Posts by author: William Cracraft
This article originally appeared in the winter 2019 issue of Harker Magazine and was reprinted in Harker News Online. Harker’s incubator program, after one full year, has turned out some solid successes, awarding cash grants to students who developed business plans and successfully pitched to […]
This article originally appeared in the summer 2018 issue of Harker Magazine and was reprinted in Harker News Online. Note from the Head of School: Harker thanks all those who contributed to the amazing effort it took to bring both the Rothschild Performing Arts Center, […]
This article first appeared in the summer 2017 Harker Magazine and was reprinted in Harker News Online. When Harker’s competitive robotics program was just starting in 2003, it needed help. “From an engineering standpoint, the team was highly unpredictable and unreliable,” said Eric Nelson, robotics […]
It was my second New Year’s Eve in Germany, ten years later, and this time things got dangerous. The first clue was the clutch of 6 black torches lying on the kitchen island when I came in, the second was the 3-foot long bottle rockets […]
I started these last Christmas in Germany because I couldn’t sleep very long on the mattress we had, so was up late and rose early. John was just learning to read, and I try to make good use of my time, so tried my hand […]
As promised, all photos! I may or may not do a final wrap up on video, with interviews. We’ll see. Read the whole story in order, if you want: 1. The whole story started with the hood installation in mid-June 2. Things really got cooking […]
Next day, I was in my grubs by 8:30 and had the sink installed by 9:30. Alexandra said, “ Don’t you have to put down a sealer or something? I’m just asking.” The beads of sweat popped out on my forehead. Getting it in hadn’t […]
When Friday dawned we had great hopes for a transformation, and got close. As we looked over the paint job in the morning light, we found it tolerable. I saw every flaw, Alexandra told me to quit complaining, and I complied. The BR Electric guys […]
July 13-14 Wed Thurs We left off in #5 with the kitchen in primer, ready to be painted, I hope, because that’s where I’m taking up the tale. (Number 6 was the Tile Teaser) We were a day out of synch with our schedule, but […]
Here are the tile shots, before, after tiling before grouting and after grouting. Wow. Stuck on with thin-set, it took maybe 3.5 hours to do the job. This is prior to grouting. Watch this space for more junk on our kitchen rebuild. I’ll get around […]
Kitchen Mission Official Day One: Schedule Scramble Windfall Day July 10 We got started a day early because I took a medical at Nationals in Reno. I got stabbed over the right knee on my attack and then in the next tenth of a second […]
The epic kitchen renovation will start on July 12 in full stride: We got the first 31 pieces—cupboard doors and drawers—into primer. I toddled into the kitchen 9ish on Saturday and John and I pulled hardware. Kid got pretty good with the drill, I doubt […]
The kitchen remodel actually started a few weeks ago when we bought the first appliance, a 36-inch Kenmore hood. We drug that monster home and put it in the basement in mid-May. A week later, I got the bug and set to. It was simple, […]
The counter guy came to measure, today. I’ll write that up in a few days. Bit of a patchy day Sunday, the 19th, but I did get all nine initial pieces (five doors, 2 drawers, 2 inside shelves) sanded and their handle, hinge hole and […]
We’re doing a renovation of our 1963 kitchen. The cupboards are varnished 3/4-inch plywood, in great shape except the finish is way old and the hardware is that once-so-fashionable faux-French beaten copper stuff. So, we’re painting the cupboards, changing out the counter tops, having the […]
A most interesting day was had by former roomates Bill Cracraft and Jay Richardson when they took their German wives on a tour of the Aircraft Carrier Hornet, now a museum moored at the old Alameda Naval Base. Richardson and Cracraft, avid military historians, were […]
It was early January, and, like so many couples, we had spent our last dime on closing costs for our home. My wife was off work, preparing to take the California Bar exam, I had a hectic schedule as a writer/photographer and fencing coach and […]
This article was first published on fnsreporting.com in 2005 Dresden, once known for its beauty as the Florence of Germany, is emerging from a chrysalis of time. Overgrown shrubbery is being cleared away and long neglected homes returned to their former stately selves. The city […]
A dictator can extend his reach across the world to inflict great harm on his perceived enemies, but before World War II he required an army with trained multitudes, transportation and, most importantly, a large network of loyal supporters. Those requirements changed in the 1920s […]
Heading out the hotel door to Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate on New Years Eve, we met a couple of matrons swathed in fur coats on the same mission. It was a good night. We saw a brandished handgun, an arrest, an Elvis impersonator, a drunk, ebullient […]
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