Wow, Things Move Fast with a General Contractor

Where to start with this entry. Not really sure what has been told and what has not so here we go, sorry if you heard it before. It is a little jumbled but you all know me well enough to understand it.


We hired a person, we will call him Ben, to drywall our upstairs bedroom because Mike and I decided it was best. Ben came in quoted the job and then sent, Bill to do the job. Bill tells me that Ben does not like to work if the home owner is present. How does he get any work done?


So Bill does the job, I pay Ben, and then after the paint dries the drywall starts to crack on the tape joints. Ugh, cannot find good help.


Mike and I see an ad for a popcorn ceiling removal guy in our local HOA (Home Owners Association) newsletter and decide to give him a call. Well he is a painter and not really a popcorn ceiling remover dude so he says too expensive better off rehanging sheet rock. Away he goes and the house is on hold except for what I demo.


Sat we have 4 guys come in to bid the master bath remodel. 2 never even submit a quote and the 2 that did were $6,000 different. What to do?


Popcorn dude swings in and says he has a friend that can do the bathroom remodel and he has time if I want. Sure, great, let's "Get It Done!" He sounds competent and like he knows what needs to be done. Works for an hourly rate that I keep track of and I reimburse building materials at no markup cost to me. Great!


He shows up a little after 8 with painter dude and they start framing the walls, pouring the shower pan, and supporting the floor.



Shower pan was poured 4 times before he thought the slope was correct? Will the floor handle that much concrete?


Electrical mess to hang our new ceiling fan and light.

Light over the vanity that is invisible.

We closed the bathroom in as it was wide open to the bedroom. Odd design we are glad to be rid of. Unfortunately the drywall was not correctly hung and you can see 2 bubbles on each side of the door.

Outside vendor added our solar tube that provides moonlight and excellent sunlight. Who needs electricity? Well of course at night we do.

Everyone needs a break now and again so I tend the garden and Mike eats the peas.

This is the new office enclosed wall.

We decided on tile and laid out the pattern. The guys had laid the tile floor and again it was not done correctly and the toilet would not sit flush, the lines of grout do not really line up either. When he saw the pattern we decided to make a few cuts to see if the angles would come out correctly. We decided that he was not the best man for the job and we decided he was better at other projects.

He was good at hanging doors and sheet rock so that is what I had him do. Dustin, Verna and Brisa were coming so I wanted to have the house some what safe for her. She did a great job not falling through the holes in our house! BTW that is the bench I made.

Painter dude recommends a texture guy to me and he is fabulous, so excited to have something come out right! This is the new texture called Knock Down.

Mike and I are at Floor Decor picking up MORE tile and Bob says hey do you need an installer, yes we do, hire him and this is what the inside of the shower now looks like. 6x6 tiles on diagonal on the top, then a 2x2 tile that is 3 rows straight, then 12x12 tiles on the bottom with 2x2 every corner. Floor is 2x2. Looks really good.

Bob had to fix the height of one of the walls the other guy did as they were not the same height. Grrr!!

Bob pulled out a bunch of the tiles around the toilet and re floated the space so the toilet would sit correctly. Unfortunately he used ABS piping onto existing PVC and the plumber later ripped it all out.

12x12 on the floor a slightly darker color than the shower.

Good help has been really hard to find and everyone blames the one before them. They all say I can do it all no worries. Well we have learned that you have to hire out for each specialty...hence specialists!

Silvano comes and scrapes all the popcorn off the ceilings and re textures the walls. House in covered in plastic for days.

I email the guy who helped us design some of the areas and he referred me to someone who could help with the fireplace I ripped out. The mortar around the bricks near the mantel were gone. Wee bit of a fire hazard. Brian shows right up and says no problem I can fix that. 3rd week in and still looks like this.

But, he has done some amazing things elsewhere. Brian is a General Contractor and he has hired all these experts to come instantly and help out. Stan shows up and removes the ridiculous step into the house.

Crawl space beneath step.

No mice or no snakes!
Removes closet door

Gas line to the worthless fireplace that does not produce any heat.

New entry to the office.

Closet were the old entry was.

I paint the ceilings and the master walls, mesa tan. Bathroom is interesting aqua. And we are now stuck in this one room for the duration of the remodel.

I have a new low flush ADA height toilet.

Carpet is ripped off steps and the treads are ripped out too. It is Monday trash day.

And replaced with plywood.

New front door, thanks Jason for your speed. We had no door for 4 days.

Guest bath is demoed, gone is the sink.

and the toilet and shower and drywall.

Now that I am done demoing they come into rebuild.

Electrical inspector shows up and decides we need these ugly "hammers" on the shut offs for the washer. Ick! We passed electrical.

Plumber shows up and ripps apart all of the plumbing without telling anyone. So no water for the painters, drywallers, or me to flush a toilet. He was the rudest person I have met so far. I complained about no water and his response was "this is a construction ZONE!! Grrr.He left the basement a mess. All the old PVC pipes with their grossness still in them, wood chips from the floor, and water on the ladder he simply borrowed from us.

Passed plumbing inspection and built a closet behind the guest bath for the bedroom. Tub is in. Subfloor in. Painter painted the ceilings and walls of the living, dining and family rooms. I was done painting I need 3 rooms and the texture is a killer to paint. All the little valleys want to stay white. They (3 of them) painted in a day what took me 4. The main part of the house is Cupola Yellow. See fireplace not touched yet.

Richardo did all the crown molding in a day.

Life is getting hard sleeping in this room. It is too hot to sleep upstairs.

Silvano back to texture some more.

So things are crazy with our house remodel but who is really surprised about that!

So as of August 21st, our 16th annivesary, we have accomplished the follwoing:

• ripped out 2 closets to expand mudroom and reframed area
• replumbed 2 baths and mudroom
• added a closet
• added new entry way to office
• walled up old entranbce to office
• removed front step and lower door and closet
• new copper wiring to replace aluminum in office, master bedroom, 2 spare bedrooms, baths, living room, mudroom, and half of the garage (basement and family room still needs it)
• remodeled master and guest bath
• reinsullated all open areas
• removed carpet
• added harwood or tile
• added crown
• paint whole house (accent wall by stairs in burgundy)

Brian and Stan have been great and very excited they have been here.

Still need to do a few things but should be able to move back into a few rooms next week. We are both exhauseted but anxious for the finished look. Mike's company bought a new dealership down the road so he is workign crazy hours then coming home to the mess of a house to pull electrical or what not. We head to ME next week for a well deserved break. I also finsihed a masters course over the last 2 weeks. 2 more to go.

uTube Videos For The Classroom

I was asked the other day what movie clip I showed at the start of the school year a few years back and while I cannot remember exactly which one I used I know it was in the Shift Happens: Did You Know? Series.

Did You Know? originally started out as a PowerPoint presentation for a faculty meeting in August 2006 at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado. I live a few blocks from the school now, small world. The original has had 5 million online viewers and the new and old over 20 million online viewers and countless views from conferences, trainings, and gatherings.

"Because we are educators in the United States, our experiences and perspectives are going to be somewhat America-centric. However, we believe that the themes of Did You Know? are global in nature and apply to schools and children around the world. We want all children to be successful. We do not view the growing importance of India and China as negative but rather as additional opportunities for everyone in the world. We do not mean to gloss over the very real issues that countries such as India and China face, and we recognize that globalization and "flat world" factors have downsides just like other societal shifts. We prefer, however, to focus on the positive benefits and on doing what we can to help children learn and grow so that they may become successful digital, global citizens." by Karl Fischer and Scott McLeod from Shift Happens Wiki

Do a uTube search for either Did You Know or Shift Happens and there are several choices. Most of them are the same content but different music and images. Here are the ones I have used.

Did You Know 2.0 8+ minutes, 2006
Did You Know 6+ minutes, 2007 (not as good)
Did You Know 3.0 5+ minutes, 2008


A Vision of Today's Students is also interesting from Michael Wesch and the students at Kansas State University. It is a little jumpy in the photography but worth it.

Technolgy Grants

2009 Earth Day Challenge Filmmaking Contest
Deadline: September 1, 2009
Source: Mobile Learning Institute and the Pearson Foundation Web Site
Sponsored by the Pearson Foundation and the Mobile Learning Institute (MLI), the Earth Day Challenge invites young people internationally, in grades K-12, to develop brief, 2-5 minute films that share their views on the earth’s future and the importance of combating climate change. Each member of the first-place team will receive a Flip HD camcorder and a digital-arts-ready laptop loaded with Adobe Premiere Elements 4.0, Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0, and QuickTime. Each member of the second-place team will receive a Flip HD camcorder, and each member of five Honorable Mention teams will receive a Flip Ultra camcorder.

Tom's of Maine
Deadline: August 30, 2009
Help your favorite nonprofit get $20,000 in sponsorship funding

Small differences in a community can make a large difference in the world. So we want to support and encourage your efforts to get involved! In November we’ll award five 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations with $20,000. Right now you can help us by encouraging nonprofits in your community to apply.

How does the program work?
We are looking for applications for community involvement projects from nonprofit organizations. A review panel will narrow down our applications to 50 finalists. Then we’ll post them on our site so you can help us by voting for which 5 projects should be awarded funding.
We're accepting submissions from June 1st - August 30th. We are looking for applications from all 50 states.

Sherwin Williams - Color Your Community
Deadline: August 25, 2009
Your Entry Could Win $5,000 For Your Community Want to brighten up your local playground, school, recreation center or other public space? Tell us about a place in your neighborhood that needs a fresh coat of paint. Your entry could win a prize worth $5,000* in paint, supplies and cash from Sherwin-Williams and iVillage to help refresh your community. Simply submit a short essay and if your entry is the winner, your community organization will receive a prize valued at $5,000*. So go ahead. Color Your Community - enter today!

Tech & Learning invites K-12 students to participate in the seventh annual digital photography contest. Deadline: October 9, 2009.

The competition, open to all K-12 students, challenges you to capture — and share — your unique vision of the world. If you have an artistic side, you also have the option to digitally enhance your photos with your favorite imaging software. The top 4 winners in each grade level (elementary, middle, and high school) win prizes and have their photo featured in the December Awards Issue of Tech & Learning.

How: Enter the best possible photo. Your photo may be submitted "as is" or you can manipulate it using photo editing software. If you do choose to manipulate your photo digitally, submit both the original and the manipulated photo so we can compare. You may enter as many photos as you wish.

Environmental Education Grants
Deadline for applying for a 2009 EE grant was December 18, 2008.
The Grants Program sponsored by EPA's Environmental Education Division (EED), Office of Children's Health Protection and Environmental Education, supports environmental education projects that enhance the public's awareness, knowledge, and skills to help people make informed decisions that affect environmental quality. EPA awards grants each year based on funding appropriated by Congress. Annual funding for the program ranges between $2 and $3 million. Most grants will be in the $15,000 to $25,000 range.

Education World

Tools for Teachers

Descriptions are from their websites or from iLearn Technologies Weblog. Great site!!

Online Stopwatch or Count Down- is a free website that gives you the choice of a stopwatch function or a countdown function. You can set the countdown timer for any length of time and an alarm sounds when time is up.

Where the Other You Lives, Discover the forest through this website. Fun games and activities for students to complete online and a great booklet to print out full of activities to complete outside.

The Secret in the Cellar is an interactive web comic that is based on an actual forensic case of a 17th century body that was recently discovered. Through graphics, photos, and activities, students begin to unravel a mystery of historical and scientific importance. Students can analyze artifacts, and examine the skeleton for clues to determine a cause of death. Because of the subject matter of this web comic, this activity is best suited for middle school or high school students.

5min Videos on How Tos
The Tech section was ok but I loved the Fitness area.

UDL Book Builder is a site where you can create your own interactive digital stories. The books have built in coaches that can support diverse learning needs. The coaches direct student learning even when students are working independently. The digital books can include text, images, audio, glossary terms (that are linked within the story), and coaches that can provide hints, prompts, and modeling. The published books can be viewed online, downloaded to a computer, saved to a CD, or shared with others in the UDL library. Both teachers and students can use the UDL Book Builder to create interactive digital stories.

Scholastics Listen and Read is for students in first and second grade. The site does exactly what it’s name implies, it lets students listen to non-fiction stories and read along. There are 11 non-fiction stories for first grade social studies including The Path of the President, What Does the President Do, and a Celebration of Earth Day. There are 15 non-fiction stories focused on animals and food for first grade students. Second grade students have access to 10 non-fiction stories focused on social studies including Constitution Day and Welcome to a Pilgrim Village.

There are also 11 short non-fiction stories for second grade students focused on animals and food. Social Studies is a hard subject to teach first and second grade students from a text book because the vocabulary and reading can be especially challenging. Scholastic Listen and Read solves this problem wonderfully with short, easy to read non-fiction stories that are read aloud to your students. As an added bonus, each story includes the Scholastic Word Wizard.
This tool floats right on top of the web page. At any point, students can click on a word in the story and the Scholastic Word Wizard will give them an easy to read definition of the word. Students can also type a word into the Word Wizard to look it up.

Comics in the Classroom: 100 Tips, Tools, and Resources for Teachers

Smithsonian Virtual Museum
Students can take a self guided tour through the whole museum. They can navigate room by room using their mouse to “walk” through the museum, or navigate by clicking on the room or exhibit they would like to visit on the museum map. Camera icons throughout the museum show students hotspots where students can get close to an object or exhibit panel. This is a truly amazing way for students to learn about natural history. Students can explore the ocean hall, ancient seas, dinosaurs, early life, fossils and plants, mammals, African cultures, ice age, western cultures, reptiles, insects, butterflies, plants, bones, geology, gems, minerals, and the hope diamond. As students explore the museum, the map will show which exhibits have been visited and which have yet to be visited. I am completely amazed by this site and could spend hours going through the exhibits myself, students will love it! THIS is what virtual field trips should be!

Welcome to the Web is an interactive website that teaches students all about the Internet through challenges and activities. There are seven sections of activities and learning on Welcome to the Web. The first section teaches students how to use the site. Section 2 teaches students about the basic concepts involved in the Internet, it also gives some valuable practice navigating and visiting websites. Section 3 is all about staying safe online by following SMART rules, student understanding is tested using interactive activities and fun quizzes. Section 4 helps students learn more about their web browser and its features. In section 5 students will learn how to search effectively and safely in search engines. Section 6 helps students understand copyright. The last section invites students to compete in a challenge that requires them to use all of the skills they learned to catch the creator of a computer virus. When the challenge has been completed, students can print out a certificate of completion. Each section of this site comes with accompanying worksheets to be used with the site. These don’t have to be used in order to use the site effectively. Throughout the site, students can ‘hover’ the mouse over an underlined word and a definition will pop up.

Back to School Ideas

Well, it is that time a year again and summer vacation is over and you are headed back to the grind. Here are a few suggestions to get the kids using technology the first week of school.

1. Wordle
"Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends." from their website.

Have them select words that describe their summer vacation, expectations for the new year, favorite topic or rules for the classroom.

2. Google Earth for Educators
"Google Earth is a free, downloadable application that combines satellite imagery, maps, 3D terrain and 3D buildings to create a highly realistic virtual globe. Teachers and students can create their own virtual tours and share them with others. They can explore content developed by organizations such as NASA, Discovery Education, Jane Goodall and others. In addition, Google Earth now allows students and teachers to turn their gaze upward to explore the night sky in staggering detail." from their website

You can have the kids create their summer trip and show where they have been this summer by creating annotated place markers indicating the location.

3. Blog

Have the students start their blog the first week of school so they can journal the year, post messages, photos, and videos from events in their lives, share schoolwork with their peers, parents, and others.

4. Create a scavenger hunt.
Create a list of items or locations in the school and have the kids use the digital cameras to take photos of the items on the list. They can then create a video introducing their school to others. (make sure the rest of the school knows they might be interrupted....music, art, library, etc...)

5. Create a podcast
Have students record something about themselves, the school, their friends, or something of interest to them.

You can also play a simple game of Simon Says for the younger students. Find out what they know about the computer....monitor, mouse, keyboards, USB port, open an application, etc...

Hope these ideas help. Let me know how they worked out and if you have any ideas to add to mine. Thanks for sharing!!

RSS Feeds

RSS "Really Simple Syndication" but sometimes "Rich Site Summary") feeds are a great way to collect the articles, images, blogs, video and other info that you want to check out. You can use Google Reader to select sources on any and all topics by choosing sites based on keyword or URL. You can organize them in folders by topic, share them, star them for later reading and/or delete them. It is one stop reading instead of navigating to all your favorite places one by one.

Things I subscribe to are my friends blogs so I know when they have been updated so I do not miss their latest adventures. I subscribe to my local newspaper so I can stay current on the happenings in my neighborhood. I selected several educational technology websites and have already benefited greatly from them.

As a student they can select keywords of their topic to be delivered to their reader. They can then read the summaries and decide to read more, ignore it or read it later. They can also select the sources they are getting information from so you know it is current and appropriate.

As a teacher you can subscribe to your students blogs, flicker accounts, wikis, or uTube videos. It is one stop shopping that allows you to view all of your favorite items in one location. As a student they can subscribe to your sites as well and know when you have updated your blog to include homework assignments, extra credit, or class notes.

Are any of you using RSS for yourselves or for your students. What do you see as the benefits, the drawbacks? How do the students like using it?

Flickr

Who uses Flickr?

I started to upload my images and can see a great use for this in the classroom. Either you or the children can upload an image and then annotate it. You can also password protect the images for safety reasons.

Just think about how you could use a map in Social Studies and have the kids label the cities, states, rivers, mountain ranges or any other aspect on a map.

You could post a folder of insects and have them label them.

They could post a collage of images and explain what each item means to them.

You could post a crime scene and have them reveal the clues.

They could use the images in their presentations. (always provide the source)

It is so exciting.

Check this one out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amsterdamned/2060974024/
The kids could copy the image into their own account and then annotate their thoughts and opinions. These are a few questions that I thought of when I saw the image. Can you add more to mine?

1. How does the collage make you feel?
2. What photos stands out to you and why?
3. If you could trade paces with one photo which would you choose and why?
4. Why do you think the photographer selected these images to make a collage?
5. Describe a day in the life of one of the photos.
6. Create your own collage.

How are you using images within your classroom? How do you feel about the publishing of photos to a world audience? Do you think Flickr could be a benefit to your students?

Come check out my photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gilamonsta/

Cheers!

Benefit of Jing

I am taking a Web EDU class about Read/Write Web and came read about an application called Jing. This is a great app for creating screen shots of what you want your learners to see. What is even better is you can capture the movement of the mouse and the viewer can see where you are moving/clicking to navigate to a new location. It allows 5 minutes of capture which is about a teacher's attention span. Those of you who create cheat sheets, directions, or screen casts for trainees might find this beneficial.

I prefer PrSc on a PC for the simple quick shot of the screen but Jing for the capture feature. What are your thoughts?

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Where did June go?

June seemed to whizz by for me. Mike unfortunately had to work the month but I was free to roam. He was to be busy at work so it would be a great time for me to get my fill of family and friends.

I headed to Worcester on June 4th and crashed at my dad's. Hotel Gill was welcoming and the same as ever. Julie came at noon the next day to take me to the Cape. It was a girl's weekend with Julie, Liane, Helen and me. We had a great weekend despite the lack of sun. We shopped downtown Falmouth and hit Liam's and British Beer Company as well as walks and a few hours of sun on the beach.

Sunday I headed back to my dad's and visited with Peg.

On Wednesday bright and early we headed to Logan via Knights Limo to fly to Richmond to visit with Ed and family and go to Deirdre's graduation.

Wed we spent the day by the pool and relaxed. The pool is amazing and the sun was shining as it had not been in Worcester. Thursday we headed over to the pumphouse to hang some beautiful art work that the community kids painted. We had 3 large windows to fill with 6 painted plywood panels. You can see how large the windows are.

The theme is the James River and the kids had painted a bridge scene. I wish I had pictures but do not.

The pump house is no longer in working condition but the "Friends of the James River" are working on repairing the historic building. It was built in 1882 of granite and is Richmond's second oldest pump house. It provided drinking water for 40 years to the citizens. Maureen is on the committee for the renovation of the pump station. The building is beautiful and once housed a grand ball room that is now in desperate repair.

Lunch was from one of Luke's favorite chicken places and the rest of the afternoon was spent by the pool. After supper we went to a concert at the Dell. Deirdre had some friends over for a pool party and we got to meet a few of her friends.

Friday was graduation day for Maggie L. Walker and we headed to Landmark Theatre. The Landmark was a built as a mosque and was completed in 1927. The speeches were well done and the duration short.

Saturday came too early and we headed back to Worcester. Maggie's dance recital was later that day and something I did not want to miss. She did an amazing job and danced in 4 different numbers. My favorites were her Ballet and Tap. She also did Jazz and Tumble. She had 2 performances and did great in both.

We headed to Falmouth later that night for the weekend. Again no sun and we made the best of it. Kim and her kids were there as well so we got to hang out with them. Maggie enjoyed being buried in the sand by Thomas.

Mary had to work i Brewster on Monday and Tuesday so Maggie and I got to hang out. We headed to Martha's Vineyard and had a great day.

We shopped, ate ice cream and fudge and she played on the carousel after we visited the Gingerbread Houses. More than 300 Easter egg-colored houses complete with dainty trimmings and names such as "Angel Cottage," "Wooden Valentine," and "The Pink House," make up the cottage colony.

The Flying Horses Carousel is the nation's oldest operating platform carousel and a National Historic Landmark.

Maggie was a little too short to reach the ring but the nice attendant showed her how to stretch to reach.
She had fun but did not get the golden ring which would gain her a free ride. We headed back to the house and Mary picked us and brought us back to Worcester.

Wednesday I spent with Steph and the babies and saw Tim for supper. The kids are adorable.

Thursday Cathy came and spent the night and we headed to Worcester Art Museum and the Ecotarium. Cathy in the trees.

I was missing Mike so I had to capture the dragon lizard in remembrance of him.

Saturday we head to Gayle's for a cookout and to catchup on the family. Piper at one year's old was a big hit.

Tom and his fiance Kerri.

Sunday was Father's Day and Tim's birthday so we gathered at dad's to celebrate.

I love this photo of little Nic!

Tim trying to eat his cake and ice cream too!

Monday I headed to NH to visit with Jennie and Mark and we hiked around the Kancamagus Highway. Had fun playing with Emma and Ashley. That night I spent at Tyler and Nancy's. It was great to see them and see Bryan and Brendan...they have gotten so big. Spent Tuesday catching up with Judie and Dave. Tuesday night at Greta and Sonny's. Wednesday shopping with Lianna, Natalie and Greta. That night back in Worcester and Mary and Tim came over to hang out. We had a great time looking at old photos.

Thursday flew to CO and spent Friday with my husband!

Planning a family Haran reunion for July 2009, look for updates in the mail, email and on Facebook.