main webblog

Done!!

I got the last coat of poly on yesterday, and it looks great! Now I've just got to prime a few drywall patch bits, install the baseboards and hook up the CAT5 in the basement, then I can have a functional office. Yay!!

The poly was pretty darned easy to put on and turned out quite nice. It looks like the Safecoat Polyseal BP (it's got the lowest VOCs of anything I could find) is pretty nice stuff. I ordered two cans of the poly, but only ended up needing one. So, if anyone is interested in a good deal on ultra-low VOC polyurethane, e-mail me. :)

New and improved

I've got some pictures up of how the new and improved third floor is progressing: Click

Finished

It took me until 2AM last night (although the last hour and a half was more for cleaning the tools and myself from the adhesive), but the cork floor is done! I just have to put a couple coats of polyurethane on it to seal in the cracks (probably tomorrow and the day after), but at least all the cork tiles are in. It turned out to be pretty easy, but amazingly tedious to install the stuff. My friend/neighbor Tim helped out a lot on Sunday, so I'm now indebted in beer to the guy.

Pictures and a writeup should be forthcoming.

Version 2.0

Leonie scanned in the ultrasound pic, so we now have our first baby pictures!

The '+' mark on the left is the head, the one on the right is the tail and the tick mark in the middle is the heartbeat. It's sort of hard to tell which end is which (I got it right on the first guess), but Leonie says:

There are little hatch marks that mark the head and butt of the baby (at this point they're interchangeable, so maybe we're having a lawyer).

I've always thought that it would be good to have a lawyer in the family. Never know when it's going to come in handy. ;-)

Another week in the valley

I'm back out in Silly Valley again helping out with the SuSE linux on Altix project. Nothing too terribly exciting to talk about on that front. I am, however, enjoying In-N-Out and great sushi.

So, now for the important announcement: Leonie, my wife is now 8 weeks pregnant! She had her first doctor's visit and ultrasound yesterday, and version 2.0 has little arm buds and a heartbeat. The kid is due on April 26, which is two days after Leonie's birthday and three days before mine. As you guessed, I just couldn't be happier! :)

In-N-Out

I got my fill of In-N-Out burgers and fries last week when I went out to NASA Ames research center to install a new
Altix box. As per usual, the install went off without a hitch and there's one more very satisfied customer.
This weekend, I'm working on the third floor again. The subfloor prep should be done by the end of today and I should be able to start laying the cork tiles next weekend. I've been documenting the process with my digital camera, so I'll post pics and a bit of a how-to when I'm done with it.
I'm off again next week to Silly Valley to work with engineering on some Linux stuff. Two more trips out there before the end of the year and I should qualify for AAdvantage Platinum status. That's a lot (50,000) of miles!

Switch to Linux

Switch to Linux if you're a supervillian.

My new stairs have been duly tagged with the appropriate DML+LZL 2003. :)

Home improvement galore

Well, the crappy crumbling concrete stairs out front came out today and the guys are pouring new ones as I speak. Never watching concrete being poured or worked up close before, I was pretty fascinated by the whole project. It looks a lot like icing a big cake, but in my front yard with plywood forms. Leonie is going to sit out and watch it while it sets up to prevent kids from autographing our property (I, however, may have to add my tag).

I also finished tearing out the carpet from the 3rd floor last night. Now I just need to get a few more pieces of plywood to fix some spots in the subfloor, fill in the cracks with wood filler, level out the uneven spots with self leveling patch, then I'll be ready to lay the cork flooring. Woohoo!

For those who are curious, I got a great deal on the cork from blackriverfloors.com (I'm getting the Baltic 12x12 glue down tiles). The installed stuff should look like this.

Oh, and dillb, get the Bimmer, get the Bimmer. ;)