Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Roof is done..

Finally, after two years the roof is done! I can honestly say it was worth the wait. The guy did a great job. He used top quality material and his workmanship is not easily found nowadays. I am pleased and I feel pretty confident that we are not going to have any problems. He did a couple of extras for me that I really appreciate. He added a chimney cap which I had been wanting for a long time. He also cleaned out a vent which I had not used in 14 years because of the bird nest. I now have an exhaust fan running straight out the roof through that vent. I know that haveing that fan will help to cool down the whole house since heat travels up.

Now on Friday the last of the big projects will get started. Dave's room, the computer room and the upstairs hallway are getting a new laminate floor installed. I can't wait till that is done. The color is cherry. It is long-lasting and easy to keep clean. There is a lot of traffic up there when Dave's friends come over, so I won't have to worry about the wear and tear as much.

The small stuff which I need to do is nothing, or at least it feels like nothing, after all this major work for the last month and a half.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Well got most of it out of the way...

Yeah, most of the work on the house is almost over. The floors took the longest. They took forever to dry. Finally the furniture is back in it's place. Only one of my recliners is still in the garage since the roofing material was delivered today and it takes up most of the garage. If the weather cooperates the roof will be done tomorrow. Then I need to go shopping for the laminate floor for the upstairs. That should not be too bad. The month of May is almost over. Hope the summer is good.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

This floor...

This floor has been a real pain in the ass. Two weeks and still not done. The smell of the polyurethane is overwhelming. I don't blame the floor guy, since he got a bad batch of minwax. It would not dry in the normal time. It took over 20 hours to dry. Max time should be 12 hours. This material he used now is fast drying but very strong. I just want to get it over and done with. I can't wait to have my furniture back where it belongs.

Still not done yet, once this is done he is going to install flooring upstairs, however, this time the flooring will be prefinished and ready to walk on immediately after installation. It is all worth it though since the house will look great and it should be easier to keep clean. We shall see...

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Are 24 hours always 24 hours?...

I don't know. When you don't want something to happen it seems as if time flys and when you are eager for something to come or happen, then time drags on almost at a snails pace. So I guess it is all a matter of how one views time.

I have been counting the moments until the floor guy comes and repairs the floor. I have been waiting for 3 weeks now to get my house back in order. My stuff is all over and even though I try to keep it organized it is almost impossible with so many people always around. I bought a couple of recliners for myself and they are still in the box in the garage. I figured they were safer out there. Hopefully the guy shows up tomorrow and takes care of the floor so that I can get started putting everything back. The roof is going to get replaced this coming weekend, however that is outside work so it should not disrupt my life too much. Well, I long for the day day I can sit back and relax and enjoy all the new stuff...

Saturday, May 15, 2010

So where is the warm weather...

It is mid May and it is cold. April had warmer days than May has. I sure hope that this is not what summer is going to be like. I was really looking forward to a long hot summer. I really want to enjoy my house now that the remodeling is about complete, but I much rather spend time outdoors. I love Chicago but I could not live here if the summers did not bring warmth. I am older now and I seem to feel the cold more than before. My flowers have come up beautifully. I have some clematis plants that are in their fifth year, so they should bloom like never before. I can't see them but when people tell me how beautiful they look, that is enough for me. I could almost picture them in my mind. So summer please come back and bring all your splendor with you...

As long as I have a say in the matter...

It does notmatter what the situation might be, as long as it depends on me I will keep the peace. I was not always of this mind. I would be the first to blow-up and I always demanded to be heard. I have not been that way for a few years now. I am much happier with myself now. Not that things or things people say and do don't upset me, they still do, but my way of handling it is so different. I now look for a peaceful solution. I am happiest when a situation can be solved to everyone's benefit. And believe me that with a little give and take it can be done.

I have actually come to believe that if I need to give more than I recieve, that is ok by me if all are happy. So, as long as it depends upon me, I will seek peace. I feel better and God only knows, I may live longer. When I look back at how much of a hot-head I was, I actually would call many of my reactions as stupid ones. I am trying to improve myself and to become a better person for myself and for those around me.

I much rather be viewed as a level-headed person than a hot-head. I will keep working on self-improvement and I know I will be happier and a much more pleasant person to be around....

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Very busy...

Yes, I have been very busy for the last 3 weeks now. All the main level doors have been replaced and all the woodwork around them was also replaced. Then we decided to refinish the oak floor in the front room and front bedroom. That has been a real drag. first of all the guy took 8 days to do it, and then we waited 3 more days for it to dry, and it did not dry well. Some spots will have to be redone since the finish did not grab properly. Now I can't put my furniture back until after Monday. The guy is coming on Monday to repair the sections. I know I should be happy with all the new stuff, but all these little set-backs are very dissapointing. Hope he gets here and takes the proper steps to correct the matter. I know how to fix it but he got paid big bucks to do a good job, and I am going to make him live up to it. Hopefully by this time next week I will be sitting in my new recliner enjoying the breeze as it comes in through my window and maybe then I will be able to appreciate all the changes that have taken place. Oh wait, I just remembered, the roof is going to be replaced on that weekend. Hope to God that goes smoothly!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Ever wonder what I see?

I am sitting here thinking about what others think, if they do at all, about what I can and can't see.

Well, for those who care to know, I will try to explain it. it.

I have what is called Retinitis Pigmentosa with light perception. I can tell if a light is on or off, I can tell if it is night or day. I however, cannot see shapes and figures. When a light is extremely bright I can only see that light no matter how many dark areas there may be around. You might view it as a blinding light. Light, especially bright lights hurt my eyes. I cannot see any colors. If you shine a bright light at me when in a dark room, I can see the light, but I cannot follow it since it is broken up into many parts and to try and figure out the source of the light is futile. A beam of light is not a single one for me, once I notice it, it is a bunch of lines floating all over the place.

Those of you who know me, know I use a computer. How can I do so? I have a screen reader which reads all the screen for me, or I should say it sometimes reads the screen. It is not perfect. It also has a screen magnifier which really is for those with some sight left. One thing it does have is a tool which makes the background black and the letters white. The letters are not just white but to me they are made to look as a flourescent light on a black surface. Can I make these letters out. No not really. I can tell where a letter is when I am typing since the light is moveing, However that is where the light or in this case the letters start to bounce around. If I magnify the words to about 32x the normal size, I might be able to see the letter, but then the light given off the letter is so bright to me that it hurts my eyes and after a few minutes I have a headache, it actually causes a piercing pain.

About that light I was talking about, if I am in a dark room and a door is opened where there is a bright light in the other room, I can tell you that the light is on, but I cannot and will not try to walk through that door. Why not? Because while you see the clear outline of the doorway, I see many of the same. I can see at minimum 5 spectrums of light, and for me to pick the right one is not easy. I would do so if it was a matter of life or death, however, on a daily life situation I don't. I walk pretty fast and my forehead, especially my eyebrowse will tell you by the scars how many times I failed to find the correct opening. It is no fun walking into the corner of an open door, or the sharp corner of a wall. As I mentioned before, the source of light is not clearly defined. And since I cannot see shadows,shapes or figures I can't tell where the dorr or it's frame are located.

I listen to sounds and voices to guide my way. If you stant at an open door and speak to me, chances are that I will find you and the door. That is why I love wind chimes so much. If placed in the proper location they assist me in my moving around and getting a sense of where I am.

It is not fun to live like this but it is what it is. Life goes on and so will I. So if you ever shine a light at me and I respond by looking in that direction, don't assume I can see, as some asses have done before. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact now that you have read the facts, you know, or should have a better understanding.

So, in a nutshell, I can tell the difference between night and day, I can't see your face, I cannot see a shape no matter it's size, I can tell if a bright flourescent object is shining but I can't look at it for more than a few seconds. I rely on my hearing and touch as my modes of assistance in my travel.

i hope that you can better understand blindness now. I am not visually impaired I am blind. Visually impaired individuals have some usable sight. There is a myth out there which has led people to believe that a blind person only sees blakk. Think about it for a moment, if a person was born blind, what is the color black to him or her? I was not born completely blind, I had night blindness and then my blindness progressed. I was able to enjoy colors and when I ask what color something is, I try to form a picture in my brain using the color as I remember it to be.

There are many disabled individuals with and aray of problems both physical and emotional, and if you take the time to read and try to understand what a day in their life is like, you are a much better person for having done so...

Thanks for reading and God Bless....

Lots of activity over here...

There sure has been a whole lot of activity at my house the past two weeks. All the doors on the main level have been changed along with all the woodwork. I have been told it looks nice. I know for a fact that the front and back doors are real nice, I picked them out. The interior doors are also real nice. They are a far cry from what was up before. Now the staircase going upstairs is being refinished along with the front room floor. They will be a darker shade of oak to match the doors. Sometime during the middle of the month the roof will be replaced. Very busy, very expensive.

I am going to replace my recliners also. I have been wanting to do so for a while now and this seems like a good time to do so.

While I like new stuff, I don't like the mess that comes along with it. There is so much dust, and all my stuf is all over the place. And of course I will have to wash all my walls down once it's all done. I then will have one of my kids to touch-up the paint where needed.

Well, by this time next month I hope to be relaxing on one of my new recliners enjoying all the new stuff...