I long for days gone by . . . .

This morning while driving to work, a song from the 80’s came on the radio, one for which I had very fond memories. It immediately took me back to when I was 17 years old, and brought me back to 1985.

Life was better then.

People had real conversations, not one sentence blubs coming at you via texts and twittersphere. You called your friends on the phone and talked to them, instead of an impersonal status update on facebook. If they did not answer the phone, you tried again later, and if they still did not answer, you went and checked on them. If someone had a problem, you sat with them and comforted them instead of sending a :(. If something good happened, you celebrated with them instead of clicking “Like”.

You spent time together at Fro-Yo, Century theaters, memorial park, and the swim and racquet club. People had real friends, not internet links, and it was not a contest to see who had the most, it was all about who had the best, and as long as you had a few really good ones . . you felt like a winner no matter what anyone else had.

The music was better. That’s probably all I need to say about the music itself. But Music was also an experience. Remember sitting next to your cassette deck hoping that song you like so much would come on, so you could hit record and get a copy? What about mix tapes? How cool were those, and they actually meant something. How about saving your money to buy an album? And hanging out at the record store, seeing your friends, and perusing all your options trying decide which record to buy.

Power ballads . . . need I say more?

Dancing was cooler back then too! I remember the mind blowing experience of the first time I saw someone moonwalk. What about popping and break dancing? . . . 80’s pop stars were innovative and talented . . . today’s pop stars just go for the shock value of wearing a meat dress, or nothing at all. What about Madonna in the 80’s . . wearing her bra on the outside of her clothes was risqué, now I just wish the current pop stars would wear a bra.

As far as Television . . not only was TV a social experience, it was entertaining, and it was FREE! Sure, you had to watch commercials, but even those were better back then. How many commercials from the 80’s do you still laugh about, talk about, or remember? . . .”Where’s the Beef” . . “no, a bud light” . . “Nothing gets between me and my Calvin’s” . . “the worlds fastest talker” . . “I’ve fallen and I cant get up” . . Bartle and James, the California raisins, the list goes on and on.

People also felt oddly connected through TV. If you watched the news, odds most of your friends and neighbors were watching the same thing. Everyone talked about it the next day . . you remember the space shuttle, the Berlin wall, and all the other local and national events. Even Saturday Night Live was better then. Families watched TV together . . and sometimes even invited others to come watch a show with them!

Sure you could get cable if you wanted, but you really didn’t need it. If you had a friend with cable, you go to your friends house to watch MTV and talk about the music. Not only that . . . . MTV actually played music in the 80’s!
And the shows themselves? They were entertaining, as opposed to today’s shows which seem to go for shocking. As for sexual content . . .Sex was still sexy on TV back then . . it was a mystery . . it was the unspoken . . today its right there in front of you, and not nearly as exciting. As for shows, you had tons of options you could watch as a family and be entertained . . Cosby, Chips, Love Boat, Magnum PI, Dukes of Hazzard . . the list goes on.

Speaking of Dukes of Hazzard . . remember when Daisy’s shorts were about the most risqué thing on TV? Well compared to what we see on TV today, Daisy dressed like a nun.

I loved the movies from the 80’s. Movies in the 80’s were made to entertain, and did not require an agenda to be “original”. How many movies today are just rehashes of old movies, or politically motivated drama. Seriously, going to a movie was fun in the 80’s! All the John Hughes movies . . .how awesome were those? My teenager still likes them today. Not to mention . . Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, ET. They were original ideas, and rarely rehashes of the same old theme. Movies were way better back then.

Speaking of Hollywood and its “Stars” . . . Remember when people used to announce engagements BEFORE the pregnancy?

I believe we were more patriotic back then also. Being a US citizen meant something, and we were proud of it. I remember saying the pledge allegiance was a good thing, and not controversial. I remember when public officials and military were admired, even with their faults. I remember one instance when Jimmy Carter was President. At Regnart elementary during a school program they brought out a picture of our President, Jimmy Carter. A bunch of kids (and probably some adults) booed. We immediately got a lecture I have never forgotten . . its OK to disagree with your President, but its not OK to disrespect him. I don’t claim perfection here, but I can say I try. Sometimes I wonder if people try anymore.

Remember when the Russians were our enemy, and not everyone around us. I am not saying painting Russians as bad is a good thing, I am just saying we knew who our enemy was. There was both respect and fear in that. To be honest, I think I enjoyed the cold war far more than the terror environment we have now. Who the hades is my enemy? Who is my friend? I imagine some of the people reading this could fall in either category, and I may not even know.

I remember when going to Church was a good thing. For the most part, religions were respected not mocked. While beliefs may have been different, I always felt enriched by being around those who believed. Mormons, Jews, Catholics, Baptists, and all the others seemed to get along just fine. Sure there were differences, but there also seemed to be an underlying respect.

Now it seems that all religion is treated as bad, and those who do still believe, regardless of how they believe, are treated as though they are ignorant, hateful, stupid and misled. Some argue that we are more enlightened today, I would argue the opposite. I could go on for pages, but I am really tired of societies view on religion today. The 80’s were much better when people seemed to respect and support everyone’s decision not believe, or to believe, and to practice it however they wanted. . . and we supported everyone’s right to have differences.

On wealth . . .work was valued in the 80’s, and it was not a sin to make a few bucks more than the next guy. If you saw a rich guy, you found out what he did to get there, instead of criticizing him for it. Everyone wanted to make a buck, and they came up with innovative ideas on how to do it. Everyone worked on getting ahead, instead of complaining about not being equal.

As far as the environment, we still talk about how we are ruining the planet just like we did in the 80’s. Back then it was global cooling, this time its global warming. The biggest difference, in the 80’s we looked at what we do in our daily lives to try and make a change, now we do nothing but blame corporate entities and try and shut them down.

In the 80’s we had short attention spans, so we worked on focusing . . now we medicate. This is true of nearly every “problem”. Everything seems to be a disease now. In the 80’s if we had a problem, we changed our behavior or if it did require meds we found the right ones. Now we find a pill for just about everything. we take it, then wait 10 years to sue because of its side effects.

Getting a tan was awesome in the 80’s. You could go in the sun for more than 10 minutes and not fear that you would die of skin cancer. Also whats up with water? Is it really that impure these days? Everything has to be filtered or bottled now. In the 80’s, unless you lived next to Chernobyl or Three Mile Island, there were no worries about a water shortage, or toxins in the water supply.

Remember the neighborhood arcade? Or even the video games at 7-11? These were places to hang out. It was where people would go to play Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, and Asteroids while chomping down some really disgusting nachos. Holy cow, remember when Dragons Lair came out? And the long line to play that one? Remember the street cred that came with getting a high score, and having your initials posted on the game? While the graphics may be cooler today, and the strategy tougher . . the social aspect is totally lost. Even if you play over the internet . . its just not the same.

80’s fashion . . .well we had a style. It may not have been great, but it was a style, and it was ours. We weren’t trying to copy anyone else’s. We owned the neon colors, the pegged pants, the crazy hair, the acid washed jeans, the leg warmers, and all the other things you think of when it comes to the 80’s.

I miss the 80’s, except for maybe the shoulder pads, fanny packs, and parachute pants. It was just simpler back then. Sometimes simple in our current world can look pretty good.

If you stuck with me this long . . I hope you totally awesome/rad day!

Because I love her . . . 

From the day we moved into the house, we disliked the kitchen.  It was our plan to remodel the kitchen immediately, but several things prevented/postponed that dream.  Putting a new roof and new windows  on the house exhausted our resources.

The counter tops are these nasty 4' white tiles, with thick grout lines.  It screams late 80's/early 90's.  The backsplash is the same.  The grout is a pain to clean, and a pain to prepare food on.  It has been the most common complaint from day one.  The other problem, cant see the TV from the kitchen!

 

 

(view from kitchen, other than the picture being crooked, the TV is out of view.  Also look for the Daisy photobomb)

 As you can see. . nasty dated white tile everywere!  The mess is my own doggon fault!

So, I decided to surprise my wife while we were on vacation. I am trying to be sneaky, and am hoping she does not figure it out.  Before we left, I picked out the color, and also found a nice tile for a backsplash.  I hired a contractor to arrange to have the countertops measured, and new laminate countertops made while we were gone.  Laminate is not our first choice, but until we have the funds to replace the floors, counters, cabinets, and appliances . . . laminate will have to do.


On the first day of vacation I was very eager to leave, my wife and kid probably thought I was insane, what they did not know was that I had a crew waiting for us to get out of the house so they could come in and measure.   So countertops are now measured and were ordered while we were away . . my part of the project started July 9th when I returned from the vacation 10 days before the family.  I had to come home before them because I had work at the office which needed to be done.

So the project begins!

DAY 1 - July 9, 2012

After a 12 hour day at work, I returned home and called the contractor.  He said the countertops were coming Friday, so I had 5 days to get the prep work done.    I started with the backsplash.

Step one was to clean everything up:

 As an added bonus to the white tiles, you can see some of the tiles have little prints on them!

 Back splash removal begins!

 Getting closer!

Had to remove the microwave!

Day 1 ended after 3 hours of popping tiles, and with a power outage due to the heat.  I was exhausted, so I took a shower and went to bed.

Day 2 - July 10

Another long day at work, but not as long as yesterday.  I ran around looking for a new sink, after 3 stores I found a stainless one that looks like it should work.  Work begins on popping the remaining tiles on the countertop.

I moved the stove to start

 

Bad news, I expected to see a little grout and some wood under the tile . . but I saw about 1.5" of cement.  Oh crap, this could take longer than I planned!

 Tiles off about half of the countertop, time to see what the cement does:

 Thank goodness for my masons hammer:

 Prying cement off, it has a metal mesh underneath . . .not sure if that makes it easier or harder:

 Down to the wood

 Getting closer to done:

Its 11pm!  I am exhausted, and still have a ways to go.  Hopefully I will be able to finish up tomorrow after work!

Day 3 - July 11

OUCH!  I felt yesterday in my muscles this morning!  This could be a long one today.

I got home from work about 6:30ish, talk with my wife & mother until about 7pm, then went to work.  Probably the hardest part of this project is answering the question "What are you doing tonight?".  I am not a very good liar, nor am I very creative, so I have been responding "It was a long day at work, I think I am just going to watch TV and go to bed."  There is some truth to that, I do have the TV on in the background, and I do eventually go to bed.  I hate fibbing to her, but I hope the surprise is worth it.  She may realize I am fibbing, because she knows I can hardly sit still, and am always doing something.

So, as you can see, I removed the remaining tile tonight, then started on the cement.

And Ta Da!  All the tile, cement, sink . . everything is gone!  Demolition finished.  

 Took me about 3.5 hours tonight, I am exhausted.  I should sleep well.  I am typing this in bed, and Daisy the dog is already sound asleep next to me.  So far I am ahead of schedule! Hopefully the countertops arrive Friday as planned.

Day 4 - July 12

 Oh crud!  So the day started off helping a friend move, which was fine except it was HOT today.  Then back to work, when I got a call saying the counter tops would not be ready until Friday afternoon, and probably would not be installed until Monday, and then another call from my wife saying they are going to try and come home Tuesday instead of Wednesday.  Not good,  not good at all.  The evening was spent doing church stuff.  I got home about 9:30, talked to my wife, did a little vacuuming, and went to bed.  Hopefully tomorrow will bring some better news with regards to the project.

Day 5 - Friday the 13th!

 Remember that epic scene from the movie Titanic?  the one where kate and leo are on the front of the ship:

Leo should have been thinking "Oh crap, there is an ugly mean jealous dude with a gun chasing after us, and look out in the distance . . .icebergs!  If one doesn't kill us, the other one will.  Maybe we better warn someone, or head to the lifeboats or something" . . .instead he was thinking "Boobies" as evidenced by his complete lack of stress regarding the impending doom.

Maybe I should take a page out of Leo's book to manage stress.   I just got a call, the counter tops wont be ready until Monday.  My wife likely gets back Tuesday, and right now (and surely all weekend) the kitchen looks like this:

Fingers crossed . . . I would like Tuesday's surprise to be a good one!

Day 6 - Saturday

Well since things are at a standstill with the kitchen itself until the countertops arrive, I decided to start on moving the TV.  One of the complaints was that you cant see the TV from the kitchen.  About the only places that left for the TV were over the fireplace, or in front of a window.  That really just left over the fireplace.  My only complaint . . what to do with the cords!  Its a 46" TV, and now its over the fireplace as you can see below.  I hid the cords later (and cleaned up the room), and will put up another photo at the end.

Day 7 - Sunday

Genesis 2, minus the whole finished part ;)  I went to church, spent some time with my mom, walked the dogs.   I did receive confirmation that they will be home Tuesday night . . pressure is on!

Day 8 - Monday

The crew came with the counter tops, I came home from work for a couple hours to help get things started.

After the initial install, they got the sink in, and the oven, but left the faucets and plumbing up to me to finish.  which I finished about 10:30pm

The backsplash wont be done till tomorrow, wife gets home tomorrow evening.  This is going to be a cliffhanger ending!

Day 9 - Tuesday

I DID IT!!!!   With 45 minutes to spare!  Its 7:45pm and the last update I got was they would be arriving about 8:30.  I am totally and completely exhausted!

The contractors finished placing the tile about noon, and it needed 4 hours to dry.  I came home from work about 3pm, and it looked like this:

I grouted, cleaned replaced the microwave. . .

 and put everything away.  I broke one bowl when a leg on the chair I was standing on broke . .cleaning up the glass was a pain . . but I am DONE!!!

 I love you honey!