Two Weeks...

What'a'do, everybody?

(you'll get that reference if you watch the Scottish Conan guy - Ang and I are addicted)

So, yeah.  It's been two whole weeks since I've shown up around here.  What's changed in that time (here's a bulleted list because that's what engineers are good at)? 

• I'm pretty sure I've told everyone, but I'm an ass and inevitably forgot one poor soul out there.  The job @ DCMA is official.  I negotiated a proper salary and benefits, passed the drug test and have filled out all the paperwork.  I start Tuesday, 10/13.  Pretty awesome, 'cause I have a Federal holiday for my first day of work.  
• I spent 6 days away from Ang & the Stevemonster.  2 travelling, 4 at the Farmhouse.  30 new outlets, 10 new switches and 300 feet of romex later, we have a somewhat modernized electrical system.  I still have some work to be done on the second floor and Angie's dad still needs to have a real electrician install the new breaker panel, but we're close.  Despite the less-than-ideal working conditions (only 3 broadcast stations and 1 NASTY crawlspace), I had a great time and learned a ton, not only about the history of electrical installations, but about the farm and the family as well.  
• So, I mentioned the history of electrical installations (if you're not a home improvement geek, skip this one)... I saw everything in that house.  A lot of it I had never seen before at all.  We think the house was knocked down in the 1940s by a tornado, so we were lucky enough to avoid knob and tube wiring, but there was still a 60 amp fuze panel with 120 amps worth of fuses in it, along with another 20 amp sub-box with 60 amps worth of fuzes in it.  Gotta love farmer wiring!!  I also saw a lot of ungrounded aluminum wire and even one switch so old it used porcelain as the insulator (probably survived the tornado!).  Back to the main panel(s), out of the 6 circuits on the two boxes, 80% of the lights, outlets and other stuff was run through just 1 circuit.  In rewiring the house, we balanced out those circuits and will replace them all with circuit breakers and a new panel.  It'll be much safer now! 
• Since my free time at home is now limited, I've put together a list of stuff to get done that I've been putting off.  I'm at least halfway through that sucker.  Put up the pot rack in our kitchen (after 51 weeks living here), added a new outlet for the china cabinet, installed a couple ceiling fans, bought a lawn tractor (with a bagger attachment - no more raking!!!), blah blah blah.
• Oh, yeah... then there's school.  I'm about halfway through this quarter.  After this one is over, I have one class in the Winter quarter and then a thesis in the Spring.  That's it.  When I started, I thought it would never end.  Looking back, I can't believe it went so quick!
  

It really has been a pretty crazy last couple weeks.  And it will only get crazier when I add a job to the mix!

Angie stole my thunder and posted all the sunset pics I took when I was at the farm, but I'll repost my favorite for the hell of it (can you believe this was taken with my iPhone???).