maugel.syprus.com

Denver Botanic Gardens

My parents came to visit and we took them to the Denver Botanic Gardens. We had never been and after going for the first time, it made us seriously consider getting a membership to go more often. It was very peaceful and quiet and it’s in the middle of Denver! Lots of benches, quiet places to sit, read, people watch. Beautiful flowers and plants, all sorts of stuff you can find there.

If you visit Denver, the Botanic Gardens is a must-see along with the Zoo.

Happy New Year!

Here are some holiday pictures from Denver. Hope your 2009 year is a great one!
http://picasaweb.google.com/memaugel/20081231DenverWinter

House & Kitchen Update

Here’s the full update:
http://picasaweb.google.com/memaugel/20081011KitchenUpdate

It’s all about the right lighting…

So I finally got around to wiring new push button type dimmers for the decorative lights in the living room & dining room.  For some reason when it comes to all things electrical, it takes me a while before I work on it.  I think it comes from this one time a friend of mine told me I’d be fine to work with wires if I just turned the wall switch off (and there was no need to turn off the breaker – which I was 90% sure was wrong [for the type of wiring we have], but decided to trust him on it, just in case there was that 10% chance he was right).  Well after getting electrocuted, I now am a bit slower to start electrical-related projects.

Funny story, after turning off the breaker on this project, this one particular switch in the living room wasn’t on the same circuit as the lighting in the living room, so I still managed to get electrocuted.  Next time I think I’ll just turn the master switch off and shut-down the house next time I go messing with wires.

Here are some pictures of the final result.  The top button is a on/off switch, the bottom is the potentiometer that adjusts the amount of electricity goes to the lights, making them dimmable. The last picture is just a picture of the typical antique brass switchplates.

Installed house numbers…

Here are the house numbers installed on the house.  Read the post below for the full explanation.  The numbers came in a really dark bronze color  so I painted them antique brass (w/ exterior grade metallic paint).  Here is the final result:

No house is complete without…

The right house numbers.

Well I finally found the “right” house numbers for our house.  Unfortunately when I received them in the mail they weren’t “antique brass” as RH’s website says, but instead they were “oil rubbed bronze”.  The funny thing is they are pictured as antique brass, but after looking up the manufacturer, they don’t even MAKE these in antique brass, the ONLY numbers they manufacture in the mission style are in oil rubbed bronze and pewter.  So I’m guessing Restoration Hardware just photoshopped it.  What do you think?

Atlas House Numbers:
http://www.atlashomewares.com/missionnumbers.html

Restoration Hardware Link (they sell the Atlas Numbers):
http://www.restorationhardware.com/rh/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod1278063

My new ride to work.

I bet you were expecting a car, amirite? 🙂

Well for those that didn’t know, I bike to work (actually a lot of places). It’s only about 2.2 miles, approximately a 12-minute bike ride… and last month my bike was stolen from our front porch during the night.  So I’ve been borrowing Laura’s bike for commuting while searching for a replacement (and now storing our bikes in the house).  So after looking and looking on craigslist for a decent commuter bike, more specifically a 56cm road bike — I decided to buy new.  Since the cost of gas has gone up, bikes have gone up in price significantly as well… and well.. for the price of a used bike and the cost of tuning it up, replacing tubes or parts that are old, dented, scratched, or rusted, I figured it was best just to start new. I also was fed up of 2-3 weeks of searching and coming to find out that the 10-15 bikes I DID FIND, that the bikes were either a) sold already b) the poster never replied or c) the poster was non-negotiable on price when it was priced too high to begin with.

So after researching new bikes I quickly found out that they are indeed quite expensive, so I did my research some more and looked online and found a great deal on a bike from a factory source that was roughly 50% the price of a name-brand bike, the only thing was it only comes 80% assembled and I had to assemble the remaining 20%, which for the cost savings, I was okay with.  It’s not a name brand, but the frame is the same kinesis frame they use on Trek’s, and it came with ALL Shimano Sora parts, which are name brand.  So anyways, I’ve got it assembled and took it to work for the first time today (took it for a ride this last weekend as well) and I absolutely LOVE it.

Anyhow, I love biking.  It’s such a stress reliever not having to drive in traffic, no 45-minute to an hour commute, no gas, no insurance, no maintenance (at least none I can’t do myself), environmentally friendly, and good exercise.  It’s a win-win.

Windsor Wellington 3.0

Specs:

Frame    Kinesis 6061 Series Aluminum, 2xH2O mounts, replaceable rear derailleur hanger, rear rack braze-ons
Fork    Kinesis TaperBlade CARBON Fiber
Crankset    RPM by FSA ALUMINUM triple 52/42/30T
Bottom Bracket    Sealed cartridge
Pedals    Traditional Clip and strap Road pedals
Front Derailleur    Shimano Sora FD2203 for triple
Rear Derailleur    Shimano Sora 8 speed (24 gears total)
Shifters    Shimano 2200 STI 8 speed (24 gears total) (integrated with brake levers)
Cassette/Freewheel    Cassette 11-28T 8 speed (24 gears total)
Chain    KMC IG for 8spd
Hubs    Forged aluminum (black finish) with Quick Release
Spokes    Stainless Steel
Rims    Alex aluminum with aero section
Tires    Maxxis High pressure road 700c, presta valve tubes
Brakes    Aluminum dual pivot black finish
Brake Levers    Shimano 2200 STI (integrated with shift levers)
Handlebar    Kalloy Aluminum alloy black
Stem    Kalloy Aluminum alloy quill Factory Upgraded to Threadless Stem (As shown)
Tape/Grip    Black cork
Saddle    Comfort Groove
Seat Post    Kalloy Aluminum alloy Micro Adjust
Seat Clamp    Machined Aluminum Alloy with bolt
Colors    PearlSilver (as shown)

We now have cabinets!

Our cabinets are installed as of today!  We still have to install cabinet hardware, appliances, countertop, backsplash, and misc. wood trim in places, but this starts to give you an idea at least!

We’ve also replaced the mirrored glass with clear plate glass in the hutch and updated the knobs to newer ones:

Some pictures of our garden as well:

Sink & Faucet

World Imports Schon 201R Offset Double Bowl Stainless Steel Kitchen Sink

Kohler K-15076-P-7  Coralais Decorator Kitchen Sink Faucet

Exterior Painting

Well as part of our FHA approval, we have to paint a couple windows in the back of our house by the end of August.  Since the money was set aside to do this we just decided to paint the entire exterior while we were at it since we weren’t too fond of the current brown color.

The base brick around our house is this dark green color, so we decided to go a dark brownish-green to help blend the tan colored brick with the green brick.  This sort of olive colored green is also a very common bungalow color.

The house painting starts next Monday, so hopefully in another week or so we’ll have pictures of it completed!