Lots of Books up for grabs!

We are clearing out a spare room of furniture (already claimed), book shelf (still available), and some of the books (still available) on the shelf.  What’s the point of storing all these books unless they are going to get read?  So, if anyone is interested in any of these books let us know.  If not, we’ll just donate them or take them to a thrift store.  Just thought I’d see if anyone had any interest before I just gave them away.

(I’ll probably be adding to this list for a day or so…)

Computer Related Books:

• Practical C Programming By: Steve Oualline
• C the Pocket Reference Second Edition By: Herbert Schildt
• Artificial Intelligence Using C By: Herbert Schildt
• Learning C By: Peter Aitken
• Learn C Now By: Augie Hansen
• Supercharged C Graphics By: Lee Adams
• Systems Programming in Microsoft C – Second Edition By: Michael J. Young
• Object-Oriented Software Engineering – Examples in C++ By: Steve Hallday, Michael Wiebel
• Easy Object Programming for Windows Using Visual C++ By: Richard O. Parker
• Object-Oriented Programming in Microsoft C++ By: Robert Lafore
• The IBM PC & PS/2 By: Peter Norton & Richard Wilton
• Assembler Language Programming – For IBM and IMB Compatible Comptuers By: Stern, Sager, Stern
• Windows NT - The Next Generation By: Len Feldman
• Advanced Windows Programming – Covers Windows 3.1 By: Martin Heller
• Introduction to Networking By: Nance
• Virtual Reality Playhouse – Explore Artificial Worlds on Your PC By: Nicholas Lavroff
• Word for Windows

Books on Dogs

• Dogs for Dummies
• The Art of Raising A Puppy

Philosophy

• Great Dialogues of Plato
• Aristotle Ethics
• David Hume – An Enquiry Concerning the Principals of Morals
• Kant – Fundamental Principals of the Metaphysic of Morals

Physical

• Feet First – A Guide to Foot Reflexology

New Paint Job for Christmas

We decided to go for it on a spur of the moment decision.  Last weekend we asked our favorite painting contractor Josh Stonebrook (if your looking for a painter) to give us an estimate on painting the Living room, Kitchen, and Hallway.  The price was right and he started Monday morning.  I should have taken some photos of the place all masked off with the majority of the painting done when we got home from work.  The garage door was left open for ventilation and the ceiling fans were running to help air it out.  The only problem with that was Sunday the weather turned cold with a sudden drop in temperature.  So, it was a bit cold in the house when we got home.

Since the kitchen was all masked off we went out to dinner and Anna got to do her homework at Dos Coyotes.  After dinner we decided we had to have some heat and gingerly unwrapped the thermostat to turn on the heater.  When morning came we decided we had to go out to breakfast so we hit Starbucks before heading off to school and work.

Tonight, when we returned home all the masking was removed and the place looks pretty neat.  Just one more day and we should have everything back in place with a fresh new color scheme!

Hopefully all the paint is cured and the fumes are gone by the time we bring Nana to our house this Friday to stay with us thru Christmas!

Almost lost a tree

We had a  bigger than usual storm with lots of rain and wind.  While the surrounding area did suffer some damage with fallen trees and limbs crushing a few cars we came out of it relatively unscathed.  The only near casualty was a small tree in our back yard that was blown over.  It fell against the deck so it didn't come completely out of the ground.  So, I put in some big stakes and used two small come-a-long style synchs to  pull the tree back into place.  Hopefully it recovers.

Lots of people were without power for several days but we only had a minor 5min outage the first morning.  My office was half down for 3 days though.

Home Depot Monthly Free Kids Project

This was back in August.

View at YouTube

Samurai Gardner

We had been talking about pruning a big cypress that hangs over our patio trellis for a couple of weeks. This weekend I decided to go for it. I climbed up in the tree and started hacking away. It turned out better than expected. There is now more light on the patio and the tree doesn't look bad. I only received a minor scrape on my shin from a large branch. From the pile in the street you would have thought I cut down a tree. Now there wont be as much stuff falling in the pool either.

The new deck is done!

For the last several weeks I have been building a new deck that wraps partway around the pool and comes up along the back of the house. It will allow us to step out of our new sliding glass door off our bedroom onto the deck. The top of the deck will match the floor level in the house. It took several piers embedded in footings at 32"cc and pressure treated 2x8's at 16"cc to support the weight of a future hot tub. Since framing is less than 10" clear from the ground I had to use pressure treated wood. I used chemical resistant screws, hangers, & angles to fasten the framing together.

I bought most of the hardware from the usual spot, Home Depot, but the wood and Trex decking were much less expensive at Berco Redwood. I used screws for everything, so there are no nails in this deck. I lost a week by buying the deck late on a Saturday so it couldn't be delivered until Monday. All I could do was move the decking to the back patio Monday night after work. Then look at it all week wishing I could start getting some of it down.

The first weekend attaching the decking was a cold one so I wasn't moving as fast as I would have liked. I was getting 5 rows of deck done a day. The following Saturday I finished the decking on the front side. Once I finish the far side I'll cut and attach the trim around the outside. The trim will cover the pressure treated wood still visible around the outside of the deck.

The framing is done and all I have left to do is finish attaching the decking (and cast a step on each side). I'll have additional progress photos posted soon. I've been using the film camera for most of the shots.