Jacked

As much as I walk around our job site, I don't remember ever seeing these things laying around. Turns out that they are the original jacks that we found under the house when we bought it. Thanks to the prior owner, a hose bib leaked and caused the house to fall in the center. Then, a genius crew came in with these very jacks and shored up the house. But, they took it a little too far (perhaps due to the empty 12-pack of beer that was also under the house) and jacked it up too much. All of this lead to a broken foundation, which is part of how we got a good deal on a sad house. So, these jacks represent opportunity and faith in our vision. They are quite beautiful in their own special way.

Barbie, rises, and runs

Those of you who are eagle-eyed might wonder if there's an extra comma or two in this headline, and the answer is a decided "nope." Rises are the parts of stairs that rise up. Runs are the length of the treads that you walk up. Bill is working on the construction of the front steps, and the process always reminds me of the amount of math involved in construction. And, math makes me think of the 1992 Barbie who said, "Math class is tough!" I always remember it incorrectly, as do others, as "Math is hard!" Yes, Barbie, math class is tough, but if you apply yourself, you just might to live your dreams one day and be able to build your own house.

Calling on our village...

We are at an exciting time in our remodeling journey, but then again, it has all been exciting. Our current big fun is finalizing the plan for our family room. We need to select approximate dimensions for a couch, chairs, and the dining table with all of the constraints like, well, an upright piano. So, we are looking for an interactive, properly scaled layout tool that will allow us to enter our room dimensions and constraints, and then move furniture around to get the best layout plan. This all needs to be decided very soon, as it involves recessed lighting above the table. I have used a tool like this before in planning for several usability labs, but can't find something like it now.

So, wonderful members of our global village, please pass along any hints that you have to narrow down our decision-making. You will, of course, have our big thanks. But then again, you have that already.