Worst Case Scenario

For the past few weeks, the mother has been on my case about two things: getting the shed doors fixed and getting Ladybird ready for winter.

On the latter, I had a "car episode" earlier this month in which I managed to find – in the space of 10 minutes – that BOTH cars had technical difficulties. I'm happy to report that both cars are once again mechanically sound, an experience that left my bank account a few hundred dollars smaller. But, neither was a "worst case scenario." Whew! And, I still have some to winterize Ladybird now that she is done logging hours in the shop.

On the shed … the weather hasn't been in my favor. I tried for almost two weeks to find the winning combination of 1) a day I could take off work (it's open enrollment season and year end, so very busy) 2) a warm, dry day and 3) a combination of 1 and 2 on which Lawrence was also available. Finally, yesterday was that day. What I thought would take a few hours took four times that. And, what I thought would be our biggest problem wasn't. It was worse. Much worse.

It was so bad in fact that Lawrence uttered a phrase about as negative as it ever gets with him: "That isn't good." Remember when I "pimped" the shed during 2008 (inside) and 2009 (outside)? Lawrence quickly added: "It's a good thing you did what you did or this wall might be gone." This wall referred to the outside front wall, on the side nearest the house. As he pulled away the last piece of plywood from the inside, I saw that the original wall had completely deteriorated, compromising both the outer and inner layers in which I'd encased it. OY!

And I thought the front beam, running adjacent to the opening for the doors, was the worst of it. NOT! For about the past year or so, the rotten wood has taken to raining down every time one of the doors is opened or closed. Not a good scene.

The good news is that Lawrence was up for the challenge and completely oblivious to the thundercloud that loomed above us, starting around lunch time. At that point, the shed was opened up like a tin can, with both doors and the wall in question removed. The sky began to blacken and the wind picked up with ferocity. "What are you going to do to keep the rain out? You aren't going to get those doors back on ahead of the storm," the mother said.

Lawrence, never missing a beat, both answered her question and ignored the comment that had followed it: "I'm going to shut the doors," he said matter-of-factly. I love Lawrence!

About 90 minutes later, he did just that.

We replaced the outer wall and part of the inner wall behind it. He replaced the door frame, put both doors back in, adjusted the main door so that the damn thing finally closes properly and then helped me carefully replace the outside boards. I now have some caulking and painting to do (hoping for a 65-degree or more day soon to do that) but the structure is once again sound. It was a lot of work, but man is it a great feeling to open the shed door and not have rotting wood debris raining on your head!