Chronicles of Nickerson - Let the water testing begin

Over the next two weeks we will have water testing done by a water proofing company and by the window manufacturer. We are still going through the finger pointing exercise of whether the windows have manufacturer defects,manufacturer warranty, and/or they were installed incorrectly, contractor warranty. In the meantime, everyone just keeps pouring more and more water into our house. "Yep, it leaks," is the opinion of everyone. But it is all about fault, not about making things right. Who is at fault? Who is going to have to pay for it? For the fix and the repairs? Those are the big questions. Who determines what fixes are acceptable? The timeline they are done on? The quality of the repairs? Not us.

It's almost as if this whole debacle has nothing whatsoever to do with us. It's our house, our lost investment, but in the state of Texas, this process goes through the TRCC - The Texas Residential Contruction Commission. And according to them, the builder is given the opportunity to repair everything. The same guy who made the mistakes in the first place is given an endless amount of time to come in and "fix" what he did wrong. I'm filled with confidence.

In the meantime, the roofer came over at our request to check on the cracks that have appeared in the fiberglass on the garage-top deck. He assures us that those are normal and fine. Good news. He also checked, for fun, the roof while he was here. He installed that as well. He was surprised to see a deck up there. He didn't install a roof that could withstand that kind of usage. He just thought it would be walked on maybe once a year for HVAC maintainance (the air conditionter is up there). So we might add the roof to the list of cracks, leaks, cupping..... And a few more choice words to the children's vocabulary.

Posted at 10:18AM Jun 07, 2006 by sarad in General  | 

The Chronicles of Nickerson - When OSB Gets Wet

I'll go out on a limb and say that the majority of residential properties in the US are built using wood framing with plywood for structural stability. Our house is built using steel framing instead of wood, and OSB instead of plywood.

According to AskTheBuilder.com, “Plywood and oriented strand board (OSB) are similar, yet different. They are made similarly yet react differently when they get wet. OSB may be less expensive, but if cuts are made to the surface, it loses its waterproof quality.”

I particularly liked this part, “Some OSB panels react differently from plywood when they get wet. When OSB is manufactured the cut edges are sealed with a special waterproof paint. Carpenters destroy the watertight integrity of OSB each time they make a cut that exposes wood fiber edges. These cut edges are prone to swelling after they get wet. It is possible to seal these edges after they are cut, but it may be tough to find a carpenter willing to take the time to perform this extra step.”

A new crack appeared in the stucco on the third floor starting at one of the leaking windows, directly under suspect roof flashing. It wasn't there one day, and then, BAM, there it was the next. It stretches mockingly across the front of the house no less than six feet long. As if the house is winking at us. And although we aren't experts in this area, we suspect that if the OSB on our house has gotten wet and it is "swelling" under the stucco that it could possibly cause cracking. But we are just speculating.

We thought when we moved in here that the way karma would pay us back would be that one of our children would get injured on the stairs. But that hasn't been the case. Karma is an amazingly fair equalizer. We made the decision and all of the bad ramifications have happened to us. The stairs have only injured Charlie. As far as the kids go, what has happened is that they have grown to appreciate architecture and have added some words to their vocabulary like, scupper, incompetent, toxic mold, and (sorry - it happens) jackass.

Posted at 11:01AM Jun 05, 2006 by sarad in General  |  Comments[1]

The Chronicles of Nickerson - The Grid Pattern

There are two things that we know for sure about concrete – it is hard and it cracks. But the crack inside the front door started to get wider and wider at a noticable rate after the rains began. And one day when were cleaning our daughter's room, we lifted up some of the carpet squares to clean them and discovered a whole pattern of wide cracks that hadn't been there a few months earlier when we had laid the carpet.

We made a few inquiring calls. Our goal was to find out if rapidly growing cracks were normal in a concrete floor. It turns out that the apearance of cracks was not an issue at all, it happens all the time. Good news. But the rapidly growing size and the grid pattern starting in the center of the house and very obviously moving toward the southwest corner, was a sign of a poorly laid foundation. Insufficient hold up a 3-story, steel-framed, stucco house. Bad news.

We called in some other experts to have a look at the leaks and the cracks. Each of the 5 independent consultants from different trades had the same response - the flashing on the windows and roof were done incorrectly and that the foundation was settling more rapidly in one corner due to insufficient (or lack of) piers. And that we have a 100% chance of having mold in our walls due to the water intrusion. More bad news.

This brings us close to today. We passed our one year anniversary on May 13th. I've spent a lot of sleepless nights thinking about this. It has become a topic of conversation with friends, our neighbor who bought the other house built at the same time in the same style by the same builder, which is having all of the same problems, and with Charlie.

There are laws, and moral and ethical standards, that require that everything about a property be disclosed to any potential buyers. And although there is a chance that someone out there may be willing to buy a house that leaks, has mold in the walls, a cracking foundation, warping floors, and a wobbly fence (we also have landscaping issues), we couldn't get current market value for it. We'd lose our investment. And for us, that would hurt. There is also the fact that we would have to forfeit the lifestyle we have created for ourselves because, and probably in large part because of these houses which is disturbingly ironic, there has been a building moritorium in this area to stop any more large homes from being built.

As with any first person account, this one has been written very one sided. Mine. There are three sides to every story and this one has even more – the builder, two home owners, dozens of subs, architects (whose name has never been officially connected with the finished product), engineers, the broker, and a slew of experts. I'm only telling mine.

What would you do?

We now have ants entering the house through cracks in the stucco. They are not those little annoying California ants, they are the red biting Texas ants and they are building a lovely home in our walls. If we're lucky, the mold will kill them. We've gone from living in a sculpture to living in an antfarm.

On the brightside, we received the last of our window screens this morning.

Posted at 12:29PM Jun 02, 2006 by sarad in General  |  Comments[2]

Chronicles of Nickerson - The Honeymoon Period

It started for us like it has for so many buyers of new homes - with the punchlist. If you have never purchased a newly built home (this is our first), a punchlist is the list of [what you hope are just] nits that you find on your final walk-through with the builder. They have 30 days to fix everything on that list. At the time, our list wasn't unusually long or daunting. And truthfully, with what is happening now, they don't seem so big.

It started to rain.

It had been a surprisingly dry winter. I mean really dry. It was as if the hurricanes had pulled all of the moisture out of the air in central Texas. At the first sign of rain, the house leaked. It started in the garage and around the glass front door.

It rained again. This time the water was coming in to the garage from a different area, around the front door and around one of the windows on the second floor.

It rained again and again. By probably March of this year, we had substantial amounts of water coming in around 2 out of 3 of the windows on the second floor, and around both sliders. All of the leaks initiating on the 3rd floor and revealing themselves on the second floor. Water had been running down the inside of the walls for months.

To add insult to injury on both the leaking and some unresolved floor issues, there were no weep holes in the sliders in the livingroom and the tracks were filling with water every time it rained. The installer came out and drilled holes to let the water out and mistakenly drilled holes through and under the floors, causing all of the water that collected in the tracks to go under the hardwood floors causing cupping.

The leaks around the doors and windows are just growing in size and severity, I'm starting to stress every time it rains. And the leaks, it turns out, were only the beginning. Does karma have a sense of humor? Because I'm not laughing.

Posted at 10:28AM May 31, 2006 by sarad in General  | 

Chronicles of Nickerson - The Buying of the House

It was February 2005, my husband Charlie and I were disenchanted by a potentially impossible remodel of the home we were living in. Our love is in modern design and architecture, and the more we spent on architects the more we learned we just couldn't do what we wanted where we were. To add to the disenchantment, after 18 months we had found that we didn't really like the neighborhood that the house was in either.

Then Charlie happened upon a house under construction in the neighborhood we wanted to live in, exactly the style we were looking for and at a stage where we could still have input in the final selections. We were told it was designed by an architect who had had the cover of Dwell magazine the year before – my favorite magazine, I remember the article. And it was located just one block off of South Congress Avenue, which means something to anyone who lives here or has ever visited. And although by Austin standards it was very expensive, we had just come from California, so it was cheap. Relativity is wonderful rationalization tool. We couldn't believe our luck.

After negotiating with the builder and broker, we bought the house. We fell in love with the poured-in-place concrete walls that were exposed on the inside of the first floor of the towering 3-story house. The sealed concrete floors. The open floor plan with lots of windows and light. And especially the built-in-place steal staircases. It's a sculpture. We moved in in May 2005.

The first floor of the house is the “kid's floor”. It has 2 bedrooms – each with an 8 foot by 8 foot sliding glass door opening on to their own deck and private yard. Both of the bathrooms on this floor have custom walnut cabinetry, white subway tile, and carrera marble countertops. The large playroom has it's own beverage frig and icemaker, exposed concrete walls are and the sealed concrete floors. You enter the house through a solid glass door 8 feet high and 5 feet wide next to a similarly-sized fixed pane of glass.

You climb the magnificent staircase to second story which is one large room. The 10 foot ceilings that carry on through out house rise to 20 feet at the living room and include one full-length wall of glass opening out on to a deck with nearly-invisible glass railings. The over-sized windows on this floor capture the ample sunlight filtered through the leaves of the many trees that surround the house. The gourmet kitchen has custom cabinetry and is centered around a 10 foot by 5 foot solid granite island. One whole wall is the staircase, in all it's splendor of steal with steal-framed glass railings zigzagging from one floor to the next. Everything is done in a dark walnut, the cabinets, the 4” wide-planked hardwood floors. It's open and light while being warm and inviting.

When you climb to the third floor you are above the treetops with sweeping views in all directions. This is the master suite. The bathroom is huge. Larger than our CA bedroom. There are 3 heads in the shower and a jacuzzi tub that Charlie, at 6'1”, can lie down in. The low, loft-wall is more custom walnut cabinetry designed to take an entertainment system. And both closets house more custom cabinets. And to top it all off, literally, there is a rooftop deck with 360 degree views of Austin including downtown.

We finally closed on the almost-finished house and walked in with our two small children, looking around at the abudance of empty space – we had NO furniture – and wondered in what way karma would get us back for our selfish decision to buy this house. At 2 ½ and 4 years old, this was not a kid-friendly house. We just moved into a house with steal stairs with glass railings landing on a concrete floor. Karma made itself known quickly.

Posted at 12:13PM May 30, 2006 by sarad in General  | 

Stages of Life

There was a period of time after college when it seemed everyone I knew I was getting married. Hardly a weekend would go by all summer without a wedding some where or other. One by one all of my friends paired off.

After marriage, the next stop on the committment train for many of us was getting a pet. We mistakenly thought that having a pet would be some sort stepping stone or training course for having a baby. In my case, I had a puppy of my own already when I met my husband. We treated him like the child we didn't have. He slept on the bed, came with us everywhere we went, got cuddles and treats, and was bathed twice a month. My dog has been with me virtually every day of his life. He has come to work with me, gone on vacation with me, and knows all of my friends and my secrets.

Then came the baby boom. All of the married folks (and some unmarried folks) started to have kids, including us. Our dog knew something was up and he wasn't sure he liked it. When the baby came, he got kicked off the bed. Since the baby was on the couch, he could no longer go up there. He's lucky to get 2 baths a year. We are still together every day, but it isn't the same. We walk the kids to school together. He's under my feet right now. But my priorities and responsibilities shifted after my kids were born.

This week I have learned about the next stage in life. It is the death of our beloved pets stage. I have had my dog since puppihood and he is now going on 11 years old and is no longer able to get up or down the stairs. It's the most tragic, heartwrenching experience. He is the first pet I ever had as "an adult" and I've been with him longer than I've been with my husband, or certainly my children.

Today I learned about Laura Ramsey having to put down a cat she's had in her life for 15 years and about Rich Teer's famous dog (child) Judge also being ill. It's the end of an era. My dog isn't going yet (I hope), but I feel the hole that his lose will leave in my life and I feel for all of those going through this stage in their lives. It is no less important or impactful or painful than any of the other stages we go through. Hugs out to Laura and Rich.

Posted at 01:21PM May 25, 2006 by sarad in General  |  Comments[3]

Kind, Necessary, True

Some yogi said it. Or some other spiritual guide. I heard these words, these rules, this commitment to better communication, in a yoga class. This particular class wasn't my favorite yoga class. In fact, although this teaching has had quite an impact on me, I didn't enjoy the yoga part of the class and have never returned. Too much un-necessary talking, not enough true yoga-ing.

If you really take this into your life, I mean really think before you speak (or type) and ask yourself if what you are about to say is kind, is it necessary, is it true, I believe there would be a lot less talking in the world. It would be a calmer, quieter, kinder place.

I have attempted to take this in to my life in the past month, but it's hard. I'm not used to thinking before I speak. I enjoy sarcasm. It makes me laugh - a lot! But it never seems to be necessary. And the instant, "Fine" response to, "how are you?" isn't really true.

I have to wonder if incorporating kindness, necessity, and truth into my communications is really such a great idea. I'm definitely not as funny, and I am really funny usually. There is no way I'm as much fun to be around either. Really, who wants to know that I've got stomach problems or menstral cramps. In fact, I would have argue that a lot of what might be considered unnecessary talk is actually very necessary. Small talk, discussion of the weather, asking people how they are even though you may not care or listen or know who they are, is a very important part of human interaction. And let's face it, being untruthful is sometimes the only way to be kind.

Kind, necessary and true, for me is like ice cream or alcohol, fine in moderation, but you have to know when to stop. You can have too much of a good thing.

Posted at 04:16PM Mar 22, 2006 by sarad in General  | 

Rocking at South by Southwest

I live in Austin Texas. Home of the Longhorns, the democratic fringe, County Line BBQ, Titos Vodka, and MUSIC. This week is South by Southwest. If you are unfamiliar with this festival, familiarize yourself. It is music, music, music, drinking, dancing, music, film, and interactive. The city is completely different during these two weeks of festivities. The locals, or many of them, leave the crowds and noise. And the independent music and film industries move in. There is an entirely different population here right now. And they all dress well and wear cool shades.

I got to go the Interactive part of this festival. I go to a lot of events. We have booths or pods and usually have a BoF or talk of some sort and I am marketing support. But I got to attend this one as an attendee. There were two highlights for me. One was sitting in a session where Henry Rollins was interviewed and the other was the Bruce Sterling keynote. I also got to learn about tags, tagging, tag clouds, tagging 2.0, blogging, bloggers, blogs, and bloggers in love. That last one was unintentionally amusing.

People used the term "open source" a lot. But it had a different meaning. When I hear it, I think about source code, collaboration, licensing and community. I think most of the people using it here were referring to "Cluetrain"-type communication.

Interactive is over and the music has begun. Last night we sat on our deck and could hear the free Echo and the Bunnymen concert that was going on down at Auditorium Shores. How cool is this town?? Very. And I am so excited to live here.

Posted at 02:14PM Mar 17, 2006 by sarad in General  | 

"Triumph of the Nerds"

In 1996 Robert Cringley released a 3-part PBS documentary o'n the personal computer industry Triumph of the Nerds. Last night, I finally got around to watching it. (I'm behind on my TV viewing.) It focuses on Gates and Jobs as individuals of course, and delves deeply into the history of the personal computer. It was fun for me to watch. Especially since I've been in this industry since the late-80s. I was at Apple in 1990 (both Jobs and Scully are interviewed) and later I worked at Symantec (Eubanks is in there). It was quite a little "trip" down memory lane.

It made me think about innovations. The PC is an innovation that has definitely changed the way we live and work. We have a tagline around here at Sun that says that "Innovation Happens Everywhere". But in watching this 10 year old documentary, I was reminded that Microsoft doesn't innovate? Let's go back. DOS, bought it. Windows, copied it. WebTV, bought it. XBox, copied it. Office, copied it. And yet, look where they are. Look what they have accomplished. Look at the number of millionaires and billionaires they have created. It's remarkable. So much for brains over market braun. I think it is an example of the other tagline, "Innovation Happens Elsewhere". I was at Apple when Windows 3.0 came out. The Mac was far superior (in my opinion and the opinion of many others) to a clone running Windows, but it kicked our asses in the market.

That's not all that jumped out at me during my viewing of a 10 year old documentary. It was how the whole thing got started. User groups and open source development models formed what is now the PC industry dominated by Microsoft. Is that irony or brilliance?

Posted at 05:07PM Feb 27, 2006 by sarad in General  | 

Cheerleading is a sport

I went to see two of my neices in a national cheerleading competition this weekend. Seriously. And - wow. Who knew? Do you know what I learned about cheerleading? It's a sport. That sounds derogatory, but what I mean is that, for this competition, the majority of the squads there don't have a team that they cheer for. They just cheer competitively.

OK, I am being derogatory, because I don't know of any other "sport" that involves walking around in pajamas, full makeup, and with your hair in curlers. I found it much more like a beauty pageant in curly ponytails and matching uniforms with some impressive tumbling thrown in.

Having never competed in any sport in my life, I was admittedly taken aback by the drive and enthusiasm of these girls (and some boys, but mostly girls at this event) - some as young as 6 years old. They were practicing at midnight, spending over an hour to have their hair curled and sleeping on the rollers. Their parents had spent thousands of dollars to get them there. They were stressed out, underfed, overworked. There was a lot of crying. They went to the convention center early to route for their fellow team mates and, in the end, to perform for a total of about 3 minutes.

While the hair and makeup was offputting, the team work, commitment, and talent was commendable. Regardless, I did spend the entire time hoping (a lot of hope) that my daughter, who joined me, doesn't get into this sport. More likely (particularly because we live in Texas) I should start learning how to make those tight ponytails and ringlet curls now.

Posted at 10:26AM Feb 24, 2006 by sarad in General  |  Comments[2]

I'm a Chick, and this is my holiday

A hot cup of coffee brought to your bedside and placed next to the vase of fresh flowers. The kids standing calmly and patiently in the doorway anxiously holding their handmade cards. The smell of your favorite breakfast drifts in from the kitchen. What a beautiful way to start a Valentine's Day, my husband would love it.

But he won't be getting that on Valentine's Day, I will. Do I deserve it? The lavish gifts, sentimental cards, romantic dinners. Hell no. But I'm a chick, and this is my holiday.

So, on this weekend before Valentine's Day, I'd like to send a shout out to DeBeer's for turning this holiday about mutual love into a giftfest for the girls.

Posted at 02:03PM Feb 09, 2006 by sarad in General  | 

Why I don't have a car - and neither should you

I got rid of my car over a year ago. My original intention wasn't to be an environmentalist or to save money or to make a statement, it was because someone needed it more than I did. It was very strange at first. I've had my own car for a VERY long time. Suddenly I had no freedom.

This morning I had a meeting at a coffeeshop and walked down there with my laptop. It was wonderful. Fresh air, sunshine, cold. I made eye contact with other people on the street and we all smiled and said, "good morning" to one another. It put me a good mood.

I can take cabs for far less than a car payment (gas, insurance) each month. Have you worked out the math? AND, it means I don't have to drive. I can safely chat away on my cell phone, drink coffee, or read in preparation for whatever event is getting me out. Talk about freedom.

Being the hippies that we are here in OpenSolaris marketing, it turns out that 2 of the 3 of us don't have cars. I am proud to be a hippie.

Posted at 10:55AM Feb 07, 2006 by sarad in General  |  Comments[2]

Disney bought Pixar???

I'm getting nervous about Steve Jobs' health. First there was the Intel for Apple announcement. Then the sale of Pixar to Disney. The sudden conformity/safe-road approach from two of the more exciting and rebellious companies in two different industries is disconcerting to me. This would be a frightening trend regardless, but the fact that both of these companies are run/owned/lead by the same guy, makes me a little nervous.

Has rebellion gone out of fashion? The power of being different. Anyone else remember that very cool, misspelled ad campaign? (I always thought it should have been, Think Differently, to be spelled correctly - but my spelling isn't all that good). How is using Intel thinking different(ly)?

Then there is Pixar. Toy Story (and Toy Story 2)were fantastic. There is no explaination about why there was no Dad. We don't need to know. My 4 year old has never asked. And then along comes Nemo, in partnership with Disney, and suddenly my kids' have to be terrorized in the first few minutes with Mom being EATEN by a scary fish in order for there to be "character development" of the over-protective FISH Dad. I get the feeling that that chapter has something to do with Disney. And then there is Cinderella, the worst role-model that I can even dream up for my daughter. Oh, please Steve, don't let Disney and their unnecessary character development and poor role models ruin my beloved Pixar.

That's all I have to say.

Posted at 11:45AM Jan 26, 2006 by sarad in General  | 

0 unread emails

I have finally done it. It took me a very long time, but I got there. I diligently read, responded and filed 100s of emails. And now, there are no unread emails in my inbox. (Well, there probably are a few now). Email was negatively impacting my life. It wasn't making me more productive. Each trip I went on or vacation day I took would set me back a few more, and a few more. I would look at my inbox and see the bolded unread messages (sometimes in the 100s) and then the read mails that were just sitting in there, taunting me that I needed to do something, that I needed to follow up on something.

Forget losing weight as a New Year's resolution, go on reduced email diet. I feel refreshed, lighter, my laptop fits better.

Posted at 08:45AM Jan 25, 2006 by sarad in General  |  Comments[3]

Xmas in Texas

Here in central Texas we have endured unseasonal weather over the past few months. Following Rita, we had a severe heat wave where temperatures got up to the high 90s. Then 2 weeks ago we froze over. Literally. Closed bridges, power outages, multi-car pile-ups.

Well, Christmas Eve is tomorrow night and it is 73 degrees outside. Admittedly lovely, but what the....????

Merry Christmas where ever you are - cold, warm, or hot. I'm sure it will be all three here before the break is over.

Posted at 12:47PM Dec 23, 2005 by sarad in General  |