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I hit up Kung Fu last night. I’ve only been able to go to class two times in the last three weeks… and boy have I fallen behind. I’m going to have to practice more chain of death at home. Perhaps I will start each day with a chain of death.

Speaking of the HoR, tomorrow will see the move in of a fifth rocker. His name is Michael and he’s an IT guy. This move will fill the House of Rock to its capacity. In order to get Michael in, I moved to the small room (see vimeo tour here), Liz moved to my room, and Michael will be taking the ‘L’ room on the first floor.

It’ll be nice to have the place full again.

WATER! from mikedidonato on Vimeo.

Here it is, 1:30am on Friday. And I’m not sure if I’ve ever been so happy to be awake.

I was having trouble sleeping. It was 12:30 or so and my bedroom was hot. As I tossed and turned I suddenly heard the rain. It beat down on the roof ferociously. In not so much as a moment, I was out of bed and running downstairs.

I grabbed a big bin and brought it outside to collect the liquid gold. I had my big polka dot pajama pants on and when I walked outside I was immediately drenched.

Drenched head to toe… strange… this downpour felt a lot like a shower.

I threw the bin to the ground and bounded back upstairs. I grabbed a bottle of head and shoulders, some body wash, and my bath towel. I skipped back downstairs and straight out the door. The water was cold on my skin but not unbearable; think ‘Atlantic Ocean’ in early July. I ran around to the front of the house and yanked off a downspout. I threw my head under the condensed stream, added some shampoo, and scrubbed.

I rolled up my pajama legs and then started in with the body wash. It was cold, but oh so refreshing. When I was finished I ran back around to grab the bin of water. A healthy 2 inches of water had collected. I raised the bin up over my head and poured the water over me. It was bliss.

Once clean, I stuck the bin under the drain spout to collect more water. This, in addition to the five 5 gallon jugs of water that Liz and I took from work, will provide us between 30 and 35 gallons of water entering the weekend.

Never before have I looked at Rain as such a wonderful gift.

Water won’t be fixed until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.

uuuugh

ugh… I thought everything was under control. The water guy came by, and despite the difficulty of the job (there are all sorts of complications), he said that it could be done. I’ll get a quote in the morning and the pipe should be fixed (hopefully) by Thursday. On top of that, the neighbors allowed us to tap off of their water supply. By connecting a hose from their outside spigot to ours, we’re able to reverse plumb my house. There was a small leak in the hose connecting the houses… so I spent some money and repaired the line to ensure that no excess water would drip out.

Then Tony and Paulette, in an extremely kind gesture, came to Meriden and kidnapped me for some ice cream at the end of the day. Things were looking up.

When I got home however, I found the neighbors rather upset. They don’t feel comfortable providing water at night. Just during the day.

This is extremely tough for me because what bothers me more than any other thing is being an inconvenience to someone. When I feel like I’m being a burden it’s bad. I typically get restless and occasionally nauseous.

The neighbor’s being upset really got to me. And not being able to provide water to my roommates really gets to me. See, Brian and Liz both get up SO early in the morning that it’s basically night-time and right now it’s 11:30pm and Shaun still isn’t home from work. Without water at night… the house is essentially without water. During the normal day hours… none of us are even home.

And tomorrow, I’m scheduled to fly to Washington D.C. for work… frankly, I don’t know what to do.

I just don’t know what to do.

Yesterday afternoon found me staring shocked at a geyser of water erupting forth in the basement. The water was exploding into the air a good three feet. My first instinct was to try and smother the flow of water with my hands, but this, obviously, didn’t do much more than completely cover me in water.

In seconds that corner of the basement was filled with water. The sump pump engaged, but it couldn’t nearly keep up. At best, it was pumping out a quarter of the amount of water coming in.

I grabbed my cell phone and quickly called the last number on my ‘recent calls’ list: a guy named Mike.

“Hello?” he answered
“Mike? This is Mike DiDonato. I’m in trouble.”

Early on Sunday I stopped by Lowes to buy a few pipe wrenches. There was a small water leak in the basement but nothing overly complicated. The only trick was that it was just barely upstream of the water meter. This was not a major concern as there’s a second valve just upstream to where the water meter is.

I cranked off that valve and the leak petered out. The only other issue was that I’d have to disconnect the water meter and water meters have small ‘no tampering’ wires. So I called the city.

This was my first interaction with Mike. Mike works for the Meriden Sewer company. I told him about needing to break the tampering line. He said that was no problem and that they’d send someone out tomorrow to replace it once the leak was fixed.

Once I had permission I went down into the basement and started taking apart the line. First, I took off the water meter. No trouble there.

Next, I took off the leaking pipe. No trouble there.

Finally, I put my pipe wrench around the last broken piece - an elbow. As I applied torque to the system the pipe UPSTREAM of the valve shuddered briefly… and then a burst of water fired out. I immediately remembered Mike’s last comment to me on the phone: “call me if you get into trouble.”

“What happened?” he asked
“The line upstream of the valve blew as I was trying to get the pipe off”
“How bad is it?”
“bad. I’m going to need the water to the house turned off.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”

As I waited to hear back from Mike I double checked the sump pump. It just wasn’t pumping fast enough. I started wondering what I would possibly do when the water reached the furnace and the water heater… Maybe I could go ask the neighbors for another sump pump?

From the kitchen, you could hear the water surging in the basement.

About 10 minutes passed, during which I frantically ran around lost. Not having any idea what to do. It was then that I saw a truck pull up.

Mike stepped out. He had curly hair and glasses. His jeans and shirt were worn. He looked like just the right person for this job.

“Let me see how bad it is.”

I brought him to the basement.

“let’s go see if we can turn if off. Do you know where the water turn off is?”

I had no idea. We walked to the front of the house along the edge of the street.

“have you ever seen any sort of metal water cap when mowing the lawn?”
“I have not”
“oh man. It could be anywhere. I’ll probably have to go to the town records and see if I can find the plumbing schematic for the street so we can find it.”
“ugh.”

And then, I saw it. It was the edge of a metal cap covered mostly in overgrown grass.

“Wait… Is that it?”
“You are a very lucky man.”

We took the top off and he put a long wrench into the 4 foot deep hole. He tried turning it but was unsuccessful.

“flashlight?” I offered
“yeah. we might be in more trouble. Sometimes these are so full of dirt that we have to get a pressurized water truck to come and blast the dirt out.”

I ran to get him a flashlight trying to calculate in my head how long I had before the water heater and boiler were both submerged in water. When I got back he stuck the flashlight into the hole and put the wrench in again. Mike quietly asked for divine assistance and gave it a short turn clockwise.

“You are a very lucky man today. That never works so easily.”

We walked inside the kitchen; there was no sound of water coming from the basement. Sure enough, the water had been turned off.

Mike helped me sweep most of the water into the sump pump hole. Then we took a look at the pipe.

“This is bad,” Mike said, “if the pipe is this rusted here… it’s probably at least this rusted running all the way out to the street. You’ll probably need to have the whole line replaced”
“oh no…”

Mike and I chatted a bit more about plumbing and the types of problems he encounters on his day to day job. Then I thanked him profusely for his fast action and sat down to figure out what on earth I should do now.

And that’s still kind of where I am. I spoke with my Boss and told him that I might not be into work today as I try and clean up this mess. First things first, I suppose I’ll buy some water for the house.

After that… things will presumably get a bit more complicated.

New House of Rock roommate Brian has a set of kettlebells.

Kettlebells are a Russian weightlifting tool that basically look like cannonballs with handles. They exude and aura of extremeness. Brian lent me a few DVD’s that cover the basics. Provided Brian’s willing to share the bells, I’m hoping to start in on a rough routine this week. It has the potential, I think, to rock me back into a fitness drive.

In other fitness news, I had my first 2 hour kung fu class last night. It was really unique. We spent the first hour working technical drills and the second hour on sparring. I was very tired by the end.

That said, the beginning stages of a new belt level are always a blast because you get to learn new stuff. For example, last night I started learning the first moves to the chain of death.

Chain of Death.

How hardcore is that?

It is done!

The whole legal process went smoothly. The lawyer explained the documents and I signed them one by one.

It was all quite professional. Until I went to stand up and smashed my head against the chandelier above the table and then turned around and practically knocked over chair I had been sitting on.

Oh well.

Provided all goes according to plan by the end of this day I will be the official sole owner of the House of Rock. In order to get Jesse’s name removed, I was forced to refinance.

And let me tell you, refinancing is a huge pain in the butt. In addition to costing scores and scores of mula, it’s an adventure that requires a legal team, a mortgage lender, a mortgage broker, an insurance team, an accountant (or someone equally as tax-savvy), and the alignment of the 48 moons of Saturn. As it happens, the celestial bodies seem to have fallen into order and at 2:00pm I will be passed a stack of papers 8 inches thick and a blue pen with which I am to sign blindly because, seriously, who’s going to read all that crap. Oh yes… and thank you so much for lending me the money that’s already being lent to me. Here, let me write you a staggering check to pay you for your troubles.

Adding to the frustrations is this whole credit crunch mayhem. The lender actually required me to write a short something stating why I wanted to refinance. Essentially… an essay. I had to write an essay. You can’t make this stuff up. Being the meager homebuyer that I am, I gladly bucked to their demands, wrote up my piece, and thanked them for the opportunities.

Back in the day, J.P. Morgan used to give out loans based on the character of the borrower. Frankly, I think it’s unfortunate that we can’t fall back on this. These days it doesn’t matter how much dirt is under your fingernails… it’s more important that your mortgage costs won’t exceed 30% of your salary* and that you can write an essay explaining your desires to refinance**

Kung Fu threats don’t work either***. In fact they aren’t typically taken very well at all. Those bankers are an ornery bunch.

No matter. Sometimes you pass Go and other times you land on Luxury Tax. Let’s leave the banking matters to the banks and just hope that the coming years find the house of rock filled with good times. Here’s to you House of Rock!

*That number might not be right. I don’t remember exactly.
** The purpose of this, if you’re curious, is to create a paper trail so that if something goes horribly awry and it is found that I refinanced for some other less worthy reason, I can be held responsible and the bank can cover its butt.
***
bank: Mr. DiDonato, how’s 6%?
mike d: 6%!?!?! It sounds like you guys need a good crescent kick to the head.
bank: how’s 6 and an eighth?
mike d: 6 and an eighth is just fine.

In Kung Fu on Wednesday we did break falling and rolls. These classes rarely treat me well. Typically we’ll set up some mats and take turns diving and falling to the ground. I have a high tendency to tense up my neck when practicing this and the result is extreme soreness. Even today, two days later, it hurts to rotate my head. I’m sure once I get the maneuvers down I’ll loosen up a bit.

So much about Kung Fu requires looseness. Many of the wrist grabs and pressure point stuff can’t be completed if you try and throw in some muscle.

It can be frustrating.

In House news, I’ve finally completed the work on the downstairs bathroom. It took well over two weeks of restructuring, painting, caulking, and cleaning. I’m mostly pleased with the result - though the tub is stained and I’m not sure how to clean it. Anyone have any surefire methods to shine up a tub?

This weekend’s project was painting the downstairs bathroom.

I already purchased paint so really, all it would entail is taping and covering fixtures with drop cloths.

And then there was that little crack in the wall.

One hour later, the tile floor is covered in plaster and I had a significantly more complicated project ahead of me.

I installed a dishwasher yesterday. It went… okay. I have a bit more plumbing I need to do (replacement of a leaking valve with a ball valve)… but we’re really close. And it’s currently fully plumbed and will clean dishes nicely.

It’s pretty exciting having a new appliance like that. I’m debating whether or not I should consider this as the Appliance of 2007. For the past three years I’ve been buying myself an appliance.

2004: Rice Cooker
2005: Dyson
2006: Kitchen Aid Mixer

And while the dishwasher certainly will get tons of use and make my life easier, it’s almost more of a house improvement then it is a personal thing. And someday when I move out, I’ll leave the dishwasher behind.

In other news, I had my final MBA class of the school year on Saturday. Unfortunately, there’s a take home exam that isn’t due for another week. This is annoying because we really only get a few weeks off from class each year, and this take home is essentially extending the semester.

This weekend was non-stop action that was focused mainly around Jesse’s wedding. It was a great get together on Saturday and, from a guest’s perspective, things went very smoothly. I’ve been working on a picture/video montage of sorts that will be appearing in the feature section within the next day or two.

The excitement of the wedding was immediately followed by my purchase of a gas powered 26cc four stroke weed whacker of fury. This was the first time I’ve used a gas powered weed whacker… and the thing is intense. It is so powerful that after one use the splattered remains of the House of Rock’s weeds were fused into the grain structure of my jeans. AND with the change out of a single bolt, the 16″ nylon cutting swath can be replaced with three metal blades of slaughter. Blades so powerful that they can take down inch thick tree trunks without a second glance.

The only downside is that earplugs are most definitely required. Really? it’s a small price to pay for wielding a weed tool of total destruction.

Jesse and I have been talking about my buying out Jesse’s half of the house. Last night we completed negotiations.

The negotiations were a perfect mirror of the excitement that is the House of Rock. Jesse and I were going back and forth, each of us trying to be fair but at the same time looking out for our own financial stability. It got down to an $800 difference in our prices. This may not seem like a lot in the grand scheme of things, but 800 is 800. And both Jesse and I are cheap.

I offered to split our difference at the half-way point: 400. Jesse said 500. Neither of us would budge.

We stared each other down and then… sat down for a $100 game of backgammon.

An eerie silence fell across the table. We set the doubling cube aside and positioned our pieces on the board. Jesse and I play very different games of backgammon. I’m aggressive and take chances, Jesse tends to be calculative and more conservative. I think I have an advantage on him in the main play, but his end game is flawless. Recently, most of the games have gone to Jesse. His end game is too good.

The starting roll went down. Jesse would start with a 5-2.

Game play continued from there. Jesse had an unlucky streak of rolls with consecutive 5-2’s for three turns. I followed with consecutive 1-2’s (not quite as bad considering the layout). But the critical point came halfway through.

I had five points covered, split half way through by an empty spot. Jesse was on the leading edge of my potential prime and had a single piece on that dividing point. I rolled a roll that gave me the opportunity to hit his guy. But at the same time it left me open to a risky coup by Jesse’s leading piece. If Jesse could knock my guy back, the potential for a prime would be lost and Jesse, whose home row was locked down tighter than Fort Knox, could surely capitalize on his superior end game. But if the dice fell in favor of the D… a prime would be one roll away and with it victory would be all but certain.

I went for it.

Jesse rolled…

.

.

.

Some say that as the dice dashed across the backgammon board guitar distortion could be heard throughout the Appalachian mountains. Others report that the clouds above Connecticut parted and a haunting figure of Jimi Hendrix could be seen walking down Plumb avenue, Stratocaster in hand. What can be certain is that when those dice came to rest an epic era of the House of Rock ended and two fiends started their journeys down diverging paths.

Here’s to good times, good friends, and great rock. Jesse will be missed greatly.

Jumping over Saw Horses from mikedidonato and Vimeo.

Yesterday was mostly successful. Jesse and I got started about 8:30 or 9 with the intention of putting up a gutter, throwing out tons of trash, fixing a ceiling, finishing the mudroom, and, if time was on our side, maybe working on the basement.

The first thing we did was head over to Home Depot where we got 60 feet of gutter and the rest of the necessities for our days housework.

My prize purchase was a ladder.

I didn’t just get any ladder, I got a Gorilla Ladder.

I had been eying the Little Giant for a long time, but the $400 price tag made me extremely hesitant. The whole idea behind this ladder is that it is extremely adjustable. It folds in half, so it can be used as both a wall ladder and a standing ladder, and both sides can be adjusted lengthwise so it can be used on stairs, as supports for 5-6 foot scaffolding, etc, etc.

Being that we needed to do some gutter work, yesterday I was plum ready to drop the cash for a ladder. Then, Jesse saw the Gorilla Ladder. All the same functionality, half the price!

Look at the Majesty!

And the ladder is indeed awesome. It fit inside the Nissan and can extend to the roof line of most two story homes. It treated us well for the garage’s gutter.

Unfortunately the House gutter that was missing is closer to 2.5 stories high and even the Gorilla can’t solve that problem.

Otherwise the day went well, but sadly, we didn’t have enough time for the basement work. Home selling is a pain in the butt.

Jesse and I took the day off from work today to work on the House of Rock.

It’s always kind of a bummer to take a day off… to work.

The House of Rock stands on a hill.

We use this to our advantage when it snows.

A Snowy Day on Vimeo

The House of Rock received a thorough dose of renovation this weekend. Jesse and I put in a ton of work Saturday night and purchased all sorts of goods from Home Depot to prep for Sun.

Sunday, Tony, Paulette, and Shaun L. came over and graciously offered some of their time to us. Without them, we never would have finished what we did. Thanks guys!

A few of the key accomplishments:

We now have light above the stove. For 2 years we have not had light here, and finally the electrical work was finished to get things working again. The kitchen is now extremely bright.

The game room was transformed into a dining room. We painted the walls a coral color, cleaned the carpet, and reorganized the furniture for a bit more of a mature look. We’re pleased with the result.

Other less photographic accomplishments were leaky faucet fixings, toilet replacements, trim installation, floor cleaning, and door creation. It was intense.

Now, it’s 9:20pm on Sunday and I’m toast. I’ll be heading to bed now, so that I can hit a 6:40am flight on Southwest tomorrow.

Destination: Texas.

Yesterday I bought a toilet.

Home Depot was mere minutes away from closing for the evening and they only had one register open. The cashier was having difficulties and it looked like it could take awhile.

So I pushed my cart over to the ’self service’ registers, picked up the toilet, held it at arms length, and swung it back and forth over the scanner until I heard the beep of recognition.

As I placed the toilet onto the items shelf, employees shouted from behind me

“Whoa! you did it!”
“You’re the man!”

It was magnificent.

Once the shirts were silk screened, the photo shoot commenced.

I have a big Accounting exam this evening. This is the first REAL test of my MBA. The last two classes were focused more on projects and papers than tests.

I feel moderately prepared, but I’m going to see if I can leave work early to get a little extra study time in pre-test.

Also, I’m not sure if I mentioned this in public yet, but Jesse and I are selling the House of Rock.

On June 1st , 2007, there will be a new Mike D residence.

Here’s the video that answers the thousands of questions I’ve received regarding how we got the vegetables to make those sweet sounds!

Behind the Scenes of Produce Production on Vimeo

Rock on.