Tuesday Stuff

Well today was busy and eventful. Work was normal for the most part, nothing interesting to report there.

Over lunch I went in search of Tung oil to use for finishing the table. Turns out pure tung oil is very difficult to find in stores. Sears, Lowe's, Home Depot, Sherwin Williams and a local paint store all failed. I ended up going to the crazy old school hardware store in Orono. That guy has everything. Every time I've needed something hard to find that other stores said "we just don't carry that anymore", sure enough he's got it. He gave me a discount on the can and said it had probably been there for 10 years.

When I returned home Marco and Jer were at the door ready to greet me. I was so distracted I climbed off my bike w/out putting down the kickstand, snapping off the clutch handle and the shifter peg in the process. Fortunately, I had a spare handle laying around for just such an occasion. However, the shifter is another issue. The peg snapped leaving the bolt in the lever (which is fine). If I can't figure a way to get that thing out, a new shifter will set me back $140. Very frustrating. I'll have to see if Jenny has any suggestions for me tomorrow.

As far as the table goes...

Day 2:

Stripping the paint and bleaching the top.

After replacing the handle on the motorcycle I set to work on stripping the paint off the table. I took it outside and slathered on the stripper. It burned right through the gloves I was wearing when it came in contact and caused several tiny burns where it splashed. Stuff is no joke. The first run was kind of a mess; it did remove a lot of paint but also smeared it around quite a bit. On my second try I started working piecemeal, which worked a lot better. Most of the paint is off the legs but there's still some left, especially the big that is left behind/smeared. It's difficult to remove entirely. It may matter b/c I'll probably end up sanding everything down anyway.

After the sun fell I brought the table back into the garage to try to bleach the stains out of the top. The top has several large black ring stains and another long/large stain. Reading up these black stains are caused by tap water or other liquid seeping into the wood where natural tannins interact with the trace iron in the water. Supposedly Oxalic Acid will remove these stains (if that's what they indeed are). Well, despite 3 tries (following the directions) I'm not seeing much of a difference. I'm afraid I'm going to have to sand the top down quite a bit to get rid of the stain (if possible), plus I washed the top with mineral spirits and I was able to see the many small scratches and dings in the surface. Not sure if I'll be able to sand it down enough or if I should get filler. I may just try to remove the stains and apply the oil and go for a rustic/antique look. I mean that makes sense, right?

Other Monday Stuff

So, here I am doing this again. Remember Xanga? I had one of those for awhile. I started this because I figured I'd try to keep track of all the stuff Kris and I would do after moving to Maine.

But let's give it another college-try, eh?

Today was a Monday at work, which means it was busy. I also started the day with 3 work-related problems to deal with. It was a long day.

Good, no, Great news, though. After leaving my Kindle in the rain for 2 hours last week and leaving it sit under a pile of papers on my desk, it works again! I thank some random woman for rambling on the phone for 5 min straight, during which I picked up the Kindle and just kind of pushed all the buttons, feeling them under my fingers, just as a time killer. The thing blinked off then on and reloaded and works again! I was really bummed out when I thought it was done for. I'm lucky it still had a minimal charge and that I hadn't already thrown it out.

Kris is in Michigan (Isle Royale National Park, specifically) working on her research, doing fieldwork. She's been gone since Wednesday and due back on Sunday. I miss her. Friday night I went out with coworkers for the first time in 3 years and it was actually kind of fun, just for an extended happy hour. Saturday I tried to get some chores done but I wasn't very productive. Dad was supposed to come up Sat night through Monday but the weather prevented him from flying. I went to a movie (Rise of Planet of the Apes). Then I watched "Up" and it made me think of Kris.

Sunday I decided to use the tee time I had made and played a round of golf; half of it in a downpour. It was a warm rain though. In the afternoon I took Marco and ran some errands. That night I went to see "Midnight in Paris", and liked it very much. I ended the evening listening to NPR and reading and tried to research furniture restoration.

And now I'm tired.

Bonsoir

Table Project

I have a new project. I'm going to tackle furniture refinishing.

I bought this fold-up table at a Kiwanis charity auction/giant yard sale about a month ago. It probably qualifies as an antique, but I'm not sure how old and/or original the whole piece is. The sides flip up and are held in place via a bar of wood set on an axel (you can see this in the below photos). I pulled some very old hand-made nails from the bottom and some from the inside, and the hinges are definitely very old, but the table top seems like a completely different kind of wood from the rest of the piece. That may be due to poor care, though, evidenced by the near zero finish on the table top compared to the side-piece, numerous stains, the bottom half being very dirty and the paint from a half-assed paint job on the legs.

Right now my plan is to strip the paint off where I can, possibly bleach the stains from the top, sand everything down and apply an oil finish. If the stains prove too difficult to remove, I may bleach the whole top and re-stain it before oil-finishing it. Originally, I planned to remove the remaining folding-side and replace the hinges, but curiously, half of the hinges are sealed under the main table top. The top was hinged together and then screwed onto the base. I don't want to disassemble the piece so the old hinges will have to stay.

This is my first refinishing project, and as such I already bought a few things I shouldn't have (I was able to return the Tung Oil Finish - not what I wanted after all). I also still need to purchase some finer sand paper and I need to find wood bleach and actual Tung oil. Sears (of all places) seems to have these things, at least online. Home Depot and Lowe's were failures. I might even have to check a local proprietor.

Tomorrow:

- Buy some wood bleach and oil (if i can find them).

- Strip paint/finish off bottom half, weather permitting

Can-Can!

Almost every day, I check out the 'what happened this day in history" section of Wikipedia. It's usually pretty interesting way to start jumping from entry to entry. Today is the anniversary of the British victory at Trafalgar but also the anniversary of the first performance of Jacque Offenbach's Orpheus of the Underworld, a piece of which I'm sure everyone's familiar. In fact, here's an awesome accordion version by this guy:





huzzah!

Yesterday, I received my materials to study for the first CPCU class. I brought them to work in my old backpack. Back to school! Let's hope it's not too difficult to get back into the swing.

Cheers!

Vet, Cadillacs, and Science

Ahoy!

What a great weekend. It started off a little rough, but by the end it was a good one.

Friday afternoon Kristin and I returned from school/work to find Jerry looking very sad and sick. He hadn't moved from the top of the heater all day, hadn't eaten or drank a thing for over 24 hrs. I've seen him very sick before, more than once. This was the first time he wanted to hide and be alone. That worried us most. Kristin and I agreed we should take him to the vet. I called a local vet who's supposed to be pretty good and, over the phone and w/out ever being a client, asked us what was wrong and counseled us to take Jer to the Animal Emergency Center. 2 hrs, some X Rays, antibiotics, and $400 later, we took home an exhausted and still sick looking cat.

With my parents coming up to visit the next day, we called to tell them we might have to cancel b/c of our cat. They were disappointed by understood. We agreed to call them the following day to give them an update. That night we kept our eye on Jerry and let him sleep in our bed and around 230 he was up and meowing. Around 5 he was batting us in the heads wanting food. Good signs. Eventually we got up and slowly fed him food, 1 spoonful in his dish at a time so he wouldn't overdo it. Anyway, he ended up about 80% back to normal so I called my parents right before they planned to leave to tell them we'd pick them up.

Saturday was great once we got under way. We had lobster rolls at a little place across the street from the airport then drove to Cadillac Mountain. The views were spectacular in the cold, clear late fall air. It was fun to see Schoodic Mountain from Cadillac, and having climbed both, I think Cadillac's is a better view (except Cadillac we drove up to the top and Schoodic Kristin and I hiked. The hike makes the view better). Afterwards we relaxed in the hot tub, watched some [cable] TV, had a drink then went to dinner. Cleonice again provided an excellent dining experience, although the appetizers were a little salty. I had lobster fra diavlo (support Maine lobstermen!): spicy lobster whole boiled in the shell over linguine. It was fantastic. Afterward I had a great apple tart w/ ice cream. Yum. The Manhattan I had had a bit too much vermouth for my taste, but I think that was a different bartender than last time. Everyone seemed satisfied with dinner and we slept well.

Sunday we had a (heavy but) yummy breakfast again at the 2 Cats in Bar Harbor, then drove out to desolate Schoodic Point where the granite rocks stretch into the Atlantic. It was another picture perfect day and my parents enjoyed the views. By the time we got back to the airport I was feeling a little off, so we skipped the plane ride around Mt. Desert Island and headed home.

I was sad to see my parents go. We really do have a great time with them whenever we hang out. It's always like a vacation, laid back and without pressure to rush around or stay busy. I'm very thankful for that, and I'm glad to have a good relationship with my parents. On another note, the new plane is quite handsome. I really like the blue metallic paint on the bottom; I kind of wished the engine cowl was also dark blue, but what can you do. The new electronics look really cool, and I wish I could've seen them in action; maybe next time.

The end of Sunday was busy. Jerry was back to his old self by the time we had returned and I ended up going to help Kristin work on her research. We actually had a pretty good time together grinding up samples using mortar & pestle. I have to respect scientists for their attention to detail, something I could/should work on.

If you were wondering, I did not wear a lab coat....but I could have.

Telephone Blues,
Kurt

PS. Samantha got to the cabin. Jealousy

Swedish

Friday. October 17th. 2008

Dragons again. Not sure how much longer we can hold out. Our food is running low. Yesterday they got O'Malley. Just swooped in, picked him up and dropped him from about 500 ft up. Our dog was eaten. Send more apples.

...

It's pretty quiet this morning. It's a really big drag sitting in an office on a beautiful Autumn day. Fall is definitely my favorite season and the days that are in the mid 60s and only drop to the low 50s really can't be beat. As I mentioned before, my parents are coming up tomorrow for the night to see us and go out to dinner in Ellsworth. Kris and I always have a great time going out to dinner, and I expect tomorrow will be the same. I'm excited to see the new plane as well.

This just in: people who walk without picking up their feet are annoying shufflers.

Also, Jerry (our cat) appears sick, but we're not sure to what extent. We called a vet hospital last night but they said an emergency visit costs $98 just to walk in the door and we'd need XRays which they couldn't even price for us on the phone. We decided to wait over night and he seemed a little perkier this morning and looks to have eaten at least a few bites of food.

I made Swedish Meatballs for dinner last night. It's one of my favorite dishes, and probably the only bit of my Swedish heritage that I carry from my mother's side. The recipe calls for lemon juice, which doesn't seem very Swedish, but I trust it's a fairly traditional dish. This being my third time making it, I've almost nailed it. The previous two tries were less than stellar, usually in the gravy department. I was pretty close, and Kristin said it was fantastic, but I thought the gravy tasted a little..um..tinny? metallic? I think I put in a little too much lemon juice, but I'm not sure. It tasted pretty damn good, though.

Next up: Apple tart. 9 T of butter? why not!

PS. never read food blogs when you've skipped breakfast.

Another Birthday Weekend

I got 2 yolks in one egg this morning!

and then my shoelace broke.

What gives, Fates?

This weekend Kristin and I headed down to Limerick, ME where her Aunt and Uncle live. Her parents came up for a long weekend to celebrate her father's 60th birthday. It was a beautiful weekend with the leaves peaking. We took a walk around the property, helped out stacking some firewood, and even jumped in the pool (!) for a very quick dip. The rest of the day we spent loafing and then ate a great dinner and I watched the Penn State game with Kris' dad and Uncle Les. Big 10 football is boring.

Sunday we celebrated Dave's birthday with another fantastic dinner, this time veal chops. I usually don't eat veal out of principle, but I was too cowardly to decline, and the grilled chops were qutite tasty. After dinner we gave presents and then headed out to have cigar and after dinner drinks around the outdoor fireplace. It was a lot of fun but I had to head back to Orono around 830 for work on Monady.

Then, disaster.

About 1 hr into my 2.5 hr drive back to Orono, I was struck with food poisoning. After vomiting repeatedly, I ended up sleeping it off for an hour in a roadside motel parking lot before arriving home around 1230am. Needless to say, Monday was a long day.

Tuesday, Kristin and her family returned to Bangor and we ordered Thai food and just relaxed aroudn the apartment. Her birthday present from her parents finally arrived: a photo-printer! Perfect gift idea for the up and coming photographer.

My parents are coming up this weekend for a night in Bar Harbor. We're planning to take them to this great restaurant in Ellsworth, Cleonice. They've got an interesting tapas menu and some unique dinner offerings. And they make great martinis. I'm looking forward to it, hopefully the leaves stay on the trees for a few more days. It'll be nice to relax and I thnk Kris could use a few days of decompression.

Tchuss