codebitch.org

the last of the pics of ger and alex working on and finishing the floor. i’ll take some more when i get home and it’s completely finished with the trim and transitional moulding all on.

sweet! good day so far. training is going well. i can tell that it’s gonna be a tough and confusing task to get this all setup once we get back to home base, but that’s ok. at least we’ll know the basics and have the manuals to lookup stuff we forget. cute trainer chick took us to cafe exchange for lunch today. i got a spicy chicken empanada, which had spicy chicken, peppers and onions and cilantro. it was tasty, although wicked filling so i couldn’t finish it. we ate on the benches in battery park, right along the water, staring at the statue of liberty.

scott called a little while ago. he’s coming to meet me at the hotel in about an hour or so, then we’re gonna head out to grab some food and beer and see the parade thing. should be fun!

i figure i should just bang this out now because i am quickly falling into a near-comatose state. i don’t know if it’s allergies (i think and hope it is) but my throat is sore and my ears are kindy wonky and it’s just bringin me down. it was on and off a bit last week and it’s been worse since the train ride yesterday with breathing in all that nasty recycled air. blech. anyway, i caught the closest pharmacy to the hotel just before they closed about an hour ago and bought some claritin, so hopefully that will help keep me alive this week.

ok seriously, i have to take a quick moment to ask, “why the fuck are people so obsessed with shopping at the ridiculous stores in new york?” i guess fashion just isn’t that important to me. it just blows me away that people are in awe of some of the shit they pass off as clothing in these fancy shops where a blouse will cost your first born.

there’s an entire tv station in the hotel dedicated to showing viewers all about the expensive stuff they can’t afford in the city. all the fabulous restaurants and shows and tours and stores and blah blah blah. for some odd reason i’ve kept it on for the past half hour or so while i’ve been on the computer. i thought it would be kinda neat at first, but it’s really just annoying. i think i’ve gotten better recommendations from talking to random people on the street.

last night my boss and i went to mr. tang chinese restaurant in chinatown. we had spicy hunan shrimp, which was wicked good, moo goo gai pan, garlic string beans and white rice. the food was all good, but the service wasn’t fantastic. tonight we went to lunella, a great little place in little italy with fantastic food and service. i had gnocchi alla gorgonzola w/ walnuts (heart attack on a plate, but it was delicious) and doug had meat lasagne, which i tried a bite of and i can definitely say that it’s ten times better than any lasagne i’ve ever made. they had a typical italian dessert menu, tiramisu, etc, but we had both finished our pasta (after having the capresi salad first) and i had a glass of chianti, so there was no way we were fitting even more into our bellies.

ok i need a good night of sleep. usually i can sleep quite comfortably anywhere, but for some reason i had a hard time crashing last night and i woke up way before the alarm this morning, so i’m wicked tired. i promise, more finished floor pics are coming soon.

well, i made it to the city safe and sound. i was kinda pissed at first because the book in the hotel room says that there is only high speed internet on the two computers in the lobby downstairs and that it’s 25 cents per minute, plus there’s a dataport in the telephone for those with laptops who want dialup access. i was shocked! but when we came back from dinner i was chatting with the concierge and he informed me that they have free wireless, so i’m saved! more soon, but i ought to get my stuff together for tomorrow and then get to bed.

yay the floor is done!! well, all the boards are in perfectly and now the transition moulding needs to be installed when it comes in and the trim needs to be put back on, but other than that it looks amazing! the boys did a wonderful job. more pics to follow soon when i get a chance.

also, i have stuff to post about the belgian fest and the happiness that it was to see amber and aaron (even though we didn’t get to spend as much time with them as i’d hoped).

ok i can’t forget to do the whole changing of the clock thing. i’ve got a schedule to abide by tomorrow and make sure i get on the right train. ;) i’m off to bed soon and then i’ll be packing up tomorrow morning and prepping for my trip to nyc with my boss. we’ll be there for a week getting trained on our new content management system. yay!

i know this will take a bit to load, but i wanted to post a bunch of the pictures we’ve taken so far (actually gerry has taken just about all of them) on the progress of the floor. gerry spent most of last week prepping for and installing the bamboo in the dining room. he had about 75% of the planks put in by yesterday afternoon, but he decided to take some of it out this morning to perfect one of the earlier rows he installed, but it ought to go fairly quickly getting it back in, plus he’s got alex here to help him out a bit today.

a before shot

perl helped out a bunch…

pullin up the carpet. the underside was pretty stained from wetness.

tools

the bamboo planks in their shipping cartons (they arrived early tuesday am)

the bamboo had to sit for a bit to acclimate to the temp.

the start of getting the foam down and the first few planks. aligning the wood properly was tough since the wall is not perfectly straight, but he did a great job setting up the spacers to make sure the boards were at least straight.

yeah baby, the mitre saw!!

we bought a new vent grate. ger had to use a jigsaw to cut the vent hole in the wood and it looks great.

the trim along the archway into the living room was way too long, so ger had to saw it by hand. this was a pain in the ass.

perl enjoying the beautiful new floor and the sunlight

alex helping gerry this morning, after they took out almost all the planks to perfect the 3rd row.