Spring is here!

Yes, it's March! Finally! And according to the calendar today is the first day of Spring. Then why is there snow falling from the sky? Perhaps no one's told Mother Nature.

The good news is, regardless if there is still snow on the ground or snow falling from the sky, there are still the first signs of Spring.

These beauties are some of my favorites simply because they are some of the first flowers to bloom. CROCUS.

Home Improvements

Spring has Sprung in Millerton

(or on the verge of it anyway).

All around the village, I see the first signs of spring. Mostly, that the snow has melted, tiny shoots of daffodils and crocus are sprouting. But also that my neighbors have begun to stir from their winter-long hibernation.

Happily, these small signs have lit a small fire under my butt to get things done. So, to keep the flame burning, I've included some before and after photos of my living room and dining room. Keep in mind, however, the "after" photos are not entirely after as the projects are not 100% complete.

The living room BEFORE was old with out-dated wall paper and a drop ceiling. Not much was done to improve the place from the early '70's.

The living room AFTER - As you can see the ceiling was removed along with the wall paper. I painstakingly resurfaced the walls and ceiling and painted a light gray (Benjamin Moore's Bering Plain). I have also added an overhead light fixture (be be installed shortly) which is the way the home was originally designed.

Another view...

Dining room BEFORE - very dark and old.

Dining room AFTER - the drop ceiling and wallpaper will be removed soon enough. Then a new light fixture over the table and sconces will be added. Of course a well deserved fresh coat of paint everywhere and perhaps a chair-rail if I'm feeling ambitious.

Not Much for Bringing up Politics --- but really?

Here is a recent article that may help us "understand" why we're still in the dark ages compared to many other countries. How about taking some of that "stimulus" money and start putting Americans to work? Hey, there's a novel idea. And whatever happened to all of that "INFRASTRUCTURE" talk... just talk I suspect.

(Here is a photo of 1,000 KPH Super High-Speed Train for China. 1,000 KPH is equivalent to about 620 mph. That means, from New York City it would take about 20 minutes to get to Albany and a little over 1/2 an hour to Washington DC. Really, what are we waiting for - read the article and find out.)

New York's slow train to high-speed rail

NYDaily News.com

BY BILL HAMMOND

Albany's latest push to bring high-speed rail to New York is a depressing reminder of how far we've fallen from our glory days as the Empire State.

Here we are, watching China crisscross its countryside with thousands of miles of state-of-the-art magnetic levitation (maglev) trains that zoom along at 220 mph. France's TGV trains have cruised at 170 mph or better since 1981. And the best New York aims to do - maybe, someday, with a little luck - is nudge Amtrak service between New York City and Buffalo up to a measly 110 mph for limited stretches.

The rest of the developed world has a term for that kind of train. They call it "conventional" rail. Which is another way of saying that New York's current Amtrak service - which pokes along at 60, 70, 80 mph on a good day - is shamefully slow.

So 110 would be a marked improvement - and at least bring New York back to the standard of the 1950s, when the 20th Century Limited whizzed from Grand Central to Chicago at 100 mph-plus. But it's hardly anything for New Yorkers to crow about in what is now, after all, the 21st century. And it's far from clear that the state's leaders will really do what it takes to achieve even that modest goal. In fact, they show troubling signs of nickel-and-diming the effort - which could end up wasting a lot of time and tax dollars on an ultimately dead-end project.

Which, in truth, has been the pattern for 17 years in New York.

Way back in 1993, then-Gov. Mario Cuomo announced a big plan to run bullet trains from New York City to Albany. Never happened. Gov. George Pataki and former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno touted their own plan a few years later. That went nowhere, as well.

Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo must put this latest try on a better track - or his high-speed rail initiative will fizzle just as so many have before. The key to a truly functional, modern rail system in New York is laying dedicated track for passenger service. The unsustainable status quo is that New York's Amtrak trains operate mainly on a track network that's primarily intended for, and used by, freight trains.

Waiting for slow-moving freight cars to clear the route is the main reason why passenger trains are so often delayed by hours, especially between Buffalo and Albany. There's also a huge bottleneck between Schenectady and Albany, where there's only one track in either direction. Plus, the tracks' many twists and turns and at-grade road crossings make it dangerous to navigate at high speeds. For safety reasons, track owner CSX sets a speed limit of 90 mph on its network. If the state wants trains to go any faster than that, CSX says, it must build a dedicated, fenced-in line at least 30 feet from neighboring track.

Which, if the state were serious about building true high-speed rail, is what it would do anyway. It would lay the track as straight as possible - going through mountains instead of over them or around them - to maximize velocity. And it would bridge over or tunnel under every last road crossing, to avoid pulverizing errant road vehicles.

That's what it would take for Amtrak trains to go 110 mph and up. That's what Europeans have been doing for decades. That's what China is doing aggressively right now. But state officials are choking on the price tag, which would indeed run into the billions. So they scrambling for ways to do it on the cheap.

They're talking about adding extra lines here and there to get past bottlenecks. But mostly, they're leaning on CSX to bend its safety standards and let the trains run faster - or try to run faster - on its slow tracks. They seem overly focused on achieving that 110 mph number - on a least a few, brief stretches of the route - because that's what it takes to qualify for federal grants. Plus it lets them sell it to an unwary public as "high-speed." This is the wrong way to go - because a true high-speed rail system would be worth the huge investment.

It would give New Yorkers cheaper and more convenient options for travel. It would boost the upstate economy. It would reduce dependence on foreign oil and contribute to the fight against global warming.

After all, this is the state that built the Erie Canal - and made itself the jumping-off point for exploring and settling the West. We should try thinking big again.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/11/30/2010-11-30_new_yorks_slow_train_to_highspeed_rail.html#ixzz1GDcCvhfn

whammond@nydailynews.com

Bill Hammond's column appears every Tuesday in the Daily News. An Albany-based editorial writer and columnist for the Daily News, Hammond has covered shenanigans at the state Capitol since 1998. He joined The News in 2005 after stints at the New York Sun, the Daily Gazette of Schenectady and the Post-Star of Glens Falls. He lives in Saratoga Springs.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/11/30/2010-11-30_new_yorks_slow_train_to_highspeed_rail.html#ixzz1GDc6IA4z

Staying in Focus

Sometimes the hardest part of anything is maintaining focus. An expert athlete must stay in focus. An accomplished musician or actor must stay in focus. And the DIYer must stay in focus especially when it comes to multiple home improvements and renovations. It's very easy to get overwhelmed by everything needing to be accomplish and a feeling of "where do I start" can keep a person up at night. (I've had plenty of sleepless nights consumed with thoughts of remodeling.) It's also very common for DIYers to start a myriad of projects - but, because of being overwhelmed, losing track of time and costs, or losing focus, none of the started projects are completed (which naturally adds to the stress).

Go to a carpenter's or a "handy-man's" house and you'll be surprised by the number of "in the works" projects, even with their best intentions, are never completed.

In a prior post I listed all of the projects that I have completed and an ever longer list of the projects yet to be completed. OVERWHELMING!

So, here's what I did. I created a chart. The chart is broken down by project/room. The first thing I do is create a budget or estimate for each project. Research using the world wide web is pretty simple. There are even some terrific sites that help with estimates: http://www.improvenet.com/HomeOwner/ProjectTools/index.html and http://www.costhelper.com/cost/home-garden/home-garden.html are a couple of sites I refer to regularly. Also Lowes and Home Depot have cost estimators. After doing my internet research I gear up with calls and emails to various companies to get a more specific sense of the cost and time involved in the project. And then, just to be safe, I add 10% onto my budget. Its always better to have a couple of dollars extra than to find yourself out of funds and unable to complete the project.

Here is an example of one of the many projects I need to tackle (sooner rather than later). My kitchen.

Here is a photo of my kitchen as it looks today.

It's painfully obvious that I need new floors, counter-tops, lighting, a new window and I need to move, paint and find new door pulls for the existing cupboards (which thankfully are high quality, hardwood, cabinets). My estimate does not include any new appliances which generally are the most expensive part of any new kitchen.

As of today, I'm estimating the sprucing up of my kitchen will cost between $5000 and $6000 and I plan to tackle most of the DIY projects myself.

And here's a photo of what I want my kitchen to look like (more or less) when I'm done.

Here's how it breaks down:

1) Tile Flooring for kitchen and sun room. $1000 (builddirect.com)

2) Radiant Heating Matt for kitchen and sun room. $300 (homedepot.com)

3) Granite Counter Top for center island $1500 (marble.com)

3) Butchers-Block Counter Top. $300 (Ikea.com)

4) Back Splashing (subway style pattern). $100 (homedepot.com)

5) New Pendant Lighting above bar area. $300 (schoolhouseelectric.com)

6) New Window. $300 (homedepot.com)

7) Labor. $1700

8) Add 10%.

Wish me luck.