Blog

Front Yard

We picked our yard as our big project for the year. And by we, I mean my wife. I wanted to work on other things inside the house, but I started digging up the side yard and that lead to this. Ironically, the first patch that I dug up is the one patch that I haven’t done anything with yet.

This is our new front yard after removing the old sod, digging out two huge tree roots, numerous over-grown plants, removing the old sprinkler system, installing a new one, adding low-voltage wiring and lighting, a french drain, pavers, new gutters around the house, a rain chain, new power outlets and a security camera. Along with all of the new stuff – Ipe wood fence, Mexican beach pebbles, mondo grass, two more Japanese maples, decorative ground cover and decomposed granite.

It really was the biggest project we’ve done and I did a lot of it by myself. And we’re still not done because the red pavers are placeholders for some large stones. But we’ve received lot of compliments, it’s very low maintenance and we don’t use much water so it was all worth it.

When we first moved in, we hired someone to cut down three trees in the back. Although, there were two huge maple trees in the front yard that were cut down but the roots weren’t removed. We had some really lumpy grass that was hiding it all.

We also hired a crew of 4 guys that worked on removing the tree stumps and roots. They also tilled and leveled the yard, but they somehow missed this one. This took me a long time to dig out, but I kept at it and did it piece by piece.

Once the roots were gone, I dug the fence post holes for our fence. We live in an area that was once part of the ocean, so once you dig 6 inches down, you get to this rock hard sand. Digging the post holes was such a a pain, but not nearly as hard as removing the stump.

This is the fence I made from Ipe wood that I ordered through AdvantageLumber.com. I haven’t ordered that much wood before so I can’t compare it to anything. I’d say that the 8′ boards were mostly great but there were a handful that I didn’t want to use. Although, what I thought were some of the ugliest boards actually came out as the best ones when I applied the Mesmer’s oil. And the 8′ boards were pretty straight but the 12′ boards I used for the side yard fence were pretty warped. So overall, I was happy with the wood, but it could’ve been a little better too.

October 26, 2016
Annual Golf Trip(s)

I’ve played golf most of my life but it’s not something I’ve ever really been good at. My dad used to take my brother and I out when we were kids but I liked driving the cart more than hitting balls. I played throughout my childhood and I played on my freshman team in high school. The big disclaimer here is that this was pre Tiger Woods so golf wasn’t as cool. Actually, kids would make fun of you for playing so it was hard enough to get 6 guys on a team and I was the 6th guy.

Either way, it’s been something that I’ve mostly enjoyed despite the frustrations. And it’s been something that has always brought me together with others. I will always remember the days on the course with my dad and brother (and getting the cart stuck in the mud and driving it so hard until we’ve all fallen out). I played with my childhood friends and we’ve talked about trying to play again. I played in college a lot and we’ve recently started going on an annual trip, which is the one time I get to play all year. And lastly, I played with my mom and had some good times with her on the course.

But for as long as I’ve played, I’ve never really understood the mechanics of a golf swing until recently. I took lessons when I was a kid and I had a coach in high school, so I’m not sure if they didn’t teach me the fundamentals or if I wasn’t paying attention. I’m guessing it’s the later, but then again, it was really so hard to learn back then. You’d have to read books or magazines and recording your swing was a big deal.

Now, I can watch countless YouTube videos with great instructions and record my swing that I really don’t want to see on my phone. And maybe it’s my age, but I’m completely open to changing anything and everything I’m doing wrong, even if I can’t always do it.

I made huge improvements two years ago on our Palm Springs trip, but regressed a bit last year because I got cocky and only made it to the range a few times. I have 3 months until the next trip, so I say I’m going to get started now but the reality is I won’t make it to the range until a week before our trip. But either way, it’s really more about spending time with good friends.

Here’s a few courses we played at. They’re all really nice and they’re pretty cheap because smarter people don’t play in Palm Springs in September.

And here’s the type of houses we’ve been renting for the weekend:They’re so nice, it feels like we’re on a reality show!

September 13, 2016
Zoysia Sod

We also re-did our back yard and put in some De Anza Zoysia sod from WestCoastTurf.com.

I grew up in the hills of Berkeley, so we never had a lawn. I did a lot of research and picked the Zoysia because it’s supposed to grow slowly and not require much water. It’s also very dense and can be cut short, which I like. And it’s an Asian grass so that goes well with the rest of our yard.

I raked and leveled our back yard a bunch of times before the sod was delivered. I also installed a whole new sprinkler system before this, which I’ve also never done, so I was a little concerned if it was all going to work.

The sod came earlier in the morning and my wife and I got started right away. It doesn’t look like it, but it was hot that day and I didn’t want it to dry out.

It took the two of us almost all day and it was exhausting. But it looked good that evening and even better two weeks later.

I also bought this reel mower made by Gardena. It’s from Germany and there’s not much info on it, but it had good reviews. Despite being an old school type mower, it’s really easy to use and cuts the grass really well.

So we have a nice back yard now and it’s a great place for our two boys to grow up and play.

August 17, 2016
Side Yard Project

When we bought our house a few years ago, there was a big shed in the side yard. It might’ve been useful, but it was placed right in front of a sliding door and was visible from our living room. We have lots of projects to do, but my wife wanted to work on the yard and this is were it started.

I started working on the yard about a year ago and I took down the shed and moved it to my in-law’s farm, which was a quite an ordeal. I actually worked on the front yard next, but ended up making a decorative fence, planted a Japanese maple tree and filled it with some rocks.

I also tore out our old irrigation system, put in a new one along with some low-voltage lighting. I’ve never done any of those things so there was a lot to learn, but it’s all worked out pretty well so far.

The wood is called Ipe and I bought a bunch of it from Advantage Lumber to make this fence and another one in the front yard. I had the idea of buying 12′ boards instead of the standard 8′ boards for this fence so I wouldn’t see a seam. But I discovered that the 12′ boards have a lot more curves and warping. It was a lot harder to work with and I don’t think I would’ve made the same choice if I was making it again.

The rocks are 1/2″ – 1″ black Mexican beach pebbles. I spent a lot of time at the specialty builder supply store looking at rocks until I found these.

July 23, 2016
Amazon vs Microsoft on Apple

Earlier this year, I was updating my iPad and saw this:

So, Amazon is making the world a better place? I can’t argue with that. Amazon Prime is amazing. I don’t even use the movies, music streaming, free books or other included services, but the products and 2-day shipping are priceless. Ok, maybe $1oo/year if Amazon is reading this.

My wife “looks” on Amazon every night and says she doesn’t buy anything, but somehow packages show up at our house every day.

On a side note, Microsoft’s Office products are surprisingly good on the iPad, but the updates are also pretty ridiculous. Each product has a 400+ MB update of bug fixes and it seems to happen quite a bit.

July 14, 2016
French Drain

When we worked on our yard, my wife wanted to make a French drain on the side of the house. I didn’t know what that was, but I researched it and learned that it was a lot of work. It doesn’t rain very often in southern California and we’ve been in a major drought on top of that. But I still made and it works incredibly well.

I dug out a trench that runs from our back yard to the street. Then I lined it with some landscaping fabric like a taco. I put down a thin layer of gravel and then some 4″ PVC pipe with holes. I thought the holes would point up, but they are supposed to point down. Then I covered it with the rocks and wrapped it up with the cloth and lightly covered it with dirt.

The idea is that water travels in the path of least resistance. So it’ll soak through the dirt but find it’s way to the rocks. The cloth prevents dirt from getting into the rocks and the holes in the PVC, so the trench will fill with water. The holes on the bottom let the water enter the pipe and it gets carried down until it exits at the street.

I also added pipes that connect the rain chain to the drain. Since our gutters run the length of our house, even a light rain makes a huge down pour at the chain.

This was not the most fun project I worked on, but it was probably one of the more important ones dues to the hill in the back and our zero-lot-line house.

May 26, 2016
Windows Updates

We pretty much have all Apple stuff in our house, but my wife still has a Windows laptop. She hadn’t used it in a few months and I turned it on only to see this:

Windows has never been my favorite, but I thought Windows 7 was pretty good. Although, I don’t understand why Microsoft couldn’t figure out a better way to do updates. They used to pretty good with cumulative service packs, but that seemed to end after SP1. I don’t remember what happened after this, but I’m sure the updater came up with more updates after it rebooted. And of course, my wife updated it to Windows 10 unintentionally after this, which they’re now apologizing for.

May 15, 2016
A Bigger Shelf

My oldest son loves garbage trucks and also started branching out to construction vehicles and fire trucks. I bought him the orange Bruder garbage truck when we moved as a gift for being so good during the transition. He played with it for years and still does from time to time.

He ended up getting a bunch more from mom, grandma and his aunties and uncles. They’re so big so I had to make a shelf just for his trucks!

September 29, 2015
Gave In to the Minivan

I was ok selling my BMW for my wife’s car, but we held out on the minivan for as long as we could. After our incident with the 4Runner, my mom insisted on getting us a new car. I would’ve driven the 4Runner for a couple more years before eventually giving in and buying a van.

We’ve talked to other parents and everyone feels the same. It’s something you fight and fight, but once you give in, you realize it’s great and you don’t know how you did without it.

This is our 2015 Toyota Sienna XLE and it’s been awesome. Really.

We had to take it on 4-5 trips to northern California already. Some of the trips were pretty rough but the van made it as comfortable as it could be.

And on a side note, I had a great sales experience with Tustin Toyota. I don’t mind the car buying process, but they made everything as easy and didn’t try to add anything extra. They have this old Land Cruiser there so I sent a picture of this to my wife to tell her I bought it instead.

September 26, 2015
Mid-Century Inspiration

I had some time off over the holidays and managed to finish a media console I’ve been working on. I’m not sure how I feel about this one. On one hand, it’s probably the nicest thing I’ve made but on the other hand, I see all the stupid mistakes I made along the way. I was able to hide a lot of them and it works well in our space so it ended up ok.

I used a walnut plywood that I got from Austin Hardwood in Santa Ana. I really wanted to do bevel cuts for the edges, but I don’t have a table saw or a router so I ended up buying a Makita track saw. It works great and makes super clean cuts so long as everything’s clamped down properly (stupid mistake #1).

Since it’s plywood, I covered the edges with veneer edge banding. It was my first time using it, but it’s really easy to do and it’s actually kind of fun.

I wanted a dark walnut color and I tested out a bunch of stains and oils and ended up using Watco Danish Oil (Dark Walnut). I liked how it brought out the grain and it’s really easy to apply. Although, it wasn’t quite dark enough so I added a light coat of Old Master’s Black Walnut gel stain and finished it with 4 coats of General Finishes Arm-R-Seal satin.

I sized it to go along with a free TV we got from the neighbors and to also fit a vintage receiver. This also became an interest of mine, so I picked up a vintage Yamaha CR-420 receiver. I honestly chose it mostly because of the aesthetics, but it sounds really clean for a lower powered, compact unit. I paired it with Micca MB42x speakers and I’m really impressed with these too. I feel like buying some more to replace a 5.1 setup in the living room, but we hardly watch anything that’s not on Disney Jr and if we do, it’s usually with it on mute with the subtitles on!

January 2, 2015