Relying on the Unreliable

Same story, only this time Mindy was much kinder with the bathroom lighting. She didn't have the brightest lights on. I woke sometime near the end of her shower and by the time I rolled out of bed she was dressed and doing make-up. I peed, brushed my teeth, and headed downstairs to exercise.

I did sit-ups and while doing so, could hear Mindy interacting with the kids. They were just waking. Although rain was predicted, the sky was only partly cloudy, with enough clear areas to give one hope of a better day than predicted. I enjoyed coffee and internet through breakfast with Mindy and the kids. It was time for Mindy to head out in short order.

Mindy asked if I'd be home when the kids got off the bus. Yes. I didn't have a solid plan but thought I might carry all the stuff I sorted for pick-up to the garage for easy hauling come night fall. After that my plan was by the seat of my pants.

I walked the kids to the bus stop at 810am. Met Chrissy and the girls. Chrissy kindly offered to take Bella to the pumpkin patch after school with her kids since she knew we had to be at Jacob's soccer game by 6pm. I told her that would make Bella very happy. We also committed to picking up the boys at Magdalene latch-key after they were all but abandoned there by the baby-daddy the past two days.

Home with Eiknarf, I enjoyed another cup of coffee before setting out on a run. It must've been about 845am when I headed off. As for the weather, there was still a chance of rain but not that strong. Unfortunately, they were calling for as much as 3 inches on Wednesday. Yikes! At run time it was 50 degrees and mostly cloudy. Being in vacation mode, I ran just three miles again. Felt good.

Once back at the house, I immediately started lugging stuff up the stairs from the basement to the garage. I worked up quite a sweat doing so. Must've been about 10-12 trips. Courtney's old waterbed frame was by far the most awkward piece to maneuver up and out. I carried up a couple more boxes than I scheduled but left the rest for another day. I don't want to piss-off the city. Figured I could easily schedule another bulk pick-up for the following Wednesday.

Done by 10am, I enjoyed another cup of coffee before heading off to the shower. By then I had a plan, which included a trip to Old Navy for new underwear and then a trip to Lowes or Home Depot to get the stuff to permanently fix the fallen undermount sink as well as new caulk for the masterbath shower.

Freshly showered, I left the house sometime after 11am. I opted to stop at Old Navy first. I headed to the one on Hilliard-Rome Rd near Target.  I was last there a couple days before our Myrtle Beach vacation. I was buying new underwear then too. They were on sale today for 40% off the regular price.  I bought five pair. Next to Express for Men, Old Navy had my favorite boxers. I picked up a new pair of long wicking pants too. I use them for running, skiing and casual lounging. Great invention!

By the way, Hilliard-Rome Rd is all torn up north of Wal-Mart all the way up to Target. Hopefully it'll be done before Xmas shopping season, but honestly I don't see how that's even possible. If not, it's an area to completely avoid. Leaving their lot, I wasn't entirely sure which Lowes/Home Depot I would visit. I figured I'd venture just down the road to the I-70 interchange and then get on 270 north or south. I opted for south. Thought I'd hit the Home Depot on West Broad and Grenner Rd. Mileage-wise, it was the closest and easiest to get to, or so I thought.

I exited 270 at the West Broad St exit. To get to Home Depot one has to merge hard left to get to Grenner Rd. Only trouble was, the Grenner Rd intersection was closed. However, just ahead, there's another less obvious turn that takes you behind the first couple businesses and empties out at Home Depot behind the Olde Trail Inn. But that was in the process of being repaved too. Found a road closed sign there too but other cars were taking that turn, so I followed the others.

Lo and behold, once we got around to Grenner Rd it was completely blocked off. What the ... ? I could see no obvious way to get over to Home Depot short of taking Georgesville to Old Sullivant and then north on Grenner. Screw that!  I got back on West Broad and quickly jumped back on 270S where I  headed to the Georgesville Rd Lowes.

At Lowes I picked up three types of caulk - liquid nails made especially for granite, a GE crystal clear to seal the joint between the sink and granite as well as certain parts of our brass plated shower stall. I also bought some white silicone for the main shower floor and tile. I bought top of the line in all three applications spending $20 in caulk alone. To make the sink repair, I also picked up four - 1"x2"X4' pine boards and then one - 1"x3"x4' board. The boards would serve as permanent jack posts for the undermount sink. This is the best alternative I could come up with without risking damaging the granite.  Most important, I was at peace with my choice. I headed for home eager to get started on these two long-nagging projects.

I cleared out the cabinet under the sink and then got my power miter saw down from the garage storage shelf. I took some rough measurements then headed back to the garage to make some cuts leaving the jack posts about a half inch too long on purpose. Next, I relaxed the temporary post a little that's been supporting the sagging side of the sink for over a month now. I cleaned the underside of the granite and then the stainless steel sink with mineral spirits to aid the adhesion. After letting it set a few minutes, I cleaned it with and old diaper and scraper. That worked well.

Before applying the liquid nails, I placed a 1"x2" x 16" board against the sink's edge and the underside of the granite. I then took two crudely cut 1"x2" x28" posts and put them into position to hold up the horizontally piece. As I said earlier,  I cut them a little long on purpose. I took one out at a time to cut a little off. I wanted it to be an extra tight fit, so I took no more than an 1/8" off at a time. I must've made about six cuts to get it right. Ended up being 27 5/8" long.  I had to hammer fairly hard to get them perfectly vertical and plumb - an extra tight fit.

I then took it apart so I could apply a liberal amount of liquid nails from up top between the granite and sink base. I went back with a 2nd application not wanting to skimp on adhesive. Back under the sink. I put the boards back in place just like I had them earlier. Went fairly smoothly. Even though the opposite side hadn't broken away, I wasn't about to give it a chance. I went ahead and built two jack posts for the other side too. The only difference being that I wasn't using adhesive.

I planned to allow the liquid nails time to dry and then caulk the joint between the sink and granite from atop with the GE crystal clear caulk.

I cleaned up everything that wouldn't be used in the shower recaulk job and then headed upstairs. The first order of business was cutting away the old caulk. That took some doing. I took the time to get it all off. I cleaned the area with mineral spirits then did a 2nd and 3rd turn. Spent about an hour stripping away and preparing the area for new. Putting down a fresh bead was the easy part. I used the crystal clear silicone for the thin joints along the brass frame. Looks good. I finished  just after Mindy and the kids got home. Mindy had Landon & Rocky with her too.

While I cleaned up after my work, Mindy did homework with Rocky & Bella. Jimaken came after Jacob pretty quickly. He had a soccer game nearby at the Westmoor Jr High fields. The same fields where I played for the Valleyview Vikings, and the same field where my running began way back in 1982. I was looking forward to going back and checking it out.  We all piled in the Pilot and headed that way around 545pm.

We parked near the concrete shelter house where the Vikings were just organizing for their football practice. These days, their uniforms look much like the NFL Vikings. Nice! I talked to a few of the kids as we made our way to the soccer field, which was at the south end of the complex.

 We were playing the Columbus Latino team again, after playing them as recent as last Tuesday on our home field. Mindy, Landon, Rocky and I cast our three chairs along the sidelines as the action began. The boys quickly bored of the game, so  I engaged them in a little rough housing in an effort to keep them occupied but also to keep us warm. It was otherwise chilly and breezy.

We had fun save for the trash talking both of the boys do almost by habit, especially Rocky. Landon seems to pick it up from him. They were relentless. Jacob's team took the lead but the Latinos eventually tied it up well into the 2nd half at 2-2. Because Mindy was cold, I agreed to walk back to the Pilot and bring it down to the south end of the field and close to the soccer action. When I was a kid, cars weren't permitted on the track area. As I walked towards the Pilot someone hollered Jimmy. It was Gary Orahood, a school mate from my elementary school days. He's been involved with the Vikings youth football program for as long as I can remember. We chatted briefly before I hopped in the Pilot and pulled it closer to the soccer action.

 By then Mindy had opted for the Pilot to hide from the chilly breeze. She could still see the action though. I kept at it with the boys. It was completely dark by the game's end. Couldn't believe they kept playing. Jacob's team scored a goal with a minute or so left to take the lead for good. They won 3-2. So after starting the season 0-4, they've strung together two victories and a tie in the their last three outings. Unless I'm mistaken, there's only one regular season game remaining.

While we waited on Jacob, Lindsey phoned Mindy to let us know that she was waiting for us at our house. She was driving big Rocky's minivan. Mindy planned to make a quick dinner once home - tortellini and red sauce. Mindy got busy making dinner right away while Lindsey talked her ear off.  At some point big Rocky phoned Lindsey to give her an earful about her whereabouts with his van. It was all I could do not to take the phone and shred the guy. The gall of him. He provides nothing for these kids and was giving Lindsey crap about how long she was gone working. Really?

But then again, if you've put yourself in a situation where you're relying on the unreliable for your own sustenance, then you have no one but yourself to blame. I can only hope Lindsey finally sees this and more importantly snatches control of her destiny moving forward. This is hard on all of us.

Somehow Lindsey calmed things over the phone. Everybody enjoyed a quick but nutritious dinner. Lindsey didn't have a lot of time, so after woofing down their dinner, she and the kids bundled for their long journey back to the YWCA. They needed to drive back to big Rocky's, drop off the minvan,  then head to the bus stop and then head back to the YWCA. To add insult to injury, it had begun to rain. Lindsey said they wouldn't get back to the Y until 10pm. The crazy cycle would start over again come 530am.  Honestly, I don't know how she does it.

Mindy & I both feel horrible about the situation, but are gun shy about helping too much. It's not a pleasant scenario, but one  I know only Lindsey can fix permanently.  

Once they were gone I was eager to get into my PJs and pour myself an IPA. Mindy texted back and forth with Lindsey until they were safely home. They arrived just before 10pm. Apparently Landon was cranky, tired and wet.

By then, our kids were already tucked into bed. Mindy finalized her sub plans after deciding she was taking Wednesday off work to get some much needed rest after battling a cold for the last week or so. I watched TV, but can't recall what. Mindy headed to bed shortly after 10pm. I stayed up enjoying another beer and TV. Like most night's this week, I fell asleep on the sofa and woke around midnight and headed for bed. I could hear the pitter-patter of rain against the house. Not supposed to end until sometime Thursday.