Rick & Jeremy - Mindy - Beer - my Wings - Marley man
The dawn of a new day was well within my grasp. This was the first day in a long time that I have been up prior to 5:30am. And again, I was well rested after another good night's sleep. But heck, it's always a little easier waking on a Firkin Friday. I seem to pull on stored energy reserves.
If I am to believe the weather prognosticators, this weekend's weather won't be anything to write home about. We are expecting temperatures to barely nick 70 and there's an increasing likelihood of rain, at least on Saturday. That sounds much more like an April forecast rather than mid June. The benefits are for the lawn and flowers, the down side of course is that it'll be another missed boating opportunity.
My weekend plan calls for ripping up the 16' decking boards on the first tier of my deck and replacing them with new. My deck is only eleven years old but the seventeen 16' boards are in bad shape. One is rotted clear through. It's no coincidence either. I had to buy those at 84 lumber as opposed to Hechinger (since closed) where I bought all the other decking. There wood quality was in far superior,but they didn't have any 16'ers at the time so I had to find them elsewhere. Anyway, they've managed to cup, split, and rot. What makes it even worse is that these are the boards one sees as they peer out the back door; they serve as the center of the deck. I guesstimate that it's about a 5 hour job, at least for the tear out and replacement. Finishing touches like sanding the edges at the steps along with staining will be included in phase two when I re-stain the entire deck.
so, the moral to my story is this... Having less than desirable boating weather is good, since now I won't feel like I am missing out and being cheated out of a relaxing boating day. The only potential issue is the chance of rain. If it rains heavily, I'll be relegated to the inside. And honey, you don't want to be around Jimmy on a rainy summer day. He'll go bananas being cooped up inside!
I went about my morning routine like most others with the exception of squeezing in a morning run. I hadn't committed to doing so until I had sucked down my first cup of coffee. But the morning was beautiful and events at work lent itself well to such a plan. Even though I rose no earlier than normal, I had a few extra minutes because I didn't need to pack a lunch. I also knew that being there before 8am was not an absolute. I finished my run at 7:30am. I went about taking a shower and readying everything else in short order. I left the house at 7:45 - not bad given what I had already accomplished!
Work got busy fast. It's a good thing that I'm a type "AA", otherwise I might collapse under the repeated pressure. Today marked the end of a six year career for one of my engineers. He treated the masses to pizza and the team chipped in to get him a cake. I had one piece of pizza. Come 1pm, around my usual lunch time, I decided to leave the office for some Home Depot shopping since I had run earlier. My goal was to come out with two new toilet flappers, some deck screws, and spare Honda keys. I found everything I needed and more. The flappers I needed were indeed available, and even though the toilet down stairs in the only one seemingly leaking, I bought two thinking that the other can't be far behind since they're the same age. Hopefully this will solve the toilet valve kicking on intermittently problem. A fine young gentleman offered to assist with the keys and ended up being extremely helpful. Not only did he make me two spare Honda keys, but he also pointed me in the right direction relative to which of the new decking screws would best suit my application. Moreover, he informed me that the new lock set I had to purchase and install Memorial Day Weekend could be matched to my existing house keys for $5. All it would require would be for me to bring both key sides of the set as well as my old key. Cool!
While waiting on the keys I perused the cordless drills again. I have been looking at them for months now. I really want one since I am always dragging the extension cords around the house and yard whenever I'm in a project. It's one of those don't NEED but would love to have. My old Makita cordless is not powerful enough and the batteries are kaput! I have one of those personalities where it's hard for me to buy perceived lesser quality, especially when there are multiple choices placed in front of me. If you've looked at cordless drill recently you'll know what I mean. There are easily 25 choices. The choice depends on application. Most of us tend to over buy, but then again, who wants to under buy? In other words, if you're going to spend $100, why not spend another $20 or $30 and get slightly better with more bells and whistles? But in the case of cordless drills that seems to never end. At some point, however, you run into obvious over buying. They now have 20 volt drills that will drill your house down if necessary. Bottom line, I need a versatile drill that can handle drilling and driving in a multitude of media that won't wimp out in the middle of the job. As I alluded to earlier, the options vary wildly as do the prices. I had been looking at a drill that costs $179, but then I stumbled on a combo package made by Ryobi that contains an 18v 1/2 " chuck cordless drill with 450 torque lbs and up to 1400 rpms, an 18v circular saw, an 18v palm sander, and a flashlight for $109. My first intuition was that it must be a cheap bait and switch, but after talking with their tool guy he convinced me otherwise and I bought it. He told me that I won't be disappointed. One thing about Home Depot is that if I am not happy, they'll usually take it back no questions asked. Remember the spot light issue?
I left the Depot with my stuff feeling good. Before going back to work I decided to work my way down by the river to the Greek Cuisina to get a Gyro, which I had been craving for weeks. Along my way I gave Lindsey a call to discuss the logistics of getting the Honda to her. Soon I was at my destination. I ended up throwing the low-carb thing out the window for the day and getting the entire combo (gyro, fries, and lemonade). It was tasty and satisfying.
I was back at the office by 1:20pm and I picked up right where I left off. We were dealing with a couple of tough, tuff issues. I worked hard right up until 5:15pm. I left the office feeling good about what I had accomplished through the week. As I worked my way home I tossed around the idea of going to Barley's. I hadn't yet decided if I were going or not., and I still wasn't certain. What I was certain about was my desire for a quick nap once home.
After arriving home and walking Ykraps I found my way to my book and reading chair to do just that.. I napped for about 15 minutes. Very refreshing, and just like the old days. And in true Jimmy fashion, I woke suddenly, jumped to my feet feeling like I had to do something productive. I decided to grab my crow bar and begin ripping up decking boards. I had no delusion that I might get it done but instead wanted to get a feel for the effort and complication. This will be the first time that I have had to rip up old decking boards. My assumption was this. They should come up fairly easy since they need replaced, especially the rotten one. Well, as everything generally goes, it wasn't nearly as easy as I had envisioned. First, the rotten board only came up in splintery pieces and sections. Plus, the embedded deck screws, corroded over time, were holding fast. The second, third, and fourth boards came up progressively easier, just as I assumed they would. It's all about learning as you go! I decided two boards into the game that I might have better luck if I backed the deck screws out first. So, I cut through the house and laundry in route to my garage to grab an extension cord for the drill. As I passed through the laundry room I was overcome by heat, humidity, and the strong smell of fabric softener. This could only mean one thing! The dryer vent hose had come loose. A quick look confirmed my suspicion. I didn't have time to do a fix so I shut the dryer down so that I could focus and finish the task at hand. The vent would be an easy repair but I couldn't help but scoff at the amazing peculiarity of so many slips, trips, and fails of late. I finished removing the fourth deck board then shut down for the evening. After all, this is a Firkin Friday and Mindy is coming over. I needed to fix the dryer vent then get in the shower, making myself ready in case we chose to go to Barley's. I fixed the dryer vent in a matter of minutes. Again, it's an easy repair - just a pain in the ass to move the dryer out and squeeze into the tight space.
Before heading up to the shower, I took a few minutes to replace the flapper on the downstairs toilet. Very easy task - snap off - snap on. Hopefully that'll solve that and allow me to scratch something off my list. At last, I was in the shower washing the sweaty grime that accumulated during deck demolition. After my shower I cracked open a Mike's Hard Lime. They have been in the fridge for Mindy for a while, and she's had a few of them. I hadn't had one of these in eons. The first sip was tasty, but as I expected, the ensuing sips were progressively worse. soon it was like sipping sugar water. What I needed was a cold beer. It was then that I decided that Barley's would be in our plans. Mindy arrived about five minutes later. In fact, we were talking on our cells when she walked in. That's when you know you're talking too much!
After a short meet and greet, we readied for our night out. Mindy moved the Trooper and Honda up and behind each other so that we could drive the BM'er. Despite the ugly Saturday forecast, the evening promised to be pretty. We drove to Barley's and arrived around 8:20pm. We are always happy to be there. It can only mean one thing - It's Friday night!!!
Missing tonight were Bob & Mary Ann. Hmmm? Don't know where they are. There, were Courtney and Jeremy, Steve, Rick, and others. We enjoyed ourselves much - the food, the drink, and the company. Jeremy and Courtney are leaving tomorrow for their annual family vacation down around Myrtle Beach. They seemed syked!
Of course we're heading out soon too. We stayed at Barley's until just short of 11pm. We watched the end of the especially exciting Reds Cubs game. The Reds trailed through the entire game but we have come to expect them to challenge in the end, and they didn't disappoint either. Bottom of the ninth trailing 6-5, they loaded the bases with nobody out. A base hit wins the game in dramatic fashion. One out, two outs, and then .... a third. Crap! They lost 6-5, but not without drama. It was fun to watch!
We drove back to my house and arrived just after 11pm. Mindy wanted badly to spend sometime cuddling and lovin. I obliged. She left for home, and to her waiting sitter around 12:40am.
Rick & Jeremy - Mindy - Beer - my Wings - Marley man
The dawn of a new day was well within my grasp. This was the first day in a long time that I have been up prior to 5:30am. And again, I was well rested after another good night's sleep. But heck, it's always a little easier waking on a Firkin Friday. I seem to pull on stored energy reserves.
If I am to believe the weather prognosticators, this weekend's weather won't be anything to write home about. We are expecting temperatures to barely nick 70 and there's an increasing likelihood of rain, at least on Saturday. That sounds much more like an April forecast rather than mid June. The benefits are for the lawn and flowers, the down side of course is that it'll be another missed boating opportunity.
My weekend plan calls for ripping up the 16' decking boards on the first tier of my deck and replacing them with new. My deck is only eleven years old but the seventeen 16' boards are in bad shape. One is rotted clear through. It's no coincidence either. I had to buy those at 84 lumber as opposed to Hechinger (since closed) where I bought all the other decking. There wood quality was in far superior,but they didn't have any 16'ers at the time so I had to find them elsewhere. Anyway, they've managed to cup, split, and rot. What makes it even worse is that these are the boards one sees as they peer out the back door; they serve as the center of the deck. I guesstimate that it's about a 5 hour job, at least for the tear out and replacement. Finishing touches like sanding the edges at the steps along with staining will be included in phase two when I re-stain the entire deck.
so, the moral to my story is this... Having less than desirable boating weather is good, since now I won't feel like I am missing out and being cheated out of a relaxing boating day. The only potential issue is the chance of rain. If it rains heavily, I'll be relegated to the inside. And honey, you don't want to be around Jimmy on a rainy summer day. He'll go bananas being cooped up inside!
I went about my morning routine like most others with the exception of squeezing in a morning run. I hadn't committed to doing so until I had sucked down my first cup of coffee. But the morning was beautiful and events at work lent itself well to such a plan. Even though I rose no earlier than normal, I had a few extra minutes because I didn't need to pack a lunch. I also knew that being there before 8am was not an absolute. I finished my run at 7:30am. I went about taking a shower and readying everything else in short order. I left the house at 7:45 - not bad given what I had already accomplished!
Work got busy fast. It's a good thing that I'm a type "AA", otherwise I might collapse under the repeated pressure. Today marked the end of a six year career for one of my engineers. He treated the masses to pizza and the team chipped in to get him a cake. I had one piece of pizza. Come 1pm, around my usual lunch time, I decided to leave the office for some Home Depot shopping since I had run earlier. My goal was to come out with two new toilet flappers, some deck screws, and spare Honda keys. I found everything I needed and more. The flappers I needed were indeed available, and even though the toilet down stairs in the only one seemingly leaking, I bought two thinking that the other can't be far behind since they're the same age. Hopefully this will solve the toilet valve kicking on intermittently problem. A fine young gentleman offered to assist with the keys and ended up being extremely helpful. Not only did he make me two spare Honda keys, but he also pointed me in the right direction relative to which of the new decking screws would best suit my application. Moreover, he informed me that the new lock set I had to purchase and install Memorial Day Weekend could be matched to my existing house keys for $5. All it would require would be for me to bring both key sides of the set as well as my old key. Cool!
While waiting on the keys I perused the cordless drills again. I have been looking at them for months now. I really want one since I am always dragging the extension cords around the house and yard whenever I'm in a project. It's one of those don't NEED but would love to have. My old Makita cordless is not powerful enough and the batteries are kaput! I have one of those personalities where it's hard for me to buy perceived lesser quality, especially when there are multiple choices placed in front of me. If you've looked at cordless drill recently you'll know what I mean. There are easily 25 choices. The choice depends on application. Most of us tend to over buy, but then again, who wants to under buy? In other words, if you're going to spend $100, why not spend another $20 or $30 and get slightly better with more bells and whistles? But in the case of cordless drills that seems to never end. At some point, however, you run into obvious over buying. They now have 20 volt drills that will drill your house down if necessary. Bottom line, I need a versatile drill that can handle drilling and driving in a multitude of media that won't wimp out in the middle of the job. As I alluded to earlier, the options vary wildly as do the prices. I had been looking at a drill that costs $179, but then I stumbled on a combo package made by Ryobi that contains an 18v 1/2 " chuck cordless drill with 450 torque lbs and up to 1400 rpms, an 18v circular saw, an 18v palm sander, and a flashlight for $109. My first intuition was that it must be a cheap bait and switch, but after talking with their tool guy he convinced me otherwise and I bought it. He told me that I won't be disappointed. One thing about Home Depot is that if I am not happy, they'll usually take it back no questions asked. Remember the spot light issue?
I left the Depot with my stuff feeling good. Before going back to work I decided to work my way down by the river to the Greek Cuisina to get a Gyro, which I had been craving for weeks. Along my way I gave Lindsey a call to discuss the logistics of getting the Honda to her. Soon I was at my destination. I ended up throwing the low-carb thing out the window for the day and getting the entire combo (gyro, fries, and lemonade). It was tasty and satisfying.
I was back at the office by 1:20pm and I picked up right where I left off. We were dealing with a couple of tough, tuff issues. I worked hard right up until 5:15pm. I left the office feeling good about what I had accomplished through the week. As I worked my way home I tossed around the idea of going to Barley's. I hadn't yet decided if I were going or not., and I still wasn't certain. What I was certain about was my desire for a quick nap once home.
After arriving home and walking Ykraps I found my way to my book and reading chair to do just that.. I napped for about 15 minutes. Very refreshing, and just like the old days. And in true Jimmy fashion, I woke suddenly, jumped to my feet feeling like I had to do something productive. I decided to grab my crow bar and begin ripping up decking boards. I had no delusion that I might get it done but instead wanted to get a feel for the effort and complication. This will be the first time that I have had to rip up old decking boards. My assumption was this. They should come up fairly easy since they need replaced, especially the rotten one. Well, as everything generally goes, it wasn't nearly as easy as I had envisioned. First, the rotten board only came up in splintery pieces and sections. Plus, the embedded deck screws, corroded over time, were holding fast. The second, third, and fourth boards came up progressively easier, just as I assumed they would. It's all about learning as you go! I decided two boards into the game that I might have better luck if I backed the deck screws out first. So, I cut through the house and laundry in route to my garage to grab an extension cord for the drill. As I passed through the laundry room I was overcome by heat, humidity, and the strong smell of fabric softener. This could only mean one thing! The dryer vent hose had come loose. A quick look confirmed my suspicion. I didn't have time to do a fix so I shut the dryer down so that I could focus and finish the task at hand. The vent would be an easy repair but I couldn't help but scoff at the amazing peculiarity of so many slips, trips, and fails of late. I finished removing the fourth deck board then shut down for the evening. After all, this is a Firkin Friday and Mindy is coming over. I needed to fix the dryer vent then get in the shower, making myself ready in case we chose to go to Barley's. I fixed the dryer vent in a matter of minutes. Again, it's an easy repair - just a pain in the ass to move the dryer out and squeeze into the tight space.
Before heading up to the shower, I took a few minutes to replace the flapper on the downstairs toilet. Very easy task - snap off - snap on. Hopefully that'll solve that and allow me to scratch something off my list. At last, I was in the shower washing the sweaty grime that accumulated during deck demolition. After my shower I cracked open a Mike's Hard Lime. They have been in the fridge for Mindy for a while, and she's had a few of them. I hadn't had one of these in eons. The first sip was tasty, but as I expected, the ensuing sips were progressively worse. soon it was like sipping sugar water. What I needed was a cold beer. It was then that I decided that Barley's would be in our plans. Mindy arrived about five minutes later. In fact, we were talking on our cells when she walked in. That's when you know you're talking too much!
After a short meet and greet, we readied for our night out. Mindy moved the Trooper and Honda up and behind each other so that we could drive the BM'er. Despite the ugly Saturday forecast, the evening promised to be pretty. We drove to Barley's and arrived around 8:20pm. We are always happy to be there. It can only mean one thing - It's Friday night!!!
Missing tonight were Bob & Mary Ann. Hmmm? Don't know where they are. There, were Courtney and Jeremy, Steve, Rick, and others. We enjoyed ourselves much - the food, the drink, and the company. Jeremy and Courtney are leaving tomorrow for their annual family vacation down around Myrtle Beach. They seemed syked!
Of course we're heading out soon too. We stayed at Barley's until just short of 11pm. We watched the end of the especially exciting Reds Cubs game. The Reds trailed through the entire game but we have come to expect them to challenge in the end, and they didn't disappoint either. Bottom of the ninth trailing 6-5, they loaded the bases with nobody out. A base hit wins the game in dramatic fashion. One out, two outs, and then .... a third. Crap! They lost 6-5, but not without drama. It was fun to watch!
We drove back to my house and arrived just after 11pm. Mindy wanted badly to spend sometime cuddling and lovin. I obliged. She left for home, and to her waiting sitter around 12:40am.
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