PKT25: Assorted Commentary on Touring the House
It's day 4 and final of reader commentary on the fraternity house tour. Today's guest panelists are an assortment of brothers from across the age ranges. They are:
- Ducar, who was a few years ahead of me in college. He married his college sweetheart and lives happily in Boston with her.
- Indy, who was actually started a few years ahead of me in college but who joined the army and then came back and finished up when I was there. He wasn't active in the house when I was there, but I know him well from when he and his wife Mak were in Supper Club with me. They live in Cleveland. If I recall correctly, Mak was the very first person I met at the PhiKap house, as she was on walking into the house when I arrived for Detour. They were already a couple then.
- Eli, who was on co-op when I was a pledge. Of all the PhiKaps he probably had the biggest impact on my adult life as he hooked me up with the job I've had the last 19.5 years. We worked together for 5.5 years. Then he married our coworker Gaela, then they both quit and after a stint in Portland near his family they have returned to the Cleveland area.
- Joe, who was a freshman in 1999. He was from the greater Cleveland area. After graduation he lived in DC for a while, and then ended up as a programmer in Philadelphia, where he hosts a great Super Bowl party every year with his wife Kristen.
- And Susan makes another brief appearance.
Ducar on the Study Room
I don’t recall anyone using a helmet for table bowling. It was also a common past time during elections for the candidates sent out of the room during debate.
Ducar on the Mop basin
I remember the Work Weekend when I poured the first incarnation of the mop basin. It was the same weekend when Ross C. nearly died. He went to work on an outlet when the power was on. Never saw someone take a full line voltage shock before or since.
Susan's response to Ducar
Tony got mildly zapped rewiring the bar. We never could track down a breaker to turn off the power and the white wire was hot.
Indy on the Greenhouse
Matt R. and I were roommates in the Greenhouse our Sophomore year, and at the time the windows sealed so poorly that we would often find snow between the window panes and the extra layer of plastic that all of the windows needed over the window.
It also had a gigantic radiator that ensured noticeable foot by foot temperature gradients throughout the room.
Joe on the Studio
1) the closet in the front studio was ruined by water during a roof leak (before I was there).
2) I think the back of the east wing was an enclosed porch. When Dolan and I built a raised floor in the studio back room, we also tore out and re-drywalled the wall between the east wing and studio. There's a brick 3' wall between the rooms.
3) while building the floor, we also cut a doorway into the ruined front studio closet, repairing it, thus adding a closet to the back of the studio
Me responding to Joe
So you think the back of the East wing was an enclosed porch and the back of the studio was just a roof? I will say the East wing seemed less hacked together than the studio, because the studio had a big step down and the tar under the carpet and all that, and the East wing didn’t.
Joe responding back
Like a 3-season porch, enclosed with large windows or screens or something? Maybe?
Eli on The Loft
The loft also had a bed over desk arrangement - watching Tony play GoldenEye in there was a frequent event I recall. The summer heat was remedied by putting a big wire fan at the foot of the bed.
Joe on The Cave
Another nifty bit about the cave: nearly every outlet in the room was on some shitty breaker that would very often trip. This was really problematic in the summer with the A/C on. With one notable exception: the outlet in the closet. That outlet seemed immune to tripping. We had a large fridge, toasters, etc plugged in and it never tripped. In fact, when work was being done on the 3rd floor electric panel, everything on the 3rd floor lost power, except that outlet.
We eventually found that outlet was wired into a breaker on the 2nd floor (I forget it was the hall outlets or the greenhouse bathroom light). But basically it was effectively alone in the breaker, which explains why we could plug so much stuff into it without tripping.
Eli on the Cave
Loved the cave - best bedroom in the house as a single - quiet and dark! Had the fridge, but never noticed power issues.
Eli on the Attic, particular a certain firearm
About that shotgun…. First of all it was a .22LR/.410 single shot foldable survival rifle that my stepfather gave me when my family moved from Florida to Montana - we grew up as low grade nuclear war preppers, and I guess they thought I could use it to make my way from Cleveland to Montana when the shit goes down. I don’t think I ever took it out of the case. It was part of the “what the hell am I going to do with this” pile of stuff that I had to pack into a closet in dorms...
There was some further discussion about where that firearm ended up. I seem to recall it went into Eli's trunk, but he doesn't remember.
The Ohio Alpha Beta Chapter of Phi Kappa Theta
The House Tour Outside,
Main Floor Bedrooms,
Main Floor Public Rooms,
Basement Public Areas,
Basement Private Areas,
2nd Floor Big Bedrooms,
2nd Floor Small Bedrooms,
3rd Floor First Hallway,
3rd Floor Second Hallway,
Attic & Errata,
House Tour Commentary: Joe & Laura & Astrid,
House Tour Commentary: Jackal,
House Tour Commentary: Susan,
House Tour Commentary: Assorted
The Pledge Program Schedule, Curriculum & Black Books
Pledge Classes Fall 1996
Events Detour
Other Full Series, My Rush Experience, Chapter History
- Ducar, who was a few years ahead of me in college. He married his college sweetheart and lives happily in Boston with her.
- Indy, who was actually started a few years ahead of me in college but who joined the army and then came back and finished up when I was there. He wasn't active in the house when I was there, but I know him well from when he and his wife Mak were in Supper Club with me. They live in Cleveland. If I recall correctly, Mak was the very first person I met at the PhiKap house, as she was on walking into the house when I arrived for Detour. They were already a couple then.
- Eli, who was on co-op when I was a pledge. Of all the PhiKaps he probably had the biggest impact on my adult life as he hooked me up with the job I've had the last 19.5 years. We worked together for 5.5 years. Then he married our coworker Gaela, then they both quit and after a stint in Portland near his family they have returned to the Cleveland area.
- Joe, who was a freshman in 1999. He was from the greater Cleveland area. After graduation he lived in DC for a while, and then ended up as a programmer in Philadelphia, where he hosts a great Super Bowl party every year with his wife Kristen.
- And Susan makes another brief appearance.
Ducar on the Study Room
I don’t recall anyone using a helmet for table bowling. It was also a common past time during elections for the candidates sent out of the room during debate.
Ducar on the Mop basin
I remember the Work Weekend when I poured the first incarnation of the mop basin. It was the same weekend when Ross C. nearly died. He went to work on an outlet when the power was on. Never saw someone take a full line voltage shock before or since.
Susan's response to Ducar
Tony got mildly zapped rewiring the bar. We never could track down a breaker to turn off the power and the white wire was hot.
Indy on the Greenhouse
Matt R. and I were roommates in the Greenhouse our Sophomore year, and at the time the windows sealed so poorly that we would often find snow between the window panes and the extra layer of plastic that all of the windows needed over the window.
It also had a gigantic radiator that ensured noticeable foot by foot temperature gradients throughout the room.
Joe on the Studio
1) the closet in the front studio was ruined by water during a roof leak (before I was there).
2) I think the back of the east wing was an enclosed porch. When Dolan and I built a raised floor in the studio back room, we also tore out and re-drywalled the wall between the east wing and studio. There's a brick 3' wall between the rooms.
3) while building the floor, we also cut a doorway into the ruined front studio closet, repairing it, thus adding a closet to the back of the studio
Me responding to Joe
So you think the back of the East wing was an enclosed porch and the back of the studio was just a roof? I will say the East wing seemed less hacked together than the studio, because the studio had a big step down and the tar under the carpet and all that, and the East wing didn’t.
Joe responding back
Like a 3-season porch, enclosed with large windows or screens or something? Maybe?
Eli on The Loft
The loft also had a bed over desk arrangement - watching Tony play GoldenEye in there was a frequent event I recall. The summer heat was remedied by putting a big wire fan at the foot of the bed.
Joe on The Cave
Another nifty bit about the cave: nearly every outlet in the room was on some shitty breaker that would very often trip. This was really problematic in the summer with the A/C on. With one notable exception: the outlet in the closet. That outlet seemed immune to tripping. We had a large fridge, toasters, etc plugged in and it never tripped. In fact, when work was being done on the 3rd floor electric panel, everything on the 3rd floor lost power, except that outlet.
We eventually found that outlet was wired into a breaker on the 2nd floor (I forget it was the hall outlets or the greenhouse bathroom light). But basically it was effectively alone in the breaker, which explains why we could plug so much stuff into it without tripping.
Eli on the Cave
Loved the cave - best bedroom in the house as a single - quiet and dark! Had the fridge, but never noticed power issues.
Eli on the Attic, particular a certain firearm
About that shotgun…. First of all it was a .22LR/.410 single shot foldable survival rifle that my stepfather gave me when my family moved from Florida to Montana - we grew up as low grade nuclear war preppers, and I guess they thought I could use it to make my way from Cleveland to Montana when the shit goes down. I don’t think I ever took it out of the case. It was part of the “what the hell am I going to do with this” pile of stuff that I had to pack into a closet in dorms...
There was some further discussion about where that firearm ended up. I seem to recall it went into Eli's trunk, but he doesn't remember.
The Ohio Alpha Beta Chapter of Phi Kappa Theta
The House Tour Outside,
Main Floor Bedrooms,
Main Floor Public Rooms,
Basement Public Areas,
Basement Private Areas,
2nd Floor Big Bedrooms,
2nd Floor Small Bedrooms,
3rd Floor First Hallway,
3rd Floor Second Hallway,
Attic & Errata,
House Tour Commentary: Joe & Laura & Astrid,
House Tour Commentary: Jackal,
House Tour Commentary: Susan,
House Tour Commentary: Assorted
The Pledge Program Schedule, Curriculum & Black Books
Pledge Classes Fall 1996
Events Detour
Other Full Series, My Rush Experience, Chapter History