What did you do today?

[zannej]

I got up around 6:30am & headed over to pick up my friend. Got there around 7am sharp. Took him a few minutes to get ready. It decided to rain horrendously on the way down to LC. People were pulling over on the side of the road to wait it out, others were understandably driving slowly. Speed limit was supposed to be 70 but every time I got to that speed, water tugged on the wheels so I had to stay a little below it. Had one a-hole who sped past me on the side, then changed lanes to pull in front of me and spray me with water so I couldn't see (pretty sure person didn't know or care). I changed lanes to get out from behind him, & he changed lanes to get in front again. I think there were about 4 lane changes before he zipped out of sight.

The right side of the road was bad bc there was more water & it kept slowing down the wheels on that side so I had to stay more in the middle. At one point there was water flowing across the road & it was fairly high, but my truck made it over. Reached our destination around 9am. My friend worked on his co-worker's truck from then until about 12:40pm. I took a nap in the car. First time I've actually slept in the car while it was parked. We went to eat afterward-- fortunately, the place we wanted to go to was right next to Lowes. Then we went into Lowes & I had trouble finding stuff because the website didn't update to the changes to the layout. There were aisles & bays listed that didn't exist. So I had to look at the prices. They had a bunch of stuff on some sort of spring sale so I picked up wainscoting & moulding & stuff. I did forget a few things but I'm going back tomorrow.

I brought a huge tarp so we were able to completely wrap up my friend's new 5' cabinet & the 6' countertop that was nice & cheap. they have particle board so keeping them dry was essential. When we were almost at his house my friend asked me if my brother was working that day & I said he was but wondered if another friend of ours was free. As we pulled up to the house there was a truck behind me. I put on my flashers to let him know I was stopping. He went around me & my friend exclaimed that it was the aforementioned friend. He got there just in time to help carry stuff into the house.

I'm exhausted but I still have to go make dinner.

 

[zannej]

I had planned to go to Lowes, pick up my new Nu-Wave cooktop that was shipped to store (they called on Thursday to say it was ready but I wasn't able to go pick it up that day), & then come straight home to work on my floor. It didn't work out that way & we wasted hours at Lowes & left empty-handed. To make a long story short, they lost the cooktop. There were numerous customers at the service desk complaining about missing items from their deliveries & one woman was there asking about a glass shower door she ordered. In the 2+ hours I was in the store, they finally found the woman's shower door-- lying flat on the floor where it had been for over 2 weeks. My kidney stones decided to really kick in & I had to go sit in the truck for awhile as my mother sat in a riding chair & dealt with customer service. She even pulled aside the store manager to have a word. Up until that point, the employees were being somewhat rude & dismissive (which was part of why I went to sit in the truck-- I didn't want to end up punching someone). After she talked to the store manager & mentioned how rude employees were being, the store manager cracked down & had 5 people looking for the Nu-Wave but it was to no avail. I came back in after about 20 min & decided it would be best to go eat & then come back afterward to check on the progress. They again wrote down the info on the nu-wave to make sure to look for it so they could have it at the front when I returned. I then asked if I could have them call me when they found it & another employee said that he didn't think I should have to keep coming back to the store & that to make up for my troubles, they would have it delivered to my house & waive the shipping fee- IF they found it. I wanted to cook on it last night but pfff. If they haven't found it by next Friday, I'm going to insist they order a new one & ship it to my house for free. I only did ship-to-store bc it was something like $80 for shipping.

To add on to my luck, I accidentally tipped the bowl of soup I was getting for my mother at the Chinese Buffet & it was so hot it burned my hand & they didn't have any sort of burn cream there. I had to pick something up at Walmart.

On the upside, my mother was actually very patient & understanding and she actually took charge & did stuff. She normally leaves everything up to me.

Tomorrow (well, later today), I'm going over to use some waterproof sealant on the bottom of my friend's new cabinet to make sure it won't get ruined if it gets wet.

 

[Floorist]

New storm door I had on order came in. Starting putting the hinges, etc. on it. Got windy and I had to quit.

 

[Ernesto]

 

[Nick]

Did you take a class there E ?

 

[zannej]

I went over and did a quick coat of water sealant on the bottom of my friend's cabinet, also hit the lower parts of the sides. Took less than 5 min. Hopefully it will help. Maybe another day I'll go over and go all the way up the sides & the back just for good measure. It was still partially wrapped in plastic & I didn't want to mess w/ it so I just left it for now.

He wants to do a gray ashwood stain on the front later on.

 

[Floorist]

Did you take a class there E ?

They make soylent green from immigrants there.

 

[Nick]

 

[Ernesto]

Just visiting. Gonna try and get in tomorrow. The youngest son just got admitted to med school here.
Couldn't be a better place for me being a Packer fan and hardwood geek.
I may have to move.

 

[Nick]

You won't like Winter .. Congrats to your son ..

 

[zannej]

I took my brother for a traffic court appearance. He wasn't contesting his ticket but the speed he was going meant mandatory court appearance. Prosecutor got him to plead "no contest" and drop it down to a lesser charge. Judge gave 30 days jail time waived if he paid the court fee & fine. He was waiting while the judge tallied it up & we thought it was going to be very high, but it was only like $100. Other people were getting hit w/ like $300. Most of them were unemployed. One poor guy just had his house burn down. The judge was actually very nice & fair. She gave some of them longer to pay & said they could pay over time & if they needed an extension they could file for one. She cautioned my brother to be careful & slow down so he didn't end up hurt or killed. There were over 20 people who didn't even show up so bench-warrants were issued. Although, the judge realized one of the no-shows was currently incarcerated and another had not been served with a summons so was passed on for later. One of the no-shows had been told to appear at 4pm but it wasn't that time yet so they passed.
Good thing my bro just got a raise & they also gave him the cash value of the PTO he would have accrued if they had actually put him as full-time when they were supposed to.
We actually got Mom out of the house and she made a really good pun/joke while we waited for the judge to show up in the courtroom but I can't remember what it was. When we were going in, I set off the metal detector so I started pulling stuff out of my pouch to show the security guard my metal retractable back scratcher, retractable magnet stick, two different measuring tapes, and a "lucky" coin in a metal fitting that an elderly friend gave me. He seemed rather amused by it all.
Afterward we went to the local Mexican restaurant to eat. They have something they call Quesadilla Rellena that I like to get.
Meanwhile, my kidney stones are still acting up. It's contributing to my fatigue I think. I need to drink more water.
I'm still waiting to hear back from my friend about coming over tomorrow to work on the leveling mix. Although getting my mother's computer fixed so she can do her taxes (and finding where she put the tax documents) are higher priority bc of the deadline.

 

[Floorist]

Trying to get a long list of things done, then going to hit my old customers about going back to work. booored

 

[Nick]

Good Luck !!

 

[zannej]

My plan for today was to work on my bathroom floor & my friend's fiance was supposed to come over. She called me early in the morning to say she'd come later. Then she called me a few hours later to postpone. Then she called & said she wasn't coming over but that my friend needed me to come over and bring some tools bc his waterline broke while he was taking measurements.

So, I drove over & one of the tools (a pipe cutter) he needed wasn't in my bag.I didn't mention to him that I had left it with him & he had not put it back in my bag-- I think he lost it. So we made a trip to the hardware store to get some stuff-- I needed a different sized hole cutting attachment & new pipe cutters. I helped him get his new kitchen cabinet set in place and set the countertop on it & helped him figure out where to cut the holes. I tried to get him to do the drain hole further back or through the wall but he decided not to bc he didn't understand how to do proper plumbing vents. I crawled partway under the house to help him get the PEX in position. He didn't listen to me about keeping it out of the sun so I think that will come to bite him later. He did show me he got a crimping tool for PEX rings so if I ask nicely he can use it on my house when I do some revisions to the water supply.

I've also been trying to help my mother find what she did with her tax paperwork. She told me to put the envelopes in her room. I did. But she lost them and I have no idea where she put them. She has a mountain of stuff piled up on her bed & around it and I can't touch anything without causing an avalanche. I've looked all over her desk, under her desk, behind her desk, next to her desk as well but I remember putting the envelopes in her room. She's freaking out bc the tax deadline is getting closer. She just procrastinated too long (you guys see where I get it from).

 

[Nick]

I ran my Business on Quicken .. End of year i just hit one button and it did a six page report ..

 

[Tom Picciani]

Discovered that Walmart sells the Pro Source 6' scaffolld for $169. Shipping free. It will be here Thursday. Also bought a cheap multi-tool from HF. Ordered some blades from Amazon. Will need it for flooring and removing baseboard. There is baseboard behind the surround tile going around the fireplace. I'm cutting it flush and hand sanding it so new baseboard and fit in. Going to remove all the baseboard before painting since it has to come off for flooring

Also bought a hand masker and some plastic to cover doors when I sand. Walls have a lot of spots that need help. Dirt was in paint apparently when it was last done. Also, nail holes and seams were not properly sanded flat before painting. Going to try to clean that up a bit.

Going to use Lumber Liquidators for the retreads on the stairs. I pulled up a small corner of the carpet on the stairs. The skirt boards were not cut very cleanly and have ugly gaps that the carpet is hiding. Going with red oak. I'll number each one and cut them to size. Will finish before applying.

Flooring will be Coretec but still thinking of Pergo Outlast+. I'm concerned about the heavy couch leaving divots in the vinyl. Thoughts on that?

And finally, I just finished digging a 50 foot trench to bury a 10/3 cable to put electric in the shed. And I'm sore as heck!

Have to finish today. I think rain is coming in a couple days.

 

[Nick]

You may be getting Snow Tom.. 6-20" is coming up that way ..

 

[Floorist]

You may be getting Snow Tom.. 6-20" is coming up that way ..

That's just flurries up there.

 

[Ernesto]

I blew out of Madison Wisconsin just in time. They are going to get 1 to 2 feet of snow. I was 73F when i scooted out of there.

 

[zannej]

Tom, I hope your project goes well. What do the feet look on your couch? They have big round sliders you can put under couches & such to make them easier to move & I think they may also distribute the weight a bit more so they might not leave divets.

I grabbed some stuff to take over to my friend's house. His fiance wanted me to pick her up to come help clean at my house (we pay her for it). I kept waiting for her to call & finally messaged her that I had to go into town to get mail (I forgot I was supposed to deliver a letter-- it was the only thing I forgot on the list of things). I removed Mom's computer form her desk and put it in the truck. Went to the post office & picked up mail & then when I got to my friend's house, there was nobody there. Turned on my phone & the girl messaged that there was some really big dog that kept trying to get into the house & that she had to go over to a friend's house because of it. I saw a small Australian Shepherd running around on stubby little legs. Got out & he came right over and jumped up on my leg (gently) and just rested his head on my leg while I petted him. He's got one blue eye & was very sweet. I think the real reason the girl left was bc her friend gets weed & she wanted to smoke. But the girl actually called the cops about the little dog-- they ignored the call & didn't even tell her to try calling animal control (probably bc they know how useless animal control here is-- they won't even come get a dog if it attacks & kills other people's pets, you have to bring the dogs to them & sometimes they will charge you a fee for it). I needed to get in to put the stuff inside & put the computer in so my friend could look at it. He told her to get her butt over there so she came over & let me put the stuff inside & kept freaking out about the little dog. The more she freaked the more the dog got excited. He had long fur so I knew we couldn't leave him there. Put him in my truck and we drove to the vet to see if they recognized him. They checked to see if he had a chip & he didn't look familiar. Not sure if he was dumped or just lost. He kept trying to get in the house (prior to vet visit) but he sat when I told him to and stayed when I said "stay". But when he followed the girl in, she freaked out and her little yorkiepoo was talking smack to him so I had to pick him up and carry him out. Once the door was closed he yelped & cried like he was being killed.

Vet said they couldn't take him & the local pound is at capacity so we called another friend who loves dogs. She was working at Pizza Hut so we swung by & she saw how adorable he was and agreed to foster him. I'll have to buy her some dog food as a thanks. She's currently trying to find a home for him, but he gets along with her blue healer pretty well. The blue healer was so excited about another fluffy dog her size to play with, but the cat was not thrilled at all. He sat there yowling about the intruder.

Friend's fiance was supposed to come with me to clean but decided that bc the dog touched her she needed to take a shower immediately and I should come get her tomorrow instead (she's said that to me every day this week so far).

I got an e-mail from Lowes reminding me that my item was there for pickup. I e-mailed them back & told them it was lost & the store employees were incompetent. Got a call from the store to tell me I had until May 5 to come pick up my item. I told the employee that I'd already shown up to pick it up last week & they couldn't find it & that they said they would deliver it to me instead bc I live an hour away. She said there were no notes on that situation. I asked her to confirm that they could actually locate the item & have it at the front if I was going to go up there. Negative. They still don't know where it is.

The good news is that moving stuff to get Mom's computer out uncovered the tax paperwork Mom needed-- although she is still missing some of my bro's forms. My friend got her computer working as well-- but had to replace the video card. Mice struck again & peed all over the brand new video card. I need to have her check the warranty info & see if that is covered. Also need to figure out a way to keep the mice out & protect the video card just in case. Don't know why the little fuggers keep going after the video card. I'll have to see if there is some sort of mesh or something I can put over any holes large enough for them to get through. She still refuses to listen to me about not piling trash & empty food containers against the computer & all on her desk. Computer area needs to be kept clear so Itsy can patrol for mice.

Tomorrow we are going over so Mom can do her taxes at my friend's house (since the computer is there & his printer works). I'll mail the letter & we'll bring him a ream of paper. Mom will get to sit in the computer chair she bought him for Christmas. I'll also be there to help him do the template for his kitchen sink, cut the countertop, & get the sink set in. Then we can deal with setting up the plumbing for it. Water supply lines are in & drain is somewhat roughed in-- will need to be connected to the main sewer line, but I think it will require a shovel to dig out enough to access the area-- and maybe something to kill the damn fire ants.