Happy New Year!

It’s 2012. Making it 2 years of home moneypit ownership for Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs.

Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs felt obligated to end the last days of 2011 on a productive note and set off to work on various loose ends and cleaning.

Using the NAIL GUN!, Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs added trim to the Ace-Fauxtel. Don’t mind the holes – it’s not spackle time yet.

What to do with this pile of these sticks?

Using her newly acquired skills of man handling the miter saw, Pointy Shoes precisely measured and cut to size the flooring sticks to fill the holes in her hallway while Broken Thumbs assisted (even though he was not feeling super.) Pointy Shoes will admit she watched This Old House for tips.

Pointy Shoes and Broken Thumbs are pretty happy with the way it turned out and still in shock that the floor is hole-less. Now it’s time to sand, putty, sand and coat.

Intolerable Blankness

Night after night Pointy Shoes sits upright in bed against our Ace-fauxtel denim headboard and stares bleary-eyed into the endless gray abyss that spans from the left corner of the bedroom to the doorway. Her mouth, half agape, she never fails to communicate the aural superiority of needle on pressed plastic.

She also never fails to comment on the fact that tunes of the highest fidelity must be accompanied by an equally stimulating visual experience. That music, like a fine cheese, needs a great accompaniment. With those thoughts in mind, Broken Thumbs knew what he had to do. His mission, as he accepted, was to create a cost effective way of giving Pointy Shoes what she oft expressed.

Off to orange box he went. Broken Thumbs picked up equal parts pine and poplar (the selection was pretty poor that evening) and with hints and dashes of wood glue, and screws, he had his solution.

A shelf… Only a few inches wide, with a lip was fabricated to display the cardboard cases for their collaborative collection of highly collectible circles of spinning bumps and ridges.

No longer would they live on the floor, their covers unappreciated and unlooked at, and for that, Pointy Shoes was pleased.

Broken Thumbs too was pleased, now that they were able to enjoy their music quietly and without complaint.

Though.. occasionally somebody would still need to get up to flip the record over.

Murder City

Public transportation = win.

This is not pizza. It is a monster pie made from tomato blood and cheese.
Yes, we forgot to take photos of the delicious dogs. hot dogs.

Oh, but here’s a cat. Emerson slept with Pointy Shoes on the first morning. What a ho-ho!

Our lovely host and tour guide friends. Check out them legs.

Such a cool city but man does this city like to drink. Pointy Shoes missed a great photo opportunity of, not 1 but, 2 guys carrying home on the train a 30 pack case of beer and occasionally using it as a stool. Classy.

It’s Not Easy Being Green

Pointy Shoes was pickled about what to do with her broken floor. After jiggering the hallway to their liking, Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs were left with a straight line across their floor. Pointy Shoes’ impatience gave way first and she convinced Broken Thumbs to relay it. This is what we lived with for a year.

This jig-saw puzzle floor caused all our guests to tip-toe around it, fearing that the floor might suddenly jump out and bite them. This was Pointy Shoes’ biggest peeve about the house. At the same time, the lack of an entryway was also bothering Pointy Shoes as she peeped and creeped into other people’s homes online.

Here lies the floor minus faux-wood tiles.

One night, Pointy Shoes was talking to Broken Thumbs about the house and the idea of replacing the disastrous faux-wood tile entryway with astro turf came up. Surprisingly, Broken Thumbs mostly agreed with the idea.

Fake grass > astro turf.

Pointy Shoes and Broken Thumbs carefully considered this idea for many months, checking out grass samples at different “boxes” until Pointy Shoes received a special envelope from Blue box. With 10% off discount in hand, Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs marched over to Blue box to get their green on (the stuff is not cheap!) and took home a 5×15′ roll of fake grass.

Oh no we didn’t! Instead of replacing just the faux-wood tile entryway, we pried off the entire length of floor to roll out our lawn.

It’s a win-win situation. Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs entry way desires have been fulfilled and now have a lifetime supply of wood floor to cover the hallway. Yes, we think it’s kind of crazy but when you see it in person, you can’t help but smile. Plus, it’s a nice place for our shoes to nest. Nest nest.

Wu Tang Clan

Pointy Shoes and Broken Thumbs were tired of being the ugliest front yard on the block. They still had the sign post from when they bought their house hidden under the massive undergrowth of thorny itchy scrub brush.

(We wished we had taken a before photo so you could see how atrocious it was…)

On the hottest day of summer, Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs got out their picks and pulled out all the weeds and trash from the mini front lawn until there was nothing left but dirt. They laid weed barrier to prevent new trespassers from coming out of the ground and secured the weed barrier with yard staples.

Broken Thumbs found a concrete gravel in the building supply section of Orange box that was 1/4 the price of the “landscaping rocks” found in the garden section (BIG PLUS for the wallet or shall we say small minus) so we brought home 13 bags. See all the empty Quikrete bags?

What an improvement. Now only if we could remove the white eyesore that is our fence…

Just the Facts

This is the city. Los Angeles. August 2011.

It was a late night of winning Pictionary, Celebrity and $4. Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs came home after too many Bacardi & Diets and decided they needed a change. The story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

They awoke early the next morning to visit Swedish box in search of countertops (for another project to come later). They were disappointed to find that Swedish box was having supply problems and could not accommodate their material wishes. However, Broken Thumbs did spot a discount rug in the As-Is section that fit his living room scheme better than Nubbins. In the past couple months, Nubbins was found guilty of being too small and dark for living room duty and was sentenced to life in the office/guest/flex room with no chance of parole.

As Broken Thumbs moved in, an assumed homosexual swooped in and claimed he had been squatting on the rug for the past 25 minutes. As a result, Broken Thumbs and Pointy Shoes had to take the full price rug gamble and ultimately walked away spending 25% more than their already claimed used rug. The following is is how the living room was resolved.

Approximately 11:45 am, Broken Thumbs and Pointy Shoes spotted two objects of interest on an internet post board. Both the objects resembled a valuable Arne Jacobsen design. It was decided both lamps would be required.

The first lamp was apprehended in the Burbank area of Los Angeles. The suspect showed no visible signs of wear and tear but was admittedly used and discontinued by its manufacturer. Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs took him downtown for further questioning.

The second lamp was apprehended after a short chase on foot through the Silverlake Hills. After being cornered in a California Bungalow, the second lamp was subdued.

The suspects were tried and found stylish in the first degree. They are carrying out their sentences in the custody of Pointy Shoes and Broken Thumbs.

Summer Blues

Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs absolutely loathe summer weather but cannot complain about summer deals. Craigslist has been good to us so far in that it has produced another gem.

Broken Thumbs was scouring CL when he came across a blue Danish Modern-meets-Florence Knoll sofa. When he sent it to Pointy Shoes for her opinion, she recognized it as a couch she saw on Danish Modern LA a year ago. It was unmistakable – the color, shape, and the arms having no wood.

Luckily for us, our friend with a truck, Robert, offered to help pick up this couch on the condition that Broken Thumbs help Robert pick up a couch for his gf so we made it a double couch date Saturday.

The color is deceiving as you can tell in the first image vs all the other photos.

The couch was in great condition except for the minor schmutz on the back. The fabric is a bit wrinkled also from having two 200+ lb grown men laying on it (previous owners).

It looks pretty good in our living room with the blue and wood, although initially Broken Thumbs did have some concerns. Its new home is against the wall with the large window and screens.

It also goes quite well with our new orange door!

Tiger is pleased with his new comfy digs.

Door Knob & Hammer Stick

Hate is a strong word but I believe that’s exactly how Broken Thumbs would describe our old door.

The wood frame around the knob was wearing away, requiring a certain wrist movement and technique to close correctly. It didn’t have a hole for a deadbolt. The frame surrounding the door was full of so many holes, it no longer fastened to the wall properly. Not to mention, the door itself was just plain fuckin’ ugly. Fugly if you will.

Two months ago, Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs rented a Orange box truck and brought home a steel door, where it sat around collecting dust for 5 weeks while we decided how to paint it. It was then, a friend recently told us that people paint their doors red for good luck so we figured orange couldn’t be too far off. Red really isn’t our thing.

Broken Thumbs is the spray master! With his careful technique, he was able to avoid striping for the most part, and thankfully Rustoleum has great pigment so it only took 2 cans to become opaque. There is still a small amount of clouding, but it’s pretty nice considering that it’s just spray paint.

All finished spraying and left to dry for 5 days. Those pesky bugs keep flying into the wet paint! Notice the reflection of a tree in the orange peel. Get it? Orange peel?

Here the old door is now removed and forever gone from our lives (cause for much celebration) while our handy helpers prepare the doorway for it’s new occupant; the drill removes the door; the Xtreme hammer removes the old frame; the pliers remove the brad nails. A bit of hammering and the Multi-Master were required to fix and level the crooked, chiseled wood under the existing door frame.

Door-less! The stucco and tile under the door had to go to make room for the frame.

It’s careful hammer time! (think MC Hammer time with slacks instead of parachute pants)

The hinges are attached…

along with the new sexy door hardware…

and Voila, All done. If you can imagine that the pink stucco walls were white, I think you get the idea of where the exterior is headed (SO money).

A preview of what’s to come… Orange you glad?

Get Whitey

Two years ago, Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs moved into a house without a refrigerator. As usual, the budget was minuscule at best so they were forced to hit up the Craigslist. A week of eating tacos went by before they found this Amana refrigerator for $50.

When Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs moved into the current house, the Amana refrigerator came along with them since one was not provided with their new house. After 2 years, Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs noticed that the refrigerator was starting to get warmer despite increasing the coldness setting beyond its maximum dial position. (Thank you trusty refrigerator thermometer) Pointy Shoes thought it was strange at first but chalked it up to the 190 degree weather that day. A couple weeks passed and the temperature seemed to rise even tfurther and the freezer would alternate from a blast freezer, quickly making sorbet in 30 minutes, to a swamp cooler, dripping water all over the fridge section below and onto the kitchen floor.

When the meats started spoiling in 2 days, Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs decided that something needed to be done.

Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs scoured every appliance store in the area looking for a bottom freezer, non-French door refrigerator in white or stainless and happily they were able to find the perfect one at the same local appliance discounter they found their stove. It was a Samsung Energy Star with LEDs, counter depth, bottom freezer, drawer pull out. Luckily, Broken Thumbs’ loving and caring grandmother offered to buy an appliance for them – big thank you to Grandma A & Grandpa R – since Broken Thumb’s didn’t have the money socked away to replace a fridge at that given point in time. Broken Thumbs was told that it would be delivered in 2-3 weeks.

A week of tacos went by, and the fridge was on track for delivery. Another week of tacos go by, and the word was still all systems go, however on the 3rd week, when the fridge was scheduled to arrive, Broken Thumbs called for a third time to inquire when they might expect to have their food stored at a FDA safe 40 degrees.

He was told it would be an additional month wait, April 13. Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs were saddened. Not only were they unable to buy many groceries, they would have to wait TWO months for their new appliance and quite frankly even they get sick of tacos eventually.

Trying to keep their faith unshaken, April 13th came and went before Broken Thumbs called Pacific Sales again. It turns out that the manufacturer had a delay in production and it would be a miracle if a refrigerator was delivered in the next two weeks. The truth finally comes out.

At this point, Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs were tired of broken promises, spoiled meat, waiting for the delivery and tired of eating tacos every night, so after an evening of discrete internet research, Broken Thumbs took the plunge and ordered another refrigerator online. The online store sent the Samsung to the shipper the next day, where it sat for 4 days while it had paperwork made up. The cross-country journey took about a week.

April 28th was the day Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs would finally be blessed with a new cheesebox. The night before the 28th, Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs went to bed early to expect their new friend waiting on the doorstep, however on the morning of April 28, no delivery truck was waiting outside. After brushing her teeth, Pointy Shoes wandered over to the living room where she found the dreaded red blinking button on the answering machine. The delivery guys had just showed up at the house unannounced and unscheduled at 8 am.

Upon Google searching the delivery company, Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs started to feel depressed as they learned of the delivery company’s bad track record, especially when the delivery was missed and quickly got on the phone to reschedule. Not only did the delivery company forget to notify us of a 4 hour delivery window, they estimated that they were unable to deliver for another week due to our far location. Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs were starting to lose all hope.

Thankfully, a few hours later, someone at the the shipping company called back and said they would take it upon themselves to do a special delivery the next day and although we were charged an extra $20 to walk up a flight of stairs, the delivery man (please note SINGULAR) came and dropped off the fridge with a little help from Broken Thumbs. After waiting for 2.5 months for this moment, Pointy Shoes & Broken Thumbs breathed a sigh of relief now that this unbelievable fiasco was over.

They could store food and cook at home once again.