Deck, part 3

Here's the final result:


And a reminder of what it looked like before I started the project:


Not a huge difference, but it should at least make it through the winter!

Deck, part 2

After two weeks, during which I applied paint remover and scraped off paint four times, somehow injured my hamstring while squatting, kneeling, and/or bending over for hours, sanded it twice, and cleaned it twice, I finally decided enough was enough and stained my deck this morning. Here's a picture of it right before I did that:



Later at work I saw this brown praying mantis outside our building. Too bad my camera decided to focus on the window ledge instead of the insect!



Then after work I saw this car. At least they have a sense of humor about their job:



UPDATE: By popular demand, the snake picture! Sara (who took the picture) and Paola had a snake crawling around the hallway outside their office. After one person tried to use a dustpan and a broom to scoop it up, the foot-long snake was riled up and struck at anything that got near it. After letting it calm down a little, I was able to slide a newspaper folded into a giant scoop-like shape underneath the snake, carry it outside, and deposit it near a big bush about thirty feet from the building.



This incident reminded me of another snake-at-work story from a few years ago when Chuck discovered a tiny one hiding in the cord of his telephone!

Brandi Carlile at Chautauqua

I went with Rich and co-workers Sara, Julie, and Elena to Chautauqua auditorium for a Brandi Carlile concert tonight. Although it was a sold-out concert and we didn't have tickets, they open up several large doors around the auditorium and allow people to sit on blankets and chairs on the grassy areas just outside. We started picnicking at 6 and the concert began at 8. (Fortunately, we got there early enough to hear her sound check, where she did a nice rendition of Elton John's Curtains that she didn't do during the concert). As usual, I forgot my camera, so I'll have to wait for Sara and Rich to give me pictures!

Update: Here's a pictures Sara took of (L to R) Elena, me, and Julie.



For awhile it was raining, and we all hid under the tarp and drank wine. Here's Sara trying to open a bottle:



And here are Rich and Elena:

etown taping

I went to the Boulder Theater with Rich and Sara this evening to be a live-studio-audience member at a taping of etown, a nationally syndicated radio program. The performers were Taj Mahal and Martha Wainwright. It was a fun show. My only complaint was with the paltry cushion on my chair.

UPDATE
Here's a photo Sara took of me after the show:

Deck, part 1

Since my deck needed refinishing, I decided to get rid of the ugly brown latex completely. This is what it looked like before:



I then spent a week paint removing, scraping, and sanding. On Thursday, a cold front moved in (finally!) and it's been raining on and off for days now, so now my deck project is on hiatus:



I'm sure I'll have more news on my deck later on this week (or next!).

Question Answered

To answer my question posed a week ago: Yes. Yes it would.

Rafting

On Sunday I went rafting down the Arkansas River with three-boats worth of people from work, including family and friends. Here's a picture of my boat -- from the back moving counter-clockwise, we have Kurt in the cowboy hat, our guide for the day; Subu, a post-doc working at Droplet Measurement Technologies in Boulder; Harald, from my group at NOAA; Niko, Gerd's son; Yoran, Gerd's nephew; the aforementioned Gerd, from my group at NOAA; and me.

The New Place

After last blogging Sunday evening, I cleaned the old apartment well into the night. By Monday morning, I was officially moved out. At the new place Monday night, I set up the necessities of home life, my computer



and my entertainment center.



Wouldn't a nice HDTV look good in the middle there?

Obviously, I'm back online. I also bought a wireless router, but I haven't set it up yet. For now I just have an ethernet cable running up the stairs!

Not what I want every Sunday to be like

I spent most of the day moving out of and cleaning up my old apartment. Except for the two hours that I had to go out to the tower for work. But now I'm back, and ready to pack my computer. The cable guy is supposed to come Tuesday, and right now I'm not sure how I'm going to get my cable internet in my new office/music room of the new place. Maybe wireless? I hope to be back online Tuesday night...

Moving Day

On Wednesday, I closed on a townhouse in Louisville (one town east of Boulder). Tomorrow (Saturday) morning, the movers will arrive to take my stuff there. By tomorrow night, I should be sleeping at my new place!