Week 73

Back from vacation, & back to projects!

In construction project news, we got a date for the next milestone in the paperwork odyssey (essentially a big meeting), & it's not for another six months. In light of that news, I have decided that this will be the last numbered week on the blog -- I want to get out of the "still in progress/how damn long will this drag out" mindset, and get on with life. 

And life is good down in the basement/workshop/Duserhaus brewery! This week, we got this fine table for $125 in the classifieds:

What's so special about this table? If you take off the top, this is inside:

For the uninitiated, this is a bumper pool table. Similar to the regular game you see in bars, the goal is to shoot the balls into the pockets, but there are fourteen little round bumpers inconveniently placed in the middle of the table and on either side of the pockets to make it harder. It's super fun, and importantly for Mars, it takes up a ton less room than a regular pool table (this is about 5'x5'). Also, the reverse side of the table top has padded felt on it for card games. Usually these go for $900 & up new, so $125 is a great deal. Amanda & Susie helped us test it out this weekend -- a good time was had by all.

In related news, we sold the car this week. It needed a ton of expensive work, & we're not using it as often now that construction is done, so we did the math, & figured out that now was the time to sell it & join a carshare program again. So, we're saving money & now have the spot where the car was to work on bikes:

We both expect to be back on the road with our self-built bikes this week! 

Lastly, I rehung a door. If you recall, the part of the basement that is now the Duserhaus (& now also the game room), used to be a strange little room with a false floor -- click here for the original photos. There used to be a door in there that was useful for keeping Pickles from getting access to the vents in the garage door to sniff & bark at everyone that goes by:

The false floor was put there, presumably, to get around the slope of the garage floor & get a level surface. That floor reduced the head room in there to about 7 feet or so, which required that door to have about 8 inches cut off the bottom -- look closely at the photo above, and compare the bottom of the door to the top, and you'll see what I mean.

When we took out the sheet rock and flooring, I saved the door, hoping to be able to put it back later. That's what I did today (ending the era of blocking access to the vents with lawn chairs):

I added the 8 inches back with a thin piece of board, and gave it a fresh coat of paint.

Sorry, Pickles.

I also finished a bunch of waterproofing odds & ends. All told, four things came off my to-do list (which has about two dozen things on it, big & small). Very satisfying!