy supper again tonight, pea soup with Vita Bee (Fred Meyer store founder's recipe for good nutritious bread, if you have a FM store in your area do try this great wheat bread with vegetable juices,) toast. Still have leftovers, even after freezing some. So if anyone wants some good hot soup tonight, help yourself.

I don't know if abstract is the name I was trying to remember or not Liz, doesn't ring a bell. But it is sure nice to get the info in whatever way works.

It is absolutely pouring rain right now. So will be breaking some more rain records for the day.

God bless everyone.

[JSKY]

Hi thesidekickcat...

Well, I live in the Black Hills of South Dakota. And in my 47 years I have seen it snow every month of the year out here. (tho not in the same year).

My sister has old 8mm home movies of us setting off fireworks in over 3 feet of snow on the 4th of July back in 1964.

And I have seen my share of Motherday Blizzards where it dropped over 90 inches of snow here in just a couple of days. Kinda neat. Look outside and it's just a level blanket of snow. You can't even tell where a car is parked.

Never heard of a "ove glove" before, I'll have to check them out.

We use welding gloves for the job. You can reach right in and grab logs to get them straightened out. But they do tend to get hot if you play to much. (should have listened to my mom more...LOL).

Glad everyone at the plant is alright. Seen it on the news, but getting first hand info here is much better. Thanks for the links and updates.

[blim]

Gives JSKY a great big internet hug with my condolences....and a snowshovel. You poor thing with all that snow! Guess Michigan isn't too bad afterall--but I thought SD got really hot in the spring/summer?

And Macmarauder, wow..NASA!?!? That is terrific news, hope it pans out for you! I sure know how being unemployed makes for a busy person--since I dropped out of the workforce I find myself saying "how did I do this when I worked?" then remember that I did a lot less "extracurricular activities"--and house doesn't get messy when kids are were daycare all day.

Mmmmm, soup! Great addition to my sandwich! Thanks, Sidekickcat, as Son did Taco Bell after Soccer practice today, so no need for me to make dinner--hooray-- (Hubby works third shift, eats cereal when he gets up and will take last night's leftovers to work!)

Liz

[macmarauder]

both of my parents are from Ohio and they tell us stories about 6 foot snow drifts all the time. i couldn't imagine living in a place like that.

"DING!"

(grabs bad of popcorn and starts munching)

(watches video of plant explosion)

wohhhhhh that place was trashed. it looks like a used up frat house after the biggest party of the year.

Edited May 11, 2005 by macmarauder

[robroy]

Mac, I thought for a second that #2 on the list had exploded prematurely, should have known you had better control

this list

[Vile_DR]

Well as the story continues, only 2 of us were caught. They decided to talk about having school cancelled for a week and that is how they got caught, fortunate enough they didn't rat anyone out and were suspended for 3 days if i remember correctly. The sheriffs office wanted to press vandilism charges against those 2 guys, but because we had such a cool Priciple, nothing was filed, but they did have to server Comm. Service picking up trash around the school for a week.

Although that was one of the most serious/dumb school pranks we pulled the best one was when we backed up traffic for 4 hours down the busiest road in my city. I live in Orange Park, which is considered part of Jacksonville, Florida, and Blanding Blvd is the craziest thing to be on at anytime of the day. Well this is how the prank went. There was 13 of us this time. We needed a high number because of everything that need to happen. 2 of the guys worked at the local hardware store and picked up $100 worth of 50lbs link-chain, about 20ft in 5 ft measurements. During the senior year, the Seniors had thier own parking lot and the teachers had theirs as well as the underclassmen sharing one together on the other side of the school. There were all gated parking lots. Well As you can kinda guess now, we all got to the school about 4:30am about two hours before anyone would show up and wrapped the links about the already locked fences. School didn't start until 7:30, which should have given them time to get the locks off and maybe start class a little late, but oh no...hehehe...We organized every senior student to wait in our parking lot watching everyone panic because they couldn't cut the links of chain off the fence gates and couldn't get through the huge lock we put on the them. It was the funniest thing i have every seen. No one could go anywhere, the first cars in line, couldn't move for the mechanic truck to get in there and cut the chain, and the equipment they had to use was incredible large and heavy, kinda like jaws-of-life type of cutters. Well being that traffic can't move and there is only 2 ways into each parking lot, with one direct route towards school campus, they started setting Traffic cops out on Blanding to re-route traffic. Well they let some of the underclassmen park their cars where they were and head to class, and of course most of the seniors went to class just to get credit for showing up. It was the best thing, when they decided to cut the fence gate off and drag it out of the way so everyone could park. Being that there was only 1-2 hours of class left, everyone stayed in one room, and tried to get the 13 of us to come forth and admit the stunt. NO ONE GOT CAUGHT. The fingerprinted the gates and chains and locks, and nothing...lol...it was great. It took 3-days planning and a lot of "hush-hush" between 90% of the senior class, but that was one of the best plans that I can honestly take the majority of the blame for...because it started with the underclassmen toliet-papering our parking lot, and I thought it would be cool if they couldn't park for a Day...LOL...I have a few more as well but these two were my favorite pranks in highschool...it still makes me cry when me and my friends are talking about it because we are all laughing so hard

I love the non-carpeted floors, very easy to keep clean and make shiny, but the one thing that does get me is that sometimes in the morning, it isn't the first thing you want to put your warm feet on because it is so cold. Talking about a chill...wow...

I hope you get in with the project with NASA MAC. How cool would that be, not only to say "I worked on a project for NASA", but having the opportunity to work for them...good-luck!

[blim]

both of my parents are from Ohio and they tell us stories about 6 foot snow drifts all the time. i couldn't imagine living in a place like that.

Ugh. Six foot snowdrifts are no fun. Especially when a 5'7" person is trying to shovel through them!

Vile, that prank is ridiculous. I can't believe none of you got caught. If your highschool was like mine, the fingerprint dusting was just a ploy to get the "hooligans" to confess....I never had the nerve to do any of that--although I do confess to a habit of thinking things up and "mentioning" such things to people gutsy enough to carry them out My circle of friends referred to me as the Instigator.

Speaking of high school, I got info on our class reunion today---$30 a PERSON--sorry, too expensive for one evening, especially when I run into my classmates at the grocery store all the time (because they are parents of teenagers, too!)

I need to think of something outrageous for my "occupation and hobbies" space on the form to send in for the booklet. An Astrophysicist? (nope, cant spell it), Neurosurgeon? A Cowboy? Hmmm....Anything more fun than a homemaker not using her college degrees...any ideas?

Another cloudy cold drizzly day--I am "solar powered" so these days just make me sleepy and lazy.

Liz

[tenmm]

Another cloudy cold drizzly day--I am "solar powered" so these days just make me sleepy and lazy.

Liz

I understand what you mean,it has rained every day this month,my toes are growing webs.

I NEED sun shine NOW.......

[Vile_DR]

LIZ you could put down psychologist. If you do, one or two things are going to happen, one everyone is going to be sceptical that you are reading their minds and developing a character for them and leave you somewhat alone, or two they are going to bug the hell out of you with their problem, but then you can charge them $215 a session...then they will leave you alone...

Nice Sunny and HOT down in the FL...80+ plus makes me sleeping just like the rainy stuff does...LOL

[rv56]

Good morning folks...how are we this fine morning......

My day off today...

Just sitting down to a fresh pot of coffee..(smell the aroma!) and a batch of pancakes with just a little melting butter (just a little now) and some good old Canadian maple syrup.

If you care to join me...have a seat..

Just had a trace of rain this early morning...we'er sitting at +3C/37.4 F.

Today will be sunny and a high of +10C/50F

[Chappy]

Wow!!

This is cool, I love a good coffee shop for it's banter and good friends who drop in.

Hi rv56, how are things up your way today? I don't know if you guys are getting the same system we are right now but it just snowed here....

Not much and nothing that stuck since the ground is warm but still it was snow and thats the last thing I want to see right now.

BTW, is there any French Vanilla creamer in this place?

[rv56]

Hi Dave....

Man is it good to see and hear from you....

I had heard on the weather station that you had some snow....

Other than the trace of rain this morning, it's just windy and cool here.

Oh well...thats the way it goes....use suntan oil one day...shovel your drive way the following week...

Take care Dave......

French Vanilla creamer is in the fridge...top shelf....

[blim]

LIZ you could put down psychologist. If you do, one or two things are going to happen, one everyone is going to be sceptical that you are reading their minds and developing a character for them and leave you somewhat alone, or two they are going to bug the hell out of you with their problem, but then you can charge them $215 a session...then they will leave you alone...

Ah, that won't work, Vile, one of my degrees is in Psych--someone might actually believe that--but you did give me an idea to think about--a Psychic!! I could have some fun with that!

Cold and rainy again in MI, too--earlier today the rain had "substance" to it. I feel sorry for the folks at the Holland, Mi Tulip Festival (yes, it exists)--every single year its crappy weather--a few years ago they even changed it (used to be first week of May) because of consistently bad weather. Didn't work.

[tg1911]

A dog psychic?

[tenmm]

A dog psychic?

Yep there is one over in Boise.

Could not belive people do that,but at the sametime I was not surprised by it.

Some people get a little carried away thou....