July 29, 2009

Wednesday's Whine - What I Did This Summer

I worked extra duty on and off at the J.O.B. from which I should have taken an extended break. I did this so I could pay for:

1. Remodeling my bathroom and starting the remodel of my kitchen.


Bathroom before...notice the ugly tile and old toilet:

















Bathroom After...notice the new bamboo floors and low flow toilet, but try not to notice Tucker's unmade bed under the counter...heh:
























Before and after pics of my kitchen:















































2. The trip I took to Oregon but not for vacation exactly. I
went to take a class so I can renew my license. But while I was there I did manage to visit my half-sister for her 60th birthday and meet my new great half-niece (which means I'm only half old, by the way). I'd post pics, but I don't post individual pics of my family.

3. The whole day I spent at the Denver Pride event. Actually, since I was in Oregon, I missed the Women's Pride Party. As a result I didn't spend that much money.

Total attendance estimates depended on who was reporting. The GLBTCCC (PrideFest organizers) said Denver's event is the 7th largest in the country with 300,000 in attendance. The city put the number closer to 100,000. I'll play the odds and say it was about 200,000 over the two days.
Here's a crowd shot at the end of the parade:



















4. The spur of the moment opportunity to go to an Indigo Girls concert
. I think I spent about $30.00 or so, but the big expense was the time spent on a bus getting back to the parking lot from the remote location of the actual event. The actual location supposedly holds around 900 people, but I think the crowd was smaller than that...yet it was sold out.

This is a picture of the stage (with the opening act playing) which backs onto the Poudre River (which was running high, by the way):



















My replacement camera for the one that stopped working after a week, doesn't take good pictures at night. Of course it was identical to the first one and also stopped working after a week. I've since upgrade to a slightly better one. But in the meantime, here are the girls and their guest keyboardist (whose name I don't recall):



















Now for the WHINE:

1. Tomorrow I finish another continuing education class so I can get one of my many licenses renewed.

2. Friday, I take another class to renew another license...this one's so I can keep my J. O. B. There's more whine in there somewhere, but I'm just too tired to whine about it now...heh.

And now for some WINE:

I did have that bottle of Harlow Ridge Sauvignon Blanc recently. It was crisp, as I like my white wines and as most Sauvignon Blancs tend to be, but not particularly exciting. Nevertheless, for $6.00 it was very good buy. However, it wasn't so great that I would serve it to a dinner date...heh. I would serve it on a hot summer night to pals hanging out around the swimming pool though...

11 comments:

sageweb said...

You know it is a lot better when people accidently take a picture of themselves naked in the mirrors.

Love the red in the kitchen.

Jannie Funster said...

The J.O.B., yes a good thng to hang onto these days.

Remodel kicks ass!!! That kitchen color is bold and so sexy! And the floors, I could just sit on those for hours in the lotus position and feel the love of the wood making me look ten year younger. I'm serious!

jennifer from pittsburgh said...

LOVE the remodeling jobs! We went with a dark red in the kitchen as well. It just warms the space so much. We're also thinking bamboo, or cork, in the bathrooms.
Sorry about the job stuff :( MK puts up with a lot with her job too :(

TheWeyrd1 said...

Sage...I was dressed and checking angles when I took those pics, but you made me look...heh.

Jannie...um, maybe I need to sit on my new floors more.

jennifer...that red wall and the area above the entrance to the kitchen are red as accents, but the rest of the walls are white. Of course, they're covered mostly with cabinets...heh.

As for the floors, my bathroom has two doors and I live in a fairly dry state. So lots of dry air circulating which allows the bamboo to work well in the bathroom. I have heard that in more moist areas of the country that bamboo and cork in the bathroom might not be a good idea...

secret agent woman said...

You've ben busy! I especialy ;ove the bamboo flooring. I was trn between it and cork when I remodelled the kitchen. But neither would work well in a bathroom or kitchen in htis humid state, I don't think. I also like the red in the kitchen - I love bold kitchen colors.

KathSW said...

Red?? What *red* are you all seeing? All I see is a glossy, sassy heap of *MA-ROUGE* all over the place.

PS -- Jen 'o the 'burgh.....
resist ANY inclination towards cork. I know this is a *winey* blog so I feel free to tell you to "put a cork" in that idea.

A corky room just about ruined my childhood. ;)

TheWeyrd1 said...

secret...thanks! As for floors, I think the bamboo can work in humid parts of the country as long as they aren't subjected to additional humidity like in the bathroom. So, I'd go with in the kitchen if you have a lot of air circulation. Also bamboo floors are constructed in different ways depending on the kind of look you want. Some are like mine that are full outsides of a bamboo shoot. Some are stacked and then cut in sheets so the edges show. They can be natural light colored or toasted like mine. The stacked version might be a bit more durable in humid climates, based on how they're made. But check with a flooring specialist. You can also get them in a laminate, but I'm not sure if that would be an actual layer of real bamboo or not.

Kath...Ma-Rouge? As in your blush? Is this a good thing??? Heh.

Jdancer8 said...

I love the red in the kitchen. I had a red kitchen once. When I own my own home I'm sure I'll find a red kitchen again. Its very warm and inviting. Good choice on the flooring as well. you must train tucker to make his bed, doesn't he know that a made bed is a happy bed.

TheWeyrd1 said...

J...thanks! As for Tucker, he is much better at unmaking, but if he develops OCD, I'll let you know.

jennifer from pittsburgh said...

Hmmmm, the first time I saw cork used in a bathroom was when I visited Falling Water (that Frank Lloyd Wright house around here). Wright used cork in the bathrooms when it was built in the 30s, and it's held up just fine with all of that moisture, including the house being built over a stream.
But maybe cork holds moisture, or causes the drywall to hold moisture? In modern homes, I mean.
Maybe we should just go with ceramic tile. I'm not a big fan of it because everybody and their brother goes that route...which might be the best route to go.

TheWeyrd1 said...

Jennifer...I imagine if you get a really good sealer for the floor, cork would work... Or you could use a laminate.