well here is an update to the previous post. we now have totally cleared the space and are awaiting the new.

it's exciting to see the progress (always seems slower than you thought it would be) of the construction.

so far we have purchased a large corner whirlpool tub and the fixtures for the tub. got a lot more to buy before this is over, but i think it will be real nice.

this is a short video of the work being done at the new house to break out 3 closets and an old bathroom so rooty jr. and i can build our new modern bathroom.

it's very noisy. i am sitting in the next room with my laptop working on web design for work.

this is what it looks like today. we found some really neat shower/whirlpool combos that we are thinking of putting in the new bathroom. i'll update the blog with more as the work progresses.

mom just called and gave me sad news that our good family friend "flo wilson" had just passed away after a long battle with leukemia.

flo was a joy to be around. she always had a smile and was very optimistic about everything. we always thought of her as extended family.

the last time i got to spend any time with flo was at chanukkah when she dropped by mom's house when we were all gathered there. it was clear that she was in pain. it was clear that she was suffering from her disease.

she would have none of it though. she wanted to know how we were doing. how our families were, our children. you would ask her how she was doing and she would shrug it off and say she wanted to talk about fun stuff and not depressing stuff.

my memories of flo will always be of a lady that wanted to enjoy life to the best of her abilities and to have fun. ruthie and i have decided that this weekend we will go out and buy a flamboyant, brightly colored hat in her honor and that then whenever we saw the hat (or other item of clothing if we can't find a hat) we would be thinking of our friend flo!

you will be missed very much...

most bad deals you can see miles away unless the hook is big enough.

well, we hooked into a real crummy one last night.

my lovely wife, myself and my in-laws, fortuna and isaac went out for an appointment at this place called "directbuy". if you have watched much tv, you have seen the ads. people doing home remodeling (yup, that's us) are gushing (no pun intended) about saving $30,000 or more on kitchen cabinets and other home furnishings.

in a nutshell the deal is that you become a member, go to the showroom and can then order all sorts of everyday and luxury items right from the manufacturer at the price they sell to stores at. no markup or middleman.

so we view the showroom, listen to the silly presentation and finally the guy gets down to the membership and casually says it's only $4991 for the first 3 years! isaac was ready to leave at that point, but ruthie and i wanted to find out some more details. fortuna was graceful as ever and waited outside with isaac.

it got worse from there. turns out they want you to decide right there and then if you want to become a member. can't come back ever again if you turn them down. if you want to finance the small amount of $4991 they want 17% interest. just to get a price quote on an item for comparison so you know if it is even a good deal they want a yes or no to membership right then!

this place was like 30 miles from home and they expect you to come running out there both to order something and to pick it up. are they nuts?

so we had a quick and dirty little huff and puff with the "director" (the guy was so nice before the presentation and so pushy afterwards) assigned to follow us around and skeedaddled out of there!

unless you just have lots of money and time to burn, i suggest staying away from directbuy. jmho, oy.