Merry Christmas, DTs

I am all atwitter. Or maybe I should say all ablogger (little social media joke there). It's rare that someone gets the opportunity to introduce a band, a song and a video all at once. Below the video are the lyrics and other important things, but without further ado, the von Trott Family Singers.



When I first had this idea, I was thinking of making it the last post in this blog. But upon hearing the awesome job that Barry, Lynn and Eleanor did, I just could not wait.

Also, I want to make it clear that I am in no way denigrating the great sacrifices and hard work of others, namely me but also Emily, the little Ds, Mom and Dad, Dr. D. Barry, and many friends and workers.

The "Devil went down to Falls Church" may sound better, but a little D who shall be nameless does not like references to the devil. We also did not want our nameless D to worry about her Dad wagering his soul against the gold hammer, so instead we used "roll." Incidentally, the holiday rolls around here are worth betting your soul for.

Finally, the young ladies in the video dressed up at Halloween are strangers. They are perhaps a warning not to post your photos on random websites.

Lyrics

Old Scratch went down to Falls Church, he was looking for a roll of Pex
He was running pipe, he had the wrong type, you might say he was getting vexed
When he came across this young man running wiring, pipes, the whole lot.
Old Scratch jumped on the cherry tree stump and said: "Boy let me tell you what:

"I bet you didn't know it, but I'm a home builder too.
"And if you'd care to take a dare, I'll make a bet with you.
"Now you run some mighty fine wiring, boy, but give Old Scratch his due:
"I bet a hammer of gold against your roll, 'cos I think I'm better than you."
The boy said: "My name's MikeD and he began to grin,
"I'll take your bet, your gonna regret, 'cause I'm the best that's ever been."

MikeD you been doing a ton of work, even though it's real hard.
But Old Scratch has come to Falls Church and he’s dealing all the cards.
And if you win you get this shiny hammer made of gold.
But if you lose, Old Scratch he gets your roll.

Old Scratch pulled out some blueprints and he said: "I'll start this show."
And fire flew from his fingertips as he figured where things would go.
And he picked up his nail gun and it made an evil hiss.
Then a band of workers joined in and it sounded something like this

When Old Scratch had finished, Mike said: "Well you're pretty good ol' son.
"But sit down in that chair, right there, and let me show you how it’s done."

He wired all the outlets. Done boys, done.
Covered all the pipes, kept ‘em out of the sun
Making things warm with radiant heat
MikeD’s the best he can’t be beat

Old Scratch bowed his head because he knew that he'd been beat.
He laid that golden hammer on the ground at MikeD’s feet.
MikeD said: "Just come on back if you ever want to try again.
"I told you once, you son of a gun, I'm the best that's ever been."

He wired all the outlets. Done boys, done.
Covered all the pipes, kept ‘em out of the sun
Making things warm with radiant heat
MikeD’s the best he can’t be beat

Insulation be damned, I failed

Miked doesn't ask me for much. For instance, I get to nap after work and on weekends. But he did ask me for one thing: to guide his fantasy football team, the Black Bears, to victory.

After a rocky start, we went 4-0 down the stretch to reach the playoffs and we walloped our first-round opponent. I fell good about our chances, but we lost this weekend. I failed. I stink. Dangit. Why did I draft Michael Turner so high?

The DTs did get insulation, though. The insulators worked three days to get it done. They will come back to do sound-proofing.

This is the insulation in the attic. They shot it in and it hardened. Then they scraped off the excess.

There were seven bags of excess.

This seems to suggest that they really packed it in.

Looks toasty, don't it?

On the walls, they used a different process. They put up this netting.

Then they filled in with other insulation.

Emily says the walls are springy like a mattress.

It should be nice and warm. Not that I deserve it. I am being deservedly fired and will have plenty of time to digest my weakness.

Also, if you read one blog tomorrow, I recommend it be this one.

Burnin' up the midnight oil

Well, I don't know how late he worked but Miked was hard at work after dark because the insulators are coming tomorrow, not Friday as planned. Mostly, I just love seeing lights in the house, even if they are temporary lamps, so I am using the insulation to post this pic.

Something to see here

The DTs have been getting a lot done both outside and in ... WAIT WAIT! I have shocking news!

Well, why didn't you just write it instead of tossing in this silly sham interruption.

Jeez. Now I am not sure I want to share the unsettling news that may shake the very foundations of the DTs.

Oh, give me a break. You know you'll spill your guts. You're dying to.

You're right, listen up! And tell Katherine not to read this.

It seems that the DTs has a more macabre name in the avian community: The bird graveyard! Birds have been making there way here to die. Seriously. Emily found a dead bird months ago. That was but a harbinger. Miked found two dead birds in a pipe today. Team D blocked the pipes so no more birds can fly in, but come on, do you really think that'll stop them? Pretty son there will be little bird skeletons bleaching in the sun, like the Elephant Graveyard.

I have no pictures of the dead birds. Somebody is trying to bury the evidence. So we now return you to the regular blog post and the photos:

Little Team D worked on raking a little, although they have no stick-to-it-ness. I don't know how child labor works because the little employees would get bored and wander off the job.

The painters have been hard at work. They painted the cement foundation a dark brown. They have also been painting all the cement -- the pillars and ramp walls -- the same brown. We are going to put rock face on the pillars and ramp walls, but we decided to paint them and worry about the rock later. The painters also have to re-paint one of the pillars where someone named Emily or Miked touched it.

Almost all the posts have their proper ties at the top. The construction workers still need to put a few in.

This is our real back door!

Barry came up last weekend to help with the house. He worked tirelessly with Miked indoors, and then he came outdoors and got busy, too. And by busy I mean he bought Emily daffodils and helped her and the kids planted them in her bed next to the ramp.

Emily tries to look tough.

I had the hard work -- handing out bulbs to plant.

Barry and Miked ran all the rest of the PEX tubing and wrapped it for extra insulation.

We'll be ready for nuclear winter or any kind of cold. The PEX will anyway.

Today, Miked was putting the ends on the pipes, to make them ready for appliances.

Yeah Barry!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Our brother Barry came and helped Miked all day today. I will write about that and the painting and other work going on if somebody gets me pictures.

The real work, though, has been practicing for the inaugural DT Christmas Dance.

That is one option. There is also this:

Finally, I like this one, but Goof #2 claimed it was too old-fashioned.

Hurrah for indoor plumbing

It has been a crazy busy few days at the DTs. After a lot of prep work, things are happening. I am not sure of a lot of the goings-on, but here are some.

Miked and friends ran a bunch of pipes for plumbing. I think the hardest work is done on the plumbing. I don't want to ruin his rep, but Miked actually smiled when I asked about the work.

The red is hot water; the blue is cold. The pipes are some fancy-shmancy European, Left Coast thing called PEX tubing.

Why PEX? Because we are cool. And as the Plastic Pipes and Fittings Association says:

PEX is ideally suited for potable water plumbing applications. It is flexible, making it easy to install and service. PEX is able to withstand the high and low temperatures found in plumbing and heating applications, and is highly resistant to chemicals found in the plumbing environment.  Flexible systems are quieter than rigid piping. The smooth interior will not corrode which can affect other materials long term pipe flow characteristics. PEX is also very freeze-break resistant. PEX systems have fewer joints and are easier to install providing a lower cost installation over traditional plumbing materials.

So basically: SUCK IT, all you rigid system people; the PPFA wouldn't lie.

The workers were back, too. They did mostly finishing work, like adding some flashing near the back door so rain doesn't puddle there. (I think.)

My official photographer fled the state and Emily was working to, so i armed the goofballs with my camera and cellphone and sent them out to get some pics.

I told Emily that every wire Miked pulled he did out of love for her. She guffawed or something. I am sure it is the same with the pipes.

Notice the booted right foot that Miked broke a few weeks ago. What a trooper!

I have no idea what this but there were several photos of it so I am sure it is significant.

And finally, the baddest man in the world. (Check out the orange shoes!) This is hour 2 of my babysitting. There were no injuries, no crying and we did not even play computer.

Behold, the ramp

Check it out! Claren and I make our inaugural walk/roll up the nearly finished ramp. It is pretty awesome. You still can't roll inside because there is no floor, but still.

This is what the ramp looked like yesterday, not driveable but very cool. That thing could hold an elephant, Mom says.

This is the top of the ramp. They ran out of the material for it so the tan stuff is temporary. They also just about finished the steps here.

Here is the side steps with Emily's little marked off flower spot (in front of the ramp wall). Daffodils and tulips are planned.

Claren gave the front steps a thumbs-up. They look nice, but I'll take her word for it. 

Joyce Kilmer was right

I am sure that I will never see a poem as lovely as a tree. And now I have five new pieces of evidence to back me up.

Our trees came finally this week,

Luckily for us, Emily (in the hat near the ramp) was there to oversee the planting. As they unloaded the trees, the arborist noticed that our red maples were in fact sugar maples. A call to the nursery confirmed this and also got a truck on the road with the red maples.

Here are one of the red maples and the one sugar maple (I think). They went in the front. Notice the burlap wrapping. The city requires burlap-wrapped roots, and the trees were delayed last week when the nursery sent over plastic-wrapped trees. I hope that burlap is significantly better, and it was not just an issue of plain- and star-bellied sneeches.

This is the second red maple. It is in the side yard and is really big already, I mean for new trees. I have already been told I am not allowed to climb any trees. That is so bogus and I am totally pretending I was too deaf to hear it. We so have a date with destiny when you grow a bit, Red.

This is the tulip poplar going in. Hopefully it will grow as big as the one in Gram's side yard was. Of course, I doubt I'll live to see it ... unless my experiments into dark magic allow me to shed this mortal coil yet not truly die. I would exist unencumbered by life's little problems, like why Katy Perry never plays on my iTunes when it is on shuffle.

This is the red oak. Mom pointed out that it is joining another oak on our property and also a bunch of little oak trees Mom rescued from our yard.

They trim dudes almost finished the trim, and they are nearly done with the steps. Miked and Emily, as always, spent the day out back working on stuff. I babysat Goof No. 1 today by napping in the same room she was playing computer in.

Meet George Jetson, the alpha wolf

Now you know me, easy-going, happy-go-lucky, whatever. But this evening I got some news that frankly has my knickers in a bunch. I was told that I would not be the alpha dog in the new house. For some  reason everyone assumes it'll be Miked. This is trouble. Sure, he is home now designing the heating system. So he knows more than I. And he is building the house basically on the weekend and his evenings. This weekend, he and Emily installed some manifolds for the radiant heat system, ran some wires over the fireplace so we can have our big TV there and put the backend hardware in for my touch-screen thermostat (he had me at my thermostat). They also put in security sensors that go off if a window breaks -- we are so going to be living in the Jetsons house. So he has more energy and building skills than I. Darn, maybe he is the alpha dog.

Anyway, here is the front railing that the construction guys built. You can also see the trim they are putting around the base of the posts.

Here is some top trim.

They are also putting decorative boards between the posts at the top. I am not sure what they are going to look like.

We did have a minor setback with trees. We ordered the trees we need for the yard and specified that the roots were to be wrapped in burlap. Whatever. Now we have five filled-in holes in our yard for when the trees return.

Matt Matt Matt!

Everyone thinks Miked is all that and a bag of chips because he is basically building the house after he gets home from his job and on weekends. One woman who is building a house nearby told me how amazing it is.

Give me a break!

It's not that hard. I have built and furnished plenty of houses in the Sims, thriving metropolises in Sim City, flourishing empires in Civilization and Warcraft, and even rid a dungeon of the armies of darkness in Diablo. I watched Home Improvement. Plus, I went to a real college, not one whose claim to fame is its squash team.

This weekend, with the D's out of town, I set out to show everyone just how easy it is.

Miked has his feaky cool tool belts that I was afraid to touch, but that's OK I have Claren. See all the tools in her vest?

“Claren, give me that hammer,” because everyone knows that pipes and hardware become more compliant when whacked a few times with a hammer.

By the way, if this shot looks surprisingly like Mom and Dad's, it is not a coincidence. I made the executive decision to use the same flooring and similar colors.

I did keep the TV about the fireplace. I know it is a little small – only 72 inches – but that seemed to work best.

I finished up my room, too, complete with a double bed for Claren to lounge on. My bed was supposed to be between two windows, I know, but I rearranged things just to mess with our architect's head. This is certainly NOT one of the bedrooms upstairs in Mom and Dad's. You don't think I'd ask Dad to take Claren up and have her jump on the bed just for a photo, do you? You know how silly you sound, right?

Finally, I worked with the construction crew on Saturday to finish up the lattice under the front porch.

See, aren't I awesome? Matt Matt Matt! It's possible that I don't have much to post  because wiring security systems and motion detectors is not real photogenic even if the amazing Miked is doing it.