Why I Oughta...

A few weeks back, we went to check out the models at the Nitti Development in Elmhurst on the property of the old Elmhurst Hospital site .  It is just a few blocks away from us and we were more than curious. There's been some criticism of folks about the development, but I think most of that is a case of the sour grapes.  When you go into the models, there's A TON to like.  The folks at Nitti have done a nice job of building quality homes and finished them really well with decorator-level touches all over.  The only downside it seems is that your house - while it will be REALLY nice - will look and feel just like all of your neighbors.  That's not common in Elmhurst, but it certainly is common in further out suburbs where entire new subdivisions spring up. We went into two of the models we both really liked the layout and floorplan of them.  One thing that stuck out was the upstairs layout.  Here's a photo of it.  Check out the circled part in red: This part -

I spent a good part of Saturday, straightening out our garage.  Back a few years ago, we built a 3 car garage that has - for the better part of the last year - housed 1 car.  And a lot of bikes and toys and wagons, and trikes.  My car has been sitting in the driveway all summer long,  but last week when I was getting up early to go to Cardio Tennis, my windshield had a thin layer of frost across the whole thing.  Winter was, indeed, near. So I dec-luttered and put a lot of our stuff up in the rafters to make room and after a few hours, I was able to drive my car into the space.  And there's plenty of room for Nat's big grocery wagon.  A win for everybody - but mostly me!  Just in time for the cold front that is set to arrive this week.

This is our couch.  And...yes...it is currently located in our garage.  That's a thing, right?  A garage couch?  I hope so.  Because, we bought a new couch for our family room thinking that we'd take this couch downstairs to our recently-finished basement.  Only to find out that it won't fit down the stairs.  Hence, why it is currently sitting in our garage.

A 55 gallon tank is perfect for a suburban dad with a finished basement, right?  I'm in the market to start up an aquarium for both me and the Babe.  Nat isn't that thrilled with the idea, but she has given me her blessing to go ahead.  As long as she doesn't have to clean the tank.  Ever.

With all those new floors in the basement, it was time to upgrade the collection bin for our Roomba.  We have a 500-series model that allows for programable use.  That means that we can tell it to go out and work at a set time each day and then come back to it's base to recharge.  The only issue is that with the normal-sized bin, the robot would fill up in a week(ish).  Cheerios, goldfish crackers, dust, dog hair and the like all add up fast. With this new "AeroVac Upgrade Kit", not only do we get a much larger bin, I've seen some improvement in performance.  The rollers are new and there's (apparently) better air-flow due to the new shaped/sized filters.  I haven't figured out exactly how long the new bin can go (because I check it too often and thus empty it before it gets full), but in time we'll know the full results.

With all the construction going on in the basement, I just couldn't help myself.  Our old furnace was working just fine, but for the past 2 years, I've sunk more than $1500 into fixing it.  I'd been eyeing a new high-efficiency furnace for a while and with all the duct work that I had going on last week, I finally took the plunge.  I went with a Bryant 95% efficiency - replacing what the installer said was a 45% efficiency furnace.  I'm hoping we'll notice the difference in our utility bills this winter and start to recoup the big upfront costs of this beautiful box. With all the walls going up and the investment being made to make the basement liveable, I figured I should just buck up and make the move right now - before space got too small and moving this was going to get harder. It is MUCH quieter and is a 3-speed variable fan, so it just runs a bit more wisely than the old one.  Time will tell if we'll be able to operate the unit at a lower temperature

No, it's not as sexy as the ipod-inspired one .  But it is a really badass thermostat.  Or....as badass as one could be, I suppose. The guy who installed it (along with the new furnace) was really geeked up about the Evolution control.  He called it the "Cadillac" of thermostats.  Guess he hasn't seen all the drooling that's been going on all over the internet over the above-mentioned new Nest thermostat. I'll stick with my Bryant Evolution for now, thank you.