Residual Laughter

A Night Interrupted

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 01:16:00 +0000

It was supposed to be a nice night, where Leah would pick up her hard earned law school diploma and celebrate with friends. Instead a car pulled out in front of us and all Leah could do was swerve to reduce the impact.

One thing was certain, the other car got the worst of it.

Luckily no one was seriously hurt. Here's our car...

It doesn't look that bad, but the wheel is bent in and the panel is gone. We got the call from the insurance company today. They plan to fix it, but we'll have to stick with a rental for the next few weeks. As for fault, we think it's obvious. She had a stop sign. We didn't. But we really haven't heard anything about who is paying for what yet.

And Leah's diploma remains at the Temple Law School admissions office. Don't worry. We'll pick it up soon and we'll celebrate with friends and it'll be a nice night.

Thankful for a Stove

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 13:35:00 +0000

We have made tremendous strides since I first took a circular saw to the floor and a crowbar to the cabinets, but were we ready to put in our new stove this week?

No.

And yet, what were we to do, make turkey in the toaster oven and mashed potatoes in the microwave? Sometimes you have to do what you're not ready to do. While Leah was at a class, I got our friendly neighbor Kevin to help me lug the used stove from the garage and place it on our new slate tile floor, away from the walls so I can paint the parts that need painting, tile the parts that need tiling and put a cabinet in the spot that... well you get the point.

And suddenly we were able to cook our turkey breast, mashed tatters and cornbread stuffing. And eggs on a frying pan and mozzarella sticks in the oven. We have both really missed having a stove over the last six weeks and when Leah got home the first thing she said was: "I never thought I would be this excited to cook something."

Here is what the kitchen looked like before we took it apart:

To be honest, Leah and I both think this picture makes it look better than it was. The cabinets were old, poorly painted and falling apart. The floor was linoleum on linoleum on top of linoleum. The dishwasher was falling apart.

Here is what it looks like now:

We installed recess lighting and the upper cabinets. The slate tile is in and Leah smoothed out the messed up drywall. We updated the electrical and the plumbing. I bet we are about half way to the finish line.

We still have so much work to do. We need to install the base cabinets and paint them. Get the butcher block countertops in place and tile the back splash. We have to make the bar and secure it to the floor. We have to find a way to get the fridge back in the room (that makes me tired just thinking about it.)

But before we get back to work, we are going to pause and take a deep breath and be thankful for the little things, like the ability to cook a nice meal together.

Weed-B-Gone, Exteme Edition

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 23:23:00 +0000

We decided to bring a little xeriscaping to our sleepy Philly neighbor about a year ago, but it had one major downside. Weeds. Lots of weeds. Persistent weeds, despite three layers of yard fabric.

And Leah doesn't like weeds. Leah had enough and she wanted a PERMANENT solution. You want to know how to make sure the weeds stay at bay? All it takes is 240 pounds of cement.

You think I'm kidding. I'm not.

We bought four 80 pound bags of cement. I mixed it up, lugged it over to her and she smashed it into the parking strip, giving space for a few little plants.

Check it out.

No more dirt, no more weeds. (Except for a few that will probably grow near the base of the plants. Shush, don't tell Leah.) But as for now, it looks pretty decent.

The Never Ending Project Ends

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 21:25:00 +0000

It took months and involved massive power tools, patience and a whole lot of tile, but the great bathroom remodel of 2010 is finally over!

Kinda.

We have a few annoying little details to finish up, but still, we now have a working shower, toilet and sink, so the big ticket items are all in place. We thought we would let you see what it looked like before and how we transformed it.

Here is our original bathroom:

Ugly huh? Not only was it dated and dingy but it wasn't functional. The shower didn't drain very well. And Leah got nauseous every time she saw the paneling on the wall. We gutted the thing, redid the plumbing and electrical, built the floor (after Leah put her foot through it) and the walls. Then it was finally time for tile.

Leah, bless her heart, rejected my pleas for massive easy-to-install tile. Instead she went for cute. And cute takes time.

We spent precious time with each piece of this subway tile, doing our best to make sure all the lines matched up. It took four days to complete it all and surprisingly, we still liked each other when it was all said and done.

We also liked the outcome. Here is what the new bathroom looks like:

Next up: The kitchen. We already started demo. Stay tuned.

Yeah, What This Guy Says...

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 02:08:00 +0000

We took Leah's sister to Philly's Magic Gardens on our brief little stop in our part of the world. It's a unique and massive folk art project executed by a man who loves his mosaics.

On this trip, we actually forked over the five bucks to enter his dominion and walk through his tunnels and alleyways mixed with broken tiles, plates, beer bottles and even action figures.

But this is by far my favorite wall, for obvious professional reasons. (If you have a hard time reading it, click on the picture. It should appear larger.)

I'll see you in Hell ... squirrel

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:55:00 +0000

This is a casting of Rodin's world famous Gates of Hell, appropriately placed at the entrance to Philly's Rodin Museum. We spent some time absorbing all the incredible detail with Bonnie, Leah's sister who spent a few days with us recently.

People are being tortured, burned, beaten. They are in serious anguish, cause Hell apparently ain't no fun. Unless you're the squirrel that lives there.

Suffice it to say that this was Leah's favorite part of this masterpiece.

And now, I'll give you a bonus picture of Bonnie slugging Leah in front of the Rocky statute.

What's that burning smell?

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 14:47:00 +0000

Oh, maybe that burning smell is a two month old piece of toast that has been charred to a puck. Oops.

(weirdest part: It looks like Leah took a bite, doesn't it? She insists she didn't, but ....)

A Hardwood Re-Do

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 04:06:00 +0000

Refinishing hardwoods is not fun. Doing it a second time because the first time didn't go well is also not very fun.

I've grudgingly started this process, which involves using a three-inch belt sander and a whole lot of elbow grease. Leah and I liked the dark walnut color we splashed on the floors shortly after buying this place, but the "environmentally safe" stain and sealant never really sealed right. The floor is gritty and grimy.

So for our second attempt, we've decided to go no stain and I plan to use the most toxic sealant possible — the more oily and chemically the better — because one thing is for certain: I don't want a third trip around this carousel.

A Furry Friend

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 02:46:00 +0000

Look who I found hiding in the apartment this evening. This furry little baby squirrel (I think) ran right by me while I watched the NBA Finals and hid behind the television.

I tried to tell him the view was better on the other side of the set, but he wasn't budging. Not when I nudged the TV or snapped his picture and not when I tried to scoop him into a box. In the end I had to pick up the TV to get him to move at all and then I had to chase him out the front door, while my roommate Amanda guarded the bedrooms.

I would have let him stay, but he refused to pay rent.

Hole in the House

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Sun, 30 May 2010 15:31:00 +0000

Say hello to our not-so-little friend — the latest and probably craziest tool we've rented. It's a concrete core drill, meant to punch holes right into the side of your house. We snagged one to help us vent a new bathroom exhaust fan.

The original plan was for me to climb up a 15 foot ladder and drill into the wall right below the roof, but as you can tell this thing was a little too cumbersome for that. So we went to Plan B. I climbed into our two-foot attic space and drilled a hole from the inside out.

The drill punched through the cinder block like it was nothing, but slowed down drastically once we hit the outer layer of brick. I had to take repeated breaks to let the bit cool down and to give my arms a rest. Even with me bracing it against the ceiling joists, it was a beast to handle.

Success! The guy at the tool rental place told us this was going to be a nightmare, which got me all kinds of nervous. It wasn't fun, but we have surely tackled worse jobs. For the record, once you use a concrete core drill to cut a hole through your brick, allow the brick to cool before stupidly sticking your hand through the hole. Otherwise, you may get minor burns on your forearm. Just sayin'.

D.C.’s Big Fancy Dinner

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Mon, 03 May 2010 00:40:00 +0000

Betty White sat next to Morgan Freeman. The crazy bearded guy from The Hangover hid in the corner and refused to take pictures with fans. Two of the Sex and the City women caused women to squeal. Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele sat at the same table as liberal preacher Al Sharpton.

These were just a few snapshots of last nights’ White House Correspondents Dinner. Leah and I were lucky enough to attend for a third year in a row and we’re starting to find our rhythm. We’re not aggressive picture takers like a few of our friends (though we couldn’t help ourselves at the end of the night — see below). I’m not into schmoozing with industry bigwigs (though I probably should be). And we were a little too passive to crash the pre- and post-parties like some brave souls we know.

Our strategy consisted of getting there early, taking advantage of the open bar, and then gawking at the crazy crowd — a mixture of celebrity journalists, politicians and a wide range of movie stars, musicians and tabloid celebs. Hey Mom, this pic is for you!

Once everyone was seated, we also made a little tour of the front rows where most of the famous people dine at tables sponsored by the networks, People Magazine and national newspapers. Leah is still a little peeved that we didn’t see John Cusack. That’s two years in a row where we’ve come up empty in our hunt for the Say Anything star. Here is a picture of the prez taken about 10 seconds before I inadvertently ran into his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Sorry Rahm. It was an accident.

President Obama was a big hit with the crowd. He made fun of his declining poll numbers, the crazy people who insist he isn’t a U.S. citizen and even the entertainer for the evening — Jay Leno. Following the president is tough, and Leno gave it a valiant effort. To watch the video click here.

To our surprise Leno strode right into the crowd after his performance and we caught him for half a second, though the dastardly Rep. Dennis Kucinich interrupted our little photo. This one’s for Leah’s Ma!

On our way out I saw Dominic West talking with two friends. You may know him better as McNulty from The Wire — hands down the best television show ever produced.

Emboldened by our Leno picture, I decided to awkwardly stand next to McNulty and his friends, waiting for a lull in the conversation. It took longer than it should, which made me feel weird about it, but Leah was encouraging. When they took a breath, I walked up and told him I was a big fan. He couldn’t have been nicer. His friend offered to snap the picture and right before he hit the button, McNulty asked if we wanted Sonja Sohn (Kima from The Wire) to join. You can tell my response in this picture, which quite frankly looks like McNulty enjoyed the open bar himself.

Here is the real picture.

Nice Claws!

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 00:55:00 +0000

Georgette shows off her fancy new nails. They are not only stylish, but they also stop her from destroying our stuff.

Dashboard Ducks

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 13:43:00 +0000

We saw this on a recent walk. Someone loves their rubber duckies and isn't afraid to let people know. But I got to think that in the oppressive summer months, warming rubber on the dash can't smell good.

A Day in D.C.

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 01:40:00 +0000

I was able to lure Leah to D.C. with the promise of cherry blossoms and primo Jazz tickets. That's right, she drove three hours to watch a basketball game. I checked her temperature. She seemed fine.

We had a nice low key date -- that we shared with a few thousand tourists. The 98th annual Cherry Blossom festival started this weekend drawing big crowds to the tidal basin. Like most people there, we posed for a few pictures, enjoyed the beautiful trees and then scouted out a tasty treat. We picked roasted pecans.

We then had a nice long afternoon coffee that melded right into dinner that morphed into basketball. My colleague's fiance has a nice hookup, and was able to get us fifth row tickets across from the home team's bench. Perfect vantage point to see the speed and physicality of the game, without having to worry that a 7-foot 300 pounder might accidentally crash into your lap while you were taking a swig from a very overpriced soda.

It was a mere day in D.C., but it was a nice reprieve from the norm. Back to home remodeling tomorrow.

This week plumbing, next week ceiling repair

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:42:00 +0000

We should have known there was a price to pay for the ease of our plumbing project. Murphy's law says if pipe soldering goes well, Leah is likely to slip and step right through the floor (or ceiling depending on how you look at it.)

She got some nasty bruises but will be OK.

Now I'm sure you are thinking something along the lines of: "So Leah takes a nasty fall and Matt's reaction is to grab the camera and run downstairs to snap a few pictures of her leg dangling through the ceiling (or floor depending on how you look at it)?"

I refuse to dignify such an offensive question with an answer.

The Right Tool

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:26:00 +0000

Try as I might the rusty pipe wouldn't budge and it was clear my little plumber's wrench wasn't going to cut it. I needed something with some heft — either a much stronger man or a much bigger wrench.

I asked Leah to see if we could rent one. She told me Home Depot doesn't rent men. I sighed and asked her to check into WRENCHES! Geez.

Then a few days later, I looked out our window to check on the progress of the interminably slow gas company employees and guess what I saw.

A wrench! And check out my face as I picked up the tool I thought I was going to have to rent. Score!

For a good size comparison, check out the big time wrench against the little one I was struggling with.

It took me less than 10 seconds to remove an old cast iron elbow. And it took me even less than that to accidentally crush this threaded piece. Whoops!

No worries. It took about 30 minutes.... and a hack saw.... and a chisel ... but we got it out of there. Now we can start replacing the floor drains and get moving on this total bathroom re-do.

Putting the Bananas in Bananas Foster

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:35:00 +0000

Creamy caramel with a slight rum flavor mixed with bananas over some vanilla ice cream. Sounds good, huh?

Leah and I have tried a few bananas foster recipes in the last few weeks and made our share of errors, but even when it doesn't go exactly as planned, it turns out to be pretty tasty. By far the coolest part of making this dish is lighting it on fire. You pour in the rum, let it get a little hot and light the fumes. It looks just like this...

... Ok, not quite. Actually we couldn't get even a tiny flame the first time. It turns out that you are not supposed to stir in the rum, but just let it sit on top. Our bad.

We also have started to cheat. The point is to mix butter and brown sugar, then use the flame to caramelize the whole thing. We just started melting caramels and adding the booze to that. More consistent and you can sneak a caramel or two when Leah isn't looking.

We have also learned that letting it cool for a minute or two is wise. My first attempt melted the ice cream almost instantaneously. Our errors aside, it has turned out better and better each time, as Leah says: "I get better at this every time I wing it."

Digging out

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:52:00 +0000

We once again grabbed our pathetic little shovel and started heaving snow after the third major storm of the season and the second in the past week. Everyone on the block ended up making snow mountains in front of their house. Quite frankly, there is other place to put all of this white stuff.

Cats Like Snow Days Too

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:53:00 +0000

Snow Day

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:33:00 +0000

The second mammoth storm of the season slammed into Philly and the rest of the East coast last night. My friends have been calling this Snowpocalypse II (giving due respect to the storm that almost stranded us here before the holidays) or The Son of Snowpocalypse. Funny, but a bit melodramatic, don't you think? Like most Mountain Westerns, I scoffed at the panic from the masses. They don't know what a big storm is, the amateurs!

And then I woke up and looked outside. I thought of my puny snow shovel. I groaned. So far about two feet of snow has fallen and the dorky weather dudes expect more. It is hard to comprehend how much snow that is, so to illustrate here are two pictures of Leah's car.

In picture one, you can see the snow as it fell last night and this morning

And here it is when I shoveled off some of it.

That's about where I stopped. I cleaned off the stairs, the sidewalk and part of the driveway, But I gave up when I saw how much effort it would take for me to dig out to the street. Instead, I went inside for a nice cup of hot chocolate and a marathon of 30 Rock episodes courtesy of Netflix.

Heck, it's a snow day. Nobody should be expected to do any serious work in weather like this.

The Next Big Project

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:05:00 +0000

This past weekend, we installed a sink and toilet downstairs, which means we could destroy the outdated upstairs bathroom. So say goodbye to the gray and pink tile one last time.

We spent 50 bucks to rent an electric heavy-duty chipping hammer. That may sound like overkill, but in this old house, the tile was laid on top of two inches of concrete attached to the wall with a metal lathe. The wall laughed at me when I hit it with the sledge. It didn't laugh at the chipping hammer.

Now we have a front yard full of old tile slabs and about 15 bags loaded with tiny chunks of construction debris. We are still trying to figure out how we get rid of it all.

After about eight hours with the chipping hammer, we took care of the walls and the floor. The bathroom now looks like this.

A Watery Mess

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:20:00 +0000

Turning the water off to the house and then cutting a pipe always makes me nervous. What if we can't fix it? No toilet, no shower. Uh oh. But this morning it all went rather well. I cut the toilet supply line and Leah installed a new shut off valve. I turned the water back on and BAM. Nothing happened. Everything worked as it should. No disasters.

Unless you call the water dripping from the garage ceiling a disaster. What made it even more unnerving is that I knew no pipes were in the vicinity. Leah blamed the drip on the water that sloshed out of the toilet as we moved it from the bathroom upstairs (which we just started remodeling) to the bathroom downstairs (which we are almost finished with).

I didn't buy it. It seemed like a pretty persistent drip to come from a cup or two of water. While Leah remained optimistic, I went straight into panic mode. I envisioned having to call a plumber who would rip apart our garage ceiling, our walls, our floorboards to find the leaky pipe.

I needed a drink and stormed off to the fridge to tap into our water pitcher. It was empty even though I had filled it just this morning. Wait a minute?

Sure enough water sloshed around the bottom of our fridge and when we pulled it back from the wall the entire floor was wet. I must have returned the pitcher with the spout slightly open. It probably leaked all day long. The water pooling and then finding its way through the floor into the garage below.

YES! The plumbing is fine.

I've never been so relieved to clean up a mess, but how ironic that this happened on a day we were messing with the pipes.

The Highs and Lows of Fandom

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 06:04:00 +0000

Yes that is me sitting on the court at a Jazz game. And yes it is extremely cool to be able to hear them communicate, see how fast they move and how hard they slam into each other.

And yes, that is a rather unexcited look on my face. The Jazz lost ... again.

Holiday Home Improvement

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:43:00 +0000

Got in some nice home construction work on our break. Leah's folks are remodeling a bathroom and we helped them with the demo (often my favorite part of any job).

At first, I wanted a sledge, but couldn't find one. Good thing too. When I used a hammer to try to smash out a few tiles, I ended up damaging the drywall on the other side of the wall. If I had a sledge, I may have went straight through. Oops. Luckily, their kind neighbor stepped in and wisely suggested I use his impact hammer, which is pretty much a tiny jackhammer in gun form.

It did the trick, but only a few tiles came off easily. Most exploded in chunks of white ceramic. I blame Leah's dad. He tiled the shower originally and when he does a job, he does it to last a lifetime. Slowly and surely, I made progress, that is until the horrible Big Joe attack of New Year's Eve.

I blame the tomato. Leah blames the beef. Either way, I ate a burger and got a nasty case of food poisoning. I sat in bed, nursing a ginger ale and some saltines to ring in the new year. And then on the first, I finished the tile destruction.

Three thoughts:
1. I look good in a pink bandanna.
2. I need to get me one of those impact hammers.
3. I can't wait to see their newly remodeled bathroom.

Unnatural Pizza

noreply@blogger.com (MattC) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:10:00 +0000

Somewhere in an exotic place on an exotic farm grows the elusive "natural" pizza, which is obviously far superior to the totally unnatural and processed pizza most of us know and love.

I wonder if it grows on a tree like an apple or a vine like a pumpkin?

Leah and I made a venture to our favorite grocery store with the hopes of trying one of these fancy natural pizzas. But in the end we buckled and went with a tried and true pepperoni from the standard "pizza" section.

New Year's Resolution: I've heard from a few of you and I will do my best to put more inane stuff on this blog. Sorry to have been a slacker.