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Been a pretty busy week so far. Still trying to catchup from staying up late the past two weeks to watch the olympics. Don’t they know that they should all be in the early evening EST?

Quick hits:

• Floor update - all the thinset is up and we have 330 sq. feet of engineered hardwood awaiting to be put down on our floor. Has to get acclimated to our house first for like 6 days. The original we wanted to get and actually ordered was backordered and they couldn’t tell us when it would come in. So, we went to Home Depot and found a very good deal on some nice engineered hardwood..and saved about $950….I’m not kidding. Thank you Lord
• College football begins tomorrow night with the chickens of SC playing NC State….can you say Go Wolfpack!
• I’ll be in Athens on Saturday to watch my Dawgs kick it off against Georgia Southern.
• Preaching Sunday. I’m glad that the game is at noon so I’ll be home in time to rest up for a big day on Sunday.
• Excited about speaking Sunday. This is a message that has been brewing for about three weeks. It’s called HEAT and with some of things happening in our church this week, I think that God is going to really move in the lives of people. Would appreciate your prayers.
• My A/C in my car stopped working. It will cool but the blower is busted…new a/c or newer car, new a/c or newer car…it is tempting, but it looks like I’ll be shelling out some coin for some auto work Glad fall is coming soon.
• School is going well for Hannah and Spencer so far. They seem to really like their teachers and classmates so that is always a good thing.

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Tony NAILS it, imvho, in this post. A must read:

Are You Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

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Might need to check this out when it comes out. I watch the Mars Hill podcast each week, and really get a lot out of Mark’s teaching. Here’s a preview of the book by Mark Driscoll:

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Don’t think so. I think for the thousands of congregations out there that are declining but still really want to reach people for Jesus in their community, this is A model of success. Most pastors/planters will tell you it is easier to plant new works rather than transition an existing traditional church. I tend to agree. And while this won’t work for every church or community, I love this approach. The declining traditional churches that will survive will be like the people in the video who are so burdened for lost people that they will come the conclusion of what the one man that was an older member said: “It’s not about us anymore”. Thanks Wes for shooting this my way. Check it:

Newlife Community Church - Restart

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So, the saga of removing thinset from 300 sq. feet of our kitchen, dining area, etc continues. This past weekend we rented a concrete floor grinder which ended up being a mistake. This grinder was working for about 15 minutes until it started throwing blades. This things was so beat up and old….it was just pitiful.

I had it at that point. I didn’t care. I went to Lowe’s and bought this little gem:

It’s a rotary hammer that has a simple hammer setting with no rotation. I bought a chipping blade and gave it a shot. I was wondering just how good it would work, but i started in on a 13″ square of thinset and bam……cut through it like butta! Was a beautiful thing. I had so much thinset to remove, I thought it would help my already frazzled mind to set some achievable goals and mark my progress. So I broke it up into sections and have noted how much remains and what I have completed:

(Numbe Indicate Square Footage - red indicates completed)
Front Entryway - 52
Kitchen - 68
Refrigerator - 6
Stove - 6
Kitchen to Dining Area Walkway - 8
Dining Area - 130 70 left
Garage Entry Hall - 30

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Here’s part of the the 350 square feet of tile we pulled up. See how the thinset is still on the slab floor? Gotta love it. Gonna pull that up with a concrete grinder Saturday. More photos on the AJwired flickr account

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Here’s the bumper we created for MADE ….series began today.

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well, I’m sitting here on a Saturday morning having already accomplished a good bit this weekend so far. We replaced the kitchen faucet, replaced all of the cabinet hardware in the kitchen cabinets and hall bathroom cabinets and have pulled up half of the kitchen/dinning area/front entrance tile. The tile covers an area of about 350 sq feet so it is a good bit to pull up. Going to try to pull up the rest today. The biggest challenge is to get the thinset up. It is REALLY difficult. I rented a tile shark to pull up the tile (works really good) but the thinset is at one with the concrete floor. I think I’m looking at renting a floor grinder or something to pull that up. Once that is done, then I’m paying someone to lay probably a glue down manufactured hard wood.

And now, an open statement to my builder, tile contractors, and homeowners everywhere:

Do you want to save yourself, homeowners and people in general a lot of grief? Do you want to make someone’s life a little better? Do you want to bring a smile to someone today? Then take this little advice. You ready? Here goes. IF you happen to be building a home or own a home that is on a concrete slab, if you are EVEN considering putting down tile on said concrete slab, then WHATEVER you do….put SOME sort of backer board, membrane, etc. on BETWEEN the concrete and thinset. This will make for happier moments for everyone involved.

Sincerely,
aj

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