richardcampbell

E-in-C to Dean

My old boss, David Meyer. Editor-in-Chief of The Michigan Daily (1981-1982) has now been named Dean of Tulane Law School. A picture of the gang back in the day (David is on the left) and now. I can understand the white hair, but I'd figure even law schools would have upgraded from blackboards to whiteboards by now!

(Photo from the College of Law, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Our New House

Even though the formal "closing" ceremony has been postponed (due to the snowstorm - one foot of snow around these parts), we're told that all the docs have been signed and the monies transferred, so, apparently, we are new home owners! We're planning on moving next week...

Of course, same email and same cell-phone numbers; get in touch and let us know when you can drop by!

Livin' on a prayer

The headline is in keeping with the local NJ music scene....the news is we are scheduled to close on our new house in North Caldwell next Friday 26 Feb. Several planets still need to align, electronic wire transfers must complete, and even then who can say. But if this doesn't work, we're moving to North Carolina!

Happy Holidays!

From the Campbells....

Yellowhammer

Interesting (for me) bird sighting here in middle-north-eastern New Jersey. We've got lots of blue jays in the back yard, but for the first time I've seen the Northern 'Yellow-Shafted' Flicker woodpecker. Big bird, overall brown-hued, flew past the window; then I saw several on the ground. One of the few woodpeckers to search for food around the yard (and given our recent rain, you can understand why). Nice picture on the (current) wikipedia page

Off-Island

One reason for the lack of postings has been our move out of Manhattan into the Garden State. Our kids pretty much filled up the two-bedroom condo, but the real problem was just the added burden of dragging a two-seater stroller up and down the 7 stairs in our building, and the unbelievable amount of 'stuff' needed to be carried along when travelling by car (again, lugged in and out of the apartment seemingly every weekend). When it's such a chore to take a kid out of the apartment that you just stay indoors, something's wrong.

Selling the condo in this market wasn't a disaster, but took many months too long. All in all, things worked out ok - due to my renovation/combination, the fiscal side was fine. But dealing with devious, lying, inconsiderate, and incompetent real estate brokers was terrible.

We were looking to buy a place and basically just move in; had a place picked out and were in negotiations. But again, dealing with that seller's attorney made us continue to lose our faith in our fellow man.

So, now we're renting a house in Towaco, NJ (no decent Wikipedia page!). The house is quite nice, quiet street, one-level, big deck, nice yard. Can't tell you how nice it is to park a car in the attached garage, as opposed to looping around Upper West Side streets looking for parking. And we're able to just open the sliding doors and let Liam and Caroline crawl outside.

So now, we're all closed on our condo sale and off on a house search. Kristen's mom is coming over to watch the kids for a couple hours - she's only 10 minutes away, and that's the main benefit to moving out of the city.

Of course, we're both sad we moved. I moved to New York in 1991 - 18 years ago!!!!! Longest I've lived in any one spot. Luckily we both moved to the city when it was in full recovery from the dreadful '60s and '70s (a real economic disaster). We had great jobs, close friends, and the infinite and ever-changing variety of restaurants, clubs, theater, street-life, subways, and construction that make up that greatest of cities.

Not to worry though, if we really need a quick fix of good Chinese food, say, we're just 30 minutes away.

A New Hope

I've started a new position at a financial services firm, Senior Principal in the Architecture group. I'll be working out of their New York (57th & Lex) and New Jersey (Harborside) offices. It's going to be a lot of fun putting my financial services and technology experience to work for a web services company. And I've got a view of the Chrysler Building from my cube!

Dad's Scotch Broth Recipe

Cleaning up files today, and ran across this recipe from my Grandfather, James Preston Owens. No guarantees, but he did live to be 102.

Dad's Scotch Broth

• 2 or 3 Lamb Shanks
• 2 cups carrots
• 2 cups celery
• ¼ cup parsley
• 2 medium sized onions
• 1 large potatoe
• ¾ cup barley (if you like barley, 1 cup)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 pats butter
• clove of garlic
• salt and pepper to taste

Put lamb in about 4 quarts of cold water and simmer until tender (about 1-¼ to 1-¾ hours). Skim the top after cooking about 30 minutes.

Chop rather finely carrots, celery, onions, parsley, and garlic, and put in a bowl - cover with cold water.

When lamb is tender, remove and put chopped vegetables in pot including water that covered them. Remove lamb meat from bones, chop finely, and add lamb and bones to pot. Also add bay leaf, barley, butter, and seasoning. Simmer 45 minutes.

Chop finely one potato, add to pot, and simmer another 20 to 35 minutes.

Makes about 4 quarts. A bit more vegetables won't do any harm.

N.B. As the recipe is in his handwriting, it could well be that the 'Dad' refers to his father, Carlton Owens, of Newnan, Georgia.

Normalcy

Well, not normal, not yet. But things are getting more organized here at the Campbell household. Enough so that I can occassionally engage in my accustomed evening martini. And I believe I've found a new usual gin for my concoction: Not that 'buy American' is a correct economic policy, but craft-distilled, Philadelphia-based Bluecoat American Dry Gin has just the right combination of florals, citrus, and gin-ny flavor to give a martini zing and zest. (And it's also cheaper than most other gins). Of course, there's no substitute for oak-aged Noilly-Prat French Vermouth. 6-to-1, up, with a twist, please.

Xmas

Looking back, those first pictures are pretty scary. Liam and Caroline came home early in December and have been putting on weight every day. Everything's working out fine - including the midnight feedings. We've had a great Xmas, with our two special gifts being the center of attention.

Liam and Caroline

We knew there were going to be surprises in this journey, but last night with no warnings at all, Kristen began contractions (1:45am, naturally), we rushed to the hospital and Liam and Caroline introduced themselves to us. They are almost 31 weeks, they are good sized they're breathing ok, and we're going to start worrying about them every day for the next who-knows-how-long.

Liam Robert Campbell - 3lb 10oz - 3:52am, 5 November 2008

Caroline Lee Campbell - 3lb 2oz - 3:54, 5 November 2008

Expectations

In other blockbuster news, Kristen and I are expecting. In fact, we're expecting twins. Due date should be late Dec/early Jan. Probably earlier than later, they tell us. So far, all looks good and we're trying to figure out how this is all going to happen in our little NYC apartment.

Saturday 22 October, 2005

....set to be our wedding day. We've tentatively reserved The National Arts Club for the gala. Should have plenty of room for our family and friends. The guest list will have to be pared down to about 125 though. While we obviously have a lot of work to do, the basic plan will be for an evening affair, say around 6pm.

The Club is located in Gramercy Park, on 20th Street off of Park Avenue. For out of towners, we'll be getting some hotel rooms set aside.

More to come!

Phase III

The final phase of the Campbell Apartment renovation is underway. "Sander" (a friend of Nick, the superintendent) has come in and broken out the old closets, sheet-rocked the ceiling, and is plastering the walls. Should be done in a couple days. I'll then be getting The Closet Factory to build in a new, 90" wide, 90" tall closet.

Late Finish

The renovation was completed about September 5th. Since then, there's been a lot of furniture searching and general household upgrades. Then, finally, a Wine Tasting (pics of that later). Here are a couple shots of the current state.

More inside....

A Fine Mess

The renovation is done, but the unpacking is a mess. I'll upload pictures after getting the boxes stored away.

Done this week???

Maybe, just maybe, the job will be done by Friday. Well, at least all the significant work -- finishing touches may never be done. But, as you can see, the bar is done and looks stunning.

...the slate doesn't have grout yet and I'll replace the white outlets with stainless steel. But you get the idea.

Here's a look from the living room....

next: light fixtures, odds and ends.

Begining of the End

Getting in to the home stretch. Here you can see the cherry cabinets and the stove and microwave are installed in the kitchen.

At the other end of the kitchen are more cabinets and thenew refrigerator:

The bar has a similar decor (though this picture comes out a bit too red):

Left to do: the slate for the bar, the granite counters, and refinishing the floors.

New Bookcase

The contractors installed the new bookcase along the far wall. The first picture shows the entire length, foreshortened due to the length of the bookcase and because I took the picture from the doorway to the office. The second picture shows the section of the bookcase in the living room. The construction seems very solid.

Also, Granite! We went out to Queens and picked out a "Verde Ubatuba" for the kitchen countertop and the bar. This site's picture looks pretty accurate.

Kitchenless

I approved plans for new kitchen cabinets last Wednesday. Today (Monday) the kitchen is gone - everything from the tiles, cabinets, appliances, and yes, the kitchen sink.

Of greater interest, over the weekend I hired a designer to help pick out colors. Collette Whitney of Whitney Interiors came to chat and over a two-hour discussion we picked out my "palette".

The colors are hard to describe and I'll try to figure out some way to show you some sort of mock up....they're all Benjamin Moore and the names are

• main color - Nantucket Gray (HC-111) - more of a greenish-grey
• secondary color - Georgian Brick (HC-50) - a dull red
• hi-lite color - Dorset Gold (HC-8) - for misc areas
• ceiling - Pale Almond (OC-2)
• office walls - Van Cortland Blue (HC-145) - a grey-blue

Collette was great. I hope my choice of a modern cherry cabinet won't upset her!

Latest....

The latest news. Lots of work has been done: most of the rough (and not so rough) framing, electricity, and plumbing is finished. In fact, except for the floors, the new rooms are all done!

And today, the old Apartment # 2 door is (essentially) shut for good. Here's the view from the living room back down the new foyer to the front door # 1. (I'm told that the preferred term is "entrance gallery")

Here's a view again from the living room looking through the dining room. You can see the half-wall and in the distance the small door to the new office.

Finally, here's a shot into the new office as seen from the front door.

Dining Room

The rough framing and sheetrock and some electrical is done. Here you can see the new "dining room". I have a temporary table there for the weekend while Charley is here. The columns will separate the dining from the living room; the piece of duct tape stringing between them simulates the half-wall which will be built.

Initial Framing....

The initial framing for the office/2nd-bedroom is done. Hard to see in the photographs perhaps, but I can walk through the space and get a real feel for the rooms. The sizes/shapes, flow, seem to be pretty good.

Law&Order - Renovation Unit

Good news - lots of work done. (Of course, ostentatious demolition is the easy part of a renovation project). You can see that the main living wall is completely gone and new openings have been made to the kitchen. Meanwhile looking back to the studio's doorway, you can see the new opening to the master bedroom.

Unfortunately, one resident has complained about the dust -- though the building superintendent has noted that the contracting company is "very good" and does "the cleanest work I've ever seen."

The resident has also set the Building department on me, claiming that there are no permits. This is false. Permits were obtained over a month ago. It is true that they may not have been posted. Big deal, except now I have to take care of the "violation".

Finally, just to formally note that the resident is wrong in the extreme, one of his points is that the studio door isn't taped from the inside while work is going on. I direct the jury's attention to the following photo taken just after returning home today:

Breakthrough

It has begun....Meanwhile, there's a wall of plastic dividing my living room and hallway. The other half of the living room is piled with stuff. Not exactly sure if I thought this through all the way....This shot is from the center of the studio apartment looking into my apartment's living room.

Before - Day '-1'

Look for many postings regarding the renovation. Here are the before pictures, looking in to the current living room's main wall.

The next two look in to the new apartment.

Today, I'm off checking out tiles for the foyer and the kitchen. The guys start working tomorrow morning!

Contractor Contracted

Richard Trieste has been selected as the contractor. He'll start this Monday!! The price is ok and he's favored by my architect. By the way, here's the plans:

Contractors Galore

I've just completed interviews with two more contractors. That makes four that we're going to get bids from. So far, indications are that the bids are about 30% higher than I'd like. Especially as there's several grand more to purhcase in the way of new furniture, sundries, and the like. And yes, that includes some sort of TV.

Architecture

I've selected Robin Bernstein to design the renovation of my combined apartment. He's started to work on the plans and we've settled on a basic outline. It's a compromise of a couple ideas I've had (over the past six years).
Basically, the office/bedroom is a little smaller, and the dining room is also a little smaller. The dining room is definitely not a big deal -- I don't have that many large dinner parties.

But the compromise allows the large rooms of my combo unit to show themselves off as much as possible.

more to come...

Choices...Architects

Interviewed three architects this week

• Chris - mainly drawings, expiditing
• Rob - one-man shop, design work, whatever. Nice guy.
• Michael - medium-sized shop, does soup-to-nuts, expensive design work if needed, otherwise an assembly line for people combining NYC apartments

Rob and Michael are the choices. The first would be more fun and individual; the second would be very quick, precise, and knows a bit more about dealing with NYC.

Hmmmmm.