I kept thinking just a few more minutes and then I’ll get up and get started with my Saturday. I was tired and had a mild headache that started sometime in the middle of the night. It was no wonder, though. I had consumed three beers the night before at Barley’s, and that’s always enough to cause a headache. For whatever reason, I didn’t take the usual two Advil before going to sleep. Stupid me!
At a minimum, I should’ve taken them when Mindy left around 12:40am, but I was so tired that I couldn’t muster the extra energy to do it. I finally got up and took two around 7:30am, and then laid back down to allow time for them to kick in. I figured about 30 minutes. I didn’t get out of bed until almost 8:45am. That’s late by any measure.
I could tell as I laid there with the window open that it was abnormally cool. I could also see that there wasn’t any sunshine to greet me. And to make matters worse, I thought that I heard the pitter-patter of rain. I did. Still, I had to get up and get moving. I had an agenda.
I drug myself down the stairs and into the kitchen. I noticed along the way that there was a steady, yet light sprinkling of rain coming down. I went ahead and made a pot of coffee and began my ritualistic exercise routine. At least my headache was gone.
Within short order, Ykraps and I were out for our morning walk in the light drizzle. I noticed that my grass was already in need of a cut, but that’s to be expected this time of year if you want a healthy lawn (about every four or five days). I was looking forward to a cup of coffee. I had already conceded to having a slow developing day.
My coffee was good and my leisure time even better. Before setting out for a run I took the time to begin drafting my long Friday blog entry. I figured that if I finished my Saturday run before noon, I’d be in good shape. That became the goal. And my goal I met. I finished my run by about 11:30am. It rained through the entire run. When I returned I drank more coffee. I contemplated starting on my day’s project of wrecking out more decking boards (I had 13 left to do), but opted to not get started in the rain. I called Mindy to discuss our day since I knew that she planned on stopping by sometime mid-day while her house was being shown.
The chilly rain kept coming down in a light but steady fashion. If this kept up, I surmised, there was no way I’d be able to do my deck project. I wasn’t too pleased. It’s a good thing that my Florida vacation is on the horizon otherwise I’d be furious with the weather. I mean, crap, it’s practically mid-June, it’s raining, and it’s barely even 60 degrees. It’s like we’re getting our usual Memorial Day weather this weekend.
Mindy and the kids showed up sometime around 1pm. They stayed and visited for about an hour. Even though the weather was iffy, I was charging my new cordless tool batteries just in case the weather broke. Fittingly, around 2-m the skies stopped crying and the deck began to dry. It looked like I’d be able to do some work after all. The storm front that stretched all the way back to Chicago had sunk just south of I-70, just as the weather forecast predicted. As I prepared to get started, Mindy and the kids prepared to depart. They were headed out to have lunch with one of Mindy’s close friends.
Before wrecking out decking boards with the crow bar, I tried backing out as many of the old decking screws as possible. I tried with my new cordless but every time I needed a little torque, the keyless chuck would let go of the screw bit. That pissed me off. I tried with my electric drill next. While it didn’t throw the bit, it didn’t get too many of the screws up either. They’re either to rusted, to deep, or the head striped. Screwing the boards down is more for the holding power rather than for ease of removal – know that! I spent the next hour or so ripping up the remaining 16’ decking boards. Of the seventeen boards, only three came up whole, the rest came up in splinters, and some in very small splinters. It wasn’t easy by any measure. As with most projects I get involved with, this one came with its won unexpected hurdle. I knew that the entrance door trim was rotting at the bottom, but I didn’t realize the 1X12 cedar trim board under the door was rotted too. To make matter more complicated, there’s only about a ½’ of space between it and a 2X8” support joist. That left the upper 4” inches exposed ( the most rotten section). Needless to say, it needs replaced and now’s the time to do it. The problem, of course, was getting to the board to remove it in its entirely and to replace it. After evaluating my options which were few, I had little choice but to cut the joist and eventually splice it after making the repair.
To cut the joist I used my new cordless circular saw, and it worked pretty well. Now that I had it exposed, I had to remove the rotting board. That was easy. I left a VM for my dad asking if he happened to have a scrap piece of 1x12 laying around. IN the meantime, it was 5:00pm and I needed to shut down for the day and ready for dinner at Mindy’s. She was making a real nice dinner for our little family and the kids were looking forward to my visit. Truth be told, I needed to stop anyhow. In my younger days I would’ve worked on a project similar to this one from sun up till sun down, throwing everything else out the window. I called Mindy to give her a status on my whereabouts and an expected ETA. I thought around 700pm. I had thought that I’d stop at Home Depot on my way to get the 1x12 I needed.
After showering and walking Ykraps, I decided that I’d simply pick up the board tomorrow morning since I wouldn’t be able to work on it until then anyhow. That would allow time for me to stop at Wal-Mart for a few things I needed. I was out the door at 6:00pm destined for Mindy’s. My stop at Wal-Mart was brief. I grabbed another brownie mix, some flowers for Mindy, deodorant, shampoo, and a birthday card for Mindy’s mom.
I arrived at Mindy’s close to 6:30pm. Dinner was already ready when I arrived. And just as they normally do, the kids were there to greet me at the driveway. We were having baked pork chops, salad, and fresh green beans. For dessert, we had some low-carb butter pecan ice cream. Immediately following our meal, we set out on a walk through the neighborhood. We headed back around the pond and the nicer wooded lots. It was beautiful. But what is amazing to me is what these houses are selling for. One in particular had flyers available on the for sale sign with a listing/asking price of $524K. Ouch!
We hung out by the sterile looking pond for about five minutes and then walked around the block then back to Mindy’s. We were gone for about thirty minutes. Jacob rode his big wheel the entire time. When we got back Mindy dubbed it bedtime and rushed the kids off to bed. It was about 8:15pm.
We spent the remainder of the evening on the sofa, first watching the Reds lose again, and then talking about our upcoming trip, tomorrow, and the future. I left for home just before 10pm. Once at home I got busy making the brownies & fudge for Mindy's mom's b-day celebration. That kept me up till around midnight.
I kept thinking just a few more minutes and then I’ll get up and get started with my Saturday. I was tired and had a mild headache that started sometime in the middle of the night. It was no wonder, though. I had consumed three beers the night before at Barley’s, and that’s always enough to cause a headache. For whatever reason, I didn’t take the usual two Advil before going to sleep. Stupid me!
At a minimum, I should’ve taken them when Mindy left around 12:40am, but I was so tired that I couldn’t muster the extra energy to do it. I finally got up and took two around 7:30am, and then laid back down to allow time for them to kick in. I figured about 30 minutes. I didn’t get out of bed until almost 8:45am. That’s late by any measure.
I could tell as I laid there with the window open that it was abnormally cool. I could also see that there wasn’t any sunshine to greet me. And to make matters worse, I thought that I heard the pitter-patter of rain. I did. Still, I had to get up and get moving. I had an agenda.
I drug myself down the stairs and into the kitchen. I noticed along the way that there was a steady, yet light sprinkling of rain coming down. I went ahead and made a pot of coffee and began my ritualistic exercise routine. At least my headache was gone.
Within short order, Ykraps and I were out for our morning walk in the light drizzle. I noticed that my grass was already in need of a cut, but that’s to be expected this time of year if you want a healthy lawn (about every four or five days). I was looking forward to a cup of coffee. I had already conceded to having a slow developing day.
My coffee was good and my leisure time even better. Before setting out for a run I took the time to begin drafting my long Friday blog entry. I figured that if I finished my Saturday run before noon, I’d be in good shape. That became the goal. And my goal I met. I finished my run by about 11:30am. It rained through the entire run. When I returned I drank more coffee. I contemplated starting on my day’s project of wrecking out more decking boards (I had 13 left to do), but opted to not get started in the rain. I called Mindy to discuss our day since I knew that she planned on stopping by sometime mid-day while her house was being shown.
The chilly rain kept coming down in a light but steady fashion. If this kept up, I surmised, there was no way I’d be able to do my deck project. I wasn’t too pleased. It’s a good thing that my Florida vacation is on the horizon otherwise I’d be furious with the weather. I mean, crap, it’s practically mid-June, it’s raining, and it’s barely even 60 degrees. It’s like we’re getting our usual Memorial Day weather this weekend.
Mindy and the kids showed up sometime around 1pm. They stayed and visited for about an hour. Even though the weather was iffy, I was charging my new cordless tool batteries just in case the weather broke. Fittingly, around 2-m the skies stopped crying and the deck began to dry. It looked like I’d be able to do some work after all. The storm front that stretched all the way back to Chicago had sunk just south of I-70, just as the weather forecast predicted. As I prepared to get started, Mindy and the kids prepared to depart. They were headed out to have lunch with one of Mindy’s close friends.
Before wrecking out decking boards with the crow bar, I tried backing out as many of the old decking screws as possible. I tried with my new cordless but every time I needed a little torque, the keyless chuck would let go of the screw bit. That pissed me off. I tried with my electric drill next. While it didn’t throw the bit, it didn’t get too many of the screws up either. They’re either to rusted, to deep, or the head striped. Screwing the boards down is more for the holding power rather than for ease of removal – know that! I spent the next hour or so ripping up the remaining 16’ decking boards. Of the seventeen boards, only three came up whole, the rest came up in splinters, and some in very small splinters. It wasn’t easy by any measure. As with most projects I get involved with, this one came with its won unexpected hurdle. I knew that the entrance door trim was rotting at the bottom, but I didn’t realize the 1X12 cedar trim board under the door was rotted too. To make matter more complicated, there’s only about a ½’ of space between it and a 2X8” support joist. That left the upper 4” inches exposed ( the most rotten section). Needless to say, it needs replaced and now’s the time to do it. The problem, of course, was getting to the board to remove it in its entirely and to replace it. After evaluating my options which were few, I had little choice but to cut the joist and eventually splice it after making the repair.
To cut the joist I used my new cordless circular saw, and it worked pretty well. Now that I had it exposed, I had to remove the rotting board. That was easy. I left a VM for my dad asking if he happened to have a scrap piece of 1x12 laying around. IN the meantime, it was 5:00pm and I needed to shut down for the day and ready for dinner at Mindy’s. She was making a real nice dinner for our little family and the kids were looking forward to my visit. Truth be told, I needed to stop anyhow. In my younger days I would’ve worked on a project similar to this one from sun up till sun down, throwing everything else out the window. I called Mindy to give her a status on my whereabouts and an expected ETA. I thought around 700pm. I had thought that I’d stop at Home Depot on my way to get the 1x12 I needed.
After showering and walking Ykraps, I decided that I’d simply pick up the board tomorrow morning since I wouldn’t be able to work on it until then anyhow. That would allow time for me to stop at Wal-Mart for a few things I needed. I was out the door at 6:00pm destined for Mindy’s. My stop at Wal-Mart was brief. I grabbed another brownie mix, some flowers for Mindy, deodorant, shampoo, and a birthday card for Mindy’s mom.
I arrived at Mindy’s close to 6:30pm. Dinner was already ready when I arrived. And just as they normally do, the kids were there to greet me at the driveway. We were having baked pork chops, salad, and fresh green beans. For dessert, we had some low-carb butter pecan ice cream. Immediately following our meal, we set out on a walk through the neighborhood. We headed back around the pond and the nicer wooded lots. It was beautiful. But what is amazing to me is what these houses are selling for. One in particular had flyers available on the for sale sign with a listing/asking price of $524K. Ouch!
We hung out by the sterile looking pond for about five minutes and then walked around the block then back to Mindy’s. We were gone for about thirty minutes. Jacob rode his big wheel the entire time. When we got back Mindy dubbed it bedtime and rushed the kids off to bed. It was about 8:15pm.
We spent the remainder of the evening on the sofa, first watching the Reds lose again, and then talking about our upcoming trip, tomorrow, and the future. I left for home just before 10pm. Once at home I got busy making the brownies & fudge for Mindy's mom's b-day celebration. That kept me up till around midnight.
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