Breakfast Discussion = Nooooo

First thing Sunday morning, Dodge Dude showed up - truck and trailer at the ready. But with the 60 or so total inches of snow we've had this winter, plus the less then 48hrs dig-out notice, Mike hadn't yet had the opportunity to dig his way to the backyard.

Remember, Dodge #2 has no brakes. It can't just be driven outta there... well, it shouldn't anyway. So we have to move 1 giant snow bank and 1 camper to even gain access to the dang thing. Lucky us, we've got a skid steere.

The DD decided to go to breakfast with his GF while Mike worked feverishly on the snow bank. Or, I should say, the ice bank, because that thing had a solid, impenetrable core. Meanwhile, I dug out the title confidently. I shouldn't have been so bold.

DD returned as Mike was still desperately trying to clear snow from the front of the camper. And all of a sudden he was having second thoughts. He wanted a Dodge. He knew this was a good deal. He had his trailer and, undoubtedly, a pocket-fulla cash. No one shows up at a place with all this and goes home empty handed. (Although this is the second time it's happened with this particular truck... strange.) Not only that, he knew Mike was working his butt off to get the thing out for him.

I imagine that the breakfast discussion with the GF just didn't go so well. I bet she told him it looked like a piece and it wasn't worth that kind of money and she didn't like it and so on and so forth.

He's going to think about it.

I suppose it would be worse. Mike could have completely dug out the camper, moved it, dragged the truck into the driveway.... I don't want to even think about it.

Bottom line - Dodge still for sale and it's going back on Craigslist. Like tonight or tomorrow.

But I do have good news! The new garage door arrived today! So exciting! As to when and how we're going to get it installed... your guess is as good as mine.

Wonderland? N. O.

The snow is once again upon us, undoubtedly translating into another missed Sunday out on the porch. Meanwhile, winter is ticking away and all those "winter" projects haven't even been started yet. I'm about ready to throw my own No-New-Projects mantra out the window until New England thaws out a little. I mean, how can you possibly install railings when there's a solid couple of inches of ice on the porch?! How can you pour concrete in subzero temps?

It's just silly. The porch cannot be finished in these kind of conditions.

At least we can rest assured in the fact that the kitchen window wall is coming together. Richard came over just a couple nights ago and taped/mudded all our hodge podge seams. Of course, with all the cold weather, we're going to give it a good week to really dry up before we invite him back for sanding.

 And can you believe the new fridge is set to be delivered on 2/5?! Seems like just yesterday when I purchased it and complained about the two month + backorder.

Adding to the madness, I'm still (yes, still) sick. This sinus thing makes me want to rip my throbbing face off and then sing about it in a death metal song. I felt great yesterday.... today I feel as bad as Wednesday if not worse. Am I drinking enough fluids? No. Am I taking my vittamins? No. Am I staying home on the couch with tea and Vicks until the pain goes away? No. So, therefore, I already know what my problems are and why I'm still ill. But sometimes you just can't do the things you'd like to do.

Unlike the dreaded Man Cold - where the dude of the house is incapacitated on the couch for days, watching an ungodly long war-themed show/mini-series/movie and/or the entire Rocky series OnDemand, unable to mutter more then an "eeuuurrr, can you make me some ramen noodles?" Yeah. I've been sick since last Saturday, at work every single day but Wednesday, and generally doing everything I normally do. (Miserably but still doing it.)

That's all I'll say about the Man Cold.

Now, on to some additional pleasant news!
THIS JUST IN.... DODGE #2 (is it #2? Well, it is poopy - so, I'll go with #2.) HAS BEEN SOLD!
For the amazingly low sum of just $2500.

That barely covers what we have into the thing. Don't you just love that? But I nearly had a conniption fit when Mike suggested he sell it for $1500. The dang new transfer case alone was $1000! So I'm pleased. And if all goes swimmingly, it may even be gone this weekend.

And, it's been purchased by the same doode who's putting on my new tires and aligning my truck. (Special vehicle = special alignment doode required.) So, I feel pretty confident he'll give us a little bit of a deal, since he knows this dodge is a steal. He only wants the motor!!!

Just think.... when the snow melts, no more vehicles in the backyard! Just a boat, a trailer, a skid steere, the camper, the snowmobile, and that little jeep go-cart thing. BUT! At least there will be no more VEHICLES!

I'm even laughing at myself and how ghetto that sounds. I should start a new toy-inventory blog that tracks vehicle acquisitions and transfers.

Two Words

I'm sick.

Third word: Again.

But the good news is, our neighbor and drywaller Richard is coming over tonight to tape up the hodge podge wall job Mike completed a couple weeks ago.

Finally, something to make my day a little brighter. T-minus less then two weeks until new Fridge time.

Movin In

The No New Projects rule cannot apply to Still Outstanding Projects. (And we have many.) Or I should say, Projects I Consider Complete But Aren't Really Because of Something Stoopid.

Like for instance, our baseboard heating. Sure, we've had baseboards for eons now. But do they have end caps? Heck no! Do we own end caps? Well, I thought not, until I found one when I was cleaning the basement Christmas Eve Eve. (Just one... interesting, huh? Like... who buys just one end cap?)

So at that time, I tried to slap it on the end of the mudroom baseboard. Didn't fit. Well, it was supposed to. It was the perfect size, but didn't want to go on there. Being Christmas Eve Eve and having better things to do, I gave up at that time. But wouldn't you know, Mike started complaining about lack of end caps on Sunday... so I just had to pull out our 1 token cap for him to try and put on.

Sure enough, no go. The baseboard was too low, since we had re-floored. Plus, there was that one piece of wood floor that was destined for underneath the baseboard that we'd never installed. (And how long ago did we hardwood in the mudroom? That was the first downstairs room we did!) And there was a screw in the wrong place - blocking the cap.

Ok - time to fix all that... x amount of years after the fact. Mike detached and raised the baseboard, installed the one piece of hardwood, and then put on the end cap - which now fit beautifully.

Now on to the second small matter at hand: the kitchen drywall. As in, we needed some, since removing the old and adding the new window. But did we have enough "in stock" to do the job. That was the question. We had one full sheet and a buncha pieces. We needed at least one full sheet and a buncha pieces. It was going to be close. We didn't want to buy anything.

Luckily, we had some expanding foam in stock - and we were able to steal some insulation from the garage to meet our draft elimination/insulation needs. (There's a big 'ol new door going on that garage soon... we won't need all of that insulation anymore.)

The one full sheet slipped in perfectly, since Mike had purposely cut the old drywall at the seams.

The smaller pieces were not so easy. But it was less of a hack job then I expected. Mike did fabulously! (And Mikey was super helpful throwing things away for us and taking care of the measuring tape.)

At the end of Sunday, we had more then half the drywall up.

 

At the end of Monday, it was all hung - with every single last scrap we had in stock!

Happy What?

La la la la - WHAT? 2011? Shoot.

Sorry, I've been totally MIA for about three weeks, preparing for xmas and for the annual family trip to Baltimore. (From which we returned just last night.) Oh, and yeah, there was a giant blizzard in the middle of all that. Throw in a buncha crazy deadlines, the stomach flu, the common cold, a toddler, traffic, and an unnatural love of bananas.... and boy you've got a stinky Christmas stew bad enough to send even the most devout Christmas fan to sheer insanity.

DUDE - ok, the ad just came on TV and I'm pissed. I bought a chicken sandwich at BK yesterday and did not get one free. Dam you jersey turnpike!

Anyway, needless to say, I'm glad to return to reality... whatever that is. Honestly, I need another vacation. Say... ME... on a cushy lounge chair.... next to a pool... in 85 degree temps, light breeze... and, oooo! Bay Breeze! In my hand, pink umbrella, bendy straw. No such luck, welcome to 2011 - it's still winter in New England and we've got things to do.

The boys did some work the weekend before Christmas. Mike had some of the guys over, plus Timmy, to help him with the siding on the kitchen/mudroom side. (Ahhh, as I recall now, this was the day I got the stomach flu.) But despite my incapacitation, the four-five guys made amazing progress within an amazingly little amount of time. When I peeked out at them around 1pm, they had already stripped the shingles off the mudroom, removed the temporary tar paper from the kitchen side, stapled up TvVek, and installed siding up to the bottom of the windows.

The most amazing part - the kitchen/mudroom were now one cohesive side! Not one side with one tacked on addition. The mad plywood leveling was paying off big time!

Unfortunately, that was the last thing I saw before I was totally bathroom bound. BUT - when I was feeling better, I saw that Timmy and the guys had continued until they were at the top of the mudroom windows. It looked incredible! Our house suddenly is looking like a really nice house...

Just today, Mike cleaned up that side and continued siding - all the way to the top of the kitchen window! He's left some of the difficult cuts for Timmy, who should be by next weekend. And don't think I've forgotten about the porch... Hopefully we'll have some snow melt by that time too.