Really Hot Friday
Photo excursion downtown is one entry ago - in
case you missed the Pioneer Square, downtown street/skyscraper images, jump to
bottom and check out Thrice Thwarted - or in case you're a Monorail fan and want
a report on Monday's open hearing at City Council - same jump. This is just a
short end-of-week report mostly to show off my new bike and all the housework.
I've moved a chair upstairs - the WiFi works perfectly in my new multimedia
studio so I may not have to buy another Airport Extreme - need to do more
testing but the signal strength upstairs was actually better than downstairs.
Read on - a relatively short report with relatively perfunctory images - again -
showing off house addition work and new bike and a few upstairs windowscapes of
what will be my new view realm.
On a totally technical point, I've now linked my blog to a comments and trackback server. The continual evolution of journaling....
On a totally technical point, I've now linked my blog to a comments and trackback server. The continual evolution of journaling....
Whew!! Who says the East has the lock on hot
days. It got up to and past 80 degrees F today - clear skies turned a bit hazy
as all the car fumes from the three-point-who-knows-how-many-million Metro Puget
Sounders mixed with the piercing rays of the sun and slowly but surely began to
mask Mt. Rainier. This morning my closest local volcano was looking glorious
and bold in the clear sky but by this afternoon it was practically hiding behind
the hazy conditions which the temps and sunshine created. Ah, the joys of urban
existence. And, guess what, everyone out here was complaining about how "hot"
it was. I mean, really, it was ONLY in the mid eighties and the humidity was a
far, far cry from the 90 percent relative humidity of the East Coast.
Fortunately, I haven't become a complete and total West Coast Wimp yet - I
thought the day's weather was just fine, thank
you!
At 9:30 am today I decided to cheat - rather than take a series of bus rides to and from Green Lake to REI and back - I decided that since I now know the daytime and weekday/weekend travel habits of the rest of this car-mad city - that I could dash up to Green Lake taking Aurora (SR 99) and dash from there back to REI and, if necessary, dash back to Green Lake and do all that plus test drive three bikes within a three hour window and still get home long before the PM rush began. Which I did. Learned a couple of things doing that as well.
One, I learned, again for the thirtieth year in a row, that my leg muscles will take about a week to recondition from the winter lay-over period back to the summer bike period. Wow did the front leg muscles on my thighs feel the pain. Walking is not the same as riding a bike - different muscles are used. But, from experience I also know that about a week's worth of good biking and the muscles will be retoned and good for the entire bike season - it's just a pain to have to go through this year in and year out.
Two, I learned, again for the sixth bicycle in a row, that I'm a sucker for improved gears and brakes and rims and frames. I decided on the Rocky Mountain Lattitude hybrid bike for a couple of interesting reasons even though it was $200 more than the Marin San Rafael and $100 more than the REI Navara Buzz hybrids. The REI didn't have front shocks even though it did have better Shimano shifters and deralleurs than the Marin and disk brakes. The Marin was about five pounds heavier than either the Rocky Mountain or the REI. For the difference what sold me was the disk brakes and the front yoke and seat suspension of the Rocky Mountain. I've spent years with center-pull and side-pull rim brakes and the constant adjustment and pad replacement which is required of that type of brake. Not to mention the issues with bent, out-of-true, or dinged rims. I've also spent years putting up with the issues of rim brakes on wet pavement and how they really need to be played and tweaked in that kind of environment. Disk brakes have their own set of issues but they are not the same as the issues with rim brakes and given the wet conditions in the Northwest and the incredible slope of most of the streets around here, it seemed to me that disk brakes would be a new level of fun and practicality which would fit perfectly with the new terrain I've got around here. And, though the Marin had the same suspension as the Rocky Mountain, it didn't have the brakes. One gets what one pays for, I suppose. Oh, and one more thing. The Marin is made in Marin County, California. The REI bikes - I don't know where they're made - much of REI's in-house stuff remains a "country of origin" mystery. The Rocky Mountain is made in Delta, the southern suburb of Vancouver, BC. In a truly weird twist of fate, I'm actually going to be riding a bike which is made less than two-hours by car from here, actually about 108 miles.
Saturday is supposed to be another full-sun, blue sky day and, hopefullly, a bit more breezy to wash some of the car fumes out of the Sound. I'll probably just do a few tours around the peninsula for starters - a ride around the beach side up to Alki and then back home down Delridge. I've learned a few shallow-slope ways to navigate West Seattle which I'll use until I get my mountain legs back.
The house passed both electrical wiring and framing inspection this week and today the insulation, including sound insulation, was installed and all the open spots closed out with either sealant or sheet plywood. Next week the windows go in and once that's done the siding will start to be installed. By the end of the week, the sheetrock gang will be here and the interior spaces will begin to take on a finished look. Bathroom fixtures other than the tub/shower still need to be installed but that will follow the installation of the linoleum floor - yes, we decided on linoleum over vinyl because it lasts longer, is easier to install, doesn't mar or scar as easily and can be repaired (sanded) a LOT more easily than vinyl flooring.
For carpeting we've selected a nylon material in a dark gray with tones of blue which will give the upstairs a level of gravity which the light and airy walls and windows will need. The linoleum in the bathroom is also a dark but pure blue with mottled swirls of purple and green. The flooring treatment upstairs will be generally a dark - somewhat neutral - tone which I'm expecting will balance perfectly against the light (one of a thousand shades of beige/white/offwhite/buff/pick-your-neutral-light-color) walls and ceiling. And, remember that 40 percent of the wall area is open glass so there will be lots of light coming in which the dark, neutral, floor treatment will help tone down.
I can say that the acoustics in both Adam's multimedia room and my multimedia studio will be amazing. In a very real sense what we've created upstairs are two anechoic chambers. Perfect for allowing us to create havoc with acoustic pressure waves and not disturbing each other or anyone else in the neighborhood.
We've still got a few details to work out such as the rail and deck treatment for the balcony and the spiral staircase base and top treatment but those will come pretty naturally as we get the hardware and start to look at the alternatives. Building a custom house or having a custom addition done to an existing structure is about 90 percent architectural drawings and engineering plans and about 10 percent real-world carpentry adjustments. There are a lot of three-dimensional aspects of building something which cannot be forecast or presumed from drawings, no matter how good the CAD program. And, for the curious, Lisa McNelis does use AutoCAD.
I'll have to get a few accessories for my bike which I couldn't get until I actually picked out the vehicle itself - such things as the front bike bag, which is important because that's where the camera gets stowed, and lights, both rear and front, which also needed the exact size and spacing of the handlebars before I could buy them and not expect to have to return them. I've got the spare inner tube, the tool kit, the combination Presta-Schraeder valve pump, the water bottle holder, the under-the-seat, rear, tool bag, and, of course, my helmet. I've actually got enough to be legal tomorrow when I start this year's bike season - my first NEW season on the West Coast. I generally averaged a couple thousand miles a season in DC and I'm going to be curious how I do out here.
Anyway, just a quick update to finish out the week. Images of the upstairs with insulation, a few shots out the upstairs windows, and some shots of my new bike ($799) are posted below. Have a great weekend wherever you happen to be and enjoy yourself - we too often lose sight of the importance of recreation and the mental and physical renewal it always has.
Chas
Now the images - first the house work to date....
A shot of the aerie from the roof deck. Each of the windows is five feet high on this side and six feet high on the
other two sides (owing to the level of the roof on this side). In the distance are the Cascade Range foothills.
This is what Mt. Rainier looks like from inside the Aerie.
And this is what the volcano looks like from standing on the roof deck.
And in the other direction, this is what the immediate front view of Puget Sound looks like from the roof deck.
And, from the aerie, this is my across-the-street neighbor, Jim,
trimming a maple - well, trimming is NOT the right word. He's well
into getting rid of the thing. It has outgrown it's shade days and
the deciduous trees have roots which match in breadth the spread
of the crown and the roots of this tree are beginning to uplift all four
of the backyards on the four yards it is growing in. Time - alas -
to turn the 50-plus-foot tree into sawdust. Jim is a former
lumberjack so he actually has these skills.
How many bathrooms in Seattle have a view of Mt. Rainier? I actually
don't know, but our new upstairs full bath certainly does. This is looking
out the window of that bathroom.
Until it's finished, you might say this is my new upstairs office. The wireless works
perfectly up here - five bars on the Airport indicator - of course I'm about ten feet directly
above the antenna. You can see the tree which is being felled directly across
the street.
So, to repeat, today was in the mid-80's and even upstairs it was "warm." On the other
hand there was - as expected - a nice breeze coming in through the "open" windows.
Obviously, I only get to use this space - for the time being - when the day crew is done
with it - and the sawdust is all swept or vacuumed up. However, imagine this space with
dark gray carpet and some form of off-white on the walls and an L-shaped glass desk...
that's coming along with the Infinity speakers (and dual Adcom monoblock amps with
Krell preamp - Proceed CD player - and all that soundproofing around me). Drums would
be to my left - see next shot.
Drums would be about where the new electric panel is - well, in front
of it. Left speaker would be just inside the window and right speaker
would be slightly to the right of where this image quits. This room is
acoustically dead already and there's no carpeting.
New, Rocky Mountain Latitude bike. It's a metallic midnight blue with front yoke and
seat suspension and disk brakes.
Another side view showing a little more of the actual color. Nice Deore Shimano gear -
not top of the line but two steps up from what my previous Marin had for Shimano gears
and pedal/free wheel assembly. Nice dual wall rims, too.
Looking down on the front handle bars and handsets - I actually much prefer the thumb-
forefinger flick shifters than the handle rotate variety. I understand it's a chocolate-vanilla
choice as those who prefer the twist shifters don't like the thumb-finger flickers. Brakes
work really nicely - no squeaking and no grabbing - need to be careful I don't overbrake
on the front wheel - that's true for rim or disk brakes, though.
Dead-on view of the bike as others will see it. It's a real
sweet toy - great feel to it, fits my frame perfectly, and
- of course since it's brand new - everything is smooth
as silk (or oil on glass).
Close-up of the rear Shimano disk brake caliper assembly and disk. It's
about 1/16th thick (the disk that is) and vented. Also doesn't feel like it
would be prone to being bent - I'm sure it's some solid alloy of steel. I will
need to replace the disk pads on a routine basis, just like rim brake pads or
car disk brake pads. In this hilly town I'll have to see how many times a year
that's required. I get a free 3-month tune-up at Gregg's Greenlake Cycles,
where I bought it.
Close-up of the front wheel brake assembly. I've already discovered one
major advantage of disk brakes - no brake disassembly required to remove
the front wheel for carting inside a car or repairing a tire. Totally cool.
The front escutcheon on the main front post. Believe
it or not, the word beneath "Rocky Mountain" is the
word "bicycles." The company was started by a trio
of Vancouver bike shop guys who wanted to get a
better mountain bike than was available when they began
their efforts in 1980. All the design, engineering,
manufacturing including essentially custom welding of
each frame, and testing is done in their Vancouver
suburb plant (Delta - right next to the Tsawassen Ferry
peninsula south of the city - on the Frasier River delta).
Every bike I've owned for the last decade has been made
by a company which started as a custom shop in a West
Coast urban city (San Francisco area for the Marin's I've
owned two of, one crunched in a car wreck and one
stolen owing to my completely unfounded faith in my
fellow human beings' honesty).
And since this edition of imagery is all about "toys," I thought I'd show off Todd Schulte's latest addition to his
set of construction toys - this crank-em-up twenty-foot long and twenty-foot high double platform brace. In this setup,
only the "stand-on" platform is installed - the "work" platform (where the materials and tools would be stashed) sits
on the higher ledge. It is free-standing on the bottom and attaches via a clever lag-bolt assembly at the top (which
isn't shown in this view because the darned thing is too tall). This will be a great boon for Todd's crew when it comes
time to put on the siding. The platforms go up or down using foot pedals which are located, one each, at the two
standard ends. The house will be sided with the same material and painted to the same color as the existing siding
- it's called Hardy board - pretty much like everything else with this addition it's the latest high tech building trades
product - it's cellulose fiber (ground up wood) mixed with cement and compressed into this "concrete-wood" product
which requires diamond-bladed saws to cut and nail-guns to attach. It is impervious to nearly everything and has
about twice the expected lifetime of aluminum or vinyl siding - also it can be painted easily. It's just harder than the
dickens to nail anything into it (short of a pneumatic nail-gun). In every sense of the word this house addition is a
product of the times, from the neighborhood-gawking architecture to the building materials it's being built with.
Who knows what the next installment will bring - I'll be on bike this weekend, with camera.
Ciao
At 9:30 am today I decided to cheat - rather than take a series of bus rides to and from Green Lake to REI and back - I decided that since I now know the daytime and weekday/weekend travel habits of the rest of this car-mad city - that I could dash up to Green Lake taking Aurora (SR 99) and dash from there back to REI and, if necessary, dash back to Green Lake and do all that plus test drive three bikes within a three hour window and still get home long before the PM rush began. Which I did. Learned a couple of things doing that as well.
One, I learned, again for the thirtieth year in a row, that my leg muscles will take about a week to recondition from the winter lay-over period back to the summer bike period. Wow did the front leg muscles on my thighs feel the pain. Walking is not the same as riding a bike - different muscles are used. But, from experience I also know that about a week's worth of good biking and the muscles will be retoned and good for the entire bike season - it's just a pain to have to go through this year in and year out.
Two, I learned, again for the sixth bicycle in a row, that I'm a sucker for improved gears and brakes and rims and frames. I decided on the Rocky Mountain Lattitude hybrid bike for a couple of interesting reasons even though it was $200 more than the Marin San Rafael and $100 more than the REI Navara Buzz hybrids. The REI didn't have front shocks even though it did have better Shimano shifters and deralleurs than the Marin and disk brakes. The Marin was about five pounds heavier than either the Rocky Mountain or the REI. For the difference what sold me was the disk brakes and the front yoke and seat suspension of the Rocky Mountain. I've spent years with center-pull and side-pull rim brakes and the constant adjustment and pad replacement which is required of that type of brake. Not to mention the issues with bent, out-of-true, or dinged rims. I've also spent years putting up with the issues of rim brakes on wet pavement and how they really need to be played and tweaked in that kind of environment. Disk brakes have their own set of issues but they are not the same as the issues with rim brakes and given the wet conditions in the Northwest and the incredible slope of most of the streets around here, it seemed to me that disk brakes would be a new level of fun and practicality which would fit perfectly with the new terrain I've got around here. And, though the Marin had the same suspension as the Rocky Mountain, it didn't have the brakes. One gets what one pays for, I suppose. Oh, and one more thing. The Marin is made in Marin County, California. The REI bikes - I don't know where they're made - much of REI's in-house stuff remains a "country of origin" mystery. The Rocky Mountain is made in Delta, the southern suburb of Vancouver, BC. In a truly weird twist of fate, I'm actually going to be riding a bike which is made less than two-hours by car from here, actually about 108 miles.
Saturday is supposed to be another full-sun, blue sky day and, hopefullly, a bit more breezy to wash some of the car fumes out of the Sound. I'll probably just do a few tours around the peninsula for starters - a ride around the beach side up to Alki and then back home down Delridge. I've learned a few shallow-slope ways to navigate West Seattle which I'll use until I get my mountain legs back.
The house passed both electrical wiring and framing inspection this week and today the insulation, including sound insulation, was installed and all the open spots closed out with either sealant or sheet plywood. Next week the windows go in and once that's done the siding will start to be installed. By the end of the week, the sheetrock gang will be here and the interior spaces will begin to take on a finished look. Bathroom fixtures other than the tub/shower still need to be installed but that will follow the installation of the linoleum floor - yes, we decided on linoleum over vinyl because it lasts longer, is easier to install, doesn't mar or scar as easily and can be repaired (sanded) a LOT more easily than vinyl flooring.
For carpeting we've selected a nylon material in a dark gray with tones of blue which will give the upstairs a level of gravity which the light and airy walls and windows will need. The linoleum in the bathroom is also a dark but pure blue with mottled swirls of purple and green. The flooring treatment upstairs will be generally a dark - somewhat neutral - tone which I'm expecting will balance perfectly against the light (one of a thousand shades of beige/white/offwhite/buff/pick-your-neutral-light-color) walls and ceiling. And, remember that 40 percent of the wall area is open glass so there will be lots of light coming in which the dark, neutral, floor treatment will help tone down.
I can say that the acoustics in both Adam's multimedia room and my multimedia studio will be amazing. In a very real sense what we've created upstairs are two anechoic chambers. Perfect for allowing us to create havoc with acoustic pressure waves and not disturbing each other or anyone else in the neighborhood.
We've still got a few details to work out such as the rail and deck treatment for the balcony and the spiral staircase base and top treatment but those will come pretty naturally as we get the hardware and start to look at the alternatives. Building a custom house or having a custom addition done to an existing structure is about 90 percent architectural drawings and engineering plans and about 10 percent real-world carpentry adjustments. There are a lot of three-dimensional aspects of building something which cannot be forecast or presumed from drawings, no matter how good the CAD program. And, for the curious, Lisa McNelis does use AutoCAD.
I'll have to get a few accessories for my bike which I couldn't get until I actually picked out the vehicle itself - such things as the front bike bag, which is important because that's where the camera gets stowed, and lights, both rear and front, which also needed the exact size and spacing of the handlebars before I could buy them and not expect to have to return them. I've got the spare inner tube, the tool kit, the combination Presta-Schraeder valve pump, the water bottle holder, the under-the-seat, rear, tool bag, and, of course, my helmet. I've actually got enough to be legal tomorrow when I start this year's bike season - my first NEW season on the West Coast. I generally averaged a couple thousand miles a season in DC and I'm going to be curious how I do out here.
Anyway, just a quick update to finish out the week. Images of the upstairs with insulation, a few shots out the upstairs windows, and some shots of my new bike ($799) are posted below. Have a great weekend wherever you happen to be and enjoy yourself - we too often lose sight of the importance of recreation and the mental and physical renewal it always has.
Chas
Now the images - first the house work to date....
A shot of the aerie from the roof deck. Each of the windows is five feet high on this side and six feet high on the
other two sides (owing to the level of the roof on this side). In the distance are the Cascade Range foothills.
This is what Mt. Rainier looks like from inside the Aerie.
And this is what the volcano looks like from standing on the roof deck.
And in the other direction, this is what the immediate front view of Puget Sound looks like from the roof deck.
And, from the aerie, this is my across-the-street neighbor, Jim,
trimming a maple - well, trimming is NOT the right word. He's well
into getting rid of the thing. It has outgrown it's shade days and
the deciduous trees have roots which match in breadth the spread
of the crown and the roots of this tree are beginning to uplift all four
of the backyards on the four yards it is growing in. Time - alas -
to turn the 50-plus-foot tree into sawdust. Jim is a former
lumberjack so he actually has these skills.
How many bathrooms in Seattle have a view of Mt. Rainier? I actually
don't know, but our new upstairs full bath certainly does. This is looking
out the window of that bathroom.
Until it's finished, you might say this is my new upstairs office. The wireless works
perfectly up here - five bars on the Airport indicator - of course I'm about ten feet directly
above the antenna. You can see the tree which is being felled directly across
the street.
So, to repeat, today was in the mid-80's and even upstairs it was "warm." On the other
hand there was - as expected - a nice breeze coming in through the "open" windows.
Obviously, I only get to use this space - for the time being - when the day crew is done
with it - and the sawdust is all swept or vacuumed up. However, imagine this space with
dark gray carpet and some form of off-white on the walls and an L-shaped glass desk...
that's coming along with the Infinity speakers (and dual Adcom monoblock amps with
Krell preamp - Proceed CD player - and all that soundproofing around me). Drums would
be to my left - see next shot.
Drums would be about where the new electric panel is - well, in front
of it. Left speaker would be just inside the window and right speaker
would be slightly to the right of where this image quits. This room is
acoustically dead already and there's no carpeting.
New, Rocky Mountain Latitude bike. It's a metallic midnight blue with front yoke and
seat suspension and disk brakes.
Another side view showing a little more of the actual color. Nice Deore Shimano gear -
not top of the line but two steps up from what my previous Marin had for Shimano gears
and pedal/free wheel assembly. Nice dual wall rims, too.
Looking down on the front handle bars and handsets - I actually much prefer the thumb-
forefinger flick shifters than the handle rotate variety. I understand it's a chocolate-vanilla
choice as those who prefer the twist shifters don't like the thumb-finger flickers. Brakes
work really nicely - no squeaking and no grabbing - need to be careful I don't overbrake
on the front wheel - that's true for rim or disk brakes, though.
Dead-on view of the bike as others will see it. It's a real
sweet toy - great feel to it, fits my frame perfectly, and
- of course since it's brand new - everything is smooth
as silk (or oil on glass).
Close-up of the rear Shimano disk brake caliper assembly and disk. It's
about 1/16th thick (the disk that is) and vented. Also doesn't feel like it
would be prone to being bent - I'm sure it's some solid alloy of steel. I will
need to replace the disk pads on a routine basis, just like rim brake pads or
car disk brake pads. In this hilly town I'll have to see how many times a year
that's required. I get a free 3-month tune-up at Gregg's Greenlake Cycles,
where I bought it.
Close-up of the front wheel brake assembly. I've already discovered one
major advantage of disk brakes - no brake disassembly required to remove
the front wheel for carting inside a car or repairing a tire. Totally cool.
The front escutcheon on the main front post. Believe
it or not, the word beneath "Rocky Mountain" is the
word "bicycles." The company was started by a trio
of Vancouver bike shop guys who wanted to get a
better mountain bike than was available when they began
their efforts in 1980. All the design, engineering,
manufacturing including essentially custom welding of
each frame, and testing is done in their Vancouver
suburb plant (Delta - right next to the Tsawassen Ferry
peninsula south of the city - on the Frasier River delta).
Every bike I've owned for the last decade has been made
by a company which started as a custom shop in a West
Coast urban city (San Francisco area for the Marin's I've
owned two of, one crunched in a car wreck and one
stolen owing to my completely unfounded faith in my
fellow human beings' honesty).
And since this edition of imagery is all about "toys," I thought I'd show off Todd Schulte's latest addition to his
set of construction toys - this crank-em-up twenty-foot long and twenty-foot high double platform brace. In this setup,
only the "stand-on" platform is installed - the "work" platform (where the materials and tools would be stashed) sits
on the higher ledge. It is free-standing on the bottom and attaches via a clever lag-bolt assembly at the top (which
isn't shown in this view because the darned thing is too tall). This will be a great boon for Todd's crew when it comes
time to put on the siding. The platforms go up or down using foot pedals which are located, one each, at the two
standard ends. The house will be sided with the same material and painted to the same color as the existing siding
- it's called Hardy board - pretty much like everything else with this addition it's the latest high tech building trades
product - it's cellulose fiber (ground up wood) mixed with cement and compressed into this "concrete-wood" product
which requires diamond-bladed saws to cut and nail-guns to attach. It is impervious to nearly everything and has
about twice the expected lifetime of aluminum or vinyl siding - also it can be painted easily. It's just harder than the
dickens to nail anything into it (short of a pneumatic nail-gun). In every sense of the word this house addition is a
product of the times, from the neighborhood-gawking architecture to the building materials it's being built with.
Who knows what the next installment will bring - I'll be on bike this weekend, with camera.
Ciao
Posted: Fri - April 30, 2004 at 08:31 PM
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Published On: Jul 04, 2005 05:41 PM
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Published On: Jul 04, 2005 05:41 PM