After the Visit

 Our week with Margaret  (Susan’s sister) is over and we have survived. 

Not that we didn’t enjoy ourselves. We went to plays in the park, the museum, miniature golf, and we ate out a bunch. The girls did a lot of shopping too.

That’s more activity than we are used to and also, we are now quite fat.

So, we are going to settle back into our normal routine and enjoy the slow paced retired life we have become accustomed to.

We had lunch with a bunch of friends today. We always meet on any month that has a 31st in it. We meet at Jimmy Johns on the South Hill and then walk down to Baskin and Robbins for some ice cream.

Susan and I skipped B&R because…well…you might have heard that we are fat.

Instead, we went to Costco to replenish our beer supply along with a few other items.

I’m sitting on the front porch right now writing this missive and enjoying a beer…because I can!

Knob Day

The cabinet knobs we ordered from the Home Depot arrived with yesterdays mail. So I got to work last evening to install them.

Today I am attempting to get the rest of the knobs installed. I’m about to start on the pantry.

Here it is looking all fresh and un-knobbed.

I purchased a knob template at the Depot and I am using that to drill the holes. I had to modify it a bit so the drill hole lined up more to the center area of the corner of the door.

Here are a couple of shots with the template.

Now, it all looks pretty. The only problem is that we must have miscounted. I need ten more.

1:26PM: We have returned from the Home Depot and a few other errands and we have procured the needed knobs. I guess I had better get to work.

Counter Top Snafubar

 We have just been informed that the counter tops will not be installed on Susan’s birthday as we had planned. They discovered that not all the counter top parts had come in. Apparently, they will be delivered to the Cabinet Shop on Friday, August 4th. At that time, they will notify us of the new install date. 

So I have canceled the plumber. We are still in wait mode. We have been working on the skins for each end of the island. They are cut but not yet glued into place.

Susan’s sister Margaret will be visiting for 10 days starting Friday. That means that not much will be happening with the kitchen while she is here.

The good news is that the set of drawers we ordered are in. I shall be running to pick that up today.

The other good news is because of the counter screw up, they are not charging us for the drawer cabinet. That saves us about a grand.

So, we will get to work after Margaret leaves to get all the corner cabinets in place. Then, when the time finally arrives for the installation of the counter tops, everything will be here.

At this point, we are not holding our breath.

Noa Borealis

Yesterday’s newspaper featured a front page article on the Northern Lights. Known scientifically as the Aurora Borealis, the article said that Thursday evening would be our best bet to see the lights in this region.

The article suggested that if one wanted to see the lights, they should get away from the city where the light pollution is heavy. A guy from a local astronomy club said he would be at the Fishtrap Lake Recreational Area and the best viewing would be between 10 and 2.

Susan has never seen the Northern Lights so we thought it would be worth it to have an adventure and head to Fishtrap.

It was a 30 mile drive to the west of us.

When we arrived at the spot, there were several cars in the large gravel parking lot. Many of the people were sitting in lawn chairs and facing in a northish direction.

We got there about 10:30 and decided to stay until midnight.

The glow of Spokane was very distinct and got even brighter as our eyes acclimated to the darkness. The sky was clear and the stars were really amazing. But no lights.

We saw lots of high altitude aircraft, a few low altitude helicopters and at least one satellite. But no lights.

We heard the plaintiff call of the coyote off in the distance, but even that failed to muster a flash of light from the north.

So, we called it a night at 12 o’clock and returned home. 

If I find an article today that says the lights started at 12:01, someone from the local astronomical club will be sitting uncomfortably on their stethoscope.

Actually, that wouldn’t be terrible uncomfortable. They should be sitting on a telescope.

Counter Top Update

The counter tops are set to be installed on July 26th, Susan’s birthday. That’s a little more than two weeks away. We are still waiting for the 24 inch drawer set to come in so they will not be doing the counter tops in the corner. They told us it will not be a huge amount for them to return and finish that last corner counter top.

I have called Tracy the Plumber and he is scheduled to come August 4th to hook up the sink and dish washer.

We are getting close to getting close to having a working kitchen. Not complete, but working.

Flooring Fiasco

The bad news is that we cannot return the flooring. Even though it does not have the foam pad we were told it came with. They will be providing the foam pad for us.

The good news is that the flooring is not the terrible product that the horrible reviews seem to indicate. There were only four bad reviews on this one website and nothing else, positive or otherwise.

Susan spoke to a guy who does this kind of work and he said it’s a good product.

So we are going with it. Mostly because we have no choice.

But the floor is not the fiasco that the title would indicate.

Kitchen Setback Report

There’s a lot to catch up on so sit back and strap in.

Kitchen Setback Number 1: All the cabinets arrived and everything seems fine. We tried to layout the cabinets in the corner and discovered a problem. We need to order an 18 inch wide drawer cabinet plus a spacer to fill the space next to the fridge. So, that’s four to six weeks out.

Kitchen Setback B: Our gas cooktop is toast. We purchased it along with the oven some 15 years ago because we new a guy with fairly new appliances who was remodeling his kitchen. We paid him $200 for the double oven and the gas cooktop.

The downdraft fan was successfully installed last Tuesday. I laid the cooktop on top of the cabinet, plugged it in and gave it a test. When I turned the switch for the bottom left burner, the igniters for two burners were firing. One burner would not fire at all.

I took the cooktop to the Appliance Hospital where they charged me $55.00 to tell me the parts they need to fix it are no longer available.

So, we are looking to spend $600 to $1,000 for a new one. The one bright spot to this problem is we will be able to buy a cooktop that fits the space a little better than this one would have.

Kitchen Setback III:The wood laminate flooring we have purchased does not have a pad attached to each piece, as we were told. We did a Google search of the product and did not find a lot of good news. The reviews were horrible.

We want to return this stuff and look for something else.

It’s the Fourth of July weekend so nobody is available at Cabinet Pro to talk about these issues.

On the positive side, we (Susan) have been working on the deck and the painting is very close to being completed. I have done a little of the work but Susan has definitely carried the ball on this project.

I’ve been doing assorted jobs that need to get done but don’t involve the deck.

Two weeks later, we are still eating brisket. It has been delightful and I’m loving it.

At some point towards the end of last summer, I poured a bunch of cement into the hole the skunks have dug that goes under the cement slab of the garage. They have been burrowing in there for many years and I wanted to put a stop to it.

Skunks are very good diggers and one managed to dig around the cement I poured. We have been waiting to see the fresh litter of skunk puppies and they have finally made their appearance.

There are seven of them, plus the mother. They are cute as hell. I think seven is the most we’ve ever seen. 

The plan is that they generally leave for the river sometime in late August. At that point, I’m bringing a cement truck in here and making sure that hole is sealed.

In the meantime, they are fun to watch.