In the garden, and RAIN!!! (2) by SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

So we all know what we're talking about ....

Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
So yeah... I think I was blowing some of this way out of proportion.

I've got some pictures here of the dry fit and I haven't even put a level up to anything to verify anything was plum. This was all just eyeballed.

Here's the bottom rail and how it fit on top of the one that I originally made a few months ago.

Shot from inside the basement.

Oh yeah... I never showed any pics of the before/after of the basement. You'll get to see a bit of the after here.

You can see the top board still needs to be cut down just a bit. I'll figure that out tomorrow. I'm pleased with how the day went and what I got done.

And here's 3 separate angles of looking at it from the 1st floor...

Nothing is actually secured here with anything, but it's all snug fits. I've got the furniture pads on top of each of the 19 poles. I may decide to change them out for rubber bumpers before I put them back up.

When I take them down I'm going to number each one on the bottom from right to left from inside the basement since that's the way I installed each of them today before sanding them smooth and painting them.

I'm REEEEEEAAAAAALY considering possibly staining all of that new stuff instead of painting it white.

I haven't made up my mind yet. It's one of the reasons I'm going to let it sit up there for a while.

I won't be working on it tomorrow since I'm going to my friend's house for super sportsball day.

Oh... and here was "The Plan".

I think it went more or less according to plan.

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

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Sunday, February 11, 2024 7:47 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Wow, that is a handsome piece, SECOND!

You rubbing it in how good that looks to Second because he's always lurking in the garden?

I guess I kind of forgot to show the pictures where I raised that top piece from the bottom after inserting the poles. You get what I was talking about now though?

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Sunday, February 11, 2024 1:37 PM

Rain, rain, rain here today. But I have an email that I have to send then I will also get some music on for a Sunday.

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Sunday, February 11, 2024 3:03 PM

Man... I'm just loving the way that overlook looks at different times of the day with the sunlight and how the light inside or outside play on the shadows.

I'm totally split on if I want to paint it all white like I originally planned or if I want to stain it. My old man right away said that I should still paint it white, but my Aunt told me I should stain it before I asked her opinion or even mentioned I was thinking about it.

There's three problems with staining it.

The first is that I didn't plan for staining and (at least for now) the method of firmly affixing those poles was relying on a combination of liquid nails, caulk and/or wood putty. Right now, the poles wouldn't go anywhere after the top and bottom plates were secured, but they would spin around in the holes like those old monkey bars on the playground did if I abandon all of that and go with stain.

The second problem is that even though the oak poles cost 260% more than the solid poplar poles, they aren't solid pieces. I'm sure they're joined together very securely since they're designed to be used horizontally with clothes or heavy coats hanging from them, but about every 12" to 14" you can see where they are different pieces that were notched and glued together. This might not be super obvious from the pictures while they're bare, but I'm afraid that if I tried staining them the abrupt changes between light and dark wood tones and the fact that the wood grain patterns end when a new piece begins would become very noticeable and I would not like the results. (This is probably my biggest case against staining anything)

The third problem is the top and side jambs that somebody else installed poorly that I didn't take the time to rip out and redo the right way before I put the trim up, and the challenges that mistake has posed for me. I'm good at budgeting and doing taxes, and I can do quite a bit of basic math in my head, but I am no engineer and even though I had all of the wacky measurements from one side of the overlook to the other side of it on the top/bottom front/back and even had a rough estimation of how many degrees off 90 degrees each corner was, I just simply could not figure out exactly what angles I would need to cut the ends of both of those boards so that not only did they fit perfectly into the jambs without gaps, but more importantly they did so without moving my circle holes for the poles off center from each other, even by 1/16th of an inch. Because of this, there are some minor unsightly gaps where the new plates I built meet the jambs. I did better than I thought I might and they won't require me to load any of them up with wood putty that would be sanded down, but without caulking them those gaps would always be there if I stained the pieces.

I think I'm going to email pics to my friend and ask some people at the Superb Owl party today what they think.

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Monday, February 12, 2024 2:26 AM

The party was fun, but some of my friends didn't make it out. Kinda lame that they just stayed at home with their own families, but I guess that's what getting old feels like. I thought I'd be seeing some people I haven't seen in quite a while. Oh well.

Sunday is kind of a dumb day to hold the super sportsball event. They should definitely change that to Saturday.

I'm going to paint the overlook. The staining idea was overruled.

His daughter has been selling some of her plushies since she wants to make some upgrades to her bedroom after I painted it last winter. She and her mom were telling me about that plan a few months ago and I guess she's already made about $300 so far. She's got this whole idea about how she wants to build shelves in her closet and I told her that when she gets the stuff I can help her build it. She just got a new bed and vanity that her dad is going to put together this week. I guess she bought the bed frame with her own money. It's good teaching kids lessons like that. He could just have easily bought her all that stuff. She talks like a little adult. How she's outgrown those things even though she's going to keep her favorite ones and is exited talking about her plans to sell stuff to fund the project. When I was her age all I did was play video games.

It's cool seeing a kid grow up in a stable and loving two parent household, especially when mom gets to stay at home and raise the kid right and they're both so involved in her life.

Someday I hope she knows just how lucky she was.

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Monday, February 12, 2024 3:18 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Wow, that is a handsome piece, SECOND!

You rubbing it in how good that looks to Second because he's always lurking in the garden?

I guess I kind of forgot to show the pictures where I raised that top piece from the bottom after inserting the poles. You get what I was talking about now though?

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

OMG I'm so sorry!!!

But I got a good laugh over my mistake. I hope you did too!

FWIW I would have gone with painting. Stained wood would absorb too much sunlight, and if there are too many finishes in a room it looks kind of, I dunno, frou frou? Indecisive?

That, plus the practical matter of making splined wood look good.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

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Monday, February 12, 2024 11:51 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Wow, that is a handsome piece, SECOND!

You rubbing it in how good that looks to Second because he's always lurking in the garden?

I guess I kind of forgot to show the pictures where I raised that top piece from the bottom after inserting the poles. You get what I was talking about now though?

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.
OMG I'm so sorry!!!

But I got a good laugh over my mistake. I hope you did too!

LOL

I figured that's what actually happened.

Quote:
FWIW I would have gone with painting. Stained wood would absorb too much sunlight, and if there are too many finishes in a room it looks kind of, I dunno, frou frou? Indecisive?

Yeah. That's along the lines of what my dad was telling me too. My only argument against it would be that I do have hardwood floor in the living room and up the hallway into the 2nd floor. I painted the risers on the steps, but the steps are stained wood. So it's not as if when taking in the greater picture of it all there isn't other stained wood in the mix.

But when not looking out that way and only looking at the kitchen and the room in the basement it would be the only segment of wood in the entire mix that wasn't painted gloss white, including all the kitchen cabinets behind it.

And now that it's practically the centerpiece of the two rooms, it probably will be better going with the white paint anyhow.

Quote:
That, plus the practical matter of making splined wood look good.

Splined. That's a good word.

Yeah. Those poles have almost a "gear" etched into them every 12" to 14" or so, visible all around the diameter of them, and each piece fit snugly into the slots all around. I'd love to see what that looks like all the way to the core, but they were put together so well that I think if I tried to saw it for a cross-section I might not get any real answer to that. Maybe I'll try it on one of my cutoffs.

Even though the poplar rods were not very straight and would probably have required me to go to three different stores to find enough that were good enough to work with, if I was going to stain these pieces I probably would have had to go with them instead.

I think today I'm going to take it all down so I can cut that top piece down just a little where it needs to be cut down. And then I'm going to put it back up for one more dry fit. I have some good rubber bumpers of various sizes, and I think I want to try using them instead of the felt pads too. Some of those poles are in there super-snug, which I prefer, but some are really easy to move around with the felt pad on top. That top piece they rub against was SUPER uneven. I'd love to have all of the poles in there really tight before I put them up for the final time.

So I think I should be able to at least do that and then get primer up on everything today. If I really want to hustle I should be able to get a coat of paint on them too. The primer dries really fast, so really there's probably no reason I couldn't just clean my brush after primering and go straight to painting them once I finish with the primer.

What's going to be nice about painting the rods is that I can space my horses so the ends of the poles are touching them and not worry about ruining the finish since the ends of the rods are going to be buried in the top and bottom boards. Gotta be more careful with the bottoms than the tops because I don't have too much to work with there.

I've decided that I'm going to actually put the bottom plate exactly where it needs to be, glue it down and hit it with brad nails before I even put the top plate upside down on it and insert all the poles. It turns out that because I didn't drill all the way through the bottom plate I can actually get all the poles in through both plates without needing to move the bottom plate anyhow, just sliding the top plate the slightest bit as I put the poles in on an angle around the finished trim, and this way I can actually really secure that bottom plate with liquid nails which I didn't think I was going to be able to do before. I like that idea better than just using brad nails to join the two bottom plates together.

I better remember to put numbers on the bottom of those poles as I'm taking them out or I'm going to have a really bad day.

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Monday, February 12, 2024 1:09 PM

Out soon in the dry. Debating about umbrella. Meds refill.

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Monday, February 12, 2024 5:01 PM

Back and in for today. All done and it is still dry. So, I didn't need my umbrella.

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Monday, February 12, 2024 8:51 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Out all day with medical appts. Another appt tomorrow. I'm grateful for the care. But between cancer follow-ups and upcoming nasal surgery I don't have time to do much else. Altho I DID manage a little adventitous yardwork yesterday.

BUT. My sis in WNY, the one who gets clobbered regularly with lake effect snow storms, sent us a BEAUTIFUL EXTRAVAGANT bouquet for Valentine's Day. Full of flowers you'd expect from there: larkspur, roses, stock, carnations, lillies, sunflowers, goldenrod. and mums. Flowers of all colors and, my gosh! It's so LOVELY!

I'm not much of a flower arranger, but I put got my biggest vase and this time I managed to put it together so that it actually looks pretty from all sides! So of course I had to send pix to sis (who, BTW, used to be a florist, among other things) just to show her how gosh darn PRETTY it is!

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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

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Tuesday, February 13, 2024 12:11 PM

Out in a bit on a dry, sunny day. Need to deal with some paperwork. I hate paperwork. But you know it has to be done.

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Tuesday, February 13, 2024 1:03 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Out all day with medical appts. Another appt tomorrow. I'm grateful for the care. But between cancer follow-ups and upcoming nasal surgery I don't have time to do much else. Altho I DID manage a little adventitous yardwork yesterday.

BUT. My sis in WNY, the one who gets clobbered regularly with lake effect snow storms, sent us a BEAUTIFUL EXTRAVAGANT bouquet for Valentine's Day. Full of flowers you'd expect from there: larkspur, roses, stock, carnations, lillies, sunflowers, goldenrod. and mums. Flowers of all colors and, my gosh! It's so LOVELY!

I'm not much of a flower arranger, but I put got my biggest vase and this time I managed to put it together so that it actually looks pretty from all sides! So of course I had to send pix to sis (who, BTW, used to be a florist, among other things) just to show her how gosh darn PRETTY it is!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

Yeah. My buddy tells me everytime he comes to my house I need to get some plants.

Real ones. Not the fake trees that I used to have all over the place.

Yesterday I didn't do too much. I re-did all the poles. I didn't use the rubber bumpers because it would have required me to cut every one of the poles down again and I wasn't going to do that. Turns out that 2 furniture pads on each pole is perfect though. They hardly want to move anywhere after I did that. I'm just hoping that I cut enough down on the top board when I put them back in place because now I'm worried that I could scratch up the paint job on the poles trying to raise that top piece when I put it all back in.

Just got finished sanding the poles down smooth and laying them out on 4 horses. Taking a little break now and I'm going to prime everything.

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Tuesday, February 13, 2024 4:33 PM

Boy it takes a long time to paint poles...

4 more left and I can move on from primer to the 1st coat of paint. Hopefully the paint goes a bit smoother and quicker than the primer does. Lot's of grain for the primer to sink into even after sanding, so it's quite a job getting that all filled in.

I'm REALLY glad I'm doing this on the ground and not trying to paint all of them while they were already installed. It's bad enough I'll likely have to hit it all with one final coat of paint when it's all up there. Going to have to be super careful about drip marks.

I also quickly realized that trying to paint them while on their edges on the horses would have probably lead to a catastrophic mistake. I'm basically holding them with one hand and painting them with the other until the last 5 or so inches, then I'm putting the felt pad on the drop cloth while using my finger on the other end of the pole and painting around that, then just leaning them up against the horses.

All it would take is one wrong move and I would have dumped 10 or 11 poles on the ground all over each other, screwing up the paint jobs on all of them if I did it the way I was going to do it.

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Tuesday, February 13, 2024 4:42 PM

Back and done for the day and still sunny.

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Tuesday, February 13, 2024 8:34 PM

As I suspected, the 1st coat of paint went way quicker than the primer did. I think I'm going to go ahead and throw a thin 3rd coat on there right now while the paint is already out.

I can tell that I've raised the grain a bit in spots, so it's going to need a light sand in the morning before another coat goes on.

ETA...

Nah... I scuff sanded now. I'm 10 poles away from having the "final" coat on everything. Once it's all up and caulked I'm going to have to do the real final coat, but I want those poles to have some real curing time so I'm getting them all done tonight before I go to sleep.

I think I'm going to have to buy another gallon of paint soon. Got enough to do this and hit all the trim in the basement one more time after I do that damage to the wall for the generator plug and getting a new circuit down in the crawl, but there's no way I got enough to paint two more doors.

Hopefully it goes on sale soon. When they had the last sale every sheen of that paint was on sale except for the high gloss so I didn't buy any.

Should be done in another half hour, so I did end up working longer than I wanted to.

But that's cool... Tomorrow morning I can get that bottom piece glued and nailed in and I'll take care of my shopping after that. I'll give it at least another day before I attempt to put the rest of it in.

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Wednesday, February 14, 2024 12:01 AM

Done. Finally.

Tomorrow is going to be easy now. I didn't think I'd get 3 coats on all those pieces today.

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Wednesday, February 14, 2024 10:37 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
I think I'm going to have to buy another gallon of paint soon. Got enough to do this and hit all the trim in the basement one more time after I do that damage to the wall for the generator plug and getting a new circuit down in the crawl, but there's no way I got enough to paint two more doors.

This is nuts.

When I wrote that, it was about an hour before I checked out the new ad for this week and they've got every sheen in that line of paint on sale until the 21st.

$10 off per gallon rebate, plus the sale price. Unfortunately the high gloss isn't on sale again like all the other sheens, but at least I can get the $10 rebate this time.

I'm going to buy 2 gallons. I thought about buying 3, but I was struggling to think of what I'd use it all on after doing the things I know I still need to do for sure with it. That paint goes a lot further than the other paint because it's for trim and doors. I've already gone through 5 gallons of it, but I've done 3 full doors, 1 half door, 3 bi-fold closet doors, all the door/window trim and baseboard on the 1st and 2nd floors and all of my kitchen cabinets inside and out.

I'm trying to figure out if I want to buy any other colors right now. Both of the bedrooms could probably be repainted since I need touchups, but that paint was $60 per gallon when I did it and supposedly its capable of seamless touchups. I still want to try that out but I have to buy a couple of quarts of that stuff first to see it in action. I probably wouldn't save any money doing that when I can buy new paint this cheap on sale, but it would save me a ton of time and work if the claims are true.

I'll probably just get the 2 gallons of high gloss for now. I know this paint is still good 4 years after you buy it if you haven't opened it because I've already tested that out. But I'm already sitting on a lot of paint that still needs to be used up.

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Wednesday, February 14, 2024 12:13 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Wow, sounds like you're making good progress, SIX,

Over here, done with that spate of appointments. Good news from my surgeon on my CT scan and ultrasound: all looks good. My next big appointment is 22nd, when I have my nasal/ sinus surgery. After that, I'll be prohibited from lifting anything heavier than 5 lbs for two weeks. But since it will by dry from now until Sunday (?) I get some yardwork done while that. I hope. It depends on how long I can work each day.

Next month is a blood test for my cancer markers, when my oncologists weigh in. But I'm hoping that with this constant source of inflammation tamped down, everything will look better.

Well, no matter what the results I'll be moving forward with stuff.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

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Wednesday, February 14, 2024 1:30 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Wow, sounds like you're making good progress, SIX,

Yup.

I glued in the bottom board of the overlook and spackled it already, and I also hit the 3 last pieces of trim I put up on the basement side of the overlook. I was considering caulking everything now, but thought better of it. Those poles are going in TIGHT with the 2 furniture pads on them and things may shift. I already noticed that on the kitchen side I broke a caulk line in the upper right corner because I jammed that top piece in there before I cut it down to the right size yesterday. No reason to caulk everything prematurely and make even more work for myself, even if it will be harder to do once everything else is installed.

Nothing I can do on that for a day or two now while I let those poles and boards cure. I think today after I get cleaned up and do some shopping I'm going to do a little house cleaning. My aunt might be coming over this weekend and I could get a head start on that job.

Quote:
Over here, done with that spate of appointments. Good news from my surgeon on my CT scan and ultrasound: all looks good. My next big appointment is 22nd, when I have my nasal/ sinus surgery. After that, I'll be prohibited from lifting anything heavier than 5 lbs for two weeks. But since it will by dry from now until Sunday (?) I get some yardwork done while that. I hope. It depends on how long I can work each day.

Next month is a blood test for my cancer markers, when my oncologists weigh in. But I'm hoping that with this constant source of inflammation tamped down, everything will look better.

Well, no matter what the results I'll be moving forward with stuff.

Good luck with the surgery and the tests Sigs. Hopefully they get you straightened out soon, and I'm glad to hear that you're still getting stuff done yourself.

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Wednesday, February 14, 2024 1:30 PM

Out and about on a dry and sunny day again. Things to do before my pick up game of mah jong.

Suppose to maybe snow tomorrow have to see what happens.

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Wednesday, February 14, 2024 9:51 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Out and about on a dry and sunny day again. Things to do before my pick up game of mah jong.

Suppose to maybe snow tomorrow have to see what happens.

Snow, huh? Seems a little late in the season.

Good luck with the tiles!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

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Wednesday, February 14, 2024 9:52 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Speaking of snow ...

I took a picture from our neighborhood of snow on the mountains. Those mountains are maybe 25 miles away. Normally they're hidden by haze or clouds, but right after storm clouds blow thru the air is clear, and the mountains were bright, bright white. So I took a picture and sent it to my nieces, with palm trees in the foreground, bc this is one of the few days when LA looks pretty.

*****
I scraped about half of the oak tree mound clean and leveled the top and rim, and tomorrow I'm going to roll builder's paper across. I had cardboard boxes there, and it did a better job than I expected, and even broke down nice and crumbly, but I left some gaps bc I wasn't sure if water would penetrate, so some weeds and grasses grew thru the gaps. I should be able to do a better job with the paper.

Gonna have a lot of dirt left over, but since one side of the yard is so much higher than the other Im still transferring dirt. Looking at how the yard was graded and where the tree roots are, I'll never get it how I would like, but I can lead water away from the foundation effectively.

I also dug around where that thirsty hole appeared, but I didn't find any big gaping hollow so I have no idea where all that water went.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

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Wednesday, February 14, 2024 9:57 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Wow, sounds like you're making good progress, SIX,

Yup.

I glued in the bottom board of the overlook and spackled it already, and I also hit the 3 last pieces of trim I put up on the basement side of the overlook. I was considering caulking everything now, but thought better of it. Those poles are going in TIGHT with the 2 furniture pads on them and things may shift. I already noticed that on the kitchen side I broke a caulk line in the upper right corner because I jammed that top piece in there before I cut it down to the right size yesterday. No reason to caulk everything prematurely and make even more work for myself, even if it will be harder to do once everything else is installed.

Nothing I can do on that for a day or two now while I let those poles and boards cure. I think today after I get cleaned up and do some shopping I'm going to do a little house cleaning. My aunt might be coming over this weekend and I could get a head start on that job.

Quote:
Over here, done with that spate of appointments. Good news from my surgeon on my CT scan and ultrasound: all looks good. My next big appointment is 22nd, when I have my nasal/ sinus surgery. After that, I'll be prohibited from lifting anything heavier than 5 lbs for two weeks. But since it will by dry from now until Sunday (?) I get some yardwork done while that. I hope. It depends on how long I can work each day.

Next month is a blood test for my cancer markers, when my oncologists weigh in. But I'm hoping that with this constant source of inflammation tamped down, everything will look better.

Well, no matter what the results I'll be moving forward with stuff.

Good luck with the surgery and the tests Sigs. Hopefully they get you straightened out soon, and I'm glad to hear that you're still getting stuff done yourself.

--------------------------------------------------

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

It seems like this was one project you were NOT looking forward to. It sounds like it presented just too many points of "fear, uncertainty, and doubt" where things could go wrong and you'd have to scrap some work and start all over?

But it's nearing completion? All easy sledding from now?

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

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Wednesday, February 14, 2024 11:13 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Out and about on a dry and sunny day again. Things to do before my pick up game of mah jong.

Suppose to maybe snow tomorrow have to see what happens.
Snow, huh? Seems a little late in the season.

Good luck with the tiles!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

Won the first round and I should have specified that the snow is for Thursday.

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Wednesday, February 14, 2024 11:15 PM

Regular mah jong game tomorrow.

Any snow that was suppose to come my way is mostly going to be staying on Vancouver Island and there might be some in the Fraser Valley. So there could be rain where I am tomorrow then dry on Friday.

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Thursday, February 15, 2024 1:16 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
It seems like this was one project you were NOT looking forward to. It sounds like it presented just too many points of "fear, uncertainty, and doubt" where things could go wrong and you'd have to scrap some work and start all over?

Oh... There's other projects I'm not looking forward to for sure. I think part of my entire basement process this winter has been me procrastinating yet again on working on the sump pump solution in the crawl space.

Yeah... I'm going to have to bust out wall to run a new circuit down there, but there's really no reason I have to wait until I'm already busting out the same wall for the generator plug I plan on installing in the spring when it warms up. I could be working on that right now.

I think I'm also going to be adding another external outlet from the garage so I can install an outdoor sump pit in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle, and then trench out the ground so it goes out along the side of the driveway and all the way out to the street. This all needs to be done before I start grading the ground along the walls of the porch/shed and garage into that well so I can get river rock down there and finally be free of the sandy beach that is my backyard.

I'm not looking forward to doing any of that.

But yeah... This one has perplexed me for over a decade. I had no idea how I was going to do what I ultimately ended up doing. I had to make some adjustments and come up with some creative solutions along the way, but its going to turn out better than I'd ever hoped for.

Quote:
But it's nearing completion? All easy sledding from now?

Fingers crossed, right?

Yeah. I think the only possible thing that could go wrong now is my lack of patience gets in the way and I end up scraping paint off all the rods when I lift that top piece up. Adding those 2nd furniture pads was exactly what I needed to really solidify the setup even without the liquid nails and caulk being added to the equation, but the negative aspect of them is that the top piece isn't going to just easily slide up to the top like it did before by just brushing the poles away in the direction the board wants them to go. There's a LOT of rubbing on the poles on the way up.

Nothing earth shattering if it happens. I can fix it in post. It will just ruin my day is all, which would suck since I've come this far and I'm so close to completing it.

One more bit of uncertainty here, but it's almost over.

I just need to REALLY take my time. The rubbing shouldn't be nearly as bad after I shaved down the top board on the lefthand side. Most if not all of that rubbing action was the top plate moving all 19 poles out of plum slightly to the right during the 2nd dry fit. Assuming I shaved off enough of the top plate to fix that issue, I'm hoping that by being extremely careful while raising it up I can do it with minimal collateral damage.

I do have a new variable I didn't account for when I did my dry fits. The poles now have 1 layer of primer and 2 layers of thick paint on them. The holes were all bigger than the posts and I know they'll still fit, but they will be just a slightly tighter fit than they were when they were bare. However, before painting the final coat on the boards, I did take the time to get some sandpaper in the holes and really clean them up. They were very rough cuts from that drill bit, and now they're pretty smooth to the touch. Initially, I didn't want to do anything about that because all that grain would have been great to hold the caulk in place, but there were just as many pits in the holes as there were pokey bits, so it's still a very porous surface that should do that job adequately without the rough edges further risking a bad scrape job on my paint.

It's all going to get painted one more time front to back after I spackle nail holes and caulk everything, so hopefully we're good here.

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Thursday, February 15, 2024 3:47 AM

Nah. Just kidding. Not a problem at all.

Already done. As far as I can tell without natural light, I'm seeing only two barely noticeable rubs on two poles, and a little bit of scuffing from the board on the left jamb.

I thought better of using the Liquid nails in the bottom holes when I figured out it was going to take me a LOT longer to raise that top board than I thought it would. I probably just spent 45 minutes to an hour doing that alone. Plus, since I got the itch to attempt this at around midnight, I really didn't feel like putting myself into a position where I might be working on this until 4AM.

So the two boards are glued and nailed and the poles aren't going anywhere. I mean, anywhere. There would have to be a barroom brawl in my kitchen to break that now. But even with the felt pads in they spin if you apply enough pressure.

That's okay. I still have a plan for that too. A little trick I learned from my stepdad in his furniture restoration shop when you need to get glue inside of a hairline crack in wood before clamping it. If you happen to know somebody who can give you a few hypodermic needles, you can fill it with wood glue and inject it inside the wood. As luck would have it, I just happen to know a guy.

Next step is to recheck for plum since I have the slightest bit of wiggle room on all of them and I'll inject that wood glue into the top and bottom of all the holes.

That's a job for another day though...

Check it out!

I'd say that's now officially an upgrade.

One code violation down. Two to go.

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Thursday, February 15, 2024 10:06 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:

I'd say that's now officially an upgrade.

One code violation down. Two to go.

Officially, you wasted your time and money on a purposeless opening in the wall. Closing that opening with Sheetrock would have been better looking, simpler, faster, and cheaper.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Thursday, February 15, 2024 11:20 AM

You are jealousy personified. Everybody hates you.

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Thursday, February 15, 2024 12:29 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
You are jealousy personified. Everybody hates you.

So you didn't think about a solution of closing that opening with Sheetrock. Not at all surprising that you missed a simple opportunity to not squander your money and time since you are fixated on carpentry rather than problem-solving.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Thursday, February 15, 2024 12:40 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
You are jealousy personified. Everybody hates you.
So you didn't think about a solution of closing that opening with Sheetrock. Not at all surprising that you missed a simple opportunity to not squander your money and time since you are fixated on carpentry rather than problem-solving.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Of course I did. That's the lazy and easy way out for losers.

And nobody calls it by the brand name Sheetrock, genius. The fact that you refuse to call it drywall just shows how you're in over your head talking about things you don't have any clue about.

I've got a piece of art sitting there now, and the floorplan is wide open instead of boxed up like all the BS cookie cutter houses they make today. I just added 5 times the value to my house what I spent on supplies and tools, and I'll have those tools for other projects for many years to come... possibly the rest of my life.

I have nothing but time on my hands. Money isn't an issue either. I go without buying dumb shit that I don't need so I don't have to spend the rest of my life slaving away making somebody else money. That doesn't mean I don't have money to do things I enjoy doing and take pride in.

The fact that you're posting this bullshit here in the Garden right now when you NEVER join in a conversation in this thread when you've been invited to several times over the years says everything anybody needs to know about you.

You are a petty, pathetic, man-baby.

My house is awesome and getting better all the time. I quit drinking and I've turned my life around, and because I don't fit into your pathetic assessment of all people who don't agree with you politically by any metric, it brings out the very worst in you.

I'm sure you thought that coming in here and posting what you've posted would ruin my day. Quite the contrary. The fact that you just did what you did makes me think this thing is twice as good as I already thought it was if it elicited this never-before-seen reaction out of you.

Thanks for the compliment. I know it's amazing.

Have a nice day.

--------------------------------------------------

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Thursday, February 15, 2024 1:44 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:

I'd say that's now officially an upgrade.

One code violation down. Two to go.
Officially, you wasted your time and money on a purposeless opening in the wall. Closing that opening with Sheetrock would have been better looking, simpler, faster, and cheaper.

Hey SECOND, why don't you take a vacation from posting hate 24/7/365? Do something useful that you can take pride in. You won't be so miserable; I guarantee it.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

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Thursday, February 15, 2024 3:09 PM

I'm going to go get some paint swatches today. I've decided that I'm going to paint the stairs going into the basement. The wood probably wasn't that great when it was new, and after the water damage on the tops and the heavy dirt rubbed into the grain of the wood and all that paint they slopped on since they just threw carpet over them, not to mention all the damage from the screws through the face of the stairs and the brad nails through the face of the risers, I don't think there's any way I could make that look good with stain. If I ever want to do that down the road I could pull them out and get new wood and do it right.

I'm going to put high gloss on them so they're easy to clean, but I'll also have to buy those carpet pads for stairs, or rubber ones so nobody slips on them. That should also help keep them clean in the first place.

Got a few other errands I need to run today anyhow.

I put the wood putty up in the problem spot on the overlook on the basement side. It's going to need one more coat because it was impossible to shape it with how much was missing behind the casing. Going to need to give that a few days before I go any further with it, so I'll move on to something else in the meantime.

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Thursday, February 15, 2024 4:46 PM

Back and done for today. Dry but cold out. No luck at mah jong but I did get some grocery shopping done.

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Thursday, February 15, 2024 4:52 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back and done for today. Dry but cold out. No luck at mah jong but I did get some grocery shopping done.

Good deal!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

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Thursday, February 15, 2024 5:54 PM

Already got my paint for the stairs.

I was going to go with a brown to match the hardwood, but the stuff I did years back on the 2nd floor and the stairs doesn't match the redwood hardwood color on the first floor anyhow. I settled on an interesting color that's like a midtone grey with brown in it. When I remember the color I can show it to you.

It was a pretty easy choice because when I went to look at swatches I decided to check out their carpet runners and see what their selection was. They had some beefy brown indoor/outdoor ones with rubber on the back and carpet squares on the front that were on clearance for only $2.99 instead of $5.99. I bought enough of them to have one on the tile floor in the basement and wrap all the way up to the 2nd floor. So while I tried to pick a color for the tops of those steps that would go well with the walls as well as the existing stairs and 1st floor wood stain color, you're not going to see much of it anyhow since the runners are 8" x 35" and will now tie in all the stairs together.

I'd only bought 7 of them my first trip there, but when I went back to get the paint I bought 9 more.

Hell... at that price I should probably go back and buy a few extra ones in case one or two of them start to fray at some point.

Really getting lucky on these sales as of late. Usually I'm buying stuff years in advance or going without until I can catch them.

--------------------------------------------------

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Thursday, February 15, 2024 11:25 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back and done for today. Dry but cold out. No luck at mah jong but I did get some grocery shopping done.

Good deal!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

Yeah, needed something for supper as I had eaten all my leftovers yesterday.

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Thursday, February 15, 2024 11:28 PM

Got some bad news today about one of the mah jong group. Haven't seen this lady in few months and I had been wondering if she was busy with family stuff or doing other things. Turns out she is fighting breast cancer and so the head of the group had a card for all of us to sign.

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Thursday, February 15, 2024 11:35 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Got some bad news today about one of the mah jong group. Haven't seen this lady in few months and I had been wondering if she was busy with family stuff or doing other things. Turns out she is fighting breast cancer and so the head of the group had a card for all of us to sign.

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that.

I hope she has family and close friends to help her through treatment.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

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Friday, February 16, 2024 12:12 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back and done for today. Dry but cold out. No luck at mah jong but I did get some grocery shopping done

SIGNY: Good deal!

BRENDA: Yeah, needed something for supper as I had eaten all my leftovers yesterday.

Today was family shopping day, which is easier for me because hubby takes dear daughter, but more complicated because I try to get it all for one week so I have to plan a full week ahead. And mind hubby's diabetes and dear daughter's food intolerances. And if course they're both picky eaters and generally speaking what one likes the other doesn't, or can't, eat. So I wind up making different versions of the same thing. For example, today was turkey shepherd's pie. Except dear daughter's version can't have onions, and hubby's version can have onions but not mashed potatoes. And since neither of them do well with green peas, but for different reasons, I have to make do with green beans.

Then there's beef stew. Again, I have to cook onions separately and put them in hubby's bowl, but take out the potatoes. And since I always like to put in a green vegetable, thanks to daughter's food intolerances I'm stuck with zucchini, spinach,or beet greens. No kale, collards, turnip or mustard greens!

Hubby likes hot food and tomatoes. Daughter not so much. So when I'm doing something with ground beef, I'll makes us a kicky chili con carne but make a cheeseburger for her, with some mild vegetable side (no beans or corn or crucifers)

Also I cook chicken carcases to make bone broth, but I strip the meat for to dog. But since it's cooked, the B1 and potassium is reduced, and there was never any calcium in it so I supplement it up to commercial standards.

I feel like a short order cook sometimes.

****

Despite all that, I managed to get a lot of this and that done, and one thing I managed to do was lay down builder's paper on the front half of the tree mound. That's so many weeds I won't have to deal with later!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

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Friday, February 16, 2024 10:09 AM

Sounds like your family has more variety in one week of cooking than I get in an entire year if it weren't for meals outside of my house.

You ever look into that possible sinkhole?

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Friday, February 16, 2024 10:41 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Got some bad news today about one of the mah jong group. Haven't seen this lady in few months and I had been wondering if she was busy with family stuff or doing other things. Turns out she is fighting breast cancer and so the head of the group had a card for all of us to sign.

Sorry to hear that Brenda. Hope she gets better.

I never asked before... How many people are in the group? How did you find it?

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Friday, February 16, 2024 10:54 AM

So one thing I'd really like to get done today is gluing those posts in with the wood glue/needles. I'm sure that's going to dry a lot quicker than my copious amounts of wood putty I needed to use in that top corner yesterday, but anything with drying time needs to be done sooner than later.

I'm probably going to shift focus to the stairs while doing things like this and eventually caulking that overlook before putting the final coat of paint on there. I'm hoping I don't have to paint the poles again and I can get away with just the touchups on the two rubbed off areas and making sure the caulk gets covered. I'd probably paint all that first and see if it blends in and make a decision on painting the poles a day or two later.

I've got to cut out the holes in the two risers of the basement stairs for the return ductwork. I've already cut out 1 of the 4 of them, but I've got to put the vent back up and see if I can cut it lower. Those original cuts were terrible and if I can't get away with cutting the bottom lower I'm going to have to waste a lot of plastic wood shaping back what they cut away with their bad cuts. Everything behind the grates will be painted a DARK color like I did in the return vent up high in the living room near the stairwell so nobody is likely to see just how nasty it is back there, but I'll notice it even if nobody else does if I don't do it right.

I also have to fill in a ton of screws and brad nails on the stairs and sand them down good before I hit them with primer to prep for the paint. I'm going to make sure that I document where those screws are on each stair before I do it though. There's probably not a high chance I end up ripping them out and putting new ones up so I can properly stain them like the stairs to the 2nd floor, especially if this turns out well, but just in case it would be nice to know where those screws were buried to make it easier to take them out without destroying anything I don't want to destroy in the process.

I used up almost my entire can of oil rubbed bronze spray paint working on a project for my brother a year or 2 ago, so I won't have enough to hit the grates that go above the return duct holes. That stuff never goes on sale. I'll see if I can get it cheaper online because the last time I bought a can it was $8 and now it's nearly $12.

Not in a huge hurry on that. I took them down when I ripped out the carpet around 13 years ago now. I'm just glad that I managed to still have them and they were easy to find.

What I can't seem to find is the two large vent grates for the heat in the basement. I'm sure they weren't in great shape, but I have plenty of white spray primer and paint, so I would do that if they weren't in terrible shape and didn't need a ton of work scraping off rust first. I can't remember at all what they looked like. If they're gone, they must have been really bad. Obviously, I don't actually have any heat down there now, but with almost everything else close to being finished in the one room you can see down there, it would be stupid not to cover up the ugly duct hole under the overlook.

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Friday, February 16, 2024 1:49 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
Sounds like your family has more variety in one week of cooking than I get in an entire year if it weren't for meals outside of my house.

Since i have no sense of smell - I literally can't tell you if I'm eating garlic or vanilla* - I really cook for the family. If I were cooking for myself, it would be nutritious but very very plain. (*The number of things I can't taste or smell is legion. Lemon, coffee, chocolate, peanut, beef, beans, tomato, cheese, bread, roses, fresh mown grass, rain on concrete, newly turned earth ... I can only sense with my tongue: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami, and "hot". Everything else that we think of as "taste" is actually smell. Which I no longer have.)

But I do believe in variety for nutrition, so when I make up a menu I rotate beef, chicken, pork and turkey. Throw in eggs, beans, and cheese. Dinners always have one green, or greenish, vegetable: lettuce, spinach, green beans, zucchini, celery, beet greens, green pepper, okra, cucumber, parsley, cilantro, basil etc. Broccoli, cabbage, collards, or kale -but not for dear daughter. And one non-green vegetable or fruit: tomato, red pepper, carrots, sweet potato, beets, blueberries, strawberries. And if the meal needs some "filler" onions or cauliflower (for hubby) or potato (for dear daughter).
I cook American, Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Indian or whatever I think they'll like.

Quote:
You ever look into that possible sinkhole?
Yeah, I did. I dug around that hole expecting to see dirt collapse into a hollow. But all I dug up was more dirt. So I have no idea where all that water was going. I suspect it was a rotted tree root, because the hole was not as large as my wrist, and it looked like it was angling down about 30 deg. I'll keep an eye on that area but for now it's still a mystery.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

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Friday, February 16, 2024 4:12 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Got some bad news today about one of the mah jong group. Haven't seen this lady in few months and I had been wondering if she was busy with family stuff or doing other things. Turns out she is fighting breast cancer and so the head of the group had a card for all of us to sign.
Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that.

I hope she has family and close friends to help her through treatment.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

It was sad. She's a nice lady. I think she has a daughter living close to her and she has her husband.

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Friday, February 16, 2024 4:19 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Got some bad news today about one of the mah jong group. Haven't seen this lady in few months and I had been wondering if she was busy with family stuff or doing other things. Turns out she is fighting breast cancer and so the head of the group had a card for all of us to sign.

Sorry to hear that Brenda. Hope she gets better.

I never asked before... How many people are in the group? How did you find it?

--------------------------------------------------

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

I hope so too but without knowing how advanced it is. There is no way of knowing if we will see her again.

There can be up to 15 people. Yesterday(Thursday) there was 16. So there was 5 tables of 4, I think. A friend's mother who used to volunteer at my local senior's centre got me a membership there when I turned 50 which will be 10 years ago in September. Acckkk!!!! *L* They put out a monthly booklet listing all the activities they do. They have several card groups and snooker as well as lawn bowling in the spring and summer. Also badminton and pickle ball. I went through it all and hit on the mah jong group. I had to have lessons as before the only way I played was on the computer, which is doing all the counting work for you.

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Friday, February 16, 2024 4:21 PM

The needle idea didn't work with the glue. My needles are too thin to pull the glue out of the bottle, and you can't load the glue up from the back side either.

Bummer.

I had a few things of super glue lying around. So I've done a test for now. I filled up holes of the first 5 with super glue and I caulked the next 1. All on the bottom. Hopefully that's going to be enough to keep them in place. I probably have 8 to 12 more bottles of the super glue somewhere, I just need to find them.

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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Friday, February 16, 2024 4:22 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back and done for today. Dry but cold out. No luck at mah jong but I did get some grocery shopping done

SIGNY: Good deal!

BRENDA: Yeah, needed something for supper as I had eaten all my leftovers yesterday.
Today was family shopping day, which is easier for me because hubby takes dear daughter, but more complicated because I try to get it all for one week so I have to plan a full week ahead. And mind hubby's diabetes and dear daughter's food intolerances. And if course they're both picky eaters and generally speaking what one likes the other doesn't, or can't, eat. So I wind up making different versions of the same thing. For example, today was turkey shepherd's pie. Except dear daughter's version can't have onions, and hubby's version can have onions but not mashed potatoes. And since neither of them do well with green peas, but for different reasons, I have to make do with green beans.

Then there's beef stew. Again, I have to cook onions separately and put them in hubby's bowl, but take out the potatoes. And since I always like to put in a green vegetable, thanks to daughter's food intolerances I'm stuck with zucchini, spinach,or beet greens. No kale, collards, turnip or mustard greens!

Hubby likes hot food and tomatoes. Daughter not so much. So when I'm doing something with ground beef, I'll makes us a kicky chili con carne but make a cheeseburger for her, with some mild vegetable side (no beans or corn or crucifers)

Also I cook chicken carcases to make bone broth, but I strip the meat for to dog. But since it's cooked, the B1 and potassium is reduced, and there was never any calcium in it so I supplement it up to commercial standards.

I feel like a short order cook sometimes.

****

Despite all that, I managed to get a lot of this and that done, and one thing I managed to do was lay down builder's paper on the front half of the tree mound. That's so many weeds I won't have to deal with later!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

Your family also gets more variety than me. As I have said I find cooking for myself a chore now at times. And I tend to eat the same things over and over just switching them around. Then there are my food sensitivities too and with my seizure meds now making me almost anemic, I have to watch my protein intake again. That just means making sure that I get enough.

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Friday, February 16, 2024 5:17 PM