the Cat

Why would I blog about a cat on a houseblog? Well, I shall tell you. Because of HIM, we had to 'up' a project on our todo list. Here is the culprit:That's him, the one 'IN' the catgrass that we had just planted. Here is another one where he was trying to steal my lunch, the theif. Shortly after adopting him, he would come to us in the mornings with curled up whiskers like he had just gotten a perm until we finally figured out that he was checking out the toaster to see if it had anything swipe-worthy (like we toast bacon or something in there), STICKING HIS MUG IN THE SLOTS WHILE IT WAS HOT. He would steal broccoli from a cooking pot like it was a filet mignon, and growl at us if we tried to take the steaming vegetable back. Keep in mind that he is sitting on my monitor as I type this and maneuver around his furry butt (my screen is mounted below my desktop).

So I hope that I have adequately established that this cat is a beast. We initially named him B-goat...as in Billy Goat, as in "eat everything within reach", but he hassince earned a plethora of monikers in the meantime. Here are just a few:

Mr. Shino Bicho Complainer Saucy Sandy-Claws Chicken-Hawk Troubles

Anyways, back to why I would blog about a cat here. Roxana went out to the backyard to do some gardening with Michaela while the 6 month old slept. This cat always throws a fit if someone goes outdoors without him. Understand this: He is an indoor only cat; we do not let him out, even occasionally or as a treat so it's not like he knows what he's missing. BUT, if he does get out, he just goes to eat all the grass he can, or beat up any neighbor cats he sees (BTW, he caught a possum once, a Richmond, CA, possum while we were living there...twice his size!). At least he's easy to catch.

So, while he throws his tantrum about wanting to go out, too, Goat jumps up and pulls the deadbolt on the back door, locking my wife and oldest daughter outside, while the baby slept inside, he making a racket all the while. So with no other options, Roxana breaks the flimsy plexiglass on the door to open it back up. Now I had to either replace the silly plexiglass glazing with proper glass, or just replace the door altogether with something more substancial.

And if you have been following this blog at all, I'm sure you'd guess that I would choose the later and go for the upgrade. You would be right. We liked that the back door had a window to let more light into our cavernous (sic) kitchen, and yet we wanted a door what would go with the rest of the original doors throughout the house (5 interior doors). They are all just a simple framed door with a single inset panel. So we went with such a door, but with a double glazed full panel instead. Same by proportions, but different.

So, I spent that weekend mortising the hinges, and mounting the deadbolt (albeit a bit more stiff). I am no expert at hanging doors and windows, but I can do it with realive success. Besides, I got to play with my new planes and chisels (I love hand tools). You will notice that the door looks crooked, and it is because the house is sinking in that corner most egregiously due to the neighboring apartment building sporting a failing retaining wall. This is the result of a 5-6" drop in that far corner! Now sure how the apartment people got this redwood retaining wall by the city when they did, but now I have to deal with it. Anyone know building law & how I can get them to fix this?

So, when we get around to either leveling or lifting the house, the door 'should' fit correctly, and all the frozen peas I keep dropping will stop rolling to that far corner like they are posessed.

Note: This entry will be updated very soon, with more pictures, and a slightly emmended text. Stay posted, m'kaye?

Pimp My Door (part 1)

Okayyyy, as I keep droning on about the damage I did to our front door (ie. breaking a little window), I shall finally conclude this bombination with it's resolution: New Upgraded Glass. Well, maybe just *a* new window for now.

Why do I feel this entry is worthy of more than just a picture and a "here-you-go", you may be asking? Well...because I really had to think about this one before I did it, and it appeared that another such window was replaced at one time without so much thought. I didn't want to damage it further than I had.

Here's the dilemma (which turned out to not really be a dilemma afterall). Each of the 8 little window openings is actually just a simple cut-out of the solid door. The glazing is held in by 4 beveled strips of oak on either side, glued and nailed to the door. I knew that if I could somehow remove one of the peices, the others would be cake. But being that the nails holding each peice were finish nails, I was faced with choosing to (A) gouge out a nail (and leave an ugly divit) or (B)pry the first strip out until it snapped in half. This is what some former owner chose to do.

Sinkage

I figured there had to be a better way that wouldn't leave damage. So I opted to just sink the nail. I got myself the smallest drift pin (center punch, if you will) I could find, 1/16". These are more common in the auto repair or mechanical realm, so try looking in such a shop. I marked the depth on this tool with some tape and hammered the little nail clear through.

Pry-ers and Pliers

Then, using a thin knife, I dislodged the glued bond. This also breaks the shellac/finish skin and prevents any chipping/splintering. The peice is then pried out laterally with a stiff spackle knife. And there you will see that little sunken nail still in the door that you can now pull out with some needle nose pliers.

More scoring with the knife and then the remaining peices can be pried out normally. After cleaning up the opening surfaces, I set the new beleved glass in with glaziers putty and glued the little wood stops back in along with another finishing nail in the original hole, albeit slightly larger/longer than the previous ones.

And Voila! I have to say it's looking pretty nice, especially up next to those plain panes which also happen to be a bit sandblasted (grumblegrumble). My only regret is that we were hoping for more bevel, but at $1.22 each, I really can't complain.