Lunchtime Blogging

Been busy for the last little while. And sick. So blogging has come to a virtual standstill.

Of course, so has my life, so I'm not too worried.

Got the bookcases and everything upstairs, went apple picking on the weekend, and generally did a whole bunch of stuff not related to writing or being published or even home renovations.

Good weekend. Wish I wasn't lugging this cold around with me.

Anyway, because they are cool, here's a link to Wyrdsmiths, who are putting together some good writer resources and are well worth a look. I visit often.

Back to work. Once I finish my sandwich.

Done!

The floor is in, the quarter round is in. The room looks fan-expletive-tastic. Yay!

Actually not completely done. The doorjamb needs to go in but that is a one hour project I can do any time this weekend. So I'm done!

I am so proud of myself, I might just explode.

I also wired myself with caffeine today so I could get the job done this evening. I'm wide awake and ready to haul boxes as soon as the floor dries! Wheeee!

No, really. Wheeee.

Happy, happy, happy happy.

Tonight, I haul boxes. Tomorrow night, bookcases, filing cabinet and put together the desk and computer. Then I have office! After that, other housework.

And the website, and the book promotions, because Small Magics is out and available!

Got to get the promotions going and have myself a book launch!

Also, this weekend, we clean. By end of weekend, we have almost functioning house!

Again with the yay!

And Once Again...

Nothing quite goes to plan.

Cheops Law: "Nothing is ever completed on time or under budget."

First read that in a Heinlein book. Can't remember which one. Time Enough for Love, I think.

Anyway, one section of the room has a bit of a jog which it took me the better part of an hour to shape the quarter round for. Didn't help that the laminate was just a bit further from the corner than I had expected. Rigged something and it doesn't look bad, but by then the kid was in bed and I had an errand to run and here I am. The work is so close to done I can taste it. Think I'll go up and do the last of the cutting before I go to bed (manual saw, no real noise). That way, tomorrow I can just nail everything into place.

On the other hand, I might just spend the night writing instead.

Heck, I'll do both. Who needs sleep?

If a project seems way harder than It should...

Chances are you're doing it wrong.

(A quick lunch-time blog)

Nonetheless, and screw-ups set aside, the floor is now down in my office. Tonight I install the quarter-round trim around the walls, then start hauling up boxes and boxes of books and bookcases and my desk and the many and sundry other things that are going upstairs.

Very happy to get the job done. Very tired or I would have got the quarter round in last night. That and I didn't have any nails.

Once the office is set up, time to focus in on the new website because the current one, you'll notice, is tacky. And badly out of date.

The new one has cleaner lines and looks much prettier. And it's more up to date.

And then, it's time to promote my book! Yay!!!! Buy Small Magics!

The Floor! The Floor!

No, it isn't done, but it's started.

Hat tip to hammerzone.com (Better living through Handymanlyness) where I found the plans to to build the workbench I needed to cut the laminate to lay on the floor.

Here are the plans, should you need a workbench.

The floor is one quarter down. Laminate is easy to lay on the floor, easy to cut, and a pain in the neck to make join together properly. If anyone has any tips, they're appreciated.

Also, there's an 8 PM cut off time in this neighbourhood. Too many neighbours with small children and not enough light.

Think I'll write something.

Lunchtime Blogging and Big Dragon Moon Press News

Haven't got my office set up, so I'm putting this in while I'm finishing my lunch.

Got 1/3 of the second layer of times up out of the study, and 1/4 of the third layer (they tend to come up together). So far, looks promising. With luck, I'll be seeing hardwood by the end of tomorrow night. Without luck, I'll be shopping for laminate.

And my hands are killing me from all the prying and ripping and shoving of tile. I mean, typing hurts today. Still, getting near the end, which is all that matters. I have promised myself I will not look under the plywood until all the tile is off. Otherwise, I might lose heart.

Now onto Dragon Moon Press!

Dragon Moon Press, publisher of my book, Small Magics, is pleased to announce that it has partnered with Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, making them together the largest independent publisher of Sci-Fi and Fantasy in Canada. Hooray!!

Good on ya, guys!

Renovations Continue

So, I got three quarters of the first layer of tile off in just under three hours. Not bad. Of course, I nearly dehydrated myself into trouble, which was extremely stupid.

For the next round, a friend of ours brought over a heat gun and the rest of the layer was gone in 30 minutes. Got to love doubling your pace.

Also got the washer and dryer installed and I have to say that making sure the damn washing machine is level side to side as well as front to back would be made a lot easier if you didn't have to adjust the heights of the feet from inside the washing machine. Good thing Ive got long arms. I'd hate to try to do it if I was short. Anyway, it's up and running like a dream. Too bad one of the hoses leaks but, eh, what you going to to do?

We've got the bedroom set up (mostly; still need wardrobes and thinner bedside tables), the kid's room set up (she likes it, too) and hte kitchen mostly done. Not bad for a weekend.

Now if I can just get those other two layers of tile off in the next couple of days, I can get the office set up and have my computer back!

Small Magics news and Dragon Moon Press news coming soon!

The Renovations Begin: The Study

Know what happens when you assume? Major renovation projects, that’s what happens.

The hallway and master bedroom of our new home is covered in laminate flooring. The room that’s going to be our daughter’s room is good old-fashioned hardwood flooring. Nice hardwood, too. The room that is going to be my study/workout room/library was carpeted. And I wondered why.

I asked the old owners what was under the floor of the room that is going to be my study. The old owners told me linoleum. Interesting.

I went looking through the second floor and discovered in the hall closet that, in fact, there was linoleum under the laminate floor as well, both of which ended in the closet, and underneath both of which was hardwood. Nice hardwood.

Now, I don’t want carpet in the study. I want hardwood. And with that in mind I decide that, if there’s hardwood under that linoleum, I want it.

So Sunday night, I went over to the new house and pulled up the carpet. Not a hard job at all. A pair of pliers and some elbow grease got the carpet up. Used a utility knife to cut it into strips, rolled it up, put it in a corner.

Getting up the under-padding took a little longer and if you’re going to do this wear kneepads and work gloves. Eye protection is a good idea, too. Those staples can spring out at you. Pulled up the under-pad easy enough then went over every inch of the floor looking for staples. Got them all up. Some people recommend going over the floor with a scraper to look for other staples. I used my hands – remember those work-gloves – and ran them over every inch of the floor. Got them all and swept the debris out of the way at the same time.

Next step: the tack strips. A tip from a friend of mine saved me a lot of time. Instead using one pry-bar and a hammer, use two pry-bars. Once you’ve got the first one wedge in, wedge in the next one beside it, pull up, move the first one over, and keep going. Got all the tack strips up in about five minutes. Then I stood back to survey the work.

That is the ugliest linoleum I have ever seen. Ever. And it wasn’t put down properly. And it has paint on it. Good thing it’s coming up.