trabant

[somedamnfinecoffee]

The running joke is that orange isn’t my favorite color, I just tend to buy orange things given the option over, say, gray or navy.

Actually finding my favorite orange is a bit of a challenge.

Doors are ordered, and I’ve got a week and change to finalize custom colors. Hopefully I’ll be getting them for Christmas.

[somedamnfinecoffee]

a wild sofa appears

more projects in progress I've failed to document, but:

cat orb approves.

My family are chair people. I've had this dumb IKEA Pöang chair for decades now, and a rotating supporting cast of others that keep breaking. (Another story there.) So for the last year I've had just a single chair in the middle of the room (the only room), and the bed in the far corner acting as an ertsatz couch.

In retrospect it's a little ridiculous to think I've gone this long with a single armchair and a twin bed as my only furniture, but I think I've got two justifications. First is that I've still been moving around things and unpacking/repacking as I work on projects, and it was hard to visualize what the space deserves. Second is that I'm exceedingly picky, and once you drop a couple grand on a piece, pay to have it delivered, and cajole a family member into dragging it up a flight of stairs, you better damn like it. Not like returning an Amazon order.

Back in February I pilgrimaged to Palm Springs for Modernism Week, and poked around the monthly Vintage Market. One vendor was selling a beautiful Adrian Pearsall style platform sofa, along with a Poul Jensen-style Z-sofa.

And the price was unbeatable. Until I saw the shipping cost to up here, which came to an additional almost 50%.

And realistically, both are a bit small. A slightly generous loveseat, or a very cozy three-seater. Perfect for my old 500SF apartment (if I didn't have all those chairs). I don't like sitting close to people. I have plenty of room, but not for a sectional.

Locally and online I wasn't seeing anything I was jazzed about for how much things were. Lots of tufts and skirts, bollard arms, pale cream upholstery. Truthfully cleanability is a major priority in, well, all of my decisions. I wanted something on legs I could vacuum under, and cushions I can remove and clean. Not really a fan of leather, being vegetarian. And vinyl is just horrible.

Oh, and I don't like sinking in to a couch. It's all about back angle and height. I like things low and upright. Hence my affinity for the platform sofas.

A few weeks ago we stopped in Kasala, a store that has the distinction of being the only furniture store in Pike Place Market, and additionally the only one I know of with a real local warehouse in-city, partly to poke around, partly to rest after a long day at the market. It was perfect. The color, the wood accent, the steel legs! A little bulky for my taste—I don't care for armrests—but could easily work with a mid-mod or min-mod style.

As I promised the salesperson, I'd go home, have a glass of wine or three, and make a decision. And I accidentally bought three. It wasn't the wine, it was the website freezing up repeatedly, I swear.

The next day I somehow convinced my mother to help, as we frantically rented a van from Home Depot, ran over to the warehouse about a block away, dropped it off across town, and returned the vehicle in the 90-minute window before extra charges kicked in. $15 for DIY delivery was a heck of a deal compared to $200 to have to dumped in the driveway.

I bought that light years ago and never found a good place for it

As for the bed: I finally ditched my deflated twin I've had since college for a full-size memory foam, selected after literally 4 hours of flopping around the IKEA showroom models. By that point my brain had turned to mush, and rather than choosing my dream danish modern bed frame, I just grabbed a basic steel platform. At least its not going to collapse on me in the middle of the night again. Despite the extra room, the cat still sleeps draped across my neck.

[somedamnfinecoffee]

Trying to keep my word on writing about the house as I tackle every corner, but then I get knee deep in projects and struggle to remember to photographically document. (Don’t expect home-improvement-influencer quality.)

But I did make an interesting discovery.

Ancient hieroglyphics, circa 2005.

And stink bugs.

Regarding the latter, I’ve never seen one in my life until a few weeks ago. The residential pests I’m accustomed to encountering are more pedestrian, like ants and spiders (or back east, rats and roaches…Not fond memories). I’m told these are a scourge of the Midwest and southeast, and now with autumn quickly turning into a two-week season in western Washington, they’re growing endemic here.

Having spotted half a dozen or so alarmingly close to my sad, grossly-warped exterior doors (a future topic), it occurred to me it is probably time to undertake some minor pest control. I’m loathe to actually -call- someone, lest they see the state of my haphazard unpacking, so I loaded up my gallon sprayer with bifenthrin and set off to make a moat around the house. Incidentally, a professional, whether Orkin or some “natural” pest control company, is going to use bifenthrin. The “natural” guys are going to be a bit more judicious about it. I’ll be careful. But that’s also a story for another time.

As I got around to the kitchen window, I noticed something scrawled just below the siding.

WaFFle Head is deadly

IF gal of gas =8# -> emits 20# co^2 making mass??

Someone suggested to me that a waffle head is a type of framing hammer. Was there a murder here?

As for their stoichiometric pondering, well, it comes from air. That’s how combustion works.

But wait, there’s more.

WWW DOT KEXP DOT . ORG

Dang ol internet, I tell ya what man. www dot w dot com.

enamel cracks off tank lasts a shorter time

Cryptic advice about purchasing a water closet, perhaps? Or a warning? Written in the mechanical room next to the water heater. It’s probably due for replacement anyhow. That’s not a DIY job.

There’s all sorts of these scrawlings all around the exterior of the house and every unfinished surface in the basement. I’ve been in plenty of old houses where there’s evidence of a carpenter’s back-of-the-2x4 calculations, or quick notes to future technicians, but these seem like someone involved in building the house just wrote down whatever was in their head at the time. It’s fascinating.

One more, but the mystery was solved thanks to the fine folks of /r/askanelectrician.

Someone humorously suggested “Disco Ball Plug,” but someone more knowledgeable about heat pump systems said there is a likely chance of there being an electrical outlet co-located at the shutoff for the outdoor unit. On a separate circuit so ostensibly someone maintaining the system can run their power tools while the heat pump is safely turned off. In more practical terms, I’m happy I have a usable outlet at the rear of the house, and don’t need to run an extension into the bathroom to run my powr tools outside.

Yes, I’m a Luddite in some regards and refuse to own cordless power tools.

Until next time. I’ve got to go replace some more GFCIs.

[somedamnfinecoffee]

Oh hey. It’s been a while, Tumblr.

Pandemic life’s been weird. That’s really it.

also, I bought a little house down the street from where I’ve lived for the past forever. Maybe it’s cliche but I kind of want to blog about what I’m working on. I did start this account with the intent of diarying my move back to Seattle way back when, so that’s what it might turn into. Give my Facebook friends a little break from my insanely long posts.

As one of my favorite ham radio friends signs off, cheers, guvna

[somedamnfinecoffee]

WNP-1/4, hanford, wash (ca. 1972)

[somedamnfinecoffee]

Time to retire you, old friend. Like a fine German sports car, you’ve been a faithful companion broken down on every trip and spent more time in the Fatherland than in my bag.

Got me through a lot of gigs over the years after switching from Nikon.

I’m trading up to that M Typ 262 I said I’d treat myself to after (if) I graduated.

[somedamnfinecoffee]

Despite all the brouhaha over tumblr these days, I’m still here. 

I’ve been journaling on paper occasionally but I’m planning on getting back to life updates and the like—I started this second account when I moved back to Seattle to chronicle my goings on but didn’t do so well keeping up. 

Bikes, coffee, music, architecture. All the hipster stuff I guess. 

[somedamnfinecoffee]

Charles Darwin: horror vs terror

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I make this face a lot, apparently

[fuckstev-deactivated20240104]

my moms cat just fucking annihilated me. disintegrated me. blasted me away with pure energy. all with just a glance

[beepbeepbeepbeep-deactivated202]

[somedamnfinecoffee]

tacoma urban renewal, 1969.

[cybercrimer]

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Favorite cats.

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peter gorman: intersections

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don’t bite the hand or it won’t feed

[chuckdrawsthings]

🍌❌

[somedamnfinecoffee]

“What would you do without Betamax?”

“Cry.”

[somedamnfinecoffee]

Went to REI with my mother, and sat in the parking lot talking about the history of the Grease opening theme, which led to a flashback of sitting in the same parking lot almost 20 years ago, dipping my  Wendys nuggets in a Frosty, listening to Frankie Valli on KBSG. 

RIP, KBSG and KJR-FM.