A Day (or Two) in the Life of Scott Hanno

Hello and how's things with you today? Not too much going on here but it finally rained last week and it started to seem like it was never going to end and think that it started on Tuesday and didn't stop until Saturday morning ........ and it was pretty much raining non-stop the entire time. But they said that it would clear up by mid-day yesterday and it did and the sun came out and it was all in all a pretty decent day. I ended up going out and raking up another bag of leaves and then mowed the front and side yards as I didn't bother with it last week. My grass seed that I planted out there hasn't even started to sprout and I'm starting to think that it's not even going to before it gets too cold to do so. There is even a freeze warning out for tonight and tomorrow night and guess that it's suppose to be down to 32' both nights with the days only in the 50's so Fall is definitely upon us. I also think that it has something to do with the full moon that's out there ........ seems like it always is coldest when the sky is so clear.

I got my letter back from my Homeowners Association (finally) in regards to my request to install an attic fan and as I had hoped they approved it with no restrictions which means that I can pretty much put it any where. I also think that I might be moving closer to having my granite counter tops put in as I had my doubts about the price that I got quoted and then the deal where I go and pick out the stone but they can't tell me which ones are included in my quote. But the guy called me on Monday and said that he was going to go check out the slab that I chose "to make sure that it met his approval" and then I didn't hear from him for a couple of days. But then I think that he called me again on Thursday and told me that he all ready went ahead and ordered it and that he would call me this week to set up a date for installation ..... so we might actually happen some day. If that does happen I am still thinking about first painting the kitchen but I haven't done much to move in that direction.

Another thing that has been on my "to-do" list since I moved in was to install closet doors in my bedroom as I have two closets with no doors and the last owner didn't know where they went. The other bedroom has them and I guess when it's just me it's kind of easier not to have any doors but figure that that's not normal. So I was looking at bi-fold doors yesterday at Lowes and ended up buying one and I thought for sure that I'd never be able to install it or that it wouldn't fit - but in about 30 minutes I had the think all set up and it looks great. The door is actually the exact match to my bedroom door which was pretty amazing as I didn't even think about that and I should probably get the other one while they still have them. And that's the thing on the install job as they list the price to have them install it and I can usually tell how difficult it's going to be based on the price to install it - and they wanted like $150 to install it so I figured that it was going to be a nightmare. But it wasn't and works great - it's still only primed so I'll still need to paint it white one of these days.

On the work front our budget meetings start first thing tomorrow and they will last for the next two weeks. But I'm off to Houston the week after next for a few days to visit our newly acquired The Hotel Derek and got permission to miss a few days worth which should break up the next couple of week nicely. I'd also like to take a week off sometime in the near future and just hang around the house and work on projects but I need to find a good week to do it first.

Other than that I'm doing just fine and Patches is too. I hope that you have a Happy Halloween and that there are no tricksters in your neighborhood! I was going to get a costume for the Patch but never made it so I guess he'll just need to meet all of the kids wearing his scary old face. Have a great week and I'll talk with you on another day. Take care till then.

posted by Scott @ 8:54 PM

Hey and what's up? Here it is the end of another weekend or the beginning of another new week ........ I guess that either way you look at it it's kind of sad. Not much going on here other than the weather has been a little strange - it started out in the low 40's this morning and got up into the 80's this afternoon, plus it finally rained a little bit Friday night but probably not enough to do anything. I think that this week is suppose to be fairly nice every day and in the 70's all week and pretty dry from the looks of things.

I ended up breaking out the rake yesterday and did that for a while and got at least one bag picked up and guess that I'll try and do a little by little so that it doesn't end up being too big of a job. I also went to Lowes and picked up a bag of grass seed and spread that around "Patch" country out there as he ends up coming in the house each day with mud on his feet. I know that it's probably not going to grow without some rain though but I'd really like to get some grown now so I don't have to spend the winter with a backyard full of mud. I'm also looking at colors to maybe repaint my kitchen and right now it's this bright yellow that I'm not liking so much and think that a litter yellow would look much better ...... so I brought home a bunch of different color patches to try and make up my mind.

I also had a lady come over from Granite Transformers on Tuesday night to give me an estimate for their version of a granite counter - but they do it by using the existing counters and then gluing their product right on top. I think that the price ended up being more than an actual granite counter would cost me but probably looks just as good but if I am going to spend that much I might as well try and get the real thing. The upside is that it's pretty much indestructible and you can cut on it and put hot pans on it and there is a lifetime warranty - and guess that you have to be a lot more careful with granite itself. But I had gotten a quote from a guy a few weeks ago which was much more in my ballpark, plus he was even going to undermount my existing sink so I think that I am going to go that route, at least I'm leaning towards that direction. He gave me a couple of warehouses to go and look at granite slabs and to pick out a few that I like and then they let him know and he does the rest. But I'm not sure if the cost that he quoted is the same as what I looked at in the warehouse as they can't tell you the price ....... so it might almost be a bait and switch thing, I'm not sure until I hear back from him.

Other than that works has been improving a little bit and I've been able to give back three of the hotels that I've been babysitting. So I think that leaves me with only one or two more that I'm still doing plus I might be picking up another one for a month or so but it's nothing that I can't handle. We have two weeks worth of budget meetings starting with next week where we as a group review every hotel's 2008 budget on calls with the properties and I am sure that is going to get old after a while. But oh well, it only comes once a year so I guess that I can live with it. Other than that all's well with me.

I really don't have much else going on other than my niece called me this morning to let me know that she got the job that she was applying for with Marriott and guess that she is going to be relocating from Philly to Rockville in the next few weeks. So I'll hopefully hook up with her at some point and guess that she won't be all too far away. Patches is doing well and guess the he got to take a walk to the Potomac River with his girlfriend walker lady the other day ....... I've never even been there so isn't he the special one. He's starting to get a little shaggy again but if I'm lucky I can hold off worrying about that for another month.

That's it for this fine day - I hope that you are well and I will talk with you again sometime soon. Have a great new week!

posted by Scott @ 8:56 PM

Hello again and happy Sunday evening. I guess that fall has arrived and this weekend was just beautiful and I think that it ended up being in the low 70's both days with sunshine. So where I think the beginning of the week started off in the 90's the end of it surely did make a turn around with the evenings even getting down in the low 40's and might have even been in the 30's last night. I'm kind of glad that the cooler weather is here but just wish that it would stay this way for a while without getting any colder ....... guess I can dream 'eh?

And I ended up having my in-ground sprinkler system installed on Friday and can't believe that they did it all in a day and I can barely tell that they were here. Too bad that Loundoun County has a total ban on any lawn watering so I can't really use it but I have used it the last couple of days just to see if I can get some of the sod to grow back and take care of some of the mud. But I didn't really install it for this year and figure that it has to rain again someday and they'll let us water again and at least I'll be ready for spring and I might even have a lawn again. I was checking my "home to-do" list that I started when I moved in here more than two years ago and surprisingly I've got just about everything crossed off the list with only one or two big things left to do. I'm also still looking to replace my kitchen counters and have figured that I can't resurface the Formica counters that I have now and after I saw the granite counters at Home Depot last weekend and priced them out I am pretty much set on going that route. I had a guy stop over last Wednesday to give me an estimate and it ended up being a lot less than going with Home Depot, plus he even included taking my kitchen sink and mounting it underneath and think that that will look just great. Now I just have to make it to the warehouse to find a color and style that I like but they are only open a few hours on Saturday so I didn't make it this week ....... but I'm in no major rush either.

And I had my one year "post lasik" eye appointment yesterday and that went fine and I'm good to go for another year. That's one thing with eye doctors is that they sure do have you play a bunch of fun games and at least I didn't have to do that dialating thing - don't have to do that until next year. I am still 20/20 for the most part but I think the age thing may some day loose a little bit of the edge - but then I can always go back for an "enhancement" if I ever need it.

Other than that nothing much is new here, Patches is still a wild animal but he also has his good moments every now and then. My nephew Timmie's birthday was last Monday and guess that he just turned 22, I called him and he seemed to be doing ok except he was boycotting the birthday celebration with the family ....... guess that he's hooked on Halo 3.

Work is going well and I'm staying busy but other than that all is good ...... except that drive back and forth to work sure is starting to get a little old. I guess that is about it for today - I hope that all is well on your end of the world and I will talk with you sometime soon.

posted by Scott @ 8:56 PM

Hey all and what's up? I think that summer time has returned to these parts as it was in the 90's today and close to that yesterday - plus we are in the middle of a sever drought so they have banned all lawn watering and a bunch of other stuff. I guess that it's going to have to rain one of these days but there ain't much on the horizon of the 10 day. I certainly didn't do much this weekend other than mow the front yard and messing around the house.

I did end up taking Friday off and had my attic fan installed, that took about an hour and was kind of anti-climatic as it never did run and didn't seem to do much at all - it might have run today but I didn't really see where it helped me much in keeping the upstairs any cooler. The guy told me that it probably wouldn't even run the rest of this year so I guess that I'll have to wait until next year to see if it makes any difference. And I think that I mentioned that I ended up turning in a application to install the fan to my homeowners association as they have to approve it first and they only meet once a month so it'll be like three more weeks before I find out if I'm even allowed to have it. But I'm hoping so as I am going to have one pretty big hole in my roof if they don't. And we put it on the side of the house that no one can see anyways, it's blocked from the street by the trees and you'd never know that it was there anyways.

I also bought a new garbage can for my kitchen yesterday and threw away the one that I've had for the last ten years ...... it was a little traumatic but it was something that I had to do. I was watching one of those home fixer upper shows and they had a lady that had their garbage can in the kitchen with no top on it that was overflowing and it reminded me of mine, so I ended up getting this wonderful round one with a top that you push in ....... it's a beauty. I was also looking for the hardware to put in a drawer under my sink in those two fake drawer covers that are there and will probably end up getting some day but you had to order it at Home Depot and I was a little worried that it wasn't going to fit. I was also checking out kitchen counters and priced them out with granite and corrigan and for the price difference between the two I'm almost better off going with the real stuff. I guess that I didn't realize that you just replace the entire counter and measure the new ones to fit perfectly, then rip out the old and set in the new. I'm still not sure that it's something that I would be comfortable with but I might look into it some day. What a difference it would make - I'm also starting to think that I'd like to change the colors in the house someday too.

I'm also thinking the upcoming week should be pretty normal, my boss is out of the country all week so that usually means things are a little bit quieter. And I guess that it looks like we are taking over another independent hotel in Houston in a couple of weeks so I guess that I need to figure out if I'm going to check things out but it's a week from Tuesday so I guess that I better figure it out pretty soon.

I guess that's about it for another day, oh I almost forgot to mention that I bought some Ziploc bags for steaming foods today and they worked great - I did corn on the cob and added a little butter to the bag and they came out smoking hot and were mighty tasty at that. I might have to try other things now that I've got extra bags to use. So I am going to end this now and get on to other things so I hope that you have a great week and I'll talk with you soon.

posted by Scott @ 8:55 PM