Before and After

Here is 1802 SW 149th in it's pre-flip agony. A nice-sized level lot in Seattle right across the street from the Lake Burien Park. You can't see it, but the house was surrounded by a 12 foot high laurel hedge on both street fronts (a corner lot). the neighbors complained that varmints lived in that hedge, garbage collected there, and it was dangerous approaching the intersection because the hedge made it impossible to see approaching cars.

The house itself was built in 1946, a time of tight construction budgets post WWII. Notice no eaves to protect the windows (rotted). The siding is beautiful clear old cedar, but one of the previous owners was talked into spraying a faux stucco surface that was supposed to be impervious to the ubiquitious moss of Seattle, but if you look closely, you will see it. Inside is 880 sq. feet of smallness. Plaster and lathe, no central heat, bad plumbing and knob and tube wiring. Yes, it all had to go. Beautiful hardwoods underneath the drab carpeting had been stained and ruined in many places. We salvaged what we could, but that was only the living room and hallway.



The bathroom was a mess...here's a photo:





Yep, those are visegrips he used as handles for the tub. It actually looks pretty clean, but you had to be there. Mold under the sink, around the toilet, and behind the laminate sheet posing as tile in the tub.



The kitchen was pretty grim as well. loads of grease on the paint, nice wood cabinets hidden by bad treatment and poor upkeep, so we lost them as well.

We basically took the house down to it's stud walls and subflooring. The garage was detached, so we enclosed the breezeway adding 10 feet of width to the kitchen and master bedroom. To align the back wall of the garage with the back wall of the house we added 6 feet to the back of the garage, giving us room for a walk-in closet for the master and a furnace room for the garage. The added area of the master was turned into a sitting area and full bath, and the space in the kitchen became a laundry room as well as more kitchen space. All very usable space.

How's this for an after? Hedges all gone, new siding, new windows, new plumbing, new wiring, new roof, new furnace, new garage door, new paver driveway, and landscaping on the way. Inside we put in new cherry cabinets, refinished the oak floors and tiled both bathrooms. The bedrooms will get designer carpeting. The appliances have been ordered (Frigidaire SS), and slab granite countertops will arrive 2 days after the appliances. The cork floor was installed in the kitchen, dining area and laundry room. After that, it is new interiour doors, trim and some cleaning. We will then do a little landscaping and call it done.
More pictures to come. Oh, btw, thanks to Robert for his help in figuring out how to upload the pictures.

Chow!

Mad Cow Madness

Busy travel days for me recently. I just returned from the midwest on Friday and will head back out to Detroit, Toledo and other points on Monday. Whew!

While on the plane I caught up on some industry reading...you must check out a new food technology title: "Accelerating the Product Development and Design Process". In particular I found Chapter 6 extremely educational. The author had a way of making his concepts come alive for me. Yes, you caught on quickly...that author is me! Ha! No, really, I did do a lot of reading on the plane.

One particular news item caught my attention. It focused on a meatpacker's attempt to have all the cows scheduled for slaughter to be tested for Mad Cow disease. Good idea, I thought. Well our brilliant pencil-pushers in the USDA threatened to prosecute this meat packer, Creekstone Farms of Arkansas City, Kansas if it proceeded with their plan to ensure the health and safety of its customers. I thought, no, this can't be right, I'd better read the whole thing to make sure I was getting the story right. I got it right, kind of puzzling, but let me explain.

The Agriculture Department is currently responsible for grading, inspecting, and testing all meats destined for consumption (human and pet). They currently test only about 1% of all beef slaughtered that is destined for our fry pans and bbq grills. The frequency of testing has been reduced by about 90% since last July. Budget cuts, regulations to prevent spinal cord and brain tissue in the feed system, and lack of positive test results are generally presented as the justification for reducing the testing for Mad Cow disease. The real question is, "Why would the government care if a meatpacker wanted to go to 100% testing at their own expense?" Oh, the brilliance of our government agencies just shines through in their answer...they are worried that a "false positive" may hurt the sales of beef if Creekstone tested all its animals slaughtered! Creekstone seems to be doing what consumers are asking for...certified safety of their food supply. Incidentally, isn't that what the FDA and USDA are supposed to be guaranteeing ? With the recent issues with Salmonella, E. coli, peanut butter, etc. wouldn't Americans feel better about 100% testing? Creekstone's most excellent response to this ridiculous charge? "Umm, we are using the exact same testing protocol and labs that the USDA is currently using." Now that I love! If the government is worried about false positives, why aren't they worried about the same thing in their testing? Their threat to vigorously prosecute Creekstone was thankfully thwarted by a local magistrate, U.S. District Judge James Robertson. His ruling could have a huge affect on future legislation and may allow for more privatization of testing, certification and reduce the stranglehold the USDA has on the fresh meat industry. The USDA has until June 1 to appeal his decision to allow Creekstone to begin testing all their animals slaughtered in their meatpacking facility.

Here's my beef...if you want to regulate and control the testing and certification, then you have to have enough resources in place to meet all the needs of producers. You can't shoestring a budget, spread out the inspector's ranges, and slow down the system. Until the government is willing to up its efficiency in operations, then I say let Creekstone test. It's good for American consumers to be able to consume certifiably safe meat.

Chow!

Gray Hair, Part II

How come the words, "Spring Break" sounded so much better before I had a son in college? I remember Spring Break for me...we didn't head to the beach, we headed to the ski slopes for 5 or 6 days of skiing at Jackson Hole, hanging out, yada-yada-yada. Interesting question, I thought to myself as Jeff reminded us he was heading to Daytona Beach after his Chem final last Friday. Let's see, cramming all week, finals in Calc, English and Inorganic Chem, then driving all night to Daytona Beach...lots of gray hair opportunities. However he was doing Spring Break in a way that I never did...he was heading down to the sun with his Real Life team. Worshiping the Son while worshipping the sun. Lori and I were mostly worried about him driving down there after finals week. We made sure he called us to tell us he made it safe...we couldn't sleep until we found out.

The weather wasn't that great down there, and he actually got a little sick early on. I think he reacts to stress that way. He felt much better the second half, and really had a great time getting to know some of his Real Life group a little better. Sharing his faith was a little harder, but he said kids were pretty interested in hearing his testimony. The sad part is how Daytona just ain't what it used to be at Spring Break. I think all the kids head to Cancun, Padre Island and New Orleans. Daytona Beach has lost its allure as a party spot.

The best part of his spring break was that he got to come home to Seattle for the last 3 days. We flew him home so he could spend some time with us. I think he missed his family. He actually chose to have dinner with us instead of running out with his old friends! Shocked to say the least. Melanie was glad to see him home, and immediately questioned his fashion sense...running around the house announcing that her brother was now a "prep!" I couldn't tell the difference, he looked like a typical teenager. His first day home was spent with his mother doing taxes, laundry and paying bills. I grilled steaks for supper, then a couple of his pals from high school showed up with "Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny"...hilarious. Of course he slept in, ate like a Survivor! contestant, and stayed out really late chillin' with his friends.

I came to realize something...I don't actually need to spend that much time with him, I am just happy to see him alive. I get enough satisfaction in that first hug, smile and slap on the back...he is then free to run around with his friends, sleep, nap on the couch, whatever he wants. I think just knowing he is nearby is good enough for me.

His visit came and went too quickly, and Lori and I found ourselves dropping him off at the airport at 5:30 this morning. As we pulled away from the curb, "Helicopter" mom wondered if he remembered to check his bag all the way to Columbus...even had to leave a voicemail for him to remind him. I wanted to tell her to just run back there to check, but she is trying to fly her helicopter at a further distance from him. No tears from her this time, but she was close...I think she is starting to get used to the idea of him leaving home.

Until next post, Chow!

Construction Boom

I just realized I haven't written about my "other" job yet. My wife and I have been "flipping" houses for a little more than a year now. Our goal is to use whatever proceeds we earn from our sweat equity to pay for out of state tuition for our son. So far, I think we have paid for his laptop and 4 pencils. I am kidding, but we are still looking for that big payoff. Our first house was shared with another couple, and after paying for materials, labor, taxes, interest, real estate commission (it sold in 4 hours, I think the realtor should have paid us!), and more taxes, our half was enough for 1 semester and books. Still, better than a sharp stick in the eye! We turned a dated, dirty, and ugly ranch into a modern, well-equipped, cute and functional home in just over 3 months...and had a ton of fun doing it. We learned valuable lessons along the way...#1 sometimes partners don't have the same sense of "style"; #2 sometimes partners don't have the same sense of urgency; and #3 sometimes partners don't have the same eye for quality. Thankfully we both decided that it wasn't the best partnership. So now we do it alone.

LH#2 (Little House #2) was a disaster. It is a post WWII bungalow (2 bedrooms and a bath) that had gone long neglected by its previous owner. The shower knobs were actually vise-grips that were permanently fused...not that anyone would want to use that shower with the layers of black mold and fungus. Rotten walls, broken windows, no central heat, knob and tube wiring, and 30 years of nicotine on the broken plaster walls. The yard was even worse...a 12 foot high overgrown Laurel hedge had taken over the lot and the streets on either side. Animals of all kinds (two and four-legged) were used to having their way in the yard behind and within that hedge. The house had also been the victim of a zealous siding salesman that somehow talked the aged owners into having the beautiful clear cedar siding coated with faux stucco in the early 70's. Everything was sprayed down with that crap. It would have been easier to bulldoze the place than to remodel it. Nobody said we were the smartest people...we saw the potential and charm of the hidden home within. We decided to basically tear it all down except 5 of the walls and half the roof structure. We took a detached garage, expanded the breezeway to connect the house with the garage to add about 350 sq. ft. Bringing the total up to a whopping 1280 sq ft. We tore down all the plaster, overframed the roof, rewired, replumbed, added new windows, a new master bathroom, walk-in closet and a laundry room. The siding was pulled down taking the faux plaster coating with it, and in its place we put new Hardie Plank siding. New insulation, lights, doors,tile floors in the bathrooms, wood cabinets, solid granite countertops and stainless steel appliances are going in next week. The new cork floor has been ordered and will be installed after the floor guy refinishes the old oak floor. After that, it is painting, landscaping and finish carpentry, oh and new carpets in the bedrooms.

We have had good and bad luck in terms of sub-contractors, but overall things are progressing well. We are still having a ton of fun watching the changes, and when neighbors see the miraculous transformation, they all want to stop by and chat, learn secrets, find tradesman and deals. I think I may have even found project #3 from one of the neighbors...we will see.

Our original plan was to finish by Feb. and put it on the market for $390,000. Delays due to weather, subcontractors, and changing plans now has us finishing in May. We added a paver driveway, front walk and steps, a new deck and a new garage door to our list. Good thing we waited...the market for entry level homes in Seattle are still going nuts. We think we will list it for closer to $420,000 for 1280 sq ft! Talk about a crazy market! Potential profit in terms of out of state tuition (Ohio State University) is 2 years...okay now that sounds better.

I will keep you posted on this project as it gets closer to completion...maybe even some before and after photos.

Chow!

The World's Best Polish Deli

I find myself in Minneapolis on business this week, and I had a chance to drop by my favorite Polish Deli in the world. Granted, I haven't been to Warsaw or anywhere in Poland, but if Kramarczyk's (215 E. Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis (612) 379-3018)is any indication of what Poland is like, I will definitely add it to my list of "things to do before I die."

My father-in-law, Chuck introduced this spot to me in the early 80's. He has been a great source of many out of the way spots that focus more on the food than the ambience. I have been back to Kramarczyk's once or twice a decade since that first experience, and it never fails to deliver. The prices are more premium now, but that is a reflection on the portion sizes, the hand-crafted cooking, and the use of copius amounts of meat in everything. Sticker shock this visit was quickly soothed by my first bite of the stuffed cabbage.

Part deli, part cafeteria/restaurant, your senses can't help but be filled when you walk in the front door. The visual greeting is of a bustling, clean and well-lit deli with glass cases packed full of ethnic cuts of meat, sausages, wursts, wieners, pastramis, ring bolognas, and salads of all types. Right next door, and connected on the inside is the restaurant/cafeteria. Grab a tray and slide it on the metal rails past steamer trays full of Polish, Eastern European and even some Italian delicasies. Humongous sandwiches piled high with their own deli meats, sausages, homemade sauerkraut, plates of dumplings, more sausages, and stuffed cabbages, hearty goulash, borscht, and other soups (my favorite is the sausage and vegetable-a meal in itself!). If you have room for dessert the Kaloches and Babkas are to die for. Man do I love this place!

I think I enjoy these types of places more than the upscale dining spots I have been lucky enough to experience. Someone asked me today what my favorite restaurant of all time is. I would have to say the Saloon in Philadelphia. It is a nice neighborhood Italian joint in South Philly (home of Rocky Balboa). The food is great, trendy enough to keep the menu fresh, old enough to keep classics rolling for over 80 years. A former Mafia spot, it used to be cash only and you never had to worry about double parking your car in this "neighborhood." Joe the owner flies in fresh Langostinos (giant prawns) to roast from the Mediterranean daily. This is one of the classic dishes that has always been on the menu. They melt in your mouth. It was difficult in the early 80's to do that, but it is part of the specialness of this place. The other must (call 2 days in advance to guarantee it) is the deep fried Fettucine Alfredo appetizer. This gooey, rich, decadent dish isn't on the menu anymore (actually it has never been on the menu, it was just, you know, available), but for old fans of this recipe, Joe will comply. The sinfully rich Fettucine is panned into a deep cake pan for chilling. After setting up firm, he cuts them into 3 inch squares, dusts them in flour, dips them in egg wash and then coats them in Italian bread crumbs before deep frying them. Break the crust and out oozes the creamy Alfredo. My mouth is watering just writing this line...and I am still stuffed from lunch at Kramarczyk's.

I could write about food all day...let me know some of your favorite comfort food stops and I will try to visit them on my travels. Already on my list is Premanti Brothers in Pittsburgh. I just need an excuse to visit a client there.

Chow!

Daylight Savings Time

Wow, did I have a hard time getting up this morning for work. It didn't help that I had a 7:30 AM meeting to attend (virtually), but usually early meetings don't bother me. For some reason this years annual "springing ahead" caught me off-guard. Yes, I did my usual deal...set the clocks ahead Saturday afternoon to begin the transition, go to bed early, keep repeating the mantra, "it really IS 11:00 at night, and not 10:00", but still it was tough for me this year. I got up okay for church at 8:00 AM yesterday, but Monday morning was the killer. Maybe it is harder to acclimate at my age...nah, that can't be it.

I do appreciate the fact that now I am only going to work in the dark and not coming home in it as well, but I am still not sure I see the real value of Daylight Savings Time. Someone is getting the benefit, but it ain't me. My guess is that for the average American we only get the minimal benefits of an improved mood from the longer day (all psychological)...someone has to be benefiting in a more "tangible" (monetary) way or we wouldn't be continuing this tradition. Just the cost alone this year of the time we all had to take to readjust our Outlook Calendars to correct for an early change must be staggering.

I think I figured it out...it must be corporations that are benefitting...somehow they are selling us and servicing us more through all of this. I just learned from some colleagues that some retailers (like 7-eleven) really put a focus on this changing of the clocks and see a huge bump in sales. Golf courses benefit from those of us that "sneak" out to play a quick 9 or 18 before it gets dark. So when corporations asked Uncle Sam to move the transition date up 3 weeks for our benefit, who are they kidding? We are on to you!

Now how do we control our urge to spend more? Spring cleaning, home improvement projects, new golf clubs, BBQ equipment, new autos...where does it end?

Resist the urge to splurge until at least Memorial Day when it is "okay" to celebrate the coming of summer.

Well, I am off to go get the mower serviced for the spring...Doh! What am I thinking? I can put that off for a couple of weeks...

Chow!

Happy Birthday, Vivian!

My "older" sister, Viv turns 48 today...so first of all, "Happy Birthday!" wishes sent to her through my blog.

Secondly, I wish I could spend more time with her and my other sibs. We seem so busy nowadays. Viv is forever jetting around somewhere as an executive with a large multinational oil company. She negotiates their travel deals with airlines, hotels, etc. so you can imagine traveling with her. My bro is busy with his family stuff, my other big sis Irene is busy as well.

As a family, my parents try to plan a reunion every other year. The last one was to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. When our kids were younger, it was great to get all the cousins together somewhere fun...we have celebrated the past 10 years at DisneyWorld, Yellowstone National Park (my favorite so far), China (my other favorite), and Virginia Beach. But as everyone gets older, the opportunities to see everyone together are fewer and fewer, we have to just steal a few moments separately. The size of the clan makes it tough...I think there are 23 of us now to plan around, and the age spread goes from Benjamin, aged 2 (next week!) to Great Grandpa Larry, aged 80 (also next week!), so finding places that appeal to 4 generations of consumers is difficult to say the least.

We have never been a family that has traditional vacation habits. No summer home, cabin, boat, camp, beach week, etc. Maybe my kids are neglected in this way...I don't know how we never set up a regular spot for vacationing. Probably because my family growing up never did because we were always moving around...life was a vacation for us, I suppose.

Anyway, with so many birthdays coming up over the next couple of weeks, I find myself nostalgic, wishing love and blessings on my siblings, parents, nieces, nephews, great-nephew, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, cousin-in-laws, and significant others of my relatives that aren't connected legally...yet. I am also hoping to take advantage of seeing everyone whenever the opportunity arises...business travel, vacations, or purposeful plans.

Happy Birthday, again Viv! I remembered and dedicate this post to you! I love you and the girls!

Chow!

Family Time

Had another busy week with business and some great family time. Luckily business needs had me traveling close enough to my parents that I could actually stay with them for a couple of days.

My main reason for travel east was to present to a large tobacco firm in the SE. These tobacco companies are very careful about everything they do, and they push those requirements onto their suppliers as well. I find it hilarious how they talk "around" things. They realize they have a huge decision facing them...whether to diversify outside of tobacco, so they are really looking into strategic directions. Anyway they will never mention the word "health" in any way, shape or form, so they talk around it...funny! I am not even allowed to mention "targeted consumer" as a descriptor. We presented for almost two hours with zero questions from the large group. They are seriously careful about conversations that they can't control, and Q&A falls into an uncontrollable situation from a legal standpoint...I think they have more lawyers than any other type of employee.

Back to the family stuff...like I said earlier, I got to spend some good time with my parents, one of my sisters, her kids, grandkid, and even one of my other nieces. We ate great Chinese food, caught up on family things, and just chilled. I got to talk to my parents about some important things, you know, as they get older I need to know what kind of "plans" they have for me to carry out. We also had some fun learning some new "tricks". I downloaded a Chinese character program so my dad could send Chinese e-mail messages to his long lost relatives in China. It was a fun learning session for both of us. I think it took us 2 hours to draft an 8 sentence e-mail. A message that any 8 year old in China would have done in 2 minutes. Ha! We even conducted some business that was set into motion when I was 13 years old. I made my first real estate investment with my parents 33 years ago. I took $125 of my hard-earned babysitting and lawn mowing money and helped put a down payment on some land in Maryland. My parents finally sold that property last week and are in the process of doling out proceeds (my uncle and grandmother are also investors). My very first investment returned about 600%. I am really proud of how smart my parents are with financial matters. They never had much money when we were kids, but they scrimped and saved enough to make small investments in real estate. My dad sacrificed a ton to do that. He is the most honest (and the luckiest) man I know. He just has a great knack for identifying great properties (that whole Feng-Sui thing).

As we talked about those early years, I learned some things about my dad that I didn't know about before, including his curse...not a real curse, but a demon that messes with his mind. He has really taken on a ton of responsibility over the years for his siblings, many times their physical survival depended on him getting them food during WWII. He sponsored all 5 of them plus some of my mom's siblings and mother to come to the US. I wasn't around for much of it, but I do remember when my uncle and his family stayed with us during my teen years. The 5 of them, plus my grandmother joined us in our suburban Virginia home for well over a year. My parents took them in, supported them financially and helped them get a good start in America. My mom won't even eat a hot dog anymore after feeding 7 kids, 5 adults and a dog on a very tight budget. Many times that meant we ate hot dogs as the main protein source. I never heard him complain once about any of that. My mom was plenty vocal, but Pops knew his responsibility was to help his brother become a success.

I learned more about the earlier years during this last visit with them. When he and my mom were just newlyweds, they helped bring my mom's siblings to the US. My mom's younger brother then took over, sponsoring the rest of his family as they invaded Squirrel Hill, Pennsylvania. It was the American Dream played out for my family. I am so proud of my uncles (geniuses all of them!), my aunts (brilliance, wisdom, accomplished), and all their kids (successful, fun, intelligent). However, my grandmother never wanted my mom to marry my dad, and for the first few years she nagged my mom to divorce him...while living with them! My dad was nothing but respectful to her, and to this day does not understand her feelings, taking those reasons to the grave. But he never let it affect his respect or treatment towards her. My aunts and uncles on my mom's side all respect my dad for how well he has treated my mom and them. But my dad still wants to know what caused my grandmother to feel that way about him. That is part of the curse he carries...

For some reason my dad's own siblings don't all have that same respect for him. After my dad did whatever he had to to help each and every one of them, he isn't feeling the love or appreciation. Even now those same siblings are wondering (grumbling?) how fairly my pops will divvy up the proceeds from that property my grandmother helped buy years ago. Hence the curse...his love and respect for them isn't being reciprocated and it hurts him. All he wants is to have great relationships with them, like when he was younger and when money didn't get in the way to cloud judgments. Unfortunately the curse of success and money created division instead of celebrations in that family. I want to tell them, "don't worry, Dad is the last person you need to worry about being fair." This last transaction will clear the books of any shared properties, and I can hear my parents breathing a sigh of relief.

It is hard being the oldest son in a Chinese family.

Chow!