The Opposite of Curb Appeal

John at Sweet Juniper has another fantastic photographic piece on Detroit. He grabbed his camera and stitched together a panorama of "a street here where 60 out of 66 homes were vacant or abandoned on a single block."

Check it out.
[NOTE: click the picture to view the whole thing—
takes a minute or two to load]

What a waste. Half of those houses were once homes I'd've dreamed of—tons of 20s bungalows... I heard/read that people are going back into some areas in Detroit and "re-settling"—groups of friends and families getting together to buy up a whole block for pennies on the dollar and creating their own neighborhoods. If I lose my job in Asheville, that might be our best option! Who else wants in?

UPDATE: Found a link at BoingBoing: Artists buying cheap houses in Detroit

UPDATE 2: I remember now—Mrs F heard this NPR/Michigan Radio story. Sounds like it's a bit more in the gestational stage than I might have implied...

The Task

Objective: Install the microwave/range hood we ordered in early December and has been languishing in the basement since...

Obstacles: 1.) Removal of several 12" sq granite tiles to access the wall for mounting the bracket. I have NO idea how tough this will be, but it will be easier than drilling through. 2.) Relocation of the supply outlet which is inexplicably right where the oven gets installed instead of in the cabinet. (The fact that all of our kitchen seems to have been ergonomically designed for an NBA player might have something to do with that. Counters and cabinets are all 2" higher than they should be...)

Advantages: Mrs F has taken the kids to the Children's Museum.

Potential Project-Derailing Pitfalls: Anytime you do any project on a ninety year old house, something unexpected comes up—ancient wiring, crumbling plaster, something...

Let's see what happens...

UPDATE @ 6:15: Outlet relocated and wired. Bracket installed. Stove dislocated, so we're going out to the Chinese buffet...YUM!

POST-GAME REPORT: The tiles came off the wall surprisingly easy. the big roadblock came with the only stud in the 31" span being almost exactly in the middle—right where the bracket had no mounting holes. This meant an over-reliance on toggle bolts and whatever assorted anchors I could dig up. Two out of four toggle bolts failed to grab, I used four anchors and then drilled two holes through the bracket in the center, and used a 3" deck screw angled to catch the next stud on one end. Would have been easier to use Smitty's duct tape solution...

Anyway...witness the power of this fully-armed and operational microwave, and unlike our old one can actually fit a full-size dinner plate. Check it out...