Shower Installation

The crew worked at the house all day installing the shower. When they left at 6 PM a few finishing touches were needed but they were so tired I asked them to go home and come back tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be another busy day as the plumber is going to install all the faucets. In addition the floors are being measured. And the crew will come back to finish their part of the job.

Slowly it's coming together. The first of several small mail order shipments from Lowe's arrived this morning. The bedding, towels, drapes, etc. we're purchased over the weekend. Just maybe most of it will be done by the weekend.

Hansel and Gretel -- The iPad Version

My favorite place to find free apps is Apps Gone Free. Yesterday and today they offered an interactive book for children that I had to look at. The book --"Grimm's Hansel and Gretel, the 3D Interactive Pop-up Book"-- is yet another version of the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale. The story has been updated a little bit, but the basic bones of the story are intact.

What is different is how the book is presented to the reader. After choosing your language (English, German, French, or Spanish) you tap on the screen and you can have the book read to you one page at a
time OR you can read the book by yourself OR you can have the book read for you using "autoplay." I heard parts of the book in all 4 languages and was impressed (I'm wondering if something like this would be a simple way to brush up on my rusty Spanish and even rustier French).

Every few pages there are 3D pop-up interactive displays that give the reader a chance to "do" something with the story. Some are fun and a few actually have reading "merit" (such as matching, or crossing mid-line or following directions). What the book does not have is individual word recognition. Some interactive books let the reader touch a word and the word is pronounced or defined. That does not happen with this little book.

The art work is OK and the kids are not too "cutesy." We never see what the evil witch looks like and that's a plus.

I read and played with the book. Then I gave it to the other DrC to get his take on it. He read and played too. He thought it was a kick. I wonder what kids will do with a book like this? Does it encourage reading? Does it allow for visualization? Does it encourage creativity? What happens when a child gets a "normal" book with actual pages made of paper? I don't know the answers to these and other questions. As a former reading teacher I was continually looking for interesting books and "things" for my reluctant readers. Several books like this one would definitely be in my "bag of tricks" as it has merit.

It's a new world out there. We've had interactive books in CDs for years. This is the logical next step. If you have an iPad and a child who might sit down long enough to read this book, download it and start asking questions. It's free today.

Vanity In

The progress on the bathroom is slow and steady. We did have a glitch this weekend when the well decided it would be a good time to "break." So in the middle if everything we had limited water too.

Today the floor in the shower and the vanity were installed. The top picture shows what it looked like as the fellows were destroying the vanity. The bottom picture shows it "all cleaned up." If all goes to plan, the shower will be installed early next week. The plumber will install faucets etc. at that time.

Befores and Afters

The water valve in the shower was installed today. Here are the before and after pictures. We are changing finishes from chrome to oil rubbed bronze (aka ORB). Tomorrow the shower will start to take on a more familiar shape.

Sunset

We have lived on the top of a butte for too many years. Most nights we are treated to magnificent sunsets where the sky gets streaked with yellow and orange and pink. Tonight the sky turned yellow and it looked as if a volcano was erupting. We had never seen that shape or color before. It lasted just a moment.

Drying Day

We have a day off from the bathroom project. The pan needs to dry. It looks like there will be flurries of activity in between quiet times. The next tradesman to come is the plumber. I was under the impression that he was going to install the faucet assembly but I was corrected--he is going to install the "valve." It's always good to know (and use) the correct vocabulary.

The next step is installing the new greenboard. Because it is in the shower this type of "drywall" does not have to taped.

The beat goes on!

Creepy Critter

Construction (or in this case deconstruction) disrupts the natural order of things. This afternoon after the fellows had finished destroying the shower and were leaving, we were greeted with this critter in the garage. To give you an idea of the size of this spider look at the palm of your hand. The spider was speedy too. Thank goodness it was not a jumper!

Progress Report 2

The fellows worked on the shower for the whole day.

They stripped the tile down to the studs, and discovered the old green board was spongy in places. I guess it was a good thing to have it replaced.

The old "pan" (which is a layer of heavy duty plastic with several inches of cement on top of it) was finally removed. The fellows used mallets, crowbars and brute strength to destroy it.

After taking the rubble to the dump the guys returned to install a new pan (Red this time instead of black) and float it with a few mores inches of cement. The new pan needs to dry a day and then the new greenboard (special drywall for showers) will be installed.

(PS: Try as I might, I cannot get Blogger to post the pictures in the correct order. Therefore the pictures are in reverse order 3-2-1. Ain't this too much fun!?)

Let the Demo Start

It’s begun. The sounds of swinging hammers and flying crowbars can be heard throughout the house. The pounding goes on and on...and they’ve only been at it for a couple of hours! Two days are scheduled for the demo!

 Before

After

The Madness Begins

In a few days our shower and vanity will undergo a major change. The old tile will be replaced with man-made "granite." The basins and fixtures will be replaced too. The demo starts on Monday with the removal of all the tile. I can only imagine the mess. (I wonder what it will really be like?)

The process has been relatively easy but it's been in the planning stages since April. The hardest part was deciding on colors and patterns. We chose Granite Transformation for the shower and counter top with traditional designed rubbed bronze fixtures made by Moen.

Now all we have to do is move stuff out of the master bedroom and bathroom. While it's just a bathroom that is getting the work, the bedroom, closet, and dressers are involved too. The process is supposed to last 2 weeks. Then the flooring will be updated and if any painting is needed that will happen. I will take a while before everything is finished.

The 844

A few years back the Union Pacific steam engine #844 stopped near our home town. This year, as we're driving west on I-80 we saw her again. What a treat! She was steaming eastward toward Winnemucca. If we had stayed in WY one more day we would have been able to see her up close and personal.

There's something majestic about these old steamers. Not only are they huge, they exude POWER. They showed the promise of our nation. Nowadays, I wonder, what shows that promise?

If you are interested in seeing pictures of this Iron Horse and seeing her schedule for this season go to http://www.up.com/aboutup/special_trains/steam/details.shtml.