For the first time in awhile, I've had some time to myself: Perfect for working on the ole homestead. Today I pulled up the carpet in the living room.

As I pulled up the padding, I found carmel-colored southern pine. My duplex was built in 1929, so this would have been considered cheap wood for back then, but by today's standards and my tastes, it's beautiful. Wow, this will look great!

But as I pulled up the rest of the padding and started work on removing the tacking strips, enthusiasm turned to disappointment. Termites.

Oh, they're not active now. But the damage is done. The softer wood between grains has been eaten away in about a third of the room's planks. I'm bummed about it. I've always preferred hardwood floors. Argh!

Since I have decided that I'm not going to stay here in Dayton for longer than I have to, I'm leaning towards patching the damage with woodfill, then painting it a gloss polyurethane. Give it a cottage country feel. The two choices are a light Taffy-colored brown or an off-white grey.

I'm taking a break before vacuuming the floor and then getting ready to go out. My friend C is driving up and then we're going to see these guys. Dr. Freud, Speech Guy and Art Historian Guy may join. Hope everyone gets along.

Post-script Sunday 5/2/04
My dog Grace does not share my enthusiasm for wood floors and has been morosely sniffing around the Living Room today. On carpets, she does this thing where she scoots along on her back, pushing pulling with her legs, and making a RrrRRaaaooww noise. She scoots, then stops. Looking at me upside down, her tail hits the floor like a whip. It must feel really good.

I saved a couple of the remnants for her, but I can tell it's just not the same.