Cranky Doodle Dandy

If you thought Thursday was a gloomy day, then Friday had to make you down right sick. Not only was it gray, but chilly and drizzly, too. For July, it couldn’t have been much uglier. Lucky for us, we didn’t have any outdoor activities planned, although there was still a remote chance that I might golf, but seriously doubted it.

I was the first one up after a little mornin’ lovin’. The kids slept surprisingly late. Mindy & I cherish that. I did my usual thing; exercise, walk Ykraps, and play on the PC. A check of the weather radar revealed no hope for a forecast error. Looked like we’d be inundated in cool rain all day long. But judging by the radar, I had about an hour before the heavier stuff made it to our area. I planned my run accordingly.

While I dashed off for my run, Mindy made a nice big breakfast. She made chocolate chip pancakes & maple bacon. It was ready at my run’s conclusion. Adding a little flare, we sipped mimosas, too. Even the kids took part. They had the non-alcohol version.

Meanwhile, the weather didn’t do anything to liven up the day. We all had to come to grips with the fact that it was simply going to be a slow, gloomy day. I was on-call and spent a great deal of the morning doing work. Come mid-day, Mindy & the kids left for a Target shopping spree. That left me home alone. I was happy for that. I chose to use the time to fix/work on the plasma project. If you may recall, I needed to move the center channel speaker and the wall bracket about 5 inches to the right to the walls true center. I began moving the bracket, which was the easiest of the two tasks. Next, I moved the speaker and bracket. Before hand, I carefully measured then measured again. Measure twice, cut one! Oh, wait, this was my second swing. Oops!

I was glad that the kids and Mindy were gone. I did a lot of swearing. I wasn’t too angry, though. Instead, it’s just how I and a lot of other men process thought as we work through a given project. My guess is that I would be a little embarrassed watching myself on tape while working a home project, swearing at inanimate objects and all. For such a small speaker, the mount was quite beefy with butterfly anchors and bolts. I managed to salvage the old butterfly anchors, something I wasn’t so sure I’d be able to do. That pleased me much. However, while doing the surgery, the speaker wire slipped back into the wall cavity meaning that I’d have to fish it once more. Geesh! I managed to fish the wire and move the speaker mount in all of about 45 minutes. It looked good. Next, I had to repair the five holes left behind by the former location just five inches to the left. For that project, I used sticky, mesh joint tape and joint compound. Through the entire project, I was careful not to allow drywall dust to fall on any of the electronics. In fact, I had the TV covered.

By the time that Mindy returned home with the kids I was done, at least for the time being. The drywall repair will take about five coats for perfection. For whatever reason, I struggled to feel good for the duration of the afternoon. Not only was my lower back aching, but my stomach was a little nauseous and my eyes tired. I could explain the lower back. Anytime I stand on a ladder for any length of time my lower back aches, not to mention my already stressed groin. I felt awful. Mindy aided my discomfort by giving me a massage with warming oil, but unfortunately, that did little to relieve the ache.

I rested on the familyroom floor for another fifteen minutes before doing anything else. I still didn’t feel that great.

Even though I didn’t feel so swift, I felt compelled to take more action on my aging project list. I gathered all the tools necessary to paint the front door. We’ve had the paint since January, when we painted the family room. Oh my! But before applying the first lick of paint, I sanded and cleaned the door. That took no more than ten minutes. Mindy & I briefly discussed the pros and cons of using a roller or a brush. I decided to use a roller for the larger area. A roller will do a large area fast, but it uses an awful lot of paint as compared to a brush. I used the brush to fill in the scalloped areas. And because we were going from a very light tan to black, I had already reasoned that it would take at least two coats and most likely a third.

The kids were headed to the Arlington fireworks with their daddy. After we walked Ykraps as a family, Mindy got the kids all dolled up in patriotic attire. It was already 7pm. Where had the day gone? Lucky for them, the rain lifted and the forecast called for improving conditions. While the kids were at the fireworks, Mindy & I had already decided that we’d visit Barley’s. Big surprise! We called brother Glenn to measure his interest in joining us. He was game. We’d pick him up on our way. I finally headed up for a much needed shower.

Jimaken arrived a little later than projected, about 15 minutes later. We helped load some gear into his car and wished them a good time. Soon we were on our way to Barley’s, er, uh, Dad’s to pick-up Glenn. We said hello to Dad before leaving for Barley’s. However, we didn’t stay long. We invited Dad to go along too but he predictably declined. Onto Barley’s.

Barley’s parking lot was desolate, but we expected that and we were kind of looking forward to it. There was only like one other person at the bar, but there were a few scattered diners, and a few patrons tabling outdoors on the patio. The beer selection was smallish, yet again, something I anticipated leading up to next Thursday’s IPA-Looza. However, I noticed that they had Centennial IPA back on the tower after a prolonged absence. For this I was most pleased. Wahoo!!!

The three of us bellied up at the corner of the bar and ordered some beers. We had the full attention of Dan, Diedra, Katy, and Deanna since there were so few patrons. We had a nice time. We eventually ordered some food. Mindy had pulled pork. Glenn and I shared 20 wings (ten Gate and ten K.C.) and a basket of sauerkraut balls. I had three IPA’s in total, and even ordered a growler to-go. I didn’t realize it at the time but our tab was most reasonable. In kind, we tipped extremely well. We left for home around 10:30pm but dropped Glenn at Dad’s first.

We went straight to bed after arriving home. Mindy said that she was really tired.