Shower, nails, marble, Milton Sills
Not much going on today, which is fine. It has been raining off and on, so staying inside. I only went out once to take a picture of our back room.
Despite the hassle, I think this back room project was a good move. It looks great now and when finished I expect it will be very nice and will inspire other improvements in the house. This is what I wanted.
I really want the project to end so I can do some other things on my own time and budget.
Today I am just catching up.
For one thing, I took a well-needed shower and put on clean clothes. I cut all my nails: especially my toe nails. My right big toe had its nail grow so long that it bent in my shoe and pulled it up off the nail, so there is a bruise from that as a result. I need to try to take better care of myself, but with a long list of things to do for the backroom project while the project is underway and the demands of work I can't seem to afford to do this: I do the minimum I need to get by.
After the project ends (all bills paid, so only the loans will be outstanding), I have an even longer list, most of which are related to the backroom (the cellar door, the cellar cement, the leaking pipes in the cellar, the storage possibility in the basement, the baseboard and trim, the stairs carpet, the outside vents, the siding on the southeast, the rain barrels, the stacks, the scalloped edges, the back lawn, the Theda painting). However, I can take my time on that.
Marisa would like to go to drag shows in 2024 and the ones on weekends I will try to attend and hope not to clomp in there with dirty boots as I have done in the past. Not sure I can do weekdays and Marisa doesn't expect me to do that.
I took a photograph of my latest marble that I obtained last weekend while digging outside for the backroom project. This entry will, I hope, connect the event with the photograph.
On emovieposter.com I found three emphemera from Milton Sills films. Although Sills was not the headliner, his star was rising when he made "The Furnace" (starring Agnes Ayres, 1920), costume drama "A Lady of Quality"(starring Virginia Valli, 1924) and "Flaming Youth" (starring Colleen Moore, 1924). Sills is only on the lobby card for "Flaming Youth" but that didn't stop me from bidding on all three. I am afraid I will get the most competition for "Flaming Youth" and not from Sills' fans, either (there is almost a cult of Colleen Moore followers). I might have a chance on the other two: Agnes Ayres and Virginia Valli are much less popular than Colleen Moore.
Meanwhile I found a still from Sills' movie "Skin Deep" (1922) before his character had plastic surgery. As such it does not look like Sills nor an image most would cherish, so I will probably get it for around $25 including postage/handling. I will find out very soon now.
For some time I have been tracking on ebay a dust jacket covered version of the photoplay novel for "The Sea Hawk" by Rafael Sabatini with scenes from the Sills's film. I finally checked today--I have the book (somewhere). So it is off my ebay list.
Coming in the mail I will soon receive a scene from "The Crash" (1928) which I have never run across before and one where I got a good deal.
I am still tracking newel post possibilities on ebay: I am not sure Poest will have the newels done in time! Still, the project seems to be dragging. Even with a Nov. 22 end date as my latest estimate it is possible Poest will get the information he needs to turn the posts in time (as long as Neil Kelly cooperates and can get a carpenter here to meet directly with him for a half hour or less). Considering that Nov. 23 is Thanksgiving and the drywall is not textured yet, I don't think all the rest will come together before Nov. 23..and it will be difficult to get anyone in the next month and a half!
Financials...once again it seems I am ahead by one month for mortgage payments. My Adventis bill for that says I need to get a payment in by Jan 1, 2024. That means this month I won't need to send in a mortgage payment. I will check, though. I will owe a total of just under $19k now.
However, I will have to pay on the Heloc...probably around 650 dollars this month (I have not received the statement).
It would be nice to finish the project in November so I can use the rest of the Heloc and then convert it to a regular loan with a fixed interest rate. The Fed may raise the interest rate in December. It didn't in November, but it is threatening to raise as inflation is still not ideal. For once I would like to make a personal finance decision at the right economic time. We started this project just as my stocks were at their lowest, so sold them to finance this work at that time. If the project had started a year before we would not only be finished by now, but I would have had more money from the sale. My luck, though, is that the fed rate for borrowing will go up right before I need to lock down the loan.
Despite the hassle, I think this back room project was a good move. It looks great now and when finished I expect it will be very nice and will inspire other improvements in the house. This is what I wanted.
I really want the project to end so I can do some other things on my own time and budget.
Today I am just catching up.
For one thing, I took a well-needed shower and put on clean clothes. I cut all my nails: especially my toe nails. My right big toe had its nail grow so long that it bent in my shoe and pulled it up off the nail, so there is a bruise from that as a result. I need to try to take better care of myself, but with a long list of things to do for the backroom project while the project is underway and the demands of work I can't seem to afford to do this: I do the minimum I need to get by.
After the project ends (all bills paid, so only the loans will be outstanding), I have an even longer list, most of which are related to the backroom (the cellar door, the cellar cement, the leaking pipes in the cellar, the storage possibility in the basement, the baseboard and trim, the stairs carpet, the outside vents, the siding on the southeast, the rain barrels, the stacks, the scalloped edges, the back lawn, the Theda painting). However, I can take my time on that.
Marisa would like to go to drag shows in 2024 and the ones on weekends I will try to attend and hope not to clomp in there with dirty boots as I have done in the past. Not sure I can do weekdays and Marisa doesn't expect me to do that.
I took a photograph of my latest marble that I obtained last weekend while digging outside for the backroom project. This entry will, I hope, connect the event with the photograph.
On emovieposter.com I found three emphemera from Milton Sills films. Although Sills was not the headliner, his star was rising when he made "The Furnace" (starring Agnes Ayres, 1920), costume drama "A Lady of Quality"(starring Virginia Valli, 1924) and "Flaming Youth" (starring Colleen Moore, 1924). Sills is only on the lobby card for "Flaming Youth" but that didn't stop me from bidding on all three. I am afraid I will get the most competition for "Flaming Youth" and not from Sills' fans, either (there is almost a cult of Colleen Moore followers). I might have a chance on the other two: Agnes Ayres and Virginia Valli are much less popular than Colleen Moore.
Meanwhile I found a still from Sills' movie "Skin Deep" (1922) before his character had plastic surgery. As such it does not look like Sills nor an image most would cherish, so I will probably get it for around $25 including postage/handling. I will find out very soon now.
For some time I have been tracking on ebay a dust jacket covered version of the photoplay novel for "The Sea Hawk" by Rafael Sabatini with scenes from the Sills's film. I finally checked today--I have the book (somewhere). So it is off my ebay list.
Coming in the mail I will soon receive a scene from "The Crash" (1928) which I have never run across before and one where I got a good deal.
I am still tracking newel post possibilities on ebay: I am not sure Poest will have the newels done in time! Still, the project seems to be dragging. Even with a Nov. 22 end date as my latest estimate it is possible Poest will get the information he needs to turn the posts in time (as long as Neil Kelly cooperates and can get a carpenter here to meet directly with him for a half hour or less). Considering that Nov. 23 is Thanksgiving and the drywall is not textured yet, I don't think all the rest will come together before Nov. 23..and it will be difficult to get anyone in the next month and a half!
Financials...once again it seems I am ahead by one month for mortgage payments. My Adventis bill for that says I need to get a payment in by Jan 1, 2024. That means this month I won't need to send in a mortgage payment. I will check, though. I will owe a total of just under $19k now.
However, I will have to pay on the Heloc...probably around 650 dollars this month (I have not received the statement).
It would be nice to finish the project in November so I can use the rest of the Heloc and then convert it to a regular loan with a fixed interest rate. The Fed may raise the interest rate in December. It didn't in November, but it is threatening to raise as inflation is still not ideal. For once I would like to make a personal finance decision at the right economic time. We started this project just as my stocks were at their lowest, so sold them to finance this work at that time. If the project had started a year before we would not only be finished by now, but I would have had more money from the sale. My luck, though, is that the fed rate for borrowing will go up right before I need to lock down the loan.