Month: May 2016

Well, I missed painting – damn HFM.  I ended up on a WebEx with Oracle last week and by the time I got home, painting class was started.  Luckily I was able to leave a lame ass excuse for my bud.

The inspection was, well… interesting.  The buyers came back with all kinds of stuff to fix.  Most of it we declined due to it being what I would consider a waste of money and effort.  There is an eve roof over the garage which is sagging slightly due to the butthead that we originally bought the house from never caulking that corner of the house for what must have been several years.  When we had the roof and siding done, I asked the guy who was doing the work if it was worth fixing.  He said “no” because he would have to pull the whole front of the garage off.  A total pain in the fanny.  So, it was never fixed.  When we had the attic insulated, I wanted the attic fan replaced since it sounded like a WWII plane flying over the house.  The guys that did the work said that the attic was so small and we had so many vents as it was, it wasn’t worth replacing.  So they disconnected it so it wouldn’t start a fire.  It never got replaced.  The couple of things that they should have asked for, they didn’t, namely to replace the window well that was pulling away from the house (It’s been a source of water in the basement – its being replaced on Tuesday) and replace the washers in the back spigot.  To be continued.

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What a stressed filled drag – listing a house and getting it ready for sale.  Fixing everything that was broke, cleaning everything that was dirty, finishing everything that was unfinished, arranging, putting stuff away for showing.  Received an offer in the first 6hrs – even before it hit the MLS.  Now need to wait on US Waterproofing to fix window wells, order dumpster for playhouse debris, finish odds and ends and enjoy life and start packing while the house gets inspected, and approved by lender on appraisal.

My buddy invited me to paint on Thursday.  I am so psyched.  Its been almost 1 year since my last art class.

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Wow, another weekend of work but I think that there is light at the end of the tunnel (so to speak).  The playhouse continues to be a thorn in my side.  I thought it was built on a patio of pavers.  My cheap, old, guy strikes again.  The playhouse “looks” like it was built on a patio of pavers.  Actually, it was built on a hodge-podge of stones and blocks with a paver outside.  Now, I need a dumpster to get rid of all the crap.  We are having pictures done this evening.  The house goes on the market tomorrow and we have a showing tomorrow morning.  The house looks awesome.  I have to thank my lovely wife for all her help and my awesome brother in law and his family for their help.  I would have not met this deadline without them.  Also, I need to thank my son for his help.  The next phase begins…

I have U.S. Waterproofing coming over on Wednesday to look and find a solution for the window wells – ugh.  Last Wednesday, we had a butt load of rain and it overwhelmed the drains in the bottom of the window wells.  We had puddles in the basement again.  The first time in 2 years.  I think that they are pulling away from the wall and letting water come in on both sides.

Today we are having an IT Town Hall and I was supposed to give a small presentation but it got cut down to one bullet, so I am speaking about our new legacy password reset feature.

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I’m really hating this buy/sell a house thingy.  Its so much stress and work on both ends.  It’s amazing to me that anyone does it.  There has got to be a service that takes care of it all for you.  I don’t know, I’m sure there is money to be made.  It’s a huge, flipping grind.

There are so many things we need to do before we put our house on the market.  Originally, we were going to put it up for sale on Friday the 13th, but I we are probably delaying till Sunday the 15th.  I can’t believe the difficulty and amount of garbage taking apart the playhouse.  What a pain in the ass.  I should have done this last year.  I will say one thing with certainty, I will not let the new shed go to hell due to the elements.  That is getting painted and the outside of the windows are getting scraped and painted, and caulked where necessary.  Flooring is getting changed.  I was looking at the flooring that mimics the distressed wood planking.  I may put in heating elements under the flooring in the family room, not sure at this point.  I wonder how efficient the warmers are?  I looked them up and the seem kind of efficient, but I spoke with my boss and he said he has a 30amp fuse attached to the warmers and they suck a butt load of electricity.  Now rethinking the warmers in the family room.

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It sucks, the media Nazis are at work now.  No more streaming music.  I guess I have to start using the iPOD.  Thank god I at least have that.  Now I just have to find another cable.   :\

Yeah, the bid was accepted and we are getting a new domicile 🙂  Yesterday I was there for the inspection and to drop off the earnest money.  The awnings were up and looked awesome.  I read the inspection report this morning and there wasn’t anything crazy but as I thought about it, there were 2 things that concerned me.  First, that there were 3 foundation cracks that showed signs of seepage and second, the crawlspace has a rock/gravel floor which I may have to have tested for radon and remediation.  I think I am going to ask for the cracks to be sealed as to avoid any future water damage.  Closing is on July 1.

What a cool time at martial arts today, the speed is just incredible.  Got killed every which way with the knife. Started putting the chair knife drill together with hu bud, added tapping, arm lacing, and some chin na, there are answers for answers, and no answers ever work twice.  Its very humbling to plug into Danny.  The dude is phenomenal.  I cant wait to plug into John, he is supposed to be at another level than Danny.

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Been out of town and extremely busy.  Between issues in EPM, away on business training, looking to move, getting the house ready to put on the market, and general BS on the home front, I am feeling the stress.  Planning on moving to the south side to be closer to work, looking for a ranch style home.  I will certainly miss where I am currently at as far as location goes.  I will also miss my current home which I poured heart and soul into.  As my grandfather once said, “All good things must come to an end”.  I need to acknowledge, open a new chapter, and move on.  It doesn’t prevent those feelings though.  I worry concerning my kids though, we are moving a ways from their lives.  It will be interesting to see who comes and who doesn’t.  I can’t imagine either of them not coming.  They are not at that point in my estimation.

Got some Tai Chi Chuan validation from a guy at the health club.  He spoke broken English but was able to let me see his Yang style sequence and was pretty decent for just 1 year.  He must have been much more diligent than me or at least his teacher must have taught him the whole sequence first.  Was fun to meet a comrade in arms.  Maybe he would like to practice together.  It would be very cool.  One big issue though, although he is a doctor or maybe the husband of a doctor, his language may be a barrier.  There are multiple parts of Tai Chi Chuan to explain:

• Part 1: Chi Kung warm ups
  •   Beginning stretching
  •   Breathing and relaxing
  •   Preparation stance
  •   Right foot forward, weight distributed 50/50
  •   Cat stance
  •   Heel Stance
  •   Reach down and touch toes
  •   Push foot flat to floor, push knee slightly backwards to stretch hamstring
  •   Left foot forward, weight distributed 50/50
  •   Cat stance
  •   Heel Stance
  •   Reach down and touch toes
  •   Push foot flat on floor, push knee slightly backwards to stretch hamstring
  •   Prayer Wheels, left then right
  •   Cross Arm Rotation
  •   Flying
  •   Picking fruit
  •   Arm Swing
  •   Leg Swing
  •   Polish the Mirror
  •   Advance, Retreat
• Part 2: The single forms
•   There are roughly 33 single forms per section
• Part 3: The show form
•   There are 3 show forms (one per section)
• Part 4: Push Hands
•   There are 10 push hands types
• Part 5: Self Defense
•   There are at least 1 self defense techniques per single form
  • There are at least 4 types of self defense that can be used per form
    • Striking – hitting and kicking
    • Chin Na – joint locking
    • Shui Jao – knocking off balance or throwing your opponent
• Part 6: The long form
•   There are 3 show forms that comprise the long form
• Part 7: Staff form
•   (no experience yet)
• Part 8: Saber Form
•   (no experience yet)
• Part 9: Sword Form
•   (no experience yet)

The funny thing is that pure Tai Chi Chuan is about neutralizing your opponents moves.  There seems to be a darker side of Tai Chi Chuan which includes destruction and control of the opponent.  I guess that there is Yin and Yang in everything.  Tai Chi by nature is Yin and Yang.  Tai Chi Chuan is considered the “Grand Ultimate Fist”.  Tai Chi is practiced slowly and smoothly to groove muscle memory, to make sure your structure is sound, and to be in a relaxed but ready state called “Song” which can be used against your opponent if you are willing to experience “loss”.  It’s a very paradoxical art, where you need to appear to lose to win.  However it is said that you learn to win the quickest if you learn to lose.  I don’t know – It’s not something for the western faint of heart.

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