New York Renovator

Hello, Blog Jog Day visitors!

New York Renovator is my little home on the Internet. I blog about our adventures as we *try* to fix up our 1855 home in Upstate New York. We’ve been here 10 years, but have really only recently begun to update. We’d been running on 1920s knob-and-tube wiring, a 1940s heating system, and 1950s plumbing for TOO LONG. Just a few months ago, we gutted and renovated our kitchen. By ourselves. Yes, I’m exhausted. lol. But not so much that I can’t blog about it. And I can’t believe WE DID IT!!!! Yay!

You can read about our story here. And read about the history of this house and how we got it, here. Or, you can just read about this year’s project, the kitchen and dining room. Or, if you’re looking just to have fun, you can check out my Find the Kitty Friday posts here. My Tabby Point Siamese cat, Livvy, is the star of that show.

When you’re ready to pull away from my riveting posts and photos, continue the Blog Jog to Soul Mate Tips, or check out other participating blogs at the Blog Jog Day Blog.

Thanks for visiting!

Blogging has been at a lull lately, it seems. I got out of the routine during the renovation, but I’ve been slowly getting back into it. I’ve been in a rut, only going to the same blogs every day (and the blogs I visit are terrific), but I’m wanting a change of scenery, too. I’ve been thinking about renovating the website here, wanting to spruce up the place and do a little website construction around the blog. As much as I adore my WooThemes template here, it’s never really “fit” the blog. This blog should be a little more colorful and should display more content from the past, I believe. So I’ve been shopping around for new themes. It’s been difficult! I can’t seem to find one that matches.

So it seems that people aren’t visiting blogs as much right now. My comments across all blogs have gone way down. Odd thing is, my blogs probably got the most comments during my renovation over the summer! Now that I can blog again, comments have been light. Weird.

How about you? Are you looking to spruce up your design? Have you spent less time surfing blogs, or the same amount?

If you have a blog and I don’t know about it, leave your link in the comments so I can visit. I’m trying to expand my RSS feed reader by including more blogs.

Just one of the many tintypes I inherited. Gazing at them is like going back in time.

We’re still unpacking. UGH. Little by little. Before we started the house renovation, we’d placed a lot of stuff in storage. The mountain of boxes reached almost the the ceiling of the garage! I didn’t know I had so many books, hee hee. I also have a lot of inherited stuff– old Bibles, photos, vintage toys, and a hefty amount of photo albums (some with very old tin types!). The photo albums appeal to me. Whoever my relative was who compiled the old photo albums, she didn’t label ANYTHING. So I have no idea who these ancient people were. How do they relate to me? What was their story? What happened to them?? No answers. There’s even a photo, taken sometime during the Civil War (based on the fashion), and the woman in the photo looks strikingly like ME. I flipped when I saw it! WHO was she?? What happened to her? Did I ever know about her? Is she a descendant or just looks like me? So many unanswered questions.

It makes me want to take the time and label all of my photos, in case posterity demands the same questions. I’ve never been fond of photo albums (they are rather cheesy, and because they are plastic, they tear over time). But while browsing Buy.com today, I spotted a section devoted to the hobby of scrapbooking. I’d never thought of it before!

I don’t know when scrapbooking became all the rage. I get a lot of hits on my hodge-podge technology blog for people searching for “scrapbooking” (the blog is Mrs. Mecomber’s Scrapbook and has nothing to do with scrapbooking!). A LOT of people do it, apparently. Some folks have entire blogs devoted to it. I’ve always admired the beautiful designs, but never gave it much thought until now. What a great idea- making scrapbooks of all our old photos and paper keepsakes! Buy.com is having a sale on scrapbook products and accessories. This lovely scrapbook album caught my eye. Isn’t it pretty? It looks so old fashioned, it’s perfect for a theme on genealogy or ancestry. There’s stuff based on Legos, babies, weddings, sports events, everything. Wow, no wonder it’s such a popular hobby. Everything is so pretty! You can see more for yourself at Buy.com. But beware! Prices are so low– especially on other items such as electronics and toys– that you may be shopping for a while! As for me, back to the unpacking…

Maybe it’s because my Hubs is a mailman. Or maybe because I am so attentive to curb appeal and architecture of homes. But I think these Knobloch mailboxes are so cool! (And maybe it’s because “Knobloch” sounds somewhat Scottish, of which I am and love everything related to).

Tell me that isn’t cool. They are popular in Europe, and just starting to catch on here in the United States. They are very, very modern wall mailboxes, almost cerebral in their coolness. But I like them because they are quirky, so different from the boring basic post boxes that have been around for centuries here. I like a good, quirky mailbox. And there’s nothing like one of these wild modern mailboxes to throw your postman in a tizzy (mailmen are notorious for loving the status quo). I mean, HOW do you USE the thing?? Isn’t that cool– you don’t even know how to use it at first glance! It’s a puzzle!

Actually, its not too hard. With this model, there’s a slot where the mailman pops in the post. You unlock the door and it swings open. It’s made of metal so its durable, and can hold a lot of mail. I think it’s neat. There are other styles, including some of the more traditional styles we recognize, but this one appeals to me because it’s so avant garde.

What do you think? Do you like the box? Do you think your mailman would like it?

WARNING: Rant ahead. If you only like to read happy flowery post, please skip this post and read my others! LOL

You’d think that will ALLLLL the heavy competition steeped against retail (local) stores these days, they’d be willing to bend over backwards to offer quality products and good service. Nope! I have had a very bad week with several of my local retailers, enough to sour me something serious. I do a lot of online shopping, so I guess I am spoiled. The online stores treat me well, offer deals and discounts, and ship the stuff (most of the time) extremely fast. AND they also send the CORRECT products!

We got a new washer this past week. New York State has this great rebate program going on right now (on a first come/first serve basis). Our old washer was 17 years old, and had sprung an oil leak while in the basement. I didn’t want to have oil all over my new kitchen flooring…. and rather then pay an appliance guy to labor over a very old model, we just decided to get a new one. And with the rebate, we got a phenomenal deal! But time is of the essence with these things, ya know? We have to submit the rebate information before the time/money is out.

So we had the washer delivered. Well, KIND OF. They called at SEVEN O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING, said they’d be here at 9am, and showed up at 8am. Then, they delivered the wrong model!!! They delivered the store display model!! It had dents and dings and no manual and NO rebate information.

So I had them send it back. I wanted my new washer. It took them all day to get their act together, and finally arrived at the end of the day (I do wonder if they installed my washer at someone else’s house and had to make a switch before coming to my house… hmm…) …

So they finally delivered the new washer… it was not in the original box… but on a dolly, uh huh…. but it came WITHOUT the manual and warranty and REBATE INFORMATION!
Yeah, you can tell where this is going.

So the delivery guys promised me they would have the information for me first thing in the morning– they’d place it in my mailbox.

Never came.

OK, so maybe they are busy delivering wrong appliances to everyone and are so very, very busy. I waited til the next morning.

Never came.

:S Hello, we have to get that rebate info in! And I want my manual!

Well, I called the store, and basically got the run around. The guy in the appliance department said that he had checked the washer before sending it on to the delivery guys, and he had included the manual with the washer, it must be there. And then he said I don’t need any more rebate information, because the store receipt will do. Yadda yadda. He *basically* called me a liar because he said he included the manual with the new washer and I must be wrong…. and *basically* called me dumb because he says I don’t need rebate information when I said I did (he later changed his mind when he remembered that we need the paperwork because they hauled the old washer away).

It’s really a shame. I spent upwards of $5000 at this store this summer, renovating the kitchen. I won’t directly name the store, but they are a national home improvement center that isn’t very High’s in my opinion… :-p I’m sure they must be busy with lots of sales due to the state rebate opportunity, but I would LIKE to have my purchased, proper appliance delivered AND I’d LIKE to have all my paperwork!! What the heck am I paying them so much money for?!?!

I think I love online shopping more and more…

The Hubs delivers mail from time to time. I never knew how difficult delivering the mail can be. I guess I never really appreciated the mail service much before, never even thought of it before this. Delivering the mail is HARD! It is repetitive motion: push gas pedal, steer to side of road, push brake pedal, open mailbox, stuff mail in, close mailbox, push gas pedal…. on some routes, the mailman has to do this 500 or more times, all within a few hours… and then there’s doing it in the snow, up the hills, and in the dark!

All that mailbox opening and closing is tough on the hands. The mailman can’t wear gloves because he needs to be able to handle endless stacks of junk mail all day as well as open and close boxes. The Hubs says the cheapo metal boxes are the toughest, because the clasp is just a curved tab, and the closing mechanism wears out quickly. By the end of the day, his finger is raw from opening and closing all the boxes. So when someone installs a nice, new mailbox, especially a pretty, roomy one that opens and closes easily, it brings great joy to the mailman.

We have a cheapo metal mailbox. Oops.

Gonna fix that, now that I know what a tough job the poor mailman has. I really, really like the Amco Victorian mailboxes, but they are too ornate for me (I live in town). They’d be so perfect for a suburban area or a city of beautiful row houses! Amco has a lot of mailbox selections and styles, in all sorts of colors. The Amco pedestal mailbox is lovely, perfect for a city setting. You can browse the Amco mailboxes and see for yourself how pretty they are. They are constructed of aluminum, and won’t rust. They are all ornate, loaded with character!

So do your hard-working mailman a favor: keep the mailbox free of bees, hornets, and ants. Keep your mailbox in good repair. Maybe even leave a cookie or an apple for the guy. And definitely get a nice box that is easy on the mailman’s hands. He will appreciate it so much.

It’s rather funny. After spending untold $$ and hours (and blood and sweat and tears) renovating our home… the first thing we all want to do to relax now that it is *almost* over is.. GO TO SOMEONE ELSE’S PLACE ON A VACATION! lol. Well, as much as I absolutely love my home’s new look, a vacation would be sooo nice, especially if it was to an Outer Banks rental. I have been through North Carolina, but never to the coast and Outer Banks. And the kids have never been out of the state, except once when they were babies. They are the ones who really need a nice vacation after all this intensive work.

I have always wondered what exactly was “Outer Banks,” so I looked it up. It’s a very long chain of islands along the North Carolina coast, covering almost half the coastline of the state. Did you know that the Outer Banks was where Wilbur and Orville Wright took off on their first flight, on December 17, 1903? And did you know that the first (recorded) English baby was born on the Outer Banks– Virginia Dare of Roanoke Island, on August 18, 1587. The Roanoke Colony disappeared shortly after her birth. The story is sad but fascinating. This is from Wikipedia:

[John] White [Virginia's grandfather and leader of the original settlement, who had left several years before] landed [on Roanoke Island] on August 18, 1590, on his granddaughter’s third birthday, but found the settlement deserted. His men could not find any trace of the ninety men, seventeen women, and eleven children, nor was there any sign of a struggle or battle. The only clue was the word “Croatoan” carved into a post of the fort and “Cro” carved into a nearby tree. All the houses and fortifications had been dismantled, which meant their departure had not been hurried. Before he had left the colony, White had instructed them that if anything happened to them, they should carve a Maltese cross on a tree nearby, indicating that their disappearance had been forced. As there was no cross, White took this to mean they had moved to Croatoan Island, but he was unable to conduct a search. A massive storm was brewing and his men refused to go any farther. The next day, they left.

The place is brimming with history. AND beauty. Oh, I do so love the Atlantic Coast. I could spend forever there.

Photo from Wikipedia "Outer Banks."

Today, the lovely Outer Banks is a big tourist site, with beautiful rental homes. And no wonder. Just look at the rental homes, aren’t they lovely?! This is the Beachcraft by Carolina Designs, one of the best (I think) because it is so beautiful, and so close to the ocean. *sigh* It’s lovely.

WOW.

It would be wonderful to *finally* relax, soak in some sun, waddle my feet in the Atlantic Ocean, and watch the kids relax and find seashells. *sigh*

I am REALLY into space-saving devices. I dislike clutter. I like my furniture with legs (Queen Anne style) because I like the airy look. I dislike knick-knacks and other clutter, too.

So when I was searching around for computer monitor wall mounts and spotted this at Buy.com, it was instant love.

Isn’t that cool?! The Ergotron StyleView HD Combo. VERY expensive, though. A little too much for my budget. That model there is about $400. Even with Buy.com’s low prices, it’s still a lot of cash. But what a great space saver! Here’s hoping it goes on deep discount or on sale sometime…

This one is nice, too. It’s the Ergotron Neo-Flex, and it’s a lot less expensive (but still expensive) at less than $100.

I’m always fussing with my monitor, moving it to this side of the desk and then the other (I do a lot of things at my desk, not just computer work). The monitor is always in the way, so I’d like to get a mount for it or something. Plus, I also have a mini-station upstairs in a small bedroom… and the clothes dresser is not meant for holding a computer and monitor! Anyway, I’ve done a little research, and I think Ergotron makes the best monitor mounts. All the others are short and rather stiff; Ergotron seems to build in better engineering and support than the others. Of course, Ergotron is, like 2-3 times more expensive, too… Buy.com has great deals, but the Ergotron stuff just never seems to go down in price very much. oh well, maybe someday….

I admit, I am not a very good “safety gear” kind of person. It’s over 90 degrees for days on end! I am NOT wearing heavy denim overalls, steamy dust masks, and safety glasses that fog up. One thing I’d like to know is how does wearing safety glasses improve safety? I think they jeopardize safety– I wear regular glasses, and when I wear those ugly, heavy, blurry safety glasses, they steam up in seconds; I can’t see through them! How does this constitute “safety”? lol. Plus, the safety glasses are designed for someone the size of Chewbacca. Hello, “safety” gear manufacturers– we women do stuff around the house, too!!

Anyway, lol… I wear a lot of t-shirts and shorts as I work. I do wear gloves. But you can imagine how quickly I burn through the clothing– most of my t-shirts are now slathered in paint, caulk, have small tears, etc etc. We are ALWAYS looking for new t-shirts. The kids (all teens now) especially like “meaningful” custom t-shirts. One of their favorites is made by Voice of the Martyrs, and it says “This shirt is illegal in 52 countries.” It’s a great conversation starter at Home Depot. And I do love my Chuck Norris t-shirts.

I saw this t-shirt recently, and it made me crack up. LOL

This is on the front:

And this is on the back:

Bwahahaha!

I noticed that there’s a bunch of hype about Eclipse t-shirts right now. It’s EVERYWHERE. I don’t understand society’s sicko obsession with vampires, honestly. I don’t follow most of the movies that come out these days, but a lot of bloggers were discussing the movie, talking about how Rotten Tomatoes Reviews Eclipse; so that’s the only reason I’m even aware of the thing. I don’t get how sick stuff like blood and vampires are so accepted by society as “OK,” but Christian t-shirts are “offensive.” :-p Doesn’t make sense to me.

Anyway, t-shirts are the clothing of choice for work, at least in this heat. Maybe they’ll eventually come out with VOM gloves, or Chuck Norris safety glasses…

I have a home business. Somewhere in here, lol. It’s kind of in limbo right now, because of our ongoing renovations… but I DO actually have a home office here at home. I am realizing how very, very important it is to have a quiet, tidy, and organized home office, because mine is always dirty and chaotic right now. If it’s not filling up with plaster dust wafting in from the demolished kitchen, then it’s full of sneakers, dishes, boxes, pet supplies, and more…. wow I sure miss my tidy, organized space! I will have it, soon, once the kitchen and dining room are rebuilt and organized again.

I’m rethinking a lot of the organization here. My house has no storage space– there’s no attic (not for storage, anyway!) and the basement floods. So the only space I have is the attached garage… and the small bedroom closets.. and my office here in the living room. :-p Thank God that Buy.com has a special section for office storage and desk workstations. I’ve been looking into getting a corner desk (those are such great space savers), and other things like bookshelves and carts. This Kathy Ireland Huntington Club Executive Desk is absolutely gorgeous. Wow, this would look SO good in my living room. At $1300 and some change, it had better! It’s not in my budget right now, but it’s definitely what I’m looking for in a desk: warm wood tones, a furniture-like appearance, and lots of drawers.

If you;re inthe market for office supplies, or even school supplies since school is right around the corner, you should definitely check out Buy.com. They have loads and loads of stuff for the office and school: binders, storage boxes, desk organizers, pens and pencils and everything that goes with them, file cabinets, desk chairs, printers, tape, staplers, everything! The prices are very good, and Buy.com’s shipping is SUPERB bar none. When I order stuff from Buy.com, it is always here in a matter of a day or two, even with free shipping. They are just amazing with their customer service. I haven’t found anyone better than Buy.com, and I do a lot of online shopping, believe me.

Anyway, do check them out. Buy.com is renowned for their exceptional electronics sales and deals– they have them every week and weekend– but they are also a great place to get everything else, like household goods, clothing, books, household supplies, and more.