Subaru Crew - Meet The Members II

barresa62

I sent you an email inviting you to take a look at the photo album on my house remodel project I created on Imagestation. The house was built in 1927. We're presently busting through several walls of plaster to remodel one bath, add another, and expand the master bedroom into a master suite. The porch was actually contracted out, but is my design. The entire original plumbing will be replaced in a couple of weeks. Most of the electricity has been already updated by previous owner(s). Hope this keeps you motivation up and/or your spirits. :-)

Here's the link for the rest of you:

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290644859

Restless in Seattle,
Stephen

p0926

Stephen- Where you been bud? You've practically forsaken us since you sold your Subaru. Any second thoughts now that SOA has announced the production of the STi? What's the latest on the job situation?

-Frank P.

bluesubie

He's just a lurker now. :-)
IIRC, Stephen had a deposit on an STi.

-Dennis

kens

Stephen,

Great photos! I'm very impressed with the work your doing. That's some extensive remodeling, there. Thanks for putting it into perspective.

BTW, nice porch. Love how the steps curve.

Ken

bat1161

Stephen,

Nice remodeling work. Did you have contractors on most of that, or did you do it your self? Also, is the porch made of pressure treated wood?

Mark

ateixeira

So Ken, do you have circuit breakers or the screw-in fuses? My new house has the former, but my old house had the latter and that was a real pain.

Paul: at least you "left your mark", LOL.

Eureka! I figured it out! Hadji is a dog that acts like a cat - so Hadji and Zelda are just in each other's bodies! That explains everything, pretty much, even his purring!

You'll have to bring her by and they can switch back. But then I wonder which one I'd want to keep, I'm allergic to cat hair! Never mind!

That newspaper eerily reminds you of the current situation with Iraq, i.e. the US losing it's patience. Let's leave it at that, I don't want to open a political debate.

I'd fix only one thing that is broken - trade that Camry in for a Legacy! ;-)

-juice

barresa62

Frank: Believe it or not, I actually caught about the last 15mins of the chat last night. :-) Basically, I've been busy working on the house. I'm excited for the STi and relieved that it's priced a bit higher than I thought as I couldn't afford the price of admission at this stage (even before buying the Jeep). :-)

Dennis: True, until I fessed up to my contact at the local Soobie dealer that I'd bought a Jeep.

Mark: Yes, it's pressure treated wood. I will be staining it to match the house colors this summer. We've done all the work thus far except for the porch. The plumbing and new electric for the remodel will be contracted out. I was hoping to have the sheetrocking contracted but alas the funds available mean we'll be doing the work.

Ken: Thanks for comments. Eventually (in a year or so and if sanity holds out), the back half of the upstairs will be a full two-story. I've designed it so that the angle of the front part of the roof continues upward and comes back down over the 2nd story like a saltbox design. I was also careful to make sure that the design would be pretty faithful to the bungalow/Arts & Craft era. Once this is done, the main floor bedroom suite will become an office or den. The roof of the porch will become a deck to further capture a great view of Mt Rainier and the southern exposure.

Stephen

ateixeira

Reminds me, sorry I missed the chat. Turns out my work uses a "SecurID" card for security screening to dial in, and mine had expired! DOH! And I'm the IT guy so I spent the entire day today issueing new ones for all my staff.

-juice

originalbitman

The thing about knob and tube wiring is that the insulation on it can dry out. That can happen from overloading the circuit or burying the wiring in blown in insulation. But perhaps more significant is the use of too high a watt bulbs in ceiling fixtures or fixtures that are enclosed and trap the heat. What happens in these cases is the insulation on the wires in the electrical box that serves the fixture gets brittle and can crumble away completely. Both of my previous homes had K&T and both had compromised wiring in the ceiling boxes. Relative easy fix by splicing in a new pigtail in the ceiling... if you have a single story home.

bit

ladywclass

I missed the chat... I'm sorry ... Yesterday was a day to 'remember' ...
It involves ransoming my daughter's car that the city towed from in front of our home as an "abandoned vehicle" on the same day as the meeting of our area with the city to find out what wonderful things await us after being annexed to the city by the state supreme court after 7 years of litigation! It's a story and a half ... involving city police who DON'T know where we are and code enforcement who DOES ...
In between the ransoming and the meeting we had a school conference with teachers of one of the b/f's sons. I was treated so rudely by one of the teachers I ended up leaving the conference and having a chat with the assistant principal instead. ;-)
Upshot is ... I ended up on the local news looking like I'm giving them all hell at the city meeting when all I really was doing was pointing to the back of the room and saying, "Can you hear me back there?" BUT ... they are refunding my $100 I had to pay for the towing/storage fees, and helping me file a claim for the damages to the car on the storage lot and my wages lost for 1/2 day cause I had to be there before 3:00 to get the car.
As you can imagine there is lots more to the story ... UGH

ateixeira

Hopefully the story ended with fresh baked MF (*) cookies. :-)

-juice

PS Michael's Favorite

kens

I completely forgot about the Chat last night! I've been too preoccupied with the new house and my upcoming marathon (this Sunday) to even think about it. Plus, my DSL service hasn't started yet either.

juice -- I had a fused panel but had it removed and replaced with breakers.

bit -- I better check those ceiling boxes. I also have blown insulation -- oh no!

Ken

originalbitman

It's not something to get too freaked out about. Pretty much every house from that era has the same wiring unless they have been COMPLETELY rewired. It just something to put on the list. Any easy check for the compromised wiring insulation is to pull down a ceiling fixture and peek inside the box with a flashlight. You will notice right away if the K&T has been replaced at that point with Romex. Where the cable enters the box the Romex has a light colored plastic sheathing wereas the K&T will have a fabric like dark colored sheathing. The conductors themselves will also look different with the Romex being shiny and actually thinner insulation than the K&T. If the wires look bare or with insulation clinging in just a few places (I have had these!)then its time for a repair. As for the blown-in insulation just brush it off the top of the K&T wherever you can next time you are in the attic. OH... remember to turn off the circuit when you check that fixture box just in case. Even though the switch is off there is still a chance of shock of there is a crossed up neutral somewhere although that is unlikely.

bit

rsholland

Good luck in the marathon! Be sure to "carbo-load" the night before!

Bob

subearu

over in the Photo Gallery...

-Brian

ateixeira

Good idea, Ken.

Good luck on Sunday, hope the weather cooperates. Eat pasta tonight!

-juice

lucien2

too busy to keep up. Thanks for the heads up, Mike, on the track time. Doesn't look like I can make it. Plus, they require club membership, and I let mine expire a couple months ago. I mean to renew soon, but prolly not soon enough for that application!

paisan

Well we are gonna be doing a bunch of NASA events @ Summit Point, so hopefully we'll hookup for a track day.

-mike

rsholland

is a great track. I used to go there many a time to see motorcycle races. This was back in the 1970's. I loved it when the Canadian bikers would come down there, as they often used to bring sidecars racers with them.

They had some crazy machines: I remember one motorcycle sidecar racer was using a Mazda rotary engine and had a steering wheel! There were other sidecar racers using 500cc TZ Yamaha 4-cylinder 2-stroke grand prix engines! It was wild. Of course, there were a lot of traditional 2-cylinder boxer BMW sidecar racers too. I used to roam through the pits and chat with the racers. I loved watching the "monkey" hang off the side of the bike as they went around corners. It was a great time.

Bob

fibber2

I realize that the NEC (National Electric Code) was loosly enforced until maybe the past 30 years or so, but I would be extremely surprised to find Knob & Tube in a house from the 1950's. True K&T uses basically separate, lightly insulated wires on ceramic standoffs on open runs, with tubes for passing thru walls and beams. It dates from the Edison era and basically came to an end here in the North East in the early 1920's. It was actually more labor intensive to run than the early romex (tar and cloth covered twin wire, and BX (same, but with a wound steel shell providing a psudo third wire ground).

Was it really still done that way in other parts of the country??

Steve

c_hunter

So, how was the marathon??? We're waiting for a full report...

Craig

originalbitman

My last home in the SF Bay Area was built in 1945 and had K&T throughout.

bit

hypov

Waiting...
 for Ken to hobble (slowly) to the puter ;-)

-Dave

ateixeira

Is he still out there running? If so we can at least be proud of his determination! :-)

-juice

kens

I did it! I finished my first-ever marathon in 3:48:20! The race was not chipped so my actual running time measured on my watch from when I crossed the start line was about a minute less than the official time.

I placed 465th overall among 1,735 finishers:

http://www.napa-marathon.com/finishers-area/results-overall.asp

I really enjoyed my first race. The course was absolutely gorgeous. The course basically winds down the scenic Silverado Trail through wine country between Calistoga and Napa. For most of the trail, we're running with vineyards and the rolling hills of Napa Valley on both sides.
http://www.napa-marathon.com/course/

I got up at 4:20AM that morning to eat whatever breakfast I could manage and got on the 5:30AM buses to the start line. It was a clear and chilly morning so I stayed in the heated bus until right before the start.

The start area was located between a vineyard and a stable. The sky was just starting to light up casting the hills in a blue, purplish hue. A pack of horses were making their early morning runs inspiring us for the run ahead.

The first 12 miles went by very quickly as we wove through vineyard after vineyard. Local folks were just starting to come out to cheer us on. I tried to give "five" to all the little kids who stood by the side of the road with their arms eagerly outstretched. Anyone who's ever run distance knows how awesome it is to have people cheering you on. It just brings an unbelievable boost of energy and morale.

Around mile 20, the pace of everyone around me seemed to drop several notches. Instead of breezing through aid stations, folks were taking their time, walking, stretching and then carrying on. The number of people taking walking breaks increased dramatically. My left calf started to bother me and I began to worry that it would cramp up. I stopped at one point to stretch in hopes it would buy me some time.

The last three miles were a total mental battle. The course turned off the Silverado Trail and veered toward downtown Napa losing it's visual appeal. The sun was now high in the sky and begining to beat down on us. My legs were close to being totally spent and I kept yelling at them mentally to keep turning over. About half the people around me were walking.

And then, as I rounded the corner -- the Finish line! I was completely focused on meeting up with my wife and friends and just numbed out the ache in my legs. As the runners entered the chute, every person had an assitant come immediately to our side to make sure we were okay.

I was elated. 4 months of training paid off big time (I was starting training just around when I was in Baltimore last year). I had finished my first ever marathon. The sunny warm sun in Napa never felt so good!

Ken

nygreg

Congratulations. What a wonderful feeling it must be. And Napa is beautiful. Me....I would have wound up in one of the vineyards trying their latest Merlot. ;-)

Greg

paisan

I'd like to run a block!

-mike

p0926

I see you discovered that running a marathon requires as much mental effort as it does physical :-)

-Frank P.

kate5000

way to go! I planted 6 roses over weekend, digging holes in the hard clay-and-rock soil with an ice pick, and my body feels so sore all over the place today. It must feel very nice to be as fit as you are.

fibber2

Wow! What a great tale. OK, tell the truth - who did you hire to run in your place??? ;-)

Who is going to play you in the movie?? Congratulations....

Steve

fibber2

Sorry to hear that you had such a lousy time of it. Hopefully the weekend made it all a little better...

Steve

ateixeira

Yeeeah Ken!

You make the Crew proud. And by the way, we were all out there offering "virtual five" and cheering you on. Top 1/3rd of finishers, nice!

Last time I visited Napa I could barely walk after all that wine! :-)

-juice

bat1161

Congrats Ken!
Sounds like you had a beautiful day for the run.
My idea of running is going from the house to the car, and from the car to the store (in the rain that is:-) otherwise I stroll).

Mark

ateixeira

I ran to the mail box the other day, does that count? ;-)

Although, try chasing a toddler around for an evening. That's a marathon.

-juice

subearu

And I thought chasing after Brooke at the Milwaukee Auto Show was tough. ;-)

-Brian

c_hunter

Awesome!! I got a runner's high just reading your story. That time is great and it sounds like you were in good shape the whole run. I also have mental battles during the last 3 miles, but I run 5Ks which are only 3.1 miles total! So, I would say you did quite well for your first marathon.

I offer my heartfelt congratulations, and hope you can keep the good vibe rocking!

Craig

hypov

WOW Ken,
465th out of 1735 that finished, and on your first run too!!!

Congratulations!

Craig-
< I also have mental battles during the last 3 miles, but I run 5Ks which are only 3.1 miles total!>

Ya, I have them too,... and I never make it out the door. ;-)

-Dave

bat1161

Does anyone here have an opinion on an inexpensive nav system? I've seen Mike's (Paisan)Laptop version and Dave's(Hypov)Street III. I saw the Magellan GPS 750 for ~$190. I've been toying with the idea (especially after some Back Road Drives) and was curious as to everyone's opinion.

Thanks,
Mark

paisan

Buy a cheap laptop + $99 GPS via USB

I wish there was an inexpensive in-dash unit!

-mike

kens

Thanks everyone for sharing my excitement. Yes, I learned first hand how running a marathon is just as much mental as it is physical. I guess that's partly what the long slow distance runs are for in training.

Well, my legs are feeling a bit better. I think it's partly the Advil kicking in, but I'm trying to keep them moving. I've got an appointment with my chiropractor tomorrow for some PT/massage.

Ken

ladywclass

what a run ...
<casting a baleful eye at the treadmill behind me in the basement>

ateixeira

mike: do you still have to pay a monthly fee for the GPS service? Just curious.

-juice

ladywclass

for the nice thoughts, fibber ...
We spent Saturday doing some grocery/household shopping and cleaning and Sunday we got to enjoy riding in the Outback for about 6 hours on a one day trip to the daughter's concert at the college + trying to talk some sense into a 20 year old who thinks she's found the perfect apt for next school year and already signed a lease .... oh boy .. she doesn't need it til aug ... and she and her roommate looked at .... two
Anyone wanna trade some toddlers?

ateixeira

Toddlers are great, it's the newborns that keep you up at night. ;-)

-juice

hammersley

Brenda: I'll rent mine out for awhile, (11, 6, & 5) but I love 'em too much, so you'd have to give 'em back!

Cheers!
Paul

hammersley

Juice, It's staying up too late at night that caused the newborns in the first place!

Cheers!
Paul

lucien2

I have a new pair of shoes in the hopes that my tweaky knee was due to poor shoe choice, but I continue to have little problems. I don'tsee marathons in my future, needless to say!

hammersley

Ken: Congrats! I'm duly impressed, given my "built for comfort, not for speed" physique.
If I put 26 miles into perspective using familiar local landmarks, that makes it even more of an accomplishment. Way to go!

Cheers!
Paul

nygreg

Hey, that's about 1 Subie gallon of fuel.

Greg

hondafriek

Way to go,my days of running are long past.

   Cheers Pat.