Welcome!
House now fully framed
Progress on our house is going well. The builder has now completed the framing stage, including all windows and doors. The plumber has even started laying the PEX tubing into the Warmboard radiant-heated sub-floor. Now they'll turn their attention to the electrical, plumbing, and other mechanical systems.
Posted by Guy | Posted on 2010-02-24 at 7:26 PM | Public Post | Comments (View)
Geo-exchange holes being drilled
The house is progressing nicely. This week a drilling crew was on-site to drill four geo-exchange holes to a depth of 250 feet each. By pumping water (with bit of anti-freeze) through PEX tubing loops left behind, our geo-exchange system will be able to gather heat from the earth. This free heat results in a very efficient heat source for our radiant in-floor heating.
Posted by Guy | Posted on 2010-02-06 at 5:28 PM | Public Post | Comments (View)
Main Floor coming together
Now that the weather has warmed and the xmas holidays are over, work is progressing on our house again. The workmen have installed the main floor joists, laid the WarmBoard sub-floor, and are beginning to erect the polyurethane structural-insulated panels (SIPs).
Apparently, installing the Warmboard is just as easy as a plain OSB sub-floor except you need to lay the sheets into the overall pattern set at the factory. This allows all the grooves in the aluminum to line up for the PEX tubing for the in-floor heat.
Posted by Guy | Posted on 2010-01-16 at 2:53 PM | Public Post | Comments (View)
Leaving Facebook
A number of years ago, I signed up for a Facebook account, tightened down all the privacy settings so I was nearly invisible, then promptly forgot about it. A month or so ago, Facebook loosened some of their settings so I started getting "Friend" requests. Since I have a public website and use Twitter I'm not exactly trying to hide online, so I accepted the Facebook requests.
The Facebook "friends" where, almost exclusively, people I went to high-school with. Initially, it was interesting to see that X had grown up, moved to Y, and had two kids. However, rapidly I started getting inundated with friend requests from people I'd only known in passing during high-school.
As well, the status updates on Facebook were all boring personal stuff that I ignore on Twitter. However, on Facebook, I couldn't tune out the useless status updates like I do with Tweetdeck. To avoid the time-waste that is Facebook, I've deactivated my account. It just didn't fit into my online or real-world lives.
So I think I'll stick to useful services and practices for keeping in touch with people:
- Meeting in real-life: I am still close friends with a handful of classmates who I see regularly for dinner, etc. Being in "online" touch with someone I shared a single class with and never talked with, doesn't seem useful to me.
- LinkedIn: I do see the value in professional networking so I stay in touch with university classmates and past co-workers using a social network designed for professionals. No silly Pirate apps or 'Pokes' here.
- Twitter: While Twitter might seem to be the peak of inane chatter, it's really much more powerful than that. As a means of connecting with anyone around the world interested in the same topics I'm interested in, Twitter is unsurpassed.
I find that I follow topics on Twitter (hashtags) much more than I follow individuals. For example, on Facebook I'd read how someone from my grade 10 class took a vacation to Saskatchewan. However, on Twitter I can follow anyone who is vacationing in Belize, where I'd like to visit one day. The key is that what is being shared is more interesting to me than who is sharing it.
I'm sure this preference has to do with my introverted personality which values information over personal connections. My sister is an extrovert and loves Facebook. To each their own. From now on though, you can find me on Twitter, but don't bother looking for me on Facebook.
Posted by Guy | Posted on 2010-01-14 at 1:23 PM | Public Post | Comments (View)
Foundation has been back-filled
The foundation walls are now complete and the dirt has been back-filled against them, so our back yard is flat again. For a while we had two large piles of dirt.
The weather has warmed up nicely and all the materials are on site. As soon as the work crews are back from holidays, the next step is install the sub-floor and then begin on the walls. Since we're using structural insulated panels, they should go together just like lego. :)
Posted by Guy | Posted on 2009-12-27 at 2:57 PM | Public Post | Comments (View)
