The First 100

I was outside at 8:30 a.m. I quit for the day around 6 p.m. In all those hours, I managed to accomplish this.

In fairness, all those bricks you see along the left perimeter? I had to mortar those. TWO rows deep. That took the bulk of the time. I also had to chip both along the house's cinder block and along the patio surface to get rid of some wayward patches that would have thrown things off kilter otherwise.

In all, it was progress. But when you look at the bigger picture, it sure doesn't seem like I got very far at all.

That's it? Really? And I worked ALL DAY?! Yeah. The good news is that this week's weather is supposed to be awesome. The bad news is that I may -- or may not -- be able to take vacation Thursday and Friday as I planned. Cross your fingers. I'm anxious to get back on the job and make some REAL progress! Here's hoping.

They're here! They're here!

At long last, the bricks we bought at Menard's last weekend have arrived. They were originally supposed to be delivered Thursday afternoon.

But on Wednesday, they called and said they had to bring in more from another store so it wouldn't be another five days. FIVE DAYS? I just about had a cow. With a weekend of near idyllic weather, I couldn't have that. Luckily, by the time I got home, there was a message on my answering machine. The bricks could come, but not until Friday. Well, OK then. Still here in time for the weekend.

But on Friday, another delay. Friday morning was becoming Friday afternoon. But then, that didn't happen either. When I called Friday night, I got told Saturday morning. When no one called to say they were en route this morning, I called them again. It will be another hour or two, I was told.

This was putting a serious damper on the plans I had to brick the patio, starting this morning. I had a huge mess to get cleared up -- and more than 900 bricks to put down. I couldn't clean up the mess because I needed to put a Bagster in the driveway. And I didn't know if I'd have to move one car or both when, and if, the bricks finally arrived.

I wanted them put in the driveway at the back but feared I'd have to settle for having them brought to the front.

Instead, I got an ideal situation: the driver used the crane atop his truck to set them down NEXT TO THE PATIO! This means I won't have to traipse up and down the driveway with them. It also meant that once the truck was gone, I could begin cleaning up the mess of old rock by setting up another Bagster. So, today was a day of waiting, running around, and then cleaning up the mess. Tomorrow's agenda: Putting bricks down. Finally!

Cemented

I have played with a lot of cement. You usually can't put roughly 900 bricks in place without it.

But for the first time ever, today I played with cement that came in a truck. A big truck. This truck. (Oh and that's Lawrence walking into the scene!)

And we got our 12x18 foundation poured. It was a horrid experience. Uber messy. Physically demanding. A job you CAN'T take a break from. And you have to move, fast, fast, fast!

I don't think the concrete had enough water in it because it started to set up even before we had all of it off the truck. It was unseasonably cool here today. Had it been in the 90s or above 100 like it's been for the last week or two, we'd have been seriously screwed.

As it was, we managed to get it done. It's not pretty (I neither expected nor need it to be) but it appears to be solid and level. I'm going to cover it with bricks soon so I wasn't concerned with having a perfect surface. What's unfortunate is that I have a moat of concrete in the backyard. It came from all of the excess we scraped off during screeding. I couldn't stop to level it out and it dried in place before I could. It will require a sledge or pickax to bust it up and get it low enough to just throw rock back over or to place pavers on. I bought 3.5 yards of concrete, mostly as a precaution because we had to fill the five holes we created to place the post. Seems 3, or more likely 3.25, would have been better. Live and learn.

So, I spent a few hours ankle-deep in cement. I was at it so long and the concrete was setting up so fast that at one point, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get out of it! It would be ironic to be an ornament, forever stuck on my own patio! But who knows? Perhaps I've created the next fashion craze: Mafia shoes!

Drive Time

Things I think about on the way in to work: The million billion little edits I have to make to the materials that are awaiting me. How many more million billion edits the client may have sent overnight, while I wasn't looking. I'm going to have to clear out the entire shed to get to those post hole diggers. God, do I REALLY have to dig more? Next hole I dig after this post adventure, I'm just going to fall in and call it a day. How are we going to solve for the gap between the existing gutter on the back of the house and where the new covered area starts? Yeah. All that stuff sloshing around in my head. And I haven't even had coffee yet ...

A Day of Laboring

On Sunday, I was outside before 8:30. I tore into the rocks around the old deck site that needed clearing. Nearly three steady hours of work and I'd barely made a dent in it. It was hot and steamy and I was already wearing down.

After a short break, I decided that I would try to at least get the lawn mowed, hoping that I would make it through before the approaching storm front arrived. As it turned out, I would only just make it.

I had to settle for brushing off rather than hosing off the mower. I hurriedly pushed it into the shed and then began tossing in everything else that goes in behind it. Before I could even shut the door, the mini monsoon arrived. Wind began tossing and turning the things that I hadn't yet gotten to. I made a mad dash for the carport, along with the now dilapidated cart I was using to haul buckets of dirt and rock out to the Bagster.

Just then, a massive gust of wind began driving piercing rain through the sky. I was first assaulted by and then soaked through with rain! There wasn't an inch of me that was dry. That's how a hot and exhausting work day ended.

The good news was that the nasty little storm front made for a MUCH cooler and less humid day today. I was outside by 7:30 and by the time Lawrence arrived an hour later, I had made some good progress. By the time he left, shortly before 3, this is where we were.

Amazing what a difference 24 hours had made! Our next adventure: digging five postholes that will eventually hold the top of our covered patio. Then, the next stop is CONCRETE for the foundation. Yep. We're REALLY moving forward with this project.

SIZZLE!

Holy triple-digit temperatures, Batman!

Today is the second consecutive day of temps above 100 degrees. And it felt every degree of it. It was too hot to do real work so Lawrence and I made a short few hours of planning and then we took a trip to Lowe's to get the wood we'll need for the concrete forms. And a Bagster.

I used a Bagster for the first time a few weeks ago when we took the deck down. That thing was MEGA-stuffed. The only reason I was able to get as much into it as I did was that I strategically packed it. It got out of here successfully so I've decided to try it again.

This time, it will be rock and dirt. Rock and dirt that I have to dig up from around much of the area that surrounded what once was the deck. I did a little bit last weekend but to look at it, I didn't even scratch the surface.

It's supposed to be a little cooler tomorrow. A little being about five or six degrees. But, I need to work on the yard and on beginning to move all that rock. I feel like I've got the same quarry that Fred Flintstone did but the difference is that he got to sit his fat *ss down in a crane!

Success: Part 1

BOOYAH! I walked out of City Hall today with a building permit! And I didn't even have to get bailed out jail. For me, one of the biggest issues was having to draw up a "plan" to share with our Building and Zoning office in order to get said permit. Have I mentioned that I don't draw? Well, I don't. So my very primitive rendering was a source of concern to me. The guy at B&Z? He asked me a couple questions. He gave me a thumbs up when I said we planned to put the four corner posts 2 feet in. The inspector has to come before we can pour the concrete over them to check. That's about it. It almost sounds too simple ...

Gift of a Lifetime

I am a writer. I got my first desk around age 9.

It was a trash find that the mother found and refinished for me. It was only a few feet wide and maybe a few feet deep. A thick board slid out of each of the front legs to accommodate the actual surface that you pulled down like a drawer. The inside was filled with little cubby holes and just some open storage space. It served the purpose until I was about 14.

I didn't have a desk again until college. It came with the apartment I lived in. It wasn't anything to write home about but it was functional. Since then, I've had about five desks, each at the different places where I've worked. At home, I've had a cheap, flat sofa table that held my computer and, with some strategically placed café curtains, allowed me to stow a printer and scanner beneath.

After Memorial Day weekend, that all changed.

The mother saw a Dillard's ad in the Sunday paper. She saw a dining room set and we decided to go see it in person since our dining room chairs, more than 30 years old, are getting a little on the loose side. Unfortunately, the dining room set that looked like cherry wood, was actually a black painted finish. Pretty, but not in keeping with the décor at This D*mn House. We were disappointed but decided to mill around. Almost simultaneously we saw it.

The mother made a mad dash for it and I was on her heels. She began physically inspecting it. I just stood there with my mouth open. "Well, do you want it?"

Of course I wanted it. But where the hell were we going to put it? "Let me worry about that," says the mother. " I wanted to get you something really nice for your birthday anyway."
And so, in early June, this came through my front door.

It's OK. You can drool if you'd like. I'll wait. The middle drawer flips down to accommodate a keyboard. Instead, it's where I now stow my new laptop and my wifi unit. My printer lives beneath the table that you see a tiny glimpse of in the right of the photo and my scanner is against the wall (not in the photo). So far, it has worked divinely! It truly is one of the best gifts ever.

A few weeks ago, we lost power at work and I came home in the hopes of getting things done. I had not one, but two laptops (work and personal) on that desk!

We REALLY liked the chair but the sales associate told us we couldn't just buy those chairs. Sad because the ball and claw feet match our living room furniture. But we weren't sad for long. I managed to find them online -- at Dillard's! The place where you supposedly couldn't buy them. Hmmm. And, they were on sale. BOOYAH!

And so, after a bit of time online, a few phone calls and a two-week wait, our livingroom/diningroom combo is now all matchy-matchy. Now, if only the kitchen, the bedrooms and the basement were done! And, did I mention, we're in the throes of an OUTDOOR project right now? In fact, I'm heading to City Hall in the morning, hoping to secure a building permit. Wish me luck.

Inside and Out

I've been away for a few months, but that doesn't mean I really left. A special thanks to long-time reader Karen Anne who left me a comment to spur me along, confident that I was in fact out there still.

No worries - I am. I've just been really, really busy!

Since early June, I've been averaging between 55 and 70 hours (this past week). While it's exhausting, it's a good problem to have. (Remember how I spent 14 months working part time? Me, too. And I don't want to do it again. Ever.)

And the mother and I? We've been busy, too! In typical fashion, she's been bouncing back and forth between projects both inside and out. It's how she is -- 96 projects at once rather than one at a time.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I'll be sharing some photos this week to get you caught up properly. Hope everyone is doing well. Can hardly wait to check back in and hear from you again.

Gearing Up

Well, look at that! Blogger FINALLY is letting me post again. (I've tried at least 10 times this month.)

Life is going 100 miles an hour but it looks like we're back on the DIY bandwagon. Some of the activity is being sparked by some new furniture that will be coming soon. Now, all we need is for:

1) It to stop raining.
2) Me to strike a healthy balance between "busier than hell" and "snail slow" that will allow me to take some more vacation time.

Cross your fingers and we'll see what happens. With any luck, I'll be sharing progress ... soon.

When Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction

Sometimes when I look at the headlines in the wake of a national tragedy, I swear I'm reading something worthy of The Onion.

No, I'm not saying what happened in Boston on Monday is even remotely funny. Hardly. But what kind of a world do we live in when the latest in a series of mind-boggling mass murder incidents involves exploding cookware at a marathon? There's something surreal and illogical about that.

It was just a fun day at an event that draws hundreds of thousands from all around the world. Most of the people who were injured weren't even participating in the event – they were spectators. They were cheering on family and friends who had put themselves through a grueling 26+ mile run.

Now, three of those spectators are dead. A darling 8-year-old boy. A restaurant manager who would have turned 30 next month. A graduate student, 26, from China. And now, about 170 others are beginning another grueling journey, trying to survive the loss of a foot or a leg or another even more catastrophic injury. Some of them probably won't succeed. It's bad enough when we have young soldiers a world away who are similarly damaged or destroyed. But noncombatants – people merely watching a foot race?

We still don't know who did it or why. (After today, it sounds like authorities may be closer.) But whether it was an act of international terrorism or just a local homegrown crackpot, it doesn't really matter. We just need to find them and stop them from inflicting who knows what on God knows who.

There are plenty of theoretical suspects to finger. And sadly, it seems like there always is when something like this happens. The truth is that many times, there really isn't any reason at all. It's random – whatever reason du jour some crazy person chooses to make it.

Why is the hate so strong? The insanity so irretrievably gone off the cliff? If you figure it out, do me a favor and let me know.

St. Louis in Spring

Wow! Where is April going? Half gone already …

At 3:40 a.m., I was rudely roused by a roll of thunder that jostled my bed like a drunken lover trying to sneak into beside me but failed miserably. Welcome to springtime in St. Louis where hail and strong winds (if not tornados) are the new norm.

Last week, a tornado struck just across the river. No, actually TWO tornados tore through parts of St. Louis. The good news is that no one was killed. I was afraid for a little while that it was going to repeat its path from two years ago where it cut a swath through a neighborhood just a few blocks away! Luckily, that didn't happen.

And, outside lightning, thunder  and the occasional heavy downpour, we've been lucky. But, we've been in severe weather mode since Sunday and it's supposed to last right through Thursday.

The temperatures have been schizophrenic again, too. One day, it's 80 degrees. The next day? We're lucky to get above freezing. I hesitate to complain too much about that, fearing that we'll go straight from 65 to 85 like we did last year. I need that to not happen so we can get back into workin' mode around here!

More later. I've been busy and wanted to check in and say hi. So, "hi!" I'll be back soon with a bit o' commentary on current events. (It seems wrong to complain about some storms at a time when others are plunged into almost unfathomable grief.)

In the meantime, wherever you are, hope you're safe, happy … and the sun is shining.

An Open Letter to the Handyman Club

Caveat emptor, my friends, if you should consider "joining" the Handyman Club as I did.

They put out a nice little magazine. I will give them that. Unfortunately, though, they also like to take advantage of folks with their "how-to" books (and from complaints I saw online, with fees for tools they never deliver). I returned the first book, decided I didn't need any more of them and canceled. Then they sent another one. I sent that one back, too. Only thing is, at the direction of the USPS, I marked it "refused" and turned it in at the post office. BIG MISTAKE. HUGE!

Had I spent $3 or $4 on postage as I did with the first ... my nightmare might have ended. (Of course, they would probably have just sent ANOTHER book.) B*stards. I wrote to them, put notes on my account messages and tried calling them many times. In the end, they siced a collection agency on me. Yeah. It doesn't seem right but they wore me down. I caved.

Despite the date, this is NOT a joke. I mailed this letter with payment last week.

Enclosed is payment for $29.98 for the defrauding organization HANDYMAN CLUB OF AMERICA. Here’s hoping your client chokes on it.


Why? Because they are NOT owed this money.

The item generating this “debt” was returned to them, unopened and REFUSED more than a year ago. A previous item, which WAS opened and for which I paid return postage, was likewise returned at which point the company was told to CANCEL and send nothing further. They ignored this direction.

What your closing line should read is: “This is an attempt to collect on a fraud.” Your client is a sham operation at best. Had I done a better job of checking them out BEFORE joining them, I’d have found that out. Shame on me.

Shame on them for continuing to perpetuate a fraud. This “debt” was from a book that was returned to them in February 2012. It’s a book I should NEVER have received because when I returned the previous book they sent, I had CANCELED!! I followed up with them by phone and in writing multiple times, all to no avail.

I know I sent it back. They know it, too. By now, they’ve probably used this same book to rope in some other poor sucker. Who knows how many times they’ve “sold” that very same book. And now, they’ve used their scam to help your company line its pockets. Shame on you, too.

You are receiving this payment for two reasons: 1) I refuse to let a $30 scam damage my credit and 2) I want your company TO STOP CALLING ME. STOP! Please pay attention as this, along with a canceled check, will prove that our communication is at an end.

You have your damned money, regardless of the fact that you don’t deserve it any more than the dishonest lot you represent. Calling my house multiple times a day and hanging up is not only childish, it’s harassment! CALL ME AGAIN AND I WILL SUE YOU on that point and report you to local authorities.

Hopefully, you listen and comprehend better than your worthless client.

Remembering a Brother, Lost

It's a bittersweet day for me.

I'm an only child but for the first 21 years of my life, I had a pseudo sibling. I've written before about this faux brother of mine who was really a third cousin. He couldn't have been a better brother though if the mother had birthed him herself.

Steve was amazing. He was funny and sweet and just a genuine good guy. All that in spite of the less than stellar deck he was dealt. A diagnosis of chronic nephritis as age 7 after one kidney stopped working and the other all but did the same. He would recover -- miraculously -- after being given just two weeks to live. (He's actually written up in medical journals.)

But, every day of his life for the next 15 years was a huge struggle. And he bore it better than anyone should ever be expected to.

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of him, and none more so than this week every year. Today is the anniversary of his birth. Next week is the anniversary of his death.

He really was one of the best people I've ever known. Happy birthday, cuz. Know that you are loved and missed always.

Blogger is Back!

Well, whaddya know? Blogger is working again! (I've tried to post a few times recently and had major issues.)

Things are good for know. They've been busy (which is always good) but is largely responsible for why I've not posted much lately. It's 55 degrees outside. The sun is just now starting to go down but it has been out all day. Hard to believe that we are going to be under a winter storm warning in a few hours. We could get up to 10 inches of snow. BOO! HISS!

The good news is that we have everything we need and don't have to be anywhere. (At least not until Monday morning. And that's gonna suck!)

Hope everything is good with all of you. Here's a summary of what's up with me.

• I'm still battling a sinus infection. (In my second week of 3 on antibiotics). The mother has done something to her neck/shoulder and has been miserable the past few days. She is coughing, too, and once we get going, it sounds like a TB ward around here!
• I've been traveling again for work. Been to Dallas twice and would have gone again next month but it appears I'm off the hook for that one. I'm enjoying it though.
• I got my introduction to Downton Abbey. Love it! I made it through the first two episodes of Season 2. I'm trying to savor it but it's difficult. I know I have a whole season after this one, but there won't be any more of it until NEXT YEAR! :(
• If we can get a weekend where either the mother or I aren't sick OR I can get a good enough schedule from one of my key clients so that I can schedule a few days off ... we might actually get something else done around the house!

Catching Up

A while back, faithful follower Karen Anne issued yet another of her “speak to us” requests. At the time, I fully intended to honor that request. Life, however, got in the way.

This year is off to something of a raucous start with a multitude of things both good and bad going on. If the first quarter of the year though is setting the tenor for all of 2013, it should go down as a reasonably good year.

In the interest of bringing you up to speed and to getting me back on track, I’ll try to share a series of brief updates, some that even have pictures. Overall though, they don’t have much to do with the house. We’re back to the occasional trickle where the house is concerned. That’s something I hope to rectify in the not too distant future.

Patience, my friends. Patience.

10 Things I Did Over the 3-Day Weekend

1. Realized that January is getting away quickly and that I hadn’t yet posted to the blog in 2013. Happy New Year, everyone!


2. All but decided that I am going to have to resort to the cortisone shots if I am ever going to get full use of my arm back. Hoping that a few days of bad will lead to a long-term good outcome. (My arm is better but it’s been almost four months. Babying your dominant arms gets old!)

3. Got Pearl washed … finally! Poor thing. She was a very dirty girl.

4. Watched lots of inaugural coverage – but managed to miss the actual swearing in and Obama’s speech.

5. Spent my first workday of 2013 with Lawrence! We replaced the bathroom exhaust fan, got through a few minor plumbing and electrical jobs and secured the awning over the backdoor. (Between a hardware store run and working outside for a bit, I missed the inauguration.)

6. Napped.

7. Played trivia with friends. Our high school hosts an annual event and my circle from high school has reserved a table for 8 for several years now. While a few were not able to join us due to illness and other plans, we managed to fill all the spots. And, not only did we not have to worry about coming home in disguises (the scourge of the losing team), we scored 92/100! That’s a record for our group and put us within a few points of third place. Very respectable indeed.

8. Talked through a plan with the mother to consolidate and rearrange several things in the house. I’m not sure about some of it but when she starts using words like “pitch” and “storage,” I’m willing to give it a shot. (Stay tuned.)

9. Learned how to post a photo on Facebook using my phone. (I got a new phone over the holidays. Not an iPhone. Not an Android. So, while its functions are a bit limited compared to either of those, it’s light years ahead of the phone I had.)

10. Got an introduction to “Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo.” The mother is 32. The eldest child is 17 and just had a baby. The house is like an episode featuring one of the rundown properties the “Property Brothers” tries to get a client to buy meets an episode of “Hoarders: Buried Alive.” Let’s just say I spent 45 minutes of my life that I can’t get back watching people I could just as easily have seen during a trip to Walmart. Lesson learned.

The Bathroom Reveal

It's a tiny bathroom. So tiny that I had some difficulty in even taking these photos. But if it'so small, you might ask, WHY did it take so long? Well, if you ask that question, you've obviously never lived through a remodel of a bathroom in a one-bathroom house. That, details, and a series of curveballs from life resulted in a project of more than three and a half years from start to finish. But, for your viewing curiosity, here goes ...

First, here's the view from the doorway, looking up.

Once you're in the door, if you turn right, you'll find this scene above the sink. The mother  and I both love the addition of that clock.

This is really supposed to be the FIRST photo from outside the door, but Blogger is being difficult AGAIN! (Give you an idea of how my floor -- installed in 2009 -- helps pull it all together.)

This is the back of the commode and a closer look at the detail on the medicine cabinet.  I mitred those corners!

On the wall to your left, you'll see this orate shelf and two shadow boxes created by the mother.

This table sits below that shelf. The cast iron boot was carefully detailed by the mother and features one of her arrangements.

So, that's it. I can say I don't think the photos quite do it justice but I'm probably biased. I still haven't gotten completely used to it yet. It's really a good feeling to see 2012 wind down and being able to check the box on this exceptionally long-term project! Now, it's upward and onward.

A Christmas Miracle

It's Christmas Eve and just guess what I did? Yes, I FINISHED the bathroom!

It took a bit of doing but I managed it. Except for a bit of touch-up paint – which that bad boy will get tomorrow – and the mother's final knick-knack staging, it is done! Put the last piece of trim up a little over an hour ago while "A Christmas Story" was on.

Folks, it's a Christmas miracle!

A Long Winter's Nap

Does absence really make the heart grow fonder? I wonder …

Well, for those of you who have decided to stick around despite my sporadic-at-best postings, I thank you. A lot has been going on, hence my silence.

I was busy with things like stuffing a stocking for a 9-year-old boy. Fun stuff! And, I gathering  gifts for his 13-year-old sister. The stockings are part of our annual holiday charity program at work, an effort I have been heading up for the past several years. Things were being picked up and/or delivered last Friday. And this past Friday, we were able to send out two gift cards – for $640 each – to two families we adopted in the Northeast. We also helped 10 senior citizens ,10 developmentally disabled adults and an early childhood program get things for the holidays!

Tomorrow, I will start my sixth week of full-time status again – which means my second full-time paycheck is right around the corner. Hallelujah! Things have been insanely busy and going pretty well for the most part. (Reaching for wood to knock on.) Hoping that it continues on this way.

On the home front, I did yard work a few weekends ago – despite nursing a torn tendon in my right arm. That little injury (caused by overuse, according to the doctor) has slowed me considerably. The bathroom is still NOT complete, in part because I can't use a caulk gun or drill or saw without considerable difficulty. 

The good news is that after almost two months of battling it, I FINALLY got some relief earlier this month in the form of a prescription cream and special treatments to apply it. Longer-term, I've had to change the way I use computers (both at home and at work), not pick up heavy stuff and not do anything too strenuous so as to set back the progress I've made.

We've also been cleaning, cleaning, cleaning! Am working now to finish up my room. Then, it's off into the pre-holiday insanity to fetch our Christmas ham and the rest of the fixings! Whatever you'r e doing today, I hope it is filled with the spirit of the holiday season.