tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-192211292009-07-06T18:40:54.573+01:00The Home Improvement Ninja's battle to the death against his 100 year old townhouse. Currently, it's looking like they are evenly matched.HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.comBlogger340125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-48625054613533563682009-06-26T18:49:00.002+01:002009-06-26T18:52:13.454+01:00

Alright, alright already. The guy is dead and he hasn't had a hit record in 20 years, why do we need to keep talking about him when we are fighting two wars and a recession? His music sucked back then, and it hasn't gotten any better, so why is it impossible to turn on the radio and hear anything besides that crappy pop from the 80s? My iPod is working overtime since I'm avoiding the radio for

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-28093714121840862822009-06-25T16:06:00.002+01:002009-06-25T16:19:05.341+01:00

Well, I finally got rid of that huge pile of debris in my driveway. After dealing with the junk removal guy who flaked on me, and the one who left a flier, but wouldn't return my phonecall (which sorta defeats the purpose of putting a flier on my door, but I digress), I was sitting home on monday, which I happened to have off. I heard a knock on the door, and an old, wiry, black man was there

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-50211892853850313382009-06-23T14:59:00.003+01:002009-06-23T15:07:13.799+01:00

Why do people keep asking me if I'm okay? I was not on the metro train that crashed yesterday. 1) I wasn't even at work yesterday; 2) even if was on the train, what would I be doing in Takoma Park(what would anyone be doing in Takoma, besides buying patchoulli or recycling?); and 3) there's millions of people in the DC area...calling to see if I was one of the two people who died is like

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-34602103440998888432009-06-19T18:43:00.003+01:002009-06-19T19:04:01.382+01:00

Well, after another doctor visit and X-ray, it turns out that my finger is still broken. This guy was an orthopedic doctor with signed thank you jerseys from Mia Hamm and some other athletes, so he supposedly knows what he's doing. Well, he'll be getting no signed gi from me. Partly because those things are expensive, but also because I don't like what he told me. Four more weeks of no training?

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-24858492810039674922009-06-11T13:54:00.002+01:002009-06-11T14:13:55.283+01:00

I'm not a huge fan of unions. It doesn't look like they did GM, Ford or Chrylser a whole lot of good. However, I can understand how it's human nature to want to be paid more for doing the same thing you would normally be doing.I also get the concept of picket lines. The goal is to annoy people and whine and stomp your feet like a child until someone gets frustrated enough to just give in to your

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-80597380032958584012009-06-09T19:47:00.002+01:002009-06-09T19:52:07.741+01:00

They say bad things come in threes. Anyone who doubts this should count the number of terms a Bush has been in the White House, or the number of exes I have name Catherine. Well, this weekend I lost my GF among the 50,000+ people at the Race for the Cure, at the national mall. Then, I got a flat tire, and as I was leaving the tire repair place...I got into a car accident. I took the rest of

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-47049948181111909932009-06-04T14:26:00.003+01:002009-06-04T14:37:23.279+01:00

Well, after two years of awkwardly opening and closing the doors on my kitchen cabinets, I decided on the right handle and put them on. It didn't really take me two years to decide on the handles, I just had more important things going on in my life and kitchen door handles were pretty low on the queue. These were installed when my Dad visited recently. They look great because we used a "jig",

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-23035815612764989842009-06-01T13:29:00.002+01:002009-06-01T13:37:13.988+01:00

I broke my middle finger. The Xray says it's not a small break either. I have a splint on it, so I can give the middle finger to everyone with impunity, which is good, but it hurts like hell, which is bad. They gave me vicodin, which is VERY good (especially with beer), but I only take it at home because it makes me very loopy and that's not so good at work or when I'm driving.I broke it in

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-78629525597972984702009-05-21T18:58:00.003+01:002009-05-21T19:00:51.587+01:00

A friend of mine recently temporarilly gave up the rat race to live for a while in Brazil. You can read about his exploits (including getting items stolen from him on the beach, and accidentally crashing a party of strippers and hookers) on his blog HERE.

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-66121438335514640402009-05-18T16:28:00.003+01:002009-05-18T16:41:32.096+01:00

I donated a bunch of stuff to Community Forklift, a non-profit that takes home building stuff and sells it, using the money for charity. Sort of like the Home Depot meets the Salvation Army. I figured, (1)I could probably use the tax deduction next year, (2) I could definitely use the space, and (3) it's a lot less stressful than trying to sell it on Craigslist and dealing with the flakes

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-73543458247730443062009-05-15T16:55:00.002+01:002009-05-15T17:03:46.367+01:00

I wish I had a pic of the old sliding door with iron security bars that was in the kitchen before, but I forgot to take a picture of the craptasticness before it was taken out. This door was REALLY difficult to install because when the door was taken out, we found out that the wood on the bottom was rotted and the previous door (like the window in the kitchen) had no header installed. After

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-28495857529714645112009-05-13T14:50:00.002+01:002009-05-13T15:40:21.200+01:00

So the guy who was supposed to come on monday to clean out the debris/trash in my driveway flaked on me. I called and left a message, but no reply. I feel like the ugly chick with mono who gets stood up for the prom and has to stay home and watch American Idol with her mom and annoying little brother. Okay, maybe not like that, but you get the picture.They came about a year or two ago and

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-38298827902301570552009-05-12T15:05:00.004+01:002009-05-12T15:17:27.707+01:00

So the hardwood floors upstairs and downstairs looked nice, but the stairs that connected them looked like crap. I thought about refinishing the stairs, but decided on having them done over, which cost a lot more money, but ended up looking nicer, I think.Before Pic Number 1: this is the transition from upstairs to the stairs.Here's what the stairs looked liked from downstairs. There's a fine

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-18051039688291388252009-05-10T16:44:00.002+01:002009-05-10T16:49:11.112+01:00

There's been a lot of progress going on at my place over the last few weeks. I'll post some pics of the finished projects soon, but in the meantime, I'll show you the debris that was created in the process. This is what the driveway in the back of the ninja fortress looks like (for now). Someone will be coming on Monday to get rid of it all, but in the meantime the feral cats in my alley will

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-71695964197194302062009-04-24T13:50:00.002+01:002009-04-24T14:01:32.103+01:00

I love Sci-Fi as much as Britney Spears loves dysfunctional relationships. This is no secret. The Girlfriend scored some free tickets to the premier of the new Star Trek Movie. Free tickets to a movie that I would wait in a looooong line for and pay lots of money to see. My inner-geek has an erection right now. The best part is that she got the tix for me, because she's not a huge sci-fi fan

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-86013262434242474342009-04-23T14:04:00.001+01:002009-04-23T14:09:14.246+01:00

So, somehow I ended up in Massachusetts and was running some errands, when I had a little misunderstanding with the dry cleaners and convenience store. What? Like you would run your errands without your katana in a state with such a high concentration of pirates? We all know about the pirate/ninja rivalry. 'Nuff said.

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-81402553345030037982009-04-17T19:53:00.002+01:002009-04-17T20:01:37.235+01:00

I was wondering why I had more money in my checking account than usual, and I realized it's because I haven't been to Home Depot in a couple of months. I stopped by a couple of days ago, and after buying nothing more than a few feet of crown moulding and baseboard, I was $400 poorer. I would've been a lot poorer if their staff had been less incompetent. I wanted to buy a couple of windows and

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-71159656815878709302009-04-10T14:48:00.002+01:002009-04-10T14:58:29.331+01:00

I watch TV and listen to the news just like everybody else, and like everybody else I know about how bad things are supposed to be right now in the economy. Derivatives are now a dirty word so I've even heard, anecdotally, about how some law firms (huge international ones) are hurting and they are laying off associates.And yet, this week I got calls from TWO headhunters about positions for

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-4546910790300628302009-03-25T13:06:00.002Z2009-03-25T13:17:27.763Z

Since I've been sick for the past month with something that I can't seem to shake, I finally broke down Monday, suspended my fear of doctors and went to one to find out what's wrong. It's gotten so bad that lately I've been winded when I climb 3 flights of stairs. The verdict? I have "Walking Pneumonia". (or maybe it was regular pneumonia, but my super powerful immune system converted it

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-69033804289116222172009-03-18T18:01:00.000Z2009-03-18T18:02:38.219Z

One of the few things that I can't do (besides my taxes or sitting through and episode of Grey's Anatomy without vomitting) is bake. I cook really well on the burners, but the oven is like a mysterious dragon vagina that frightens and confuses me. Still, I love a challenge (and key lime pie) so I set out to bake one with the girlfriend so that we could relive the wonderful experience we had in

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-48845233716771041992009-03-12T15:47:00.003Z2009-03-12T15:51:44.536Z

There's a new restaurant going up on 14Th and V Street. A few artists are going to each put up a mural there to commemorate Zora Neale Hurston (a Harlem writer). A friend of mine is doing one of the murals. You can get more info on the event at Prince of Petworth's blog.

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-90159929034156088532009-02-19T14:01:00.002Z2009-02-19T14:06:42.899Z

As we were watching the news, I saw Michelle Obama on the TV talking to a bunch of kids in the White House. I turned to the GF and said this verbatim: "You know....unlike Lara Bush, whenever I see the new first lady on TV I don't want to punch her in the face." I know it's just a photo op, but whenever I would see Lara Bush talking to a bunch of kids (and reminding us for the thousandth time

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-53598048190241659132009-02-12T12:46:00.002Z2009-02-12T12:50:16.978Z

1. What inspired you to start blogging?I think I started reading some house blogs and relating to the headaches the people were going through and I thought "I could do that" and decided to start writing stuff down and taking pictures of it. After I started slacking with the home improvements, I filled in the slack with random crap about ninjas, libertarian rants and my dysfunctional family (which

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-43955489777384057482009-02-06T19:39:00.003Z2009-02-06T19:50:00.951Z

In hindsight, opening the door of the van blocking my driveway so that the light would go on and kill his battery was not the greatest idea since the van was now disabled and sat in my driveway for an additional couple of days. If you're wondering why I just don't have it towed--that would make sense in any city besides DC. In DC, you can't just tow someone who is blocking your driveway (because

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19221129.post-82771341953558400882009-01-29T18:08:00.004Z2009-01-29T19:11:00.027Z

Dear Van Parked in My Driveway:I know you have Virginia plates, but things work differently here in DC. See, here, you can't park in someone's driveway like an a-hole just because you don't want to leave your car on the street even though I counted two empty spaces in front of my house. You see, it's a shared alleyway, which means that everyone can drive up and down it, but no one can park there,

HomeImprovementNinjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134409822023878387noreply@blogger.com11