Fear the Crab

One year after the events in this post, the UH Systems Darksiders took the field once again for the AUW softball tournament.  Almost the same rules as last year, with three-inning games, 10-run mercy rule, and 20-minute time limit.  This year, all teams were required to field a minimum of two women.  Some of us believe our team was responsible for this rule change, since last year we only had one woman, and she didn’t play all the games.

Maile came with me this year.  I think she’s my good luck charm.  At the stadium, we found a sticker on her jacket, with a number the same as on my team shirt.  We don’t know where she picked it up from as it was on her back, but we thought it was a strange and rather interesting coincidence.

Played against HCC in our first game. We won after three innings by a small margin, perhaps no more than a couple of runs.

Played against UH Manoa in the second.  This was another game won after three innings, but the we had to play from behind and rally in our last at-bat.  I was particularly lucky in this one; at bat, with two outs and runners on first and third, I lined to the third baseman.  I figured I was done, but the ball squirted out of his glove, I reached on an error, and the winning run scored.

Played against WCC in our third game.  This was a brutal game that lasted the full twenty minutes.  Thankfully we were ahead by a few runs at that point, but this game was another lucky break since we were on the field trying to stop their contact hitters.

Single!

Our three straight wins put us in the championship game.  Unlike last year, we would only need to beat the opposing team once to secure the victory.

Our opponent from the loser’s bracket was our first match-up, HCC.  They did what we did last year; fought their way through to earn a spot in the last game.  They definitely were looking for the upset, but did they have the legs?

We lost the first game on a controversial call.  Bottom of the third, down by one, two outs, bases loaded, I was up to bat.  I hit a weak grounder to the shortstop, and out of the corner of my eye I could see that the fielder wanted to get the force at second, but the baseman wasn’t there.  I hoped that delay would ensure that I beat out the throw.  It did!  My foot fell on the base, followed by the ball in the glove.

Unfortunately, the umpire didn’t see it that way.  I think he was just trying to make things interesting.  Besides, I had made a few mistakes whilst playing first (couldn’t stop some errant throws on the force-outs), and I think those undoubtedly put us in that position in the first place, so there was no reason to argue the call.  We had one more game.

Our team woke up in the second game.  We gave up four runs in the top of the first and only managed to score one during our at-bat.  However, in the second, our defense made no mistakes, and our bats came alive to score nine.  That’s how it would end after three as we held on and got the last remaining outs to secure the win.

Final game

As a team, we’re now back-to-back champions.  I heard through the grapevine that a lot of teams this year were pretty sore about losing to us, and had stepped up their practices to keep pace.  Now that we’ve won our second tournament, I’m pretty certain all the other teams will be gunning for us.

Or they’ll change the rules again.

Champions

A dumpster arrived for all the stuff we’re removing.

Dumpster

It’s more than big enough for the bathroom, which hopefully does NOT translate into “throw anything else we don’t want in there,” since I’m paying by weight.  Someone was doing this the last time we had a dumpster, and while the difference was negligible, it still came out of my pocket.  I’m looking at YOU, neighbor!

As the rotten wood was cut away, more and more of the water damage became apparent.  Particularly disturbing is this area, where a post would be to shore up the ceiling in this area.  This, too, will have to be replaced, and it definitely calls for more work.

Missing: Wall

The “plate” under the vinyl floor, which separates the house from the concrete foundation, is also damaged.  The wood has become so rotten that nails cannot stick to it, and for who-knows-how-long, the exterior wall has not been attached to the floor!

Bath and closet floor

We are starting to suspect that the water damage originated from the outside.  Years and years of rain pooling outside, instead of draining away from the house, was instead soaked upwards from the planks there.  Maybe such a thing doesn’t happen often, but I think over the course of four decades, even a millimeter of rain seeping into the house would eventually deteriorate everything to the extent we see here.

In fact, the concrete outside has a slight, almost imperceptible slope down towards the house.  It’s something that I never noticed before, but I’m certain that water would pool near the base given enough water, and we’ve had enough heavy rains to make a fair guess as to this being the root cause of all our problems.

I was also wrong about the house all this time; it is not double-wall, it is single-wall construction.  I no longer remember who or what it was that gave me the wrong impression, but it could be that I heard it a long long time ago and never questioned it, because it didn’t seem like an important detail.

Work has begun on the shower.  They’ve ripped out the tile and got to the damaged section of the wall, and now they have a fairly good idea of how much repairs are needed to make things right.

Gutted shower

The workers should be able to keep everything the same on the left, with the exception of new copper pipes for the plumbing.  The tub will be replaced, too.

This part, however, makes me go eek:

Water damage

This is the damaged wall.  The water has affected the wood up to about the four foot mark, which is a lot more extensive than I imagined it to be.  Actually, I should honestly say that I did imagine it this way; I just hoped that it wouldn’t be true.

The contractor tells me the water has gone through to the other side of the double-wall, particularly the corner section.  We took a peek at the bedroom-side and sure enough, we found cracks in the paint around the same level as revealed on the bathroom-side.  I never noticed this before, but when I push on the bedroom-side wall, there is a noticeable “give” that makes my wallet scream.

Tomorrow they plan to remove the tub and start repairs on the wall.  It will be a noisy, dirty, dusty, and expensive affair.

As referenced in this post, our bathroom will be overhauled extensively, much to the disruption of our daily routine.  I think this is the perfect time to document the evolution of this sanitation sanctuary.

Here is the bathroom pre-renovation:

Before!

Yes, we have a phone in there.  It’s rather convenient for us, perhaps not so much for the caller.

This is the reason for the renovation:

Damage, Bath

Damage, Closet

Now how is that conducive to basic health and hygiene?  The second picture is from the bedroom next door, in the closet.  As you can see, the damage is much more extensive, and perhaps representative of what’s going on inside the double-wall construction.  If the wood has rotted away this much, it’s a sure bet that some nastiness is brewing within the bowels of the bathroom.

Hopefully the work will not reveal other problems hidden beneath.  This is already costing me.

Here is a preview of things to come:

New bath fixtures

Discuss amongst yourselves whether or not I’ll add the computer or upright fan.  Who knows?  Perhaps browsing the dregs of the internet requires some adequate ventilation.

I mentioned to The Galbraith that I try not to cut my nails at night. I have heard many stories as to why I should not, the first and foremost being that I will not be with my parents when they pass away. The roots of said reason is Japanese, but whether or not it’s a distinctive superstition is unknown to me. Perhaps other people could elaborate.

Other superstitions I have include not sleeping with my feet towards the door, not sleeping with my head pointed north, and sticking my chopsticks into my food and leaving it there.  I follow a lot more Japanese superstitions, but they have become such a habit that I can’t remember which ones they are.  It is no longer a conscious effort and many times the circumstances do not allow for such activities.  For example, passing food from chopstick to chopstick is a no-no, but no one does it so it never comes up.

I figure, why take chances?

Superstitions are funky!

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The second bathroom in the house needs to be repaired, specifically the wall the separates the bathroom from the adjoining bedroom.  Said wall has suffered some water damage, rotting the base away and it is probably much much worse inside.  In order to get to the damaged wall, we have to go through the shower tile, so we all figured that it’s best the bathroom get a makeover.

It’s about time, I suppose.  The bathroom is over 40 years old, and everyone seems to agree that a remodel is in order.  Everyone also agrees that it’s going to cost me two arms and one leg and probably three fingers.

Maile and I purchased a near-complete set of bathroom fixtures and trim for the upcoming remodel, which totaled over two grand.  I say near-complete because I’m not sure if I’m forgetting something.  We have the faucets, shower valves and trim, toilet, tub, and accessories like towel rods.

We’re looking at Corian for our countertop and shower walls, and that process is still in estimation, but I’m pretty certain it will be more, if not much more, than the same price for the fixtures.  Could be double.

Then Maile and I will need new cabinets, some bypass shower doors, and new flooring.  Add in the catch-all of labor and I think I can expect to pay over 10k.

I have enough to pay for the whole thing.  I’ll just have to eat ketchup packets for sustenance for the next 33 years.

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I listen to this at work.  On repeat.  For eight hours!

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