Am I nuts, or is the rest of the world?

Wiz, please don't answer that question...  Most of you know I'm about to be a dad in June.  My first foray into a "USA Baby" store almost resulted in my needing an ambulance.  Who the heck buys cribs that cost $2-3000+ dollars?  What the heck does an infant care?  Oh.....  wait..... it's a "bed for life" that converts to a designer twin-sized bed as my kid grows.....?  I still wouldn't spend that kind of $ on my snot-nosed child.

My current favorite is Crib For Life, "we are your source for baby's dream".  I'm pretty sure my baby's dreams will be filled with boobs, milk, and a healthy duke in his diaper, not on designer furniture.  I'm sure glad the fine folks at Crib for Life understand that "buying your child's nursery furniture is one of the most important decisions you will ever make".  Am I nuts?

This leads me to baby strollers.  It's ironic that I won't spend the bucks on furniture, but I will likely shell out the bucks so I don't end up with a stroller that looks like this.

I don't want to feel like I'm a walking tupperware party.  That thing is like a gigantic plastic aircraft carrier.  I'm guessing Russia occassionally tracks the movement of strollers like this they're so huge.  That is until they realize it's not nuclear, but rather toting some other kind of hazardous materials...  My family swears that's built for one child.  I'm pretty sure it's the "Warren Jeffs" model, able to hold an entire FLDS clan.


No, I'm currently hunting for a bargain on a stroller with more metal, and less material overall like this.

Or like this.

Wish me luck!

EGR Round #2

On my way home tonight the "check engine light" came on.  I swung by Checker Auto and used their code reader, which indicated that there was an exhaust gas recirculation problem...  Hmmmm, I just repaired this issue on my brother-in-law's car.  What are the odds?  While I ponder that statistical unlikelihood, I'll be tearing into my little nissan pretty soon.  I guess that's the price of admission for owning a car that's paid for, right?  More to come.

Flooring #2

Well, my cold is more or less over!  With a little help from my father-in-law Pat I've got 75% of the floor laid upstairs.

You can see how the particle-board cleat keeps all the boards nice and straight while they're nailed in place.  You can also see the nice hand-scraped finish in this photo.  This finish will help hide the scratches/dents it's likely to get with 2 boys and a dog in the house.  You just use a furntiure marker or crayon with a little paste wax to cover and nobody can tell.

The pink stuff is rosin paper which helps keep the floor quiet in the event the boards move independantly from the subfloor.

This is how far we got tonight.

Somebody complained that I wasn't adding enough detail to my blog so here goes.  The edge of the wood floor shown here is where I removed the particle board cleat.  Those little "sticks" are called battens that Pat and I cut to fill the groove and reverse the tongue-and-groove pattern to lay boards the other direction.

This is a crummy photo, but just in case someone wasn't sure what a groove is - it's that channel cut in the end of the board.

This one is just for my Mom - love you Mom!  Please note the hearing protection dangling around my neck, and the safety goggles perched on top of my head.  That black thing on the wall is our articulating TV wall mount - cool!  Next up is finish trim!

Flooring

I started laying flooring this weekend, but the cold I've been nursing all week really developed Saturday, so all I could get done was the closet floor before I collapsed into bed the rest of the day.  It's a 3/4"

 handscraped solid oak - not too difficult to lay down if you're careful (which means I have to move slow).  I didn't want to feel rushed by renting a flooring nailer at $40-$50 daily, so I bought one at Harbor Freight (everybody needs a flooring nailer, right?).  I'll just sell it when I'm done.

Mario is helping Pat & I snap a chalk line nice and straight between the two rooms.  After I screw a cleat down on this line, I'll be able to lay the wood floor in a straigh line between the rooms.  Once the boards are down in one direction, I'll remove the cleat, pop a batten into the groove, and flip the boards around to finish.

Pat's making sure I don't screw anything up.  Between the two of us we usually do a good job making sure the other doesn't do anything too dumb.  Now once I get over this cold I'll be ready to crank out this project - thanks Pat!

Lunacy

Here's the ad from the design mag - someone actually pays money like that for plumbing?  It's hard to read, but the top left ad has a price tag of $5,850.

Reserved for Royalty, Dignitaries, and now the Bakker family!

That's some sexy plumbing!

Brandon came over yesterday and helped me put our vanity into its new home.  That thing must weigh 300 pounds with the countertop - thanks Brandon!

I finished installing our Euro-style shower assembly - it's really sexy plumbing!  Even sexier - my wife just noticed the same showerhead in a design magazine with a $5000+ price tag and we paid like 5% of that.  I'll have to scan that article and post it for you all to laugh at.

"#3"

After much consideration, we've decided to name our son Thomas Gordon in honor of his Grandpa Tom, and both Great-Grandpa Gordons (one on each side of the family).  My Dad reminded me that this will be the 3rd Thomas Gordon - my Dad's Grandfather was also a Thomas Gordon.  Therefore we'll nick-name him #3...  just kidding.  Our son is named after 3 really great men, and we pray that he follows their examples of a close relationship with Jesus.

Welcome to this world son - your Mom and Dad cannot wait to meet you!