November Report

November had another massive low and high.  My friend, Mary R needed yet another surgery for cancer.  She came through with flying colors and she is doing fine.  Recovery was quick and the surgery was successful. You go girl.  As I mentioned before, if you'd like access to her Caring Bridge blog, let me know and we can set you up.  

In October, I flew into Minnesota just before Halloween for a week's visit.  Upon returning to San Francisco, I pointed Humette north and drove to Crater Lake in Oregon for an overnight stop on my way to Corvallis to visit with my cousin Mary Jo's Daughter-in-Law, Angela, and grandson.  Mary Jo's husband arrived a few days later and I then pointed Humette south back to San Francisco.  Stephanie arrived and we had a wonderful five days going to the theater and also picking more detail items for the Los Gatos place including paint (do-over) and other odds and ends.  

St Paul  

The St Paul trip in late October-early November was short and sweet and a lot was done.  My cousin, Mary Jo, had a birthday party for her oldest son and Stephanie and I were invited. It was a lot of fun. 

I took Stephanie to her first visit to an up-scale consigment shop.  We found some exellent items for our St. Paul condo. And, they were delivered the next day!  

As for the condo, our contractor declared substantial completion which was true.  We were certainly feeling like it was darn close with a very short punch list of things left to do. Now, if I could only find my pictures...

Los Gatos Townhouse

Things moved along smartly!  The basic message is, "Wow, they are humming along." This picture taken November 6 showing the smaller window size we wanted over the sink, is an illustration of where we were at the beginning of the month. 

Picture taken November 6.  

Picture taken November 20.  .  

 As you compare the two pictures (above), you can see the window over the sink is done.  And, the reason for making it smaller was to add the cabinet that is showing to the right of the sink.  More impressive is that the sheetrock is all done, electrical is roughed in and the cabinets are placed by Nov 20.  The cabinet facings are not installed to protect them from possible damage during the rest of the project.  

Picture taken Nov 20

This picture is notable because it shows the 'moved' wall. If you look at the linoleum on the floor, it shows where the cabinet line used to be.  There was a patch of linoleum under the old stove and that is the 'peninsula' of linoleum in the lower right of this picture.  You are looking at the new wall that holds the refrigerator to the left and the stove in the center of the wall. 

Amazingly, they painted the entire place before Thanksgiving!  The team is really moving along!  

Travel

Well, I started the month in Minnesota and I ended the month in Minnesota and in between I was in Oregon at Crater Lake and Corvallis. And home in San Francisco, too. So, not too active. 

Oregon was a wonderful trip.  I was gong to visit my cousin Mary Jo's daughter-in-law, Angela. She was in Oregon with her son (Mary Jo's grandson) for some medical procedures.  

My route took me to Crater Lake. Now, you would think I was out of my mind.  It snows there! Big time.  Well, yes it does but it hadn't snowed when I went through. Or, shall I say it snowed once some time prior and it was mostly gone. 

How do you know it snows there? Look at the extension poles on the road markers. This is to help the snow plow teams stay on the road.  

What snow?  Look at the guide poles. In some places, I am sure they were 15 feet tall and taller. 

Tourists the world over do dumb stuff.  Do we really need this sign? 

Really?

Angela stayed with a cousin of her father-in-law, Chappy.  And, her father-in-law arrived a couple of days after I did.  Here is a picture at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. 

From the left: Angela, Denny, Paxton and Chappy. 

Denny flew in to Portland a few days after I did. And, it turns out, Mary's oldest nephew lives in Portland.  I drove from Corvallis to Portland early enough to have lunch with Jacob.  After lunch, I headed for the airport and picked up Denny.  Jacob seems to be doing fine. He looks good, I get a sense of confidence from him and I think he is on a good track for himself.  

Upon my return from Oregon, Stephanie arrived for a quick visit.  We suscribe to ACT San Francisco and to the traveling Broadway series (SHN-SF).  Well, we had only a short window where we could see all the performances.  Stephanie arrived on Saturday afternoon, we attended "Porgy and Bess" (Broadway) on Saturday evening. On Sunday, we attended "Underneath the Lintel" at ACT.  On Tuesday evening, we attended "Peter and the Starcatcher" (another traveling Broadway).  And, on Wednesday, Stephanie flew home.  I joined her on Thursday.  As for the performances, the first two were great!  We could have skipped "Peter and the Starcatcher" which is a prequel to the story of Peter Pan.  

The Minnesota portion of the month was grand!  We did a lot of fun stuff making the St Paul Condo liveable.  Stephanie decided the brown shelves needed to be spruced up a bit so she grabbed some leftover paint and went to town.  

Fully dedicated painter, eh? 

We did a lot of the final 'finishing' work, ranging from installing the shower curtain rod, installing door stops, painting shelving, putting the non-scratch glides on the furniture that will be on the hardwood, etc., etc., etc. Other than Thanksgiving Day, it seemed like we were at the condo every day doing some last minute thing or other.  We've purchased kitchenware, towels, etc.  All the stuff you need to make a place liveable. 

We did declare that we were complete on the day I flew home. There was only one last item due from the contractor. And the material for it had arrived. All we needed was a carpenter to install the last cabinet facing.  

We set plans for movers to take some of Stephanie's household goods to our St Paul Condo the week of Dec 9.  The week of the 16th, a different moving company will take the rest of her stuff to our Los Gatos townhouse.  Of course, these are plans.  We'll have to make sure things are really happening in California.  

We have two scenarios for the trip to California.  One scenario has me flying and then Stephanie and I drive back to San Francisco with the dog.  The other scenario has me driving my Humette (Honda Element) back to Minnesota and then we turn around and drive Stephanie's car to California.  I really want to deliver the chair to Mary's sister so I prefer the idea of driving. I hope the weather cooperates!  

Errata

Oregon has a definite fog issue. 

I understand this is a beautiful drive.  

Ciao

October Report

The St Paul remodel is progressing nicely towards its August finish (oh, its October, isn't it?), the asbsestos and the regulators were done with the Los Gatos place (it looked a lot like that scene from ET when the guys in the giant plastic tubes and white bunnysuits entered the home), the engineering documents and calculations were done and we signed the contract to begin the Los Gatos remodel.  Totally accidentally, my brother Dan, Mary's son Tim and granddaughter Charlize along with Mary's son Daniel (aka DP) and his bride, Kamie, were in Phoenix the middle of October! Given they were in town, I drove to Arizona, dropped off some of Mary's estate items, and visited with Dan, DP, Tim, Charlize and Kamie.  We all happened to schedule departure on the 17th.  I flew to Denver to visit my son and family returning to Phoenix after a nice long Denver weekend.  Before heading back to CA, I drove to visit Barnes and Terry in Tucson and then drove down to Tombstone to enjoy a total flimflam ghost town.  I had visited a real ghost town on my way to Tucson and thus the pictures of the very dirty Humette.

Well, the hurrier I go, the behinder I get.  

October Plans

By total serendipity, the occupancy of the Los Gatos townhouse wasn’t happening in October, our original plan—yah think!  In fact, the plastic from the hazmat guys was still hanging in the space.  Stephanie and I had to do a reset on her plan to move to the bay area after her retirement in September. 

We might have lived in the one room San Francisco studio as our home.  After all, that is what I was doing.  However, Stephanie has a dog, Robbie, and we were not confident of Robbie in a high rise due to the relatively long cycle to get him out doors when necessary.  Robbie, a West Highlands Terrier aka Westie, is 12.5 years old so that is an important consideration. 

Another pending item is delivery of the 1800’s era rocking chair to Mary’s sister, Reenie.  Mary’s final papers bequeathed it to Reenie.  It was old, rickety and in pretty bad shape.  There is a guy in San Jose who rebuilds old furniture and I had the chair redone in 2010 as I recall. My expectation is that I would do a road trip to Minnesota and deliver the chair.  Well, the road trip never happened.  Because I am bringing things to the condo in St Paul, I figured that would be the road trip to deliver the rocking chair. 

Finally, we’ve decided to leave one car in Minnesota at the condo in the indoor garage.  I suggested the Humette (Honda Element with custom plates HUMETTE) be the car.  Its 10 years old, four wheel drive, it’s a Honda and it makes no sense to leave Stephanie’s new car or my convertible in Minnesota.

But, given neither place was done, we postponed those plans.  Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men…

Travels

My brother Dan returned from Manila to comply with visa issues and headed to Phoenix to work on the disposition of his remaining stuff.  He would be there for a few weeks.

Totally unrelated, Mary’s son Daniel and his spouse Kamie were visiting Mary’s oldest offspring, Tim, and daughter, Charlize.  Tim and Charli live in Scottsdale.

My son lives in Denver and I’ve come to a regular rhythm of visiting his family about every 2 to 3 months.  So October was a good time to see them. 

My trip, therefore, became a drive to Arizona, again delivering estate items to Tim, followed by a flight from Phoenix to Denver, followed by a drive from Phoenix to home.  The great part is that Denver to Phoenix is an airline battleground.  The round trip prices are amazingly cheap in October. 

In Phoenix, I had a great time with Daniel, Kamie and Charli as Tim was tied up during the day.  We went ice skating—well, Charli went ice skating while the adults watched. We had a nice lunch and in all had a great time.

 

Charli in the middle with two friends. 

We also arranged a lunch where Tim could join us along with my brother, Dan.  It was fun to have everyone together. 

Mary's Oldest son, Tim. 

My brother Dan and yours' truly. 

Girl of mystery, Charlize. 

Mary's youngest, Daniel, and his bride, Kamie. 

In addition to Tim, Daniel, et al, I spent time with my brother, Dan, and getting his remaining stuff repacked and then getting him on his way back to Manila.  He seems to be enjoying life in the Philippines and certainly excited about this big adventure.  

It was great to see Chris, Casey, Danny and Sarah again.  We had spent the 10 days in Hawaii in July and this was our first get together since then.  It was a great time and the kids are certainly more comfortable with me.  I’m loving it! 

Upon my return to Arizona, I headed south to visit Terry and Barnes. Along the way I went looking for an old Arizona ghost town named Sasco.  Well, after fjording a stream in Humette, I did stumble across the ruins.  It was both spooky and fun.  The town existed because of a metal smelting operation a short distance away. That too was abandoned in the early 1900s.

 

Sasco, Arizona

As I drove around the property, I found two guys doing target practice. I had heard the gunshots when I got to the area.  I was a bit nervous but when I found them, they were just two regular guys plinking at empty cans and rocks set up against a hill so their shots would not head off into space. 

On the other side of the hill, I stopped to take some pictures of the abandoned smelting operation.  When I got out of the car, I heard a bizzzing sound go by.  It took a second to decide if it was some kind of a bug or rattlesnake but then I heard the gunshot.  A few seconds later and a second bizz went by.  I decided my target practice guys had taken out their rifles and were shooting at something near the top of the hill and I was inadvertently in the downrange part of their exercise.  Exiting quickly, I got out of there! (And I haven’t given a moment’s thought to the idea that someone out in the desert was warning me off!)

A little later I was standing on the tailgate of Humette to take a telephoto picture of an abandoned hotel a few hundred feet away.  A local sheriff pulled up, wished me a nice day, and asked if I needed anything—water, munchies, gasoline, whatever.  I declined, telling him I was fully equipped.  He asked how long I expected to stay in the desert and I told him I planned in being in Tucson by 5PM or so.  That seemed to make him happy and he left.  I thought it was really nice that he checked and made sure I had supplies out in the middle of nowhere.

The visit with Terry and Barnes was absolutely wonderful and their hospitality is superb! They didn't tell me until I walked in the door it was Barnes birthday so we had a wonderful celebration dinner.  We became friends back in the late 90s when Terry was doing interior decorating and she and Mary hit it off nicely.  It’s always good to see them and learn what is new in their lives.  Grandchildren seem to be the most frequent topic.

From Terry and Barnes, I headed to Tombstone Arizona.  I was on a “ghost town” kick, obviously.  Well, Tombstone is no longer a ghost town, perhaps it never was. But, it is one heckofa tourist trap.  Tombstone has dozens and dozens of cowboys in costume, Wells Fargo wagons, gunfights (staged), old buildings with ghosts and stories to tell. It is a marvelous place to visit and clearly a prosperous ghost town.

I then pointed the car towards northwest Arizona to visit another ghost town named Oatman.  Again, a very prosperous ghost town, although not as much as Tombstone, with a Harley-Davidson museum, wild donkeys in the streets and a daily gunfight held in the middle of the main (and only) street.  All in all, I had a good time in a not easy to reach ghost town.  It is located high in a mountain range and some distance from the closest freeway (I-40). 

When I returned to the bay area, I was pleased to find work had begun on the Los Gatos Townhouse! 

Los Gatos Townhouse

The story is best told in pictures. Here are October pictures to show progress. 

This is the picture from the listing realtor as I bought the townhouse. 

This is the demolition of the identical area shown in the prior picture.  The wall to the right in this picture is going to move about six feet further to the right. 

This wide angle view shows the enlarged kitchen space after the wall was moved and is definitely tells the story of how much needs to be done! 

St Paul Condo

Again, pictures are worth a thousand words.  Here are some snaps of the St Paul place with the countertops installed.  Progress continues! 

Looking from the kitchen to the living room. The hardwood floor is installed in the background. In the foreground, the appliances are not yet installed. 

Kitchen at the St Paul Condo before the backsplash installation. 

Bath

Its really hard to show the color of the granite used in the kitchen and bath. Its called Bordeaux Copper and it has rich red tones to it.  

Grandkids!

Granddaughter Sarah showing her tree climbing skills.  

Don't you just love the balance a cat has! 

Seems like October is soccer month.  We traveled to Colorado Springs for my grandson Danny’s soccer match.  In Arizona, I spent one evening watching Charli (and coach Dad) as they ran through the paces.  It was good to see the kids out on the field and active without having their heads bashed in (aka football). 

That's Danny throwing the ball inbounds during the soccer match.  

Oops!

My last notable item for October was that darned red light I didn’t notice soon enough. Or the car stopped at it.  By the time I stopped, I managed to do some minor damage to the car.  Take a look at the pictures…would you believe $6,800 to fix it?!?!?

Ouch! 

A Final note

And yes, there are a number of Daniels in my life.  My brother, my grandson, Mary’s youngest son, Casey’s late father, and Stephanie’s nephew

October closes with my flight to Minnesota to meet with Computer Joe who did the internet and coax wiring for the St Paul Condo.  Stephanie and I did some shopping for furniture as well and bought initial pieces: dining room table, chairs, sofa, bed frame, nightstand--that kind of thing that neither one of us had. 

Ciao!

September Report

The lowlight of the month was my friend Mary R undergoing yet another cancer surgery at Stanford on September 9.  THe highlight was the success of the surgery and her fast recovery from yet another set of knives!  

Well, the America's Cup got serious.  As did the remodel of the St. Paul Condo.  Oh, and the asbestos removal from the new Los Gatos place actually happened! 

September was a lot less travel--for me.  I actually did not go anywhere for the entire month upon my return from Minnesota on the 4th of September.  Stephanie did make two trips to the bay area, the first for opening of the America's Cup races and then wonderful ball held the night before the New Zealanders were going to take the cup away from the Golden Gate Yacht Club and haul it to New Zealand.  She returned for the last race as Team USA successfully defended the Cup in one of sports most unbelievable comebacks! 


Mary R has been the topic of my blog off and on for many years. Mary and I met in 1972 or 73 when I hired her into my work group at National Semiconductor.  The connection was made by her then husband who I also worked with at National.  Mary has been a good friend for four decades now and in spite of all her battles with cancer, I expect we'll have many more years ahead of us.  If you know Mary and want a full update, let me know. She keeps a blog on CaringBridge but you need to have an invitation to sign on and read her entries.  

The America's Cup

One of the strangest and most exciting sporting events ever!  

First, the very strange part.  The international committee ruled in the week before the final races that Oracle Team USA was to be penalized for infractions during the 2012 competition.  Let's think about that. On the evening of the defending races, they impose penalties.  Let's see, how can we really hurt a team?  Well, let's ban two of their key players (out of 11).  That should slow them down.  Oh, and let's make sure they are in a hole.  So the race is a best of 17 meaning the first team to 9 victories wins the cup.  Ok, let's put Team USA at minus two (-2) so that they have to win 11 races and the challenger only has to win 9.  Huh? 

The only thing I can imagine being similar is to declare on the eve of the Superbowl that the penalized team has to pull two starters from the offense and, they are starting with a score of 0 to minus 12.  

Burgee (aka flag) of the Golden Gate Yacht Club

The result is that the defending Team USA flying the burgee of the Golden Gate Yacht Club began the final best of 17 races with a significant impediment.  Two team members were barred and the score was 0 to minus 2 before the boats went into the water.  

So Team USA started in a hole. A very big hole, it turns out.  The New Zealand Emriates team had been sharpened by competition in the July round robins and by the August semifinal races against Italy's Luna Rossa. They also were the first team to have an AC72 in the water last year and had more practice time than any other team.  (The Team USA boat capsized and was severely damaged in the fall and several months went by when there was no boat to practice in.  The Italians used a prior generation Kiwi boat but their practice time was limited compared to the Kiwi's.) The Kiwi's were disciplined, sharp, well practiced and fast!  It was clearly not going to be an easy defense of the America's Cup. 

And, while all of this was going on, I learned that I did have the best seat in San Francisco.  Check out the location of my apartment building! I can see the entire course from my deck!  Perfection!  

We had arranged for Stephanie to fly out on the eve of the opening race to enjoy the America's Cup.  On the first race day, Saturday September 7, we watched the two races from the Gold Gate Yacht Club.  It is located on the Marina Green which is the same place as the red marker America's Cup Village (not the Park) on the map above.  It was great being at the club, the defender of the America's Cup.  It wasn't so great that New Zealand won the first two races.  Score:  NZ 2, USA minus 2.  Gulp!  

We planned to attend some races at the club and most from my apartment.  I had the view and the cable TV set up.  Stephanie was there to help me with the preparations and hosting the friends who came to see the races.  Friends came over with various fun dishes to eat and drink.  A great time was had by all! 

From left to right: Mr. Wiley, his friend, Kristi Wiley, Jim Wiley and your's truly.  Jim and Kristi and I have worked together in the semiconductor industry at several different companies over the years. It was a treat to finally meet his Dad!  

The races were unpredictable.  Some days, the winds were too strong and the Coast Guard had set upper wind limits for the start of the races.  As a result, we sometimes had no races, one race or two races on race days.  On some make up days, we couldn't make up the prior lost time so things were postponed.  It was a great exercise in learning that the wind and the seas really do control things!  

Stephanie and your's truly in front of the America's Cup at the Golden Gate Yacht Club. 

The Club had set an America's Cup ball on the evening prior to the 9th race (by original schedule). Stephanie had stayed through that week to attend the ball (plus make decisions on the new Los Gatos place--more later).  The ball was held on time, but the races were behind schedule.  It didn't really matter much, we were so far behind and New Zealand was so strong, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that the Cup was going to New Zealand.  

Although we all had hoped it would be a Team USA sweep, it was closer to a New Zealand sweep at the time of the ball. After all, New Zealand had six victories to our one victory so the score was 6 to minus 1.  But, we put on our cheerful faces and routinely said it isn't over 'til its over. Thank you Casey Stengel.  

Stephanie had to leave and return to St Paul.  I managed to watch and attend races and host visitors to my place.  But, face it, when one team has that strong a position in a competitive series, its pretty obvious, right?  

The absolute low point was after the races on September 18.  New Zealand 8, USA 1.  Basically, all New Zealand had to do was win one race and they were hauling the Cup away.  

The next race was also a demonstration of the strength of New Zealand and the capriciousness of the wind and the sea.  New Zealand had a huge lead as they approached the leeward gate prior to the turn to the finish line. Crossing the line was their ninth win and would be victory in the 2013 America's Cup.  But the wind and the sea decided it wasn't yet time.  The winds were so light that day, the maximum time limit was reached before New Zealand could cross the finish line.  Race nullified!  

But we had all seen how dominant New Zealand was again in the very light winds.  Although tomorrow was another day, it was clear it wouldn't stop the New Zealand team. 

We sit with the series score being New Zealand 8, USA 1.  Hey, at least we were no longer negative!  We had won three races against clearly superior New Zealand team.  Hold your heads up high, boys, we've made them work for it!  

But then something began to happen.  Team USA won the next race, and the next, and the next...in fact, the won seven races in a row!  Seven!  Unbelievable.  Light winds, heavy winds, whatever, seven races in a row against the best the world has to offer. Absolutely stunning!  

New Zealand 8, USA 8.  Hold your breath!  

We now have the 19th race in a best of 17 series (recall, Team USA was minus 2 at the beginning.) All the work, preparation, everything boils down to this one last race.  Wow!  

The entire city of San Francisco was on the waterfront the day of the last race. And most of the bay area, too.  It was pure emotion.  Now, some could say San Francisco was jaded from too much in sports.  World Series Champs in Sept of 2010 and 2012.  Superbowl contender in January of 2013.  All the issues, the politics, the fingerpointing were all gone.  Our team was playing for all the marbles on this last race day.  

Yeah, we won!  ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!  

Stephanie had returned that week for a quick visit.  Because the races ran late, she was able to attend the final race with me at the Golden Gate Yacht Club. What a treat!  

I still get tingles thinking about having to win 8 in a row because you are behind 8 to 1.  And the Team USA did it.  Wow!  

St Paul Condo

Progress was made pretty rapidly after the painting was done.  The tile floor went in, the cabinets arrived, new kitchen sink, new bathroom vanity and appliances.  We were still missing things like the LR flooring, carpeting in the bedrooms and, oh yes, electricity.  But progress was made although we really missed the August end date.  

This shows the tile floor but the paint colors are way off in the picture. The red is much more subdued than that and the far LR wall is pale yellow--no green at all!  

Cabinets are in place, new refrigerator is standing by waiting for installation. 

Tile floor and bathroom vanity. 

To be fair, we did change the flooring material in the living room from carpet to hardwood.  As we have all experienced, we know its tough for a contractor to keep things on track.  

Stephanie was the project manager as I spent the entire month in California. And, between her two trips she spent a third of her time way too. But our contractor kept plugging along and making it happen. 

Los Gatos Townhouse

When Stephanie arrived for the America's Cup, we also had plans to make decorating decision for the new Los Gatos place.  The days without races being held became a race for us to get to each of the vendors and make choices for the townhouse before she returned to St Paul. 

Our sequence was granite countertops, cabinets materials and color, paint colors thoughout, kitchen flooring, backsplash tile and accent materials, sink, faucets, light fixtures and whatever else.  The various suppliers we met with were a bit stunned because we made decisions so fast.  Well, we had just made the very same decisions for the St Paul Condo so we knew what was needed and what we wanted.  The St Paul Condo kitchen has strong red elements in it.  Los Gatos is in the blues and greys.  

And although we were 'storming the gates' making these decisions, the actual design work was hung up because Silicon Valley is in a remodel boom.  Everyone is super busy and we had to wait until our architect and engineering folks could really take a look at what we wanted to do and then prepare the calculations, engineering assessment and drawings.  So even though we had picked all of our key items, no progress was made on the construction itself.  

Of course, rushing the engineering along didn't do much as the asbestos removal was, shall we say, not terribly quick.  But it did finally get done and they did remove all the "Death Unto You" signs from the property.  Whew...

Errata

I mentioned that Stephanie made a second trip in September. The purpose was to attend several plays with my season tickets. We saw Beautiful, the story of Carol King performed by the traveling Broadway group   We also saw 1776 at San Francisco's ACT.  Plus, Stephanie got to see the last America's Cup race at the Golden Gate Yacht Club.  

In addition, my friends Ute and Jochen with Ute's father were in town on a vacation from their home in Germany.  This happened the same week Stephanie was in town for the plays!  We did several events with them, the highlight being attending the San Francisco-Los Angeles baseball game.  
In July when Jochen was visiting San Francisco for business, he told me he was taking Ute and her father to "the game."  
I asked "What game?  Baseball or football?"  He didn't know.  But when he told me it was on a Wednesday night in late September, I knew it was baseball. 
"What do you know about baseball?"  
"There are a bunch of players and they run around on a circular track." was his reply. 
Well, I managed to score two tickets adjacent to theirs and all five of us attended the game.  
Explaining baseball is hard!  

The prior week, I took BART to the Oakland stadium again and watched the Minnesota Twins play the Oakland A's.  Its one of those games where I cheer for the winner and my heart breaks for the loser.  

Seems that Oakland has some extra help on the field: Storm Troupers, Boba Fett, Darth Vader...you can't see Princess Leia in this picture, she is down the third base line taking her own photos of Darth Vader on the field. 

Finally, I had my periodic visits with all my doctors and I got a clean bill of health!  Onward and upward!  

Ciao. 

August Report

The America's Cup dominated my life in August.  Well, except for the remodel project of the St Paul condo, the purchase of a new residence in Los Gatos and the confirmation of asbestos in the Los Gatos place.

There is an older posting of the America's Cup dated August 11, 2013.  Click here to read it. 

Los Gatos Townhouse

We closed on the new place in the first few days of August.  I did offer a six week rentback but the seller vacated by August 15.  My first tour of the place was with my contractor as I described how we wanted to expand the kitchen and update the rest of the home.  

One major thing that bothered me was the 'popcorn' ceilings. I told my contractor to remove them.  He said ok, grabbed a step stool and proceeded to scrape some popcorn into an envelope.  
"What is that for?" I ask. 
"It has to be tested." says Steve
"To scrape it off?  Just get rid of it!"  I reply. 
"Well, this place was built in the early 70s, its highly unlikely but still possible there is asbestos in the popcorn. I have to have it tested before I can remove it." is his answer.  

A week or so later the test comes back positive.  You would think they had discovered Saddam's weapons of mass distruction in this place once asbestos was confirmed.  All of a sudden, the place looks like a scene from ET.  Plastic sheeting everywhere coupled with big warning signs to not enter unless properly covered in hazmat suits. The scary bit was opening the door from the garage and discovering a double zipper set of plastic sheeting with skull and crossbones warnings plus a very formal declaration of the imminent death of anyone who enters without proper protection.  

I don't get it, it was there for 40 years.  Why is it a big deal if you want to remove it?  

But, we follow the rules, I sign documents confirming I have none of Saddam's WMD or additional asbestos hidden in the property and (drum roll please) I am promised a written clean bill of health so I can move into the property after the removal and the final "recleaning" which is needed to clean after the Hazmat folks have done their cleaning.  Now if you have signed the documents, you'd expect the work to begin posthaste.  You'd be wrong, very wrong.  

I learn that Hazmat time lines are several times worse than hospital time. As we exit August, we are still waiting for the clean bill of health.  Heck, we are still waiting for the Hazmat guys to show up for the initial removal of the asbestos.  Turns out, Hazmat removal is a precious resource so my contractor invokes some ancient sorcery of the saw and hammer and gets an expedited team assigned because its a new purchase and we need to move in.  As we exit August, we are still waiting for a commitment for the expedited team to show up. 

Turns out the guys who hang plastic are low skilled and jump into action immediately upon confirmation of asbestos.  The actual, high skilled removal folks are rare and booked for months in advance.  If we had been trying to live in the place, we'd be living in the ET decor for weeks and weeks waiting.  Thankfully, we were not living there.  

Oh, and it does warm the cockles of your heart to have the state and county Hazmat folks place warnings all over about the imminent danger and near death condition of your just purchased property. Makes one wonder if, perchance, it was not exactly the best expenditure of your hard earned money? 

We leave August wondering about the plan to have Stephanie move to the bay area in early October. Ah, no problem, we can live in the one room studio in San Francisco. With a dog.  An old, diabetic, blind dog.  Oh, this is not sounding too cool.    

Actually, I do not have pictures of the Hazmat condition of the place. I couldn't get in to take them!   

St Paul Condo

Now this is totally under control!  Early on to save money, we withdrew our request to remove the popcorn from the existing ceiling.  This saved me, as I learned later from the California experience, not only money but also a formal invitation to meet the Minnesota Hazmat folks.  Whew!  I guess if you paint over it, its ok. But if you want to remove it to create smooth ceilings, out comes the ET team. 

The plan was simple.  Our St Paul contractor, Ron, would charge us extra to strip some additional sheetrock so the electrician could charge us extra to remove the old wires.  The electrician would then charge us even more extra to run the new wires. That was followed by the sheetrock guy who would then charge us extra to replace the sheetrock that we had just destroyed.  My pocket was feeling very light. Ron then offered, and I accepted readily, that because there was no structural work needed after the initial demolition that he would not charge us for the removal and replacement of the sheetrock. The electrician, however, would get his full pound of flesh. Blood included.  

All of this boiled down to the time window for painting of the place.  Back in July, Stephanie and I decided we could save some money by painting it ourselves. After all, we had both learned how to paint from our respective fathers and we both enjoyed doing it. It turned out the America's Cup Louis Vuitton ended early in August as New Zealand defeated Italy's Luna Rossa team.  We planned on a busy Labor Day weekend buzzing through and painting our new condo.  

Well, Dear Reader, life throws curveballs.  I recall, at the age of 17, my parents moving into a new home.  I stripped wallpaper in three rooms and painted all three of them myself. I am sure this took no more than half a day each.  At least, in my memory that is what it took.  I thought Stephanie and I could accomplish the painting of a two bedroom condo in three, maybe four days tops.  And, Stephanie agreed!  Afterall, there was no wallpaper removal to deal with! 

We were wrong. Big time wrong!

We worked our tails off over the Labor Day weekend.  Sanding and priming woodwork, removing hinges and doorknobs prior to priming the doors, two coats of primer to cover the mauve and purple walls, carefully removing baseboard so we could reuse it, etc.  We actually got the priming done--it took a bit more time than we planned, but it was done. And we started on the color palette we had selected.  

OMG, what happened?  Those little samples don't look like that at all once its on the wall!  And now we were out of time.  I was returning to CA for the opening of the America's Cup finals and Stephanie was joining me!  

We did two things: First, we went to the same paint store and bought paint that looked better on the wall. And, of course, because our first choice was custom mixed, it was not returnable.  Second, we asked our contractor to bring in his painters to finish the job.  

Well, paying for twice the amount of paint one needs is never fun. Its even less fun to find out you cannot get rid of the stuff you don't want because its considered hazardous material!  What else can go wrong? Turns out the painter's quote to finish the paint job was exactly the amount of money that was deleted from the estimates when we planned on doing our own painting.  Wait a second, the priming is all done, the hardware and doors are all disassembled, the woodwork and baseboards are primed and ready to go.  Why is the price so much? 

Ah, now you need it in the next few days!  

Ouch!  Its sort of like airline pricing.  If you want it in a year, its cheap. Tomorrow, we have a special price for you!  

So we exit August with New Zealand winning the Louis Vuitton Cup which means they will sail in September against the defending Oracle Team USA under the banner of the Golden Gate Yacht Club.  

Our St Paul condo is running a bit late due to the added electrical work and the further slipped schedule due to amateur painters. What was that about an August completion? 

And Los Gatos is still in the planning stages putting a September completion in a bit of doubt.  

Stephanie to move in October?  Not sounding too good.  

Ciao!