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September 02, 2005

Various & Sundry Items

--We've started the 3 R's on the house....Repair, Repaint & Remodel. We got the first coat of paint on WildChild's room yesterday. The new cheery sunshine yellow is a vast improvement over the old fluorescent screaming yellow, let me inform you.

--I've decided the previous remodel job was done by the Three Stooges. Probably the most bizarre thing we've found so far was in a small closet we're redoing to move the hot water heater into. Two shelves had small wooden boxes built into them....for what reason we couldn't figure. And the closet door had the hook half of a hook & eye latch installed on the inside of the door. I'd be afraid to know why.....lock in or lock out? Very strange.

--After Mike came up with a very creative solution to our problem of the space for the fridge being too small for our oversized one, I remarked that we should get our own tv show about us remodeling old houses. At the rate we work, we could do one house per season. We could call it something like "Old Folks, Old Houses". Mike suggested it be a live, reality show....and that a typical episode would be something like "Hi! Mike's back is acting up today, so you can sit back & watch us play Doom." hehe

--Had two major heart-stopping moments yesterday. The first was when I walked out back to get a bucket of water & discovered the reason the house wasn't cooling off was that the air conditioner unit wasn't running. Ack! Fortunately, I soon figured out the reason was that some dumbass had shut off the power to the unit. Thanks, fool! I'd like to stab you in the eye. The second was opening yesterday's mail. I've been expecting a bill for lab work from my health care provider. Opened a letter from them yesterday, and the first thing I saw was an amount approximately 10 times what I was expecting. However, once I could breathe again, I read on & discovered it was a refund check for an overcharge when I had the MRI done. Whew! A nice surprise for a change.

--Speaking of lab work, I got the results the other day. Everything fairly normal, ruled out some more possible causes of my nerve problems. The only bad thing that showed up was that the Prednisone is only keeping the inflammation under control at a fairly high dosage. But it is working, so I'm staying on it...for now at least. The side effects are annoying, but I'm getting used to not sleeping. And swelling up with fluid retention so I look like the Michelin Man can be controlled somewhat by sticking to my low salt/no salt diet. Which sux ass, btw. While neither of us are enjoying my new-found irritability, Mike (God love him) has dealt with it admirably. A small price to pay for being relatively pain-free and mostly functional. IMO anyway.

--Finally, today's our 5th wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary, baby! We're planning to spend it getting all sweaty and covered with paint & grim, working on our house. No place I'd rather be.

Posted by Rita at September 2, 2005 04:22 AM

Comments

Happy Anniversary to both of you!

I can't think of a nicer couple I've never met. :)

Posted by: Craig [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 2, 2005 06:31 AM

WhooHoo!!
I'm off this weekend so if you guys need a hand or just want a break let me know!

Posted by: BloodSpite at September 2, 2005 07:14 AM

If you have a circular saw I could borrow, that would be great. I will be cutting off the end of the counter (and cabinet) to make room for the fridge and I don't think the jig saw is going to do the job.

Posted by: Mike S [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 2, 2005 07:35 AM

Happy Anniversary to you both!

If you need any duct tape, lemme know.

Posted by: Jim - PRS at September 2, 2005 09:19 AM

I have everything you need. All you have to do is drive to Orlando and pick it up. By the way, Happy Anniversary!

Posted by: Bill at September 2, 2005 02:03 PM

I Don't

BUT!

My Step Dad does!

And I'm pretty sure I could borrow it ;)

Posted by: BloodSpite at September 2, 2005 03:54 PM

It's amazing what you can do with a jig saw...
and what I found behind the cabinet base was equally amazing...
I want to meet the people who did the plumbing on this house to find out what world they came from... obviously water runs uphill on their planet.

Bill, thanks for the offer but it would probably cost a thousand dollars to pay for the gas right now to drive to your house, pick up the tools and drive back. It's $3.30 a gallon here. Maybe next fall when I recover enough financially to do the rest of the planned work. You and Sean are always welcome to come and stay as long as you like. You don't even have to help, you can just hang out and make fun of me as I try to remember how to hang a door... closet doors open out, right?

Jim, I got duck tape, I got drywall tape and I got masking tape... I even have a measuring tape... I could probably use a tape worm though.

Posted by: Mike S at September 2, 2005 04:51 PM

Thanks Craig! We think the same about you & the missus.

Thanks BloodSpite, appreciate the offer. We'll give you a yell if we get swamped. So far so good, even if we are a little slow in our old age.

Thanks Jim, that's my kind of repair tool. Heh. I can fix damn near anything with duct tape & a butter knife. And a really big hammer.

Bill, whaddya mean drive to Orlando? You mean you won't deliver? Tsk. What kind of BIL are you anyways? ;-)

Posted by: Rita [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 3, 2005 03:42 AM

Happy Anniversary!

Posted by: bogie at September 3, 2005 06:35 AM

Actually, I have been known to deliver on those rare occassions. I have been building a fountian in the garden in the center of the house. It is amazing what you can accomplish with an out of work Nicarauguan and some spare time. As long as I am not an overdue bill, I suppose. Bill

Posted by: Bill at September 3, 2005 06:37 PM

Thanks Bogie! And the same to you.

Well that's true Bill, I guess that'll get you off the hook this time. And you're definitely more welcome at our house than an overdue bill.

Posted by: Rita [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 4, 2005 05:29 AM