Thursday 27 April 2006

Taxes Are Done

I finished our taxes last night, made copies of the appropriate pages and mailed them out today. No idea as to when we will receive our Notice of Assessment, but normal paper processing time is four to six weeks this time of year - that would put as at the beginning of June. We haven't filed a paper return in years - used netfile and telefile for the past 5 or so years.

Monday 17 April 2006

Painting Complete

Phase one of the 'Paint the Rec Room' project is complete. The final top coat of paint is drying and the room looks much much much better. Brighter, bigger and cleaner. Adam plans on painting the ceiling and the rest of the rec room in the near future. The next task is to assemble the remainder of the entertainment/storage unit and move various things into the unit.

Saturday 15 April 2006

Quick Trip to Burlington

IKEA called to let us know that the remainder of entertainment/storage unit was in stock and would be reserved for two weeks. Adam decided that sometime during the Easter weekend that he would drive 3 hours to Burlington, ON and pickup the remaining pieces and drive back to Windsor. That day was today.

He left Windsor at 8:00 am and arrived in Burlington at 10:50 am. Traffic was not a problem on the 401 or 403 - a few cops on motorcycles, but nothing to major. Adam promptly parked the van in the pickup area, went to the express cashiers, paid for the items and then walked over to the furniture pick-up area. The employee said it would be a few minutes, so Adam took the opportunity to head to the washroom. Returning to the pick-up area, Adam saw that the items were being brought out. He pushed them out to the van, loaded them in and parked the van. That took a total of 10 minutes.


Next was a quick tour of the store, and picking up some small storage containers that Tina wanted for the growing supply of Playmobil toys. Adam also looked for some wicker baskets for the entertainment/storage unit, but none were available in the size he was looking for. He paid for the containers and headed back to Windsor making a quick stop at the chip wagon in Brantford to get some freshly fried french fries.

Friday 14 April 2006

Brightening Up The Rec Room

A few months ago, we decided that it was time to upgrade the rec room aka 'the basement'. Step one is the replacement of the various pieces of furniture for the TV, stereo and CD/DVDs with a matching entertainment/storage unit. Step two is painting the walls and ceiling.

The room is covered in paneling that is dark and outdated. Adam moved everything to behind the couch and gave the floor a very good vacuuming (it was much needed). Taping those areas that we did not wish painted (we decided to paint the half where we sit and watch TV), Adam began to paint the walls with primer. The primer alone made a huge difference - but it soaked in quick. A second coat of primer was put on making for an excellent surface to paint on. Tina was amazed with the transformation and the boys wanted to help paint (which Adam politely said 'no' too).

Sunday 9 April 2006

Disconnecting, Assembling and Reconnecting

Adam's original plan was to assemble the entire entertainment unit in one go. After some deep thought, that plan was nixed. Adam decided to build the TV stand first. The first step was to disconnect all the existing components and put them off to the side. The existing TV stand (also from IKEA) was cleaned and relocated to the office - more on that in another post. A quick vacuum to clean up months of dirt, dust and who-knows-what, and it was time to assemble.

The TV stand came in two boxes. It's amazing that they can fit so much into such a flat box. After checking that everything was in the box - lots of little parts - Adam began assembly. For the most part, it was straightforward. Nothing too difficult - just bulky as the parts came together. After a couple of hours, the unit was assembled and put into place. It looked sharp.
© Inter IKEA Systems B.V.With assembly complete, the next step was to break open the receiver box and connect as many components as possible. After about another 45 minutes or so, the new audio/video system was ready to be turned on. Adam pressed the power button and the Yamaha HTR-5890s came too life. Even with regular audio/video cables (aka RCA plugs) connected, the sound from the DVD player was amazing. One part done. More to come.

Thursday 6 April 2006

New Receiver

© YAMAHA ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
We are in the process of updating half of our rec room - the half where we sit and watch tv or a movie. The process began with the temporary relocation of the futon to the garage, for eventual sale. That cleared up a tremendous amount of space so that Adam can assemble the entertainment/storage system he bought from IKEA. Adam thought that since he has to disconnect everything, that this might be a good a time to upgrade and purchase a new receiver.

He has been keeping an eye on a couple of Yamaha models at Future Shop/Best Buy. Coincidently, one model, Yamaha HTR-5890S, that Adam was eyeing, was on sale at Future Shop. The sale price was CDN$699.99. He quickly checked a few reviews - all were positive, and based on his own experience with Yamaha receivers, he ordered it online with in-store pickup. At lunch, he drove up to Future Shop, handed over his credit card and carried the large box to the van. When he arrived home, it was like Christmas.

Monday 3 April 2006

IKEA Via Brantford

Jeremy and Adam spent the weekend in Brantford. They left Friday afternoon, arriving in the Telephone City around 4:00 pm. Jeremy promptly wanted to "play downstairs", but Babcia first showered Jeremy with presents and hugs. Some point during the evening, Adam realized that he had not brought shirts with him - they were still hanging in the closet in Windsor. Oh well.

Saturday morning, Adam's mom made him a traditional Polish breakfast which made him happy. After breakfast, Adam drove to Wal-Mart to buy a shirt and ended up buying four short sleeve casual shirts and t-shirts. Next, it was off to IKEA in Burlington. On the off-ramp to IKEA, Adam noticed a vacant parking spot right across from the exit and loading area. Sure enough it was still available when pulled in.


We decided to purchase the BONDE entertainment/storage unit for the basement - it would vastly increase the amount of storage space available in the rec room. So the first task was to get the unit, put in the van and then go browse and shop. Unfortunately, the unit we wanted was only partially available - we got the two shelving units, the tv base unit, two drawers and all the doors. The centre shelving unit and two CD/DVD drawers were on back-order. Adam proceeded with what was available. The majority of the unit was available through the Furniture Pick-up area, which meant a slight delay in packing the van. While packing the van, Adam noticed that one of the shelving units was missing - it came in two boxes - and he returned to the pick-up area.

The employee apologized for the oversight and delivered the second shelving unit. After loading and parking the van (lucking out again with a parking space just outside the exit), Adam joined his mom and Jeremy for a browse and shop tour of IKEA. After buying some more things, it was back to Brantford. Jeremy fell asleep, so Adam drove a little longer and gave his mom a tour of the growing west-end business park.


The remainder of the day was spent playing, resting and eating. Alex treated us to a meal at Montana's - thanks Alex. Surprisingly, Jeremy ate well - it is hit and miss with him sometimes. Jeremy and Adam headed back to Brantford around lunch time. Jeremy fell asleep within minutes of getting on the highway and slept all the way to Windsor. Over two hours of pure pleasure for Adam.