Flat and Flipped

Last night a wonderful crew came together again for hauling up 10 sheets of ceiling drywall.

While the weather was cold, the pizza was warm and the beer was....well, beer. For the first time ever, the gang complained that I didn't buy enough drywall! Wow! I'll remember that next time I do this in 20 degree weather!

Thanks again to Dave, Joe C, Jen, Adam, Brian S, Rich F, Jim, and Bryant.

*ZAP!*

After the dumpster day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday were dedicated to electrical work. Dad flew in with Uncle Steve and a with a surprise guest, Dr. Bob Armstrong who also had electrical knowledge. I attempted to clean what I hadn't the night before and get things ready to go. I jetted out in a Zip Car at 11:30 to pick up the gang...and yes, the dumpster was already gone.

After doing some damage @ Home Depot we grabbed some food and dug in. We re-wired a lot of old stuff and decided to make another Home Depot trip to get lumber, a new fuse box and other small supplies. The night dragged on and before long it was 12:30 AM and we were in bed.

Sunday we tackled more of the same. I got Zapped by the new fuse box and hit my lip with the leatherman that flew out of my hand. Luckily that was the only stupid move of the weekend. The best part is that the doorbell works for the first time ever!

Dad and I felt a bit lost with all the electrical, but we got some other things accomplished, particularly framing for the kitchen wall cut to size and the old sink back up and connected.


I'm off to Miami on Wednesday but should be able to get the cable TV and loudspeaker wire run this week so I can think about insulation and drywall the week after.

Dumpster Day

Work has kept me at a distance from the renovation although I can't complain about a week in Los Angeles.

Before I left I ensured I had a dumpster rented for a few days of cleaning out the trash. Although it is easy to rent a dumpster, there are a lot of rules and regulations that I had to work around and just take the risk of breaking them. I'll spare you the details, but do enquire if you are interested.

I flew into NYC on Thursday morning, a bit tired from the work week and the red eye flight. I took a light nap while waiting for a phone call from the dumpster dude to arrive. I slept through alternate side parking and went outside at 12:30 PM to make sure it had been placed on the SW corner of Cabrini and 181st. I smiled when I saw the beautiful 5' high, 12' long, 7' wide, empty 15 cubic yard dumpster. It was all mine!!!

Although I had the New York Yacht Club awards ceremony to attend in the evening, I thought I'd make a few trips and throw some bags of plaster in just to stake my claim. After 15 bags, it was time to jet.

Friday, a bit hung over and tired, I was eager to begin work after a few morning meetings. Just after the meetings, the elevator broke and trash time was on hold. Just my luck! Take a day off of work and now I'm stuck in my apartment 6 flights up with a load of trash!

I ran some errands and it still wasn't fixed. My neighbor was also doing a bit of renovation work and asked to throw some plaster in there. He offered money and I grabbed $50 from the deal, helping to defer the $550 fee for the dumpster.

Just after 1 PM the elevator was back online. I immediately started taking bags out to the courtyard with a flat cart and lined them up in anticipation of help from volunteers.

By 3 PM, I had 90% of all the bags in the courtyard. Jen, Brian and Alyssa arrived around 3:30. Brian and I tackled throwing the bags into the dumpster while Alyssa and Jen bagged up the lathe and kitchen floor.

By 5:30 PM, everything was in the dumpster and it was about 2/3 full!


I celebrated with a photo finish....


and then I took everyone out for dinner and drinks.

Dad and Uncle Steve are flying in tomorrow and we plan to tackle lots of wiring tasks. Stay tuned for more blogging...