We’ve been busy as you can imagine.
Lots of unpacking, organizing and fixing up still.
In general the gutters are terrible. I’m doing what I can with what I can reach, but we’ll have to hire someone for the stuff that’s higher up.
Found convenient spots for the boats.
That’s likely temporary for Jen’s boat, but it’s convenient for now.
The big one fits under the porch perfectly, which is as convenient as it’s going to get for a boat that big.
We’ve found that there are tons of opportunities for us to kayak locally. Just need to get out.
We’ve been doing a lot of bike riding.
We’ll either ride from the house to a nearby park, or load ’em all up and head somewhere else fun. Again, so many opportunities.
I’ve started on the basement.
The pink dots are positive results for lead paint, so the stair treads have to go. I’ll encapsulate everything else.
I”m putting the HEPA vacuum to task. Will feel so much better when the basement is less of a super-fund site.
We also managed some beach time.
Would you believe the beach is only 20 minutes from our house? It’s no Jersey shore, but worked out perfectly for us. The area was a nice harbor with shallow water and little to no waves. The kids could play and swim freely with very little concern. Meanwhile I watched the airlines land at the airport from which I finally got a reprieve.
All in all things are moving forward as we continue to explore and find interesting things to do.
Stay tuned for more projects and adventures.
– b
Tags:
After defrosting the entire fridge it works again.
The problem then is with the auto-defroster because who defrosts their fridge anymore?
– b
Tags:
We were told they packed 174 boxes for our move. There was a point that I knew the total number of items, but have since forgotten. I do know the weight of our household goods was 19k lbs.
We’re nearly through all the boxes, though there are some specific items I’ve yet to find. The goal is to at least locate everything and remove as many boxes as possible. Once everything has been found and the majority unpacked, we’ll work on finding a place for it all.
The biggest problem has been all the packing paper. We’ve created then folded piles and piles of packing paper.
We’re getting rid of most of it via Craig’s List.
Overall the house will work for all of our stuff. The only minor issue is my dirt bike (can’t get it out of the basement w/o using the engine) and daily accessible things like bicycles. We’ve decided to get a shed to make these easier.
The neighbors have been super friendly and welcoming.
Speaking of bikes, the girls got upgrades. Ironically there’s more bicycling opportunities here and the bikes they had were too small.
Last Thursday we actually rode to the city from the house and had lunch.
Other issues to mention are the door knobs. Like the house they’re over 100 years old.
They don’t work well. They’re missing a lot of parts, so we’re looking for inexpensive yet effective ways of fixing them.
Unlike the door knobs, the kitchen appliances aren’t too old, yet don’t work either.
The fridge doesn’t cool and the oven doesn’t shut off. It’s lovely.
Otherwise we’re settling in nicely and are happy to call this place home.
– b
Tags:
Very busy unpacking boxes, and going for bike rides with the girls.
Abigail’s stitches are out.
I broke my toe.
– b
Tags:
Abigail was accidentally hit in the face with the rope swing on Sunday.
She got three stitches and had a molar knocked loose. Jen had to take her to a pediatric ER, because it was her face. Luckily the cut is pretty clean and the stitches straight. She has follow up appts with her Dr. and Dentist today.
She’s not happy, but otherwise managing.
– b
Tags:
I mentioned a bike overhaul last month. That was great. Bike ran well, then I crashed and broke something.
Basically I dropped the bike on a log and crushed the clutch cover with the rear brake lever. Miraculously, though the gear oil drained out while riding for the next 15 – 20 minutes, I didn’t cause any more damage.
But…
There were a few additional known issues, so I decided to address them all at once myself.
Zack, my mechanic, had mentioned that my clutch was starting to slip, my rear rotor was shot, and my front rotor was bent. This meant, new rotors front and rear, new pads front and rear, new clutch plates and as I got into it a new clutch basket.
The rotors and pads were easy, though I later found out and didn’t’ have time to fix, my rear master cylinder was also shot.
The clutch wasn’t bad to do either. The hardest part was ordering the parts in time to ensure the plates had the proper pre-assembly oil soak.
In addition to the new front rotor I also installed a front rotor guard. Bent rotors front or rear shouldn’t be a problem anymore.
The clutch cover was obviously easy considering everything else I tore apart and replaced.
Best part was I got it all back together and running great for a ride, which covered 20ish miles of beautiful technical single track even if I didn’t have a back brake.
Now that the master cylinder rebuild kit is in, I’ll have to try and get it assembled so that I can get one last ride in PA before the move.
– b
Tags:
The packers arrive on Thursday and pack through to loading next week on Wednesday.
It’s like the calm before the storm.
Unfortunately work is getting a little crazy at the moment, so whatever.
– b
Tags:
Just some pictures of the girls playing around.
Then swimming. More specifically diving board fun.
With actual diving.
– b
Tags:
It was a quick day.
We started in the morning by going for a paddle at the lake.
It was Lauren’s first time on bigger water by herself. Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures of it, but she did really well. Besides no camera we were also limited on time and had to tow both girls back so that I could make a flight.
The flight was to Boston (3 trips this month). We had our product user conference in downtown Boston, so I was there for 3 days. Each day I got to walk by our new office being built at the Seaport and get a feel for our future commute. Impression so far is that it’s not bad.
That’s it for now.
– b
Tags:
The girls and I finally got to ride together in Thorpe.
That was fun. Can’t wait to do that again.
Lauren got a kayak and took it for a test run.
We’ll have to squeeze in some time at the lake.
Lauren graduated kindergarten.
That chapter is certainly closed and time to move on.
My bike is getting an overhaul. Replacing my normally aspirated/jetted carb with a Lectron carb. I gotta deal that I couldn’t pass up.
Should take care of my operating issues permanently.
We went to Kalahari for Abigail’s birthday this past weekend.
For her birthday back in February Abigail decided she wanted to do one of the big indoor water parks in our area. We said sure, when the timing was appropriate. We all had a blast. Happy 8th Birthday Abigail!
– b
Tags:
