Thursday, May 31, 2007
Kitchen countertop update
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Kitchen countertop update
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
New kitchen countertops
Monday, May 28, 2007
Oasis 20 (literary SF con) report preview
The Oasis convention is held on Memorial Day weekend in Orlando, Florida. As usual, I went Friday afternoon and came home Sunday afternoon and had lots of fun. Now I have to write a con report. I bought a number of Liaden universe chapbooks and an omnibus volume by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. I've read all the books--some of them are chapbooks and one's a collection of chapbooks--that I hadn't read. I'll look at the omnibus of novels that I've already read before shelving it. I picked up some comics--Robert Asprin's Myth Adventure series--on the freebies table and bought Mike Conrad's Peter Parsec, Space Cadet: Raiders of the Lost Dark (funny with lots of word play) comic in the dealers room. Check it out at Comics I also got a nifty tee shirt there from Batoka Station, a city on Mars (created by Monk Studios). Check out their stuff at www.batokastation.com
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Building and immigration laws (link)
...
While noting that the nation's home builders have championed comprehensive immigration reform, NAHB Executive Vice President and CEO Jerry Howard said that the problems with the Senate overhaul bill "are so grave and extensive that we believe this legislation cannot be fixed without making major revisions."
If the bill were to be enacted in its current form, Howard said, it "would do irreparable harm to America's small businesses,
...
Of particular concern for NAHB members are employment verification provisions in the Senate bill that would give the government latitude to prosecute an employer who hires an illegal alien without knowledge that the person is unauthorized to work, and inadequate safe harbor protections that require complete adherence to all immigration regulations no matter how obscure.
In addition, legislative language would give the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security a wide berth to enact rules that would make general contractors responsible for the legal status of all of their subcontractors' employees. ...
For more: News : Legislation : Builders Call for Major Overhaul of Immigration Bill : HGTVPro.com
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Publication news
Preditors & Editors poll (2006)
Standings for category: Non-fiction
3. Selling a Cool Book ABOUT THE HOUSE THAT JOY BUILT, Joy V. Smith, The Electronic Write Stuff (Oct. 2006), http://www.northfloridawriters.org/ [Look under archived Write Stuff, 2006: October.]
Note: The 2006 P&E poll is labeled as 2002, and I see that the graphic is 2001. Apparently they weren't able to fix it, but the article was published in 2006.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Home and decorating ideas
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Color and tile trends (discussion link)
Kitchen & Bath Show Big on Color
"I spent last week in Las Vegas at the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show. ... I noticed two big trends on the show floor: larger tile and more color.
Those beautiful glass mosaic tiles that were everywhere (wasn't that just last year???) seem to have given way to standard sizes in ceramic; those larger tiles in turn are often set to create mural-sized, three-dimensional patterns ...
Speaking of color, it was everywhere! Aqua baths, cobalt-blue ranges, color-coordinated kitchen appliances ..."
For more from HGTVPro.com: http://blogs.hgtvpro.com/hgtvpro/weblog_marjie/archive/2007/05/kitchen_bath_sh.html?nl=v115c
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Bathroom ideas
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Building a Cool House...
My book, Building a Cool House for Hot Times without Scorching the Pocketbook, is #6 in this Barnes & Noble category: Barnes & Noble.com Books - Architecture, Domestic->Amateurs' manuals
The book covers the building process and what’s involved in building your home; it includes diary excerpts, photos, and advice from planning to punch list and beyond.
Tags: House building
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Building and remodeling
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Vendors Increase Options for Builders (link)
"... , some companies are not only selling the products, but also delivering and installing them," says Dana B. Bres, a research engineer at the Partnership for Advanced Technology in Housing (PATH ). "This can improve scheduling and minimize construction site theft, which continues to be a vexing problem."
For more information: News : Trends : Vendors Increase Options for Builders : HGTVPro.com
Tags: Construction sites
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Andrea: First named storm of the season
"Atlantic SPECIAL TROPICAL DISTURBANCE STATEMENT
000 WONT41 KNHC 090312 DSAAT SPECIAL TROPICAL DISTURBANCE STATEMENT NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 1115 PM EDT TUE MAY 8 2007 A NON-TROPICAL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM...CENTERED ABOUT 175 MILES EAST OF JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA AND ABOUT 160 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA...HAS BEEN MOVING SLOWLY WESTWARD AT 5 TO 10 MPH. THE LOW IS PRODUCING GALE-FORCE WINDS NEAR THE COASTS OF NORTH CAROLINA...SOUTH CAROLINA...GEORGIA AND NORTHEASTERN FLORIDA. THIS SYSTEM HAS CHANGED LITTLE SINCE THIS EVENING...AND NO SIGNIFICANT STRENGTHENING IS EXPECTED." It's still not doing much. We hope to get some rain from it when it drifts over the state (Florida). (Thanks, Lloyd, for the bulletin.) Update: Subtropical Depression Andrea has weakened and is drifting south. It did give us a little rain. |
Tags: Andrea
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Kitchen remodeling
Monday, May 7, 2007
Converting a building into a home
Tags: Carnegie library
Friday, May 4, 2007
Save the trees! (discussion link)
Saving Trees, Saving Money
(From Marjie's Blog) One of my pet peeves: developers and builders who bulldoze every tree on the lot(s) before starting construction....
http://blogs.hgtvpro.com/hgtvpro/weblog_marjie/archive/2007/04/saving_trees_sa.html?nl=v113c
I was fortunate that we built in a horse pasture that had some beautiful old oaks--the former owner called the big one that's behind our house now the cathedral oak--and pines. We lost most of the pines to drought and beetles, btw. Remember that it's important not to try to save trees that are damaged, dying, or too close to the house! It'll probably be cheaper to remove them as part of the building process, than to have to do it later. And we were fortunate to have our pines removed before all the hurricane damage when some tree removers charged big bucks. None of our trees were or are too close to the house, which was especially appreciated when the top of one of the dead pines came down. (Some pines were riddled with beetle holes, but not dead yet, but we took them all down after that.) We still have pines on the property, but now none of them are where they can drop pinecones on the lawn, which I really appreciate.
Tags: Construction