Fire Engine Red - Painting the Office

September 24, 2004

Side Patio Construction

September 07, 2004

Over the weekend we made big strides in finishing up the backyard with hopes of having everything done except the back patio before the end of September.

The Side Patio/Pathway leading from behind the kitchen and family room to the lawn and the driveway has replaced the old stepping stones we used to have there. All this was done over a weekend with temperatures reaching the high 90's and low 100's. Needless to say, I was very crazy and very ready for a keg of beer after doing this work.

The Evolution of the Backyard

May 31, 2004

Fence Demolotion Derby

April 30, 2004

We're kicking off work on our backyard with a bang...literally. Today is side fence demolition day. We are finally getting rid of the annoying 6ft high fence seperating our driveway from our backyard.

Assuming we knock the whole thing down today, we will be tilling soil and doing an expansion to our irrigation system within the next couple of weeks.

When we are all done we're going to replace the fence with a 3 ft Cape Cod Fence that is more in keeping with the house.

The Sound of Cooing Outside My Chamber Door

March 14, 2004

When I first moved to Tracy, one of the first things my friends said was "have your house pigeon proofed." I laughed uncontrollably. Pigeons in the Central Valley? Pigeons perched in my house? Where would they perch?

Well, now I am not laughing. As the neighborhood has steadily been built up around us, we have noticed more pigeons on other people's houses. Then yesterday, we heard this cooing coming from the alley by our next door neighbor's house.

As my wife was talking on the phone, I proceeded to go investigate. I went around back by the kitchen window and looked up. Sure enough, I found out that I have a pigeon problem in the only place they could perch and nest on the whole house.

Damn. They found a spot where the two different pitches of the roof line meet and form and alcove. It is a perfect place to raise some kiddies. I scared them off in the afternoon, but I knew they would come back.

Fast forward 12 hours. I am asleep on a Sunday morning. It is still early. I am completely out of it. You could drive a freight train through my bedroom and I wouldn't stir. However, for some reason I was dreaming about those damn birds. It was surreal. One part "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins, one part acid trip from The Beatles "Revolver" album, interspersed with the sound of two love birds cooing. It was maddening to the point that I woke up.

When I woke up I realized that it was not a dream. It was the damn pigeons making a "cooing" racket just outside my Master Bedroom. Oh, joy. I am awake. No coffee, no breakfast, and very, very angry. I went down to scare them off, t-shirt and PJs on (with the T-Shirt being worn inside out and backwards --I didn't care). One little square of clay thrown their way, and "boom," they flew off.

Now I need to find a guy to put in some "Pigeon Control," and fast. Otherwise I will be really needing some acid trip.

House Update

November 06, 2003

Well, we have been on the go for the last 8 weeks...all house, all the time, day and night. We have gotten all the drapes up in the house with the exception of the second guest room and the ceiling fans (thanks to Brian and Lanette). The only thing is the ceiling fan in the family room died on us, so we are off to Home depot to exchange it.

I've been making a lot of late evening runs to Home Depot. I picked up pathway lights and flagstone for some pathways I plan on putting in on the side and backyard. The big debate is now centered on the backyard...hire a contractor or do it ourselves. A lot of this issue revolves around the budget and the impending winter season. I really don't want to slog through a mud pit back there.

New pictures will be posted soon.

So, we are settled...sort of

October 21, 2003

As I mentioned earlier we have moved into the new house in Tracy. Drapes are going up slowly, but surely. This is the latest picture of the house since we moved in.

We've moved

October 10, 2003

Things have been pretty hectic the last couple of weeks...so hectic that I have not had a chance to update anything on the site (let alone post any content). I finally got a moment this morning to post.

Well, we did it. We are in the new house in Tracy. Rhonda and I got keys a little over a week ago and had the movers move all our stuff from the old condo in South City to the new house on the 1st of October. Aside from having boxes everywhere and getting up at 3:30 AM a few times to go to South City (in order to beat traffic) to do some clean up, we are doing O.K.

The 3 weeks I took off from work really is helping to get things done around the house. In the first 2 weeks I have been largely "unpacking boy" getting boxes emptied and making the kitchen suitable for cooking. I can actually see the floor now thanks to clearing out some of those boxes.

I also managed to get the home network up an running and also finally got broadband internet services at the house. The DSL I got relies on line of site wireless technology and it is wicked fast. As of yesterday I moved the web and mail servers from South San Francisco to Tracy. There's still work to do on that front to get it all online and working correctly, but it will have to wait. I have drapes to hang in half the house and ceiling fans to install. Thankfully my friend Pinto will be here this weekend to help out.

We're Moving

September 29, 2003

1 more day...

Last Walk-through of the House

August 25, 2003

Well, we went out to the house this weekend. With 30 days until we close we were allowed to get into the house one last time prior to our pre-closing walk-through. It was worthwhile. In the two weeks since I was last there the builder managed to get all the lighting fixtures and the concrete poured for the driveway. Even more importantl, the solid granite slab counter tops in the kitchen were installed.

Overall we were very impressed with what we saw. In many ways seeing everything in place (esp. the granite) made us feel much better about some of the choices we made. In the case of the granite, we went 2-3 times to select the stone, but I was still not convinced the color we went with would go with the maple. Well, I'm convinced now ;)

images/dv_photo/house/house82403/

(View of the new driveway)

(View of Finished Dining Room)

(View outside from Living Room)

(View of Kitchen from Family Room. Note Granite counters.)

(Close-up of Granite Countertop Color)

(Family Room Fireplace w/tiles)

(Main Stairwell w/Maple Banisters)

(Master Bath Tub and Counter)

(Master Bath Shower)

(Front Guest Room)

(Rear Guest Room w/Rhonda looking towards door)

(View from finished office to main hall)

Well, we have a completion date on the house...

August 21, 2003

That's right, we got a definitive completion date on the house. Now when I say definitive, I mean to say that this is supoosedly the official date. When we first signed our contract back in May the promised date for completion was September 15. Not believing the developers, I made them pad that date to September 30th.

As the days and weeks have rolled on the developer made increasing noise that the site would be ready well before September 30...like the 15th, but we really wouldn't know until 30 days out.

Yesterday I got the call and as you can imagine I was excited until...until I heard the date...September 30th. Lying weasels was my first instinctive reply, but then I thought about it and realized my demand to pad the promise date was well justfied.

At least this way I know when the house will be ready give or take a week. Moreover, every day over the official promise date costs them money so it it very likely to happen on the 30th. Now I can plan the move. Time to call the movers and tell the nasty ghetto neighbors what to do with themselves (maybe not just yet, but very, very soon).

We'll be out at the house this Sunday. Walking on a paved driveway for the first time there....oooh very exciting. My friends are probably ready to kill me with all the glow and talk of the house, but hey you don't go buying a house everyday.

The final stages of the House

August 07, 2003

Well, we're in the home stretch! The new house in Tracy is speeding to completion. From the pictures I took on Saturday, you can see that all the cabinets are in and the neighborhood is taking shape.

Kitchen Cabinets with Maple finish.

View from the Kitchen Nook into the Kitchen and Family Room Area.

View from Family Room to main fireplace.

View of our house and the Neighbors from accross the street. (We're the ones in the middle.)

The latest on the house

July 24, 2003

Things have been moving very quickly with the contruction of our new house. We're about 75 days from closing. With the enclosure and exterior finishing complete, the majority of the work has moved to the interior.

In the pictures below you can see the progress on the interior work, particularly on the drywall.

View from accross the street. The exterior facing and roofing is almost totally complete.


View from the main hall to the dining room.

View of the main hall on the first floor from the front door. (Note a very reluctant wife --Rhonda-- posing in the background).

View of the family room with the initial finishing on the fireplace completed. You can see all the network and strereo prewiring we put in on the right.

View of the Kitchen nook from the family room. This gives you a better idea of the proximity of the kitchen to the family room, which is typical of most of the new developments being built today.

View of the Kitchen from the Dining Nook area

View of the Kitchen Nook from Center Cooktop Island.

View of the office entryway on the second floor from the main hallway.


View from second floor master bedroom.

Masterbath with tub in place. Tiling around the base has begun.

View of the backyard from the inside of the garage.

View of the back of the house. Aside from the window trim and the paint things are pretty much done.

The House is Fully Enlosed

June 30, 2003

Great news for family and friends that have been following the progress of the house! As of this weekend, the builders completed the enclosure and siding of the house.

View from the front. Note the windows facings and completion of the siding.

View from the neighbor's house a the end of the cul-de-sac.

More on the New House

June 24, 2003

Two weeks ago we dropped by the house to take care of some paper work. In the intervening week we came back and to our surprise they had the windows, siding, and doors in. Needless to say we were shocked. It really looks like we will be closing early.

Construction crew putting the siding on the front of the house.

View from across the street.

You can see that the siding is more than half installed on the front and the right side of the house. You can almost see the frame of the front door, which we later found out was installed with locks.

Here's a view of the house from our future neighbors. By the look of the siding and the window installation, they should be done with closing the exterior of the house in the next week.

Our House: What a difference two weeks makes

June 07, 2003

In two weeks they raised the second floor walls and enclosed the roof.

View from the backyard. Top floor view of Master Bath and Bedrooms

Interior framing of Family Room Fire Place and Media Niche

Rhonda and Andy in front of initial framing for kitchen center island

Interior stairwell framework leading to second floor.

View from Master bath interior. Forground bathtub framing.

Here we are in standing in the front door of our unfinished house for the very first time!

View from our neighbors' acrross the street.

The House: More Photos from the Model

Main Halway from the Front Door

View of the dining room looking out towards the Living Room.

This is the breakfast nook as seen from the Kitchen

Family Room from Breakfast Nook

View of Second floor landing from stairs.

Art in his "future office"

So, it looks like we bought a house

June 03, 2003

We've been looking at houses off and on for about a year and a half. In that time we came to the conclusion that the Peninsula was just out of reach and that living in the Central Valley was our best bet at having a large enough home and giving us the chance to stay in California.

Back in February we saw a few homes in Tracy we really liked, including a couple of new homes going up in the hosing developments. We had essentially decided to settle in Tracy, but we waited.

Until one day a couple weeks back we decided we had enough and bit the bullet.

We put in an offer for a new home that is under construction in Tracy. (The pictures of the model above shows what the house will look like) We fell in love with the New England styling and the layout of the house. It was the top choice in our price range.

This is the approach to the garage on the model home. In the distance you can see the backyard, which is seperated by a fence. When our home is finished, we will have to worry about landscaping.

This is the interior view of the living room, which is on your left as you enter the front of the house.

As you walk down the hallway from the living room, you enventually enter the kitchen in your right. Just beyond the kitchen is the family room, which overlooks the backyard

Here's the view from the upstairs hallway looking into 4th bedroom/loft conversion.

This is the master bedroom suite.

Unfortunately our house is not nearly as ready as the model, but since it is still being framed we have the opportunity to customize it.

This is the neighborhood our house is in (under construction of course). We will be the third house down and on a cul-de-sac.

Here is the front entrance of the house. The living room will be on the left and the dining room on the right. They are just beginning to frame the second floor here.

This is the side view of the lot and the house. In the background you can see the detached garage under construction.

From the garage facing the street you can see where the breakfast nook will be and just beyond side door access to the house.