As previously posted, we suffered some damage to our roof from the 77mph (124kph) winds that a nasty storm produced 3 weeks ago.

I called, got multiple quotes, and finally settled on one company to re-do the south side of my roof for the price of $1,574.61

They came out, banged around for a while, and left.

After they were done, I noticed a few things: they forgot to trim the end-cap on one corner, my back yard and rain gutters were full of nails, and the exaust pipe for my gas fireplace was jutting out of the roof at a bizarre angle. So… I called and they came back out and finished up. The contractor I called said “Sorry about that… they’re roofers, and not the brightest bunch”.

I spent yesterday painting the house. The south side is now about 90% complete. This has been a huge project, as we own a big damn house and I have no idea WTF I’m doing. I’m hoping to get the last little bit done tonight so that we can start in the area where the deck is this weekend (I’d like to finish the upper half by Sunday).

Other news:
I washed my car yesterday and discovered that I’ve been the victim of every moron who’s ever parked next to me. Someplace on my car, there must be a sign that says “I don’t care about my car and you shouldn’t either. Please feel free to door ding the shit out of it”. This makes me a tad cranky. I always check to make sure I don’t hit the car next to me. Then again, I also use my turn signals and obey speed limits.

I am the exception.

There’s not much I guess I can do besides park at the far end of the lot (though when I do, some piece of shit always parks right next to me). I guess it’s time to take it in and get it detailed.

If you’ve read this blog at all over the last few years, you know I’ve had some issues with my back.

If you’re new to the dump, here’s the cliff notes:

20 years ago, I was run over while riding my motorcycle… twice in 9 months. Over the last few years, the injuries I recieved began to make themselves very evident. I suffered severe siatic pain in the left leg and had chronic back pain.

I’ve had 3 surgeries to correct the issue: a discectomy, a fusion of the L4-L5 vertebra, and one more to remove the screws and rods. Each time I’d get cut, I’d feel pretty good for a few months and then it would all start over again.

I guess my few months of repreive are over, because the leg pain is coming back. The idea of going under the knife again is less than apealing.

Not that any of it means anything. Feel free to ignore this and continue on your way of happy web browsing…. I just wanted to vent.

My sister was having a Star Wars themed birthday party for her son’s 10th birthday.

She and her husband, David, turned the basement of their home into the “Death Star Theatre”, complete with black and silver walls (black plastic table cloth material and aluminum foil) and a LCD projector hooked to his PC so they could play the Star Wars films for the kids.

David also wanted the kids to be able to play “Jedi vs. Sith” and set about looking for ecconomical ways to make lightsabers that were safe, affordable, and would look good. After a “jam session” in the sprinkler isle of Home Depot with the other shoppers, he came up with a cunning plan.

BIRTHDAY PARTY LIGHTSABERS (for just a few dollars each):

You’ll need the following:

           4″ popup sprinklers                Fun Noodles

            1/2″ x 24″ nipple that’s threaded on both ends

You get the popup sprinkler head and the nipples from the lawn sprinkler section of your favorite hardware store and the fun noodles from Kmart, WalMart, or pretty much anyplace. Pick colors that match the lightsabers in the films (or not, your choice).

Cut the fun noodle in half (they’re usually about 65″ long). Screw one end of the nipple into the popup sprinkler, then slide your noodle half onto the nipple until it reaches the sprinkler head (the hole in the center of the fun noodle should be 1/2, but they seem to vary by color. Some will go on easy, others will take some effort). You’ll notice that the last 10 inches or so of the fun noodle doesn’t have a tube in it (so there’s no chance of accidentally poking out an eye).

The sprinkler becomes a handle, the fun noodle becomes the blade, and the kids go nuts beating each other with them. They turned out to be pretty durable, with only one breaking.

David also made a “Darth Maul” style one by using a larger diamater TBE nipple (about 12″ long) and some adaptors for the 1/2″ inch x 24″ ones on each end. Cut a red fun noodle in half and slide half on each side.

I’ll see if David or Jen has a picture of the finished product for posting (the kids took them home when they left).

As I wrote earlier, the windstorm we had last week tore up the south side of my roof.

I called 5 roofing companies to get estimates to repair the damage. 4 of them bothered showing up, and 3 actually provided a quote after the fact. The price to repair it ranges from $1,375 + taxes and permit to $250 paid cash money with no paper trail. I think I’ll go with the middle quote of $1,200.

That includes removal of the singles and paper from the south side, new paper put down, and new shingles… nailed and not stapled. It also comes with a 10 year warranty from the installing company on the install itself, 30 years on the shingles (the highest bid only comes with a 5 year warranty on the install).

The company that said $250 wants to replace a few shingles and put glue on the loose ones to keep them from coming off.

Um… yeah… mktks, bye-bye now.

I’ve called my insurance company already and they’ve approved me with no appraisal to get it done. Apparently, a lot of people in my area had the same problem. Since I’m only claiming the one side of my house, they don’t even want to send out an adjuster. This means that the total cost outa my pocket will be my deductible… $250.

That means that I still have the hot tub fund, and that’s a very damn cool thing indeed.

Tonight marks my last graveyard shift (fingers crossed).

After 21 months, we finally hired someone to do the night time monitoring and I’m here training her. So far, all is good.

Other news:
On Sunday, we went to my sisters house to celebrate her son’s 10th birthday. David, her husband, made some kick ass New York strips on the grill. We ate until we could eat no more, drank good beer, and then ate cake. We got Joey (my nephew) a copy of the Lego Star Wars game for the PC and a Logitec Dual Action game pad to make paying the game easier.

He was most pleased.

Monday, the 4th of July was good. I had to work graveyard, so I couldn’t stay up too late (I need to take a nap before work), so we blew off some fireworks early. Of course, we had to be sneaky about it because they’re illegal in the city. I showed the kids how to take a soda can, cut the top off, poke a small hole in the bottom just big enough for a firecracker, and then put it upside-down in a container of water. Light the fuse and BAM!!, the can flies about 25 – 30 feet straight up into the air.

Good times!

I made some bacon wrapped fillets with shrimp scampi for dinner. Mmmmmm…. tasty!