Category: General

USATODAY.com => Up jumps the ‘Da Vinci’ devil

There’s no doubt that the book the Da Vinci Code has taken the world by storm. But is it a good story or something more sinister? Apparently, a group of nuts believe it might the work of “the devil.”

(For those of you unfamiliar with the story, the devil, or Satan, was an angel, created by a mythical all-powerful being called “god”. Apparently this god fellow was so powerful he was perfect and can do absolutely anything, but somehow he imperfectly created an angel who turned against him, and yet somehow this perfect, all powerful being can’t stop Satan, either. Luckily, myths don’t have to make sense.)

Despite the hype, now that the movie is playing, the verdict seems to be that this is a dreadfully boring movie. So how does a blockbuster novel become a dreadfully boring film? Is it god? Did god make this film boring? Is that the best he can do? Practically any film school student can make a boring film and we can at least prove film schools exist.

No, I think it’s something more sinister. It must be a conspiracy. Consider the facts:

• The novel is a blockbuster
• Ron Howard is by all accounts a competent director
• Many powerful people in “the church” didn’t want this film made

Could it be that they conspired to make this film boring?

Any blockbuster novel is almost guaranteed to be optioned to be a big budget movie. What if the dark, shadowy figured of “the church”, through the use of secret funds and hidden corporations, arranged for themselves to have the option of making the film so that others would not have the opportunity?

Then they arranged to have the film made, but made boring, so that people would loose interest in it and spend their hard-earned money in the collection box instead of the box office.

It is a dark world indeed.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Books, Loonies, Movies, Conspiracy

The whole thing is pretty much done. I’m missing two handles and the microwave shelf is still on order, but everything is set in place and being loaded up.

Even though Mr. Soong did what I consider the “hard part”, it was a lot of work. It’s not something I’m looking forward to doing again, but, we are now committed: The other side of the kitchen (which is much larger) is still the old style and will need to be replaced… when we win the Arizona Lottery.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Construction, Remodelling

Mr. Soong’s work is done.

We hired him in the remove the soffit, affix the cabinets to the walls, re-install and re-duct the range hood and cut the countertop.

I’ll finish the rest.

The most finished are the wall cabinets, seen here. I’ve mounted the shelves, doors and handles and they’re pretty much finished. I still have to play with the door adjustments to make them all straight.

The lower cabinets are still basic. The endges of the cut countertop are drying and can be mounted tomorrow after some trim work, then I can install the drawers, doors and handles on the lower set.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Construction, Remodelling

Just before lunch we mounted and completed the first new cabinet. This one is actually completely new space over the refrigerator. Prior to this it was just wasted space.

Progress is good on the rest of the cabinets, too. the range hood is completed, and the lower cabinets have been set.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Construction, Remodelling

The plan this morning was to get out to Home Depot and find a better way to install the electrical box that needed to be placed for the range hood.

That ingenious rail system has a drawback. It places the back of the cabinet a full half inch away from the wall, making it very difficult to sink in a tiger grip electrical box.

Instead, I mounted a shallow, surface mount box to the wall, passing through the back of the cabinet. It seems to work and now Mr. Soong can complete installation of the rangehood and removal of the antique vent overhead. (The new cabinet doors won’t be able to open unless the grill is removed.)

Technorati Tags: Blog, Construction, Remodelling

And the end of the work day (ha!) we had the first set of cabinets placed.

I’ve still got to relocate the electrical outlet in the middle section. Mr. Soon needs to install the rangehood and ductwork, but apart from trim this batch is done.

Tomorrow we install the lower cabinets and counter top. That should be fun.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Construction, Remodelling

I’ve watched more than my fair share of “This Old House” and, having once been a construction worker, I’ve seen more than my fair share of kitchen cabinets.

I’ve never seen a more ingenious wall hanging system than the one featured on IKEA’s cabinets.

A metal rail is securely fastened about a quarter inch from the ceiling. Into the rail bolts are placed, which are positioned so that they protrude through the back of the cabinet.

You just fasten the rails, place the bolt and lift the cabinet over the bolts, then secure them.

In this picture, Mr. Soong, our handyman, is placing the first cabinet.

You can also see in this picture that the offending soffit has been removed..

Technorati Tags: Blog, Construction, Remodelling

Somewhere on a sign at IKEA, there’s one of those question and answer style signs that says something like, “How come I have to build everything myself?”

and the asnwer says, among other things, “…some people find building their furniture fun.”

Talk about trying to put a positive spin on a tedious and often frustrating experience!

Here I am in this picture assembling one of my “fun” wall cabinets.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Construction, Remodelling

So the new MacBooks came out yesterday (coincidentally on the exact same day that my iBook suddenly started running terribly, terribly slow – coincidence or conspiracy?) and we went down at lunch to the Apple store to take a look.

They didn’t have any and so my credit card was safe.

I had to use this picture from someone else’s flickr account, because I still haven’t seen one.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Computer, Mac, OSX, Hardware

In anticipation of Thursday’s removal of the soffit, I’ve begun to remove the cabinets.

First the base cabinets were removed. I was not happy to discover that the flooring does not continue under the originals. This might make it more difficult when we come back later to install a new floor.

You can see the lovely original kitchen color on the walls. It almost matches the almond-colored stove.

I’ve also removed the doors from the upper cabinets. Unlike the new ones, which are in 3 sections, these old cabinets are one unit and so I was not able to bring them down safely by myself. They’ll come down with the soffit tomorrow.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Construction, Remodelling