Ah, well...

It wasn't the best of days, nor the worst. But it was kind of frustrating. You ever have one of those days where you had so many things to do, you don't hardly know where to start? And no matter how much you get done, it just won't be enough?

Yeah, it was one of those days.

Our first mistake was sleeping in to the point where we were actually rested. See, we went out to a Trivia Night event at the school last night so we were a bit extra-tired. Didn't wanna get out of bed. But we had to, because there was so much to do. So, right off the bat, there's a feeling of being behind schedule.

Cheryl's first order of business was helping Adam with his city taxes, which were due today; my first order of business was cleaning up the dishwasher parts so they could get put back together into a single, functional appliance. Well, Cheryl finished her task, but I worked a couple hours on mine and still never go it done.

In fact, Cheryl took off on her second task - riding shotgun with Mary on a practice drive down to Hastings - and then got back, and I still hadn't finished the dishwasher. But I'd managed to (hand)wash the dirty dishes and get out the lawn mower and start changing the tire on the non-working Subaru and pull the brake caliper so I could use it on one of the other ones and move some of the prehung doors back down into the basement so they could be re-installed.

I have this problem with being easily distracted.

So Cheryl and Mary got home and we all had some lunch and then Cheryl started working on the bathroom flooring (again) and I started working on the drop-ceiling (again), and then we got frustrated because the tiles weren't getting cut straight so we drove out to Home Depot to find a tile cutter but they didn't have one and also I was hoping to get some plumbing parts but they closed off that aisle the whole time we were there and I was getting very angry about it so we just left in a huff without buying anything at all; then I dropped Cheryl off at home so she could try (again) cutting the tiles with the utility knife (after putting in a new blade), then drove over to Menards to see if they had a tile cutter. And an open aisle with plumbing parts.

And they did!

So I got home and gave the tile cutter to Cheryl and was all excited that we might actually get it done - and then Cheryl discovered that the tile cutter wouldn't work because it only handles tiles up to 12" and ours were 13" (due to the sticky tabs that stick out on two edges) so that was completely pointless. And I didn't get a chance to do any of the plumbing because it started to rain and I needed to put things away and then it was time to eat dinner and then it was time to wash dishes (because the dishwasher still wasn't put back together) and then it was time to work on my Sunday School lesson and my Crew lesson and then it was time to move the rest of the doors downstairs and then it was time to move cars around to get ready for tomorrow morning and then it was time for bed.

But I didn't go to bed. Because it's been a frustrating day and I'm not able to relax enough to sleep just yet.

But Cheryl, my dear Lovely Lady, persevered and finished the bathroom floor. I'll put up a picture of it soon. Maybe after I get something done so I don't feel so useless.

Stupid Appliances

Came home from work today intending to work on the basement. But decided to empty the dishwasher first.

Yuck.

Many of the dishes in the dishwasher were not clean, although it had been run. And there was a foul odor emanating from the bottom section of the appliance. Like overripe apples. I checked along the bottom seal, and it was covered with grime. Ick. I cleaned it off, but there was still a lot of grime inside. In fact, the more I looked, the more I found.

Must be time for Spring Cleaning!

So we took the dishwasher out of it's little cubby underneath the kitchen countertop and took it completely apart, nearly to its frame, and then took all the pieces out onto the back porch and gave them a good scrubbing. Then back into the house because it looked like it might rain.

That should've been enough. But, no, it wasn't.

Because lately the washing machine has been making a weird noise. Not all the time, only on certain cycles. Not sure which ones, either. I'm so un-informed!

I took it apart anyway, thinking I'd get it running and figure out what was going on by watching through the back panel.

But that didn't help. Still couldn't figure out what was going on because the noise was so intermittent.

As long as I was in the neighborhood, though, I went ahead and took the whole thing apart - top, front, back - so I could take care of some cleaning and de-rusting and stuff like that. Took about an hour or so. Had it all back together again by then, so sat behind it while a load of clothes was run through it so I could observe.

Didn't see anything obvious. But that's typical of appliances. This is just one of those tricks they play to get attention. Start making weird noises and then stop the minute you take a close look at it.

Stupid appliances.

Start Dropping the Ceiling!

I really didn't have any energy tonight after work, even after taking a long nap, but there are things that must be done, and it is sometimes necessary to push oneself past the limit of comfort in order to stand the sight of oneself.

Besides, I went to the trouble of buying the perimeter pieces from Home Depot today. Might as well put them up!

Due to the fact that there wasn't much time, as my nap ended some time around 7 pm (after a very tasty taco dinner, thanks to Cheryl and Mary), and Mary and I are getting up early tomorrow in order to get to Zero Hour on time for her Chemistry test, there was a little bit of a window of opportunity to get something done. So the plan was to start small. With a closet.

This is the closet next to the "suite" bedroom. It's not ridiculously small, nor tremendously huge; it's just right. About four feet deep by three feet wide. There is some 'infrastructure' above it (which is why we're installing a drop ceiling in the first place) but it should be high enough that the ceiling will still be sufficiently roomy.

First step was to mark a level line all around the top of the closet where the ceiling was to be laid. That was easily accomplished by standing on the ladder and spinning around while holding the pencil. Ha! Not really. Actually, I stood on the ladder and held up a level to each wall and traced a pencil line because I don't have one of those fancy spinning laser-levels. (Had one years go; it broke. Plastic, doncha know.) It worked. The lines came together opposite of where I started to within 1/8th inch, which was close enough for me.

Next step was to cut the perimeter piece - a long piece of angled aluminum which comes ONLY in 12-foot strips. (It had to be bent rather sharply to fit in my car, but that didn't really matter because there were going to be scraps anyway.) Two four-foot sections and two three-foot sections. That adds up to fourteen feet. Which is why I had to get two pieces of the angled aluminum.

Got those cut, then measured and stamped the places where the holes would be drilled. For most of the perimeter, the screws go right into the studs; but I realized as I was putting up the piece above the door header that there weren't enough studs in the header. So I cheated and used mollies. Which I hate. But in this case, I'm in too much of a hurry to care.

So got the perimeter set, then put two of the 4-foot T-tracks from front to back and connected the 2-foot T's perpendicular. Looked good, so I dropped a sample ceiling tile in just to see what it looked like.

It looked good!

Now to do the same thing over the rest of the basement. Or at least 800 square feet of it. About 200 tiles.

What to do for (Grand)Dad's Birthday

So, it's Friday night, the work week is over, Dad is having his 81st birthday down in Texas. So what do we do up here in Michigan?

Obviously, party down with some serious carpentry work.

Got home from a week at my new/old job, and after dinner, we went to work. Finished (mostly) the flooring in the small bedroom downstairs.

Lots of table-saw and jigsaw cutting. Lots of piecing together the puzzle. Lots of gentle taps with the mallet to move everything smoothly into place.

Lots of progress.

Lots of wife-happy.

Lots of tired.

Lots of love to my Dad, who taught me how to do all this stuff! Happy birthday, Dad!

Homebuilding

Far too many things have happened in the last few weeks for me to provide a detailed account, so I'll be brief.

It's been an exhausting month.

• I ran out of work back on March 11th. Since then, I've been working on the basement (finishing the framing and insulation to get ready for the drywallers) and trying to get job interviews. Didn't get any interviews until March 21st. 
• The drywallers started on the 24th.  
• Got more interviews on the 28th and then an offer from GE on the 29th. 
• Tried to repair the brakes on my car on April 2nd but the caliper was too rusted, so had to park the car for awhile until we enough money for the part. 
• The drywallers finished on the 4th.
• Waited til the 5th to accept the job at GE because I was still hoping to get more interviews with another company (but they couldn't swing it in time). 
• We drove to Nashville on the 6th and stayed with Uncle Clyde and Aunt Judy (who were excellent hosts!). 
• We drove to Austin on the 7th.
• We hung out at the rental house on the 8th and visited with lots of family. 
• We attended Kelly-and-Laura's wedding on the 9th. It was so beautiful! And we met so many wonderful people! And we bumped into some old friends from Seattle! 
• We got up early on the 10th to drive Cheryl to the airport (because she had to be back by Monday for school) and then headed back to Nashville for another pleasant stopover in Nashville at the Taylor Bed & Breakfast. (Cinnamon rolls! Yum!)  
• We drove back to Grand Rapids on the 11th, rolling through Nashville, Louisville, Indianapolis and South Bend on our way back north. Slowed down a bit with all the construction and just a little bit of blinding rain, besides the random stops for food; but we made it home alive and well, joyfully reunited with Cheryl - who had made us a wonderful dinner which was waiting for us in the oven when we arrived.
• On Tuesday (the 12th), our friend, Jeff, dropped off a paint sprayer so that we could start painting. The swivel bolt was bent and leaking so we ended up going out to the hardware store and buying our own sprayer kit, using Jeff's compressor with our sprayer head. 
• We finished the primer coat on Wednesday, then 
• we finished the color coats on Thursday. Wow! That was fast.  
• On Friday, we started the flooring.

Cheryl really went to town with the flooring. Didn't take her very long to get the hang of it, and then things started to move quickly. We got the hallway all the way to the den wall done on Saturday, then the rest of the den on Monday and Tuesday.

Maybe by Friday, we can get all the flooring done, then I can start the drop ceiling. I'd like to get it all done by the following Friday, 'cause I want to get the inspector in here and get this thing signed off!

I am so tired. Home building is a lot of work.

:::

Turns out somebody else is doing some 'home-building' near our house. Looking out the window beneath the back deck, there's a little robin who has built a nest beneath one of the joists. She did a pretty good job, too. At least she didn't have to worry about painting!

Drywall - Days 2, 3, etc.

They're almost done!

The drywallers, I mean.

They've spent several days hanging and mudding and taping and sanding the silly sheetrock, so things are really shaping up. Only a couple hiccups so far. Like drywalling over the posts where the French doors (between the big bedroom and the library) are to be installed. And not drywalling over the frames of the closet (bi-fold) doors in the small bedroom. And not drywalling the top of the shower wall.

They're supposed to finish up Monday. And whether or not they finish on Monday, they're done. We have a schedule to keep. If they haven't finished by Monday, I'll do all the finishing myself.

Because I really can't stand having other people work on my house. They always mess it up. They always do something I don't like. I absolutely hate having other people work on my house!

And then they have an attitude about it. I know what the trouble is. They think they're done, they just want to get paid and move on. And I'm perfectly glad to pay them and get them out of my house.

So I can go back and fix what they screwed up.

It's true that I don't know how to do everything. And some of the work is much better than what I could do myself.

But they never EVER do as good a job as I want, as good a job as I feel I've paid for.