Blood and Water

I got up around 715am no longer able to sleep. Somewhat surprisingly, I didn’t have a hangover, but then again, I did take a Naproxen even before we left for Barley’s Friday evening. That most likely saved me. Once I started coffee I started feeling sleepy again. I laid down on the living floor but soon headed back up to bed. Maybe I did have a hangover.

I slept for another hour or so, waking this time near 830am. By then I felt good and ready for whatever the day would bring. I enjoyed coffee and PC time until almost 10am. We also committed to watching the boys so Lindsey could work OT. Thinking it was near 910am when they showed up.

Mindy was up around 930am and seemed surprised that I was feeling so chipper. More than once she tried to get me to eat something while we were at Barleys.

I did wake ravenously hungry. And to satiate that hunger I broke with tradition and woofed down a bunch of Barley’s chicken tenders that Mindy apparently brought home last night for the kids. They were so good! Other than a few slices of pita bread, I hadn’t eaten anything substantial since lunch time Friday.
I left for a run around 10am and ran the usual Saturday route of just three miles.

I was messing around out in the yard when Mindy hollered out that she was leaving to run Bella over to Jodie and Larry’s for game day. Said she was coming right back home to get busy making chocolate pies for my Sunday family birthday celebration. Yum! While she was away, I did a few household chores, like cleaning up all the house plants in the bay window, vacuuming up dead debris, and cleaning the window sills underneath. That’s a tedious task. I vacuumed the family room while I was at it. Noticed that it was full and nearly clogged. Took care of that too.

By then it was noon and time for the Buckeye game kickoff against Kent St. The game was expected to be a lopsided win for OSU but after last week’s upset, who knew for certain what to expect? But it didn’t take long for the Buckeyes to turn on the jets. Just like that it was 21-0. And then by halftime, a lopsided blowout – 45-0.

Mindy was home working on the pies while bounced between the TV and the basement, spending my time down there removing the rigid fresh air ducting and then installing the new insulated ducting that I bought a couple days earlier. Unfortunately, I soon learned that I needed a duct part that I didn’t have. I needed a 4” double male splice. I couldn’t finish the job without it. Figured I would make a Home Depot run after the game. But like a lot of seemingly small tasks, this one too lead to more work than originally foreseen. For starters, right next to the fresh air intake duct to outside is the black plastic power disconnect box I installed 20 years ago for the hot tub which is no longer. And three or four years ago when I scraped the hot tub and subsequent power feed, I had no choice but to leave a one inch hole in the side of the disconnect box. In hindsight, I probably should’ve plugged it. Anyway, I didn’t and a mouse conveniently crawled in and made a nest. This I discovered while pulling out the “6 wiring that ran into the basement and to the electric panel from the disconnect box. Stunk to high heaven.

So now the change of the fresh air ducting had turned into something more. First, I removed the wiring despite the wretched smell, then headed in and immediately washed my hands. Next, I cleaned the inside of the now empty disconnect box and plugged the hole with a metal plug made just for such things. I should also mention that because I didn’t put insulation or caulking around the wire entrance, there were signs of water migration riding in on the wire sheath. Not bad, but enough to catch my attention. So naturally, I took care of all that too. Not only did I plug the hole in the disconnect box, but used packing clay to plug the entrance hole into the house. I then caulked all around the fresh air vent hood.

All this work I am speaking of is right next to the A/C compressor, and I couldn't help but notice the black rubbery insulation that protects the copper plumbing for the Freon was all but rotted away. Knowing I had some in the basement, I decided to replace that too. In other words, the ducting I couldn’t replace because I needed an adapter turned out to be 2 hours of unrelated work.

Once everything outside was completed I headed back to the basement where I took a couple minutes to run the power feed into the over the sink mini-can light fixture. While doing so - which is easy work - I sliced a finger on the fixture’s sharp edges. Ouch!! While dripping blood and dismounting the ladder, I couldn’t help but notice a small but suspicious puddle of water. What the ….?

So, while applying pressure to my bleeding finger, I inspected the puddle of water looking for its cause. I could see a little moisture (wetness) around an electrical wire directly above going up into the subfloor. The water wasn’t coming from the kitchen sink plumbing. That’s another joist cavity over. Instead, I surmised that it had to be coming from the dishwasher, which had run within the last hour. Oh boy!

Once I wrapped up what I was doing in the basement and fetched a Band-Aid for my bloody finger, I turned my attention to the water leak. At the same time, I informed Mindy that I needed to make a quick Home Depot run to get the part for fresh air duct. Before heading out, I fetched my ¼” nut driver and removed the kick plate from the dishwasher. And then after replacing the batteries in my LED flashlight which just so happened to fail at that very moment, I got down on the floor for closer inspection. Nothing obvious, and neither the water input or the drain connection appeared to be leaking, though the bare plywood flooring just beneath the dishwasher was damp. I decided I needed to run the dishwasher to see if it would leak.

Of course having recently run it, it was full. Mindy agreed to unload the dishes while I patiently waited. Once empty I dropped once again to the floor and put the dishwasher through a wash cycle. It’s mechanical so I could advance it through the various stages at will. Sure enough, once what I’ll refer to as a solenoid engaged, which appears directly attached to the pump/motor, it began leaking and not from the water input line or the discharge tube. Not good. And on closer inspection it looks like it’s been seeping very likely for years because the metal part in question, while still operation, had a build-up of corrosion. I ran it through that same cycle three or four times to be sure. Finally after about 20-30 minutes I gave up and shared that we simply need to get a new dishwasher. Makes no sense spending money on this one. It’s 20 years old!

I wasn’t too disappointed having gotten 10 more years out of it than one might normally expect. The only thing was the timing and inconvenience. But then again, when is convenient? I didn’t say anything to Mindy, but figured I would take a look-and-see while at Home Depot, though I am not a fan of buying appliances there. I’ve heard lots of horror stories. But if nothing else, I figured I could compare featured and prices.

Off to Home Depot. At Home Depot I went first for the ducting, and there I struggled to find the piece I really needed though after a little time I found a piece that would work however its intended purpose is the transition from the large duct box to the 4” starter. They didn’t seem to have the splice piece I had in mind (double male).

Eventually headed over to the appliance department taking in their somewhat limited selection of dishwashers. Relative to features, looks and price, none really caught my eye. Although there was a GE model I liked but it was too pricey. While there, I looked over their selection or ranges too. And just like with the dishwasher, the only make I liked was the GE. The features I had in mind were gas, cast iron cook top grates, convection, stainless steel, etc. Again,, though, a little pricey. Between the two, $2K. Ouch!

I never intended to buy new appliances at Home Depot anyway. Instead, just look and compare, But realistically, I’d need to address the dishwasher situation fairly soon. It dawned on me while in the checkout line that I get a discount with a couple/few appliance manufactures. I told myself that I would check into that later at home.

As I was pulling down our street, Lindsey was just leaving our house with the boys. I failed to mention that Landon was originally planning to go to Home Depot with me but had a change of heart last minute. At home, I went straight to the basement to continue the insulated duct work. Took twice as long as expected but I got it done. Like a lot of little tasks, I had to do each end twice – forgot to install the hose clamps the first time. On a positive note, the new dehumidifier seems to be doing its job removing the heavy humidity and taking away that damp, musty basement smell as well.

Near 630pm I headed upstairs for a shower, and by then I was itchy head to toe, no doubt a byproduct of working with the insulated ducting all day. While I was showering, Mindy was making dinner, penne pasta, chicken and tomatoes, which is a family favorite (mine without the artichokes).

I was starving and the pasta hit the spot. The remainder of the evening was very low key. We watched oodles of college football. I think I drank one beer the returned to ice water.