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The Mail Must Go Through
Apr. 12th, 2025 11:22 pmSam was good enough to come over today and help me remove the old mailbox post, which was sunk in quick-setting cement when we originally installed the beastie. This was made much easier, because Sam brought along a jack of ginormous size. When the chain was attached to a bolt that he threaded through one of the holes in the steel post (normally hidden; now a twisted ruin inside the outer aluminum post), the whole assembly lifted easily out of the ground. This made it possible to throw that mess in the trash and finish digging out the new hole.
The big problem was that the hole in the ground was much larger than the amount of cement that we wanted to put into it. At this point, Sam suggested running to Home Depot and picking up some Sonotube to use to confine the cement. This seemed not entirely unreasonable, even it it turned the project into a two-tripper. I noted that I had a big sheet of corrugated cardboard in the garage that might be cut for this purpose.
And then I realized that I had the box that the new mailbox had come in. Half of that, sunk into the ground and surrounded by dirt, was just about the right size for the cement pour. Adjustments were made, the box placed in the ground, and the cement poured in. K was good enough to come out and help, attaching the hose to the well-covered spigot in the front of the house so that we could easily add water to the mix.
After that, we went in to rest for an hour while the cement set around the post (enough). K was delegated to comb through the removed dirt to remove the larger rocks and chunks of concrete and throw them in the trash. We then filled in the hole with dirt, attached the mailbox with minimum difficulty, and declared victory.
The new mailbox is slightly shorter than the old one, but appears to be within regulations. And just *slightly* further away from the curb, although I think there is no possible (legal) placement of the box that will prevent some damned fool from backing into it. (The previous mailbox was -- with high likelihood -- destroyed by one of the city snowplows backing up into it.) The new box is black, so it will contrast well with snow and sky, assuming that drivers bother to look.
I am considering the virtues of an international orange mailbox. I am not sure if anyone makes one.
And when I checked the new box late this afternoon, it contained mail.
The big problem was that the hole in the ground was much larger than the amount of cement that we wanted to put into it. At this point, Sam suggested running to Home Depot and picking up some Sonotube to use to confine the cement. This seemed not entirely unreasonable, even it it turned the project into a two-tripper. I noted that I had a big sheet of corrugated cardboard in the garage that might be cut for this purpose.
And then I realized that I had the box that the new mailbox had come in. Half of that, sunk into the ground and surrounded by dirt, was just about the right size for the cement pour. Adjustments were made, the box placed in the ground, and the cement poured in. K was good enough to come out and help, attaching the hose to the well-covered spigot in the front of the house so that we could easily add water to the mix.
After that, we went in to rest for an hour while the cement set around the post (enough). K was delegated to comb through the removed dirt to remove the larger rocks and chunks of concrete and throw them in the trash. We then filled in the hole with dirt, attached the mailbox with minimum difficulty, and declared victory.
The new mailbox is slightly shorter than the old one, but appears to be within regulations. And just *slightly* further away from the curb, although I think there is no possible (legal) placement of the box that will prevent some damned fool from backing into it. (The previous mailbox was -- with high likelihood -- destroyed by one of the city snowplows backing up into it.) The new box is black, so it will contrast well with snow and sky, assuming that drivers bother to look.
I am considering the virtues of an international orange mailbox. I am not sure if anyone makes one.
And when I checked the new box late this afternoon, it contained mail.
Replacement Time
Apr. 10th, 2025 10:24 pmThe mailbox has been bodged back into position temporarily, but can't stay that way for long, so replacement is in order. Fortunately, it is supposed to be warm(er) and dry this weekend, which improves the chances of success.
I'll see how this goes.
I'll see how this goes.
Guitars Come Home
Feb. 8th, 2025 10:28 pmI ran down to Tobias Music and picked up two of my guitars from their shop. The Guild 12-string is now repaired, having gotten a partial refret job and the bridge reglued. It sounds much better than it has in a long time.
The Guild 6-string needs to go to a different shop for the neck reset, because the shop at Tobias doesn't currently have a spray booth to fix the finish after the reset. That will be a project for a slightly later date, but not *too* much later, I hope.
The Guild 6-string needs to go to a different shop for the neck reset, because the shop at Tobias doesn't currently have a spray booth to fix the finish after the reset. That will be a project for a slightly later date, but not *too* much later, I hope.
Another Sticky Situation
Dec. 19th, 2024 10:50 pmMy roll of double-sided mirror mounting tape that I ordered from Amazon appears to have vanished into the maw of shipping, as it has not arrived today and they are saying if it doesn't show up by Saturday, I can request a refund. None of that is as satisfactory as actually having the tape, of course.
The reason that I am trying to buy this *particular* type of tape that does not appear to be available at any of my local big-box hardware stores is that it is humidity resistant. Since what I'm trying to use it for is to repair a medicine cabinet, being humidity resistant is a good thing. There are other tapes that advertise water-resistant, which is a very different thing.
I've already used this tape to rebuild my medicine cabinet in our bathroom. Gretchen's medicine cabinet is desperately in need of a similar rebuild. And the medicine cabinet in the downstairs bath is in similarly bad shape and tried to drop the side-panel mirror off a few years ago. I detached that mirror and put it in a safe place, on the TV stand in the family room. That space is now occupied by the new sound bar, so I moved it to the less-safe top of the cedar chest / coffee table in the library.
I would now like to use that flat surface for wrapping Christmas presents which means either finding another "safe" place to put that piece of mirror or actually attaching it back to the medicine cabinet while I stall further on fixing the cabinet door. But that requires tape...
I suppose I can try some of the other tapes that are available. I just prefer to use the one that has, so far, worked.
The reason that I am trying to buy this *particular* type of tape that does not appear to be available at any of my local big-box hardware stores is that it is humidity resistant. Since what I'm trying to use it for is to repair a medicine cabinet, being humidity resistant is a good thing. There are other tapes that advertise water-resistant, which is a very different thing.
I've already used this tape to rebuild my medicine cabinet in our bathroom. Gretchen's medicine cabinet is desperately in need of a similar rebuild. And the medicine cabinet in the downstairs bath is in similarly bad shape and tried to drop the side-panel mirror off a few years ago. I detached that mirror and put it in a safe place, on the TV stand in the family room. That space is now occupied by the new sound bar, so I moved it to the less-safe top of the cedar chest / coffee table in the library.
I would now like to use that flat surface for wrapping Christmas presents which means either finding another "safe" place to put that piece of mirror or actually attaching it back to the medicine cabinet while I stall further on fixing the cabinet door. But that requires tape...
I suppose I can try some of the other tapes that are available. I just prefer to use the one that has, so far, worked.
Slow-Mo Tape
Dec. 18th, 2024 10:25 pmI cannot find any of the cache of double-sticky mirror tape that I use for medicine cabinet repair. Since I still have a *lot* of cabinets to work on, I decided to just order another roll from Amazon so I can deal with the current moderately urgent problem.
It is, of course, arriving a day late...
It is, of course, arriving a day late...
Three Down, Apparently
Aug. 29th, 2024 10:33 pmWhen I ordered emergency fence repair stakes from Amazon, I ordered a box of four just in case I needed more than the one I expected to need. It turned out to have been one of my better choices lately.
I had been told that we had lost one post that took out two panels. That understated the situation, because when I got out into the back yard, I discovered that the two posts on one side of the gate had blown out as well, leaving the gate hanging open and that panel falling over into the shrubbery as well. Oh. The panel was in fine shape, because it had been attached with the new brackets instead of toe-nailing, which suggests that those new brackets are definitely the right solution.
Well, I had more stakes. So after the kids helped me put the first stake in and K bungeed the two panels to the standing posts, I went back in and assembled additional stakes. Then we dug out broken concrete around the posts as required so that I could hammer in the stakes, attach them to the posts, and get things more or less back together.
There is a whole lot of fence repair coming in the near future, because otherwise there won't be any fence.
I had been told that we had lost one post that took out two panels. That understated the situation, because when I got out into the back yard, I discovered that the two posts on one side of the gate had blown out as well, leaving the gate hanging open and that panel falling over into the shrubbery as well. Oh. The panel was in fine shape, because it had been attached with the new brackets instead of toe-nailing, which suggests that those new brackets are definitely the right solution.
Well, I had more stakes. So after the kids helped me put the first stake in and K bungeed the two panels to the standing posts, I went back in and assembled additional stakes. Then we dug out broken concrete around the posts as required so that I could hammer in the stakes, attach them to the posts, and get things more or less back together.
There is a whole lot of fence repair coming in the near future, because otherwise there won't be any fence.
One Down, One to Go
Aug. 28th, 2024 04:16 pmI would say "One down, one to go", but actually it's "One has gone down to the basement, and the two fence panels in the back yard are *still* down and need to go back up." The new dryer is installed and appears to work. I will do some laundry in the near future to check on that. I still need to get the vent pipe moved, but I have a collection of more urgent projects that I need to get taken care of first.
One of those is getting the two fallen fence panels back up. Happily, the emergency fence repair stakes have arrived from Amazon, so when I get both kids home from school, we can make an assault on this problem. Ruby the Dog will be much happier when the fence is back up, because right now, she is not being allowed out in *her* back yard.
Dogs have rights, you know.
One of those is getting the two fallen fence panels back up. Happily, the emergency fence repair stakes have arrived from Amazon, so when I get both kids home from school, we can make an assault on this problem. Ruby the Dog will be much happier when the fence is back up, because right now, she is not being allowed out in *her* back yard.
Dogs have rights, you know.
Things That Are Dry
Aug. 18th, 2024 04:27 pm"Things That Are Dry" sounds like a clue from the $100,000 Pyramid, but it is a category here in the Roper household today. In this case, it includes Gretchen's clothes that had been in the washer.
There was one more thing to try with the dryer before giving up and calling a repair tech. The problem is that it was something that was really inconvenient for someone who doesn't like getting down on the floor and who has large hands and arms. It was, however, a *great* task for someone who doesn't like getting down on the floor and has small (but longish) hands and arms.
Yes, this was a job for K, who really doesn't like getting down on the floor -- apparently, I timed today's festivities for *after* she had showered -- but who was able to reach through the hole in the back of the dryer where I had removed the internal vent pipe and press the reset switch on the thermal cutoff fuse. Given the amount of lint that is no longer in the pipes, this cure had some reasonable chance of succeeding. (Mind you, I ended up cleaning *more* lint out of that internal vent pipe that had been left behind by the tech who had cleaned out the dryer last week. But I digress...)
Anyway, the switch was reset, the dryer reassembled and put back in position, and the wet load of clothes was removed from the washer to the dryer. Nigh miraculously, the clothes were warm and dry an hour later.
There is some danger that the thermal cutoff fuse will continue to misbehave. This is, however, a ten dollar part. It even looks like you can install this through the two holes in the back of the dryer if your arms are long and thin enough.
I can think of someone in the household who would qualify as a dryer service tech for this.
I am fairly convinced that they will not be happy about this if they are needed to do it.
But bribery! I am not above bribery! :)
(And I still have to do something about getting the dryer vent rerouted to avoid this entertainment in the future. But moving the dryer out of the "urgent" category is a plus...)
There was one more thing to try with the dryer before giving up and calling a repair tech. The problem is that it was something that was really inconvenient for someone who doesn't like getting down on the floor and who has large hands and arms. It was, however, a *great* task for someone who doesn't like getting down on the floor and has small (but longish) hands and arms.
Yes, this was a job for K, who really doesn't like getting down on the floor -- apparently, I timed today's festivities for *after* she had showered -- but who was able to reach through the hole in the back of the dryer where I had removed the internal vent pipe and press the reset switch on the thermal cutoff fuse. Given the amount of lint that is no longer in the pipes, this cure had some reasonable chance of succeeding. (Mind you, I ended up cleaning *more* lint out of that internal vent pipe that had been left behind by the tech who had cleaned out the dryer last week. But I digress...)
Anyway, the switch was reset, the dryer reassembled and put back in position, and the wet load of clothes was removed from the washer to the dryer. Nigh miraculously, the clothes were warm and dry an hour later.
There is some danger that the thermal cutoff fuse will continue to misbehave. This is, however, a ten dollar part. It even looks like you can install this through the two holes in the back of the dryer if your arms are long and thin enough.
I can think of someone in the household who would qualify as a dryer service tech for this.
I am fairly convinced that they will not be happy about this if they are needed to do it.
But bribery! I am not above bribery! :)
(And I still have to do something about getting the dryer vent rerouted to avoid this entertainment in the future. But moving the dryer out of the "urgent" category is a plus...)
Ominously Close to Done
Jun. 15th, 2024 10:05 pmThe pre-trip laundry is almost done. The house is about as clean as it is going to get.
There was a brief bit of panic earlier today when I was showing the thermostat to the person who will be staying here with Ruby and Sunshine while we are gone, as the display started flashing the low battery message. That was fine -- I replaced the batteries. Except that it *kept* flashing the low battery message. This is not so good.
Well, I had already planned a trip to Home Depot after lunch to get a replacement screw for the cabinet in the back bathroom, as one of the screws had gone missing on the door that I've been trying to fix. I could *buy* a new thermostat and install it before I left.
There are a lot of thermostats.
Eventually, I found one that is similar to the current one -- better thermostats require low-voltage power, which I don't think we have wired up there. Then I went to look for the screw. The knowledgeable person in the department escaped with another customer. The not-so-knowledgeable person couldn't find the odd screw I was looking for. I finally gave up, which made K happy.
I grabbed the cart, looked at the shelf on the other side of the aisle, and there were the screws I was looking for. Screws with a weird star head, but I now have 100 of them with the bit included, and the door is now back on the cabinet.
Meanwhile, the thermostat has stopped flashing the low battery message, so it may just have taken an old capacitor a while to catch up with the new battery. I don't know.
If it behaves itself while we are on vacation, the new (still sealed!) thermostat can be returned.
When we get back.
Time to go pack now. :)
There was a brief bit of panic earlier today when I was showing the thermostat to the person who will be staying here with Ruby and Sunshine while we are gone, as the display started flashing the low battery message. That was fine -- I replaced the batteries. Except that it *kept* flashing the low battery message. This is not so good.
Well, I had already planned a trip to Home Depot after lunch to get a replacement screw for the cabinet in the back bathroom, as one of the screws had gone missing on the door that I've been trying to fix. I could *buy* a new thermostat and install it before I left.
There are a lot of thermostats.
Eventually, I found one that is similar to the current one -- better thermostats require low-voltage power, which I don't think we have wired up there. Then I went to look for the screw. The knowledgeable person in the department escaped with another customer. The not-so-knowledgeable person couldn't find the odd screw I was looking for. I finally gave up, which made K happy.
I grabbed the cart, looked at the shelf on the other side of the aisle, and there were the screws I was looking for. Screws with a weird star head, but I now have 100 of them with the bit included, and the door is now back on the cabinet.
Meanwhile, the thermostat has stopped flashing the low battery message, so it may just have taken an old capacitor a while to catch up with the new battery. I don't know.
If it behaves itself while we are on vacation, the new (still sealed!) thermostat can be returned.
When we get back.
Time to go pack now. :)
All Tiled Up
Feb. 26th, 2024 09:51 pmThe grout went into the additional tile for the backsplash behind the stove today and looks good. Once it has a chance to dry, we'll do any remaining cleanup and spray it with the sealer and the project will be done.
Now, I just need to fix the light fixture on the ceiling fan in our bedroom. *That*, I am doing myself. :)
Now, I just need to fix the light fixture on the ceiling fan in our bedroom. *That*, I am doing myself. :)
Appliance Roulette
Feb. 18th, 2024 10:43 pmSeveral years ago, when I decided that I had had quite enough of our failing Samsung refrigerator (note to everyone: no matter how much you like your Samsung phone and TV, do *not* buy major appliances from Samsung, because that division cannot design a reliable product at all), we set out to get a new one. And all of our kitchen appliances were white, so we really wanted a white French door refrigerator to replace it.
This was around March of 2021 though and the supply chain was pretty badly busted up. Lots of refrigerators were available in stainless steel, but very few were available in white. We finally decided to pony up and buy a very expensive white refrigerator, because it would have the features that we wanted and it would be white.
Today, our oven died. It heats, but it is not heating past about 150 degrees, a temperature that (in Fahrenheit) is insufficient for almost every oven purpose. Now, thinking about it, this oven is probably around 20 years old, so it has given us pretty good service. And we could try to get it repaired, but the whole assembly is 20 years or so old and maybe it's just time to get a new one.
There appear to be no white gas ovens in stock from any acceptable brand (as in, oh, no, Samsung, fool me once...) that have the features that we want. Stainless steel ovens abound.
GE is offering to sell me the oven that I want in white with a delivery date in late May. I am thinking that is not really tenable.
Gretchen has suggested that we could wait until May for an oven if we bought one of the combination microwave convection oven appliances that I have occasionally looked at. I am skeptical about this.
Also, they only seem to come in stainless steel...
This was around March of 2021 though and the supply chain was pretty badly busted up. Lots of refrigerators were available in stainless steel, but very few were available in white. We finally decided to pony up and buy a very expensive white refrigerator, because it would have the features that we wanted and it would be white.
Today, our oven died. It heats, but it is not heating past about 150 degrees, a temperature that (in Fahrenheit) is insufficient for almost every oven purpose. Now, thinking about it, this oven is probably around 20 years old, so it has given us pretty good service. And we could try to get it repaired, but the whole assembly is 20 years or so old and maybe it's just time to get a new one.
There appear to be no white gas ovens in stock from any acceptable brand (as in, oh, no, Samsung, fool me once...) that have the features that we want. Stainless steel ovens abound.
GE is offering to sell me the oven that I want in white with a delivery date in late May. I am thinking that is not really tenable.
Gretchen has suggested that we could wait until May for an oven if we bought one of the combination microwave convection oven appliances that I have occasionally looked at. I am skeptical about this.
Also, they only seem to come in stainless steel...
Change of Plans
Dec. 2nd, 2023 07:48 pmSeveral years ago (I forget exactly how many now), I bought K a new bed for her room. It was a marvel of a bed, with a trundle bed beneath and drawers for storage and not too large so that there was more space in the room with the twin bed than with the queen bed it had replaced.
About a year ago (maybe a bit more), K managed to break the bed. This appears to have been the result of jumping on the bed rather harder than was intended. The support that held the slats up on one side of the bed broke, causing the mattress to sway in an alarming trench shape.
This would have been easier to deal with had I been informed of the problem with the bed on a timely basis. I wasn't. As a result, the mattress collapsed more and more until it was pretty much a complete loss. And I contemplated fixing the support, but I couldn't find the time to do it.
Recently, I decided that Something Had To Be Done About The Bed. I called Sam and asked if he could help me put this mess back together. He said "Sure!" and he and Bonnie came by today to help reconstruct the bed frame so that I could then purchase and put an intact mattress on top of it.
The state of the bed frame appeared to be substantially worse than it had been the last time I looked at it. We decided that rather than trying to glue and screw the old support back into place, the best thing to do would be to get a couple of pieces of wood at Home Depot and just completely replace the old supports. So off to Home Depot Sam and I went, returning with wood and screws.
We removed the sadly decayed mattress. And then we took out the slats, many of which were not where they were supposed to be, because the support didn't. I looked at the dust that had accumulated on the trundle bed and got out the vacuum cleaner and then stripped the sheets off of both mattresses and handed them to K to be washed. I also swept out the mess behind the bed and called K up to sort it out, because it was impressive and not my problem.
We took the screws out of the failed support and discovered that it was not only screwed, but also glued to the side panel. The glue in the center section of the support had just not been up to the task. At all.
Sam suggested that the only way to deal with this would be to remove the side panel to make it easier to get at the support. I reluctantly agreed, so the side panel was removed and taken to my bedroom where there was more room to work. Sam and I tried several different approaches to get the rest of the support off, none of which were working.
And it was about this time that the realization set in. Salvaging this bed was a fool's errand, because we were going to spend a stupid amount of time trying to fix it and it would then find another failure mode, because trying to fix it was just going to cause it to be further damaged.
I went on Amazon. After consultations with K, I have now ordered a new metal bed platform that at least *appears* sturdy from Amazon, along with a mattress in a box that looks decent. Both of these are going to be delivered to my door this week for a total price of a bit more than $200, which beats anything that I was able to find locally, none of which could have been obtained today anyway. (I used to be able to go over to Sam's Club and buy a twin-sized mattress and box spring, but those days are gone.)
K will spend the next week sleeping on the trundle bed. Next Thursday, I will decide what pieces of the current pile are firewood and which are garbage.
And then next week, when the new bed is (I hope!) in place and working, I can decide how best to dispose of the trundle bed.
The good news side effect of all this is that K's room is now much cleaner than it was.
The bad news is that there is a dead mattress where the Christmas tree is supposed to go...
About a year ago (maybe a bit more), K managed to break the bed. This appears to have been the result of jumping on the bed rather harder than was intended. The support that held the slats up on one side of the bed broke, causing the mattress to sway in an alarming trench shape.
This would have been easier to deal with had I been informed of the problem with the bed on a timely basis. I wasn't. As a result, the mattress collapsed more and more until it was pretty much a complete loss. And I contemplated fixing the support, but I couldn't find the time to do it.
Recently, I decided that Something Had To Be Done About The Bed. I called Sam and asked if he could help me put this mess back together. He said "Sure!" and he and Bonnie came by today to help reconstruct the bed frame so that I could then purchase and put an intact mattress on top of it.
The state of the bed frame appeared to be substantially worse than it had been the last time I looked at it. We decided that rather than trying to glue and screw the old support back into place, the best thing to do would be to get a couple of pieces of wood at Home Depot and just completely replace the old supports. So off to Home Depot Sam and I went, returning with wood and screws.
We removed the sadly decayed mattress. And then we took out the slats, many of which were not where they were supposed to be, because the support didn't. I looked at the dust that had accumulated on the trundle bed and got out the vacuum cleaner and then stripped the sheets off of both mattresses and handed them to K to be washed. I also swept out the mess behind the bed and called K up to sort it out, because it was impressive and not my problem.
We took the screws out of the failed support and discovered that it was not only screwed, but also glued to the side panel. The glue in the center section of the support had just not been up to the task. At all.
Sam suggested that the only way to deal with this would be to remove the side panel to make it easier to get at the support. I reluctantly agreed, so the side panel was removed and taken to my bedroom where there was more room to work. Sam and I tried several different approaches to get the rest of the support off, none of which were working.
And it was about this time that the realization set in. Salvaging this bed was a fool's errand, because we were going to spend a stupid amount of time trying to fix it and it would then find another failure mode, because trying to fix it was just going to cause it to be further damaged.
I went on Amazon. After consultations with K, I have now ordered a new metal bed platform that at least *appears* sturdy from Amazon, along with a mattress in a box that looks decent. Both of these are going to be delivered to my door this week for a total price of a bit more than $200, which beats anything that I was able to find locally, none of which could have been obtained today anyway. (I used to be able to go over to Sam's Club and buy a twin-sized mattress and box spring, but those days are gone.)
K will spend the next week sleeping on the trundle bed. Next Thursday, I will decide what pieces of the current pile are firewood and which are garbage.
And then next week, when the new bed is (I hope!) in place and working, I can decide how best to dispose of the trundle bed.
The good news side effect of all this is that K's room is now much cleaner than it was.
The bad news is that there is a dead mattress where the Christmas tree is supposed to go...
Putting It All Together
Jun. 11th, 2023 10:17 pmGetting all of the dead tape and glue off of the various parts was a challenge, but the door for the medicine cabinet in the master bathroom has now been reassembled. When we try putting it back on the cabinet in a few minutes, we'll find out for sure whether it's been reassembled correctly. :)
It is amazing how much time (and tape) fixing one of these doors takes. I still have to fix the other medicine cabinet, but clearly that isn't going to get done this weekend.
Maybe next weekend.
I should order more tape.
(At least I still have plenty of acetone.)
It is amazing how much time (and tape) fixing one of these doors takes. I still have to fix the other medicine cabinet, but clearly that isn't going to get done this weekend.
Maybe next weekend.
I should order more tape.
(At least I still have plenty of acetone.)
Disassemble!
Jun. 10th, 2023 10:34 pmIt was a beautiful day, so far too much time was spent driving around in it. At one point, when Gretchen had taken Julie out for a drive and Goose Patrol, I decided it was time to start working on one of my many long-delayed household projects.
My medicine cabinet (as well as the one in the downstairs bathroom) has doors that are starting to come apart due to slippage against the double-sided tape that holds them together. I fixed two of the doors on my cabinet some years ago, but never got around to the third. Months and months ago, I decided it was in danger of catastrophic failure, so I took it down and set it on the only flat surface I could find, a trunk in Julie's room.
Today, I excavated it from where I had placed it, took it down to a space that I cleared on the kitchen table, placed it carefully on a couple of towels (to protect the table), and pulled out the extendable box cutter that I had bought for this purpose to cut the remaining tape that was holding it together. This took a while, but the parts of the door are now detached from each other.
There is a lot of dead tape that still needs to be peeled off and/or dissolved in acetone (a can of which is sitting in the basement from the last time I did this work). Once that's done, it should be fairly simple to use the double-sized tape that I bought for the purpose to reassemble this door.
And then I can think about fixing the medicine cabinet in the downstairs bathroom...
I have *way* too many home repair projects queued up, I think.
My medicine cabinet (as well as the one in the downstairs bathroom) has doors that are starting to come apart due to slippage against the double-sided tape that holds them together. I fixed two of the doors on my cabinet some years ago, but never got around to the third. Months and months ago, I decided it was in danger of catastrophic failure, so I took it down and set it on the only flat surface I could find, a trunk in Julie's room.
Today, I excavated it from where I had placed it, took it down to a space that I cleared on the kitchen table, placed it carefully on a couple of towels (to protect the table), and pulled out the extendable box cutter that I had bought for this purpose to cut the remaining tape that was holding it together. This took a while, but the parts of the door are now detached from each other.
There is a lot of dead tape that still needs to be peeled off and/or dissolved in acetone (a can of which is sitting in the basement from the last time I did this work). Once that's done, it should be fairly simple to use the double-sized tape that I bought for the purpose to reassemble this door.
And then I can think about fixing the medicine cabinet in the downstairs bathroom...
I have *way* too many home repair projects queued up, I think.
Don't Fence Me In
Nov. 5th, 2022 10:37 pmWhen I went downstairs this morning, before I let Ruby the Dog out of her kennel, I went out in the back yard and made sure that none of the sections of fence had blown over in the 60 MPH winds of the previous evening. Happily, everything was still standing.
When Gretchen got downstairs, we got into the car, signed up for the waitlist, and headed off to Texas Roadhouse for lunch. As it happened, we had the bad luck to arrive just as a major squall hit. Rather than be stranded in the car indefinitely, we hurried to the door, which was locked. Ok, perhaps a defense against losing the main doors to a wind gust. Someone let me in the neighboring side door, where I discovered that it was dark inside. Very dark. As in, the power is out dark.
We sat for a few minutes on the bench near the door, waiting for the rain to clear up. Actually, the rain pretty much cleared up within a minute of the time we got in the restaurant. If we'd waited in the car for the squall to pass, we wouldn't have waited long and wouldn't have gotten particularly wet at all. Ah, well.
Some of the byplay while we were waiting was interesting. One kind soul offered us some rolls, which we declined. The manager was informing us that the restaurant was closed, which we understood, but we needed a minute to recover before heading out in the rain again. And at least one of the waitstaff was suggesting to the manager that they were not going to wait indefinitely for the power to come back on, because it wasn't worth the tipped wage to sit around and wait when there were going to be no tips, which struck me as fairly reasonable, since she was saying to just call her when they had something to do.
Anyway, we headed out looking for some place to have lunch that actually had power. I headed west for lack of a better idea and we decided to try out Draft Picks, which is a restaurant and sports bar not too far from home that we hadn't been to ever. (Not counting earlier occupants of the space that were not at all the same restaurant, which is the sort of thing that happens when you've been living in the neighborhood for 25+ years.) They had both a rib and a fried chicken special today, so I ordered the ribs, Gretchen ordered the chicken, and we were both quite happy.
Later that afternoon, I looked out the back door and discovered that a section of fence that I had been extremely dubious about had given way. I put Ruby the Dog back in her kennel to keep her from making an escape, because it was clear that I was going to be in and out of the back door a lot in the next little bit. One of the 25 year old posts had rotted out at ground level, the fence section had torn loose from the corner post on the other side, and two pickets had fallen off in the commotion. Well, crud.
I went into the garage and cleared a path to my power tools. This required tossing boxes, containers, big old displays, and such out of the way, along with moving the Halloween skeletons that the kids had brought in and put in any convenient place. By the time I got the skeletons hung back on their hook, I had successfully cleared the path to the tools and I grabbed the bag and brought it in. The box of fence repair parts was happily where I had left it in the library, so I grabbed the power drill, four long screws, and a hammer and headed out, stopping only briefly to put a Phillips bit in the drill and a power brick on the opposite end.
In the stupid place where I had left it, because I hadn't been able to figure out where to store it in the mess that is our garage, there was the big, black steel support that I had bought and used the last time that I had a major post failure on the fence. At least I was able to find it. I asked Gretchen to summon K, because this was going to be a two-person job. K arrived about the time that I finished hammering the support into the ground and I had her use the power drill to attach the support to the post so that it would remain standing. Then I grabbed the box of shorter screws and we put the two fallen pickets back on the fence, sending K around to the other side to attach the one that belonged there.
While all of this was going on, Ruby the Dog was making the most *pitiful* noises in her kennel, because there were her *people* in *her* yard, out there to be played with, and here she was all locked up in this *cage*. (The dog *loves* that cage, mind you. When she's ready for bed, she wanders in there and looks purposefully at us, saying "Where is my bedtime treat?")
The fence is now at least metastable and I am hoping that it will behave itself until spring, by which time Sam will hopefully be recovered from various surgeries and available to help me with some more permanent repairs.
When this sort of thing happens, K keeps asking me why we don't just have someone build us a new fence. This is because K has not priced the cost of that many linear feet of cedar fencing...
When Gretchen got downstairs, we got into the car, signed up for the waitlist, and headed off to Texas Roadhouse for lunch. As it happened, we had the bad luck to arrive just as a major squall hit. Rather than be stranded in the car indefinitely, we hurried to the door, which was locked. Ok, perhaps a defense against losing the main doors to a wind gust. Someone let me in the neighboring side door, where I discovered that it was dark inside. Very dark. As in, the power is out dark.
We sat for a few minutes on the bench near the door, waiting for the rain to clear up. Actually, the rain pretty much cleared up within a minute of the time we got in the restaurant. If we'd waited in the car for the squall to pass, we wouldn't have waited long and wouldn't have gotten particularly wet at all. Ah, well.
Some of the byplay while we were waiting was interesting. One kind soul offered us some rolls, which we declined. The manager was informing us that the restaurant was closed, which we understood, but we needed a minute to recover before heading out in the rain again. And at least one of the waitstaff was suggesting to the manager that they were not going to wait indefinitely for the power to come back on, because it wasn't worth the tipped wage to sit around and wait when there were going to be no tips, which struck me as fairly reasonable, since she was saying to just call her when they had something to do.
Anyway, we headed out looking for some place to have lunch that actually had power. I headed west for lack of a better idea and we decided to try out Draft Picks, which is a restaurant and sports bar not too far from home that we hadn't been to ever. (Not counting earlier occupants of the space that were not at all the same restaurant, which is the sort of thing that happens when you've been living in the neighborhood for 25+ years.) They had both a rib and a fried chicken special today, so I ordered the ribs, Gretchen ordered the chicken, and we were both quite happy.
Later that afternoon, I looked out the back door and discovered that a section of fence that I had been extremely dubious about had given way. I put Ruby the Dog back in her kennel to keep her from making an escape, because it was clear that I was going to be in and out of the back door a lot in the next little bit. One of the 25 year old posts had rotted out at ground level, the fence section had torn loose from the corner post on the other side, and two pickets had fallen off in the commotion. Well, crud.
I went into the garage and cleared a path to my power tools. This required tossing boxes, containers, big old displays, and such out of the way, along with moving the Halloween skeletons that the kids had brought in and put in any convenient place. By the time I got the skeletons hung back on their hook, I had successfully cleared the path to the tools and I grabbed the bag and brought it in. The box of fence repair parts was happily where I had left it in the library, so I grabbed the power drill, four long screws, and a hammer and headed out, stopping only briefly to put a Phillips bit in the drill and a power brick on the opposite end.
In the stupid place where I had left it, because I hadn't been able to figure out where to store it in the mess that is our garage, there was the big, black steel support that I had bought and used the last time that I had a major post failure on the fence. At least I was able to find it. I asked Gretchen to summon K, because this was going to be a two-person job. K arrived about the time that I finished hammering the support into the ground and I had her use the power drill to attach the support to the post so that it would remain standing. Then I grabbed the box of shorter screws and we put the two fallen pickets back on the fence, sending K around to the other side to attach the one that belonged there.
While all of this was going on, Ruby the Dog was making the most *pitiful* noises in her kennel, because there were her *people* in *her* yard, out there to be played with, and here she was all locked up in this *cage*. (The dog *loves* that cage, mind you. When she's ready for bed, she wanders in there and looks purposefully at us, saying "Where is my bedtime treat?")
The fence is now at least metastable and I am hoping that it will behave itself until spring, by which time Sam will hopefully be recovered from various surgeries and available to help me with some more permanent repairs.
When this sort of thing happens, K keeps asking me why we don't just have someone build us a new fence. This is because K has not priced the cost of that many linear feet of cedar fencing...
Prepare to Repair
May. 28th, 2022 10:10 pmI called Sam today and we agreed that some weekend soon he will come over and help me repair our cedar fence, which is going to require sinking at least two new posts and rebuilding a couple of sections. This is a lot easier with Sam's help and with his excellent powered miter saw.
Gretchen had suggested earlier in the day that I should go to Home Depot and see if I could find leveling feet for the small table on the patio that has lost one. This was a complete failure, but I *was* able to measure the screw and order way too many feet when I got home. And while I was at Home Depot, I picked up more brackets for the fence repair, because they are much, much better than toenailing the way that the fence had originally been assembled.
After I placed the Amazon order something was nagging at me. Something *else* that I had forgotten to order. Oh, yes! Our hanging shower door is becoming increasingly balky, so I had made plans to disassemble it and put it back together, but it struck me that replacing the 25-year-old wheels that it was rolling on would probably be a good idea. I looked for replacement wheels at Home Depot, but found none. (Looks on-line. Apparently, they had them. I just couldn't find them. After having an employee of the store spend 10 minutes looking for chair feet, I didn't really want to send anyone else on a wild goose chase.) Anyway, I have ordered new wheels from Amazon that should be here on Monday.
I have too many things to fix, I think...
Gretchen had suggested earlier in the day that I should go to Home Depot and see if I could find leveling feet for the small table on the patio that has lost one. This was a complete failure, but I *was* able to measure the screw and order way too many feet when I got home. And while I was at Home Depot, I picked up more brackets for the fence repair, because they are much, much better than toenailing the way that the fence had originally been assembled.
After I placed the Amazon order something was nagging at me. Something *else* that I had forgotten to order. Oh, yes! Our hanging shower door is becoming increasingly balky, so I had made plans to disassemble it and put it back together, but it struck me that replacing the 25-year-old wheels that it was rolling on would probably be a good idea. I looked for replacement wheels at Home Depot, but found none. (Looks on-line. Apparently, they had them. I just couldn't find them. After having an employee of the store spend 10 minutes looking for chair feet, I didn't really want to send anyone else on a wild goose chase.) Anyway, I have ordered new wheels from Amazon that should be here on Monday.
I have too many things to fix, I think...
Canceling the Code Red
Apr. 14th, 2022 09:51 pmI woke up this morning to a text message from Gretchen telling me that part of the fence had blown out in the high winds and that Ruby the Dog had escaped. In an upset, she did not run away, but came trotting back to the garage, which meant that a trip around the neighborhood to fetch her wasn't necessary.
So when I got dressed, I went out to look at the section of the fence that had fallen. Except the section of fence that had reportedly fallen hadn't. It was still the kludged repair job that I had done a few months back, but it was still standing. Huh.
I walked around to the other side of the house and discovered that the gate was standing open. Well, that explained how the dog had gotten out. The gate needs to be adjusted, as it's being quite difficult to latch correctly now. Apparently, the lawn service had been in earlier in the week and had pulled it closed without actually latching it. And then the wind blew the gate open.
The gate is now properly latched.
Still need to fix the fence, but it can wait for better weather.
I hope.
So when I got dressed, I went out to look at the section of the fence that had fallen. Except the section of fence that had reportedly fallen hadn't. It was still the kludged repair job that I had done a few months back, but it was still standing. Huh.
I walked around to the other side of the house and discovered that the gate was standing open. Well, that explained how the dog had gotten out. The gate needs to be adjusted, as it's being quite difficult to latch correctly now. Apparently, the lawn service had been in earlier in the week and had pulled it closed without actually latching it. And then the wind blew the gate open.
The gate is now properly latched.
Still need to fix the fence, but it can wait for better weather.
I hope.
Drip, Drip, Drip, Woosh!
Apr. 8th, 2022 10:25 pmI've been noticing that our water bills seemed a bit high for several months. It's not, as nearly as I can tell, due to any of the toilets misbehaving, which is always the first thing you think of. But I have everything in pretty good adjustment at the moment and have replaced any potentially errant flappers, so we're not hearing running water from them.
Still, Gretchen kept reporting running water sounds when there should be none, usually when using the downstairs bathroom. And I kept pointing out that this was directly over the furnace and attached whole-house humidifier which should be pulling water when it's running.
So two nights ago, we were on the way to bed and Gretchen insisted that there was running water somewhere. I checked the toilet in our bedroom, made a small adjustment, and determined that it wasn't the source of the sound (which I also heard, just to be clear). I checked the toilet in the back bathroom. It wasn't the problem, but the sound of running water seemed louder. I checked the toilet downstairs. Also not the problem, but the sound of running water was still louder.
Off to the basement. And I discovered that the humidifier had turned traitor and was pulling a continuous stream of as much water as it could get whether the furnace was running or not.
(Aside: this seems to be one of the hazards of living in a house that is now more than 25 years old. Something new -- or maybe old -- keeps finding a way to fail. This requires a certain degree of determination and disposable income. I wonder at my friends who live in houses that are more than 100 years old and how they manage to survive all this.)
The simple solution was to turn off the shutoff valve. Unfortunately, when I did this, the valve started rapidly leaking water onto the hot water heater. Not wanting to take a chance on damaging the hot water heater, I decided it was better to flush water down the drain than to find that I had to replace another bit of household apparatus. And off I went to bed.
Where I woke up at 4 AM and decided to go downstairs, grab an empty McDonald's cup, turn off the valve, put the cup in the path of the leak, and hope that it didn't overflow before morning, or if it did, that it would spill out past the edge of the hot water heater onto the floor. Then I went back to my computer, checked the online report on our water consumption, filed the tax return for my dad's trust (which I had forgotten to do earlier in the day), and finally crawled back into bed about an hour later. This, of course, meant I was in the best possible shape to go freeze at the Cubs game yesterday, but the Cubs won, the company was good, and I eventually thawed out.
While I was on the way to the game, I called our furnace guy and he said he'd come out and take a look at it this morning. He did and found that the valve in the unit was shot. By the time he managed to find and replace all of the necessary parts -- parts being in short supply due to supply chain issues -- it wouldn't be that much more to start over with a new unit. Assuming, of course, that he could find a new unit, but that would be easier than scrounging parts for a 25-year-old humidifier.
I agreed and the humidifier has now been safely replaced.
I wonder what will decide to break next.
Still, Gretchen kept reporting running water sounds when there should be none, usually when using the downstairs bathroom. And I kept pointing out that this was directly over the furnace and attached whole-house humidifier which should be pulling water when it's running.
So two nights ago, we were on the way to bed and Gretchen insisted that there was running water somewhere. I checked the toilet in our bedroom, made a small adjustment, and determined that it wasn't the source of the sound (which I also heard, just to be clear). I checked the toilet in the back bathroom. It wasn't the problem, but the sound of running water seemed louder. I checked the toilet downstairs. Also not the problem, but the sound of running water was still louder.
Off to the basement. And I discovered that the humidifier had turned traitor and was pulling a continuous stream of as much water as it could get whether the furnace was running or not.
(Aside: this seems to be one of the hazards of living in a house that is now more than 25 years old. Something new -- or maybe old -- keeps finding a way to fail. This requires a certain degree of determination and disposable income. I wonder at my friends who live in houses that are more than 100 years old and how they manage to survive all this.)
The simple solution was to turn off the shutoff valve. Unfortunately, when I did this, the valve started rapidly leaking water onto the hot water heater. Not wanting to take a chance on damaging the hot water heater, I decided it was better to flush water down the drain than to find that I had to replace another bit of household apparatus. And off I went to bed.
Where I woke up at 4 AM and decided to go downstairs, grab an empty McDonald's cup, turn off the valve, put the cup in the path of the leak, and hope that it didn't overflow before morning, or if it did, that it would spill out past the edge of the hot water heater onto the floor. Then I went back to my computer, checked the online report on our water consumption, filed the tax return for my dad's trust (which I had forgotten to do earlier in the day), and finally crawled back into bed about an hour later. This, of course, meant I was in the best possible shape to go freeze at the Cubs game yesterday, but the Cubs won, the company was good, and I eventually thawed out.
While I was on the way to the game, I called our furnace guy and he said he'd come out and take a look at it this morning. He did and found that the valve in the unit was shot. By the time he managed to find and replace all of the necessary parts -- parts being in short supply due to supply chain issues -- it wouldn't be that much more to start over with a new unit. Assuming, of course, that he could find a new unit, but that would be easier than scrounging parts for a 25-year-old humidifier.
I agreed and the humidifier has now been safely replaced.
I wonder what will decide to break next.
Better Now
Feb. 7th, 2022 01:11 pmAnd the blower motor has been replaced, so we have heat again.
There was much rejoicing. :)
There was much rejoicing. :)
