Finally...

So the finishing touches are being put on our bathrooms. It should be sealed this weekend and texturing will start at the beginning of the week. This should take no more than 7 days according to the Mexican-Jew [aka Mark aka Dale from Step Brothers]. Things are never how you planned them to be. We agreed on $2,000 for both bathrooms and as we get to the end things just get tacked on. We had to settle on a figure for everything and then move onto the texturing. I had a couple Seagram's Sweet Tea Vodkas and decided to negotiate [Seagram's, I drink it, they pay me -Lil' Jon]. Here is an excerpt of our pathetic conversation yesterday:

P: Yo Mark, have you calculated the texturing and painting?
M: Yeah, I had Ricky [who?] help me calculate and he said about $1.00 I mean $2.00 per sq. foot.
P: Ok, that is cool. How exactly do you measure this?
M: Uh, yeah. So...it is about 1100.
P: $1100 or 1100 sq feet?
M: Oh we measured about 1100 sq feet including the hallways and more.
P: Uh ok, sure. So you want $2200?
M: Yeah. If that is cool with you.
P: Nope, not going to happen.
M: [Insert 10 excuses of why it cost so much]
P: Sorry, that is outrageous, I got a quote for $1000 to texture the place. I do not value primering and painting our entire house at $1200. If that is the case, just texture it and I will just roll on the paint myself.
M: Oh man it is a lot of work. It is more than just painting. Plus blah blah blah blah. Ok, how about $1500?
P: I don't think Thomas will agree, but ok that is more reasonable.

So after a couple of drinks I call him today.

P: So I talked to Thomas and he said $1500 is out of the picture. We can paint the house for less than $500 ourselves, I have no job and can do it easily.
M: How much do you guys want to pay?
P: $1200. I am not trying to jew you or anything.
M: $1500 is the lowest I can go.
P: Ok, so what does it involve?
M: Patching all of your holes, removing the sheet rock in your bedroom and replacing it, hang all of your new doors and paint them, mud all of the walls, texture all of the walls, primer all of the walls, paint the ceiling white and the walls wave crest blue [no homo].
P: Ok, I will talk to Thomas, but I doubt he will budge. [I use Thomas as the bad guy]

So we agreed on $1500. I will walk with him through the whole house tomorrow and write down EVERYTHING so this $300 for 2 vents shit does not occur again.

Wish me luck. Swimming tomorrow.

How Big Do YOU Think It Is?

What do you think? 32? 42? 47? 52? Holla.

So as we near completion of The Lamsion, I have been slowly buying stuff to live in their comfortably. I have been scouring Craigslist for a TV for the longest time. I finally found one that I liked [1080p and xx"] for a good price. I didn't negotiate with the guy cause this sucker was only $400. Shout out to Gary in Mountain House. Yep I went 100 miles for this bad boy. Sorry about your house being foreclosed, but thanks for the hook up. Holla. Special shout out goes to my boy Chris for driving me and putting this bad boy in his truck. Holla again.

Son be fcking natural and shit.

So I have not updated in a bit, there are reasons. I will explain. The smallest reason is my camera went to Vancouver to capture these amazing photos:

Holla at hotties. Yep.

Second of all, Mark [of the famous Step Brothers] hurt his arm/shoulder. I don't even know if I believe him. But I will give him the benefit of the doubt. Straight not show up for 4 days. Whatever, so today his brother fcking hits me up [ok this is going to be a rant btw]. Here is the transcript:

S: Hey, you know the vents are extra right?

P: Huh? 

S: The vents, they are extra.

P: I am sorry. I do not understand what you are trying to say.

S: The vents I installed, they aren't part of the $1000 for the bathroom.

P: Oh really? I was not aware of that. So, what do you plan on charging me?

S: I was thinking $150 a piece.

P: Oh really? Ok, let me talk to your brother about this.

[P walks upstairs]

P: Yo Mark, your brother downstairs is trying to tell me the vents are not included in the bathrooms and he wants $150 each for them.

M: Oh yeah, didn't we agree that it wasn't part of it?

P: Ok, if that is what you think then fine. But you said it was part of it when we bought the vents on the first day. Still don't think I should pay for them.

M: Yeah, it was part of it.

P: Ok, $150 each? So your brother wants me to pay him fcking 2 days wage for something I can do in 8 hours? I can do it in 8 hours and I am not a pro, so you are telling me you guys are TWICE as slow as me? Give me a fcking break.

M: Ok, ok, ok. Sorry. I will talk to Steve.

P: How the fck you going to install something for me then charge me for it? Serious? See you tonight. Peace.

M: Ok, ok, ok, ok. I will talk to Steve.

[P walks out]

Serious? Some wack bullshit. But this is a tip, if you ever do ANYTHING, get the fcking thing in writing. Real talk.

$70 Counter? Unheard Of...

So our guy [Mark from Step Brothers] told Thomas he'd fix up his current vanity [sand it down and repaint it, shown earlier last week] and get a counter top for it made of Corian for $70. I mean c'mon, that is almost too good to be true. A brand new top for $70? So we bit and gave him $70 and wrote it off as a sunk cost as I never thought he would come through. Low and behold, here it is. Can we say: New Kitchen Tops? Holla.

Pretty sweet, eh? I am borderline jealous, but please refer to my vanity and you will know why I am not.

Going to do some floor shopping with the moms tomorrow and will check out cabinets too, but I think we will end up refinishing ours. No new updates, cause these two fools haven't worked on the bathrooms for two days. Seriously? Oh and Chinese Softball League Championship tomorrow, I will post a pic with me and a trophy. Yep.

Fresh Az Im Iz.

My bathroom is done. Cop this:

Before

Before

Before

After

After

One word: Clearance. 20 cents per bulb. Get at me if you need any.

ASB Firenze Bathtub Instruction Manual

Got a new tub. But had to pay another 80 bucks or so for the other stuff necessary. [The title is for SEO purposes, I know it is boring]

Here are the instructions for the tub:

See you guys at the top of Mission Peak.

Mission Peak.

It is now turned into a weekly thing as I am not manual laboring it. I really cannot wait to do the flooring and get back into the mix of things. Returning the tub at 7:30 AM tomorrow and hopefully our bathrooms are done. Finally! It is Mark's birthday tomorrow, I told him to take it off [but I didn't really mean it]. Just a heads up, I kind of put my foot down today and blew up on him today when he asked me for money for his birthday. I said "How you going to ask for money when shit ain't done?" Sigh. I like the guys, but I just want the god damn bathrooms to be finished so that we can move onto texturing and flooring. Hope all goes well at THD tomorrow morning. That's The Home Depot, btw.

Who thinks this out of shape terrorist can make it to the top of Mission Peak in less than 70 minutes? I don't. =X

Time To Face The Music.

I am picking up Mark at 9:30 tomorrow to go to The Home Depot and see what we can do about this broken tub. I really hope this works out. I just want the bathrooms to be done so we can texture and paint already.

Here is what happens when you think outside the box [or cheap...]:

Before

[After]

Thomas' Repainted Vanity. The top better be in tomorrow, I told him no more joking around and all loose ends need to be tied up.

Wish me luck.

Problems...

So these last couple of days have been filled with...problems. At least we still like Jay-Z, we got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one.

First this week, I take a look at my tile and realize there are about 200 grey tiles and 20 beige tiles...what the fck. I want to go on a huge tangent, but long story short. I bought 320 tiles from Lowe's in boxes of 40, all of the boxes were "grey" but someone returned back a box that was half beige and half grey. I did not go over every tile [which is slightly my own fault] and they were installed at night, where you cannot see the difference. It bothered me a bit in the beginning, but at this point I don't think it is worth redoing the wall as we need to move forward. I need to talk to them tomorrow and ask when the job will be complete and if the deadline cannot be met, we will go with someone else and pay a little more for the texturing and the flooring. Sigh. Headache huh? Here is what I am talking about:

You really have to squint, but the tiles on the left of the cubby are beige [and a couple through out].

Next, is the REAL problem. We show up at the house today to set up for Ankit's Birthday and Mark informs us that Thomas might punch him. Thomas' brand new tub cracked. I just show you pics. I want to fire someone real bad.

I fcking passed out last night while this was uploading. Oops.

Happy Birthday Ankit.

It is 4 am and I realized I did not update last night or today. I will have tons tomorrow. Lo siento. That is sorry in Spanish.

Slowly But Steadily...

It was brought to my attention that it seems like I have slowed down dramatically on The Lamsion. Yes. But it is not my fault, I tried working on the other items while the contractors are in the house. It is near impossible, you run into each other, you trip over each others stuff, you can't find your stuff, it is just all in all FRUSTRATING. So I have decided to let them finish [at their slow pace, but I've been told 2 weeks for 2 bathroom is OK, even though most people quote 1 week, Peter said his took two months. So I am thankful for Mark/Steve.] They should be out of the house by tomorrow because look at this:

Looking sweet? Thomas' Bathrooms.

Goodnight. Sleep Tight. Oh by the way, want to see my lunch?

Yep, I ate all 10 and half of that quesadilla. Then ate Frozo's for dinner.

Classics Are Timeless...

I really wanted to save this title for a later post at the end of our process, but nope I have a perfect tie in for today. I have been playing softball for a bit now, I think 5 years or so? I was really into it when I first started. I'd play 4-8 times a week and try to get as many games as possible. I would round guys up and play pick up on weekends and get in batting practice. Once I got to the point where I did not think I could get any better, I slowed down, stopped practicing but kept on winning. I then took half a year off because I had a huge temper and yelled at a lot of teammates. I returned with a much cooler and mature attitude and I think people actually enjoy playing with me now. I am nowhere near a great softball player is, but I am happy with the level I am at. This is just to get to my point, even though softball is just fun now, winning is ALWAYS in style. We won tonight. That is all.

I get old. Jeans get old. Your face gets old. Winning NEVER gets old.

So these two brothers are working their asses off. I like it. I might have to re-hire them for the next job. Thomas' grout is done, his bathroom is textured and paint should be on by tomorrow morning...which leads us to the title of the post. We picked our paint today. Just think about this...you walk into The Lamsion and it just seems like our walls go forever, thanks for the Behr Wave Crest 540E-1. This thing is beautiful. We got semi-gloss for the bathroom but will go with an eggshell or flat for the rest of the house, sans kitchen. I cannot wait to see what our bathrooms look like painted.

If serene could be color coded, that would be it.

Thomas' Shower Wall Grouted [is that even a word?]

Hard to see, but it is our medium texture. Shit is hot.

My walls are grouted too. I need to work on my camera work. Sorry.

My Bathroom Floor. Man, shit be fresh.

Meet my homeboy, Dale, I mean Steve. He is working on my bathroom. He is about to install my S pipe to my god damn WATERFALL shower head. You can call my bathroom the Niagra, cause water be pouring on yo face.

Goodnight. Bike & Tacos tomorrow.

The Room Is Bright, Just Like My Future.

Mr. Tang took time out of his busy schedule today and helped me pick up our brand new Green Low-E Double Pane Argon Gas windows. [I just know they qualify for a credit and help decrease our energy bill]. Him and his brother in law are effecient. They showed up at 11, left at 2:30. Took out 4 windows, installed 4 new ones and cleaned up the mess. Oh by the way, when you do hire a contractor, remember to make CLEAR how the garbage is handled. Cause let me be honest with you, it ain't free to throw shit away. I am going to learn very soon. I got a bathtub, toilet, sink and basically a room with no walls in my backyard. So if you want to haul and will do it cheap, GET AT ME.

Here are the before and afters:

My Bedroom [before]

My Bedroom [after]

Kitchen [before]

Kitchen [after]

Thomas' Bedroom [before] Love the green eh?

Thomas' Bedroom [after]

Thomas' Office [before]

Thomas' Office [after]

See that .30? When you buy your windows make sure its .30 or less to get the 30% tax credit! OBAMA!

The Step Brothers are putting in the grout and I gave them until Friday to finish and get their stuff out so we can have a BYOC Birthday Bash for Ankit. BYOC is bring your own chair in case you from the 90's. Shit. 

I want to remind you that I am all about safety...check these nice boxes I built for my lights so our house doesn't go up in flames:

Path to Heaven, no really if you EVER see this I am pretty sure that is the last time you will see real sunlight.  [jk, that is from Thomas' closet to where I work]

Tell me that ain't clean son.

I got a little artistic today.

Mid-Day Photo Update...

So Dale and Brennen [Step Brothers reference] got some work done last night. I like it.

My Walls are almost done!

Tum's is done.

Thomas' bathroom is primer-ed.

Day Off...

We all need one of those once in a while. I had one today and I watched Natasha Romanoff, I mean Tony Stark in Iron Man. Hope you all had a great weekend.

In case you'all don't know:

Happy Mother's Day.

You better tell your moms that you loves her. Shit. So I've been really tired when I update the blog and have not been able to really type much. I will start next week's postings [tomorrow's update] with a nice juicy story...I hope. [Please drama occur tomorrow] Enjoy the progress:

My Bathroom, tell me the small tiles aren't fly?

My floor.

Tum's Bathroom [smaller > bigger tiles]

Thomas' floor.

Microcuts.

Same.

Happy Mother's Day.