David Ruppert

We’d hoped to get up the 4 exterior walls, but managed to get up that plus 4 interior walls too

Ok, so this is what we started with. A room. Without so much as a fourth wall or a door . . and I think we can all agree its tough two-sey when there’s no door to shut.

Framing begins. First building out the back wall, then some structure around the coffin-sized shower all the way out to our new fourth wall.

As we worked on the framing and eletrical, Todd and The Plumbing Group worked on running lines and vent stacks. Chris is almost at the bottom of the list when it comes to offering significant help with actual plumbing duties [followed only by yours truly] so he gets roof duty. [I said duty.]

Our biggest challenge thus far was to bring water some 1100′ from the neighbors house. Well, wait . . that wasn’t our biggest challenge, we simply had to hire qualified plumbers. Todd’s biggest challenge was trenching up those 1100′, but whatever.

Next came the shiny new pump.

Once framing was fairly complete, we began to run some additional wiring for items such as a water heater, wall heater, additional outlets and moving some switches around.

A look at the newly framed bathroom with the majority of wiring and plumbing complete.

Ugh . . then sheetrock, the new bain of my existence. Sheetrocking wasn’t bad, mainly because I didn’t have to do it, but taping, bedding and texturing sucked . . thoroughly. [Despite the lone photo of Chris working on it, I did help with this]

And finally, this past weekend . . TA-DA! A finished bathroom. We finally feel like we’ve completed something. It’s a small something, but still a something.

For a cheap bathroom, it looks pretty nice. When we can, we go used. Some people have been nice enough to give us a few things, and when we’ve had to buy, its been whatever’s on sale at Lowes. We’ve got a ton of work left, and not an enourmous budget, so we have to save where we can.

This weekend? Framing the addition. We’ve already dropped the posts in the ground and decked the floor. On Tuesday night we built our corner studs, cripple studs and headers to save us some time while we’re out there.

If everything goes as planned [which has yet to happen], we’ll have 4 new exterior walls before the Cowboy game on Sunday.

I’m not crossing my fingers.

“Things seem to be going well for the Dallas Briefing. Here’s what current DallasNews.com users have to say about the Dallas Briefing:

“As if I don’t already have enough trash blowing into my yard.”

“In a time when communities are focusing on recycling and reducing waste, it is irresponsible to litter the lawns of homeowners with an unwanted newspaper. Is the DMN going to pick up all of the papers littering our neighborhood day after day?”

“I HATE this Briefing thing. I just took a walk through our nieghborhood and they are cluttering up the sidewalks. Terrible timing - aren’t we supposed to be getting MORE environemntally friendly rather than killing extra trees and littering the sidewalks with them.”

“You opt out by calling 214-977-8333.” - Good try, but no . . notsomuch.

“This does it. The straw that broke the camel’s back. Yesterday I saw the litter-strewn neighborhoods where the DMN Spanish-language paper Al Dia is already being distributed for free. I have subscribed to the DMN for 30 years, and I refuse to subsidize everyone else’s free papers and contribute to a huge littering problem. I am calling to cancel my subscription.”

“if i put my blue recycle bin in the front yard, could the delivery person just deposit my copy in there?”

“I don’t think a full paper is that intimidating or expensive, so I’m not completely sure what a Briefing version really does.”

Thanks for scoring the assist with this article on Dallas Briefing . . . and one more regarding the Dallas Morning News Dallas Briefing.

ENOUGH ALREADY! This abbreviated version of the Dallas Morning News started showing up at my house a couple of weeks ago . . . and hasn’t stopped DESPITE my repeated attempts to curb [pun intended] its delivery.

I’m going to continually repeat the name of this paper, the Dallas Briefing, because Google doesn’t have much on it . . and I’d find it quite hilarious for this blog entry to show up . . you know . . whenever someone tries to Google Dallas Briefing, The Dallas Briefing, Dallas Briefing from the Dallas Morning News or the less likely searched for . . and incorrectly spelled Dallas Breifing.

I don’t understand why the Dallas Briefing isn’t opt-in? I don’t want this paper [the Dallas Briefing]. If I wanted to receive the local newspaper, like the Dallas Morning News, I’d subscribe. But, alas, like most of the modern world, I have an internet connection. When I need to get an update on the news [which I do at least every 2 or 3 hours], I simply bring up DallasNews.com . . or Yahoo . . or Google. The options are surprisingly endless when it comes to online news.

So back to my thought . . why isn’t this opt-in? Why don’t you let interested individuals call or subscribe online to receive the Dallas Briefing. Or what about just putting it in free newsstands like the Dallas Quick [which coincidently is more my style anyway]. Why doesn’t that work?

This seems like not only a frustration for individuals who don’t want to pick this up off of their lawn every afternoon, but an unbelievable waste of paper. Not like I have any real statistics, but someone please enlighten me on how many of these homes take in and read the Dallas Briefing on a daily basis?

Judging from a quick drive through my neighborhood, less than 25% even pick it up on a daily basis. And you can’t convince me that the remaining people all read the Dallas Briefing. I can’t imagine even half of those sit down everyday and read the Dallas Briefing.

Do whatever . . . just stop delivering the damn thing to my house.

The University of Texas has decided to close the Accessibility Institute started by Dr. John Slatin. The Institute has played a big part in highlighting web accessibility issues and it would be a shame for UT to discontinue its progress.

By visiting the the URL below, you can send the following note to Dr. Stephen A. Monti, the Executive Vice Provost at UT:

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I am writing to urge the University of Texas to reconsider its decision to close the Accessibility Institute, founded and led with distinction by the late Dr. John Slatin. While Dr. Slatin’s inspirational leadership was critically important to get the Institute started, there are others able and prepared to carry the torch of knowledge forward.

The University of Texas established a reputation as leader on Universal Design issues. The research and practical application of findings pioneered by Dr. Slatin, Dr. Kay Lewis and the graduate students they worked with have helped to shape global understanding of the importance of technology access. Indeed, their work has helped to establish standards and best practice all over the world.

As technology rapidly changes, current accessibility standards continue to evolve. Research-based practices must be developed, implemented and evaluated. Accessibility leaders from all over the world look to UT as an exemplar. At a time when governments are trying to establish equitable standards and businesses are seeking to include all markets in their messaging and services, UT can not stand down from this important work.

Please dedicate the resources necessary to maintain and build on Universal Design theories and practices pioneered by John Slatin at the Accessibility Institute.

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Please take a minute to do so . . you only have to enter your name and email address.

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/SavetheInstitute