Front Porch Rail Completion

 Susan has finally completed the front porch railing project and it looks great. Here are just a few pictures to show before and after.

She really put a lot of time and effort into this. It really came out well.

Front Porch Work

Things seem to be okay with the refrigerator. It does not appear to be leaking on the floor anymore and the ice being made is no longer brownish.

Susan is going great guns on the front porch railing. Here are some pictures of her progress.

She is using a lot of Wood Bondo. It’s an epoxy wood filler that sets up really hard and really fast. She only has a brief amount of time to apply the putty once it is mixed up. Therefore, she only mixes small amounts at a time.

I did some staining of two long lengths of quarter round that I need to finish up in the kitchen.

I hope to get a coat of varnish on it tomorrow and get this damn kitchen job finished.

Bird of Prey Sighting

I was sitting in the kitchen trying to avoid work when Susan shouted at me from the front door and told me to come out to the porch. She had been working on scraping the railing when this large bird of prey landed on the lawn. 

By the time I got out there, it had flown up into our chestnut tree and posed there long enough for me to get some pretty good pictures.

I have since gone on line to try and identify the race of this bird.

I think it is a Red Tailed Hawk. According to what I looked up, the Red-Tailed Hawk is the most common hawk seen in Washington. I don't have any good shots of its tail so I can't be sure. But the breast coloration and the color of the eyes make me think it's a Red-Tail.

I'm happy to entertain anyone who has a different or more educated  opinion.

In any case, it was pretty cool!

Reefer Madness

Last week, we noticed a big puddle under the refrigerator. We pulled the fridge out and sopped up all the water. It had clearly been there for a few days. You could see that the cabinets on either side of the fridge had absorbed some water and at least one of our floor planks looks a little curled. Not enough to have to replace it but we’re keeping an eye on things.

I checked today and there was some water under the refrigerator. Not as much as last time but we clearly have a problem.

We pulled the fridge out and I pulled off some of the backing to get a look under the fridge. There is a tray under there that was full off water and it was pretty slimy and dirty too. We sucked out the water with the shop vac and tried to clean out as much dust and debris as we could.

After trying to diagnose the problem, I decided to replace the water filter located at the bottom of the fridge. There was a very slow leak I saw that was located in the area of the filter. 

I made the mistake of pulling out the old filter while the water line was still on. That has never been a problem before when I replaced the water filter but today, something had changed.

I had to scramble under the house to turn off the water.

Once I had the new filter installed, I went back downstairs and climbed into the crawl space. Susan and I were connected on the phone so I could easily hear her tell me to shut off the water if we had to.

To my pleasure, she did not scream to turn off the water. I came back up and checked underneath the refrigerator and all seemed well. We are keeping an eye on it. I just now took a look and it looked dry in the tray.

I really hope this solves the problem. This fridge is about 25 years old. I don’t want to have to buy a new one. We both like this refrigerator and would like to keep it.

Summer on the Porch

 This time of year when the temperatures regularly approach 100°, my favorite time of the day is morning on the ol’ front porch. It really is spectacular. There aren’t enough superlatives to express how enjoyable it is. 

I have the sprinkler running in the yard, there are people playing Pickleball across the street, and all kinds of folks are walking or jogging by.

I’m sitting on the porch swing and there is a nice cool breeze blowing by that makes it quite comfortable.

Too bad it’s not going to last. The weather report shows a high of 94° today leading to a very hot weekend. 106° is predicted for Sunday. We’ll keep an eye on that and let you know. 

In the meantime, I’m going to sit here with my decaf Irish coffee and my newspaper and enjoy the day.

Shredded

After cleaning out the closet of the back bedroom, we have two beer case sized boxes of old bank records that we want to dispose of.

I called the bank to see if they had a free shredding day coming up…and they don’t. They referred me to the company they hire for the shredding but they have a minimum fee of $25.00.

I decided that my time isn’t worth that much and we have a little home shredder, I would go to work on shredding all that stuff.

You can only throw a few pages at a time through the shredder but I made great progress with a stack of old bank statements going back to 2007. Next I had boxes of old checks that I had to rip out in three small groups.

I set myself up out in the backyard in the shade of the Carriage House. Things were shredding along nicely for about 15 minutes and then the shredder shred no more.

I’m giving it a rest right now and we’ll see if it comes back.

Stand by!

Good news. The shredder came back. I’ve decided that the best way to do this is to take a break every time I fill the bin.

It probably doesn’t help that it’s going to be 100 degrees today.

Tree-Mageddon

We spent some money today.

We got a quote from a couple of tree services to remove and trim some of our trees.

We ended up going with A-1 Tree Service. Their bid came in at about $4,500.00

A crew of about seven guys showed up this morning and immediately went to work on the side yard. We had them remove a bunch of bushes and two large trees.

They were incredibly efficient. It really helps to have the right equipment. After seeing all they did, I think we got a pretty good deal. 

Here are a few more pictures.

They were here for about three hours and really tore through everything we wanted plus a few little additions. They had this great stump grinded that really ate up the stumps. I had them chew up a couple more that weren't on the work order and they only charged $50.

We kept the rounds from the Black Locust tree so we're going to have some pretty good fire wood after we have a splitting party later this summer.

We are pretty happy with the results.

Shower Revitalization

I finally got to use my shower again.

Susan decided that the upstairs shower needed a thorough cleaning. I didn't think it was that bad. But once I saw the finished result after she went through it, I was startled and a bit ashamed. I had let it get far too grungy.

On top of taking a course brush and scrubbing every grout seam in the whole shower, she resealed the grout with a sealer she painted on. It was white so it nicely covered the old grout lines.

It had to dry for 72 hours so I had to use the downstairs shower all week.

It was glorious to get back to my shower space and really enjoy and good clean stall.

I WILL NOT let it get that bad again.

Television Issues

 I have been in the hospital for the last five days. So what happens when I go in the hospital? The TV at home goes on the Fritz. 

Susan was good and stressed out by what was going on with me and my heart. All she wanted was to come home and relax and wind down with a little television.

But Noooooooooooooo!

She got home to an empty house to find no TV working.

I got out of the hospital yesterday and I’m mostly okay. She scheduled a visit from the Dish TV people for today. The guy arrived around 11:30 and was gone by just after 12.

The issue was the cable lines that went up our deck post to the satellite dish. We had a grape vine growing there and over the years, the vines rubbed away all the insulation on many parts of the wire. 

The technician replaced a section of wire and we cut down the grape vine. So much for Gerwertstrameiner.

Now I am home from the hospital and we have TV! Life is good!!!

The Start of a Saga

Back on May 15th, I had an appointment at Providence Medical Center for a Stress Test. The test involved a bunch of breathing sessions where I have a mouthpiece and breath normally until the technician tells me to take a deep breath and blow blow blow blow blow blow blow blow blow until I almost pass out. That goes on for an hour. 

After that torture, they put me on a stationary bike, mouthpiece firmly in mouth, and make me peddle until I almost pass out.

All of this was a precursor to an appointment I had on May 17th with Dr. Diedre Mooney, my Cardiologist. I started seeing her a couple of years ago. She is one of the lead doctors at the Heart Institute office of Heart Failure and Transplanting.

I have asked her in the past whether I’m a candidate for a transplant. She has said, “No, not yet.”

At this appointment she said, “It’s time to put you on the transplant list.”

My stamina has not improved since they implanted the pace maker last September. My blood pressure has been all over the place. A few days ago, it was 90/63.

So the saga begins. I have many appointments coming up in the months ahead. I have to have all kinds of tests to determine my viability for a transplant. I shall be stepping up my posts on my other website, www.porkymccorpulent.blogspot.com. That site is more dedicated to me talking about my health issues, and this news seems to qualify. That’s something I should have started after my heart attack almost 30 years ago. Of course, I don’t think Blogging was a thing 30 years ago.

Stay tuned!

Porch Opening 2024

Yesterday, we got the whicker chairs down from the Carriage House and put them on the porch. We got it all set up for another fabulous Summer season.

Tonight, we had our first dinner on the porch. Tacos, refried beans and Spanish rice. I augmented my meal with a frosty cold Modelo Negro. It was quite tasty.

Shortly after we sat down, we heard a loud screeching of tires from down the block on Post Street. This black pick up came serving around the corner, almost hitting the far curb, and then accelerated down Waverly Place right past us at a high rate of speed.

All I can say for sure is it was a black late model pick up, possibly a Chevy. It was a white guy driving. Beyond that, I don’t have any information.

If there was a hit and run accident down the street, I couldn’t tell.

I’ve been wishing that I had paid more attention, maybe get a partial license number or a more accurate description of the trunk or the guy.

After dinner, I was sitting on the porch swing and I made a point of looking at license plates of cars as they drove by. There is no way I can make out a plate from the porch.

So I don’t feel quite so bad now but I need to make more of an effort to notice more details in the heat of the moment.

Straining from Staining

I have been told in no uncertain scolding that I need to finish up the trim and baseboards in the kitchen. In accessing what I have left to do, I realized I need more wood. 

So yesterday, I spent $225.00 on four door trim boards (hemlock), 50 feet of base shoe and three 8 foot corner moulding pieces.

It’s a beautiful Spring day outside so I’m out there prepping and staining all the new wood I bought.

This will take up most of my day. As I said, it’s a great sunny day out there so I’m going to enjoy it.

Counter Eclipse

It has been a while since the last post and today is a good day to break the silence. There are two momentous things happening today. Cabinet Pro will be showing up to install the Quartz Countertop we ordered for the bonus cabinets against the west wall. One may recall that these are bonus cabinets because they sent the wrong size for the island. They are 30 inches wide rather than 36 inches. So they ordered new cabinets and told us to keep the three that are wrong. We figured out they would go nicely against this wall. 

Because of the radiator, we decided to go with quartz so we don’t have to worry about delamination.

The other event today is a partial eclipse. I have my camera all set up and we will see what we get in about an hour, when it starts.

2:17PM: The eclipse went off like a celestial event. I wasn't able to get a very good picture, but here's what I have.

The picture is purple-ish because of the filters I had on the lens.

We are still waiting for the Countertop guys to show up. They finally called about 20 minutes ago and said they would be here about 3:00.

And so we wait. 

3:25 PM: Okay, the guys are here and the counter top is going into place. Here are some pictures.

That only took half an hour. Wow! That looks great.

The last event of the day is mostly inconsequential because we really don’t have a dog in the fight. But we are going to David’s Pizza to watch the championship game of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. UConn is playing Purdue and Susan and I are rooting for Purdue. If they win, we might be in the money of the bracket challenge we entered.

Note: Purdue lost so we are out of the money. But Susan won some $16.00 coming closest to predicting the combined final score.

Floor Maintenance

We’ve had a couple spots in our new kitchen floor start to separate but we were easily able to pop them back into place. In order to prevent that from happening again, we spent the day placing shims against the wall at the ends of each plank we laid.

The floor is a floating floor which means it expands and contracts, hence the movement of the boards. We are hoping the shims reduce the amount of movement. I really need to get the baseboard in which will also help to secure the floor. That and gravity!

Mo Last Wall Papering

I am sitting here in the kitchen watching Susan hang the last piece of wall paper on the west wall. Each piece has been very frustrating for her to put up. She talks to herself a lot and kind of mutters. 

I’ve been staying out of the way for the most part, helping in small ways when I can but this is basically her show.

Here is the progression of the installation.

I don’t have a precise estimate of the time it took but I would guess she’s got six or seven hours over two days.

I think it looks good. Next job is to install the cabinets against the wall and get the quartz counter top in place. 

When it’s all finished, it will look something like this

The Last Wall Paper…for now

Today, Susan is working on the last wall papering project for the kitchen.

Above is a picture of the wall as she gets started. I have the laser level aimed at the wall for her to help get the first piece square as it is glued to the wall.

This wall paper is especially difficult to work with because it has no self adhesive. She has to apply the glue to each piece. The reason it doesn’t have its own adhesive is an indication of how old it is.

2:35 PM: The first piece is up and it took three hours. This is actually the second piece because the first one ripped. Susan is presently researching if she can apply the glue to the wall and then put the paper up. She is considering it.

While this is going on, I’ve been watching a crew take down a tree down the street. The have bunch a guys, a chipper and a special little Bobcat that carries large branches around. Plus, it’s pouring down rain. It looks like a lot of fun!

4:44PM: She ended up applying the glue to the wall. We determined it didn’t seem to make a difference. In any event, she got those first two panels up and those were the critical ones as far as matching the seams. The third, fourth and fifth panels will have the cabinets in front so matching the seam all the way down the wall isn’t as critical.

5:45PM: The third panel is up and went much faster. She’s done for the day. Once it’s finished, I will have to get to work getting the cabinets in place.

The Curse of the Snow Blower is Lifted.

It looks like I’m going to get to use the snow blower today!

I got up at seven and checked to see if it had snowed, as the forecast indicated. It had not. 

By the time I got out of the shower, it was snowing and in no time, it was snowing pretty hard.

It’s still coming down as of now (11:21 AM) and there is about an inch on the ground.

I just returned from a dentist appointment and let me tell you, it’s really fun driving around out there. I saw one accident on the way to the dentist, and a couple more driving back home.

This is one of those days when I’m happy not to have to be out there. 

One of the weather apps I keep an eye on indicates snow for another 70 minutes and then more after 3:00.

Besides getting to use my rebuilt snow blower, I’m excited for this snowfall because I’m going skiing tomorrow. It’s my first time up this season and I’m really looking forward to it.

I’ll keep this post updated as the snow progresses. In the meantime, this seems like a good day for a fire.

4:50PM: I was able to blow and there was about 2 inches of snow on the ground when I went out. I did the block and half way up the alley…pretty much like I usually do.

The snow blower worked beautifully. The one thing I noticed right away was that it turned much better than it used to. I don’t know if that had something to do with the larger tires or something else.

The snow was pretty heavy but it went through the blow with nary a problem. At times, it seemed like it was pushing a big mound of snow in front of it rather than sucking the snow in through the blades and into the auger. When it did that, it left a bit of a berm coming off the side. It just meant I had to do another pass. No biggie!

Anyway, I’m glad it worked and I’m glad I got to use it at least one more time this season.

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.