Hump Day

Wheeeeeeeeee. It's been a busy few days here at the Team.

The downstairs remodel is at that stage where what was on the paint chip becomes a slightly different color on the wall.

My goodness. That base coat - it's a bit more ...purple... than we thought it would be. Not "Trading Spaces" purple, but not quite the subtle pastel shade Wife of TM was shooting for, or so she says. I like it. I'll think that after sponging on the contrasting darker shade the effect will be stunning, especially against the dark trim we are using for baseboards and to demark the shelf that runs around the exterior walls of the room. The ceiling texture rolled on nicely and we painted it the next day. The recessed lighting shells (six fifty watt halogens on a dimmer) are semigloss white and contrast nicely with the subtle dusty yellow semi-gloss we chose.

I think I'm going to have to break down and post some photos.

The remaining work is finish carpentry to frame in the two basement windows, paint and install casing and baseboards, and plan and execute a closet insert. Then the wife can hang curtains and determine where the furniture lives. Whoot!

We have accumulated a modest suite of home entertainment components over the years. Last spring we stumbled on a going-out-of business sale at a local Oak Warehouse and replaced our apartment grade couch/loveseat and living room shelf system with a sectional sleeper sofa and monstrous oak entertainment center. Yesterday marked the first time that the DVD/VCR/TV/Digital Cable/home theater system was ever cabled properly. That took about two hours and a hundred dollars worth of cables. I finally figured out that the confusion in wiring the mess stemmed from the different technologies spread between a five year old VCR, two year old amp, state of the art DVD, and the Cable Box that was documented with manuals written in french.

Gone are the days when somebody had to wield a remote in each hand to check the weather channel. The cats no longer bolt from the living room when they hear the loud 'snap' that means the system is powering up with the home theater volume set to 'stun'. And the video and sound quality has gone warp since I replaced the seventyfive ohm hookup cables (Sansui - 1980) with Monster coax and fiberoptic cables (where they belong).

I'm off. Big day of clearing the decks in the rest of the basement ahead, then back to the finish work tomorrow.

Have a fine day, all.