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Fence bullshit
Well the garage is gone now, so we are making progress. It was basically done single-handedly by our demolition guy and his excavator (aka the munching machine). It’s called the munching machine because it munched into our garage roof.
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On Belgian blocks
You learn a lot about contractors when you meet with them in person. We had a few people come to talk about installing a patio. And one of these guys who works for a landscaping company that mostly seems to do bougey pool surrounds came by. I mentioned we wanted a paver patio made out of concrete or something else, and he said, “It’s all ( Read more... ) -
Le Garage to Le Patio
So we have a number of outdoor projects coming up at home that I’m going to try to detail in this space. You get to learn possibly useful (possibly useless stuff) and it will probably also help me keep track of everything ( Read more... ) -
Swiss trip part 6, Murren to Geneva
Friday, it was time to head off to Geneva. It was even more complex than getting up to Murren because we were headed west across the mountains, and the trains keep changing line gauges. This time it was ( Read more... ) -
Swiss trip, part 5, Müre Mürren
Thursday morning it was time to head up to the Schilthorn. We checked the Schilthorn cam, which you must always do, because it can be cloudy at the peak, making it a complete waste of time going up. It takes two cable cars to get to the top. I would’ve tried hiking the entire thing, something like a 1,300 meter elevation gain, but it was still ( Read more... ) -
Swiss trip, part 4, Murren
What do you do in the Alps but hike. On a foggy Wednesday morning we walked down the road to Gimmelwald. Gimmelwald is a steadfastly traditional farming village, much smaller than Murren. But like Murren, it was also mostly empty. This is where the real farming was happening. Lots of goats, horses, and signs of cows, although no actual cows ( Read more... ) -
Swiss trip, part 3. To Murren.
Tuesday morning, it was time to head out on our first long train ride. While packing up, I watched an awesome British Recue 9-1-1 type show called Countryside 9-9-9, where they re-enact emergencies in the British countryside and show the struggles the ambulance driver faces trying to get to these places. And if that wasn’t enough, there was a sign ( Read more... ) -
Swiss trip, part 2, Sunday and Monday in Zurich
Caitlin reminds me that at Zum Schiffchen, we saw one of the nicest public gestures. Next to us was a young Chinese couple, and the next table over a couple of older German guys. The Chinese dude kept looking over and checking out what the Germans were eating, since one was having a tartar steak with a raw egg on it. The German dude noticed, so ( Read more... ) -
Swiss Trip part 1, JFK to Dusseldorf
Vacations exist only to be bragged about online. To that end, I had better write down everything about our trip far east before I forget it all ( Read more... ) -
Letter to the Editor
So, last year a local supermarket knocked down a church to put up a new supermarket a few blocks away from their old one. There was a big to-do about it because the church had been there for a hundred years, was the tallest structure in town, and was unique in its architecture. I was annoyed about it all too, and now that the new supermarket just ( Read more... )