Today

One thing I love about my family, is that I don't have to tell you what today is. I know it has been a while since I blogged (I looked, it was in April), so this will be one of my usual, long blogs. I did something today, and I wanted to share it with you. Maybe I can even talk April into sharing some of the photos she took today. Here we go...

Today I participated in this:

http://www.nashvillestairclimb.com/Home.html

I was part of a team from my Dept. doing this. It was incredibly tough, but much much easier than anything those guys went through that day. We were in full gear with airpacks (that is approximately 50+ lbs), and we are encouraged to carry a tool or hosepack (another 25 lbs) with us. For the record, on Sept. 11th, 2001, the members of the FDNY climbed up those stairs wearing their turnouts and air packs, and carrying tools, hose, water cans, and each man also carried a spare bottle. Little did they know they were climbing the stairs to heaven. Most reports from that day said that the crews would climb several floors, then have to rest, then climb some more. Other reports say that the highest anyone made it was up to around the 82nd or so floor. Bear in mind, climbing the stairs is the easy part, the hard work begins at the top.

I have been steeling myself up for the challenge. No matter how tough it got, I at least had the comfort of knowing that I will get to go home afterwards, and be with my wife, safe and sound.

I worked last night, and so did the other 4 guys I was with. We got up this morning and headed up to Nashville to participate. It was pretty cool at first, there was a ton of people there, all in some way, shape, or form involved with a fire department. We were all cutting up and having a good time.

When it was time for things to start, there were a few speeches given. The usual politicians were there, but it was still nice. A prayer was said, and then a moment of silence was observed. That moment was ended by a group playing amazing grace on the pipes and drums. That really hit hard. Everyone got a little misty eyed. I hate that song, but only because it is traditionally played at a FF funeral. April was standing there, holding my hand, and I could tell she was crying. As bad as I was torn up, I put on a smile and gave her a kiss.

Each of us was given a card with a photo, a name, and an assignment of a FF who died on 9/11. We were asked to wear it on a lanyard around our neck while we climbed. I did a little research when we got home on the gentleman I was honored to represent today, and found this:

[Quote]
James A. Giberson, Ladder 35



I‘m honoring James A. Giberson of Ladder 45. He was last seen entering Tower 2, 10 minutes before it collapsed. One of the more moving stories I’ve read about him was that for about a week after 9/11, a woman would stand outside of the firehouse just staring. One of the firefighters asked her if she was okay and she said that was looking for one of the firefighters. She didn’t know his name, but they exchanged hellos every morning. The firefighter showed her some pictures and she pointed to James’s picture and said that she always thought of him as her personal firefighter…

James A. Giberson like to get to the firehouse early, get his coffee, and drink the coffee while sitting in front of the firehouse watching the city get started on the day, often exchanging greetings with all that walked by.

He always wanted three daughters. He made sure his wife, the former Susan Nordgaard, knew it when they were dating in the early 1980s. The couple married in 1984, and by 1992, he had his wish — and they were his truest joys. The girls, 12-year-old Erika, 11-year-old Kari and 9-year old Sara, inherited their swimming prowess from both their parents, and Mr. Giberson always accompanied them as they swam competitively throughout the Tri-state area. He often missed golf or fishing outings with his buddies to spend the day swimming with his girls, or cheering them on at a meet. For Mr. Giberson, 43, nothing came before them, and all of his friends knew it.

The Huguenot resident observed his 20th anniversary with Ladder 35 in Manhattan on Sept. 5, only days before the Trade Center attacks. He was last seen entering Tower 2. It collapsed a short time later, and Mr. Giberson remains among the missing firefighters.

Mr. Giberson had spent the previous Saturday with his daughters at the Great Kills Swim Club, where he was on the board of directors. It was the last weekend the pool was open for the season, and Mrs. Giberson is especially grateful the girls spent that time with their father. “He was very involved in their swimming,” she said. “The girls’ swimming achievements brought him so much pride and joy.”

A novice golfer, Mr. Giberson played at several charity events, one for the last 10 years with his fellow firefighter, Michael Kotula, also of Ladder 35. Mr. Kotula played last with his friend on Mr. Giberson’s 20th anniversary. “He was a happy guy and he loved the game, but he wasn’t really good at it,” Mr. Kotula said of his friend. “His handicap was that his hands were so big, they almost took up the whole club. He had to get extra long grips. If he grabbed you with one hand, you weren’t getting away.”

“But what made him happiest was spending time with his girls,” he added.

Mr. Kotula also gave into his friend’s request to join him on a day of fishing this past summer. “I think is was the quiet and calm nature of fishing that he liked,” he said. “As opposed to the hustle and bustle of his other work.”

Mr. Kotula, who had worked with Mr. Giberson at Ladder 35 for the last 19 years, recently moved to the South Shore, where he was closer to his buddy. “Jimmy and I spent a lot of time together, especially the last few years. My kids are older, but we talked about certain situations he was starting to experience as the his girls grew up,” he said. Mr. Giberson was also a talented wallpaper hanger, something he did on the side, according to Mr. Kotula. “I tried to help him work on my home once and he told me the only way I could help him was to get out of his way,” he said. “He had the job done in a couple of hours.”

Mr. Kotula said Mr. Giberson probably helped most, if not all, of his firefighting brothers the same way, and never accepted a dime. “I tried to pay him once, but he just tore up the check,” Mr. Kotula said.

A lifelong Islander, Mr. Giberson was a dedicated athlete. He played for the Mid-Island Little League as a boy, and spent many years in the Staten Island Touch Tackle League — the way he met his wife. She had been dragged to a game by a friend, and met her future husband for the first time in an after-game celebration in the team’s sponsoring restaurant.

“The Fire Department was a great part of his life,” said Mrs. Giberson. “He never wanted to leave Ladder 35 or his friends there. He did talk about retiring, not unusual after 20 years of service, but I don’t think it would’ve been soon.” According to his wife, Mr. Giberson was also a great cook. His daughters loved his chicken parmagiana, but chicken cordon bleu was one of his specialties. “Nobody made it like him,” she said.

I found the following on a message board. It was written by his oldest daughter, Erika.

Wow dad its been 2 ½ years today 913 days I have not seen you, laughed with you, talked to you about the weirdest things. Within thse 913 days you have missed so much of my life…you would be so proud of me. It’s been so long.

I miss your big bear hugs.

Hobbies & Interests:
I know your still here
You’re the wind in my hair.
The smile on my face
The tears that I cry
I miss going to 6 flags and seeing how excited got just to be with me kari and sara on the craziest of roller coasters
But most of all I just miss you
I am so lost without you

RIP I love you
and miss you so much
[/quote]

I also learned that of the 11 members assigned to Ladder 35 that day, only 1 survived. I can not imagine what that must be like for him. His name is Kevin Shea, and if you google image search his name and Ladder 35, there is an incredible picture that will come up.

We were preparing to climb the stairs for the first time, and as we approached the doorway to the stairwell, lots of people were cheering and thanking us. One woman in particular made a point of thanking everyone individually. Then she would ask if were representing a particular FF. I regret that I can not remember his name. I thought it was a bit odd at first, but then I happened to notice that she had a lanyard with a photo as well, though it was much nicer than the ones we had. It was also taken by a 35mm camera at a funeral. It was a photo of the young man, surrounded by flowers, like they put next to a casket that cannot be left open. Looking at that photo, and then the woman, it had to be her son. I was crushed. I tried to say something to her, anything, to thank her for her sacrifice, but the lump in my throat would not let me. I cannot imagine how hard it must have been for her to stand there, calling out her son's name and hoping that a different young man would answer. I'm a little misty thinking about it again myself.

We entered the stairwell, and began the climb. It was hot, and I wound up taking some of my gear off. We completed all 3 trips to the 29th floor. Our final trip would end at the 22nd floor, and that was where all the families were waiting for us. Each time we neared that floor, loud cheering would begin and we would feel their energy. All throughout the stairwell were pictures made by small children, encouraging us and thanking us for what we do, and were doing. It was definitely a motivator to suck it up and keep moving. Guys were being forced to stop and rest left and right, and for a while I wasn't sure I could finish it, but I had a strong team, and they pushed me to continue. For the final 22 floors, I put my gear back on, and hoisted the hose pack. That added another 25 lbs to me, but the rest of my team had been taking turns carrying it, so I wanted my turn as well. I was spent, and another member wanted a crack at it too, so at the 11th floor, we switched back.

Overall, it was a pretty emotional day. I haven't been this tired, both physically and mentally, in a long time. Thanks for taking the time to read.

Day 2 and 3 of RIT school

Whew, it's been a while, but, well, some other things came up, and a silly little blog like this didn't seem important anymore. Anyway, here is the end of my little adventure in Tuscaloosa. Enjoy!

We spent the second day going through a confined space maze. Basically you are in the dark navigating through increasingly tight spaces, finding your way through pipes, holes, trap doors, and all kinds of other fun stuff. It's kind of neat, but I enjoy the feeling of conquering it MUCH more than the feeling I have while I am in the midst of it. Several times the opening I went through was narrower than my shoulders and low enough that you had to be flat on your belly. This type of thing is neither my favorite nor my best, but I made it. Lots of these things are just to prove you are willing and able to do it, not necessarily that you can do it fast.



After lunch the second day we learned how to move a downed firefighter up and down stairs, as well as different ways to get them out a window and onto a ladder so someone can carry them down. I much prefer being the rescuer than the victim in these, the victim just has to hope everyone knows what they are doing. Luckily I was the biggest guy in the class, so they limited my time as victim and used me more for moving people around. We also spent some time learning what to do if we are trapped or lost. They do this by having you cover your mask so you can't see, and while crawling and searching, they'll jump on you with a section of chain link fence and pin you down, to see how you react and make sure you remember your training. I had done this before and knew it was coming, but it is still tough! I did have the honor of making the instructor cry uncle while he was holding me down though. He finally had to tell me to stop struggling because he couldn't hold me down anymore haha.



The third day we did a drill first thing in the morning, then went full speed finding and removing victims from the training burn building. For some reason the group I was with kept having problems finding the victim. There were some discrepancies between what we had learned before class and what the instructor wanted, plus most of us hadn't worked together before, so it made things a little tough. Good old fashioned bad luck played a part as well. At one point I put my hand next to the victim's leg, then between his legs (on the floor, never laid a hand on him), then on the other side of his other leg. In other words, I was within inches of him and never laid a hand on him. Not my finest moment, but everyone in our group had trouble finding him.



Anyhow, I learned a ton of useful things, and I had fun, even if I now look like I was beat with a baseball bat. My knees and elbows are covered in bruises and blisters, and I can tell I'll have a few more on other parts of my body later, they just haven't surfaced yet. April was pretty shocked when I got home and I took my shirt off. Just one of those days where you get to pay for the honor of being a firefighter!

The First Day of School

RIT School that is. As promised, here's a continuation of my little adventure down in Tuscaloosa. It was a 3 day class, so I think I'll break it down into a post a day. Here's the post for the first day. Before that though, I don't remember if I specified what makes RIT so important. When people need help, you send in the firefighters. When firefighters need help, you send in RIT. It starts with learning how to rescue yourself, and then proceeds into how to rescue your buddies.

To start off I got into town Sunday evening about 9pm, and I was feeling a little down when I checked into the hotel. I had a bit of a stomach bug, but I figured that since the first day would be in the classroom, I'd be fine. I stopped on the way to class and picked up a little Pepto, and that started to help out some. Class started at 8am, and by 8:15 I found out that we would be in full turnout gear by 10 am. Well, so much for starting slow!

The first thing we did was what they called the 'consumption course'. It was designed to make you use all the air in your bottle and see how you react when you are tired. I think it was really to consume all your energy for the day! The stomach bug didn't make things any easier, and I really thought hard about quitting. I made it through, but it was not my best performance. Things would have been tough even if I was feeling good, and there were a few touch and go moments with my stomach, but I survived. I was pretty drained for the rest of the day as a result though, and we still had more to go!

The consumption course (as they called their obstacle course) was laid out as a lap around the drill field. You started out by crawling across simulated attic rafters. From there you picked up a sledge hammer and hit a 6X6 they had laying on the ground for 2 minutes straight. Next up you unrolled and re-rolled 50 feet of hose. The next stage was raising a tire on a rope from the ground to a height equivalent of the second floor 3 times. Go on to the tractor tire and drag it about 20 feet, around a cone, then back to the start, then climb through a prop that is designed to simulate going between the studs in a wall. Climb up and down 4 flights of stairs, then climb through a 30' length of pipe that is only 36" in diameter. Pick up 100' of hose, toss it over your shoulder, then climb up and down 2 flights of stairs. Pick up a 24' tall ladder and move it 20' to another window. That was one lap. They wanted 2!

It was every bit as difficult and draining as it sounds. I ran out of air halfway through the second lap, which was acceptable, but I had to stop at the top of the 4th floor stairs and cool down. I got really hot and my stomach was not doing well. The instructor asked if I was ok, and I was afraid they were going to drop me from the class. When we finished that, they let us go to lunch. I hadn't eaten much the night before (we had an early dinner before I left home) and no breakfast at all. I wasn't hungry but I needed the energy from some food.

After lunch they had us doing some cool stuff that the average person would never get to do. We bailed out of a 2nd story window onto a ladder head first, then spun around and slid down the ladder. We got to lower ourselves out of a third story window with nothing but a rope looped under our arms (you go out head first and flip yourself over before lowering down. VERY unnatural feeling!). We finished off by sliding out of a third story window on a hose like a fireman's pole (hang out the window from the waist down, grab the hose with your feet, move one hand to the hose, then quickly move the other because you are heading down as soon as you let go of the window). That was pretty cool. However, if you've ever wondered what kind of a bruises you get when you depart the third story window and strike the first story window sill with your elbow, I can tell ya, they are U-G-L-Y!

The funny thing about all the bailouts is that you end up so focused on the task at hand that you don't realize how high up in the air you are. If you asked me right now to sit on a 3rd story window sill and hang a leg out or just hang my legs out while laying on my chest, I'd tell you that you were crazy. But by having a task you don't realize how high up you are until after you're on the ground. It's actually kind of neat how it works. Plus, with a line of guys waiting to go, you don't want to be the one to chicken out haha!

By the time I got home from the first day, all I wanted was a shower and a quick dinner, then into bed. I had to ice my elbow from where I struck the window sill, but the worst bruises were yet to come! I later learned that the first day, especially the first half of the first day, is just a gut check. They want to make sure you really want to be there, and that you are able to think and function when you are well past the point of exhaustion.

Stay tuned for day 2.

They chewed me up...

and spit me out!

I told everyone that I was going to pump school, but I had another class I was signed up for that kinda snuck up on me.

I was down in Tuscaloosa, AL at the Alabama Fire College Sunday night through yesterday afternoon for a class on Rapid Intervention Teams, or R.I.T. Basically it is an advanced search and rescue class focused on finding injured or lost firefighters.

It's a class I was excited to take, but I was not at all prepared for what I was getting myself into. I called the instructor before I signed up for it to find out about it, and he told me that the first day would be in the classroom, the second would be some hands on, and the third day would be a few evolutions to practice what you had learned.

Apparently they've switched instructors or changed the curriculum, because this class was pretty much all hands on the whole time! It was a great class, I learned a ton of stuff, and I am glad that I took it, but I wish I had been more mentally ready for how challenging it was going to be.

That's all I'm going to write about today, I'll try and spread this blog out some instead of making one huge wall of text for you to sort through. I didn't think to take a camera with me, and I really wish I had since we got to do some cool things. I'll be at work tomorrow, so I don't know if I'll get to blog or not, but I'll try to update soon enough.

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, I did go eat at Dreamland BBQ one night, but I got it to go so they didn't get a good crack at my license plate haha. I also missed the chance to go see the NCAA Football National Championship Trophy on display in downtown Tuscaloosa, I never even thought about it until someone mentioned it the last day of class. Oh well!

God Bless Al Gore

No, not for Global Warming. For the other thing he made up. The Internet.

We had a minor tragedy in our house the other day. Our much beloved XBOX died. Well, not dead exactly, but near enough. We use our XBOX for watching movies, listening to music, and playing the occasional video game. The other day it stopped showing video, only giving us audio.

A quick call to the manufacturer left me fuming. The polite woman in Bangladesh (who started off on the wrong foot with me by lying and telling me her name was 'Mia') informed me that the 3 year warranty did not cover this particular failure, that the 1 year warranty was up, and that I could pay them $120 and they'd be happy to fix it. A new one is $200. Of course, she pointed out, they would be happy to pay shipping both ways as a courtesy for me paying to get it fixed. Previous research told me that instead of fixing mine and shipping it back, they'd be shipping me another broken one they had already repaired, then foisting my broken unit off on someone else. Yeah, not so much, thanks. Even the 'Escalation Expert' (who introduced herself as Janet, which I'm pretty sure wasn't her real name either) I was transferred to was unable to help. I guess I got a little fired up on the phone. Go figure. You buy electronics these days, you expect more than 14 months of life out of them. To top it off, this was my 3rd one in 4 years, the first two having been replaced under warranty.

Luckily for me I live in a world where Al Gore singlehandedly jump started the mother of all technological advances. A few hours of research yielded that this was a very common problem, directly resulted to poor design choices and cheap materials. The short version is that when the electronics inside get hot (as they are prone to do)the inferior solder weakens, resulting in loose connections on the microchips. There is a 'clamp' in there that is supposed to keep everything tight. This is the poor design choice. It flat out does not work. It is made of metal. Metal tends to expand when it gets hot. So if metal stretches when hot, how effective is a metal clamp in a hot environment?

For $30 I was able to buy a kit that replaced the clamps with screws. I spent a nerve wracking afternoon gutting the XBOX and performing minor surgery at the kitchen table. I am happy to say that so far so good, it is working. I am actually pretty amazed how easy the whole thing was, and that something as simple as a few screws and washers could have been utilized in the first place to solve this problem.

Al Gore, you're my hero!

Twofer

I feel like Katie, with two blogs in one day!

Mom asked about the floors, they are done with two small exceptions. I still have 1 guest bedroom (about 10X12) and it's closet to floor. It is the room that has been stuffed to the gills with stuff including the remaining boxes of flooring, so we wanted to get the rest of the house put together first. That included installing some custom closets in our bedroom (I need to get some pictures and tell the story of why they were on clearance :-X ) as well as painting the rooms we have not painted yet (our bedroom, which is painted now, and the two other bedrooms).

But the long story short is that we want to get the rest of the house put together before we go any further. We are tripping over stuff and pretty miserable with everything in flux constantly. It has actually slowed us way down having to dodge stuff, and we have put some small (think spider webs) scratches in some places from moving things around. Enough is enough and we'll get the rest of the house painted and situated before tackling the last room.

The other little spot I have missed is the pantry in the kitchen. That won't take long either, and I'll knock it out real fast before finishing the last bedroom.

We are hanging baseboards back up, and I'm waiting to do the quarter round until I finish all the flooring. I'll return some and use that money to pay for it. Most of it has been put up and I need to go back in and caulk it, then it will be done. We are in the home stretch for sure.

Hopefully you are still reading this, because I have some important info to share with anyone wanting to go with me to the TN Classic this year. If you are scratching your head, that was the deal where I went and built my own bow. I had a real blast and would love it is some of you can join me. Consider this an open invitation. We can stay at my house and drive back and forth (it is about an hour or so north of me) or we can try and rent a hotel or something up there. Camping is also an option, but it is notoriously wet and rainy at this thing (last year was so bad I packed it up and came home after the first day and just commuted instead).

Anyhow, here are the preliminaries:

*******************************************************************

Twin Oaks Bowhunters
13th annual
***Tennessee Classic***
Clarksville,TN.
Traditional Archery shoot
April 30th May 1st 2nd 2010
41 Targets--Entry Fee $20.00

Custom Trophies awarded

Shoot Classes
Recurve Bow * Long Bow * Self Bow * Ultimate Self Bow Challenge (Make a Self Bow with Gary Davis and shoot it for score Thursday-Sunday. Contact Mark Baggett
931-362-3717 for more info.)
markbaggett@detdist.com

Vendors

* Primitive Camping available onsite *

Practice range open to all who register for the main shoot

*Pot luck Supper on Saturday Night*

For additional information, contact Mark Baggett @931-362-3717/615-313-4639
markbaggett@detdist.com [Pappy]

directions: from Nashville Take I-24 west towards Clarksville, exit onto maxey rd. (exit 19), turn left, go to the end of maxey road, and turn right onto 41-a (north), go approximately 5 miles, turn left onto oak plains road (look for twin oaks sign and smith auto salvage sign), turn left onto Knox road, turn right on Ashley road. Watch for the twin oaks signs!!!
It is between Nashville and Clarksville/Fort Campbell off I 24 w at exit 19. The address if you want to map quest it is
1079 Ashley Rd. Chapmansboro,TN.37035.
Hope you can make it,I feel sure you will have a good time.It is 3 days,and yes it is a shoot with much more going on.
Pappy


************************************************************************

I went last year with 0 experience or knowledge of making or even shooting a bow, and I came away with a hickory longbow that is definitely shootable. I also got a steal on a recurve, so if this is something you think you may be interested in, this is a great place to go to learn more about it and get a start. It runs from Friday - Sunday, and last year by the time I got up there Friday afternoon it was slim pickings on the bow staves (for making a bow) but I would be happy to try and get up there a few days early to put names on some for anyone interested. Don't worry if you can't make it up on Friday, you'll be able to finish it on Saturday and Sunday easily. It really is a ton of fun and you get a great sense of accomplishment from completing it.

Anyhow, let me know what you guys think...

EDIT: Well shoot, I just realized I agreed to work for someone on Friday April 30th, and my normal shift is Sat. If anyone is interested in coming up Friday, let me know, and I'll see if the guy will let me off the hook. I'll definitely be trying to get Saturday off though, so I should be available then.

Here we snow again...

Ok, you know you were all thinking it, I was just the bravest to write it down haha.

We've been getting snow all day here again, but nothing like the last time. April and I had a busy weekend working on getting the house straightened out, but that didn't leave much time for valentine's day. Oh well, there's always next year!

Not much to report just now, but I wanted to apologize to all the bloggers I didn't get to comment on. I did read them, but I didn't have time to comment.

Here's a funny little note to end on:

Yesterday morning April slept in a little, and I got up about 0730. It had snowed a little overnight, but not too much. It was still drifting some little tiny flakes when I got up. By the time she woke up, it had upgraded to big fat flakes and was coming down pretty good! We already had planned to go grocery shopping for the week yesterday, so we accelerated our plans. I felt silly running out to the store like everyone else, but we literally had nothing to eat; the cupboard was bare! Everyone was still at church so the store wasn't too crowded. To make me feel even sillier, it stopped snowing altogether while we were in the store. I am happy to report, however, that we saved the French Toast ingredients for when it snows again haha.

Take care and keep warm. I think ya'll are gonna get it worse than us this go round.

Not much of an update

If you've seen April's blog, then you know what we've been up to. The snow really put a damper on the flooring activities. It was just too plain cold and wet to be outside running the saws, so we have finished the kitchen and laundry room, but not put much more down. To top it off I hurt my knee a little at work (I was working out and didn't keep good form, so it's totally my fault) which has slowed me down considerably. I actually had to take a few days off from flooring to let it rest. It isn't hurt bad, just strained or sprained, but the getting up and down is just hard on it.

Next week (Monday through Thursday) I'll be at pump school learning to operate and maintain the fire engine pump. It's the first step towards getting promoted to Engineer (driver) at my department. That will slow things down too, since it is a 9-5 type gig for the week and I'll have to do some studying when I get home at night. The course is 3 weeks long, but it is 1 week a month for 3 weeks. I'm looking forward to it though, so I suppose the delay will be worth it.

Anyhow, that's about all that's been going on here. Hope everyone else is doing as well as we are. The snow has pretty much all melted here now. I enjoyed it while we had it, but the ice was sure making life tough for a while there!

I'm Floored

Well, actually, to be honest and correct, I am about 50% floored, but it is progress nonetheless. We have finished the living room and gotten the furniture put back in place. That freed up the kitchen, which is next. We have also completed the hallway and one of the spare bedrooms (the one we use for an office). We still need to paint that room before we can replace the baseboards and put up the quarter round, but the floor is done, which is the big one. Here are some pictures for you.



This is the living room, with all the trim done but no furniture yet. All of these photos were taken with my cell phone, so they may or may not turn out well. Just use your imagination please haha.



Here is our hallway closet, not much to see here, just a shot of the flooring.



The office and its closet.



From the office to the hallway, if you'll notice, I was able to make it all one piece with no transition, no threshold, no nothing, just smooth floor.



I was able to accomplish this by using the above piece of wood. It's called a spline, and it lets you reverse the direction you are laying your tongue and groove. Basically, you have to nail the tongue side of the board, and you can't put groove to groove without the spline. That little piece lets you reverse direction, meaning I could lay the hallway in one direction, then come back later and add in the bedroom, reversing direction of the lay. Confused? It was easy to do, but maybe hard to explain. I have since found out that professional installers now start in the middle of the longest room in the house and use the spline to allow them to lay out equally in both directions, so that they have an even sized piece at the edge of room on both sides. I'm no pro, so I didn't do that in my living room, but if I ever did it again, I would probably go that route. It was that easy.



Here's a closer up view of the transition. Nice and smooth!

The project wasn't without it's hiccups though. It is definitely much slower doing it without help. I have had April a few days, and I had a buddy from work one day. I was about three times more productive those days than when I'm alone. Just the amount of cumulative effort of getting up and down, swapping out tools, etc. makes a huge difference.

The first 'oops' I had was before I laid the first board. I wasn't sure if the nailer I had borrowed would work for my floors, so I decided I would remove all the nails from the gun and give a board a test hit, then judge from the impact the tool left if it was hitting in the right spot. The nailer is actually a stapler, and the staples come in long rows like you would get for your desk stapler. I pulled out all the attached staples, took a look down inside, and decided that I had gotten them all. I tossed a board in the middle of the room and gave it a whack. The good news was that the nailer would work just fine. The bad news was that I had just stapled a board to a random spot at a random angle smack in the middle of my living room! Apparently it grabs the next staple and stores it in a 'chamber'. Oh well! I got the board up with a little effort.

Anyhow, we are rolling right along. If I didn't have to dodge all the stuff in my house (i.e. if the house was empty) we'd be alot further along, but hey, I'm still having fun. Let me know what you think.

Here comes the story of the hurricane...

The man the authorities came to blame...

Ok, well, maybe not a hurricane but a minor flood and a whirlwind of traveling. Grab some leftover eggnog if you've got any, this one got away from me too...

We traveled all over the place at the end of 2009. It started with a short but fun trip down to ATL for the big 'Towhey Christmas Extravaganza'. A great time was had as always. From there we came back home, I worked a shift or two, then we headed out to see April's family for Christmas. We were there the 25th and 26th, then I was back at work on the 27th. I was scheduled to leave on the 28th to go duck hunting with Dad and Bill, but April got sick and I had to go home early from work to help her out. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to make it to the lake, but she rallied and got well enough to take care of herself and was nice enough to let me go. I had a really great time, managed to stay warm, and even got a duck, but there weren't many flying, so we didn't get to do much hunting, just a bunch of waiting. I still really had a great time, I kept telling everyone it was better than sitting at work thinking about it! I stayed the 28th - 30th, then drove home after a morning of hunting on the 30th. I took a quick shower then we hopped back in the car to go visit some friends in their new house. (At this point I would like to note that I nearly touched every part of the state... I went all the way east to see the in-laws, all the way west and north to duck hunt, then all the way south to visit friends.)

The couple we went to visit were at the reunion in Gatlinburg, Jason and his wife Brandi. Jason was my college roommate. They had been living with his parents at their farm about 90 minutes south of us, and had finally bought a house. Let me tell you, they hit a home run on that one! It has a huge great room that is wide open, giant wrap around porches, very rustic looking home. It is really really great and we were quite envious of their find. Add to it that it sits on 60 acres and attaches to the family farm and I'm not sure it could have gotten any better. The main farm is 600 acres (660 now I suppose) and they own about another 400 acres in the area. It is quite a place, and if I had my choice, I'd live down there too!We stayed with Jason and Brandi until the 1st, then came home.

So, there is the whirlwind, but what about the flood, right? Well, that started sometime before our travels. See, a few days before Christmas, April bought one of those steam mops. She used it on the kitchen floor one night while I was at work. I got home the next day and it looked like the mop had steamed our laminate floor right off the ground! The floor was buckled and warped and water was oozing out at the seams. We were furious, to say the least, that this mop had ruined our floor. We had planned to eventually replace the floors in our house, but this close to Christmas it just wasn't budgeted for. This was probably about the 21st of December that she used it.

On the 24th we were talking on the phone before I went to bed. She made a remark about how water was still seeping up through the floorboards. Uh-oh. Ding, the lightbulb just came on. I had her look under the kitchen sink, and sure enough we had a small drip coming from the hot water line. She turned it off and luckily it stopped. I came home from work and checked out the damage. I tightened the nut on the shut off valve and the leak stopped. I was ready to start ripping out the flooring but decided we'd better call the insurance company instead. I'm glad we did. Unfortunately since it was now Christmas eve, no one would be coming out for a few days. With our travel schedule and the holidays I wasn't sure when the insurance adjuster would be able to meet up with us. While I was hunting I got a call from him, and he said that he would be willing to send out a water cleanup company, and take his word on the damages. When it was all said and done, we needed new kitchen flooring and the bottom of a cabinet, but the subfloor was intact and not damaged enough to need replacing. Since I will be doing the work myself, the money the insurance company gave us is enough that we are replacing the rest of the flooring in the house with hardwood (in addition to the kitchen floor), and probably taking up the lineoleum in the bathrooms to put in tile. We'll have to put in a little ourselves to help cover the difference, but chalk up another one for self-sufficiency! We got home from our friend's house to find a check from the insurance company on the front door of the house.

We found a steal on some bamboo flooring ($1.89 per sq/ft, solid wood, 5/8" thick) and also found out that if we ordered online through our credit card company, we would get a 5% rebate, so yay for us. Also, yay for me, I get a few new tools out of the deal. I bought a small pry/wrecking bar that has been indispensable for taking out the old flooring and I'm also getting a miter saw for cutting the flooring down to size.

April has only taken a few pictures, but I'm sure when we're done we'll have plenty to share. I've been busy and I'm not much of a photo guy, and I've been working her too hard to have time to do it either. The demo part of the job is fun, but cleaning up my mess not so much haha.

In a few days we'll be going to visit my parents for about a week. I've been fortunate to have several days off from work this year at the holidays, and we've been trying to take advantage of it and make hay while the sun shines. Unfortunately by the time the flooring is acclimated to our house and ready to lay, we'll be gone to visit my parents. I'll be out of time off when it's time to actually lay it, but I do get 2 out of every 3 days off, so I'm sure in a week or so we'll have our new hardwood laid down. We'll keep you posted.

This will be a bit of a challenge due to the way our house is laid out, but with some planning I think it will work out ok. Because of the hallway off the living room, we'll have to be sure to get the two bedrooms done as well as the living room before we try the hallway. I think that is the best way to make sure it all lines up properly. It is hard to explain but if you've seen my house you'll know what I mean. Also, if you've ever messed with hardwood, you know that the box comes with long, short, and medium pieces. You don't want all your seams lined up, you want it in a random pattern. Well, bamboo comes in all exactly the same length pieces. I'll just have to be careful to lay out a row or two ahead and use the pieces I cut off effectively. I'm also hoping that this will mean much less waste than you get with traditional hardwood flooring. Any tips are appreciated! We will be nailing it down.

Anyhow, this was going to be a quick update, but it rambled on like normal, so sorry for that!