A progress report

Winston and I are moving into our house in Lake Arrowhead. Today, I had the Direct TV guy here for about four hours and we now have TV. Courtesy of a neighbor who has not figured out how to set up security on a wireless router, we also have internet. What else could I want ? Well, the contractors who were working on a wetness problem in the family room that involved mold spores, seem to have disconnected the ducts from the furnace so I cannot heat the house. I called one highly recommended furnace repair man and he said “No.” He was going “down the hill today.” So much for that. I stopped at the local hardware store to pick up some duct tape and a mask. The mask was because I had a coughing fit that lasted a half hour after I handled the ducts earlier today.

Well, the best intentions and all that. It is now 7 PM and I haven’t fixed the ducts. I have had my dinner and a glass of wine. That, after all, is the order of precedence. Now, we have to get Winston his dinner of ground beef. Then a cigar and a walk.
More later.

Further progress as of 8/18/10.

Most of the boxes are unpacked. Winston’s fence is not yet completed as Lowes did not have enough “kennel wire.” I need 370 feet. The heat works but the past few days have been unbearably hot so that issue is moot at the moment. I figured out the trash day and that the trash company does not provide cans so that was another trip down the hill to Lowes to get trash cans and a fan.

Next week, the contractor will be restoring the downstairs family room, which was torn up due to a mold issue. My office will also be fixed up next week.

The weather is beautiful although I hear they had a heavy rainstorm over at Big Bear yesterday. It is 26 miles east and about 2,000 feet higher.

20 Responses to “A progress report”

  1. Dana says:

    Mike K, I don’t know how I missed your original Lake Arrowhead post. Congrats on the charming new digs. It’s terrific you got a 1/3 acre lot; that size isn’t common.

    We hike up there frequently and love the area. You’ll be very happy, and it’s prolly a good thing you grew up with Chicago winters so Arrowhead’s won’t come as such a jolt. Last year we went up to stay in a cabin and got caught in an almost whiteout on Hwy 18 going towards Blue Jay. Scared the bejeebers out of me. The truck fishtailed dangerously. Thankfully we were behind a snow plow.

    Friends have a “cabin” (3 story manse) next to the golf course on the west side. They had two bears on the front porch for most of the morning. Just visiting…

    Will look forward to more reports from ‘up the hill’. On the upside, it’s a good thing Winston is a decidedly stout fellow – no chance of being carried off by wild animals.

  2. I worried a lot about him when we were renting the cabin. The place was full of coyotes and he chased one three different times but he came back each time I called him. The last time it was a big reddish coyote that I thought was a dog at first.

    Here, the immediate hazard is the highway, North Bay Road. There is quite a bit of traffic during the day and no fences yet. The fence man comes tomorrow. I have a storage unit full of boxes and my son, who took last week off to help, is now back to work and the escrow was held up long enough to prevent us from moving in while he was here to help.

    Movers come Tuesday with my furniture. I bought the place furnished, as is common here, and will give away most of the stuff as my own arrives. By the time we get everything into the house, there will be no room for people. Actually, the largest room is the one that has been stripped and has to be rebuilt due to water and mold damage. Once it is restored, a week or two, the place will be much less congested.

    I’ve been snowed in here, even with chains and 4 wheel drive but I don’t have to go anywhere and the plows will do the highway in front first. I might need a snow blower if next winter is like last.

  3. Eric Blair says:

    Dr. K., I hope you have a wonderful time! I have only been to Arrowhead once, while in the Boy Scouts back in the Dark Ages.

    I hope that the new homestead is everything you want!

  4. Eric Blair says:

    Oh, and sorry about the mold! How did we avoid all this back in the Good Old Days?

  5. I don’t think we paid any attention to it, frankly. The houses were different and the plumbing was lead or galvanized pipe. The hot water pipes were all wrapped in asbestos and everybody did fine. There were no slab foundations to crack and break embedded pipes. Even single story houses were built on an elevated foundation and the pipes were accessible. Maybe the area under the house was better aerated. Maybe the acid content of plaster walls inhibited the mold growth. What about that, Eric ?

    Anyway, I would like to have the house I grew up in but not in that neighborhood.

  6. Eric Blair says:

    I wouldn’t be at all surprised. But the “black mold” thing has gotten quite a bit of press. There are places that are awful (like New Orleans after the Deluge), but I wonder if it isn’t being overstated.

    On the other hand, your own experience suggests that something is noxious!

    Funny bit about relative risks. When I teach freshmen, we talk about genetically engineered crops. Then I tell them that they are safer for people than regular corn. They are outraged. So I tell them that regular corn, stored in silos, is subject to fungal infection. One common fungus that attacks stored seed makes aflatoxin, which is a powerful mutagenic agent associated with liver cancer.

    Now, the fungus is carried by insects, on their mouthparts. And it turns out that genetically modified corn—carrying the insecticidal protein from Bacillus thuringiensis—keeps the insects from chewing on the corn. Thus, less risk.

    But the media sure likes to scream about risk.

    My favorite was a photo I saw in my college days. It showed a woman, holding up a sign. The sign read “Nuclear Power Causes Cancer.” She was smoking a cigarette.

    Have fun in Arrowhead!

  7. norcal says:

    Dr. K,

    I don’t know if you remember me or not. I used to comment at Cathy’s Blog, and fell away after Bradley Fikes stopped blogging. Anyway, congratulations on the new abode. Did you give up the Tucson and Costa Mesa homes? Are you going to live at Arrowhead year-round?

    I too have moved. I now live in Reno, and bought my first house last year.

    I still miss the Cathy days. I noticed that her daughter has recently updated cathyseipp.net. I saw a nice letter from Charlotte in South Africa there.

    I look forward to more blog posts from you. I especially like your personal stories. Lots of people can talk politics, but your background and life are hard to match.

  8. Dana says:

    Gee whiz, it’s norcal!

    (…and I don’t even know if you remember me!)

    Anyway, Charlotte in South Africa, Nancy from Texas, cassandra in Montana, Lisa from Goatboy Soaps, the inimitable Vivian Louise (all who were Cathy regulars), and myself have emailed round-robin for years ever since Cathy days. She brought a lot of amazingly interesting people together and I felt like I was lucky enough to just sit back and soak them in.

    Good to see you here.

  9. norcal says:

    Of course I remember you, Dana. You live in So Cal, but more in the country than the city. You’re Native American, and you like any kind of chocolate (not a chocolate snob like me).

    How did I do?

    I remember all the people in your round-robin, as well as Eric Blair, Bradley, allan (damn that guy was funny), James, and Gary McVeigh.

    I agree about the eclectic mix of talented people that Cathy brought together. It felt like a family to me, and I miss it. It’s good to hear from you.

  10. Glad to hear from you. I still like Tucson a lot but it is a 7 hour drive from my grandchildren and my daughter-in-law really wants me to be closer. The plan is for year round living here. My only concern has been a few episodes since I moved up here a month ago where I was a bit concerned about the altitude. Maybe it is just the stressful situation of buying a “bargain” and finding everything needs to be fixed. Anyway, it can be difficult to sleep some nights, like this one. I had a cardiac checkup and have no coronary disease but still think about it. Arrowhead is about 5300 feet and I should be able to tolerate that.

    I also began to read a book called This Time is Different. I read about half of it overnight and need some lighter reading.

  11. Brett says:

    Congratulations on the new abode! My in laws have begun a tradition where during the Christmas holidays we all drive up to Lake Arrowhead from the city and have breakfast at a restaurant known for its pancakes. I can’t recall the name right now.

    Winston is looking fine as well.

  12. There is a Belgian waffle place by the lake and that might be it. There used to be a Belgian waffle place at Avalon that was well known but it seems to me that it has been gone for a few years. Maybe they moved up here.

    The movers were here yesterday and the place looks like a box factory after the noon whistle stopped all work. The previous furniture is out in the driveway where some church people are supposed to pick it up later today.

    The furnace is working. I now have phone service and, of course, the first calls were all wrong numbers. I need the phone for DSL service as Verizon’s cable does not reach here yet. The local cable company convinced me I didn’t want to do business with them.

  13. DRJ says:

    Congratulations again on the move and getting settled in, and best wishes to your guest blogger Bradley. I hope he gets well soon.

  14. Dana says:

    Hey norcal, shouldn’t you change your handle now that you’re in Reno?
    (I’m still in a city, just that our neck is an urban forest where even thinking of cutting down a tree is frowned upon, let alone allowed without blessings of city fathers. And we back up a few blocks over to a canyon).

    Mike, autumn will be beautiful for you this year.

    Hi Brett, Belgian Waffle Works in the Village or perhaps, The Cottage…

  15. norcal says:

    Dana,

    Thou hast a point. The problem is, too many people know me as norcal. If there was a way to tell them all at once that I’ve changed my moniker, I might do it. I’ll stick with norcal for now. Reno is right on the border anyway. Besides, there is a chance I might go back to the Bay Area. I can’t seem to find any Chinese people or decent Chinese food up here. 🙂

  16. Dana says:

    btw, I don’t know if you knew but allan developed cancer and about two months ago, Vivian Louise and Charlotte were in contact with him and he noted he was at the end of his days. I emailed him my goodbye at that time but didn’t hear back. Charlotte said in her last email from him, it took him days just to type it out a few sentences. I hope he his out of pain and at peace.

  17. Brett says:

    Dana & Dr. Kennedy ~ You’re right! It is the Belgian Waffle Works.

    Dana – I hadn’t been to your photo page in awhile. I love the shot w/ the blue moon. I think you could get some fabulous pics where I work on the central coast.

  18. Eric Blair says:

    Dana, I am sorry to hear about allan. I’m with you: I hope he is at peace. Never met him. But I wish him and his memory well.

  19. norcal says:

    Dana,

    Thank you so much for telling me about allan, even though it saddened me. allan and I exchanged a few e-mails a couple of years ago. He was very helpful with suggestions for a trip I was about to take to Santa Barbara, where his brother had lived/worked.

    allan was not only humorous. He was also one of those people who just exude graciousness. It even came through on the internet. Like Dr. K, he was a renaissance man. He was in the construction business, and also an astute investor (he called this recession long before it happened), a dancer, and a comedian. I wish him well wherever he is.

  20. C says:

    Dr K, divorces are really stressful and third divorces exponentially more so. Hope you feel better soon.