Problem in the Purse

Up at 615am

Warm and sticky – already 72 degrees and clear.

Ran 4.1 miles.

Worked from the office.

VM from King Concrete sharing that they would be starting the concrete work this week – possibly Wednesday. That meant I would need to get cracking on moving the 3 sprinkler heads in the work’s path.

Also received a heads up call from Kidney Foundation reminding us of Tuesday’s pick-up. We had several large trash bags stuffed full of clothes for them. Mindy already remembered. She and Jacob carried all of it upstairs from the basement and to the garage.

It was wickedly warm and sticky after dinner. I hurried through clean-up and then changed into my grubbies and headed out to at least get started on locating and moving the three sprinkler heads that were in the way of the designed concrete driveway extensions and walk. Mindy agreed to come and assist.

I exposed the big rotating sprinkler head on the west edge of the driveway first. That was easy. And once I had a bead on the 1” line feeding it, I dug back until we were at least 6” beyond where the new concrete forms would go (back 30”). Enough for one night. Had it exposed after an hours work. I wisely used a tarp to house all the dirt and salvaged the more than healthy sod I removed for use elsewhere in the yard. I was dripping head to toe in sweat before heading inside.

When attempting to put down the overhead garage door it kept bouncing back as if something were in the way. Hmmm? It didn’t appear that anything was in the way, but near the door’s edge were all eight of the large trash bags stuffed with clothing for the Kidney Foundation pick-up Tuesday AM. I pushed then back at least 3 feet from the door’s edge but it still bounced back up when we hit the button. Great!

I checked the sensors each side verifying green lights both sides. Clear! But still, no joy. Really? Dang it! It made sense that something changed today and the only thing was Mindy & Jacob carrying the bags to the garage. To be sure, I moved all of them completely out of the way and out on the drive just to be sure. We tried again, only this time using the external push button code and the door closed. Problem solved, or so I thought.

I grabbed a quick shower and watched a little TV. We headed to bed even before 10pm. I couldn’t sleep and something, I don’t know why, told me to go downstairs and check the garage door. I got up but instead of checking the garage door I simply made a bowl of cereal and played on the internet. A half an hour passed when Bella came downstairs sharing that she thought she heard the garage door going up. Wanted to know if it was me. No, and honestly, I couldn’t hear a thing, but just the thought sent chills down my spine.

I grabbed a sharp butcher knife and told Bella to stay back. I headed through the laundry room and quickly threw open the door to the garage. Sure enough the overhead door was wide frikin opened! My heart sunk. I quickly turned on the light and peered aggressively and with anger. Nothin’ was amiss. Everything in its place. Hmm? I hit the button to close the door. It closed completely but before I could turn around and head back inside it inexplicably headed up on its own again. Shit!

Bella finally came out to see what was the matter I explained that the door was going up and down on its own. Holy moly. Here I was in the middle of the night playing with the garage door and its controls. I got the step ladder thinking it might be a wiring issue with one of the pads. I first disconnected the inside door pad completely but it continued to go up and down on its own. Leaving it off, I disconnected the exterior key pad, but it still kept going up on its own. Holy shit!

Frustrated and tired, I relented and pulled the door loose from the overhead door opener. Even then, the opener continued to go back and forth, though now without the door in tow. To get some sleep, I pulled the power plug so we could both get some sleep. I thanked Bella for being so attentive.

Back in bed, Mindy asked what was the matter. She was aware of the problem earlier and quickly understand my frustration as I rolled over to go back to sleep. I laid there for a minute thinking about the symptoms then woke Mindy again asking where her garage door opener fab might be. Said it was in her purse. I couldn’t resist the urge to check something. I got up again and went for her purse and the opener. It was wedged deep in the confines of her purse, too. To test my theory, I went back to the garage and plugged the opener in again. I hit the button and it headed to the closed position, still, however, without the door in tow. Next, I reattached the door to the opener’s drive. Hit the button and the door went up. Hit the button again and the door went down. Waited, waited, waited. Nothing, Fixed!

I couldn’t wait to share with Mindy what I found. Holy smoke. I was about to lose my mind. Finally able to get some restful sleep.