Check out page three, cause my blog is on it!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Google love!
So as I was taking a slight detour from my work I decided to Google Greektown Baltimore to see what came up...
Check out page three, cause my blog is on it!
Check out page three, cause my blog is on it!
I said burrr, it's cold in here!
Thanks to the onset of winter in Greektown Baltimore the house has gotten a bit chilly!
You can call me cheap for not wanting to turn the heat up on full blast, but I prefer to call myself environmentally friendly. I've recently been on this big kick to lower my carbon footprint because it's better for the environment. My carbon footprint is 18... calculate yours!
Some steps I've taken include using less water, recycling (obviously), replacing light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs, not using the highest setting on the hot water heater and keeping the thermostat lower. Not only does all of this help the environment, it also helps keep energy bills down too!
My latest project was to make the house more airtight. Since the house was built in 1915 (that would make it 93 years old) there are a lot of gaps in the doors & windows and if you held your hand over them for just a few seconds you could feel the cool air blowing in them. I took a trip to the local Home Depot to purchase some supplies including: weather stripping, door sweeps, caulk and insulating foam.
I weather stripped the front and rear doors (prevents air from entering/escaping from where the door meets the door jamb), added door sweeps to the bottom of the door (again to prevent air from entering/leaving) and spraying expandable foam into the gaps between the door jambs and the walls. I also caulked between the glass and frame of the old window on the back door, too! All of this in hopes of keeping the warm air in!
I also finally realized why my bedroom was so darn cold... the vent was plastered closed! So with a hammer, screw driver and a little muscle I was able to get the vent open and sleep a lot warmer than I had been!
Next up, a programmable digital thermostat!
You can call me cheap for not wanting to turn the heat up on full blast, but I prefer to call myself environmentally friendly. I've recently been on this big kick to lower my carbon footprint because it's better for the environment. My carbon footprint is 18... calculate yours!
Some steps I've taken include using less water, recycling (obviously), replacing light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs, not using the highest setting on the hot water heater and keeping the thermostat lower. Not only does all of this help the environment, it also helps keep energy bills down too!
My latest project was to make the house more airtight. Since the house was built in 1915 (that would make it 93 years old) there are a lot of gaps in the doors & windows and if you held your hand over them for just a few seconds you could feel the cool air blowing in them. I took a trip to the local Home Depot to purchase some supplies including: weather stripping, door sweeps, caulk and insulating foam.
I weather stripped the front and rear doors (prevents air from entering/escaping from where the door meets the door jamb), added door sweeps to the bottom of the door (again to prevent air from entering/leaving) and spraying expandable foam into the gaps between the door jambs and the walls. I also caulked between the glass and frame of the old window on the back door, too! All of this in hopes of keeping the warm air in!
I also finally realized why my bedroom was so darn cold... the vent was plastered closed! So with a hammer, screw driver and a little muscle I was able to get the vent open and sleep a lot warmer than I had been!
Next up, a programmable digital thermostat!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Werk it out & running water, oh my!
So I've been living in Greektown Baltimore for a month and a half now and have been talking time and time again about joining a gym. While there are a few different gyms in the city most of them are small and not located anywhere near home. There is Mount Vernon fitness and the Federal Hill Gym but those would take me like 20 minutes to get to... a drive that long I might as well go back to Lifetime Fitness. There is the Canton Club, but the gym isn't very big at all.
The only suitable gym to look at was the Merritt Athletic Club on Boston Street - right on the edge of Canton. Only about five minutes from Macon Street. I made the appointment to check it out last night and I was quite impressed. As most of you know, it's pretty hard to compete with Lifetime Fitness - between the pools, spa, steam room and more - but I was surprised... looks like the M.A.C can compete. Afterall it is in Canton. The gym basically reminds me of Lifetime, only on a smaller scale. Large number of machines, basketball court, indoor/outdoor pool (with a bar on the weekend!!!!!), spa, free towels and more.
After taking the tour of the facility it became time to talk price. Luckily being a part of Long & Foster Real Estate I was able to qualifyfor the corporate rate. Unfortunately I'd be paying more than I am at Lifetime as an original member, but given the ability to attend all 10 of the M.A.Cs! Including the 24 hour Downtown Athletic Club! So being the sucker that I am, I signed up. Now all I need to do is cancel my Lifetime membership and I'll be good to go!
Not only did I join the gym, I also worked out there today! Go me! Lets hope that I can keep up with a solid workout routine this time. I'll have to get more comfortable there, too. Sensory overload is an understatement, if you get my drift. HEH.
After leaving the gym I figured that I should stop at the Home Depot to pickup the necessary parts to repair the toilet... I sure was getting tired of hearing the darn thing run non-stop. Not to mention the waste of water! I purchased a new flapper and installed it within a matter of moments. I'm two for two today! HOLLA!
The only suitable gym to look at was the Merritt Athletic Club on Boston Street - right on the edge of Canton. Only about five minutes from Macon Street. I made the appointment to check it out last night and I was quite impressed. As most of you know, it's pretty hard to compete with Lifetime Fitness - between the pools, spa, steam room and more - but I was surprised... looks like the M.A.C can compete. Afterall it is in Canton. The gym basically reminds me of Lifetime, only on a smaller scale. Large number of machines, basketball court, indoor/outdoor pool (with a bar on the weekend!!!!!), spa, free towels and more.
After taking the tour of the facility it became time to talk price. Luckily being a part of Long & Foster Real Estate I was able to qualifyfor the corporate rate. Unfortunately I'd be paying more than I am at Lifetime as an original member, but given the ability to attend all 10 of the M.A.Cs! Including the 24 hour Downtown Athletic Club! So being the sucker that I am, I signed up. Now all I need to do is cancel my Lifetime membership and I'll be good to go!
Not only did I join the gym, I also worked out there today! Go me! Lets hope that I can keep up with a solid workout routine this time. I'll have to get more comfortable there, too. Sensory overload is an understatement, if you get my drift. HEH.
After leaving the gym I figured that I should stop at the Home Depot to pickup the necessary parts to repair the toilet... I sure was getting tired of hearing the darn thing run non-stop. Not to mention the waste of water! I purchased a new flapper and installed it within a matter of moments. I'm two for two today! HOLLA!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
First party, DONE! But wait, my oven's broken...
This past Saturday was the official debut of the new casa in Greektown Baltimore to most of my friends that hadn't seen it. (Don't worry, it wasn't the official house warming if you didn't get a chance to make it!)
There was a lot of prep work to do, as I hadn't cleaned in weeks! And then of course there were the last minute things like replacing light bulbs, old drapes with new paper blinds (until I can figure out window treatments), moving boxes into storage and more.
Finally at 7pm everything was done, and the guests started to arrive.
At this point I was totally nervous. Was there going to be enough parking? Were people going to be able to find the house? Were my neighbors going to complain? Did we have enough beer? All of this was running through my mind.
Luckily the night escaped without any major problems... oh wait, I forgot to mention the fact that Louie broke my stove.
Apparently new gas ranges require electricity for the electronic ignition to light the gas. Since I had two refrigerators, lights and more going in the kitchen, when the oven was turned on to pre-heat the breaker tripped. No biggie. I flipped the breaker and all should be fine, right? Nope. If the oven is ever on during a power outage the stove shuts itself off to prevent gas leaks - neat. Once power is restored the "glow bar" needs to warm before the oven will allow the gas to flow and the oven to heat above 100 degrees.
Well short story long, the "glow bar" isn't lighting, which in turn means the oven doesn't work. I've searched all over the Internet trying to find a way to fix it with no luck. I was on the phone with GE last night for an hour and a half but was disconnected. Hopefully they'll respond to my email.
If anyone has any ideas please hit me up!
There was a lot of prep work to do, as I hadn't cleaned in weeks! And then of course there were the last minute things like replacing light bulbs, old drapes with new paper blinds (until I can figure out window treatments), moving boxes into storage and more.
Finally at 7pm everything was done, and the guests started to arrive.
At this point I was totally nervous. Was there going to be enough parking? Were people going to be able to find the house? Were my neighbors going to complain? Did we have enough beer? All of this was running through my mind.
Luckily the night escaped without any major problems... oh wait, I forgot to mention the fact that Louie broke my stove.
Apparently new gas ranges require electricity for the electronic ignition to light the gas. Since I had two refrigerators, lights and more going in the kitchen, when the oven was turned on to pre-heat the breaker tripped. No biggie. I flipped the breaker and all should be fine, right? Nope. If the oven is ever on during a power outage the stove shuts itself off to prevent gas leaks - neat. Once power is restored the "glow bar" needs to warm before the oven will allow the gas to flow and the oven to heat above 100 degrees.
Well short story long, the "glow bar" isn't lighting, which in turn means the oven doesn't work. I've searched all over the Internet trying to find a way to fix it with no luck. I was on the phone with GE last night for an hour and a half but was disconnected. Hopefully they'll respond to my email.
If anyone has any ideas please hit me up!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Learn to park, a-holes.
Nothing irritates me more than coming home and not having a place to park on my street. And then come to find out I have to park three blocks away from my house. I could park on my street if the a-hole that drives the white van and/or the a-hole that drives this hideous blue truck understood how to park.
::sigh::
I know i'm slacking on my posting, I'll give yah an update tomorrow night.
::sigh::
I know i'm slacking on my posting, I'll give yah an update tomorrow night.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Small Victories
So this weekend was full of house disappointments and some small victories, too...
Saturday afternoon dad came over to help install the microwave, replace some light switches and help with some other odds and ends. (When I say microwave, I don't mean the ones that sit on the counter. Rather the ones that mount under the cabinet above the stove!) As soon as dad arrived we got to work on the microwave; dad read the instructions (a tad surprising, usually that's my job) while I unpacked the box. After some measuring and line drawing I come to the realization that the microwave is too big to fit where I wanted to mount it... yet again another disappointment. Not to mention I've waited almost a month to install the darn thing and it was too big. GRRR... score one to the house.
We decided to move on and try our hand at replacing the light switch in the kitchen. Since the switch is at the back of the room and you enter from the front of the room (stupid old house) I thought it would be neat to get a motion sensor so that when you walked in the room the light would turn on. Well of course this wasn't easy, either. It turns out the motion sensor was too big for the electrical box. After a lot of maneuvering we were able to get the box to fit and got it all wired up. There was only one problem, the light flickered once the motion sensor was activated. I tried to adjust all the settings, but nothing corrected the issue. Time to undo everything that was done. GRRR... score another one to the house.
Now it was time to move on to the shower head. I tried doing this last week, but I didn't have the correct wrench to remove the original shower head. Luckily dad had the correct tool and I was able to replace it myself... Score one to me!
Last order of business, hot water! From the very beginning I have not had very hot water - to be honest, I would call it lukewarm on its hottest day. I was thinking that the hot water heater was broken, or the temperature needed to be adjusted. Having never tinkered with something like this, especially not a gas powered appliance, I decided I was definitely waiting for dad. Dad located the knob (which was set at the lowest setting) and turned it up. Immediately the hot water heater started singing and I knew hot water was going to be available soon. Score another one to Jay!
The rest of the evening consisted of me setting up my new wireless router, playing some Wii, watching some movies and later heading to bed.
Saturday afternoon dad came over to help install the microwave, replace some light switches and help with some other odds and ends. (When I say microwave, I don't mean the ones that sit on the counter. Rather the ones that mount under the cabinet above the stove!) As soon as dad arrived we got to work on the microwave; dad read the instructions (a tad surprising, usually that's my job) while I unpacked the box. After some measuring and line drawing I come to the realization that the microwave is too big to fit where I wanted to mount it... yet again another disappointment. Not to mention I've waited almost a month to install the darn thing and it was too big. GRRR... score one to the house.
We decided to move on and try our hand at replacing the light switch in the kitchen. Since the switch is at the back of the room and you enter from the front of the room (stupid old house) I thought it would be neat to get a motion sensor so that when you walked in the room the light would turn on. Well of course this wasn't easy, either. It turns out the motion sensor was too big for the electrical box. After a lot of maneuvering we were able to get the box to fit and got it all wired up. There was only one problem, the light flickered once the motion sensor was activated. I tried to adjust all the settings, but nothing corrected the issue. Time to undo everything that was done. GRRR... score another one to the house.
Now it was time to move on to the shower head. I tried doing this last week, but I didn't have the correct wrench to remove the original shower head. Luckily dad had the correct tool and I was able to replace it myself... Score one to me!
Last order of business, hot water! From the very beginning I have not had very hot water - to be honest, I would call it lukewarm on its hottest day. I was thinking that the hot water heater was broken, or the temperature needed to be adjusted. Having never tinkered with something like this, especially not a gas powered appliance, I decided I was definitely waiting for dad. Dad located the knob (which was set at the lowest setting) and turned it up. Immediately the hot water heater started singing and I knew hot water was going to be available soon. Score another one to Jay!
The rest of the evening consisted of me setting up my new wireless router, playing some Wii, watching some movies and later heading to bed.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Clothes, Couches, Heat, Recycle and 311
This has been quite an eventful week on Macon Street!
With the completion of my closet on Monday it was time to fill the closet with all of the clothes hanging out at my parents house. So Wednesday night after work I took a trip to the E.C. and loaded the car FULL of clothes... I didn't realize I had soo many. Once home I hung them all up and I can say I'm quite proud of my handiness. Project one done. Score!
I had also received a call from Marlo Furniture store Wednesday night letting me know that my new furniture would be arriving between 8:30 am and 11:30 am. I took off the morning from work, and knowing how the contractors have been lately, established that I could sleep in a little bit... I mean after all what are the chances that I would need to be awake before 8:30am?
Well turns out I was dead wrong. At 7:45am I heard lots of truck noises, people talking, etc outside my window. I really just wanted the city to be quiet so that I could enjoy sleeping in a little. After listing to all the commotion for a bit I realized that the knocking that I'm hearing is actually coming from my front door. OMG, the furniture people had been out front for a few moments now! I sprang out of bed and started getting dressed as I was running down the stairs for the door... I didn't want the furniture people to leave! I open the door and the delivery man didn't look too happy to have been waiting for me. Oh well.
They moved the furniture in faster than I could have ever imagined, installed the legs on the sofa and they were gone in a flash. Awesome, now time for work.
Thursday night was a chilly night here. I'd been avoiding any kind of HVAC usage because I have no idea what my BGE bill is going to look like. However you hit that certain point where you're just cold and you know the only way to make it better is to listen to the roar of the forced air and feel the warmth on your toes... and so that's what I did. But I only turned it on for a little bit and then off again before bed. I think turning it off was a bad idea, because when I woke up Friday morning the house was darn cold. Like OMG so cold.
Speaking of Friday, this past Friday was the 4th Friday of the month - recycle day. I had gotten passed over last recycle day (on the 2nd Friday) and my small pile of recycle turned into a mountain of cardboard, newspapers and cans. Being the new guy on the street, I didn't want my neighbors to think that I'm some trashy punk kid ruining the neighborhood. When I came home from work it turns out that I was passed over yet again! ARGH!
Luckily city residents have access to Baltimore City's One Call center, by dialing 311. It's like the one-stop-shop for anything you need in the City. So I placed my call and registered my complaint. She took my name, address, phone number and problem and told me that it would be resolved in 24 hours. They even give you a confirmation number. Now knowing Baltimore City, I was sure that this would happen as quickly as she said. I must admit though, I was quite surprised Saturday morning to see that ALL of the recycle had been taken... score two for Jay!
With the completion of my closet on Monday it was time to fill the closet with all of the clothes hanging out at my parents house. So Wednesday night after work I took a trip to the E.C. and loaded the car FULL of clothes... I didn't realize I had soo many. Once home I hung them all up and I can say I'm quite proud of my handiness. Project one done. Score!
I had also received a call from Marlo Furniture store Wednesday night letting me know that my new furniture would be arriving between 8:30 am and 11:30 am. I took off the morning from work, and knowing how the contractors have been lately, established that I could sleep in a little bit... I mean after all what are the chances that I would need to be awake before 8:30am?
Well turns out I was dead wrong. At 7:45am I heard lots of truck noises, people talking, etc outside my window. I really just wanted the city to be quiet so that I could enjoy sleeping in a little. After listing to all the commotion for a bit I realized that the knocking that I'm hearing is actually coming from my front door. OMG, the furniture people had been out front for a few moments now! I sprang out of bed and started getting dressed as I was running down the stairs for the door... I didn't want the furniture people to leave! I open the door and the delivery man didn't look too happy to have been waiting for me. Oh well.
They moved the furniture in faster than I could have ever imagined, installed the legs on the sofa and they were gone in a flash. Awesome, now time for work.
Thursday night was a chilly night here. I'd been avoiding any kind of HVAC usage because I have no idea what my BGE bill is going to look like. However you hit that certain point where you're just cold and you know the only way to make it better is to listen to the roar of the forced air and feel the warmth on your toes... and so that's what I did. But I only turned it on for a little bit and then off again before bed. I think turning it off was a bad idea, because when I woke up Friday morning the house was darn cold. Like OMG so cold.
Speaking of Friday, this past Friday was the 4th Friday of the month - recycle day. I had gotten passed over last recycle day (on the 2nd Friday) and my small pile of recycle turned into a mountain of cardboard, newspapers and cans. Being the new guy on the street, I didn't want my neighbors to think that I'm some trashy punk kid ruining the neighborhood. When I came home from work it turns out that I was passed over yet again! ARGH!
Luckily city residents have access to Baltimore City's One Call center, by dialing 311. It's like the one-stop-shop for anything you need in the City. So I placed my call and registered my complaint. She took my name, address, phone number and problem and told me that it would be resolved in 24 hours. They even give you a confirmation number. Now knowing Baltimore City, I was sure that this would happen as quickly as she said. I must admit though, I was quite surprised Saturday morning to see that ALL of the recycle had been taken... score two for Jay!
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