What brings me to Phoenix…

When I'm down in Phoenix unfortunately its not always fun and games; I just tend to leave the work part out of it. I know whenever I'm down in Arizona I always post about what I'm doing in my free time like biking, hiking, climbing, sightseeing, being a tourist, etc… and I know some believe that's all I do when I'm down here. Unfortunately that's not the case… For me writing about work is boring and who wants to read about that anyway. So here's my one post of what brings me down to Arizona. Simply put we have 3 Projects that are currently underway 1) Phoenix Convention Center, 2) Sunrise Senior Living Center, and 3) Navapache Regional Medical Center. Most of my time is spent at the Convention Center attending meetings, walking the job site, taking field measurements, reviewing blue prints and specs, having "discussions" with the GC and other trades, coordinating my subcontractors, site coordination, catching other people's mess ups, notice I said "other" because we all know I don't make mistakes :) Just kidding. Below are some pics of the Phoenix Convention Center Building.

For some reason I don’t think this meets the Electrical Code. What’s your opinion???

Well Marc and I finally closed on the house this past Thursday and we scheduled our first day of work for Saturday morning. Our game plan was to go in and demo all the drywall and some walls in the basement, along with the concrete wash sink, shower stall, etc… We put in about 8 hours of hard labor and needless to say my leg / hip was feeling it Saturday evening. When we removed the fabulous drywall job in the basement we uncovered some interesting ways of making a junction box and connecting wires… (see below pics)

Duct tape works for everything in this case it substitutes as a junction box... Nice, Fire Hazzard! Good thing there were only 4 kids living in this house.

Dining Room Trim Project

Well I wasn't able to get this project completed before my last trip to AZ. But now it is about 99% complete, I just have to do some touch up painting. See below for the pics. Hope everyone is having a great day and staying warm; it's a blizzard here in Kzoo and wind chills could get down to -25. I'm anxiously awaiting my next trip to AZ.

Hey… If you gotta go you gotta go… Just not in our basement.

Where have I been…? I know it has been a while since my last update, life has been pretty busy lately with PT, work, Arizona, getting things together for the house project, etc… I had my latest doctor's appointment a week ago Monday. The doc said that the bone is healed completely and that I can start strengthening with weights and can begin running next Monday. Unfortunately no skiing just yet, the doc said once I can withstand 20min on the treadmill of running I can ski. So naturally my comment to him was… "So all I have to do my first day on the treadmill is last 20min and I can go skiing." He laughed and said "I'm sure that's exactly what you'll do too."

There's my condo at the bottom of the trails... Pretty cool, about 51 miles of trails right out my back door.

Me on my hike...

I did make the trip back down to Arizona a couple weeks ago. It was great to get a break from the Michigan weather, wear shorts and spend some time hiking in the mountains. I was kept pretty busy with work stuff while I was down there but I did manage to get some hiking in. My next trip will be in a couple weeks and I plan on bringing the road bike with me on that trip. It will be great to ride outside and get some miles in. I'll probably keep my rides pretty tame and mostly in the valley avoiding the climbs and mountains, but hey I'll be riding outside and it won't be snowing.

An update on the house project… Our offer had been accepted and we are just waiting on a closing date. The closing should be later this week or sometime the following week. An interesting story… we met a window guy over at the house this past Saturday morning to get a price on some vinyl windows. The salesmen went through the house, took his measurements and when he came up from the basement asked… "Does that drain downstairs work because I gotta take a leak?" I about busted out laughing thinking did he really just say that. Notice he said drain, not a toilet. Right now there is no toilet in the basement so this guy was asking if he could pee on the basement floor into the drain. Obliviously I told him no and that he could head outside by the garage. Marc and I busted out laughing thinking he must still be drunk or hung over from the night before. Needless to say he did not get our order but that was because his price was too high.

(Above) Check out the craftsmanship. This is one of our favorites. This is of a wall in the basement that the previous owner was finishing. I wonder what this guy was thinking when he put this contraption together. Notice the extra piece of drywall at the end with the nail sticking half way out.

Another good story... Marc and I went by the house to take some before pics. In the bathroom is a drop ceiling (will be removed) but Marc popped opening a ceiling tile and what did we find??? A stack of adult magazines from 1995. Pretty funny.

Marc and I are anxiously waiting starting the project. We have been getting estimates on cabinets, windows and some of the things that may need to be ordered. Some good news… we did meet Marc's Aunt over at the house Saturday morning as well and she is a realtor here in Kalamazoo. She thought the house was definitely a good buy and that she has a couple who is currently looking for a house that is in the price range ours will be in when the project is completed. I mentioned bring them by and we'll even let them pick out paint colors.

Thanks for reading, I hope everyone is well and has a great day!