#stain-grade wood garage doors

[valkyrierps]

Garage (Calgary)

[okkuisul]

San Diego Mediterranean Garage

Inspiration for a sizable, attached, two-car Mediterranean remodel

[a-stubborn-little-fish]

I miss being a little girl and putting my feet on top of my dad’s so he can walk while I hugged him. I miss that joy. I miss climbing on the rocks in Central Park and feeding the horses carrots. I miss the tulips in my neighbor’s yard and the caterpillars on the tomato plants and the pansies planted around the bird bath. I miss the sunflowers taller than me. I miss the intricate wrought iron railing with filigree. I miss the wooden chest with fish shaped brass handles that flipped up and down. I miss my giant, empty, carpeted room and scratchy blue heated blanket. I miss the sound of the motor humming and clicking from my favorite nightlight. I miss playing in the park next to the elementary school across from my house. I miss the frost on the steel bars that stung my skin. I miss the cold tile in the kitchen and the broken clock above the dining room table. I miss the corded phone that was always tangled and the screen door that never closed just right. I miss footy pajamas and sliding down the carpeted stairs on my butt and crashing into the coat closet at the bottom. I miss the scary basement. I miss watching the sun set over the Brooklyn bridge. I miss Fergus scratching up my legs when I’d get home. I miss sitting in the back of an airport terminal tram while the sun rises. I miss the bumps of a plane landing and the ding before a pilot’s announcement. I miss yawning to pop my ears during take off and that momentary feeling of falling when the plane wheels leave the runway. I miss the silent dark car rides home with only the glow of the buttons to light up the car’s interior. I miss the strange carpet in the Tampa International baggage claim with its rows and rows of empty carousels. I miss those little curled leaves that crunch when you step on them. I miss the feeling of my baby brother’s hand gripping my fingers. I miss how he always laughed hysterically every time I smiled at him. I miss building train tracks for him after school. I miss watching his favorite shows with him and his hugs when we’d pick him up from preschool. I miss mixing and heating up his baby bottles and cleaning his binkys. I miss his mouth breathing when he passed out in his car seat. I miss scrubbing the spaghetti stains off his high chair. I miss playing on the roots on the trees in Medard Park and running across the boardwalk to hear my feet thunk against the wood. I miss hiding my DS under my pillow so I could play Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. I miss playing with my bakugan and pretending they were empires at war. I miss sleeping in my closet just because I could. I miss the dark parking garages and dull beige walls at USF. I miss sitting with my mom in the campus library. I miss going to Busch Gardens every weekend and riding the sky ride over the habitats. I miss taking the train through the safari area and being lulled to sleep by the clacking of the wheels. I miss running across the rope bridges in Jungala and riding Air Grover with my little brother. I miss the smell of chlorine and the cold unfriendly YMCA changing rooms. I miss the rock wall and the hot concrete. I miss swimming in pools and being afraid of the robot cleaning the deep end. I miss feeding the ducks stale bread. I miss my 8th grade history teacher. I miss the cold dark mornings in the car. I miss sitting on my backpack outside the door of my first period class. I miss skipping lunch and hiding in the darkness backstage in the auditorium. I miss the library after school. I miss cleaning the fish tanks in the marine science room. I miss the smell of formaldehyde. I miss walking from the school to the local library and hunkering down in the corner to watch Hetalia on my laptop. I miss listening to music as I walked through fog to the bus stop just before sunrise. I miss the dew on the bus windows and the painfully cold mornings and blue faux leather seats always cracked and peeling. I miss the snails hiding in the cracks of the bricks. I miss the warm summer rain and the windy fall days. I miss hiding in the nurse’s room during pep rallies.

[straightedgepainting]

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[lo-55]

Playing With Fire Ch. 3

Ignition

@emrysaf

You’ve decided. You’re going to marry Maki. 

You’re going to marry her and adopt Sputter and Flare, and you’ll all live happily ever after in the cathedral and- 

You’re broken out of your thoughts when Maki smacks you so hard you literally see stars and throws you on the ground. 

“... owe.”

If everything else hadn’t cemented the fact that you were really living inside Fire Force, the pain of Maki’s fist and the hard concrete under your cheek sure would have. Holy hell, how was she so strong?

You roll over on your back to look up at her. 

“I bet,” you begin, “that you could bench press me if you really wanted to.”

Maki’s cheeks pink and she huffs down at you. “Why aren’t you using your pyrokinesis? Do you think I can’t handle it?”

I have no idea how to do that! 

“Nope, Nope! I’m sure you could wipe the floor with me, it’s not that miss!” You said quickly. “I was just in awe of you, sorry,” you salute quickly, and watch pink crawl across Maki’s face. 

So cute!! 

“H-honestly! At least use your spear!” 

You perk up. Spear? The Sun Spear? Is that what you have here? An answer! Finally! An answer! 

Maki takes your surprise for something else. “No one told you that they’d sent it over ahead of you? You should really keep better of your gear.” 

You dip your head quickly. “Yes, yes. Sorry. Can you show me where it is, please?” 

“Sure,” Maki smiles at you, “We’re about done for now, anyhow. Let’s go back inside and wash up. Sister Iris and Shinra should be waiting.” 

Maki takes you back into the cathedral, away from the training area on the roof. The cathedral really is pretty run down. The walls could use a good scrubbing, the floor boards either need to be replaced or are missing entirely, and there’s a lot of cracks in the tile and missing corners. The windows are fine, if not dusty, and the stained glass pieces are really beautiful. The whole place smells faintly of burnt wood and gun oil. It’s not bad, but its certainly unfamiliar. Everything is so vivid. The way it smells. The sound of the building settling, and the birds outside, and the voices of your new comrades. 

It’s amazing. 

Kinda terrifying, but crazy cool too. 

After a quick shower for each of you Maki shows you to the weapons room, where a long, thin case is rested against a wall between two racks of guns. Obi’s shield is propped up in one corner, along with a couple of his weird stabbing things that he puts infernals to rest with. You’ve been here two days now, and you’ve seen him use it twice.

You don’t know how, but you know instinctively that that case belongs to you. 

You go to it. There’s a strap along the back, like the kind on a violin case. You carefully set it on a table, mindful of the bullets stacked on top of it. With a few clicks you undo the buttons on either end and open up the case. Inside is a long staff, deep red in color and capped at the bottom with copper colored metal that curves into a diamond point. On the opposite end is a thin band of the same metal, that reveals the inside to be hollow. 

You pick it up carefully, testing its weight in your hands. It feels natural. Even though you’ve never actually fought with a spear before your body knows where to hold it, and how to spin it around elegantly until you’re facing Maki again. Your body knows how much space you’re taking up, and how not to hit the walls, while your brain geeks out over the fact that you’re actually holding the Sun Lance. 

So cool! 

Is it conceited to say that you’re super cool? Or that this was hella badass? 

You were almost bouncing on your toes you were so excited. 

“Wow, I didn’t know you missed your spear this much,” Maki smiled at you. “You look good with it.” 

“Aha, you think so? It’s just nice to have it I guess. This has been, I dunno. An adventure already. I’m in a strange place, with strange people, and I’m in an awfully dangerous situation. It’s been an adjustment, ya know?” 

You feel like a fool for rambling, but Maki smiles at you kindly. 

“I understand. Even though I was raised in a military family, it took me a while to get used to life as a fire soldier too. Don’t worry too much about it, and you know, we’re always here to help. It’s not like you have to go it alone.” 

You’re heart warms with her words. “Yeah. Thank you, Maki. You’re really a nice person.” 

Once the Sun Lance is safe in its case the two of you leave the armory, and make your way to the dorm rooms. 

Since the company is so small, each person gets their own room. In bigger companies you would be in actually dorms, or barracks, but the eighth only has Obi, Hinawa, Maki, Sister Iris, Shinra, and yourself. Arthur will be here soon too, and Tamaki. Your small company will grow soon. 

Your own room ended up being at the top of one of the towers on the west side of the cathedral, opposite of the garage. Which meant that last night, when the alarm had gone off, you’d been the last to arrive at the Matchbox. Near the garage are the locker rooms, and the communal showers, although there’s more bathrooms scattered through the base. 

In the center of the cathedral is the courtyard where Sister Iris purifies herself, and grows flowers. 

It’s really a nice place. 

“Thank you,” you say again, and Maki nods to you and leaves you to climb the steps on your own. You shut the door and lock it behind you. 

Your room is scant, all things considered. A bunk bed it pushed into each corner, with a desk underneath it. You’ve claimed the one nearest to the window. There’s a wardrobe on the opposite side, and a small, stocky book shelf. 

You need to hang up some pictures or get a rug or something. It’s entirely impersonal. 

You rest your Sun Lance up against the corner by the window and go to sit at the desk under your bed. You’ve already unpacked your few belongings into the wardrobe and the drawers of the desk, including the diary from ‘Fuyuki’. 

Your ‘sister’. The game honestly hadn’t told you a whole lot about her. Just that she disappeared, and what few flashbacks you would have now and again. Like the one you got when you touched your ring and the lighter.  

You open it up with careful hands. 

Inside the handwriting is familiar, even if the words aren’t. There’s no mistaking your hand writing. It looks like a serial killer in a movie has left a ransom note made out of letters cut out of magazines. 

I wonder if there’s cereal in the kitchen. 

You always think better when you’re snacking. 

To keep your thoughts in order, you scatterbrain.

<3 Fuyuki 

 The first entry is dated for 193 AC. After the Cataclysm. It’s 198 now, so this was given to MAIN (to you?) five years ago. That would have been right before she graduated the fire academy and joined her company. A year before she disappeared, around 194. 

It feels invasive to read the diary of the person whos life you’ve taken over, but you need answers and you don’t have a lot of options here. 

I can’t believe Fuyuki gave me a diary! That’s so lame, and super girly. I don’t really want to write in it, but she gave it to me so I guess I should? Even if I am kinda mad at her. She left to go to school years ago and she never comes home! She’s so mean but then she’s nice and its so frustrating! Not fair. Stupid sister. 

But i’ll try i guess. There’s not much else to do in the house. None of the other kids really wanna play with me, and the Yagi’s are busy watching the littler kids. And maybe i’ll have kids and their kids will have kids will have kids will have kids and i’ll be their super cool ancestor and they’ll read this for inspiration or something. 

Good god, how old were they when they started writing this? Twelve? How old even were you? 

Fuck it. 

You kept reading. They/you weren’t a regular writer, with long months going between entries. Some of them were sad, some of them were happy, most of them were angry. They had a lot of complicated feelings on the sister who had abandoned them to what was basically a group home outside Asakusa, and then bitterness at themselves for being so angry when she disappeared. But most of it wasn’t that useful. It was about grades and teachers, and grief. They got into a lot of fights, and they were something of a scrapper. They were briefly enrolled in martial arts classes, but they had to quit because they were too rough with the other kids. So they were a scrapper, but that wasn’t anything related to fire. 

You rubbed your temples and glared at the diary. How did it answer your questions but leave you with more? 

Why is this my life now? 

So much here didn’t make sense, nonetheleast the fact that you were here to begin with. Well. At least you finally knew what your pyrokinesis was right? Even if using it was nearly impossible, and you couldn’t make sense of everything. 

Of course, there were plenty of things in this world that didn’t make sense. Like how sound could turn fire into ice. 

Bringing back the dead made more sense than that! 

You cross your arms and glare at the diary. So far the only useful bit is the part where you’ve had some decent training. Everything else is just the most vague information about the investigation into her sister’s disappearance. That much you already knew, although you didn’t have time to read everything in it. There were big gaps that you just knew were holding important information! 

At a loss, you flipped to the very last written on page, halfway through, and froze. 

Staring back at you was your own face. A small picture. It was your resume for the squad assignments, with your own check boxes and preferences listed. Underneath it was the list you had written before, of Everything You Knew. It was short, with little screen caps here and there. You flipped the page and found it filling itself in with ink that didn’t come from a pen, finishing up what it started on the page before. 

A new page started, this one listed your stats. 

In game there were a hundred levels. You had gotten maybe halfway through? A third if you rounded down. And it listed your level at 40. Underneath had your attack power, defense, stamina, agility, and your special moves. 

You were weirdly well rounded. Three out of five bars for everything, except the SM, which only had one. 

But, you hadn’t put that there! 

You quickly flipped it back and forth before you went to the very, very last page in the diary. On the back cover the ink finally finished filling out. A progress bar. 

You stared at it for a long, long time, trying to work over everything was happening. 

So. 

Now you knew what you could do. Just not how to do it. 

You were out of options at this point. You were just going to have to suck it up. 

You were going to have to ask someone for help directly. 

 ~

Shinra looks up from his work when you plop into the seat across from him, your arms crossed across your chest. It would be a lie to say you’re not nervous. You’re not even totally sure how you’re supposed to ask these questions, but you don’t have any other way to go about this any more. 

You tried the diary. You’ve spent two and a half days trying to get your ignition ability to work without help. Admittedly, you hadn’t even know how your ability was meant to manifest at the time, but even now you can’t get it to work.  

“Oh, hey there,” Shinra offers you an awkward smile. You grin right back, trying to project as much happy-go-lucky-nothing-wrong-here-!-  as you can. It’s made easier by the fact that prior to a few days ago, no one here had known you as anything more than a passing acquaintance. 

“Hi Shinra. I’ve got a weird question for you,” you announce bluntly. 

Shinra looks a little more wary, and he’s starting to smile. 

“Oh yeah? What is it?” 

“Ah, it’s pretty simple actually. How do you activate your abilities?” 

“Huh?” 

“How do you-” 

“No, I heard you,” he holds up his hand to cup you off. “It’s just a weird question.” 

“Hey man, I told you it was gonna be one.” 

You stare at each other for a long minute before Shinra huffs and looks towards the ceiling. He might not be the best person to ask. Maybe you should ask Maki, but Shinra makes you feel secure and you trust him more than anyone else just yet. 

“How do I activate my abilities? I dunno. I guess for me it’s more like I have to turn it off.” 

You tilt your head, listening intently to Shinra. 

“When I was a kid… I had a hard time controlling my flames. They started up suddenly, and burned through my shoes and pants. I ended up wearing these extinguisher boots, and shorts, so I wouldn’t destroy everything around me. It took a long time to figure out what was going on, but someone finally explained it to me. For a lot of third generation pyrokinetics, the thing that triggers out ability is the memory of the first time they happened.” 

You falter. “But, wait. Didn’t yours activate when-” 

“Yeah,” he cuts in, shooting you a grin that’s anything but happy. Your heart clenches in your chest. 

“Oh god, Shinra…” That meant that every time he used his powers, he had to remember his mother’s ‘death’ and his brother's disappearance. He had to think of pain and fear and grief, and he used his flames so often-

“It’s okay,” he cuts in. You can’t imagine what kind of face you’re making. “It was painful at first, and it still is, but it’s a good reminder for what I’m fighting for, and why I’m working so hard towards that goal. I will find a way to stop human combustion. I will make sure no one else ever has to grieve the way I did.”  

“Shinra,” you say softly. “You really are something.” 

Shinra tries to shrug off your words, but his smile is a little more genuine. “I just wanna be a hero.” 

“You will be,” you promise him. It’s all you can do not to tell him the truth then and there. His mother is alive, and suffering. His brother is alive, and suffering. 

They need help. 

But you hold your tongue. You don’t have any way of proving it to him, and there’s already so many things that are different here than they were in the game, or the show. Your presence being one of them. 

You let out a breath. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up something so painful.” 

Shinra shakes his head. “What made you ask?” 

“Honestly?” you rubbed the back of your neck, “I’ve been having trouble using my abilities since we left the academy. I thought maybe if I asked you how you do it, I might be able to figure it out.” 

Shinra looks startled. “Really? I guess that explains why you haven’t used them in the last few days. You never really held back when we were training.” 

“Sorry to disappoint?” you offer lamely. “I just can’t figure it out.” 

“Well… Have you thought about when you first activated your powers?” 

“That’s just it,” you say sadly. “I don’t remember when it happened at all. So that’s not really an option for me.” 

“Oh.” 

You frown, and draw in on yourself. You can’t help it. You have no way to activate the powers you now know you have, and you’re in a bad place to be powerless in general. Not to mention these people are going to expect you to help, and you can’t help, and if you can’t help then- 

Shinra’s hands land on your shoulders, startling you. It’s a warm touch, one that sinks into you with comfort and kindness. Shinra looks seriously at you, his red eyes bright and intent. 

“Whatever happens, I know you’ll figure it out, and I’ll help you as much as I can. Even if I have to protect you in missions for now. So put your trust in me for now, okay?” 

Your heart thumps hard in your chest and heat spreads through your body. It grows hotter and hotter, centering somewhere in your chest and your back. 

Light blooms behind you and you barely turn your head to see a flicker of white fire over your shoulders, wings stretching over your back. They’re small, going no further down than you’re elbows and no further up than your jaw, pale and white and glowing. 

You recognize the feeling in your chest with a start. 

It’s care. Friendship. You want to help them. You want to fight for them and earn and keep their trust. The flickering embers of love bloom into a fire across your shoulders and flutter with undistinguished feather’s. 

~ ~

A/N So! Phoenix is my favorite power, but everyone else seemed inclined towards the Sun Lance, so I smashed them both together!

If you’re so inclined, let me know what you think :D

[silverhandy]

I saw the devil (in me) - chapter 4

Takemura doesn't believe in ghosts, not really, but a man driven to his limit might believe in just about anything. Trapped in a losing game and consumed by grief, he returns to Night City looking for closure. but ends up finding something much more.

ao3 I chapter 1 I chapter 2 I chapter 3

 As he opened his eyes, the first thing Takemura noticed was that he was no longer lying on a leather chair in the center of the clinic, hooked up to an impossible amount of monitors, a painfully bright surgical lamp hovering over him, blinding him to the point where it wasn’t possible to keep his eyes open even if he wanted to. Instead, Takemura found himself lying on an actual bed, frame creaking with every little movement he made. It was pushed to the side of the garage, away from prying eyes, but still within Viktor’s line of sight. The other man must’ve moved him at some point, though Takemura wouldn't be able to pinpoint when exactly, the brief moments he could recall an unsettling blur in an otherwise blissfully void unconsciousness.

    Misty’s terrified face. Viktor leaning over him, still in that suit he wore to the funeral, bloody smears staining his otherwise perfectly white shirt. The bitter taste of vomit flooding Takemura’s mouth, a pair of strong hands helping him turn to the side so he wouldn't choke. And the cold. An unyielding chill that’d shake him awake every few hours, teeth chattering despite a thick blanket he was covered with. Eventually, it was gone, only to come back in the form of searing hotness, one that made his optics go haywire, spitting glitchy warnings all over his feed before he drifted off again. And Viktor’s hand against his forehead, his skin almost ice cold in comparison with his own.

    In short, Takemura felt like absolute shit. Like he’s been dragged through Night City’s trash dump and back. At least the clinic didn’t seem to him a rocking boat anymore, the soft, neon lights no longer so unpleasantly bright as they were merely a few hours before. It seemed surreal, but it’s not like Takemura didn’t know what to expect. He’s been through cyberware withdrawal in the past, the memory of the last time he ended up in Viktor’s clinic in a less than presentable state still fresh in his mind, but this felt so much worse. In the moments he was lucid enough to form such judgments, Takemura kept telling himself it was his injuries aggravating his symptoms, these two unfortunate circumstances layered on top of each other yet another instance of bad luck that seemed to follow him the moment he stepped foot in Night City for the first time not even a year ago, but he knew well enough it was bullshit. It almost felt as if his body finally found an opportunity to carry out a proper vengeance for the last few months in Takamatsu.

    When Takemura first stepped off the AV, a sense of relief washed over him. Finally, he was back home. He made it, carved himself a path back under Arasaka’s wings, the only place he ever truly belonged. The circumstances were different, sure, and he was yet to swallow the disappointment that being dismissed from Saburo-dono’s side was, but everything was back as it should be. At that point, Takemura could still force himself to push the memory of V far back into his mind, convinced that it was her who made the wrong choice, though little did he know it wouldn’t be much longer.

    He refused to acknowledge it, but even before V started haunting his every waking moment, even his favorite foods felt bland to taste, far removed from the richness of flavor he remembered. Then came the memories and guilt that kept him awake at night and copious amounts of coffee to remedy the lost hours of sleep by day, his meals growing smaller and smaller, reduced into a bare minimum necessary to keep him going. He was never a man to refuse a meal, the hunger that plagued his entire childhood burned into his mind, but these days he couldn’t stomach more than a few bites before he felt it lodge down his throat.

    Takemura slowly sat up and almost immediately regretted it, his back protesting the movement after all the hours he spent in one position. He ignored it, running a hand through his hair to pull back the loose strands plastered to his skin. To his mild surprise, he was no longer wearing the suit he left the hotel in, but a stretched out t-shirt and sweatpants, both a bit too loose on his smaller frame. Viktor must’ve changed his clothes at some point, most likely before the blood had a chance to stiffen the material. It didn’t make Takemura feel embarrassed. If anything, he was grateful for the care, but the state he was in certainly made him feel vulnerable, much more so than he’d be willing to admit. Fighting the anxiety rising in his chest, Takemura looked to the side, fully expecting his left arm to no longer be attached to his shoulder, but there it was - heavily bandaged, but still in one piece. He tried moving his fingers and saw them twitch before a warning flash of pain could reach his senses.

    The clinic was quiet, save for a quiet hum of machinery and the sound of a boxing match playing in the background, punching and grunts faded out by a speaker spitting commentary faster than a machine gun spits bullets. All of that was interrupted by a soft creak as Viktor got up from his chair and walked over to Takemura.

    “Good to see you back among the living,” Viktor said, a faint smile on his lips. He was back to wearing his usual blue shirt, sleeves rolled up over his biceps, stethoscope hanging around his neck. He seemed much more at ease than the last time they met, the clinic being his natural environment much more so than the bar, though it did very little to lift the dark circles beneath his eyes. If anything, he looked even more exhausted.

    “How long was I…?” Takemura’s voice came out hoarse and strained, barely audible even for him. As if reading his mind, or, more likely, simply having a decent bedside manner, Viktor handed him a glass of water.

    “Here you go. As for your question, four days, give or take.”

    “And did anyone..?”

   “Did anyone come knockin’ lookin’ for you?” Viktor asked as he grabbed himself a chair and sat beside Takemura. ”Luckily, no. Left me wonderin’ what the hell happened. Somehow I doubt it was the Valentinos you met on a late night stroll, so let me make a wild guess - tough day at work?”

    “You might call it that.”

    “So what, Arasaka is sending their assassins after people for missing a day off work now?” the doctor asked, not much humor in his tone.

    “It wasn’t...exactly that. I apologize, but I would rather not discuss it right now.” Takemura replied but didn’t provide further explanation. To his relief, Viktor didn’t push for it either, at least for now. Before the silence between them could grow any heavier, Takemura added: “If you are worried about troopers bursting through your door, there is no need. If they had not done that already, I believe it means that I...got my point across.”

    “Should’ve seen the other guy, huh?” Viktor asked with a husky laugh.

    A wet sound of a blade piercing the sternum, going right through the aorta. A seasoned Arasaka agent struggling to load a magazine, fear in his eyes as if he had seen the devil himself. A quick cut to the neck of a practically defenseless man, still recovering from the shard’s aftereffects, dead before he had a chance to see what happened to his companions. That’s all it took, it seems.

                                                              ***

    “Since you’re out of the woods, allow me to give you a quick rundown of how it’s lookin’ for you: a gunshot wound to the stomach was a walk in the park compared to the scrap metal that was the wiring in your left hand. I hooked you up with some suitable replacements, should be workin’ just fine if you allow the cuts to properly heal, so take it easy for a while. I took the liberty to go in and tweak your CPU a little, managed to restore some basic interface functions, but I'm afraid all the other implants are a goner.” Viktor said, fingers dancing as he typed on the screen he was holding. “No way for me to reset them, Arasaka tech is way above my pay grade. You probably know that already, which brings me to another matter we should, uh, discuss.” the other man’s expression changed, his brows furrowed in concern clearly evident on his face.

    “Yes?” Takemura’s fingers froze halfway through buttoning the coat Viktor handed him. To his relief, Takemura realized it was his own coat, seemingly fresh from a half-decent laundry service, one that managed not to completely ruin the heavy grade wool. Buttoning it wasn’t easy with only one hand, but whatever was left of his pride made it impossible to ask Viktor for help.

    “I just found it concernin’ that you had such a strong reaction to bein’ cut off from implants, especially since it ain’t your first time. You should have experienced some mild nausea, light oversensitivity, maybe a vicious headache, but your other injuries aside, it knocked you right out for days. I ran quite a few scans when I was treatin’ you but didn’t find much to explain it. How’ve you been feelin’ in the last few months? Eatin’ well? Sleepin’?

    Was there even a point in lying?

    “Not really, no.” Takemura said, unable to look the other man in the eye, fingers slipping as he rushed to fasten the rest of the buttons,

    Viktor hummed and stopped typing away at the small screen he had been holding, letting his hands rest on his lap.

    “Listen, uh, the past few months have been tough on all of us. I’m not good with this sort of stuff, but if you need someone to talk to, I can give you contact info to a great doc.”

    “That will not be necessary, but thank you. I appreciate it.”

    “Alright, but you know, if you need it, don’t hesitate to ask. With the way things turned out, I presume you’ll be staying in Night City for a while?”

    “I’m afraid so. It would be unwise of me to come back to Japan right now.”

    “I know it was supposed to be a short trip, so I don’t presume you came prepared for a longer stay, huh?

    “I have some funds stashed away on a secure account, but it will take me some time to gain access to them. I will pay for your services, of course.”

    “Nah, it’s not my fee I’m concerned about. I don’t want you to roam the streets in the dead of winter, not an eddy to your name. Suppose what I’m askin’ is if you have a place to stay?

    “Not at the moment, no.”

    “Then how about you stay in my place until you figure out what to do next? I’m not there all that much anyway, been spendin’ most nights at the clinic lately. Shame for the place to go unused like this and it seems you need it more than I do.”

    Takemura hesitated. Viktor has already done so much for him, from saving his life to letting him run up a tab on little more than a word. He knew he'd never be able to repay such kindness, but the ripper was right. Before he jumps all the hoops to access the little cash he had stashed away on an account so deeply buried even Arasaka wasn't able to cut him off from it, more than a few days will pass. He still felt weak and even just the thought of spending the night outside was making Takemura miserable. At the same time, he didn’t want to stay in the clinic any longer, knowing that his presence had effectively stopped Viktor from taking up more than a few clients he trusted well enough.

    “Thank you, Viktor,” Takemura said and bowed slightly, as deeply as the stitches would comfortably allow.

    “No problem, really,” the man smiled and handed him a shard. “Just jack it in, it’ll tell you the location and grant access to the building. It’s a few blocks away, you won’t miss it.”

    “See you later, I suppose?”

    “Sure. Go get some rest before you go out to roam the streets and remember, your body ain’t got all the fancy tech to patch you up in no time. Folks like you often seem to forget that. Just take it easy, Takemura.”

    “It’s Goro.”

    “What?”

    “Call me Goro. And I will, do not worry. I have...a lot of things to figure out.”

[bnha-mha-imagines]

16 with Denki please? And congrats on gaining so much followers!

16. What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done?

A: Thank you sweetheart! :) I have A LOT of stupid, craszy stories but I’ll limit it to 3. Okay, as a preface, everything listed here happened in 5th grade but I’m better now I swear haha. But not gonna lie 5th grade was a fucking awesome year for these three events:

1) My friend and I broke the frame of her bedroom window because I scaled the outside of the chimney and went inside her window. She inversely left out the window and went down the exterior of the chimney. Her room’s on the second floor.

2) Me and that same friend “broke” inside a vacant “for sale” house and scoped the place out. We got in because the back door was unlocked. We thought we were going to die because the boiler room was classic horror movie material.

3) Me and, you guessed it, the same friend ran from the police. We were sitting at the top of a parking garage eating gum-cigarettes we got from the candy store and I looked behind me and saw a cop-car pulling around toward us on the top floor. So my first instinct was to scream “run” because we thought he was going to think we were smoking legitimate cigarettes. So we ran down the stairs and heard the policeman open the door at the top just as we reached the alleys and booked it to hide in a local froyo shop. ^^” don’t be like me, kids!  

Kaminari x Reader

You ignored the panicked calls of your name, stomping toward your door and slamming it closed. You managed to lock it just in time before the fervent knocking and twisting of the handle began. “(Y/n), open the door,” you heard Kaminari whine from the other side. 

“No! Go away,” you snapped at him, tears already beginning to gush now that you were alone and out of sight. You made a running leap onto your bed, flopping face down into the mattress.

“(Y/n), please, I said I was sorry like fifteen times already!” you heard Kaminari cry from outside your locked door. Hearing his voice, you buried your face further into the tear-stained pillow, trying to block him out. “Seriously,” he called again, frustrated. “It’s not that big of a deal! What are you so mad for?”

    Feeling a sharp pang of anger, you lifted your head to bark at him. “Not that big of a deal!? How can you say that?!” Hiding another sniffle, you wiped your nose. “If you think that you’re stupider than I thought!” It sounded more harsh than you intended, but the hurt you felt allowed yourself only a second of regret. Burying your face back into the pillow, you quieted your sobs.

    Deep down, you knew Kaminari hadn’t meant to hurt you; he just got carried away sometimes with his jokes, and spoke before he thought. It didn’t help that you were already high-strung from a bad day at work; retail wasn’t easy, and today was especially hard since you had to deal with a lot of rude and harsh people. Of all the shit you heard in the past 10 hours, you wouldn’t have expected Kaminari to join in today’s chorus of insults. 

    On any other day you would have been fine with his comment, probably even found it funny. But the fact that you got chewed out so many times today and held in the emotions behind a smile...his comment was the tip of the iceberg and it opened the floodgates.

    Kaminari seemed to go silent for a second after your comment before the knocking began again on the door. “(Y/n), open the door.” His voice was more serious this time. Even after you ignored it a second and then a third time, he still wouldn’t quit the jostling of the doorknob or banging against the wood. 

    Finally getting fed up with the amount of obnoxious noise he was creating, you tore yourself from the bed and practically ripped the door off its hinges. As the door opened, Kaminari stumbled a bit, having been leaning against it. “What?!” you shouted, revealing at last your wet and swollen face. 

    Kaminari blinked, surprise evident on his face as he saw your tears. “You’re crying?” he asked, more to himself than you. Guilt visibly washed over him, and you wiped some of the snot from your nose, sniffing.

    “So what?” you spoke quietly, voice stuffy. You looked down, not able to hold eye contact with him. This was the first time he’d ever seen you cry, and you didn’t like how vulnerable you felt. 

    Suddenly his arms grabbed you into a tight embrace, your breath hitching. “I’m so so sorry!” he whispered, voice trembling. “This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. I never wanted to make you cry, god, I’m such an ass!” His voice was dripping with regret, and your chest swelled with an unspoken apology of your own. You felt yourself relax into the hug, arms raising to wrap around his back.

    “No,” you sighed after a moment, your tears smearing against his shirt. “This isn’t your fault. I just took it out on you and that isn’t fair. I’m sorry.” You felt a pair of lips press firmly in your hair before he leaned his head on top of yours. 

    “It’s okay,” he murmured. “Let’s just...go pull out that quart of ice cream from the freezer and you can tell me about what happened, okay?”

    Hearing his words, you felt yourself lean even further against him, your throat tight with emotion. “O-Okay,” you choked out as he pulled away from the hug. He used his thumb to wipe away some stray tears before taking your hand to lead you to the living room for said ice cream, rant, and snuggles.

[csdoors-blog]

How To Determine Which Type Of Garage Door Is Right For You And Your Home

It’s no surprise that a garage door replacement is considered one of the most high-value home remodels. The average amount that a homeowner recoups on the cost of the remodel is 87% of the garage door replacement.

Increased curb appeal and more selling power are just two of the reasons that many homeowners like this repair. In a survey done by the National Association of Realtors in 2015, garage door replacements rated a 9.5 out of 10 on their Joy Scale by homeowners. The scale ranges from 1 (not worth it) to 10 (best investment).

But how do you pick the right garage door?

THE FOUR TYPES OF GARAGE DOORS

One of the biggest differences in garage doors is the opening mechanism. It’s also one of the first decisions you’ll need to make. Garage doors can open up, swing out or slide sideways. Choosing which one you want depends on the size of your garage door opening, the height of your garage ceiling and what’s positioned in front of and to the sides of your garage.

ROLL UP DOORS

Roll up garage doors do just that: A track mechanism helps to roll the door along the garage ceiling, where it’s out of the way. Because of their convenience, roll up doors are one of the most popular styles of garage doors. The majority of roll up garage doors consist of five to eight horizontal panels, which creates the flexibility needed for the door to roll properly. They are usually called sectional doors. There are two other types of doors that use the same rolling track mechanism: Slide up garage doors and rolling garage doors. Slide up doors contain just one section. They lack the flexibility of sectional garage doors. These doors retract partially into the garage. Most slide up door mechanisms leave about one third of the door jutting out. Finally, roll up doors can be made of many narrow horizontal panels. These rolling doors are like sectional doors, but have many more sections. They tend to roll more tightly and smoothly than sectional doors.

SWING UP GARAGE DOORS

The swing up (or tilt up) garage door is less common than rolling doors. The majority of these doors are fairly old, and it’s difficult to find new hardware for the sliding mechanism. Like slide up doors, garage doors that swing up are made of a single panel. Unlike slide up doors, most of the door juts out when the garage is opened. The extra space needed to open the door comes with benefits, though. Because the track mechanism is positioned at the side of the garage door opening, your garage usually has much higher headspace than those with roll up garage doors.

SWING OUT GARAGE DOORS

Swing out garage doors are often called carriage doors. These garage doors consist of two panels that meet in the center. Hinges on either side allow the doors to swing open.

Because of their history, carriage garage doors are usually seen as classic and elegant. They’re good for wide garage door openings, because the weight of the door is distributed into two different panels.

Although less common, swing out doors can take other forms, as well. Accordion doors contain multiple panels, but fold to one side. Like other swing out doors, hardware is mounted on the side instead of along an overhead track. Folding doors usually contain from four to eight panels.

SLIDE SIDEWAYS GARAGE DOORS

Sliding garage doors can be a good choice if you have lots of space around the garage door opening, and prefer a relatively flat profile. Many people choose them because of their space-saving structure. These doors are mounted on a heavy track above the garage door opening. The door slides along the side of the house when opened, leaving lots of room both inside and outside. Sliding doors can have one or two panels. If you choose a two panel model, you’ll have more flexibility. These doors can split to slide open on either side of the garage opening, or bypass each other for a more compact look.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT MATERIAL FOR GARAGE DOOR

Because garage doors are such a prominent part of your home’s profile, it’s no surprise that people choose the material for a garage door carefully. Most modern garage doors are made of wood, steel or aluminum. However, garage doors don’t need to be made of a single material. It’s common to make the frame from one material, and the panels from another. This technique allows door manufacturers to include insulation. It’s also a common technique to strengthen garage doors to meet hurricane or high wind standards.

WOOD DOORS

Benefits: • Durability • Classic appearance • High return on investment

Wood garage doors give homes a warm authenticity. Because they have a wide range of potential designs, wood doors give homeowners the most flexibility. Whether you’re looking for a garage door for a cottage, a contemporary home or a classic home, you can probably find a wood door that matches your style.

Wood garage doors come in two styles: Wooden frames and panels, or doors with a wooden skin. True wooden frame and panel doors are usually heavier. These types of doors are often made with high-quality, appearance-grade wood.

Wooden skinned doors usually have a wood frame and a central layer of insulation. A hardwood skin is then wrapped over the frame. These garage doors are lighter than solid wood doors, but are also quite durable. If you’re concerned about energy efficiency in your garage, these insulated doors may be a good choice.

Both styles can be painted or stained to maintain look of natural wood. If you’re planning to stain your doors instead of paint them, make sure that the door is made of high-quality wood. Panels should be made of solid wood rather than wood strips. This will allow the stain to be absorbed evenly.

Wood doors do have a few downsides, however.

The maintenance requirements of a wooden door are higher than those of other doors. Expect to refinish your door regularly. If you live in a damp climate, you may find that maintaining a wooden door takes significant work.

Second, the warranty on a wooden door is short. A one-year warranty isn’t uncommon for wooden garage doors. By contrast, a steel or aluminum door can sometimes carry a lifetime warranty.

STEEL DOORS

Benefits: • Low maintenance • Inexpensive • Tough Most steel doors are constructed from a steel frame filled with insulation, then wrapped in a steel skin. They tend to be moderately heavy, and available at a wide variety of price points. Many homeowners like steel doors because they have very low maintenance needs, yet are fairly durable.

Like wood, steel garage doors come in many different styles. One of the most popular styles is a wood grained panel. The surface of each panel has a natural wood grain panel, which makes a steel garage door resemble a painted wooden door. This allows homeowners to get the natural appearance of wood without the high maintenance.

Steel garage doors are often used on modern and mid-century homes. Contemporary homes often use modern panels, which lie flush with one another, and don’t contain any windows. By contrast, mid-century homes like the classic ranch house are well suited to steel garage doors inset with a row of decorative windows.

Although steel is fairly durable, door panels dent more easily than those in wooden doors. Also, scratches in the paint will need to be touched up quickly to prevent the door from rusting. If you choose steel doors, look for a lower gauge, like 24 or 25-gauge steel. It’s thicker than the more common 27 or 28-gauge steel.

ALUMINUM DOORS

Benefits: • Lightweight • Dent-resistant • Good for wide garage doors Aluminum is one of the most versatile choices. Because it’s lightweight and doesn’t dent easily, aluminum is a good choice for wide openings or slide out doors. If your door has an overhead track, a lightweight aluminum door won’t put much pressure on it.

There’s a wide range in quality in aluminum doors. To find a high quality one, look for a heavy-duty frame and dent-resistant panels. Make sure that the insulation within the door has a high R-value.

Aluminum doors can have aluminum panels or a plastic/polyethylene skin. Aluminum panels can be a lower-weight alternative to steel panels. They offer many of the same styles, and can be slightly more durable.

Plastic, vinyl or polyethylene doors are sometimes associated with low quality. If you use these materials, look for a durable door that contains a UV-resistant additive. This will help it keep from fading in the sun.

CUSTOMIZING YOUR DOOR WITH DETAILS AND DECORATIVE FINISHES

There are many other ways to customize your garage door. These decorative touches can add to your curb appeal, and help your garage door blend in with the style of your home

PANEL DESIGN

Panel design is the most noticeable feature of most garage door styles. Many garage doors have a simple flush face. Others use a grooved panel design, which has small grooves between flat panels.

However, there are many ways to upgrade your garage door panels. For mid-century homes, consider traditional garage doors with a classic raised panel or ranch panel design. Raised panel designs break up the expanse of the garage door with three raised rectangular panels placed horizontally across each of the structural panels.

Carriage house panels are another choice that will give your home an upscale appearance. This style has two side-by-side panels that resemble old-fashioned carriage doors. It’s common for these panels to be made of (or resemble) wood, and to have handles and other decorative hardware that add to the appearance. True carriage doors will swing out to open. However, roll up or tilt up garage doors are often designed in a carriage door style.

Finally, consider a ribbed panel design for your garage door. Ribbed panels have a sleek, modern appearance that’s well-suited to contemporary homes. They’re made of narrow horizontal panels that are usually flush with one another. Natural wood, steel, glass or a combination of materials are all common choices for ribbed garage doors.

WINDOWS

You may be considering adding windows to your garage door to improve lighting or add a view. The right windows can make your garage into a pleasant workspace and create a dramatic impression.

The most dramatic windows are the all-glass panels found in some contemporary homes. These doors are windows in a light aluminum frame, and provide full visibility. Clear, tinted and mirrored glass are all possibilities.

A row of decorative window inserts replacing one panel on your garage door is more common. If you’d like a view from your garage, consider placing your windows in the third panel from the bottom. If you’d like light, but would like to maintain your privacy, place them in the top panel.

Decorative windows are usually rectangular or arched. You could also consider a sunburst pattern, in which all of the windows curve gradually to form a single arch.

Specialty windows can be more complex. These options include wrought iron and lead inlays. The patterns in these windows can be quite dramatic: Leaded solitaire and marquise patterns have detailed inlays in them.

If you’re considering decorative windows, consider whether their primary function is increasing light in the garage or boosting curb appeal. To increase light, consider simpler silhouettes with few inlays. If your primary focus is improving your curb appeal, both specialty windows and simpler silhouettes can work.

PAINT AND FINISHES

Color is one of the most dramatic ways to make a statement with your garage door. It’s also one of the easiest ways to change up the look of your current door. As a general rule, the wider your garage door, the more dramatic the impact.

If your home is beige or grey, consider a white garage door. White is often used to brighten up neutral colors. So it’s no surprise that white garage doors are one of the most popular colors.

White can also be a good choice for brick houses. That’s because the white will brighten up a brick exterior and make your home look lighter.

If you’d like your garage door to blend in, consider painting your garage door the same color as your home. This will help the door blend in to your home and allow other details to stand out.

You can also use contrast to make your garage door stand out. If your home is white or light colored, look for a contrasting color to make a statement with your door. Cool shades like blue and green tend to make a bold and sophisticated statement. Warm browns and reds can warm up the exterior of your home.

DECORATIVE HARDWARE

Many homeowners use decorative hardware to create visual interest on wide garage doors. On some styles, like carriage doors, this hardware is fundamental to the design. Consider whether you need — or want — decorative hardware on your garage door.

Common hardware options include: • Handles • Knockers • Straps • Functional or decorative hinges • Decorative studs and clavos

Hardware can be purchased as part of a door, or added afterwards. Using hardware that’s a similar color or material in your front door and gates can help to tie together the facade. When choosing decorative hardware, make sure that it matches both the overall design of the door, and that of any nearby doors and gates.

For more information about our doors for Harrisburg, PA homeowners,  contact us today.

[morganbritton132]

The day the verdict was handed down, Abigail took a trip to Minnesota.

Hannibal Lecter would go to prison, the chair, or the Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane today. That was what Jack said.

The trail had never been about proving Hannibal guilty, just figuring out what to do with him and well, they were figuring it out.

This was a courtesy call.

This could go one of three ways or it could go to hell, and Jack was making courtesy calls. He was warning them to expect the worst and pray for the best, that after today, the chips were wear they’d always be.

Freddie was already gone for the day, standing with the other journalists waiting for any little scrap of information, and Frederick was pale beside Abigail. He has been pale for days, watching the news, listening to Freddie describe Hannibal’s posture, staring at the flowers that were delivered.

Frederick nodded. Abigail nodded.

And then she stole a car. Frederick’s to be exact.

She went in her room and out the back door, and she eased the car down the driveway. She wasn’t even planning to go to Minnesota, but she was driving and then on a plane, and then she was breaking the boarded-up window on a house vandalized cannibal.

The house stood like a tome in low winter light and she was the only thing alive inside of it. She didn’t look but the wondered if her mother’s blood was still stained into the wood on the front porch.

She shuffled her feet through the years of dust inside this coffin, step, step, stepping into the kitchen where her mother’s kitschy knickknacks still stood, where there was crime scene tap and gun powered, and her blood, cleaned up. Will’s blood, cleaned up.

Abigail stared at the floor, at the life that ended here, and then she turned around. She took the stairs two steps at a time and she walked to the end of the hall where Abigail Hobbs promised Marissa that they’d be best friends until the very end.

The bedroom was plain, bare walls with minimum pictures hanging up, a neat desk, clothes not quiet making it to the laundry basket. Abigail didn’t pay any of it any mind, it wasn’t hers anymore, but something was.

Somethings were always apart of her even after she let Abigail Hobbs go, and – Abigail carefully removed the pin from the corkboard over the desk, taking the picture that was tacked there.

She smiled at the dusty photo of her and Marissa, the first day of second grade where they sat next to each other, and both liked purple, and declared that was all it took to be best friends.  She tucked the picture into her pocket, and the picture of the two of them in high school, on Halloween, on Christmas Day wearing ugly sweaters.

She took the pictures and then went into her parents’ room, taking the antique ring from her mother’s jewelry box, relieved and amazed that it was still there. She tucked it into her pocket with the pictures.

She went down the stairs, through the kitchen, into the garage, and she found an old gas can.

Hannibal told her once that Vikings honored their dead in fire, and Abigail – in her last act as Abigail Hobbs – honored herself and her mother with the drop of a match and a house on fire.

[garagengate]

How a garage door can increase the value of your house and property

A garage door can significantly elevate the look of your house, and boost its value. By choosing the right color, design, windows, and material composition, the garage door can make the exterior of your house look like a magazine cover. For these reasons, a garage door has the capability of enhancing your house appearance, and influence the way a real estate agent or potential buyer sees it.

Garage door materials

Garage doors are manufactured from different types of materials like steel, fiberglass, wood, and aluminum. Each material has its own pros and cons. For instance, insulated steel garage doors maintenance is more cost-efficient vs wood garage doors, which is more expensive to maintain. Garage door models are made of some materials, are more expensive than others, for example, steel garage doors, are more common and fall into the lower grade category vs wood garage doors which are more expensive, they come in high-end design and easily enhance the look and the value of the house.

Fiberglass garage doors

Fiberglass garage doors are very light and well insulated. The fiberglass garage doors are well-known for its wood looks, thickness, security, and durability. For the last two decades, many homeowners have installed fiberglass garage doors as an alternative for a wood garage door for its high-end features, and low-cost maintenance vs a wood garage door that is more expensive and requires more maintenance.

Steel garage doors

Steel garage doors are the most popular garage doors in the United States. Steel doors are reasonably priced, durable, low-cost maintenance, available in different designs, colors, textures, large window options, and available with insulation options from 0-R value to 16-R value. A high insulated steel garage door can hold more than 20 years. Steel garage doors are the number one garage door seller in the United States among homeowners.

Aluminum garage doors

Aluminum garage doors are known for their full glass panels garage door and are very popular as a storefront for businesses like repair shops, and restaurants for its modern and contemporary looks. However, for the last two decades, aluminum doors can be seen in new modern style houses. The aluminum garage doors come in many colors, designs, and windows color stains.

Wood garage doors

Wood garage doors are not only a door for your garage, but is the element that elevates the look and value of your house. Wood garage doors are more expensive than steel garage doors, but the wood doors will stand up well to bumps, scratches, and they are well crafted, strong, secure, and durable. For natural beauty with a classic touch, a wood garage door is a right door.

When it comes to choosing a new garage door, there are important factors to consider like look, durability, security, and price. A new garage door can completely change the look of your house, therefore, it is highly recommended to use a professional garage door company to provide and install the right garage door for your house, and the company should have extensive experience and expertise in garage door installation and carry popular and well-known brands of garage doors from local garage door suppliers and manufacturers.

[jacksonvilleflcontractor]

Not All Painting Contractors in Jacksonville Florida Are Equal

About Painting In Jacksonville FL

We are a Painting in Jacksonville Fl contractor specializing in both interior and exterior painting. Our absolute focus is the quality of service we provide with guaranteed customer satisfaction. We will provide a written warranty for every residential painting project..

In searching for a Jacksonville house painter, you the homeowner, can rest assured in knowing that our painting contractors are  licensed and insured, trained standing behind their work. Our house painters are experienced, professional, well mannered, clean-cut and punctual. What more can you ask for?

Our crew of professional home painters are seasoned and well educated in each and every phase of residential painting. We only use top quality paints on all our home painting projects. All paints, coatings, and sealers we use and apply, are backed by a 25 year or lifetime warranty against flaking, chipping, and/or peeling. For this reason, we have teamed up with Sherwin Williams Company to offer you the best possible painting products available in Jacksonville.

Call your Jacksonville painter for a free No pressure painting estimate on your next residential painting project!

Residential Services:

·        Interior Painting

·        Exterior House Painting

·        Exterior Waterproofing System

·        Pool Deck Coating

·        Epoxy Coating For Garage Floors

·        Pressure Washing

·        Dock & Deck Staining

·        Concrete Staining & Sealing

·        Fence Staining

·        Crack Repairs

·        Elastomeric Patching

·        Brick Paver Sealing

Painting Jacksonville Fl: Interior House Painting Practice

We will arrive on schedule, warmly greet you and get started on your painting project.

Setup

We pride ourselves in providing top quality painting services to homeowners in the Greater Jacksonville area.

1.Moving Furniture With care, we will move your furniture to center of room to allot enough working space. If necessary, we will cover all furniture with plastic to ensure maximum protection from sanding dust, paint splatters, caulk, and so forth. Once all painting is done, we will move all furniture back to original place.

2.Window Treatments We will with care take down all curtains/blinds and rods from windows so we can properly paint all window returns and sills.

3.Floor Protection Necessary safeguards will be taken to protect and cover flooring throughout the painting process. All nail holes and minor drywall damages will be repaired prior to the start of painting. If wood trim is to be painted, all necessary caulking will be done to ensure a complete and finished product.

4.Primer Prior to the beginning of painting, primer will be applied to all drywall repairs, raw sheetrock, wood and any water stains.

5.Painting We will apply all paint using rollers, brushes and sprayer (if applicable), depending on the the surface to ensure a smooth finish. All trim will be painted and completed with clean cut lines between wall and trim.

6.Clean-up We will remove all floor coverings once painting is done. Any debris will be swept and cleaned from floor. All empty paint cans and related trash will be removed from your home. All left-over paint will be properly labeled so you can identify proper colors for any future touch-up needed.

7.Inspection Once all painting is done, we will do a thorough walk-through with you to ensure that all areas of project have been addressed. The purpose of this walk-through is to make sure you as a customer are 100% satisfied with our work.

Painting Jacksonville FL:  Exterior Painting Process

The process is just as the interior painting process. With this process, we will be ensuring that your exterior painting is of the HIGHEST quality to ensure longevity.

Pressure Washing Power washing the homes exterior to get rid of all loose dirt, mildew, and other foreign matter using an eco-friendly solution to maximize the protection of your homes landscape.

Preparation

·        All peeling or chipping paint will be removed, all exposed untreated stucco, raw wood and rust areas will be protected with primer prior to being painted.

·        Any cracks exposed on your exterior, whether its stucoo, cinder block, or wood, will be properly filled with elastomeric patching solution.

·        High quality, durable caulk will be used for sealing all windows and doors.

·        All window screens will be removed and glass will be protected of any paint overspray.

·        Sealer will be applied to the body of the house, if necessary.

·        Elastomeric Caulk will be applied on outdoor ceilings where the ceiling and the walls meet.

·        All exterior elements on property (landscaping, walkways, driveway, decks, patios, windows, fencing, lighting, etc.) will be protected from any overspray or drips using proper coverage material (drop cloths, plastic).

Painting

·        Exterior body painting will be applied with sprayer and roller using a back roll method to ensure proper coverage on surface.

·        Using a Premium Grade 100% acrylic paint for body of home.

·        All trim will be painted according to color specifications of homeowner using Premium quality 100% acrylic paint.

·         ** Note: Not all trim is recommended to be painted (Example: Maintenance Free aluminum or vinyl)

·        All doors will be painted using Premium grade paint.

·        Paint sheen of choice will be selected by homeowner. (Flat, satin, semi-gloss, gloss).

As stated above, our choice of brand of paint is Sherwin Williams, which provides Top Quality Premium Grade paint. We have been using their paint for the past 10 years and are 100% confident in their products.

 Painting Jacksonville Fl:  Areas We Service

 Jacksonville areas including the following zip codes:

32099, 32201, 32202, 32203, 32204, 32205, 32206, 32207, 32208, 32209, 32210, 32211, 32212, 32214, 32215, 32216, 32217, 32218, 32219, 32220, 32221, 32222, 32223, 32224, 32225, 32226, 32227, 32228, 32229, 32230, 32231, 32232, 32234, 32235, 32236, 32237, 32238, 32239, 32241, 32244, 32245, 32246, 32247, 32254, 32255, 32256, 32257, 32258, 32259, 32260, 32267, 32276, 32277

Orange Park areas including the following zip codes:

32065, 32073, 32003

 Nassau County areas including the following zip codes:

32011, 32046, 32097

Whether your needs are big or small, residential or commercial, simple or complex, our team has the knowledge and skill level to complete the job in a timely manner while maintaining an unbeatable level of Painting Jacksonville Fl professionalism.

  https://youtu.be/lH7BHKJ8TJM

[chwrpg]

Murray, I have asked you repeatedly not to call me "woman".

A NOTE FROM ADMIN R: Oh, oh, oh ! Y’all don’t know how happy I am to be accepting this application. Dylan is truly one of my CHW faves and to have her taken up by you, Cailin... that’s just an honor. I can not wait to see what you do with her, but I know one thing... this dash ain’t ready fro the looks Dylan is about to serve us. Thank you so much for applying and welcome back, love !

OOC NAME/ALIAS, PREFERRED PRONOUNS, AGE & TIMEZONE:

cailin, (she/her), 25, est

DESIRED CHARACTER:

queen mother, dylan davenport

HOW ACTIVE WILL YOU BE?

8-10

SECONDARY CHOICE:

taylor flick

DESCRIBE THE CHARACTER:

Dylan is shrouded in beauty, bold fashion choices, witty comebacks, and her daddy’s debit card. But the woman wearing the Amina Muaddi heels to 7/11 is much more interesting than her out of this world clothes. If Chanel’s head is in the clouds, Dylan’s feet are planted on the ground. She’s the fuel to the fire, the one who gets shit done. Things don’t move without her — and that includes the fashion scene in Rosewood. Dylan could’ve been a surgeon, she has the brains and attention to detail for it, but, you see, what Dylan says or doesn’t say goes. She predicted high waist jeans making a comeback before Vogue did, telling the girls one day during first period. So she’s a bit of a culture oracle. It’s why people care about what she’s thinking, who she’s endorsing, what designers she’s buying. They even want to know what she’s watching on a monday night. Her confidence and sincerity is inspiring. When she’s not taste making though, she’s the loyalest, most straightforward friend you can find in her tax bracket. Balancing the thin line between being no-nonsense and fun to be around. She does it well, though. In fact, she does most things well (driving not included.)‌ Her peers boast about her style and charisma, her professors brag about her work ethic and creativity, her boyfriend….well, her love life is a tumultuous roller coaster but every icon needs a fixer upper. Plus she gets diamonds every time he fumbles.

SAMPLE WRITING:

( Alexa, play Daddy )

The day Dylan was born she became a daddy’s girl. Stevie Wonder could see it. Dada was her first word much to her mother’s chagrin. He never raised his voice at her, never got impatient with her when she spilled her juice or threw her food. He got up in the middle of the night so his wife wouldn’t have to even though he had meetings at 7 in the morning. It didn’t stop there, though. Mr. Davenport didn’t put her down at parties. He carried her around on his hip as he mingled and held court, demanding on no one use baby talk for his brilliant baby girl. “She’s smart like her mom.” He would say to his captivated audience. For her third birthday he rented out an entire amusement park. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t yet tall enough to ride the rides, she had asked for it so he made it happen. He was a doer and a fixer, but he wasn’t perfect. Mr. Davenport had always been a better father and provider than a husband.

So, when she was five, her parents went through a nasty divorce. The papers their lawyers drew up cited irreconcilable differences but she’d come to realize, many years later, that was just how rich people skirted around the truth in hopes of keeping people out of their business. In truth, Mr. Davenport had spent the better part of his career sleeping with secretaries, temps, and clients. Basically anything that was of age and not nailed down. Mrs. Davenport had only grown tired of it after watching Halle Berry cry over Eric Benet  on Oprah. But like she’d taught  Dylan, Mrs. Davenport thought three steps ahead, and had arranged to have a cheating clause in their prenup. She saw the board before she’d even stepped foot on it. And, Sure, they’d been in love when they got married at twenty three, but a cheater never changed its spots, just his lies. In an instant, she got half of everything. Twenty percent of his future earnings, and 360 lipo for a girls trip to Maui to celebrate her emancipation.

All Dylan got out of the deal was two houses, two birthdays, two Christmases, two cars she still couldn’t drive when she turned sixteen. The court awarded them joint custody, ruling they both had enough sense to figure out the schedule on their own. But since that was the year her mom went back to school for her PhD, Dylan spent the majority of her time with her dad and a nanny. Those double holidays also served as a good distraction from the heartbreak she couldn’t explain. Though she was sharp as a whip and actually funny, not laugh because it’s a kid funny, but really funny, she still couldn’t wrap her little mind around why her parents drove to separate houses at the end of the night now. At all those parties, what stuck out the most was everyone saying what a handsome couple they were, how lucky they were to have another. They danced and laughed. They seemed so happy. But looks are deceiving and lucky for her, the loneliest year of her young life was also the year she met her best friend.

( Alexa, play Wannabe )

Dylan and Chanel became an instant package deal, and she thanked her father for not being able to keep his dick out of seedy holes because she wouldn’t have went to school in another district if her mom hadn’t won the house in the divorce, and she wouldn’t have sat down next to Chanel at show and tell, and they wouldn’t have bonded over their pretty dresses, or shared their organic apple juice. God worked in mysterious ways like that. She had a partner for life, and nothing came between them. Not even boys. And, despite having the power to date any eligible bachelor in her grade, she really liked one in particular.

The day she brought Paxton home her took one look at him and chuckled. Dylan figured it was because of the grill he hadn’t learned to talk without slurring with yet, but her mother had other ideas. “He reminds me of your father.” She said, long after he’d gone home, but not before Dylan spent fifteen minutes walking him to his car. The driveway was super long but her lipstick was nonexistent when she returned. That didn’t matter though, because Dylan knew what that meant. Her mom thought Paxton was charming, likable, handsome — but she also knew he was a liar and a dog. They argued for well over an hour, and she said some things she regretted but that’s what teenage girls did, they rebelled against becoming their mother all while doing so. She didn’t realize just how much he was like her father until she caught him DMing other girls on instagram and got a diamond necklace out of the deal. Still, it was clear that he could shoot a man in broad daylight and she would always be daddy’s little girl, nothing could change that.

“Daddy!” Dylan whined, clinging to her dad’s arm as they traipsed through another commercial property with their real estate agent. Today was the day she was finally going to buck up and switch locations from her dad’s pool house to an office space in scenic, downtown Rosewood. Being interviewed by magazines had been life changing, sitting front row of the hottest runways next to A-listers had its perks, doing a skincare routine video for vogue was dope, but expanding her business because the calls wouldn’t stop coming in to be styled be Dylan and her associates? That was something she’d done herself from the ground up. She’d started with styling her friends and now she was going to style the world.

( Alexa, play Successful )

Her heels were tall enough to greet God but she still only reached his shoulder. “I hope this one has vaulted ceilings.” Her tone was way past passive aggressive. She would’ve dialed it back had their agent not been set to make serious bank off of this, but had only been showing them office spaces with disgusting lighting and rude doormen. For all of their sakes, she hoped this one was better. “I need two sessions of hot yoga after the last mess you showed us, at least. My chakras are all out of wack now. Thanks a lot, A.” She was being dramatic but her dad didn’t stop her. He just smiled that infamous smile at the agent and excused himself to the back of the elevator to take a call. Dylan rolled her eyes when she caught their real estate agent, Angela, fawning. She was a slender woman with the proportion of a fashion model who only modeled in theory, never practice. With cropped hair and full lips. She’d been their families real estate agent for decades, found the house her mom had one in the divorce, but Dylan couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d slept with her dad while he was married to her mom, and for that she hated her.

The light dinged to signal they were at their floor, and the elevator doors slid open. When she bothered lifting them from a lengthy text she was typing to her beau, her eyes lit up like when her dad gifted her a patek for her eighteenth, or the G-Wagon that was still collecting dust in the garage for her sixteenth. Whatever the occasion was, she was aglow just like then. The floors were European oak, all the walls were white sans a charcoal accent wall that would be the space of her future desk, and yes, the ceilings were vaulted with windows to match. It was beyond.

“Daddy!” She squealed, running around the space and dreaming up renovation ideas. “This is the one. It’s, like, perfect.” Dylan ignored the real estate agent when she repeated the price tag. 1.2 million may have been a lot for some people, but some people weren’t his little girl and Angela should have known that by now. “Wait. I need to call Chanel!”‌ Dylan could bet she’d be calling Chanel the day Play got down on one knee ( What?‌ A girl could dream ) before she even said yes. She was greeted with a selfie when she unlocked her phone, tapping her chanel platform sneaker clad foot against the wood while the facetime call connected, “What do you think about staining the floor another color?” She asked before absolutely beaming when Chanel’s face appeared on the screen.

“I found it! I found the perfect space.”‌ Without another word, she flipped the camera and did a little dance when Chanel’s excitement nearly exceeded hers. She knew a squeal of absolute glee when she heard one, “I know! Ok, so Just imagine a chaise here, we can install some shelves here. Do you think we can get a Prosecco fountain?…” She walked her through the office like Angela had done moments before, moving out of earshot so her dad could handle business, while they discussed all the possibilities. “Today an office with a view, tomorrow Dylan Davenport’s Fashion Academy,” she beamed.

All her daddy had to do was sign on the dotted line, and she knew he would. He was, after all, her doer. He wouldn’t dare break that illusion…right? The journey from the bathroom back to the main area of the office space was a short one, and she was all smiles until she rounded the corner only for her dream to turn into a nightmare. Her face cracked along with the screen of her phone as it hit the ground and shattered, “DADDY!” She screamed. The sight of her dad and Angela kissing over paperwork causing her to gag instantly.

“Honey, let me explain…..”

There was nothing to explain. Horrible step parents was Jasper’s lane, not hers.

( Alexa, play Ring Off )

ANYTHING ELSE?

1985.

[garage-door01-blog]

Installing Clopay Garage Doors in Your Home

If you are building or remodeling your business or home or when replacing an exiting door you really should take a good look at Clopay garage doors. Your garage doors are a critical part of every modern home or business.. Without a doubt the garage door opening is certainly the weakest structural point of your home. It is wise to take careful consideration when selecting a door to secure this part of your home. Clopay has several great products that will not only protect your home but provide a great design accent to your home or small business. It is important that you find the best garage doors and not the cheapest.

Clopay doors are marketed in three distinct levels, Portfolio, Classic and Wood. The Portfolio line consists of three premium products that are considered top of the line. In terms of strength security and durability the Coachman series or collection has it all. Coachman model doors are constructed with four layers that sandwich insulation between two layers of galvanized steel providing great energy efficiency. Classic model doors use styrene insulation that while not as efficient as polyurethane foam will still provide great thermal protection and noise reduction. These have simulated wood finish that is of fairly good quality.

The Portfolio Reserve Collection line of wood doors is now in a line of its own.. These great looking wood doors are constructed of cedar, redwood or hemlock of various grades. These doors are not cheap but they are much less expensive than custom made wood doors. Clopay has a number of great designs including the popular carriage design. Just like any wood constructed door they all will require a continued degree of maintenance that includes staining, painting or sealing. The Classic line are the standard contractor model that are used to build most homes. These are good quality doors that are on the lower end of garage door pricing. The Premium Series features a three layer design with insulation molded in between two layers of galvanized steel. These are great doors for the money and will give you strength and durability for many years with little or no maintenance. For the money it is hard to beat these https://www.directserviceoverhead.com/.

One of the best ways to get information on Clopay garage doors is to visit your local Home Depot. They sell the complete line of the Wood, Portfolio and Classic models. If you are handy with improvement projects then the people at Home Depot can provide you with a lot of very critical help that will make your installation a lot easier. They also frequently have a list of certified installers for people that do not have the time or know how to self install. Clopay doors are of good quality and have a very good reputation and excellent customer service. In addition they also have a great line of entry doors that will match you home or business accent and they have the same great quality that you expect. Again spending time on line or best of all at one of the large big box home improvement stores will provide you with lots information on what doors are best for you. Remember it is best to purchase the best garage door you can afford.

Details Company Name: Direct Service Overhead Garage Door Company Address: 224 Country Club Pkwy Maumelle, AR 72113 Phone Number: (501) 244-3667 Google Map URL: https://goo.gl/maps/kXAHWsg5MaR5Rwrg7

[newgaragedoorrepair01-blog]

The Classic Beauty of Wood Garage Doors San Pablo

If you want your home to have that classic, elegant and timeless beauty, then it is time to install wood garage doors. This is the reason why more and more homeowners choose the wood material for their doors instead of steel, vinyl, copper or aluminum.

The wood garage door comes in many styles and designs that you would not find it hard to pick one that would complement the contemporary look of your home. One wood material to consider is timber which is less expensive and easy to repair compared with steel. This is because the timber will not dent and you can repair the timber door in small sections. Here are some wood garage doors from online retailers (garagedoorsinc.com, cgbaragedoors.com, etc) for your consideration:

Model T Doors from Garage Doors Inc.:

Each door has been expertly crafted by trained craftsmen that provide you with a design that will fit perfectly with your modern home. This sectional door style is typically consists of three or four sections. It is designed to simulate the sideway sliding or outward swinging typical of many garage doors on historical homes. The framework is constructed from 1 and 3/8 inches hemlock fir. The top and bottom rails measure 4 and 5/8 inches in width for extra rigidity and 7 and ¾ wide for end stiles to accommodate the expansion of end hinges. Back-paneled doors used luan mahogany for paneling to create a finished look to the inside of the garage and to add great sheer strength. A stain grade door is constructed with cedar skin and trim. True window panes are used on all doors that have glass design.

Plantation Series Garage Doors:

This carriage style door is available in many sizes and dimensions. Plus, you can have this door customized to meet your design requirements. The door's proprietary and unique construction makes it a perfect replacement choice for use in all weather conditions. Your design options include recessed or raised panels, stain or paint grades and custom glazing. The three-layer construction consists of an insulation, face panel and back panel.

Clingerman Custom Wood Garage Doors:

You can choose a wood door construction in swing or overhead style. All Clingerman doors are insulated come in either paint or stain grade. Choices of materials are Spanish cedar T&G, sapele mahogany flat panel inlay, pine T&G inlay, MDF plywood inlay, mahogany T&G inlay, MDF plywood inlay with 6-inch v groove and sapele mahogany flat panel inlay.

Clopay Canyon Ridge Collection:

This faux, rustic wood door replicate gives out the beauty, elegance and texture of real wood but with less maintenance. The five-layered door construction consists of steel, insulation, steel, cladding and overlay. The door features an overhead operation and a swing-out appearance. The overlay materials and polymer composite cladding with 1/2 -inch thickness are molded from true wood to replicate the natural texture and distinctive grain patterns. Available cladding materials are clear cypress, pecky cypress and mahogany.

7402 Churchill Carriage House Door from Wayne Dalton:

The glass window options for this door are clear, bronze tint, gray tint and antique art. Also available is the shatter-resistant plexiglass. The door is complemented by decorative hardware with choices of coach house pattern or the classic Fleur-de-Lis style. This door is paint grade finish so you could paint it to match the exterior look of your home.

Wood Garage Door from Zhejiang Ideality Automatic Door Co. Ltd.:

The door panel is made of pine wood and the surface is waterproof painted to resist corrosion and protect it from the effects of weather. It comes with zinc alloy steel brackets for stable operation.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3924704

If you want your home to have that classic, elegant and timeless beauty, then it is time to install wood garage door repair San Pablo CA. This is the reason why more and more homeowners choose the wood material for their doors instead of steel, vinyl, copper or aluminum.

The wood garage door comes in many styles and designs that you would not find it hard to pick one that would complement the contemporary look of your home. One wood material to consider is timber which is less expensive and easy to repair compared with steel. This is because the timber will not dent and you can repair the timber door in small sections. Here are some wood garage doors from online retailers (garage door sic.com, cg garage doors.com, etc) for your consideration:

Model T Doors from Garage Doors Inc.:

Each door has been expertly crafted by trained craftsmen that provide you with a design that will fit perfectly with your modern home. This sectional door style is typically consists of three or four sections. It is designed to simulate the side way sliding or outward swinging typical of many garage doors on historical homes. The framework is constructed from 1 and 3/8 inches hemlock fir. The top and bottom rails measure 4 and 5/8 inches in width for extra rigidity and 7 and ¾ wide for end stiles to accommodate the expansion of end hinges. Back-paneled doors used lean mahogany for paneling to create a finished look to the inside of the garage and to add great sheer strength. A stain grade door is constructed with cedar skin and trim. True window panes are used on all doors that have glass design.

Plantation Series Garage Doors:

This carriage style door is available in many sizes and dimensions. Plus, you can have this door customized to meet your design requirements. The door's proprietary and unique construction makes it a perfect replacement choice for use in all weather conditions. Your design options include recessed or raised panels, stain or paint grades and custom glazing. The three-layer construction consists of an insulation, face panel and back panel.

Clinger man Custom Wood Garage Doors:

You can choose a wood door construction in swing or overhead style. All Clinger man doors are insulated come in either paint or stain grade. Choices of materials are Spanish cedar T&G, sapless mahogany flat panel inlay, pine T&G inlay, MDF plywood inlay, mahogany T&G inlay, MDF plywood inlay with 6-inch v groove and sapless mahogany flat panel inlay.

Clopay Canyon Ridge Collection:

This faux, rustic wood door replicate gives out the beauty, elegance and texture of real wood but with less maintenance. The five-layered door construction consists of steel, insulation, steel, cladding and overlay. The door features an overhead operation and a swing-out appearance. The overlay materials and polymer composite cladding with 1/2 -inch thickness are molded from true wood to replicate the natural texture and distinctive grain patterns. Available cladding materials are clear cypress, peck cypress and mahogany.

7402 Churchill Carriage House Door from Wayne Dalton:

The glass window options for this door are clear, bronze tint, gray tint and antique art. Also available is the shatter-resistant plexiglass. The door is complemented by decorative hardware with choices of coach house pattern or the classic Fleur-de-Los style. This door is paint grade finish so you could paint it to match the exterior look of your home.

Wood Garage Door from Zhejiang Fidelity Automatic Door Co. Ltd.:

The door panel is made of pine wood and the surface is waterproof painted to resist corrosion and protect it from the effects of weather. It comes with zinc alloy steel brackets for stable operation.

Article Source

[unholyhelbig]

Bechloe Prompt - Chloe always come home stressed and tired, but the only highlight of her day/night is listening to her neighbor playing piano. One day/night while listening to her neighbor playing piano, it abruptly comes to a halt and Chloe gets worried (the last song played and Chloe heard being "Lighthouse - Hush Sound"). One week later with no music, Chloe decides to check up on her neighbor.

[A/N: A/N: This took forever and I’m really sorry. But hey, I’m not used to writing piano stuff… except for I kind of am. I’m actually going to link a fic that I’m super proud of. It’s not done yet, but it also centers a piano.]

—> THE BROKEN PIANO 

—> SUBMIT PROMPTS HERE 

She always thought the piano was too grand a structure. Its looming frame would take up half of any room that it was placed in. It stole the center stage, drawing all attention to the embossed instrument. Someone who sat at the red studded seat with great posture and strong commitment wasn’t someone Chloe wanted to be.

That didn’t’ mean she despised her neighbor; in fact, she admired the musical prestige that would often float through open windows like the notes that hung heavily in the air. The breeze seemed to shift them like eyes steadily flicking across sheet music.

Chloe would often settle herself against the window seat on the second floor of her old Victorian. She had long ago done away with the screen, letting her leg hang into the open air as her focus shifted to her own work of grading papers.

Her mysterious neighbor always seemed to be fiddling with something- tuning up her instrument or running through the same few bars over and over again. Chloe didn’t seem to mind; her eyes would clench shut and her fingers would tap absently to the beat that edged through the mostly empty suburban street.

In the summer the notes were lighter; they matched the warm air and the scent of honeysuckle that always took up more than half of Georgia. When the weather shifted to a cold heaviness, so did her neighbor’s music. The pianist would lean heavily on the further ends of the instrument, notes deep and dark.

She balanced the mug within her grasp, eyes watering as she gulped down a healthy amount of red wine- it was soft and sour all at once. Chloe had curled herself along the edge of the window once more but without any papers. There was no resolve left in her patience to pick out the grammatical mistakes that one too many made. Instead, she waited for the music.

Her neighbor worked like a clock, though, Chloe had never seen much of the stranger. The darker side of the young teacher wanted to admit that she sprung up quickly from her mattress each time a golden yellow mix of headlights shown through her bedroom window.

It was part of the allure, though, not knowing exactly who played such heavenly music.  

She felt the cold bite of midnight air, letting her head rest against the wood paneling of the window seat. She didn’t mind the cold so much, the light dose of alcohol warmed her skin. Yet, it seemed almost habit to run her free hand up her arm, tracing the pattern of old tattoos often covered up nowadays.

The notes started in a slow and haunting tune, a mix between sharps and flats. The pianist let the music flow, Chloe watching carefully as the sheer curtains lay evenly over a solid window. Warm light bathed the grass in front of the opening. The stranger laid heavily on the keys- Chloe could almost feel the passion put into each note, her fingers tightening against the mug.

There was an earth-shattering crunch. Not one of broken glass, or metal wrapped around a tree at an intersection a few blocks away from her house- no, it was sour notes. Keys all pressed at once as the mysterious stranger weighted everything on the musical instrument.

Chloe drew in a breath so sharp that it burned her throat. She had almost dropped the novelty glass she picked up on her way to Wyoming. It was a little gas station in Limon Colorado, a place that was a mix between a convenient store and a tourist trap. It had worked well enough- being the only thing the redhead had seen worthwhile between civilization and Kansas.

She blinked a few times, staring at the inky shadow that stood in front of the window. She couldn’t quite see an outline, as more of a dark shape. The curtains hugged the frame, two solid arms reaching up as they grasped at the sill, pulling it down with a shaking slam.

Chloe pushed herself harder into the wall, almost as if she was afraid of getting caught. She had never heard the pianist end so abruptly, had never grit her teeth to the point of pain at the sounds that wafted from across the street.

They’re having a bad night she figured glumly, not letting her disappointment of the silence get to her. She had to get to bed anyway, it was too late, even for her.

Her fingers tightened around the steering wheels, knuckles a sickly white against the grey interior. She was trying to talk herself out of this, it was lack of sleep, it was her pure need to be the star of a lifetime movie involving something other than clean-cut weddings- Hell, Chloe didn’t’ know why.

She didn’t know why she was drumming her thumbs against the dashboard as she wiggled around in her seat. Her sapphire eyes snapped up to the rearview mirror every once and a while. She was parked in her driveway, not pulling all the way into her cold garage.

This was ridiculous.

So, what if her neighbor hadn’t played music in upwards of a week? So, what if her mail was collecting on a molded welcome mat? So, what if her grass almost reached the numbers on her mailbox- weeds wicking through the cracks in the driveway.

Okay, so maybe Chloe was a little bit more than curious. But that didn’t’ explain why she had to keep herself from stepping out of her Honda Civic and dashing across the street to knock on a stranger’s door.

She missed the music desperately, and overall, she missed the warmth that it provided with its simple construction. Whoever was behind that grand piano felt with every inch of themselves, made Chloe feel.

Chloe steeled her nerves as she grasped the handle to her car, pulling herself into the cold air. She left a stainless water bottle filled with coffee on her roof- if I’m murdered, they’ll know I wasn’t intending to be.

Her thoughts ate at her bitterly as she pulled back her shoulders and tried to walk across the street. The school teacher cringed at how loud and truth-calling her heels were against the pavement. Sure, a suit like this was a power move at the moment, but not the greatest for sneaking.

She palmed the shoes, used to the rough and chilled pavement under her socks.  

Countless papers were stacked in the gutter in front of the large house, the shutters a deep navy against the slate rafters. There was a stained-glass window that was blocked by a large oak, and a car untouched in the driveway. The grass tickled at her legs as she stepped over the offending mail- not sure if she should knock, or if it was considered rude to even touch the stuff.

Her fingers were shaking like she had never spoken to a neighbor before- she had. The old woman to her left had a pension for figuring out about any fling she brought home, and the lovely couple to the right were trying for their second child. But all of them had a mutual understanding not to disturb an artist at work.

Chloe drew in a breath, one that ripped into her throat as she let her knuckles connect with the wooden door. It seemed too hollow, too empty. She took an instinctive step back, tucking her arms around her as she rocked on her mostly bare feet.

This is a stupid idea, they’re not home.

The thought echoed in her mind. Of course, there was a reason that this person wasn’t answering the door- she almost let out a breath of relief. She had done her civic duty and checked on the neighbor that vanished out of nowhere. Good. Now she can go home and eat that salad she made at the beginning of the week.

That’s when the door opened. Its metal hinges creaked and groaned like the ghost of Christmas past. An unfamiliar warmth pushed past the doorframe as Chloe’s stomach dropped. She could catch the faint scent of vanilla and the musty edge of ink.

A woman stood in front of her, a few inches shorter as she leaned against the door. She had a strong frame, shoulders held back in confidence. She held onto the iron doorknob, a black t-shirt stretched over her stature, grey joggers ending in mismatched fuzzy socks. An innocent person who didn’t’ look so scary- her eyes such a deep midnight that they were almost an inky black.

She squinted, scratching at the back of her head as a few strands of brown hair fell from a messy top bun. “Can I help you?” Her voice was raspy. Sexy.

“I just uh,” Chloe said, “I didn’t’ think I would get this far.”

The stranger lifted her pointed brow, the ghost of a smirk pulling at her lips. “Ah, I see, trying to get the neighborhood recluse out of her house?”

“No!” she rushed, a little too quickly. “I just… I heard you playing last week, and you stopped so suddenly, and your mail has been collecting- like, what if you dropped dead or something? I couldn’t’ not check on you.”

She was laughing. The woman was laughing at how flustered Chloe became- she must have looked like she was mad. Her shoes were still clenched in her hand, her blouse was half pulled from the hem of her pants with all the nervous fidgeting she had subjected herself to.

“That was very kind of you,” The beautiful woman spoke, dragging her thumb along the edge of her eye “I didn’t die, promise.”

She whispered the last word. It sent Chills up Chloe’s spine, one that made her once again trace the ink that graced her arm during a simpler time- the stranger guiding her stare to the exact spot Chloe had called attention to. “I like your tattoo.”

“Thanks.” She said.

“Got any more?” She leaned forward slightly, squinting her eyes “Can I see them?”

“Depends on if you’re the type of composer who runs of coffee.”

The woman scoffed, stepping aside as she let the door creak even louder. Chloe almost flushed at her own words. She was never too forwards when it came to stuff like this- but it felt different. Like she knew this woman for years just based on the music flowing through a grand piano.

Maybe she did know her, maybe they both knew.

[vanessasilva1]

Is There A Way To Avoid Buying A House In Poor Condition?

Although putting a professional inspection contingency in the contract will help protect you from surprises, doing your own pre-inspection before making a written offer could save you a lot time and money. How can you tell if a property is worth buying? You should initially look at the big picture—for structural concerns, major repairs that may be needed, appliances that have to be replaced, as well as the heating and electrical systems.

Look at the Walls: Start out by going to the left or the right when you enter the house and keep following the walls all the way around. You will check each wall that way. Do the same on every floor. Look for settlement cracks, separating joints, defective plaster or other signs of stress or damage. Check wallpapered areas for crinkling or gathering, which may mean walls are settling or shifting. Roll a marble across the if you think the floor feels uneven.If you want to buy a home contact to real estate agent la jolla heights.

Look for Water Damage: Loose or wrinkled wallpaper could indicate a water leak from somewhere above. Look for water stains on the ceiling and walls. You may have to look closely—bring a flashlight and a moisture meter—in case they have been painted over or repaired. Spend a lot of time in the bathrooms and all areas with pipes, checking for leaks and drips. Also, run the shower and sink, then flush the toilet to check water pressure. Look for cracked or loose tiles and missing grout or mildew stains on the walls or floor, which could indicate a behind-the-wall leak or roof leak.

Check the Electrical System: Check every electric socket or outlet. Use a plug-in night light and turn every switch on and off. Check the polarity with a meter. Look for extension cords and multiple plugs in sockets, which could mean insufficient or poorly placed sockets. Also, check every appliance to be sure it works well, especially if they are included in the sale.

Check the Overall Condition: Open and close every door and window. Look and listen for squeaking, sticking, or a tendency to close on their own. Check for evidence of shifting or settling around the front stoop, chimney, hatchway, and walks, and places where the driveway and the fence meet the house. Also, check the deck for sturdiness and look for rotted wood. Make sure the deck is sitting on concrete footings. Go into the garage and check the walls, floors and doors—inside and out. Make sure the garage doors open and close properly and that there is a safety sensor installed.

Pay Attention to Evidence of Pests: Look for termites and ants. Especially look along the foundation, around doors and entry points of wiring and pipes. Check the grading of the yard to be sure water runs away from the house. Check the basement for water damage. Look for rust on any metal sitting on the floor or rotted wood door frames which could be evidence of a possible water problem. You can and should insist on a written report detailing what the problems are with the house. This is usually provided to you in the Sellers disclosures.You may have to consult a contractor to estimate repair costs on any problems found.

If everything looks good and you decide to purchase the house, be sure to require a home inspection by a professional inspector before settlement. You will want a professional who will get into the crawl space, climb onto the roof and poke around with a flashlight in the attic. Your professional should also carefully inspect the major systems—electrical, gas, plumbing and heating/air conditioning. Make sure your purchase contract is conditional upon a satisfactory inspection report. To make sure a home is in tip-top shape before making an offer, give us a call today for more information about how you can find the home of your dreams.

An experienced local real estate agent, like Carlos G, can be your best option to achieve a desirable outcome. San Diego agents are familiar with local market conditions and can provide guidance on pricing your home and making repairs without spending more than you need to.