Classy Shower Guy

One of the Christmas presents I asked Susan for was a shower bench. I told her I wanted a wood one, made of teak or bamboo because I thought it looked classy. See my post for December 26th.

I received my gift, promptly put it together and have been enjoying long luxurious showers ever since.

I was sitting on it about two weeks ago when it made a sudden cracking noise. One of the slats had split. A couple days later, another split occurred.

Here's what happened today. See, doesn't that look classy?!

I did not save the box it came in or the little instruction page. We can probably look up payment info from Susan's credit card statement.

The bench only cost about $40.00 and it seems like a lot of work to recover 40 bucks. But I don't like the idea of a company getting away with substandard merchandise.

It didn't even take a month before the first crack appeared.

So, I will be searching for this company and request a refund. Then, I will buy something plastic and non classy and enjoy it for years to come.

Kitchen, Cat and Piano Tuning

 Kitchen Remodeling in the kitchen has resumed.

Susan got a late start but went to work today on the next wallpapering project. This is the west wall in the kitchen. It will be wallpapered with the same design that I showed you behind the Piano Bar.

My job will be to move that electrical outlet in the lower left of the picture. It needs to be raised to 38 inches above the floor. That will give us access to plug in the coffee pot in that area.

All our counter material is in at Cabinet Pro but we have come across an issue that we did not anticipate.

We are placing two bonus cabinets on either side of the heating radiator on the west wall. We have been using the above pictured set up since we first came up with this idea. That counter top you see is the old shelf that ran the length of the old island. 

Perhaps you noticed that it is separating in the area above the radiator. I called Jess to ask if that was going to be a problem with the new counter. They were unable to give me a good answer but admitted it will separate in a few years.

I know it’s too late to change our plans because the counter material was special ordered and is here now. But I asked them to give a quote on quartz or marble or something stone that will withstand the heat.

We are going to go and talk to them tomorrow and it is possible we will be able to get a stone counter top. I’ll let you know.

I got the piano tuned today for the first time in probably six years. The guy said it sounded pretty good for a 100 year old piano. A piano tuning in 2024 costs $160.00.

We have also been spending a large amount of money on Delilah…the cat.

She’s not eating or drinking a lot and her cat box is not showing much activity. We’ve had her to the vet, who sent us for an ultra sound at the Pet Emergency Clinic who sent us to the Valley Pet Emergency Clinic for an evaluation and hydration. We’re into her for about a thousand right now.

We still don’t really know what’s going on other than there might be a kidney stone.

We’re taking her to the vet tomorrow for an X-ray and another $200 into the cat fund.

Snow Throw Mo New

I am happy to report good but expensive news on behalf of the snow blower.

I got a call from Roger at Ace’s Valley Power Tool and Repair on Monday and he said he had a snow blower there that he could cannibalize and make mine almost like new. It would cost just over $500.00. (It’s like he knew my number.)

He sounded very excited about the whole affair and the tone in his voice convinced me to go with it.

I got the call yesterday that it was ready and I drove out there today to get it.

Roger was right. It’s like a whole new machine. Along with the axle replacement, he gave me larger tires, a new breaker bar, new auger belts and he replaced the plug for the electric start feature, which had lost the grounding connection.

The auger housing has been replaced which is a different color (Orange) than my old green housing and he put in a new blade as well. It also has brand new shoes which really needed replacement.

The total was $539.35. I was happy to pay it and it seems my 25 year old snow blower has been given new life.

The fact that I have had this work done almost guarantees there will be no more snow this season.

Snow Throw No Mo

We got another couple inches of snow over the night and I went out with my trusty snow blower to take care of it.

I got the driveway all cleaned off and then I went to work on the alley. I got that all cleaned out as well.

Next I went up the block to Cleaveland street and handled that sidewalk. I was blowing along when suddenly, the snow blower did not want to travel in a straight line.

Then it just stopped moving. Upon inspection, I realized the drive wheels were at a precarious angle that did not look right.

The damn axle broke. 

I have just returned from hauling it out to a repair shop in the valley to have it looked at. They are going to give me an estimate first and then I will decide whether to get it fixed. The higher above $500.00 it goes, the less likely I am to get it fixed. 

I bought this snow blower new in 1998 from Sears. I spent nearly a thousand dollars on it. At the time, I had a very long driveway and I wasn't about to shovel all that real estate.

Now it's 26 years later and Sears is out of business. Apparently the parts are still available but I'm not sure if I want to keep throwing money at this old snow blower or spend the money on a new one.

Susan and I were looking at them at the repair shop and we found a couple nice Cub Cadet models for around $1200.00.

I don't expect to hear from these guys until Monday so I hope we are through most of the snow for now.

First Snowfall of 2024

10:02 AM: Winter has now officially arrived in Spokane for this winter season with a nice little snowfall. There's about two inches out there and I'm waiting for the snow to stop falling before I take on some snow blowing. 

It's supposed to stop in about half an hour. So here I sit and wait.

12:30 PM: We’ll, now the weather apps say the snow is going to continue until 4:30. We’re easily up to four inches now.

I’ve been keeping the front walk and steps clean but that’s about it. It doesn’t make sense to go out and blow until this stops. So here I sit and wait.

5:30 PM: I finally went out about 3:30 and got to work snow blowing. It didn't take too long and the snow had pretty much stopped by the time I finished.

There's more snow on the way so I guess I'll be back out there tomorrow.

Snowcast

The forecast says it is going to snow tonight. It could be our first substantial snowfall of the season. It has snowed a couple of times but it was very wet. It was impossible for my snow blower because it was so wet. Fortunately, because it so wet and the temperatures were warmer, the snow was gone quickly.

To capture and commemorate the event, I took a picture of the house just now. 

I’ll have another picture from the morning to show the results.

Wednesday, Jan 17th, 8:34 AM: The forecasts came through. It’s snowing. It’s been snowing. We have about two inches on the ground. It’s very light and fluffy. The world outside has that muffled silence of a first snow. Here is a shot I took this morning.

I'm so happy I don’t have to go out in this stuff. Except that, I’m gonna go out in this stuff. I have neighborhood snow blowing to do. 

My weather app says it’s going to snow for another hour. That will allow me a window to get out and do my first round of snow removal.

More on todays' activities will appear in the next post.

Frozen Day Three

We’re on Day Three of no water. I have put space heaters in all the cold crawl spaces and I’m still frozen up. It has not been pleasant. 

I called a plumber just now and they are getting me into their schedule. I hope they will be here today but I don’t know that yet. As you can imagine, they are busy right now with temperatures hovering at zero.

I managed to find a leak in the line. Fortunately, it’s in a valve so my hope is that can be fixed fairly easily. 

I don’t know if we have any other cracked pipes. I’m hoping we don’t but am worried we do.

3:30PM: I just got the call that the Plumber is on the way. All we can do now is think positive thoughts. Ooh! There’s the doorbell,

It’s 4:30 right now and there are two plumbers downstairs and, like me, they have no clue why we don’t have water. I have them working for 1 hour to see what they can do but time is running out and they can’t figure it out. It’s going to cost us $461.00 for no results.

This is a real pisser!

Three minutes after I wrote that last line, the water started running. Thank you, Lord and Platinum Mechanical. They got it working with 18 minutes to spare.

I’m going to go take a shower.

Frozen

It's -8° this morning and our pipes are frozen.

I was semi prepared for this eventuality. I put a space heater down in the space where the water line comes into the house. However, the heater I used was a tiny little thang and it didn't provide enough heat. 

So, I've got a big one down there and we are waiting for it to heat things up. I'm just hoping we don't have any major damage. 

Stay tuned!

It's 3:30 and we still don't have water. I've got space heaters in the basement but it's so cold they don't seem to be making a dent. I'm not sure where to go from here. 

What’s New in the New Year

The temperature is 5 degrees outside and Susan and I have tested positive for Covid. So, that’s how our New Year is going.

We’re just laying low and trying to get better. We both have a cough and our sinuses are stuffy. Speaking for myself, I’m feeling better and hope to be clear of this in a few days.

Of course, as a guy in his 60’s, l never feel completely fine. There’s always something.

As I reported earlier, Susan has done some wall papering and that’s about all we have done in the kitchen in the New Year.

In an effort to draw more, I have started another guy featuring the Adventures of Retired Guy. (Write what you know.)

You can find it and my very convoluted website. 

www.the-retired-guy.blogspot.com

Okay, as Retired Guy would say, “Time for a nap!”

Wall Papering Phase One

 Welcome to my first post of the new year. I feel horrible waiting five days before I posted anything, but you want me to post interesting stuff…rather than the stuff I usually post.

Today I have something worth posting. Let’s put it under the heading of kitchen progress.

Susan got to work on wall papering. She’s not doing the whole kitchen, just certain walls.

Here is what she accomplished yesterday.

She’s not absolutely certain she likes it yet. She feels it might be too busy. I myself like it but I can see her point.

We are waiting for a comment from our neighbor Tammy.

Susan says that it is very difficult wall paper to work with because it has no glue on it. She has to roll the glue on herself and then hang the paper.

I was not any help as I spent the day in bed with the cough and stuffiness that Susan has had for two weeks.