Domestication [s]

So a little while ago the Morelos Era came to an end. It was an lengthy, sickly death with people coming and going in the closing weeks - not befit of the three years of history within the walls. Everyone's parted ways for greater commitments, girls mostly, so I guess it's time to grow up. No more California burritos and daily house memes.

But on account of a rear differential, the vr is not comfortable for sleeping so I decided to close on the reo I was looking at (in lieu of a live axle swap). The neighbors (and phone bills) tell me it used to belong to the dude that wore this:



And that explains the 90s-fabulous satellite dish, sauna, security system, and wallpaper. Oh the wallpaper.

The place has amazing potential though, and since it's in general disrepair I'll have to fix everything to my own liking (with some concessions for budget and resale).

• It's 2000+ feet with vaulted ceilings, a fairly uncommon feature in San Diego unless you're looking at new tract homes way out east.
• West end University City is quite nice. There's very little through traffic and being on a hill means the lots are quite spread out. No houses across the street.
• Built on an incline, the house and yard have some added character.
• Spacious two car garage, but that was a foregone conclusion in my search.
• A large deck that affords a nice view of Mt. Soledad.
• A small, but deep swimming pool.

Really the only complaint I could have would be its proximity to the 5-52 interchange. By no means is it right up on the freeway, but there's certainly a presence when outdoors. I'm okay with it as a fact of life in Southern California, and it's far better than hearing coffee can mufflers in Miramesa, Sorrento Valley Road commuters, or loud whine characteristic of I-5 north of 56. Just as important, property values in San Diego seem to completely independent of ambient noise.



In keeping with my blog as a time line and howto for years down the road, I'll cover the renovations. Of course I'm trying to do as much of it myself as possible. The obvious reasons are promptness, cost effectiveness, the security and perfection of work done by the person with the greatest stake in the project, and the opportunity to learn very valuable skills.

First to go were the dank carpets. They accounted for 60% of the smell. Next was the ceiling popcorn. Without a doubt this was the least palatable task. It's messy (you have to wet it down and hack it off with a putty knife), it smells, and there's a lot of it. Combine this with vaulted ceilings and you have a very daunting task.

With the ceilings clear I was able to knock out the portions sitting under the new skylights. I'm pretty happy with the distribution I decided on, they add quite a bit to the kitchen, living room, and master bedroom.

My dad and Rob came down for a week of great industry. Jon quickly learned how to texture ceilings and walls, then hit them with the paint gun. As it stands there are three bedrooms, plus the master, that are good to go from the baseboards up.

I have Connie to thank for getting rid of (most of) the annoying wall between the master bedroom and sink area though I'm still perplexed as to what to do about the spot. Jessica was prodigious with the spackling all the while.



Pool Boy Rob was the driving force behind converting the pond into a swimming pool. His research meant we could execute on the work needed to get it up and running. The first step was to rent a pump and drain it as the attached equipment was missing or in disrepair. Clairemont Equipment supplied the device for $42 + tax + required damage coverage. Connie and Jessica made sure to rescue the mosquito fish that the city never picked up.



Once the pond was converted to a skate park, we set upon it with a power washer, tsp, and muriatic acid. This eliminated most of the staining and prepped it for the epoxy painting that we waffled over.







We ordered the paint just as PBR had to leave on a cross country rock tour (sans band). The next day Curt and I put down the Nelsonite Poolpoxy primer with rollers. It was a two hour process made difficult by how quickly the paint became tacky and the porousness of the pool surface. The following two days I put on the two layers of topcoat as prescribed by the instructions, using two and a half gallons of primer, two gallons of coat one, and just over a gallon of coat two. Next came the five day curing period.



I can't yet speak for the material's effectiveness as a protectant or its ability to bond to the pool surface, but visual appeal has benefited greatly.

XLI II [r] [s]

So yesterday was the Player's Sports Bar Super Bowl shindig. It was all you can eat, all you can drink for a modest $75. And in the event that either half's kickoff be returned for a touchdown, everyone would get their money back and ten g's would be up for grabs in the raffle.

As it turns out, the opening kickoff was returned for a touchdown. At that point it didn't matter the color of your jersey, we all cheered for free food and drink.

Our crew of nine arrived at noon to begin the seven-hour, lifespan-shortening orgy of food and drink. One individual made it his personal goal to expand the bartender's repertoire upon learning that they 'might' have the proper ingredients for a mudslide. His subsequent orders included a rumrunner, tokyo tea, and grateful dead. Apparently both the bartender and waitress derived passing amusement from having to research each concoction.

Another enterprising individual appointed himself the sportsbook and took, um, imaginary bets. I won all of mine:

• Coin toss comes up heads
• First interception thrown by Peyton
• Colts win by more than seven
• Grossman QB rating < 75.0
  
• Brian doesn't cry when the Colts win
  
• None of the white, female journalists on the field would interview a coach at half (facetious high-five to the South!)

Other unique ones were that there would be a Budweiser commercial before the first Pepsi commercial, and that the sports book would take a net loss for the evening.

Late arrivals to the game included horse and bear mascots that distributed gummy candy. Fox News and a local news radio station did some recording. The most auspicious Colts fan in our party was micced twice and we ended up making the ten o'clock news.

So serious props to Players. The food was fine, the drinks were plentiful, and the door prizes were worthwhile ($10 gift cert, insulated travel mug for everyone). And a big thanks to Devin Hester.

Here's what the sports book might have looked like:

While my roomies were in Vegas... [s]

I was never one to get hyphy about this holiday we call New Year's, save for it's justification of combusting fireworks. But on the bright side, I can now start saying passe things are so 2007.

Last night was a DivX/Scripps Research people party. Needless to say, The White Lambda, CS, and The Heidi Report were highly entertaining. But such is the case when Red Bull and Skyy are combined with convicts and indirect fraternal oversight.