Category: Slice of Life

こんばんは！ Good evening!

Well, the weekend is almost over but it was a very productive one for me! I helped Bay rearrange his room and get rid of his old IKEA bed frame. We also moved a desk upstairs into his room, and now he has two desks, which form one huge desk! They are both from IKEA, so they match nicely.

But the big task that I finished was installing a new kitchen sink. Our old one (which came with the house) has been leaking for a few months. It wasn’t a constant leak, but when the faucet was on, some water would trickle out from the base of the handle. A new washer kit to fix it cost $15, but we decided to get a newer, more convenient design, which you can see in the photo above.

It’s much taller, so it is easier to wash large pots, and the spout can detach to make cleaning the sink itself a lot easier. It also has an aerator mode for a wider spray.

The installation was not too difficult, but it involved two trips to the hardware store… the first was to buy a deep socket to get at the bolt that held the old faucet to the countertop. I wasn’t able to tell what size I needed (since it was in a recessed place that I couldn’t get to) so I bought three different sizes and planned to return the two that didn’t fit. My plan worked out nicely, and one of the sockets fit perfectly which made it easy to remove the old faucet.

But then as I was hooking up the new hoses to the water supply, I noticed that the connections weren’t the same size. So I headed back to the hardware store to get some adapters. That actually was fine, because I had to go back to return the two sockets that I didn’t need.

The rest of the installation went smoothly, although working from my back under the sink kind of sucked. I checked all the connections for any leaks but didn’t find any. This actually surprised me… and in the back of my mind, I think that something will happen in a couple of days… so I’ll keep an eye on things. But so far so good!

The weather here in Austin is very nice… just in time for SXSW. Today was sunny and in the 80s and it might get into the 90s later this week. If you are in town for SXSW, enjoy yourselves! 😎

おやすみなさい！

-B 

こんばんは！Greetings humans! 👽

Well, SXSW is happening here in Austin so things get a little crazy around town. But this morning I took the kids to Japanese school, then visited a cafe I like to go to. It’s not in downtown, but south of Town Lake, so I didn’t see many people. Plus I was there from about 8:30am – 10:30am. However, when I left the cafe, I saw that there was some SXSW activity in the same complex, and there was a guard at the entrance to the parking garage. It’s fun to have a lot of people visiting from out of town, actually. The city fills with an exciting vibe.

After I picked up the kids, we had lunch and then I took Koa to the batting cages to get some practice in. He’s really improving and can hit with decent power now. But he just needs to be more aggressive during the actual games. I’m sure he’ll get there though.

After that, I assembled a new barbeque for our backyard. It’s a smaller gas grill which should be pretty convenient. It took about an hour to put together but wasn’t difficult. Next up was disassembling Bay’s old IKEA bed. I guess he has outgrown it and wants a regular bed. He’s growing up!

So, that was a busy Saturday… and I am tired once again! But we got a lot done. It’s a good life!

Take care, humans! おやすみなさい！

-B 

こんばんは！Hello! Welcome to the weekend.

Another rainy day, but the weather should improve tomorrow and then the coming week will be very warm… almost in the 90s! Just in time for the SXSW crowds. But these past few days of rain have meant that Koa’s baseball activities have been cancelled. 😞  I hope the baseball field dries up quickly so he doesn’t miss any more games.

Speaking of SXSW, Mariko is doing some work coordinating some visitors’ activities so she’s really busy. I kind of want to head downtown this weekend and see all the people, but it’s a bit of a hassle too. Maybe I can sneak down tomorrow morning since I have to take the kiddos to Japanese school. I’d love to get an Uber from the school. We’ll see!

Today was super-busy for me. I was working from 7:30 in the morning all the way til 6 in the evening. Just a log going on, plus some unplanned work popped up. It sometimes happens. But not often, so I think it’s ok once in a while.

Today’s photo is of the items on my desk next to the monitor. I’ve got photos, some cd’s, old birthday cards, pens, etc. It’s all stuff that I like and make me feel good. 😄

Well, I hope you have a great weekend! I’m definitely going to try to enjoy it.

おやすみなさい！

-バロン