Some Assembly Required

Milestone achieved - first BBQ at the new house!  There was definitely some preparation work to be done before we could accomplish it, though.  The grill I bought was $40-$50 marked down from $80 at Home Depot.  As it turns out, grills (and lawnmowers) go on sale just before winter.  I highly recommend buying them then if you have the luxury of doing so.

My grill came in about fifty different parts.  Normally I don't read the instructions, but I'm glad I did this time. I would have missed something very important.  My grill has plastic handles that connect to a stainless steel base.  If you're not careful, the bolts will heat from inside the grill and potentially damage the plastic.  That is why you will probably get some washers that are specially designed to dampen that heat.  They're easy to overlook because they look a lot like the normal ones..  Everything else was fairly self-explanatory.

In the end, the BBQ went great.  Both of our families enjoyed BSing around the table and watching the World Series game.  I also built a beer pong table this past weekend, so look forward to some details on that in my next post.

Moved In and Making Progress

As of now I'm almost completely moved in and just starting to discover all the uniqueness and potential of the house.

It's still sinking in that this is potentially a place I'll be living for longer than a year. The renters mentality has been my way of life for the past 8 years and it's going to be awhile before I realize I have time to buy things, time to fix things and time to enjoy this home.

Relax, prioritize, and budget!

These past two weeks have gone by so quickly, I hardly feel settled. We've been lucky enough to acquire some furniture from family, and also lucky enough to experience furniture shopping with one another. Oddly enough, we agreed on something so we went ahead and bought it!

The photo does not really do it justice, but none the less, I'm proud of our selection and for Lancifer's good eye. Now, time to brainstorm what will finish the room... and maybe if I'm anxious, actually finishing it. :)

Side note: I have a feeling Lancifer's posts are going to prove more helpful to the outside world where as I'm used to documenting more than guiding... so beware!

Porch Lights

When I first moved into the house, neither of my porch lights functioned.  Troubleshooting time!

1. Replace the bulbs - no change
2. Power cycle all of the switches in my switch box downstairs - no change
3. Check that the wires are attached at the lights themselves - no change
4. Call Dad - success!

Dad took two seconds to figure out my issues.  In the left light, the wire was attached but still did not have a strong enough contact point.  Dad stripped the wire some more, and re-spliced.  Light one works now!  On the right light, my replacement bulb was bad, so we just ended up replacing it.

Lessons to be learned: Always pick off the low hanging fruit first when diagnosing a home maintenance problem.  Also, the problem solving method in House M.D. will not solve all of your home maintenance problems - sometimes the patient has two conditions that have nothing to do with one another.  Lastly, replacement porch lights are cheap for the most part (depends on the material it's made from).  If you narrow things down to a faulty light, don't get bent out of shape over needing to fix it.

Hardwood Flooring

While hardwood floors provide several unique comforts, maintaining them poses some unique challenges that you wouldn't have to deal with if you just had carpet.  I knew from the start that I would need to protect my floors from the furniture on top of them, so I went to Home Depot for some supplies.

I was hoping to find some furniture pads for the tables, chairs, desks, etc. that I was moving into the house.  The depot had a couple of different varieties of felt pad (in all different shapes and sizes) - one you could hammer into a wooden surface and another that just rested between the furniture and the floor.  Since we have almost entirely wooden furniture, I opted for the type you can hammer in.  (See the pic below.)

I later found out that our computer desk chair was putting some light scrapes on the floor.  This is because normal computer chair casters are made of a hard plastic that tends to slide more than roll.  The caster is drug across the floor, and you get scuffs.  This time I went to Amazon and got a package of five polyurethane casters that both roll better and provide a softer contact point.  (See the pic below - new on the left and old on the right.)

In summary, if you want to keep your hardwood floor in good condition, you need to take the proper precautions before you start using the furniture it comes in contact with.