I Love New York Travel

Blogging has been extremely light for me, currently. We’ve gutted a few rooms of my 1855 house, and are presently rebuilding it– right down to the bones. So while I would just love to be able to blog all day about lipozene reviews and the glories thereof, I am finding myself very, very preoccupied. I am forlorn that I must ignore my favorite blog, The Older Geek, for a time while I work on the house. I haven’t written anything in almost a month! I just have no time for making tutorials right now…. it’s a time-consuming task, so I’ve had to let it go.

I can’t blame her. I wish the flash didn’t zap her blue eyes, either. Unfortunately, my camera is starting to show signs of weariness. The lens does not focus as it should anymore. Do cameras slowly fade?! I have a Kodak z1012. The color is superb, perfect for color printing. I purchased it because Kodak is superior with color. However, the focusing capability is very poor. I may eventually have to replace the device. I do not look forward to spending another $200 for a camera. *sigh* But it is an important accessory for my blogging… we’ll see.

Too many choices… what camera do I get?!

What is that, you ask?

Got any guesses?

We find ALL SORTS of surprises when we open up the walls here. Unfortunately, no golden dubloons… just a lot of mouse nests, dead things, chewed up walnut shells…. and wasp nests. This thing is as big as a basketball, maybe bigger. Right over the dining room area. And another one the same size was sitting in the floor joist cavity next to it.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I saw it, my hair nearly turned white, and I was nearly a prime candidate for some hefty wrinkle creams…. thank God the nest was empty. I have no idea how long it sat in there. THANK GOD it was not active when we were demolishing. It would have been…. a wild experience.

Unbelievable. LOL, gotta laugh.

See this cat?! This is why we locked her upstairs while we gutted the downstairs. She is TOO curious! She hated being upstairs while we were down. I hated it, too, actually. She’s a good kitty, much like a little dog in that she always has to be where I am. It was difficult for us both to be locked away from each other.

After we ripped out some furnace ducts, she discovered the hole and tried to creep through it. It’s a 10 foot drop to the floor below, though! I guess she was desperate.

She’s downstairs now, wandering among the ruins that were once my kitchen and dining room. It’s a desolate place right now. No lights, no walls, no ceiling, no nothing!! I’m delving into learning about gas heaters and such. We’ve decided to get rid of our filthy forced air heating system (good news for me!). I don’t think a forced air system should ever be installed in an old house. The ducts- which we had cleaned two years ago– were FILLED and caked with disgusting dirt and dust. And to think that we breathed all that in! I’m mortified, really. Out goes the furnace with its filthy, snaky ducting system. If I could give a furnace duct review like one gives colon cleanse reviews, I’d say that forced air heating is a really crappy system.

She’s so happy to be back in the living room, on her couch with her blanky, that she’ll sleep even in this position. LOL

We are renovating the downstairs of the house. Livvy has been locked away upstairs for the better part of nine days. After we completed the demolition, removed the debris, and cleaned the place, we let her come back downstairs. After sniffing every single corner and crevice, she plopped down on the couch with a little sigh, and snoozed.

She smells like plaster, though. :-p

The renovation demolition is going… OK. It was off to a reluctant start (always hard to start these things), went marvelously for several days, hit a bump, ended with a burst of activity… and has now reached a lull. I am really, really looking forward to this being over. Once the plumbing and electric is done, I can rest easy, because it will be a breeze (insulation and sheetrock). The work is hard, but I’ll be happy to be over the hump when I can have my washing machine upstairs again, have clean countertops, and don’t have to rely on outdoor pillows for a place to rest.

And to think, I have to do this again next year with the bedrooms upstairs. I’m getting too old for this, I think!