That great little podcast thing from the last post… well, IU has never done anything like that before. The IUSOM Window servers just weren’t up for the task of serving out ~200MB to some 200 people. They crashed HARD! So, a quick edit of the XML, and now the files are being hosted from the audio departments brand new Apple XServer. We’ll probably move them to library’s XServer sometime tomorrow.
So… not much progress has been made in about week. I’ve been very busy since the Dean of the School of Music heard about these new-fangled “podcasts”. Now, thanks to a lot of encoding by Konrad and I, the IU Jacobs School of Music now has a podcast with hi-res video. They even built the horrible looking IU Music Live website for it. Go laugh at it, or just download the podcast directly.
Enjoy!
In our most recent trip to Lowes (which has become a daily – sometimes twice-daily – occurrence) we were on the search for backboxes. You know those cute little blue boxes that you put in the wall to support the outlet. We were looking for the “old construction” boxes with the little tabs to keep the boxes in the wall. Lowes had 1. And it was broken. Of course. So we drove an hour to the Bedford Lowes and wiped them out of all 6 of their old construction backboxes. So… All your backboxes are belong to us!
A minor victory has been won against the sink in former Apt 4. See… I decided to replace the faucet with a nicer one since the old hardly work and was pretty nasty. With the new came a new drain stopper and assembly. I thought, “Heck, I’ll just replace the entire p-trap.” In the process of removing the old formerly-chrome-now-rust p-trap, a small section of the cast iron drain pipe in the wall came out with it. This certainly made an easy job very difficult.
Well… I finally found the right rubber seal/adaptor to allow me to connect the new p-trap to the partially broken cast iron drain pipe in the wall.
Note the new faucet… it matches the one we put in the kitchen. Also note, the linoleum and quarter-round will be replaced soon.
So… while poking around, I discovered the wiring in Apt 3 and 4 is mostly cloth-covered, knob insulated wire. For those that don’t know, this stuff is fine unless you don’t like fire. Okay… it’s not that bad, but in reality, I don’t want this stuff in my attic where a tenant will throw there stuff to stored, wear through the insulation (which almost comes off in your hands) and start a fire. So… Liz and I have started to rewire the entire thing. This is going to be tough, but shouldn’t be too hard. Plus, this should bring these apartments into code compliance (or at least close enough).
Some of the outlets and switches have been more stubborn than others. This means we have a few large-ish holes that we’ll need to patch. Hopefully this is the worst of it…. (damn… did I just jinx that?!?)
I think Fisher Price should start a product line of toys for future landlords… and there would be a little doll called “My First Tenantâ„¢”.
It’s official… I’ve rented out the “former Apt 5”-now Apt 3. Shortly after Anne Lisa (for some reason pronounced “Ann Lise”), one of the inherited tenants, moved out, Liz and I went nuts on her apartment. Liz painted… I added light fixtures… Liz cleaned… I added a GFCI outlet in the bathroom… Liz painted… I cleaned the carpet and vacuumed out the air ducts. Now, after only 2 days on craigslist.org, we have tenant: April. She seems nice; a 25-yr old SPEA student. Hopefully she will enjoy the place.
I ordered a new, full sized oven/stove which should be delivered tomorrow, and a new refrigerator which should be delivered next week.
After a quick visit to DC, we’re back! We ran to DC to take care of the house there… someone (cough… fucking realtors… cough) left a window open during a rain storm and damaged a wall upstairs. On top of that, sump pump had burned itself out. I guess these things happen when you get 12″ of rain in 2 days…
While in DC, a realtor came over to show the house… so we disappeared for a few hours. When we came back to the house, all of the lights inside were on, the porch lights were off, and the BACK DOOR WAS WIDE OPEN!!! Did I mention I hate realtors!??!??!
Anyways… back to IN and “The Fabulous Fire Hazard”… We get to move in today!!! That’s right, today I perform a move-out inspection for Crystal in Apt #4. I have no point of reference for the damage to apartment, so I just have walk through, nod, look disappointed, and write her a check for her full deposit. This is the first of five. Hopefully I’ll get the hang of it and not cry too much.
After I check her out of the place, I hope to grab our wonderful air mattress and start squatting in my own house! A little explanation…
The house has 5 apartments. Apt 1 on the ground floor is the largest: a 1 bedroom with a huge living room, full bath, and nice kitchen. Apt 2, also on the ground floor, is an large efficiency: one large bedroom with a small kitchenette from the 50’s and full bath. Apt 3 on the 2nd floor is a medium efficiency with the same 50’s kitchenette and a really nice full bath. Apt 4 is next 3 on the 2nd floor: a 1 bedroom with a nice living room, hallway, full bath, and mediumish kitchen. Apt 5 is back on the ground: a small studio with a small (but full-sized) kitchen and full bath.
So where do we live in all of this craziness? Good question. The current plan is… Combine apt 1 and apt 2 into my own living space. There is a doorway between the two apartments that has been drywalled over. So once I have access to those apartments, I’ll open it up and make the 2 into 1. For those counting, that a 2 bed, 2 bath (the kitchenette will go away). The two upstairs apartments (3 and 4) will be easily combined to make another very large 2 bed, 2 bath apartment. Apt 5 is pretty well separated, so it’ll just stay that way. That a total of three separate living spaces, all with separate entrances! Hopefully it will all come together….