Durham to Host Preservation NC Annual Conference!

That's right! The great rehab and uprising going on throughout Durham has prompted the Preservation Society of North Carolina to choose Durham as this year's host of the Presnc's 2010 Annual conference. People all around the state and bordering states will be visiting our fine city for that weekend in a History and education packed event that will allow Durham to show off its architectural uprising. The conference will take place on September 22nd through the 25th and will feature the great success stories like the Golden Belt project, American Tobacco, and many more successful reuse projects that have allowed Durham's local economy to boom. For more information, go to the Preservation NC website.

2010 East Durham Home Tour

The date has been set by their neighborhood association for October 10th, 2010. One day after my birthday! Indeed a great 30th birthday treat for me to go to my favorite home tour. I can't wait to see what's in store for this year's homes as I always enjoy seeing the progress E Durham has made. Go East Durham! No details yet but you can see their website at http://uplifteastdurham.wordpress.com/

At last! A post from me!

Hello world!

Sorry I've been missing in action...I've been very busy with just having a regular life instead of focusing on my house...Besides getting my wife's car ready to hit the road, I've been trying to relax a bit more and not spend so much time on my computer researching random stuff...

It's hard not to do when you have a world of information right at your fingertips...I guess I just love to research things...Just random stuff that I'm into at the given moment...It's crazy! Well, I'm kinda back and hope to update you guys on happenings around the house, the neighborhood, and of course, Durham...

Volkswagen Cabrio...

Yes, we have realize by now (duh) that we live in a warm climate...Extremely warm in the summer...Why am I writing the obvious? I'm trying to lead to the fact that since we do live in a warm climate, why not get a convertible? Well, that's what we're doing today! I've been looking for a car for Heather since her current car always meant to be a temporary car...Just was not sure to get until I stumbled upon a 97 VW Cabrio in Chapel Hill. We got to drive it about two weeks ago and although it needed some work, it was all cosmetic small stuff that I can fix in a couple days...We did get advice from my good friend from back home to stay away from this car since he used to have the same thing and it was problematic. My thinking was that I would be working on the car, not a shop and I can see how that can get costly, especially VW's which you really have to know these cars and not just take them to any shop...

So I, as well as my wife are very excited about getting a convertible. I am so excited that I'm considering getting an older Cabriolet myself. I may in a couple weeks if I find one for the right price (less than a grand). So here's a coupe shots of the car in its current state in which the owner had from his ad:

Life is Life these days...

Been slacking on the blog posting as we have not been doing much on the home front. We've kind of just been living a regular life lately...Renting documentaries, staying at home on weekends, hanging out with friends more often. Just living a regular life which we kind of went away from for a short while there through all the work...So I've been laying back and relaxing more and not posting much on here as a result...The big thing going on this weekend is a cookout at our house this weekend...So yet, another regular life event in which we are just living it and and enjoying ourselves...Things are back to normal...for now!

Unclog drain pipe...Check!

We cut our dogs hair last week and gave them a bath immediately after. The problem was, the immense amount of hair on them cause our clawfoot tub drain to clog! I felt bad as our house/pet sitter had to shower and had to deal with the problem...So I took it uppon myself to fix the issue once we got back from our camping trip the other day. First, I removed the piping around it to see if the clog was near the main drain. Everything was clear...I thought to myself..."This could be a problem".

Well, the good thing is, we had a similar issue in our place where our kitchen sink would not drain...When we called the plumber, they came and put this metal strung rope through the pipes that spun and apparently, this thing broke up sediment or whatever was stuck on the pipes in order to clean it. The issue then was not within dirty drain pipes though...We had a bigger issue: Broken pipes underneath.

Well, I knew this wasn't our issue since I can see the pipes in our crawlspace. I knew the issue was not down there as I check them out and there was no water in them...The issue had to be in between the floor and crawl space. An unseen area of the pipe...So I went on the net and checked to see if they sold one of those home use drain pipe cleaners...Well, yes, they did and found out it was called a drain pipe auger. So, excited about this, I went to my local hardware store Tuesday and found the hand operated auger tool for $15. Alot cheaper than calling in a plumber so why not try!!! So I removed some of the piping so that my tool can be inserted into the drain...After a couple of tries and windind the thing to break up the sediment, the thing brought back the lump of hair and lime that was the main issue as while you wind it by hand, it wrapped up the hair on the end piece the tool. Results! As I brought the rope back up the pipes, there was the lump attached to the end piece of my tool. I put the tool down a couple more times just in case I missed any thing and then proceeded to put things back together...Tried my shower out and water flushed down the pipes with ease!!!!

I am definitely keeping my hand auger thing and so excited I did not have to pay a plumber $80-$200 to clear the pipe!!! Thank you internet! Not sure how do-it-yourselfers survived without you!!!

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

We just got back from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia and I am a little mad at myself and Heather as well for forgetting our camera. This is an ongoing issue for us in which we just blame each other...This time around though, I was a little more annoyed than usual as I wanted to take shots of the Historic distinct architecture of the area. I got to learn quite a bit of history and American History which was not really thought at public schools growing up. I learned all about abolitionist John Brown and his revolutionary ways and thought, wow, this guy was amazing. So amazing that even the most respected writers of all time like Emerson and Thoreau all backed him and respected him dearly. He was pretty much the reason why America had a Civil War when it did and played a big role in breaking up Confederate States to become part of the Union. Another great thing I learned was the beginnings of Storer College, the very first institution where blacks and women got a secondary education. Storer was also the grounds where pretty much the unofficial start of the NAACP organization was started, which started as The Niagara Movement, led by WEB Dubois.

The area in general was beautiful and so many natural sights to see! It is noted that older homes were built based on whatever local materials were available. One thing I noticed based on that fact is that a ton of the older homes in the area were stucco, stone, brick, but more specifically, sandstone. Sand stone is the prominent geological basis of West Virginia lands. Well, the homes of Harpers Ferry were all built of this ever lasting mineral. The architecture was very much European influenced with great streetscapes built of cobble stones surrounded by quaint homes. While I did not get shots of the area and how great it is, for now though, here's some shots of the little downtown area of Harpers Ferry from pics I've found on the web...