What's the oldest thing in your closet?

Earlier this year I put on my Jeans belt and the hole for the buckle finally gave way.  Doesn't surprise me too much, for leather belts aren't supposed to last for 50 years.  I remember that I purchased this belt when I was in high school.  Originally it came with a Coors belt buckle, but that broke before I graduated.

The buckle came from Summerfest in 1975.  I was volunteering as part of a flag corp so we got free admission.  I needed a belt buckle and there were many vendors supplying various items of clothing.  I have no idea why I picked this buckle.  It reads Livingston,Wells & Co., Domestic and Foreign Gold Dealers and has the image of a schooner in the middle.  Apparently, this company was a predecessor to Wells Fargo bank.  

I find it interesting looking at the hole pattern in the belt.  Apparently, I've grown a few inches around since high school.  Some of the ones closest to the end are even stretched out a bit.  Apparently, I've enjoyed a few beers while wearing this belt.  

I also find it interesting that if you do a search on the Internet, there are dozens of Livingston, Wells and Co belt buckles for sale as "vintage".  I guess that makes me vintage as well.  My buckle shows more wear, though.  It's had a good life so far.  Now all I need to do is look for a new leather belt.  

Media Star

Back in 2010, I was working at a company called Wizard International and we were introducing a new product, the CMC 9000.  As part of the advertising campaign, I was selected.  So, Wolfgang, Ariel, Brian, Brian and Elizabeth all posed in our serious poses in front of our milling machine in the shop.  I guess they wanted it to look industrial. 

I never did get any royalties from it.  They did, however, keep me employed for much longer. 

Remodeling - Main Floor Bathroom Design

One of the first areas they tackled was the Main Floor Bathroom.  We had focused on getting the decisions on the main floor bathroom done early because if we had to move in quickly, we could live on a partially completed main floor as long as it had a bathroom.  Luckily, we didn't have to move right away, so they had some time to work on the bathroom.

Vanity

We purchased a pre-built vanity from Houzz.  I had it delivered to my work.  Little did I know it was coming in on a pallet and was almost 400 lbs.  Luckily, I had one of the guys from work lift it into the back of the company van with a fork lift and took it over while the workers were still there.

Still needs some grout

We had the tub delivered before the plumbing fixtures so that the plumber could install it.  Then Pascal got to work laying the tile. There wasn't much needed from a reconstruction standpoint, so it was basically roughing in the shower area and laying tile.

Our interior designer, Rachel, gave us a pretty nice mock up of the bathroom and suggested we put wainscoting in and use a darker color for the top part of the room.  We liked the concept, although we picked a more rust like red rather than the dark blue she suggested.

Took out the toilet for painting

The lights, mirror and plumbing fixtures are all there, waiting for the paint.  The only thing left is ordering the grab bars and towel racks.

Remodeling - Upstairs Bathroom Design

With the rough-in completed, we now had to finalize our decision on the design details.  We had chosen plumbing fixtures early on, but now we needed to determine what the bathroom needed to look like. 

Upstairs Bathroom Color Scheme

We dragged our interior designer, Rachel, to a Floor and Decor store and wandered around being overwhelmed with choices.  She had suggested an olive green for the cabinets, somewhat like the color of our current living room (see paint sample on right).  Then, she suggested a pebbled floor for the shower.

When our contractor heard this, he recommended a flattened pebbled tile, because the ones that were naturally shaped were pretty bumpy and hard to keep clean.  So, we found a 4-color pebbled flooring. 

When it came to the decorative accent tile, we had hundreds to look at.  We finally found one that had some of the stone from the floor, some green glass to go with the vanity, and some bluish glass.  Finally, we had to pick out a base tile color, and we found an greyish/bluish/browish tile that would go well together.  The photo shows the choices. 

As for the bathroom floor, we decided we wanted vinyl upstairs, one because it's warmer than tile in the morning, and two, because we found a vinyl that didn't look like fake tile.  It can be installed with grouting between the tiles to make it look more like a real tile.  When we get around to the kitchen, we'll probably use the same brand. 

Then, we had to deal with cabinets.  The cabinet maker that our contractor uses is on the opposite side of Seattle, and the shut down the state the day before we were going to go pick out our cabinets.  So, for a month, we had cabinets that were being ordered that we'd never seen.  We had to twist the salesman's arm to get color samples sent to us so we could coordinate the rest of the material. 

Laundry Side Cabinet Layout

The vanity side was pretty much standard, two sinks on either side with a set of drawers in the middle.  On the laundry side, Gail had been looking through Houzz and found a couple of really cool design ideas.  A Rev-A-Shelf folding ironing board that stored into a drawer, and a drying rack that was basically a converted drawer.  We sketched up something for the cabinet guy and heard nothing for a month. 

Finally, we dropped him a note asking when they were going to reopen, and he indicated that they'd been open for a week now.  We finally exchanged some drawings with him and we've got a design that we believe will be functional. 

The right hand drawer will be the ironing board, the center will be the drying rack, and the two large sliding shelves will hold laundry baskets for our dirty clothes  There is room for our stacking washer/dryer to the left of the cabinets. After everything is in place, we'll probably add a hanging rod to hang clothes as well. 

We still have a few details that we need to put in place, such as where towel rods need to go, but we're almost done with the decisions for that bathroom.  The only thing left is the lighting. 

Sneak peek at the finished product

Remodeling - Upstairs Bathroom Rough-In

Last we left the Upstairs Bathroom, there were multiple holes in the walls with plumbing everywhere.  Then came the rerouting of everything.

Shower Rough-in

First, the plumber came in and moved the shower drain, the pipes for the shower and vanity, removed the tub plumbing and routed it over to where the washer/dryer would be located.  There was a bit of rerouting of electrical and moving the dryer circuit.  They even pulled up some of the floor.

Future Washer/Dryer corner

Then they put in some walls.  Apparently, they now use a cement board in the showers instead of drywall.  It gives a pretty good adhesion surface for the tile.  They also used it to build the floor pan, since the we had to go with was unique.



We actually sized the shower based on the vanity.  Apparently, 60" is a standard size for a double vanity, so we had them put the half wall in to allow for a 60" vanity.  After moving a bit of the electrical, they put the drywall back in place.

Shower boxed in

With the drywall and floor back in, it is almost starting to look like a room again.

Keys

Random Box of Keys

One of the things you get to do when you move is to clean out drawers that have sat idle for a long, long, time.  They are called junk drawers because we tend to put things into them without thought.  If there isn't a place for it, it must go in the junk drawer.  One of the things collected in the junk drawer are keys.

I have no idea where most of these keys come from.  I've got a better idea where some of the key rings came from, but those are lost in history as well.  Some of them are labeled (like the keys to the cottage, 1500 miles away), and some are anonymous. 

I wandered around the house with the keys trying the various locks on things, and I still can't find the key for a few locks.  Some are now identified, but there are many that are lost in the depths of time. 

Key from the house where I grew up

However, I did recognize one old key.  Don't know why I still have it, but it is the key to the house where I grew up.  I'm certain the new owner has changed the locks since then, so I'll keep it in the box as a reminder. 

Dogs

Bailey and Zoe

Dogs have been a part of the family for quite some time.  Gail grew up with dogs but I did not.  Shortly after Valerie was born, they family took a vote on whether or not to get a dog.  Valerie couldn't even talk yet, but she voted for the dog. 

The first dog was Bailey, a Cocker Spaniel.  He was conceived accidentally when one of Gail's friends left her dog in heat outside.  I affectionately called him butthead.  He wasn't real bright. 

Gail, on the other hand, is very bright and good at training dogs.  As long as she was holding treats in her hand, Bailey would do most anything.  She even made him a performing dog as attested to by the entry into Maria's 4th Grade Talent Show.  He was probably not the dog she would have picked, but he was a dog.

The second dog in the picture is Zoe, an Australian Shepherd rescue dog.  He came about because as Bailey was getting old, I asked her if she wanted another dog.  Before I knew it, she had found one and was training her as well. 

Professor Henry Jones Jr,
i.e., Indy

Bailey passed away in May, 2004.  Zoe in 2013.  She talked me into another dog about 6 months later.  Indy is an "All American Black Dog", i.e., a Lab mutt.  She's trained him well, although he probably gets away with more than the other two did.  You know how it is with the baby of the family.