Contractors

I hate dealing with home improvement contractors. With a couple of exceptions, everytime you want to get someone to come and do something at your house, you end up having to chase something up, deal with lateness and missed deadlines etc.

Our installation of our new wood stove has been no different. When we bought the stove, we were told that the permit approval process and ordering of our stove should take two weeks, then it is a one day installation. There were two components - the actual stove and the tile that we picked out for them to build a new hearth around it (both for looks and to ensure it met the building code). We selected our tile and they said they would call us when everything was ready. Two weeks went by so I called back. I was told that they had everything however they were waiting on us to select our tile. When I told him this had been done and he checked the file, he found this information and set up an installation date of this past Tuesday (another 10 days beyond the initial two week estimate). I made it clear that if there was an issue with getting the tile to let me know as I did not want this to hold anything up.

Anyway, Tuesday comes and they cannot find a box of tiles. Apparently New Jersey ran out of tiles over the past month. So they installed the stove but could not build the hearth. Mindy and I went out on Tuesday night, purchased a box of tiles and then rescheduled this for Wednesday. All seemed to be going well, only another one day delay it seemed. Then we were told that we needed to call the township to get a final inspection before we could use the stove...and they only do inspections on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mindy called on Thursday morning but they were already fully scheduled, so we have to wait until Tuesday to begin using it. So all-in-all, while it looks great and we are very happy with it, a two week estimate has turned into almost five weeks of dealing with these people to get this done.

Going to the tile place has also led to us buying some new flooring for our kitchen and sun-room. We were not happy with the tile and had been thinking of changing it, so seeing the options available, we made the decision to get this done as well. We decided to go with a vinyl fake-wood finish. I think this will be a nicer look and also supposedly quite durable as well. So I guess we will have more fun with contractors over the next couple of months. After this, a new back fence and we should be done...at least for a while.

Back To Work

We returned from Virginia on Saturday. The drive was relatively uneventful, avoiding most of the traffic that we would have hit on Sunday. We spent most of Sunday continuing our quest to de-clutter our house. Things were getting overwhelming and it is a nice feeling to get some order back into our lives.

One of the side-benefits was that I found some really old disks containing some computer games I had played many years ago. Several hours were spend re-acquainting myself with "Reach For The Stars" and "War of the Lance" the latter even giving you an option of CGA or EGA graphics! Mindy was amazed by the immediate addiction to these games that I had, it really was a trip down memory lane. I beat both games on an easy difficulty setting so now will probably be able to put it to one side again.

Today I also started an exercise program. There is a cycling class at the YMCA that I will be taking on Monday morning and Thursday evenings so hopefully I can stick with it.

Last night we watched the movie "Aleelah and the Bee", about an inner-city kid who enters the National Spelling Bee. I doubt they could have made it any more cheezy but it was a relatively entertaining film I guess...not that I would ever watch it again.

Thanksgiving

Today was Thanksgiving and I guess I controlled myself relatively well as the heartburn is not too bad right now. All of Mindy's aunts, uncles, cousins were there so it was quite a full house. Two plates of food were devoured - turkey (both baked and fried); gravy; mashed potatoes; stuffing; beans; collard greens and my favourite - sweet potato casserole (which contains butter, sugar, brown sugar, pecans, coconut and a pinch of sweet potato!). Pumpkin pie, cake and ice cream for dessert and I was done. The football was quite average. The first game had Green Bay always in control but it was not as one sided as the 2nd match with Dallas destroying the Jets. After retiring upstairs for a brief nap then returning for a quick game of Taboo the day was done. I think we will be hitting some shops tomorrow for some Christmas shopping. Some good deals are there to be had but the crowds will be tough to deal with...

Virginia

We drove down to Virginia on Tuesday to stay with Mindy's mother for Thanksgiving. Wednesday was a quiet day - a little bit of shopping including my Christmas present from Mindy...which will be the new AC/DC concert DVD set - "Plug Me In"...3 DVDs of concert and interview footage. We spent much of the day watching the latest series of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" - very funny stuff. Tomorrow the family will be getting together here and as always, too much good food to be enjoyed!

Firewood

We had a huge delivery of firewood to prepare for our new stove. Unfortunately the stove will not get installed until November 27 but that is OK as we are gone most of next week down to Virginia to visit Mindy's family for the Thanksgiving holiday. I think Thanksgiving is the best American holiday - what could possibly be wrong about an entire day devoted to nothing else but eating, drinking and watching sport? So I am looking forward to next week. Before we leave, I will be enjoying the cricket and relaxing at the house. So far so good with the cricket - our batting looks amazingly good right now, I just hope our bowlers will be up for the challenge of getting 20 wickets on that pitch. I just want the day to fly by so I can get home and get into holiday mode!

Weekend Update

Enjoyed watching the end of the test match. It was a good win by the team and I think we are looking good for continuing our streak in the next Test. On Saturday I spent most of the day teaching a class to some other SAP consultants - I can certainly think of better ways to spend a Saturday but I guess this had to be done. Saturday night was our monthly poker night. I came 3rd in the first tournament, netting a $20 profit. My key hand was towards the end when I got my chips in with AK vs A8...and my opponent hit an 8 on the river to eliminate me. We then played another tournament where I did not figure in the standings...so I broke even for the night.

Not sure why but we watched a movie: "The Last Mimzy". Quite a pointless movie I thought and a complete waste of two hours. On TV, we are watching a series called "Most Evil". This is a great documentary series on the analysis of different serial killers throughout history. "Enjoyable" is not really the right word but it is certainly a fascinating look at the darker side of humanity. Shocking to me is that there are so many horrific killers that I had never even heard of. Some of them are still in prison and seeing them interviewed today is also quite revealing.

Great Start

Great start to the First Test and also a great start to the fulltime position for Phil Jaques. This was a fantastic innings in tricky conditions under a lot of pressure. The day turned out amazingly well for us after being sent in. I think the fact that there was only the one rain shower helped us a lot as the disruptions were kept to a minimum. Sri Lanka must be regretting their decision now as they lose the chance for Murali to bowl in the 4th/5th day. I was not too impressed by their pace bowlers and I think they left their best one out of the team. As long as we can not let Murali dominate, they will find it tough.

More live action this evening!

Cricket!

The bad part about this time of the year is that my cricket season is over...but the good part about this time of the year is that the Aussie summer of cricket is just beginning. The cricket from Australia is the best for matching up the timezones. The first test will start tonight at 7:00pm, a perfect way (for me) to spend the evening. Mindy is prepared for this, I think she plans to knock out a couple of books while all of this is going on.

I think we have picked the best side we can for the game. I am looking forward to seeing how the new players will do, particularly Phil Jaques who could easily have been in the side for a while by now. The only downer is the weather forecast looks quite bad so it could be a frustrating game to watch.