First Bungalow Guests

Tonight, we have our friends Mark and Tina coming to stay with us for a few days. They are our first official guests!

The good news is that the house doesn't smell like we had a flood. My Uncle Joe lent us his dehumidifier, and we think it's really helped. Just in case, we bought 4 gallons of bleach to scrub the basement with, so that should emit a nice smell for them... but it's better than a mold smell and we need to clean up any bacteria the city of Chicago graced us with. We made the smart choice of stocking up on over a case of wine, that way, they'll never even notice any smell.

Last night Mike started the task of sawing holes in the subfloor to locate the drain giving us trouble. More good news... we have yet to find any water damage. We think we know the route the water took, so we should just be able to remove that portion of the floor until we're ready for total demolition. We'll post some pictures soon.

Crapola

Got a new tune in my head.... I fought the water and the water won.... I fought the water and the.... water won.

Blah.

After the last post, Michael went back to HD 3 more times. The auto switch for the pump didn't work out, and they didn't have anything else that would work. We did go ahead and rig up a system we thought would work, I'm not posting it here since it "may" officially be a no-no... and we monitored the situation for about 2 1/2 hours. It seemed like it was working fine, and my idea was to take a nap for ONLY 45 minutes then check it again. So, I set the alarm for 45 min, came down, and there was water everywhere. We're now back on shifts. I still proclaim the fact that if either one of us was down here, we wouldn't have noticed until it was too late, since the water came from a totally different part of the basement. We would have still been in the laundry room, thinking we were fine. But, we're not fine, and again, I'm up at 1:30. And, I guess this one is kind of my fault. Again, blah.

One cool thing, Mike did build a new route to get the sump water to bypass the cracked drainage tile. It's temporary, but a lot better than what we were dealing with before.

And, the rain has officially changed to snow, so things may be looking up for us.

Space Madness (2008... Go Away!!!)

I title this post Space Madness, because I'm reminded of the Ren and Stimpy episode, where Ren has completely lost his mind while in space. Stimpy comes across Ren, who's posting his captain's log about his time in their space ship (of course, since it's the future, the log is being sucked from his brain). Anyway, I come downstairs to see Michael still awake, and writing a 14 page log, each page filled top to bottom, monitoring our water situation at 5:30 am. Oh wait, let me backup...

I believe I last posted on Tuesday. By Tuesday night I had come down with the flu. It was not fun. Michael had an after work party, and I had to call him to come home and bring me medicine. Since I was so sick and achy, I couldn't sleep, it was just a lot of moaning and groaning, not the good kind either, and a lot of stomach pain. However, around 2 am, Michael woke up, sat straight up in bed, and made a bee line to the bathroom. Seems we both have the flu. Drat.

Anyway, this continued to Thursday, Xmas morning. I was still sick, but Mike was actually feeling better. (He was feeling so much better, that he installed the Watchdog sump backup system. Of course, I slept through the whole thing. I really would have helped... Really...) But, I knew I couldn't make it to his mom's for Xmas, I felt terrible for missing it, but would have felt more terrible had I infected everyone.

So, Mike's leaving to go to her house, when he comes back in 20 minutes later. It seems, when he drove me to Firestone to retrieve my car after they replaced my flat tire, on his way driving home, he got a flat tire. So, his car is stuck in the garage, without any room to fix the flat. And it's a complete sheet of ice in the driveway, so he can't fix it there. Drat. He'll have to use my car. Oh, did I mention my car was in the street stuck in the ice and snow? Yea... So, after he was gone for about 45 minutes, I thought it odd since he said he'd be right back. I look outside, and see him shoveling. I get dressed, go out, and help him get out of the space. it seems all is right in the world again. Ha.

Friday we get up, I'm feeling remarkably better, and the chimney guys come bright and early at 9am. It's not such good news. We need a new liner, they show us a video where the whole chimney is collapsing upon itself, and I'm ready to throw up. Well, also, they tell us we need to rebuild both chimney's top 5 layers, since the bricks are worn away, and moisture is getting in. I'm not even writing down that quote...

So, now, after my minor meltdown, we're getting ready for his Dad to come over to celebrate Xmas. We were going to show him, his wife Kim, and her kids the house, and then go out for dinner. Meanwhile, it has gone from freezing to about 50 degrees outside, and since we have about 1 1/2 feet of snow on the ground, roof, etc, that can't bode well. As we're giving them the tour around 5pm, we get to the basement, where we see the storm drain overflowing. I've mentioned this drain in the past. It's saved our asses before, and is not being nice to us now. We then called our insurance guy, to add flood coverage before something happens, but we're told there's a freeze in Illinois, and we can't add anything for at least a week. Also, it seems Albany park is in the news again, flooding. Shocking! So, Mike tried a bunch of different things, and finally we decided we can't leave, and off he headed to home depot. As much as we NEED home depot, I have grown to hate that place. Anyways, we order takeout, and while he's at HD, I went to Michael's FAVORITE place in the world, Smoque BBQ, to get takeout for everyone. Seems we're having dinner at home. Well, Mike came back with a pump, and started by pumping the water from the drain into the sump pit. Yea, not working. Still coming in. Ok, where the hell can we put the water where it won't come back? That's easy, in the alley. Sure, it's not legal, but what the heck do you do in this situation?

Anyways,the water level is dropping, however, once the pump is turned off, the water comes back in. Oh, and it has started to rain. According to Michael's log, that started around 2:13. He's turning into Mr. Skilling, he's tracking the lightning and thunder too. I told you, space madness...

Anyways, I went to bed at about 1:30, I told him to wake me in an hour, we were going to do shifts, but he stayed up. During his SM time, he kept a log of everything that he had done, and what was happening with the water. He made some trenches outside in the ice, all around the house, so the water would funnel into the storm drain. Oh, he also found the storm drain under all the snow had searched for previously, and shoveled that out for the water to flow into. (Log time 2:49am)

So, when I woke up at 5:30, I couldn't believe he was still down here. I told him to go to bed, and now I'm sitting in the basement, on the stairs, monitoring the situation. The rain just stopped, but according to the forecast, not for long. In the past 1/2 hour, the pump actually started running dry (per the log, this hasn't happened in 3 1/2 hours) so I turned it off, and I'm keeping an eye on the water level. I'm not sure if he expects me to keep this log every minute, but I'm not. I don't want to get the SPACE MADNESS!!!

Update at 11:25am. Now it's pouring, and it's getting worse. Yikes. Mike just left to get another pump from home depot. We talked to our 2 neighbors, next door is ok, but the house next to them is badly flooded. This poor older couple is bailing buckets of water every 30 seconds. Mike is getting them a pump too. And, the rain isn't letting up... We think 2 pumps should handle the upcoming storm (we hope)! At least the drain is close to the sump pit, and I'm just sweeping the water into it. Seems to help. We're at least at a steady level now.





Update 3pm:
That Edwin Starr song keep going through my head.... Water... huuh .. What is it good for? Absolutely Nothing! Say it again!

That is how that song goes, right? Well, Mike came back with the pump, and it was dead. LOL. So, he went back and got another one, after fighting to exchange it. Now, we have 2 pumps running, and it's still backing up. So, guess where Mike just went off to? Yep. HD. I need to buy stock in that place.

So, now, we're getting an automatic switch to turn on and off the more powerful pump, so we don't have to be up all night again. Oh, also, he's going to rebuild the sump pump line, to bypass the cracked drainage tile. We'll basically have to dance the limbo if we want to use the back stairs, but, oh well. Oh, he's also stopping to get some ice cream, because, well, dammit - we need some ice cream...

Tonight we had plans to go to Everest with all our cousins. It was going to be a wonderful dinner, with wonderful company. Instead, we've basically spent the equivalent, if not more, on the latest bungalow adventure. Bummer.

Project #29

Last night, we picked up my car from Firestone. Other than the 2 new tires, it's basically in the same shape as when I brought it in. They may have made the steering wheel a little worse, but they swear the car is aligned straight. I'm tired of fighting, so I'm letting it be. At least the window is in, and the door locks work.

After that, we stopped over at the Home Depot since we found our 10% coupon. We bought the Watchdog Sump Pump backup system. I have no idea when we're going to attempt this install, but it's going to be pretty soon. Once it warms up, there is going to be a ton of water, with all this melted snow. Speaking of which, there's currently a blizzard outside. Since Michael is working late, I may attempt using the snow blower myself.

So, I'm going to have to assume the Chimney guys are going to cancel today. It's pretty windy, and I can't see them climbing on the roof in this weather. Oh, and besides, the chimney cap is currently frozen to the sidewalk. Michael told me to put it in the garage weeks ago, before the snow, but did I listen? Nope. I figured, hell - the thing sits outside when it's on the roof, why put it inside now? Yea, I should have listened...

Fun with cars

We have made the determination that my car does not like attending any Jewish Holiday events at Aunt Hazel's. First, came the flat tire on the way to Passover a couple of years ago. That was a bummer, but I missed the portion of the four questions, and I was very very sad about that.

Now, the flat tire on the way from the Hanukkah party. In a snow storm. We were able to limp it to a gas station, fill it up, and all seemed happy in the world. Until this morning, when we went to snow blow the driveway, and came upon the flat tire again.

So, poor Michael had to change to the spare in the actual temperature of -6. Well, -25 if you include the windchill, but -6 sounds bad enough.

Get to Firestone, order the 2 tires, and I ask them to throw in an alignment. They tell us it will take 2 hours, so we decide to be brave and walk over to the Abbey Pub for some lunch and bloody mary's. That was the longest 3 block walk of my life. Freaking freezing outside. After some lunch, we walk back and it's been 2 hours.

The car isn't done. This is where the trouble started... turns out, they did 2 alignments, and the car still won't drive straight. They assure us it's straight, but it's still pulling, so we're watching them stand around the car, literally scratching their heads. Another 2 hours later, they're still working on it. At this point, I'm ready to tell them to forget it, give me a refund, and we'll go. We've been here for 4 hours, I'm tired, and my entire afternoon of watching Battlestar Galactica and eating chili has been ruined.

So, we're standing by the glass door, waiting to tell them the news, when the guy comes out to inform us the drivers side window has just fallen out. Yep, fell OUT. It didn't break (pfew), but they're trying to get it back in. That took another 45 minutes.

The manager tells us we're done, the others in the waiting room actually cheer for us, and we're off. We pull out and the car is PULLING to the right (previously, it had been slightly misaligned to the left). I mean, you let go of the steering wheel, and it veers hard to the right. No way can this be safe, so we turn around and go back.

The manager tells us he'd like his other mechanic to look at it tomorrow. Can we bring it back? Well, let's just go home, grab another car, and leave it tonight. Ok - he agreed, and promised to stay there to wait for us.

Upon getting into the car, Mike opens the drivers side door, and tries to unlock the auto lock on the door. Nope. Doesn't work now. Sigh.....................

Well, the car is now in the garage, we're happily home, but I'm afraid what will await me tomorrow.

The Black Olive

Sid got a new nickname last night. He always sleeps next to our "green olive" pillow, so now he's black olive. Sorry, couldn't resist the post, he's cute.

And I thought this one was cute too. Here's black olive keeping me company while I work...

And AGAIN!!!

All night long, we listened to the sound of the valve on the sump pump. Shooop... blickity blickity blooop kathunk. Over and over. And over. About every few minutes.

We seem to have a problem. Well, several actually.

1. The valve is busted. It's still sort of working, but by the sound of it, it's getting worse.

2. We have a swimming pool on the side of our house. Maybe that would be a good thing in the summer, but when it's -10, not so much.

The pipe where the sump pump drains into on the outside of the house seems to be clogged. Or busted. Or broken. The water was gushing everywhere.















First order of business was to replace the valve. I anticipated for this to be a major hassle, which would result in water everywhere, but of course Michael knew what he was doing, and task 1 was accomplished quite quickly.




The other problem, you know, the Sunnyside pond, wasn't as easy.




















Because it was SO darn cold out, the water was freezing pretty instantly. It was overflowing out of the pipe, gushing in the front, going under the fence, gushing in the back, and we had ice everywhere. But, I was more worried about water everywhere in the basement. We decided if we built a trench, all the water would flow into it, seep into the ground, and that would easily buy us some time to figure out how to fix the problem. Well, here's the trench, and I have to say, it wasn't draining anywhere. Mike got a nice workout though!



I'm sure you can guess the next thing we did. www.angieslist.com

Big Mike's Sewer and Plumbing. You gotta love a place that's called Big Mike's. They have an A rating, so we gave them a call. Mike is the bomb. He's the best. He showed up within a couple hours, rooted out the pipe, and was reasonably priced.

Of course, we seem to have a bigger problem, something about a cracked pipe, or something. When he was talking about the "bigger problem", I kind of went to my happy place, so I wasn't quite listening. Sounds like we have a couple options, nothing urgent right now. We'll call them back in the spring for them to take some pictures.

Yep.

Here we go again

Ahhh, the Happy Bungalow in the snow. How pretty.

But what's this on the ground?? Hmmm.


I look up and see this -


Mean bungalow, spitting the chimney cap onto the ground. The question is... did the wind do it, or do we have a new pet?

So, I've started calling around Chimney places I've found on Angies List. I found one I liked, but they can't come out until 12/22. Oh well. And, I'm still waiting for Mike to post about this exact same Chimney, and what we found inside of it. Although, if the chimney cap was loose this whole time, that would explain it. Come on Michael! We're all waiting!!

So, we'll need to have the company do a cleaning, and I KNOW they are going to tell us we need a new liner. Good times...

Daley Craziness

Alert I just got to my email from the Chicago Trib:

"Rates for most city parking meters will increase to $1 an hour starting Jan. 1 as a result of Mayor Richard Daley's deal to lease the spots for $1.1 billion to a private firm.

Two-third of the city's meters now cost 25 cents an hour, but once the paperwork is finalized, any metered spot costing less than $1 per hour will increase to $1 next year, city officials said today. And by 2013, those same metered spots will cost $2 an hour, according to City Hall.

The most expensive meters, which are found in the Loop, cost $3 an hour now. They will increase to $3.50 an hour next year and $6.50 by 2013."

I was just commenting to Michael last week and questioning why, every time (ok, honestly, close to 60% of the time) I park at a meter, that meter doesn't work. Now it's not a biggie, I throw in a quarter, it doesn't work, I move my car, throw in another quarter. Yea, it's a pain, but less of a pain than fighting a ticket. But who the heck is going to have 4, let alone 8 quarters to park their car?! Seems a little nuts to me.

Warranty Schmorranty

Why is it that nothing is ever free? You'd think if you have a warranty for something, they replace that item for free, and that's that.

Nope.

So, we have this homeowners warranty for the bungalow, which luckily we had added to the contract by the sellers. The company makes it sound wonderful... Buy this warranty, and if anything ever goes wrong, you simply pay the $60 service call fee, and they replace or fix the broken item. Sounds easy, right?

Buried in the small print, is a heck of a lot of small print. One item being, if something breaks, they'll replace it, but they won't take the broken item away. If we want them to, we have to pay. $50. Um, no. I have faith in the Chicago junk guys that someone will be our junk fairy this week, and haul it away. But that meant Mike had to carry it out to the alley. We'll see if someone takes it, or the city may be charging us a nice fee for the fact we just left it in the alley.

Another item in the small print... they'll replace a covered item, but if the water/gas/whatever line they are connecting to is not up to Chicago's code, they can not do the work until they bring those items up to code, for which we have to pay for. Yea, the gas and water line weren't up to code, shocking huh?

All in all, it wasn't too expensive. Less expensive than if we didn't have the warranty, but more than we wanted to pay. But, we do have hot water now.

One of the things we knew about the house when we bought it was the first thing we needed to do was replace the hot water heater. We applied to get the bungalow certified, which did happen, and one of the perks is we get access to grant money. So, we were planning to get a tankless hot water system. But, the city of Chicago struck again, and they ran out of grant money... hence, the old water heater exploded since we never replaced it.

I'll let Michael blog about the bungalow certification later. Fun stuff...

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiii

So as I was scouring all of the ads looking for a water heater sale at 5am, I couldn't help but notice all of the advertisements for the Wii. There were Wii systems, Wii fit, Wii games, Wii accessories, Wii wii wii.

I've actually been wanting the Wii system for while, because I want to get the Wii fit. I've heard it's fun, and really works as a good exercise program.

So, once I realized the warranty would cover the water heater, I took off in my car to go buy us our early holiday present, the Wii.

I got the last system at the store I went to at 7am, but they didn't have any Wii fit. That's ok, we found it last night not too far from us, and I have to say, this thing is FUN!

Mike kept saying it was way more fun than he ever thought it would be. It's true. It's awesome.
The last gaming system I had was the Atari. That was a looooong time ago.

Anyway, here's a video of Mike taking the Baseball training.




After playing some of the sports games , we installed the Wii fit, which is a balance board. They give you all of these tests to check your "Wii fit age", Mike is 53, and I'm 57! Which, is actually better than the score I got for my "Wii sports age", which was 75! LOL! Ok, granted, I've never been good at sports, but 75?!

So, after taking the tests, Wii told me I'm very unbalanced, and asked me if a trip alot when I walk. Why, yes I do...

So, I will have to work on my balance, which it will help me do. They also have strength training, aerobics, yoga, and some other fitness regimes. We played til about 1 last night, and I have to say, I'm sore this morning!

The game is a blast, I'd recommend it to anyone, and I can't wait to improve my wii age!

Um, what part of "The bungalow is not a boat!" don't you understand?

I'm asking that question to the bungalow gods on this bright and early morning at 4:30am on Black Friday.

There we were, sleeping peacefully when I realized I was in a half asleep, half awake state. Yes, there's a new noise in the bungalow, but I'm kind of dreaming so not paying much attention. I know it can't be the cat, since he's next to me... Yea, I'll investigate later. I'm tired.

Later came when Mike popped out of bed, and ran out of the room. The noise? That would be the noise of a sump pump, which I guess he thought odd since it wasn't raining.

He comes back, and there's a sigh as he gets back in bed. Well, the water heater just exploded. I love our basement drainage. Good night. Um... what?!?!?

Yep, water heater exploded, and granted, while that sucks Sucks SUCKS, it could have been OH so much worse. The unit is right next to the sump pump, and a couple feet away is the drain I mentioned in the previous post about water. So, all the water was pouring down the drain. None of our boxes got wet, none of the music equipment got wet, no floating organ playing that horrible Celene Dion song as it sinks, just the laundry room soaked, with the water flowing down the drain. I guess we really should consider ourselves lucky in that respect.

I guess I can list the positive aspects of this:
We're surviving our first major bungalow crisis...
We no longer need to worry about what to get each other for Christmas/Hanukkah...
We don't have to worry about throwing out all our boxes of crap in the basement... (wait, is this a good thing?)...

Now, I sit here and search all the black friday adds from the paper, hoping to find the deal of the century on water heaters... so far, that search is not looking good. We'll keep you posted...


UPDATE 6AM:
I was talking to my mom, since I knew she'd be up at this early hour... and she said "Shouldn't the home warranty you have cover that "? Ha. That's right. The sellers gave us a year home warranty on all appliances. Mom, you're the BEST! Guess we're kind of forgetful at 4am. Now we get to see what exactly happens we you activate the warranty. Yay!

Advil is my friend...

Yep, that can only mean one thing... Beth came into town yesterday.

Woke up this morning, and my head HURTS... I'm sure Beth is sleeping in, nice and cozy, unaware of the light snowfall we have covering our beautiful city.

Yesterday, we had a luncheon at Wildfire for cousins Alan and Page, who recently got married. It was a lot of fun, great to see the family.

Afterward, we took Beth over the the house to hang out. It wasn't long before we thought we should venture out for a cozy dinner at Fiddlehead. Before we knew it, they were closing, so we ordered one more round before driving Beth back to her neighborhood. Once we were down on Rush and State, it was decided there should be one more round. So over to the new Dana Hotel. Stayed awhile, and whoops, they were closing. Ok, back to dropping off the Bethster, but wait... one more round. We're walking down Walton, and Mike says, hey, isn't the Underground Wonderbar on Walton. Look up dear... yes, we're 2 steps from walking in the UW, where more drinks and fun was had by all. We almost went for some Tiki drinks, but decided since some people had to work the next morning, that may be a very bad idea. See, sometimes we can be smart.

Turns out, if you don't use the flash in a dark bar, you don't get very good pictures.









But that's ok. We have another month of fun before Beth departs back to the wonderful land of Maui. Which gives us time to stock up on the Advil...

Executive Decisions...

Well, today I made an executive decision. Since Michael was at work, and we were unable to hold a bungalow meeting, I made the decision to hire a landscaping service.

This Sunday, Cat came over to once again help us rake up all the leaves. OK, she did all the raking (she claimed she wanted the exercise, yes, she's nuts! But seriously, THANK YOU!) but after 5 hours, with only 1/4 of the leaves bagged, and piles of leaves still laying around, and as the temperature dipped in the low 30's, and the snow began to fall, I realized these leaves were going to be in piles for a long long time.

Today I was watching the landscapers work on our neighbors lawns, cleaning up all the leaves, plus doing the gutters, and I decided to venture outside in the freezing cold to inquire about their rates.

Wow. Way cheaper than I could have imagined. Hence, the executive decision.

So, now our gutters are fresh and clean, which is a good thing since we don't have a ladder big enough to reach the damn gutters, and those piles and piles of leaves are history. And we're no longer the sore spot on the block.

All in all, I'd say it was a job well done.

The bungalow is not a boat...

Shortly after we closed on the house, the area had some of the worst storms and flooding ever. Luckily, our house survived without any water at all.

It wasn't so lucky with Hurricane Michael and Heather.

First came Hurricane Michael, and my Sophies Choice moment. I heard Michael calling "Help... Help!" from the basement. I ran downstairs to discover the basement flooding in the laundry room. Water was gushing everywhere. I thought that's what the call for help was for, but no, Michael was trying to move a huge TV, by himself, and while he was carrying it, his shirt got stuck on something, and he was left holding the TV, while stuck. I stood there, pivoting from foot to foot, unsure what to do first. But we're flooding! I yelled. He had no idea what I was talking about, so I made the wise choice, help Mike, so he can take care of the flooding. Luckily, we have a drain in the laundry room, and most of the water had run down the drain.

Turns out, when the washer empties into the utility sink, it would be unwise to leave clothes in the sink, to stop up the drain. Lesson learned.

Next came Hurricane Heather. I've been recovering from being sick, so it's really the only explanation I can offer for my stupidity. So, I stop up the kitchen sink to do some dishes, you know, let them soak a bit. So, I leave the water running, and walk away. And forget. And get sidetracked. And, again, I was SICK! Wasn't thinking straight.

So, I come back awhile later, and all the water is rushing onto the counter, to the side of the cabinet and wall. CRAP. Turn off the water, clean up the mess, and hope it doesn't get moldy behind the cabinet.

About 1/2 hour later, I'm telling Mike what had happened, and his response was, "Any water in the basement?" Hmmm... water in the basement? Didn't check.

Open the basement door to find the stairs are soaked. And a nice big puddle on the floor... with all the water.... running into the laundry room drain. It didn't get any of the boxes, that were a mere couple feet away. I LOVE the laundry room drain.

Lesson learned on this one? I'm banned from doing dishes when I'm sick (Ok, I banned myself, Mike doesn't know yet).

Last note, sitting on the couch watching the snow fall outside. Amazing how much more you like snow when you know you won't have to dig out your car the next day.

A present for the bungalow

Today we woke up early to drive out to Ikea. We wanted to buy a bench for the den, and a cabinet for the bathroom. Here's the picture...

Oh, right, we didn't get either of those two things. Instead, we found this wine cabinet, on clearance at Pier 1.

Let me tell you how fun it was to drive this back from Schaumburg to the city. I'm still not sure how we got it in the car, and me along with it... it was a pretty uncomfortable ride home. The end of the cabinet kept hitting the window button, so every bump, the window would go down, not that I felt it being crunched in the trunk...

But, our bungalow got a present, and we love it!

.

Michael's First Official Post

OK....everyone has been requesting that I post and I agree, I should...so here it is!!

Well, I love this Bungalow, I always wanted a Bungalow and the more Bungalow-ey I found Bungalows to be, the more I liked them. I think that I drove our Real Estate agent to tears trying to find this one but it's finally ours and I couldn't be happier about it. Especially because it happens to be my dream house, plus, I have Heather running around inside of it, so that just makes it extra incredible.

So, that's a good start. Everyone should know that I am a huge fan of Frank Lloyd Wright and that the Prairie Style of Architecture is something that I have always thought was classic as well as classy as well as really practical.

So this Bungalow, as well as thousands of others is not perfect, but that does not detract from it's Bungalowly Goodness. In a sense, it's imperfections are homey and charming and with a building that was erected in 1922; to be expected. That's the whole point of buying the vintage stock of Chicago. You want a piece of that, you know what you're in for, and you are glad that what you end up with is unique and one of a kind.

I have the same affiliation with classic cars. You may curse them for not starting but when they are running and you are cruising down the road, you realize that the experience that they offer is unparalleled with anything that was built today. It's a visceral experience that you can't forget that somehow makes your life seem more rich than it would have been had you picked the normal thing.

And, so it goes, I love classic sports cars, vintage Saxophones, guitars, organs, amps, mixers, tape machines, microphones and houses. I like the low tech and grit that these things provide in the high tech world I live in.

So, not so difficult to understand. This house has a thousand stories. The people that stopped by that lived here told a few. They confirmed some hunches and disproved others; it was all a fascinating process. So, when you buy a place, you sign up for an Odyssey of sorts, you never know where you will end up. You are stuck with it good or bad, but with a place like this, even the WTF moments make you smile as you peel back the layers and discover what lies beneath the facade.

Now, we have a great frame and a canvas that is worthy of many artistic impressions. We have made a few tentative starts, always checking with the spirit of the house to see if it matches the original ideals. We may extend into Neo-Classicism as we customize this classic ride into a low-rider of a house that we seek to unleash upon the streets of Albany Park. However, we both agree that we are going to keep this Bungalow true to it's nature. It's strength lies in a time tested design.

Jeff, a long time friend of mine made an excellent analogy: "A Bungalow is like a Fender Stratocaster, try as you might, you can't perfect the design any further." "It was designed right the first time, you can't make it any better than it is."

So, I'll join in the fun as we go here, I have been working on this earth ship as Heather has been posting - you've only seen a small sampling of the pictures. This place is so ripe with experiences that I can honestly say, "you will have to visit to get it", but some of the more interesting parts we will post. Hopefully, all of you will stop by and see what we have been blogging about.

Right now, I would love to post about what is happening in the house next door. But that, is for the next post. Don't despair, I have pictures.

Celebrate!

http://wichmannstories.blogspot.com/2008/11/blog-post.html
Great read. Well said, Mark.

Today is my happy day.

I am off from work, and it's 75 degrees outside.

I woke up early, started organizing the house, and then went for a massage.

Next stop: Opart Thai for lunch. Now my mom is coming over to see the house, and go for a walk. Maybe some shopping, buy some cheese, then dinner at our favorite pizza place, Pizza Art Cafe.

Oh happy day! (Then the diet begins...)

Vote!

I voted 2 weeks ago, but heard some interesting developments... If you already voted, your name is still appearing on the roster for today, as not voted yet. I heard this from 2 people at work, who's spouses and children had voted early, yet they were still on the list without a check mark. Vote early, vote often? I don't get it.

I did read somewhere that the results from the early voting wouldn't get counted until 7pm tonight, however, again, they're giving you the option of voting twice?

Anyway, tonight we'll be celebrating with some wine and cheese (and maybe some unpacking), but mostly wine... and cheese.

This country NEEDS some change. Hopefully the majority agree.

http://origin.barackobama.com/issues/

Gardening 101

Saturday morning, I was up bright and early, and thinking over the project list, I wanted to accomplish 2 things. Unpack the rest of the boxes from the move, and plant some bulbs. Since it looked like a nice day, planting the bulbs in the garden won first order of business. We had to rent a tiller from our friends over at the Crafty Beaver, so Cat came over to help us move it in her truck, and then the fun began...

Giving a man a large power tool is like giving the kitty catnip... happy as can be and craving more. So, no, we couldn't just have a small flower bed line tilled up, but a nice great big area for Mike to have fun with. I had about 85 bulbs to plant, and a huge area to work with, so I figured it would work out. But, once I started planting, I realized the flowers are going to look pretty scarce since they'll be so far apart. Oh well, live and learn. (Thanks Cat for all the help also!)

Michael decided since we had the tiller, he'd do the entire front lawn. Yes, it's too late to plant grass seed this year, but don't argue with a man with his rented power tools... So, he tilled the entire front lawn, which was dead anyway, but according to him, it will help for next spring. Again, men and their tools... don't argue. After a full day of that, we were SORE. It was too late to bring the dang thing back to the CB, so we'd have to do it Sunday.

Sunday, we were even more sore. Mike and Cat took the tiller back, and came back with a dirt rake to even out all the lumps. While Mike was raking, the neighborhood men on the block convened telling Mike it's not going to work. Apparantly, this has been done before, over and over. We'll see though. We're still confident they didn't have the right grass, and that they also didn't water it.

Cat helped move some hostas that were on the corner, and not doing well, to a better area now that the lawn had been tilled. And then the brilliant idea came to rake the leaves and sweep the sidewalks. 6 hours later... we finally finished bagging all the leaves. Looking up at the tree's, you can't help but notice it's still pretty darn full, about 1% of the leaves have dropped, and we had 7 full bags of huge lawn bags filled up. By this time, I was done, so I pretty much passed out and was done for the weekend. Oh yea, no boxes got unpacked.

This morning I woke up and looked in the backyard. The squirrels had dug up the daffodils and left them half eaten around the yard. Yep, guess there won't be many flowers next year...

Busy...

We'll, we've both been too busy to post (I promise I'll get Michael to post one of these days...) and we haven't been busy with house stuff. I've been putting in 16-20 hour days at work, which is making me pretty grumpy. Michael's been super busy with his music, both playing out, practicing, and doing recording sessions.

Hopefully, we'll be able to unpack some stuff this weekend, since living out of boxes isn't so fun. Then we can post more pics and projects for your reading enjoyment.

Introducing the new Opart Thai....

One of the biggest issues I had with leaving Lincoln Square, was leaving my second home behind, Opart Thai House. I have a feeling we paid for their monthly lease with the amount of time we frequented their happy establishment. It was only a 1/2 block away, and they had the best, no really, THE BEST Thai in the city. Between the Peanut Sauce Lover, the Khao Soy, and even more Peanut Sauce Lover, I was a wreck that we were moving, and they wouldn't deliver to us.. just 6 blocks shy of the delivery zone.

Last night, we were craving some Thai like mad, so I opened up Grub Hub to see what places will deliver to us. Perusing the menu's, I happened upon a spot called Dharma Garden. Hmmm, this is interesting.... I thought as I was browsing the menu. Lots of vegetarian offerings.... Almost all vegetarian offerings.... Yep, it's a Veggie / Seafood only place. Yum! That makes me happy, and Michael, who loves seafood happy, so we ordered it up to check it out. Not 20 minutes later the doorbell rang. Food had arrived piping hot, and as we were opening container after container, we were blown away by the portions. We'll each have food for 3 meals, plus, they threw in a Pad Thai for free. Can't beat that. Oh, did I mention the food rocks? Happiness...

The Rock

Sidney, the cat, is finally adjusting. His nickname is "The Rock" because when he sleeps in the bed, he refuses to move, even if you accidentally kick him, you'll encounter a non moving cat, and you'll need to adjust your legs, so you may as well be sleeping with a rock in the bed.

Yesterday, when we came back to the condo to get him, he was not happy. When we brought him to the house, he was really not happy. Around 3am, he finally realized he recognized the furniture, and then kept me up all night headbutting me, and jumping on and off the bed. This morning, he discovered the basement stairs, and I don't think he's moved in the last 6 hours.

Thanks Cousin Eileen!

We hired a company called Checkmate movers - we found them on Angies list and I swear I'll never move again without them! They were great.

When we arrived at the house, we had a wonderful surprise, Eileen (who works right down the street) had dropped off an adorable welcome present, along with a balloon. It really cheered us up after packing all night, and dealing with all the stress a move brings.



After we finished setting up the furniture and unpacking some boxes, our friend Cathy came over and we decided some Mexican food (and more importantly margaritas) were in order. Eileen recommended a place near us called Taxco, and they have some of the best margaritas I've ever had. Great food too! But this morning, I was definitely hurting...

What? We have to mow the lawn?!

After taking ownership in late August, I guess we can consider ourselves lucky that the grass didn't grow too quickly. But each weekend, we did tend to notice it getting a little taller, a little more weedy, until we couldn't see our ankles, and I'm sure we had quite a bit of wildlife setting up for the winter.

One weekend we picked up a Craftsman lawnmower for $20 at a garage sale. Did I mention it doesn't work? "I can fix it" said Mike, and I've quickly been learning he can fix anything... (if only we had the time). Next weekend... should we take the lawnmower in to get fixed? We don't have time to work on it. "I can fix it, it's just the carburetor". A couple weeks go by...


Sweetheart, I'm beginning to have nightmares of the weeds attacking me as I walk to the garage... and that's when the Crafty Beaver comes in handy - they rent lawnmowers for $15 a day.

So, now that it's in the 50's and getting colder every day, we only had to mow once this year. joy.

Fun with strippers!

No you perverts, not those strippers, paint strippers. While Mike was spackling away, I decided to try my hand and stripping the paint (25 layers of paint) off of one of the windows in the office. We bought a citrus stripper, which doesn't smell bad at all.

Well, chalk this one up to rule #1 while using paint strippers... Do not use a canvas drop cloth, as it will not keep paint chips layered with stripper from seeping through, thereby also stripping off the clear coat polyurethane from the newly refinished hardwood floors. Who knew? Now we get to work on the floor!



Yep, didn't get too far. Would you believe at one time this window was painted red? RED!??!!

Moving day coming up...

How does one accumulate so much crap? I've been trying to figure this out, as this is how our basement looks, and we still haven't moved our stuff in from the Condo. Oh, Friday will be fun...

Aversion to spackle

I hate spackle. No, I mean I REALLY HATE SPACKLE. It's gotten so bad, that I physically cringe whenever I see or smell it. And I see it a lot...



So, I understand that plaster walls, after sitting around for 86 years, will settle and crack. Sure they're prone to bulging a little, sagging a little, it's what happens after all that time. Again, I get it. But this is beyond your normal wear and tear aging... I can't explain it. Well, I can explain it... it's called painting 25 coats over old wallpaper, never patching anything, and letting paint drips dry all over the place. And just not taking care of the walls.



So, what does all this mean?

A) Put up drywall. But, we're not doing that because of the crown moldings in most rooms, and we don't want to pull them all down. Plus, plaster walls really do add some charm...

B) Re-plaster the walls. But again, not doing it because, well, that's a hell of a lot of work.

C) Spackle the problem spots. Yep, chose this option. This option sucked, hence my aversion to spackle...


(Michael taunting me with the spackle...)

And here we go...

We just bought a 1922 Chicago Bungalow. We'll be sharing our progress along the way, and I figure since we'll be officially moving in this week, we'll have a hell of a lot to share...