Instant home improvement project

Our home is 25 years old and this year we did a significant remodel of our kitchen (Suzanne is now the happiest woman in the world!). In the process we noticed our attic insulation (blown in fibreglass) was sketchy in many places and was due for an upgrade to help combat our ever increasing electric bill. "One of these days I'll get around to it", I thought.

A couple of weeks ago I had Friday off work and around mid-morning I thought I'd swing by Home Depot and do some investigative work on attic insluation. For one thing, I wanted to know if this could be a DIY project, or one I should hire out, and what the cost might be. A helpful employee there explained the options and instilled confidence that I could do the job myself in 90 minutes. Whoa! He also showed me a website to apply for an energy credit that would cover most of my cost. Bonus!

I quickly rearranged my busy calendar for the day (which consisted of calling Suzanne and bagging our lunch date, and recruiting her as helper) and got right to it. The project juices were flowing, and there is nothing like the immediate satisfaction of finishing the same day.

Buying all the stuff, renting the blower, transporting all to my house, and doing prep work in the attic probably consumed three hours, so I was already double the estimated project duration and hadn't blown in an ounce of material yet. But once that started things went very smoothly. It was a strange sensation up in the attic with flashlights, goggles and mask, and insulation material blowing out 10 or 15 feet from the hose. As the material trickled down in the darkness I had the definite sensation of being outside during an evening snowfall. So it was rather soothing in that respect. Suzanne and Daniel kept at work down below stuffing each of the 15 insulation bags into the blower. After about two hours we finished, packed everything up, returned the rented blower, ate a late dinner, and took great satisfaction in completing the project ourselves, one that was still some indeterminate time in the future only that morning.

We spent $400 on materials, the rental was free (with insulation purchase), and the energy credit figures to be $325. This project may pay for itself in one winter. I like it!

Murder in the neighborhood

It was three years ago this month that we were awakened about 6AM with the persistent loud noise of helicopters and airplanes flying low overhead. Our first thought was "what the heck", why don't they quit flying overhead, and don't they have any respect for people trying to sleep? Later that morning we came to find out there had been a triple homicide in a neighborhood home just around two corners from us. How spooky is that!

It was particularly sad, as a mother and two teenaged sons were the victims, and one son was an acquaintance of our son (took the same bus to school). We thought it odd that the police were reassuring saying there was no lingering danger in the neighborhood, seeing they didn't have a suspect identified or anything.

About three weeks later the police arrested a suspect and the news media reported the sordid details, including the motive. Turns out the victim's husband was having an affair with the suspect's wife, and the suspect struck back by killing the innocent mother and kids. They traced cell phone records to place the suspect near the crime scene at the time of the murders, and also a few hours later when the husband returned. (I don't know why he didn't just kill the husband instead of or in addition to.)

Detectives and forensic experts were at the home for many days after the murder. There was a large quantity of flowers and other memorabilia piled on the yard from all the classmates and friends mourning the victims. For many months the house fell into disrepair, with several back fence sections collapsing. Finally, someone fixed the fence and cleaned up some things, but I believe the house remains vacant still (house photo above). It is sobering to drive by the house nearly every day and be reminded of the tragedy.

Here is a link with some of the official information on the case. The trial hasn't been scheduled yet, to my knowledge. Perhaps someday an accomplished crime author will write a book about the case.

http://www.co.washington.or.us/sheriff/media/beth3hom.htm

Driving a stick

I learned how to drive a manual transmission (a 60's VW bug and an early 50's Chevy?) when I was 16. Most of the cars I have owned over the years have had manual transmissions. There is something very enjoyable about manually shifting up and down the gears when driving.

About two years ago I was doing some serious used car shopping for a charity case with a disadvantaged family in our ward. I scoured craigslist for economical cars and test drove quite a few. I got a pretty good feel for value and market conditions, and when I came upon a particular '94 Altima I saw a bargain. But it had a manual transmission and wasn't suitable for this family, so I bought it myself (see photo).

I paid a friend to do some needed front axle work, then fixed a few things myself (trunk water leak, power antenna, tachometer, front brake pads). I found some great barely used winter tires on alloy rims on craigslist. I washed, waxed, and cleaned it all up. I changed the oil and put in synthetic Mobil-1. There is immense satisfaction to be had in fixing and improving something yourself.

Steven was learning to drive so I taught him how to drive a stick with the "new" Altima. We started in the church parking lot, moved on to Oak Hills neighborhood, then an industrial park to practice with the clutch on hills (oh, the burning clutch smells!), and finally loops around Springville/185th/Germantown/Kaiser. So many engine stalls along the way. There is a nasty steep uphill terminating at a stop sign (185th/Germantown). With a car coming up behind I believe once I told Steven to just continue a right turn without stopping. Another time I had him stop and I jumped out quickly to continue the drive uphill with a car behind us.

What a great vanishing skill it is to be able to drive a stick. I was so proud of Steven's acquired competence, and even more so when he took his driving test using the Altima with a manual transmission. What instructor wouldn't be amazed and impressed with such a feat!

Riding in the dark

I have been a bicycling enthusiast for many years, going back to when I was a child. I got really serious about 20 years ago, doing centuries and week long tours. I was in the best shape of my life. For a number of years there I also ran for conditioning, but a few years ago I grew weary of all the aches, pains, and nagging injuries that running seemed to provoke. So I decided to step up my cycling again (to replace running), and included a regimen of commuting to work.

After joining Intel almost five years ago my commute distance increased to eight miles each way. Though long, the route was very conducive to cycling (I love Portland, reputedly the most bicycling friendly city in the USA!) so I set a goal to commute by bike at least 50% of the time. I exceeded that goal through the summer and fall, but with darkness setting in for November commutes home I balked. I had never ridden at night, but did some research and bought lights, fenders, and reflective clothing, and just kept on commuting. It was a big success! And I love how it makes me feel.

Well, with the loss of DST, this week is the start of my night riding season. I put fresh batteries in my lights, dusted off my reflective vest, bought some reflective decals at the bike shop, and cleaned my clear lensed eyewear. I often feel I am more visible to cars with my flashing lights than I am in daylight. Yesterday was such an enjoyable night ride home. No wind, pleasant low 50’s temperature. There is something magical about riding at night. For one thing you feel like you are going so fast! (I noticed the same sensation running at night vs. day.)

I included a picture of my commute bike with lights on and fenders.

Fall at Intel

Here is the view looking west from my building at work. Gorgeous autumn day with reds, oranges, yellows, and shades of green.

All the above was sent from my iPhone, which I used to take the photo. For some reason the photo didn't transfer so I had to edit it and add using my desktop PC. If I can get this method to work then I have a convenient way to add a "cheap" blog post on a day when I'm too busy. :-)

Never fear, though. Since I'm new to blogging I have lots of pent up topics I can post on. Maybe I'll write them all up in advance and serialize them with posts each day.

First blog post

I'm inspired by the blogs of my daughters, so I'm accepting the challenge of writing a blog post each day in November.

By the way, I spent maybe 30 milliseconds deciding on a title for my blog, and it isn't "A. Craig Walker's Blog". It is "A Craig Walker's Blog", a significant difference. In other words, it isn't "The Craig Walker's Blog" just "A Craig Walker's Blog".

Today was stake conference for the Cedar Mill Oregon Stake. Our ward was assigned the 10AM session at the stake center. The high point of the conference for me was sitting together with my youngest son. I won't dwell on the reason for us sitting together at the back, namely that he was slow getting up and dealing with a sore toe so I remained behind to go with him (Suzanne and "on time" Daniel left without us). We arrived quite late. In fact, so late the parking lot was full so we parked up the street at Five Oaks School. It was a nice, sunny day, so other than being late it was a pleasant little walk. Anyway, I didn't let any of that bother me, but enjoyed the conference and counted my blessings as I contemplated the fundamental goodness of each of my children, and was pleased to be sitting with Steven (http://steven-walker.blogspot.com).