On The Road: Denver Edition: The Reason This olelongrooffan Is In The Mile High City

Dateline Denver, Colorado; July 24, 2011

As I am sure those of you who have been Counting Along With Me are aware, I have been in the Mile High City for just over two weeks now. The reason this olelongrooffan is hanging out where pot is legal and a right turn on red isn't is because a great friend has purchased a new to him home and he called me last month and asked me to come on out and help he and his girlfriend renovate their first "John Lee" home.



So I did a rare thing. I got on an airplane for only the second time in ten years and headed out to this fair city to be of whatever assistance I could be.



While Big J and Ellie were at the long delayed and much anticipated closing on their home, this olelongrooffan headed over to their new pad, utilized those tin snips in a way that I am confident their designer never thought of, and set those newly clipped roses in a vase on a the portable table on the covered patio out back.



Yeah, in that cooler are a bunch of PBR's, IPA's and a cold bottle of bubbly to Celebrate Life in their new home.



Now this olelongrooffan has to tell you, Big J is all about value. See that fancy dancy green Werner fiberglass ladder he is holding? Thirty nine bucks at the local ACE hardware store. Regular retail? Sixty four bucks. Yeah, "that's value".



Their new home, originally constructed in 1901, is an interesting mixture of architectural finishes and modernizations. There was a commercial style drop ceiling in the downstairs covering some fixed metal duct work and the kitchen cabinets are barely affixed to the walls. The sink was not even hooked up to any plumbing.



And of course, by the end of the first day of possession, Big J had injured himself but it's okay, we have Duct Tape!



And above that metal grid drop ceiling was this falling down plaster ceiling.



This olelongrooffan, after a hot shower over at Big J and Ellie's condo, needed to utilize another tool in an unusual way. I manned that sawzall to trim a branch from the neighbor's tree so I could pop Filmore's top and create a mini me version of the Taj Mahal.  That is Ellie's pup, Tripod, at the base of that el cheapo ladder.  Look closely and those of you Counting Along With Me can determine how this Jamaican born canine got its name.



Like many of the vehicles in the possession of this olelongrooffan, Filmore is having an identity crisis this day.



See this man on the right in the above image? He was sent from God.



No, this olelongrooffan is not responsible for the consumption of this bottle of Mohawk Vodka during the construction of this 110 year old home, nor any of its previous renovations.



Ah, the 2 x 4 less Filmore is an excellent resting place for this olelongrooffan once the top is popped and a cocktail is in hand.



ACE is the place of the helpful hardware man. And their wheelbarrows make an excellent grill stand.



Remember just a moment ago when I mentioned the man sent from God? Well that man, Tim, spent an afternoon of his vacation out from Delaware helping Big J and this olelongrooffan put in this drop ceiling in the living room and extra bedroom in This Old House.



And even though this olelongrooffan has done a "John Lee" house so many times that process possesses my name, I am renovating this home with an engineer and an electronic technician. Sometimes I even get to put my 3 cents in.

And even though this olelongrooffan is not getting rich on this project, finding those 3 cents and putting them in allows me to continue to

Celebrate Life.