Things To Do : 2024 Version

The end of 2023 caught me by surprise because there are still so many things that need to get fixed before the New Year.

But it's too late now! The New Year is upon us, and the things that didn't get fixed last year have been dragged kicking and screaming into this one.

House

I've got my office set up in the front room now -- probably the most usage this room has had in the nearly twenty years we've been living here -- but it's a disorganized mess and needs to be organized before my next job begins.

The basement is currently occupied by our tenant but needs to be finished, since there are still ceiling panels and baseboards missing. And the library room is only used for storage right now since there isn't room in the house for all my electronics and some leftover items from the Swiders.

It's too late now to find out where the wasps made their nest, but I still need to figure out how they got in the house into the little bedroom down there. I'm afraid they built it somewhere inside the walls. If I don't locate it, remove it and destroy the hibernating queen, it's going to be worse next spring. 

The back deck still has planters (with plants) on it, along with the outdoor table we purchased last spring. I was able to hide all the chairs up in the loft, but the whole deck needs to be cleared off before the snow falls -- because the snow generally remains on the deck all winter.

Garage

The 3rd bay of the garage is a cluttered mess. It is full of junk that needs to be sorted and put in the (1) attic or (2) loft or (3) trash. It always takes me way too long to decide in which category they go.

The 2nd bay of the garage containing my worktables is a cluttered, filthy mess. I need to toss the garbage, clean the work surfaces, and put away my tools.

The 1st bay of the garage has overflowing shelves and overflowing junk on the floor (e.g. unused flooring from the basement that we're keeping in case we need to perform repairs). It all needs to be organized.

The (dead) 2013 Elantra is still sitting askew in my driveway. The third bay of the garage, which was supposed to be its winter parking spot, is jammed full of other things that need to be placed elsewhere.

The 2001 Corolla has a weird headlight wiring issue which must be resolved before Adam can safely drive it to his second-shift job.

The 2000 Camry is still sitting in the storage unit waiting for my attention. One of the wheels has gone flat and I need to check the battery charge.

The new-to-us 2011 Camry has a non-functional heater which is a no-go for Michigan winters. I'm hoping it's a simple case of needing a radiator/heater core flush. Or maybe a bad thermostat.

Mary is still trying to find a car of her own. She got a pre-approval letter from the bank and is just itching to get into a loan situation so she can be like the rest of us debt-ridden citizens.

The 2010 Rav, while now possessing a functional parking brake system for both sides, needs to have the passenger-side cable replaced as it has been stretched too much and it doesn't match the length of the driver-side one. This causes a noticeable 'jump' point in the parking brake operation when one side has gone taut and the other side still has a ways to go.

The Yard

I probably shouldn't even mention the yard since it is winter and we can't do anything with it, but I'm still (kind of) using the compost pile to put our 'used' veggies in, so that needs to be raked over and prepped for winter. It would be nice to have a cover over it to retain some heat in order to keep the fermentation/breakdown of vegetable matter going.