Get that Window Template Out of Here Will Ya!…..Ever Eat a Halibut?

Where is the horse and the rider?

Where is the horn that was blowing?

They have passed like rain on the mountains.

Like wind in the meadows.

The days have gone down in the West.

Behind the hills, into Shadow.

How did it come to this?

 

King Theodin of Rohan before the battle of Helms Deep.

 

How did it come to this?  I wonder.

Yes friends of Middle Earth.  I often ask myself this very question.

 

I bought a box of Cracker Jacks hoping that I might find the answer inside. Hmmm. Didn’t happen people?  Okay I knew it was a long shot but what the heck.

Well welcome once again friends of Middle Earth. The Hobbit Hollow Construction Blog goes on. It looks as if it’s going to go on for quite some time the way the building of this house is going. Well. You never know. I mean I could get my mojo back any day now. We’re on the brink of finishing the Villa on 220 Central Park South. I can’t wait till that job is done. It’s like a bur under my hide. It really is. What a pain in the neck. Every day something knew and unexpected happens there.

So the Rangers of the North showed up this weekend to give me a hand over at the house. We installed the guest bedroom window after lunch on Saturday. Terence and his friends Peter and Ryan showed up just as I was finishing up the waterproofing details for the window. It worked out pretty good. While I finished that up I had them get the room ready and prepped for moving the window around.  You know clean up sweep up get all the little blocks of wood out of there. Oh yeah and move the window template out of the room as well as the work bench I had set up.

A quick story.

So I told them get the window template out of the room. Where should we put it? Just get it out of here and lean it up against a wall in the living dining room area. Right? Right. I mean this template is pretty big. About 8 feet high by 8 feet wide more or less. So they’re going to have to put it in a good spot where it won’t be in the way and or fall over. Right? Right. I mean these kids are all seniors in high school they should be able to handle that right? Right. So they move the template out of the room but I’m not really paying attention. The next question was where do we put the work bench and horses? Oh put them outside on the front lawn. Where do you think they put the template. Right in front of the front door. So in order to get the bench and the horses through the door you had to walk through the template and then through the door. As I approach the door they’re going through with the bench and accidentally hit the template. It starts to fall and nearly cracks me in the head.

The hired help ain’t what it used to be people.

I put the template in a spot where we could get out of the house without killing someone.

Back to window installations.

So the window we’re going to install is the big kahoonah. You know the one that weighs like 600 pounds. Originally the plan was to have Jude and Ethan lift this thing while they were still at home. But alas they are not. So the heavy lifting goes to me and Terence with Ryan and Peter as our assistants. It went pretty well until we got to the final lift. The final lift was about 8 inches high. I know it doesn’t sound like much but you are lifting this weight from an already elevated position. So the final lift for me meant that I would have to lift the window and then rise up on my toes to get it to the right height. I don’t know if you get what I’m saying here cause it’s kind of hard to describe. Needless to say this thing weighs a lot and I’m not a power lifter to say the least.

Ever notice how fast your mind races in an adrenaline induced moment? So as I’m lifting my end for the tippy toe part of the lift I feel the muscle in my calf starting to cramp up.  Like bad. All these crazy senarios raced through my head about how I’m going to drop this window and see it crash to the floor. I’m telling you that’s what happend. My calf held though thank God. I got really scared there people.  Very nerve racking.

We did it though and the window is in. Check it out.

Rangers of the North: Peter,Ryan, and Terence.
Rangers of the North: Peter,Ryan, and Terence.
A longer view.
A longer view.

Just so you know the exsposed concrete on the right hand side of the picture is going to be covered up with stone. I think that will really finish things off nice on the outside. Hopefully we’ll be doing that this coming spring.

A couple of other shots.

Ryan on cleanup patrol.
Ryan on cleanup patrol.

I mean who’s got a ceiling like that in their bedroom?

Peter stripping the protective coating off the window..
Peter stripping the protective coating off the window.

Oh yeah Georgia had a few days off in sunny Madrid  and headed north to Stockholm, Sweeden. Those Swedes. They’re always looking to eat a fish or something. Usually a halibut. She said it was really nice there. Swedes and all. She stayed away from the halibut.

Ethan on the other hand is now about to start studying history in Cambridge, England. He needs a half semester of study to get a second college degree. He’s really excited. He’s living in an apartment with 7 other people mostly from Europe. Here he is at JFK when I dropped him off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ethan at Jfk
Ethan at JFK

I’m only kidding.

Ethan outside JFK waiting to go to England.
Ethan outside JFK waiting to go to England.

What’s with all the world traveling? I just hope he doesn’t fall for one of those English with the bad teeth. You know what I’m saying.  Okay maybe you don’t know what I’m saying. Half the time I don’t even know what I’m saying.

The moral of the story is never trust a senior in high school to put things where you want them to go unless you get real specific.

See you all next week and enjoy it!

Hobbit Hollow Jim

 

 

 

 

 

 

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