Bish Bash 2K6

Saturday was the annual Bish Bash at RPM’s Rock Club. Shot:30 was booked for this all day extraveganza, but we had to back out due to work commitments. But I was still going to try to get there for some of the festivities.

The day started with me cutting the grass. While I was doing this Band Mom was getting Thing 1 & Thing 2 ready. My folks came to get them and took them to the zoo. After they left Band Mom and I got ready and started our day of running.

Our first stop was the Guitar Gallery to drop off a contract to Vic since his band Sugar Cane will be playing Oktoberfest of which Band Mom is the entertainment coordinator. We ended up hanging out for a bit chatting with Vic and Taylor.

After that stop we headed down to Kutters Edge so Band Mom could pick up some posters for the Bike Run for Oktoberfest. Of course we hung around there for a while and chatted with Kathleen.

By now it was time to get some grub so we dropped one of the posters off to Jay’s Sports Bar and had our dinner there.

After we were done eating we headed up to RPM’s. The days festivities started at 3 (they would have started at 2 had we still been playing), and we got there a little before 6. Unfortunately that meant we missed a couple of bands. The show was opened by our good friends Lady & The Tramps and we also missed the second act Strangeway.

We showed up in time to see the very end of Into The Arena who I’m upset we missed, because what we did see was pretty killer.

After that was the Pearl Jam tribute band Ten. If you’re a Pearl Jam fan you need to get out and check these guys out. They put on a killer show.

The seven o’clock band was Wicked Earth an energetic and entertaining original rock band from the area.

At 8 we we’re entertained by country band Buc Wyld. We met these guys last year at Bish Bask 2k5 and they are a really cool bunch of guys. They also will be playing at Oktoberfest this year. The guitar player was new, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I knew him. By the end of their set it finally hit me. He used to be the guitar player for Blacksmith who Shot:30 did a couple of shows with last year.

9 o’clock we were back outside to check out Turn. They brought a pretty cool original sound to the evening.

The rest of the night was inside and did not dissapoint. The 10 o’clock band was Bish’s bandNoizy Neighbor The last time I saw these guys was when Lady &amp The Tramps and Shot:30 opened for them at RPM’s back in April. Since then the band line up has changed…FOR THE BETTER. They not only changed their line-up, but they changed their song list as well. They did an awesome job. I can’t wait to run sound for them at Oktoberfest. Its always good to see Bish live and kickin’!

The 10 o’clock band was our friends Tension. Their hour of metal was definitely a good time. They added a couple of cool tunes since the last time I’ve seen these guys.

The final band of the night was Shatterpak. I’ve never seen these guys before, but I will definitely be seeing them again. They just crushed.

Band Mom was getting tired and hungry so we didn’t stay for all of Shatterpak‘s set. We headed out to get some late night grub instead.

All in all Bish put on another great Bish Bash for 2K6. I personally can’t wait to see what he puts together for 2K7!

Adventures In Plumbing (Part 13)

Tuesday morning I got to take a shower….

Adventures In Plumbing (Part 12)

Monday has come again. While I was at work today Band Mom put together the bulk head frame we need to hold the shower rod in place. After work I took Pooh to the park to work on her tennis for about an hour or so. After that we all ate some dinner.

After dinner, Band Mom and I finangled the stupid frame into place and got it secure (well as secure as its gonna get in our stupid house.) Then we attached the shower to frame and tried it out. Voila! A working shower. I went to bed around midnight and Band Mom and Pooh went to WalMart to purchase a shower curtain (actually two since its a standalone all around shower ring). At some point in the night I heard Band Mom taking a shower, so its all up and running apparently.

Adventures In Plumbing (Part 11: Redux)

Sunday…Remember Saturday’s pain? Well we were determined to get this thing fixed…TODAY.

So we started looking at solutions. (The water still hadn’t drained from the tub by the way.) Well the tub used to drain in the old location so lets tap into that drain…Sweet! A solution. So we get to work.

We had to rip up a little more of the floor to get to the old drain pipe. We did this and I headed to Lowe’s to get a couple of pieces we were gonna need to do this. It took us a good part of the day, but we managed to get the drains tapped into the old drain pipe.

As the PVC cement was setting we took the fam and picked up Band Mom’s Mom and went out to dinner. When we got back We hooked up the tub and checked the drain the same way we did yesterday…SUCCESS! So now we had to hook up the feed pipes and install the new tub faucet. Doesn’t seem so hard…Well you know our luck. The flex hose that I had purchased about 15 Lowe’s runs ago were too short…MOTHER @##$#$%@#$%! Its now after 10 and Lowe’s is closed! DOUBLE @##$#%@#$%! Ooh wait! Wal Mart has some limited plumbing supplies. I headed out and they did have some longer flex pipes. I got home and Band Mom and I hooked it up. Tried the faucet and HOLY SHIT IT ACTUALLY WORKS. Well there is a few minor leaks, but some tweaking and we actually have a working tub! WOOT!

That’s it for today. The shower can go up later…Its late…I need to work tomorrow and I think if anything else goes wrong one of us will take a sledge to the tub and all of the plumbing if not the entire house soon.

Adventures In Plumbing (Part 10: We're Done!…@##$%^ NO WE'RE NOT!)

Saturday started out easy enough. I had to run out to BFE to pick up Pooh from tennis practice. By the time I had returned, Band Mom had put a new switch in the bathroom and put up a new florescent light. Then we all needed to get ready for I’s 5th birthdy party. The party was at 2 O’clock and was a bowling party. Things1 & 2 had a blast at the bowling alley and all in all it was a nice 2 hour diversion from our bathroom project. On the way home we stopped at WalMart to pick up some paint for the bathroom.

Now at this point let’s review where we’re at in the project. Currently all feeder pipes are run to the shut off valves. The drainage is installed up to the point of the sink and tub trap. Sub flooring has been put in. What is left to do? Well we need to paint the wall that the tub is going to be moved to. We need to disconnect the tub and cap off all lines there. We need to move the tub and connect it up to the new feeder and drain lines (this includes adding a new drain assembly and faucet for the shower). We need to build our bulkhead to attach the shower head to. Then everything else is secondary and can be completed at a later date at a leisurly pace: Finish the whole floor, finish painting the room, fix the ceiling where the closet was, put in a new sink and vanity, add a storage bench where the tub was to hold towels and what not. Sounds pretty good and atainable today doesn’t it?

Well after the party, I had to run out to Rocky’s for a little bit to gather up all of Bill‘s stuff since he is leaving Shot:30. Again a nice hour or so diversion from the bathroom project. On the way home from there I had to stop at Lowe’s for something (and for the life of me I can’t remember what now) small for the project.

By the time I got home the wall was all painted and now we just need to disconnect the tub and move it over. Then tomorrow we’ll be able to build the wall and hook up the shower! Here’s where shit starts to go down hill…quick!

Getting the tub disconnected proves harder than expected. One would think all that needs to happen is we need to disconnect some water lines and the drain. And that is exactly correct. Only problem. The lines are not that easy to remove. They have become one with the tub on an atomic level. We ended up having to cut some of the pieces off in a very slow painful manner. So it took much longer than anticipated. We weren’t happy, but it was finally ready to move.

Next, we got to move the tub over to the other side of the room. This was somewhat of a nice surprise. We were expecting to have a hard time moving the tub due to its shear weight. Well either we are way stronger than we thought or the tub is much lighter than we expected. Either way moving the tub was not a big deal.

After that we needed to hook up the new drain assembly to the tub and hook it up to the drainage system. Not too bad…We weren’t really sure if the built in plug was correct but we’d test it and adjust it as needed. So now we’re all set up (at least for drainage) and decide we’re going to pour some water in the tub to test the drain assembly for leaks before we go any further. Also its 2am at this point so we figured after this we’d go to bed and hook up the faucet in the morning to get baths before going to see Band Mom’s Mom…

So I jaunt downstairs and fill up a pitcher with water and head up to try it out. I dump the pitcher in…Wow it seems to work…Lets get another and test the plug. Well it doesn’t work as stated but it should just be a minor correction. So we make a change and I go get another pitcher of water. We try again…Uh Oh… Now the plug up or down or completely removed is the least of our concern…WATER IS NOT DRAINING FROM THE TUB! This is not good. So we try the sink drain to see how that goes since maybe its just the drain assembly is screwed up. HUH? the tub seems to be getting more water in it as we put water in the sink drain. NOT GOOD. That means that the drain is clogged down the line. BAD. Now we are pissed and stunned. I think we stood there and stared at the water in the tub for a good half an hour in silence. We finally gave up and went to bed.

We’ll figure something out tomorrow.

Adventures In Plumbing (Part 9)

Friday was a pretty light plumbing day. Since Band Mom had run all of the drainage on Thursday, all we did today was put in some flooring. This was no big deal. But a word to the wise for anyone attempting this:

MAKE SURE YOU DON’T HIT THE SHUT OFF VALVE WHILE PLACING THE CUT-OUT AROUND A FEEDER PIPE!

Yeah, while we were placing the wood into place the cut-out smacked a shut-off valve, and turned it on. Hello geyser! Not a huge ordeal but we got a little wet and a light bulb was exploded, but all in all no big deal.

After we got that all taken care of, we were done for the evening. I went to Lowe’s and got some final things we would need for tomorrow: Additional flooring, and some two by fours for building our bulkhead wall. On the way home I picked up some McDonalds for the fam. We watched some Sci-Fi Friday, then I played on the PS2 for a while before going to bed.

Adventures In Plumbing (Part 8)

Thursday I didn’t have to do anything with the bathroom. Band Mom on the other hand did some work. She put the rest of the drainage in back to the traps for the sink and the tub.

Band Mom had a BPW meeting/family picnic in the evening. Before I got home from work she took Thing 1 & Thing 2 and the neighbor’s girl J to the picnic. I got home did a quick change. I then checked her work for any leaky parts. Nope it all looks good. After that I headed to Canonsburg to join the picnic.

We got home…And then Bim and Bo stopped by for a little bit to drop off an Avon order for Band Mom. By the time they left the kids were already asleep so we didn’t get into the bathroom.

There is a realistic possibility that the shower will be functioning by Monday morning!

Adventures In Plumbing (Part 7: Okay a little more breaking)

Wednesday saw just a little of work on the bathroom again. When Band Mom tore out the closet there were some stubborn boards. So we took them out then had to file some nails down. That is until the file was widdled away to nothingness. But now the closet is 100% gone. We are getting close. Maybe I’ll be able to shower next week.

Adventures In Plumbing (Part 6: Finish Breaking)

Tuesday was pretty light in the plumbing project. Band Mom ripped out the rest of the closet that was begun on Monday during the day while I was at work. We took the kids out to dinner and then I needed to make a WalMart run. Band Mom wasn’t feeling good so work on the bathroom was not continued after the earlier demolishion.

I’m sure she’ll be back at it Wednesday.

Adventures In Plumbing (Part 5: Break Stuff)

Monday it was back to work for me. Band Mom spent most of the day catching up on her work as well. In the evening the bathroom project continued. Tonight however we weren’t doing any plumbing.

See our bathroom is a messed up little room. Click here for a crappy little sketch to get an idea. The reason we are even doing this project is because the ceiling is sloped and where the tub currently is I can not stand up in the tub. We are moving the tub to the high side so that we can add a shower. But with the move this causes some other issues. First off with the tub on the other side the door opens right on the tub and because of a closet (with entry in the hall not the bathroom) there will be no way into the bathroom except stepping into the tub as you enter the door. So, the closet has to go.

That was Band Mom’s project for the day. Remove the closet. That sounds easy enough…but it is our house and nothing is ever that easy. This little closet was the sturdiest thing built in our stupid house. Its mostly out now, but it wasn’t as easy as originally conceived.