Believe

I hope today is an indication that things are starting to really look up. The last year has been really tough, primarily due to some health problems that have proven to be quite difficult to diagnose and treat effectively. My blogging scarcity has been a side effect.

Over the past couple of months, I have seen glimpses that real improvement was possible, if not probable. I am grateful for my small, trusted circle of support that has stuck by me and helped me to not give up, even when I had convinced myself there was no hope.

Today at work was one of the best days I've had in quite a while. I proved to myself—my worst critic, although it seems there have been others vying for that title lately—that I still "got" it. I am still capable of performing to a level approaching my expectations (at least within sight of that).

To celebrate, I am watching the 2009 US Open on ESPN2. I was inspired the other day when I saw a bit of the match where Melanie Oudin played beyond her years against the highly favored Nadia Petrova. Enscribed on her shoes is "Believe." Tonight her coach and others in her entourage are wearing black shirts with "Believe" written across the front in bold yellow. Although she has just lost the first set, that has not proven to be too much of an obstacle for her thus far.

Even if she does not win tonight's match, she has every reason to "believe" she is well on her way to a successful tennis career. She's only 17, and as she gets stronger (and improves her serve), she will also gain valuable experience that will give her even more confidence.

I hope Ms. Oudin will allow me to also adopt that simple mantra: Believe.

CRASH!

PC goes down hard w/out even a "friendly" BSOD. Just frozen w/ hourglass, windows as-is. Ctrl+Alt+Del does nada. Time for a hard power-down...

Llama

Is he posing? Or, is he getting ready to spit in my face?

Leaman Place Covered Bridge - Intercourse, PA

Small covered bridge along Township Rd. 684 (Belmont Rd.), south of Old Philadelphia Pike (Rt. 340).

Horse & Buggy

A traditional Amish horse & buggy cruising down a busy street in Intercourse, PA (about 10 miles east of Lancaster, PA).

Weather.com forecast for this weekend in NJ!

Upper 80's starting on Saturday, and nearly 90 on Sunday! (Screenshot of the Weather Watcher app on my new Samsung Omnia phone from Verizon Wireless.)

Making it fresh today

Brewing fresh Dunkin' Roasted Coffee (Original Blend, whole bean). Now I need to get the oatmeal going...

Hong Kong from Victoria Peak

On tour of Hong Kong Island, October 4, 2008. This was the one day for sight seeing during my 2-week business trip (September 29 - October 11, 2008).

XL Dunkin French Vanilla

Today's caffeine vehicle of choice.

Two and half down, one to go!

Saturday didn't start out as a great day. A storm moved through on Friday, which may have contributed to the way I was feeling. I really needed to spend some time on the floor, though, as September is fast slipping away, and it looks like I'll be traveling for a week or so this month, further limiting my time.

Finally by about 11 a.m. on Saturday, I was able to get started on the floor in Lourdes' office. She's been patiently waiting but dropping many hints and words of encouragement. I have really been wanting to do her office, but the hallway took longer than anticipated. Actually, I still have 2 pieces of trim to do at the top of the stairs, but I'm not sure I'm going to use the FasTrim pieces I bought. I want to think about this a little more.

I had watched a few laminate flooring installation videos on YouTube the week before, and realized that using a "pull bar" in certain places might be helpful. I had been using a crow bar and some scrap pieces, but the videos made it look so easy with the pull bar. A friend had offered to lend me his, so I took him up on the offer. I chipped the first piece I went to install around the doorway with the pull bar, though. Ah, lesson learned: Use scrap pieces on the edge (if the scrap chips, it doesn't matter).

Once I got through the doorway and into the main part of the room, it was smooth sailing. In a matter of a few hours, we were over half-way done. It was decision time. Do we forge ahead into the evening and try to finish tonight? Or, do we call it good here and finish tomorrow? I was feeling pretty good, and it was going very well, so we decided to press on!

It took just a couple of more hours to complete the room, including a brief break for some Canadian bacon, scrambled eggs and toast for dinner. I was amazed, and quite pleased actually, at how square it turned out. I try to measure and cut carefully, but it seems impossible to end a job perfectly square. Well, this one turned out as close to perfect as any for me. It's even all along the walls. I won't even have to put quarter round along the baseboard, although I probably will just to add a traditional finish.

With the master bedroom, Loudres' office and the hallway (almost) complete, that just leaves my office yet to be done. I may not get to it for a couple of weeks, but I don't want to lose all my momentum. If I don't have to travel to Asia on business next week, I may get it done this coming weekend. If not, it will have to wait until early October. We're getting close, I can feel it!

(Check out more pictures of the progress on Flickr.)

A real Labor Day

The plan was to get the floor done in the hallway this morning, then get started on my wife's office. So go the plans of mice and men. Mice would probably get this done quicker. Admittedly, I'm not rushing because I want it done right; I don't want to stare at mistakes or be tormented that I could have done a better job had I been more careful or taken a little more time.

Today, though, seemed to go a little extra slowly. The pieces didn't want to lock tightly without some strong "encouragement"--several whacks, firm but not too hard, with a mallet. As I would get one piece tight, a little gap would appear somewhere up the line. Back and forth, until the gentle beatings finally won over. I'm blaming that on the humidity.

At 6PM tonight, I finally had to give up as I tried to get the second piece in the last row to fit snugly. I'm afraid any more encouragement could break it. It has a notch cut out to go around the right side of one door jam and the left side of another with a short wall in between. My cut is pretty good, and I don't want to have to redo that, so I'm going to let it rest. I'll give it a go later this evening or early in the morning, hoping the humidity will be down.

My wife's office will have to wait, unfortunately. This week, I have already set aside Wednesday and Thursday evenings to work on the floor, so I should finish up the hallway and get a good jump on her office before the weekend. I have no other plans this weekend but working on the floor, which should allow me time to finish her office.

I can feel the muscles beginning to ache a little already from today's labor. Maybe an Epson Salt bath would be a good way to unwind for the day and possibly head off more aches and pains tomorrow. And a good night of sleep.