What did you do today?

[zannej]

I've never been in my attic, but I did have my foot go through the roof of my workshop once. I was mopping on some Cool Seal over the tin roof and I stepped in a spot that wasn't supported. I know my father put a foot through the ceiling in this house before-- which is one of the reasons I'm wary of going up there. I'm seriously thinking of finding out how far apart the joists are and then looking at that stuff they sell at HD that is used to put down as flooring in attics. I'm not the most coordinated person so I need to find a way to have something to step on or lean on.

DarisMulkin, I'm picturing someone just hanging from the rafters making monkey noises now. LOL. I'm glad you caught yourself.

highup, sort of ironic that the guy was the first patient, but at least he was in the right place.

Today I got woken up before 7AM by a phonecall from Fedex Ground. I wasn't awake enough to think very clearly. The woman asked if my address was a valid delivery address and I *think* she used my name, but I don't remember. I gave directions to get out to my house (its odd because they have been sending people out here for years). Said the driver was coming up from Lake Charles so I gave detailed instructions. Then I tried to ask to whom the package was addressed but the woman hung up on me. So I sat around for the next two hours waiting for the delivery (I was under the mistaken impression that if they were going to call me that early in the morning that the driver was already en route or something). I called back about 30 min ago (after 5pm) to find out wtf was going on bc the package hasn't arrived. Only I had to use my cellphone which gets horrible reception because it was not an 800 number and my landline doesn't have long distance. I had to keep repeating things and after 11 minutes (several of which I spent on hold) the woman said she would try to figure out which driver had the package so I could get an ETA.

I sort of wonder if the driver was feigning ignorance to get back at me for having them come out and retrieve the package for my criminal neighbor because I'm tired of dealing with his crap.

I also went into town and picked up mail-- still no snap ring for my garbage disposal unit. If it doesn't arrive tomorrow, I'm going to call Insinkerator back and ask about it. I hope the FedEx thing is not the snap ring, because that would be ridiculous.

Meanwhile, my brother made honey glazed spiral ham last night and my cats were losing their minds. Captain Fluffy *really* loves ham and is very vocal in expressing her desire to eat it. Itsy, who is a food whore for just about any food, was louder than usual and instead of gently licking a piece she chomped in and devoured it. Today I was trying to get some of the leftover ham out and my fattest cat, Kunta Kitteh, tried to jump directly on my plate and several of the others were begging. I gave a small piece to each off them and then had my brunch. Almost lost my appetite when I turned on my TV and saw that Dr. Phil was on, but I changed it to Flip or Flop.

Now I'm just waiting for Fedex Ground to call me back.

 

[highup]

Captain fluffy............... New one for me. I'm bettin' that's a rare name for a cat.

 

[Floorist]

Captain fluffy............... New one for me. I'm bettin' that's a rare name for a cat.

I call my son's cat "Demon".

 

[highup]

I call my son's cat "Demon".

I've worked for people that have cats who's behaviors make the name "Demon" appear to be fairy like.

 

[havasu]

What I did today....kitchen is officially finished!

 

[Nick]

Looks great Hav.

 

[Floorist]

Looks good.

 

[zannej]

Wow! I love the corbels, and the leather chair is sweet! Love the cabinets. Are those raised panel or flat panel? The storage next to the refrigerator is very nice.

This week has been busy. The trip with my friend's wife was not as bad as I thought. She was very pleasant most of the time. I was glad her kids didn't come. The sitters for her son called less than 15 minutes after he was dropped off because he was driving them crazy and they wanted to get rid of him-- but we were gone for several hours. They were texting and calling every few minutes the whole time wanting to know when we were going to come get the brat. After we unloaded groceries at her house from one store she showed me how big the puppies are getting (I know that might sound dirty LOL). Her dog had 7 puppies and they adorable.

Those are older pictures. They are almost twice that size now.

Captain Fluffy got her name because she was so fluffy we couldn't tell if she was male or female so my sister just picked "Captain". She's currently our oldest cat. After her we have Assclown, Boo, Itsy, Bitsy, Ralphina, Kunta Kitteh, Predicate, Nocturne, L'asso, Imhotep, Ginger (aka Agent Fury because she only has one eye), Rupert, and Mewlatto. We're also temporarily housing a friend's kitten named Purrsephone.

Anyway, turns out the FedEx thing was about my snap ring. Insinkerator reps said they would send it via USPS but they did actually use my physical address but the particular driver can't find my address. I looked at the fedex log and saw that the package had been sent on June 27th and they've had it in Lake Charles since July 2 but every day they've had "delivery exception" and claimed that either there was bad weather or they couldn't find the house. I called Insinkerator today and got the tracking number so I called FedEx to ask why they claim they've tried to deliver five times but nobody has shown up at my house. They said the package would be here by 6pm and if not, to call back. Once I woke up more I called back to give more detailed instructions on how to find the house. 6pm passed so I called and they said they didn't know what was wrong and they promised they would call me back. 8:30pm passed and no callback so I called and asked WTF the deal was and they said they would ask the place and call me back. I said they never called back so they put me on hold for 10 minutes and then said that the driver wasn't able to find my house and they promised the package would be here tomorrow. I told them if it was not that I was going to file a formal complaint. Within a few minutes after that call ended, I got a call from the driver apologizing and saying that the maps he had didn't make sense-- and I know what he means because there are roads listed that haven't existed in 20 years so I talked to him and said that if he couldn't find my house to call me and I would drive into town and meet him at McDonalds to pick up the package (although it will take me 20 min to get there). I just really want this damn snap ring. LOL. I also realized that when I was groggy and gave directions I said north when I should have said south. Oops. Its still frustrating. They had my number on record and they were able to call me before so I don't know why the hell they didn't call me sooner. When he couldn't find me on Monday they should have asked on Tuesday or tried to make arrangements. So hopefully sometime in early afternoon I will have my garbage disposal in place and be able to use my sink again.

 

[havasu]

14 Cats? Good gawd....That's about 15 cats too many in my book!

 

[Floorist]

I have someone coming to look at buying my 100# vinyl roller today. I never see any felt back anymore and it's just too heavy for me. He offered me $100. That's what I gave for it 30 years ago.

 

[zannej]

LOL. I used to have 63 cats, a dozen ducks, some geese, 50 chickens, 60 quail, a dove, 4 horses, 14 goats, 13 pigs, 12 dogs, a flock of guinea hens, a few turkeys, 7 gerbils, some rabbits, and 1 cow. When I was young and energetic it was fun feeding them, petting them, watching them, and collecting eggs. Oh, for awhile I had a mother bobcat and 3 babies. She'd been caught in a trap with a broken paw. Some guy was going to sell her to be killed and stuffed. My father offered more money for her just so she wouldn't be killed. He built an enclosure for her and fed her while her paw healed. She gave birth to 3 kits. Sadly they got amoebic dysentery. When she was recovered enough we released her in to the no-hunting area of the woods.

Now I'm down to just the 14 cats, 4 dogs, and 2 cows.

Today I've been on the phone with FedEx again because last night the driver promised he would deliver around 12pm to 1pm and that if he couldn't find the place he'd call. Well, its after 3pm and he hasn't called. When I called Fedex a few minutes ago they told me that it would take 48 hours for an "investigation" and that I would have to wait until Saturday and I said "Oh hell no! I am NOT waiting another day!" I'm already composing an e-mail to Insinkerator about this and I am going to lodge a complaint about the lies and lack of communication. I got so many different stories of why the package hadn't been delivered. I'm pretty pissed off about it now. And I have to leave in about half an hour to go pickup my house mate and bring him home from Pizza Hut.
They put me through to the "local" FedEx ground facility and they said they can't get in touch with their driver. They really need to find a way to get some sort of communication system that works-- even if its some sort of radio thing.

 

[highup]

I have someone coming to look at buying my 100# vinyl roller today. I never see any felt back anymore and it's just too heavy for me. He offered me $100. That's what I gave for it 30 years ago.

So it's wrinkled tee shirts from this day forward?

Probably fair to both of you. I have Gramp's old 100 pounder, but it's the only roller I have. Rarely use it tho. Last time was well over a year ago on some VCT in a basement.

 

[zannej]

I FINALLY got my snap ring. The guy never made it out to my house though. He called a few hours after the time he said he would be delivering and I'd already gone in to town. So my brother told him to look for me in the Pizza Hut parking lot and described my vehicle. I saw him get out and he was sweating bullets and looking exhausted. He said "I'm the FedEx guy" and apologized for the delay. Turns out his office had printed out a sticker of what was supposed to be a map and when I looked at it I realized why he couldn't find my home. It wasn't even in the right Parish much less the right town. It completely ignored all of my instructions and showed my house in the middle of an intersection in Evangaline parish. WTF? I felt kinda bad for him because it wasn't his fault, but whoever put the map on there was an idiot. Really, they couldn't google map it? I'm going to lodge a complaint with FedEx about how they need to have better communications and better maps. That was ridiculous. On the bright side, the snap ring is installed now. I just need to see if I can find a small sanitary tee to hook the disposal to the other side of the sink (as I saw in a diagram). Or could I get away with just a regular T fitting?

 

[zannej]

So, the snap ring was promptly installed, but I had to wait for people to give the go ahead to start messing with the circuit breaker to figure out which one controlled the garbage disposal. Turns out its the one that also controls the power to my room, the power to my mother's computer, and the power for one side of the kitchen where the refrigerator is plugged in.

I had a hell of a time getting the wires out of the old unit. There was one stripped screw that would not come out and I couldn't pull the disposal out farther because it was wrapped behind the water supply lines. I unscrewed the plastic case and moved it out of the way and removed pretty much all of the other screws but the one damn stripped screw. I then took a wrench and bashed the cover plate so it bent just enough that I could get a screwdriver under to pry it up. Then I grabbed it, turned it, and ripped it off.

I started to do the electrical hookup to the new one and then realized that I didn't have one of the parts I needed in my electrical toolbox. I looked all over the tool closet and in the different tool boxes in case it got mixed in, but apparently I don't have this one little part and when I tried to look it up on line I didn't find the exact thing from the drawing. The label for it didn't give much info-- it didn't even say what size the part was.

See the "cable connector" on the lower left?

My searches came up with someone saying it needs to be 1/2" and some things call it a Romex relief clamp. So I guess its a 1/2" romex relief clamp cable connector or something. I'm still trying to locate one, but all of the hardware stores in my area are closed until tomorrow (the only hardware stores in town close at 5pm on weekdays, noon on Saturdays, and are closed completely on Sundays).

I guess it buys me some time to look for other plumbing parts as well.

 

[havasu]

Is it possible to use the old one off the old disposal?

 

[zannej]

Is it possible to use the old one off the old disposal?

The old one didn't have one, otherwise that would have been my first choice.

 

[highup]

I have one.
We had tornillos for dinner tonight.

 

[havasu]

Just to confirm, your old disposal is wired with Romex? If you can take a picture of the power going into the disposal, we can make sure you use the correct connector.

 

[zannej]

I thought that I had replied to this, but apparently it didn't go through. Yeah. It's what people would call "romex". Not romex brand per se, its wires covered in plastic.

I went to the hardware store and picked up the clamp (turns out its a 3/8" one that fits) and an end tee (or something like that). When I asked about the clamp the clerk just blinked, but I snapped a photo of the instructions as well as of one on my screen so she was able to find it by appearance.

I ended up working on stuff for almost 4 hours. I had to go back and forth to do stuff-- like I took apart the old plumbing and then washed it out and scrubbed it.

I started earlier in the day with a leak test to make sure that the flange was sealed tightly and that no water was dripping out (I wasn't sure if the putty held up after the wait). I wasn't satisfied so I dried things off and redid the putty (I sort of wanted to do it again because its fun to play with the putty).

Here's the wire on the old unit:

Attached to the new one:

Here's the piece of wood on the cabinet that kept getting in my way

I discovered that its no fun to try to wire things when your hands keep sweating and the wires slip. I eventually got it. I attached the other end of the ground wire to the snap ring from the old disposal.

I managed to dismantle the old plumbing by myself and got the wiring done by myself, but when it came time to put the "spring like hose ring" on, I was stuck for about 20 minutes. One of the ends of the thing is sharp and it broke the skin on my thumb and index finger. I tried to use a rag to squeeze it but then I couldn't see where it was going. I was afraid to squeeze too hard and end up bending it like the snap ring. I don't have the bet finger/hand strength and was getting really annoyed. The garbage disposal fell over, the pipe kept falling out. I tried putting on a latex glove and shoving some paper towel inside to protect my fingers, but the damn thing put a hole in the glove. I finally got my housemate to put it on for me. He made me feel like an idiot because (like the snap ring) he did it quickly. Then I moved on to trying to put the disposal on the flange. I don't have the hand strength to lift it with one hand (especially with the piece of wood in the way-- I really was tempted to take a hammer and smash that thing off, but I didn't think I'd be able to get it back on afterward) while getting it all to line up and get the ring to catch. I ended up asking my housemate for help again and he had a hard time with it. He had to squat down and rest the disposal on his knee (my body doesn't bend like that so I wasn't able to do it-- plus he's super skinny). At first he said it was "impossible" but after a few minutes he got it.

I think I *might* have been able to get it had I not been so tired and frustrated from earlier.

I would make a terrible plumber. LOL. I really need to work on my hand strength and dexterity.

Anyway, I'm now trying to work out how to hook up the plumbing. I have a general idea. I will need to trim the pipe that came with the disposal. I have a sort of mockup but I'm missing a piece to bridge to the pipe that goes down through the floor-- I need something with exterior threads on both ends.

Here's the mockup (the open piece on the left would be where the disposal hooks up)

I realize its an S-trap but its temporary until I can figure out whether or not I can reconfigure to have a proper vent. I'm tempted to slap a T on there sideways and temporarily use an AAV, but I don't think that is a good idea since that is also a code violation. It was already S-trapped, so I don't have many options right now. The drain pipe is very close to the wall. I couldn't cut in to the wall to run an interior vent without messing up the backsplash. The backsplash is panel that looks like its tiled. It goes all the way down to the floor. I'm debating cutting a hole in it under the sink and then moving the plumbing under it but then poking a hole in the exterior wall for the vent so it can join the vent that is already on the outside.

Does the trap look too shallow? I think it was at least 2 inches to the weir, but I'll have to measure again.

 

[framer52]

Here is hunt that a plumber told me about. Never use putty again as the new sinks never seem to seal properly with is. We now use ge silicone and never have problems, I only do about 2 sink repairs a week fr my landlord part of my business........