Our new bathroom floor

Our floor was a mess.  The small tiles had come loose and were missing over the ears, and the concrete below had deteriorated in many places.  So I carefully chiseled and cut out the concrete and tile, about 1 1/2", down to the floorboards below, careful not to drop any on our new kitchen ceiling below thru the holes in the boards.

Starting Floor Removal

Once the dust had settled, and we decided we were replacing the sink and vanity and lights as well, we visited Tim at the Dewitt Home Depot for some advice and supplies.  First I put down 1/2" plywood on top of the 3/4" floor boards.  Then I put grout and a cement backerboard.

Grouting and putting backerboard in

Backerboard in, screwed down to plywood.

After grouting and taping the seams in the backerboard and drying out a couple of days, I started the tile.

Grouting and tiling the floor

I started at the edge of the room by the bathtub, as we have only 40 sq.ft. of floor.  After grouting and leveling with a board and rubber mallet, the floor again dried for 48 hours before the finishing grout.

Cleaning the Tile

After another two days of drying, we put sealant on the grout, then that dried and we were able to put the toilet back in.  Next, we went to FW Webb, where my wife Ginny picked out a vanity, medicine cabinet and lights that will be arriving in about a month.

A bicyclist died in Syracuse

This past weekend a bicyclist died.  According to the newspaper a 19 year man was killed when his bicycle veered off the shoulder into traffic.  The location was on South Bay Road under the route 81 bridge.   It was 8:30 at night.
I am familiar with the intersection.  At that location the road is a divided road with 4 lanes in each direction, including on and off ramps for route 81.  And it is the only road connection in that area between Mattydale and Syracuse to the south, and North Syracue and suburbs to the north.
I talked with a fellow bicyclist who had recently come thru this area in an effort to find a bike path from his house to work.  His experience was that is was very difficult to change lanes, and hard to cross the road.  Very difficult in that area to get thru.  We wonder if that 19 year old was trying to get across the road.
Earlier this summer another you bicyclist was killed across town, while crossing the street.
I know from my own experience how difficult it is to judge car speed relative to bike speed, especially if you are starting from a standstill.
I think the moral of this is to try to Minimize your road crossings.  Certainly we pay the utmost respect to any moving vehicle.
What are the rules?

In New York State see  New York Bicycle Laws.  This includes riding on the designated bike path or far right by the curb when a bike path is not available.
Perhaps a solution for the tragedy I started this blog with, would be signs directing the bicyclists to a safer route.  Though a quick glance at the map doesn't show me an easy route.  Or a new route could be manufactured just for pedestrians and bikes.  This area is not too far (1/2 mile or less) from the end of the bike path in a recent blog I had in Mattydale along Bear Trap Creek.

The Battle of Long Island (Brooklyn)

We are staying in Brooklyn at 5th Avenue and 4th street, not far from the Old Stone House.  In August of 1776, during the battle of Long Island, a group to 200 Marylanders, led by Mordecai Gist.  Only 9 survivors, including Mordecai.  However, the ferocity of their attack   helped delay the British and Hessian soldiers long enough for Washington to escape across the east river in a pouring rain.  Gist had served with Washington during the French and Indian war, and survived the war.

There are some historical plaques in Prospect Park, the center of a lot of the fighting.
The Dunbar Oak, felled by American Troops and used for cover as they defended the Battle Pass.  But then the British army came in from behind as the colonials were routed, and an army of 2000 colonials was annihilated by a British army of 5000.

DunBar Oak plaque

Battle Pass Plaque

A Bicycle Path in Syracuse
We stopped at Syracuse Bicycle to see what we could get to facilitate getting my wife's new bike, to fit onto a bike rack on our car better.  They had a bar that we attach to the bike so that it will hang on the bike rack similar to the mans style bike.

The Beginning

Then we went to the Bear Trap Creek Bike path.  Parking at the head of the trail is on Seventh North Street.   We went North, along Route 81, 1.6 miles to the backside of Mattydale Plaza.  The path is paved and in good shape.  Beware some speed bumps along the way, however.

Cars on the left, nature on the right

Along the way north, we went over a bridge over the thruway.  The Bear Trap Creek trail was built during improvements to Route 81 in the 1980's.  We had seen the beginning of the path over the years, as it is just before the turn onto Route 81 from 7th North.  But assumed it just ended in a nearby neighborhood.   It was a pleasant surprise.

Along the Way

Bear Trap Creek with Duck

Paperless Office

I have spent the last 30 years working in a consulting engineers office. We have always used a lot of paper to prepare working drawings and project manuals for bid for construction of buildings. I do not believe the volume of paper for those purposes has changed.
Some portions of our work have paperless. I am able to access code books and design books online. My ASPE membership gives me access to the ASPE data books all of which are on line. These books cover the whole range of plumbing design. I have access to the current New York State codes for fire protection, for plumbing, for general building construction. They are all posted online for free. Thru my NFPA membership I have access to the NFPA family of codes which includes the national fuel code, national electric code, all of the fire codes. At work we have a paid subscription to the International Building codes online.  I also accumulate pdf files of miscellaneous codes.
I am able to research online for information.
Another paperless benefit is the electronic transfer of drawings and other documents between different offices and locations, allowing for bettr coordination of projects. A sidebar to this is teleconferencing and videoconferencing, allowing people from multiple locations to join in real time collaboration.
The advent of BIM programs like REVIT will require looking at a building model on a computer. Though for the time being, we will continue to generate contract documents for bid on paper.

Save The Rain Project

The County of Onondaga has a program to keep rainwater out of the combined sewers, and avoiding additional sewage overflow treatment during rainstorms.  One of the measures is at Forman Park, downtown, which is being relandscaped with trees.  Trees, shrubs and plantings slow down runoff and allow it to infiltrate the soil.  

 

Water Street, Outside of the Erie Canal Museum, Syracuse, NY

We were downtown this past weekend to visit the Erie Canal Museum and the annual Gingerbread House exhibit.  We did not park near the museum as that side ot the street was off limits due to constuction.  The city is constructing a strip of permeable pavement along Water Street.  The permeable pavement will allow capture of some of the street runoff, as it drains thru the pavement, temporarily stored in the gravel below, and is absorbed into the earth.

Our Urban Forest - Schiller Park Forest

Syracuse has some Wonderful Parks, each with their Own unique personality.  This is a walk thru Schiller Park, on the north side of the city.  Pedestrian road around the top of the park

At the Top of the Park

At the top of the Park

Statues of Schiller and Goethe

The Road Back