Everyone told me that it doesn't snow in the Seattle area. Seems like that must be a snipe hunt for newcomers, as I'm stuck in (yet another) airport due to snow.

After I finally made it out of British Columbia (where it does snow, but not usually THIS much in November), I arrive at SeaTac (Seattle's airport) to find...snow and below freezing temperatures!!!

At the moment pictured, I'm tired, vaguely grimy (from travel), and faced with a massive line for the "Express" shuttle. Since the line is in a "covered" outdoor area, I ran back to the terminal and picked up a hat (shown).

Four hours later...I finally made it to Bellevue. As the trip from Seatac to Bellevue usually takes about 30 minutes (maximum), you can imagine the road condition. I think our high speed was 5 miles per hour (mostly due to a small skid on the ice).

Here is a picture from the snowy drive to the airport (through BC). It shows logs floating in Lake Okanagon that will be collected for shipping, but are temporarily covered with a layer snow. Pretty neat, I thought.

Hope you're all staying warm and dry!

Need to restore stone? My Aunt J gave me a great tip - wash the stone with muric acid and then use stone gloss.

Of course, muric acid is highly corrosive (dangerous to fragile flesh), so you'll need a really good, heavy duty pair of gloves and a face shield. Try to keep the area well ventilated while you're working and use a small scrub brush. She tells me it will take a bit of time (labor intensive). Then, wash down with water.

After everything has dried, use stone gloss to seal and hi-light the stone. This is the product that she recommended: http://www.sandtextrade.co.uk/en/Products/CLASSIC+STONE+GLOSS.htm . Unfortunately, it seems to be primarily sold in the UK. Still, I'm sure one of the American super-stores will have something similar.

My stone fireplace is shown above. Once I paint and do a couple other odds and ends, I'll try her suggestion and post the results (a new pic) to this blog.

Best luck to all with their home improvement efforts.

Protective guard duck or an eerie spectator haunting my every move?

Happy Thanksgiving!
Or, as some of my relatives would say, happy American thanksgiving. :)

Perhaps I'm channelling M. Burns, but it has to be said... it's mine, all mine! Yes, escrow closed a couple days ago, but I didn't receive the house key. Instead, a covert meeting was required; it took a couple phone calls, racing (at legally permissible speeds, of course) against the clock to make it to the house and meet the listing agent, and pawing through a small planter.

I received the key in the nick of time. And, I was able to meet with Crown Delta about the absestos removal and the Costco representative for a bid to replace the carpet.

As I've been talking about the unique features of the house, I'm posting a couple pictures.

This is a shot of the mini-forest. Please note the density of the trees - there are 14 trees in the backyard. About 12 Douglas Firs, 1 Japanese Maple, and 1 un-identified (can't quite figure out what it might be) tree.

Due to vague comments about ancient curses, the maple will only be pruned, not removed. Plus, it is quite beautiful (a branch intrudes on the left, but it's otherwise not pictured). The downside being that it sheds leaves - why are not all trees coniferous? A note to Mr. Darwin - evolution isn't always convenient for the one that must rake and bag.

In addition to the excessive volume of trees, there are a couple of other "unique" features. The kitchen duck is shown above, but there is also, in the back yard, a fallen pigeon and staring squirrel. I'm not quite certain whether I will grow to love or fear the statuary. But, I am fairly sure that I will eventually move the bulk of it.

My favorite part of the house is the period fixtures. And, by period, I mean the period of 1968, when the house was built. I think that I have at least 5 light fixtures from the late 1960s and they are quite mod. Sadly, I am not. However, when I take them down, I will try to find someone that will enjoy them, via Craigs list or another venue.

Best wishes to all for a great holiday!

Great news! My days of living out of my car and a set of suitcases are coming to a close. I'm in escrow and should be able to move into my new home (in Renton) by the start of December.

With a little bit of effort, the guest room will be up and running by the end of the year. So, if you're reading this (and you know me), please feel free to think "Pacific Northwest" when setting up your vacation schedule for 2007. Renton is on the way to Mt. Rainer, about 1/2 hour from Seattle, about 4 hours from Portland, and 3 hours from Vancouver. So, it's a great jumping off point for travel throughout the area.

I'll post more pics of the house and a rough layout in a couple weeks when it's officially mine. :)

Travel Schedule
Nov - YLW - Kelowna, British Columbia
Dec - LAX - Simi Valley, California

I finally found a house - in Renton - and made an offer on it. The bones of the house are good, and it seemed well maintained. But, the inspection turned up a lot of deferred maintenance.

The gutter system needs to be completely replaced - and, if you've visted the Pacific Northwest, you KNOW that cannot wait. So, about $2,200 for new alumninum gutters. There also seems to be rodents in the crawlspace - not anything that I would want to live with - so, another $1,250 to clear out the crawlspace debris and $600 for pest control. In addition, there are several giant Douglas Firs - beautiful, three story plus high, trees - that are far too close to the house. I refer to the backyard as the mini-forest. There are 14 trees in all, and about 12 of them need to be taken down. Due to power-lines, I can't have them logged. So, I'm looking at about $7105 to remove those trees, grind the stumps, and haul away the trees. That's probably why the former owners didn't do anything about them. Then, there is the horrific popcorn ceiling - yes, it does contain absestos. To have it properly removed and the abestos disposed of, I'm looking at $6,300 - which is a very reasonable bid for 1900 sq feet. The chimney also needs new flashing, plus there are some electrical repairs. Total cost to walk in the door, about $18,000. Making everything just a little more painful, Washington state adds on a sales tax of 8.8% to every single repair.

After all of that, I won't have any extra cash, but I will have a kitchen and 2 bathrooms that are literally from 1968 (period fixtures included). They desperately need to be updated. Unfortunately, with the long (and expensive) have to do right away list, I don't see much opportunity (short term). Guess I'll be pulling out the "how to" books and saving up for a tile saw. And, there are a lot of things that, being single and new in town, I just don't have the resources (i.e. a helper) to tackle by myself. For example, new doors throughout the house would be a great feature - especially the uninsulated side door. Unfortunately, even if I could figure out how to set up the hinges/locks/etc, I don't think that I could physically lift the door into place while screwing in the new sill, etc, by myself.

Due to the amount of money involved, I've asked the current owners to make some of the fixes. They'll let me know in a couple days, if they are willing to pitch in.