Thursday, January 29, 2009

I Feel Like A Number


Over a half million people will lose their job this month in the US. I'm not all that excited to be one of them. I was told on Monday and tomorrow will be my last day. Of course I had an idea that it was coming, construction is in a world of hurt right now, I just didn't expect it so soon. I just got back home from my first interview in this new jobless cycle. I wasn't exactly qualified for the job I was getting interviewed for but I gave it my best none the less, I guess we'll see what happens.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Boarding

Shannon and I headed up to Snoqualmie yesterday for a little boarding. The mountain has a lot of wide open runs with few trees and so the dense fog made it near impossible to see where you needed to go, combine that with really flat lighting and it made it really hard to see any changes in the surface of the runs. The whole day was something of an adventure. I guess that's the problem with a low altitude mountain. First and last run sucked bad, everything in between was ok.

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Friday, January 16, 2009

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

LEGOs

I stumbled across this image today(and a handful more) while browsing the internet this evening. I love this picture, to me it really sums up what's great about LEGOs. Imagine all the things I could be building had I not given mine away eighteen years ago.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Details, Details

Not much bike related happening right now here at TYOTB headquarters, but that doesn't mean that nothings been happening at all. I am still employed after all. My new jobsite in Ballard is currently on hold due to architect/permitting issues so I've been dealing with some loose ends this week.

Lets talk Yarrow Point first, after months of consideration the architect finally threw up his hands and let us(the company I work for) take point on the patio lid. This is what my boss and I came up with:

I spent 3 days this week putting this together. It's built from 1x2 prefinished cedar furred down 2¼". The lights are regular 4" cans w/ 7x8½" boxes built from 1x4 creating a really nice recessed light with a ½" reveal around the box. This is a detail I really love.

Yesterday I was working at another super's site up on Capital Hill and I was put on a similar cedar lid but I couldn't hate this one more. In theory I think it's fantastic but in application I don't think it works all that well. It's built from 1x4 T&G cedar planed smooth(poorly), flat side out, with a mitered return that tucks in behind the facia. The big problem is the mitered return that will not stay tight over the long term. The facia will not protect the bottom of the return from rain. The cedar will swell and the miter will pull apart. The detail also calls for no gaps between the boards, it's entirely possible that the boards will swell and screwup the end miters. This is a detail I really hate.

Ok, enough of that. How about some of the other happenings on the site. This is the West wall of the kitchen, I like the look of it, but on the whole I think there's just a bit too much happening in a not quite large enough space.

The other side.

I spent a week of illness induced fog building this fireplace structure back in November.

By the end of the day yesterday the whole thing was wrapped in quartzite like you see here. If you need stone work done in the Seattle area, these guys are the best. They don't come cheap but I don't think I've ever seen higher quality work.


Petrified wood sinks in the master bath. Not my style, at all, and it'll be a cold day in hell before it could ever be within any kind of budget I'm putting together.

Great view of the mountains past the lake from the tub.

Last picture, this is taken from in the bedroom looking toward the bath and hallway. I included this one just because of the door. Look close, do you see it? It weighs around 400 pounds and closes light as a feather. Very cool detail.


Thursday, January 1, 2009

TYOTB - Year in Review

Wow, another year gone. I've been thinking about my biking year for the last week or so and I gotta say, on the whole it kinda sucked. What really killed it was the summer, prime biking time here in Washington. I spent the vast majority of my summer either visiting Michele on the peninsula or working very long hours finishing my Yarrow Point project.

On the up side I did get in a couple good rides with dad. Once here at the Urban Assault ride and just a few weeks ago at Black Canyon Trail. I also got to do a little exploration at Dash Point, Ft. Ebey, and out on the peninsula. Did a little riding on the other side of the state, both in Spokane and Walla Walla and we made a rip down to Bend backing the spring.

What I didn't get to, and the big disappointment is no St. Helens, no MRT end to end, no Orcas Island, and no North Umpqua. Now we start year three of TYOTB, it's gonna be better, it better be.