What did you do today?

[Chris]

Towed my backhoe 2 hours one way to the land I bought in the mountains to do a septic evaluation as they call it. I asked the health department guy if there was anything else I need to bring to be prepared since it is pretty remote. He says no just the backhoe. I get there and dig the two holes he wants and tgen he tells me to go ahead and put the pipe in for the observation point. You know, the pipe I didn't bring because all I needed was a backhoe. I unhooked my trailer and left it and my backhoe in the middle of nowhere so I could drive 2 hours back home and get the pipe and drive back in the morning to bury these holes. I wanted to stab the guy

 

[zannej]

Joe, that sounds frustrating.

I took my 4 kittens to the vet for their first round of vaccines. Holy cow, the prices at the vet have gone up. In the past it was under $100 for something like that. It was nearly $300 this time. And we still have to get the mother spayed.

Also got some very sad news-- my best friend (the one with the bad luck) called to inform us that his father had died suddenly. Said he wasn't feeling well and went to lie down. His mother (my friend's grandmother) went to check on him 2 hours later and see if she could get him to go to the doctor but she found him on the floor dead. It's really going to make Christmas tough for them this year.

On a happier note, the Mighty Mule 360 automatic gate opener with solar panel was on a big sale so we ordered it, but we need to find a good battery and battery box.

 

[Chris]

Any 12volt battery will work. You can do a cheap solar charger or plug in maintainer. I have installed several of those mighty mule openers.

 

[zannej]

My mother had already ordered the gate lock before you said it wasn't necessary and it just arrived.

I took my friend to the store and bought him the work boots he'd been wanting (but couldn't afford) as well as a black button up shirt to wear to his father's funeral. His old boots were literally falling apart and he said the new ones are the most comfortable boots he's ever put on. I even got the clerk to agree to match the "online only" price so it took $10.04 off the in-store price.

I also got his daughter to start saying "primary" because her idiot mother (my friend's ex) can't pronounce it. She liked the word and kept repeating it. My friend was facepalming.

I'm doing more laundry and resting my back for now.

 

[zannej]

Did more laundry. Went to the funeral. It was rough.

My friend's grandmother was wailing and sobbing. My friend's 5-year-old daughter was wiping the tears from his face. I admit it was heartwrenching when she looked at her grandfather's body and put her favorite My Little Pony in the casket with him and said "I wish he could come back to life". That set her great grandmother off in to wailing "My baby" over and over for awhile- which in turn made her sons and my friend cry. I was with my friend's girlfriend holding her and trying to comfort her. My mother actually showed up even though she didn't know the deceased-- but she was there for my friend.

We saw some old friends that we only seem to see at funerals (last three previous times we'd seen him were at funerals for a mutual friend and his grandparents). He's still very fond of my mother and helped her out of her seat because she was having trouble. It was good to see people and there were lots of hugs. Just wish it was under better circumstances. I said to the one friend "We have to stop meeting like this".

It makes me want to plan some sort of get-together where we can just meet up to eat and catch up without it being a funeral or sad event. And I'm not one for big social gatherings, but some sort of reunion would be cool.

 

[HandyOne]

Sounds as if you need a family reunion.

 

[Chris]

I need a family reunion, Where do I go to pick the family I want to meet?

 

[havasu]

You are welcome here. I haven't pissed my bed in years. Do I qualify?

 

[zannej]

LOL. Chris, if you still lived in California I'd say you could visit my family members. The majority of my mother's side of the family live in San Diego area.

My brother's boss had messaged him wanting him to go in to work 2 hours early yesterday, but it was during the funeral (which his boss knew he was attending) so my brother ignored it. Then when my brother was 1 minute late (stuck in traffic) his boss was blowing up his phone and freaking out because my brother is almost always 30 to 10 minutes early. Apparently guests went back to the funeral home to eat, but my mother and I didn't know that so we went straight home-- cemetery was out a road directly opposite of the road we turn down to get home so we just went straight instead of going back in to town.
I'm resting today before doing some cleanup and tomorrow I'm going to see if my mother will go visit my friend's grandmother.

 

[Chris]

You are welcome here. I haven't pissed my bed in years. Do I qualify?

Sure, I hate piss. My wifes dog over the last couple weeks has pissed on my bathroom floor about 10 times, Now I have to tear it out and put tile in. I'm ready to shoot that dog.

 

[zannej]

Ugh. Having to replace flooring bc of dog piss would really make me angry.

I was getting very frustrated about my elderly cat peeing on my bed-- although not as bad once I got a waterproof mattress pad that I cover myself (and my bedding) with. It seems that he's regained control of his bladder now that he's feeling better and he hasn't gone on the bed in several days. I know the poor thing couldn't help it, so I couldn't get too mad about it. My mother's little dog pees on puppy training pads in my mother's bathroom (since she doesn't wake up when he scratches to be let out). Sometimes he misses a little, but at least he tries to go on the pads. But we can't have bathmats on the floor in there because he thinks they are pee pads too.

I was looking for signs to put up on the gate once we get it working and I saw this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GW7438E/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
LOL.
I also want BEWARE OF ATTACK COW or something like that.

 

[tuffy]

Coat rack I built fell off the door . probably had 100# of coats ,jackets ,hoody's. on it. it was custom made of a 2x6 1xstock and crown molding. it was screwed to a solid door pulled the screws right out . this time I added more screws and liquid nailed it.

 

[zannej]

tuffy, sounds like a neat coat rack. Got any pictures?

I'm still waiting for the increased thyroid med dosage to start kicking in. I did some cleaning today. Changed out the trash in the bathroom and put down clean puppy pads for my mother's dog. I filled two 33-gallon bags with trash in the kitchen and living room and put them in front of the door for my brother to take out when he was leaving for work. He just stepped over them and left them.

Went to the grocery store and picked up Mom's prescription and then visited a friend. He fell asleep in his computer chair so I left. Got home and made dinner for Mom.

Meanwhile, I'm excited about the gate opener and am hoping I can get someone out to help me with the gate posts soon. Still need to order a few things-- egress button (hoping for wireless-- may just mount one of the remotes outside), wire, pole/mount for the button, lag bolts, keypad, and a wireless doorbell. I plan to see how much of the stuff I can get at HD or Lowes and get the military discount.

 

[Flyover]

I filled two 33-gallon bags with trash in the kitchen and living room and put them in front of the door for my brother to take out when he was leaving for work. He just stepped over them and left them.

Dang! First of all, that's a lot of trash. That's like, 11am on Christmas day trash! How'd you let it build up that high man?? Second of all, I haven't lived with my brother since we were in high school but if we lived together now there might be fisticuffs if he did that. I hope yours isn't always such a bum!

visited a friend. He fell asleep in his computer chair so I left.

That's something heroin addicts do. I hope your friend's alright and that's not why he's falling asleep in his computer chair.

 

[tuffy]

here is a picture of the coat rack i made

 

[zannej]

Dang! First of all, that's a lot of trash. That's like, 11am on Christmas day trash! How'd you let it build up that high man?? Second of all, I haven't lived with my brother since we were in high school but if we lived together now there might be fisticuffs if he did that. I hope yours isn't always such a bum!

That's something heroin addicts do. I hope your friend's alright and that's not why he's falling asleep in his computer chair.

Taking out the trash is supposed to be my brother's job. I wash dishes, fix plumbing, do the grocery shopping, feed the animals, take animals to the vet, clean the litterboxes, take my mother to doctor's appointments, prepare meals for my mother, take vehicles in for maintenance, pick up prescriptions for all of the family members, help my mother with things she's unable to do, and wash her feet (since she can't wash them herself). It's all become a lot harder since my back got messed up and since I grew a 6cm tumor in my abdomen that causes abdominal pain. I have trouble bending and lifting. I'm also still waiting for the adjustment to my thyroid meds to start kicking in so I'm always fatigued. I have congenital heart defects which give me arrhythmia and I have two prolapsed valves so I don't get enough oxygen, which also makes me fatigued.
My brother kept not taking the trash out and I couldn't lift the bags so it would pile up. My mother would just put trash in walmart bags and throw it across the room. A lot of the trash is empty 1-gallon water bottles (which I crush) and boxes from deliveries. Those take up a lot of space. I got to the point where I was overwhelmed with having to do all of the household chores alone and the chronic fatigue started kicking my *** so I lost motivation. I've been slowly trying to catch up on the cleaning since my brother won't do it. If any trash spills over out of the can, he leaves it. He also piles trash on top of the refrigerator and between the refrigerator and wall. I see people who keep their houses clean and I don't know how they do it. I just don't have the energy. I'm really hoping the increased thyroid medicine dosage will help with that.

My friend's father was a meth addict and he saw what drugs did to people and would never touch the stuff. He doesn't smoke, drink, or use drugs. It was fairly late and he'd worked a long shift-- a freight day where he had to unload lots of boxes so he was exhausted. He's had less energy since his vehicle wreck 2 years ago (he'd had it worked on and they forgot to put a cotter pin or something back in the tie rod so the tie rod came loose and the truck flipped & tumbled-- he nearly died). We joke that between the 2 of us, we have some pretty bad luck.

here is a picture of the coat rack i made

That is a very nice coat rack! I like it! Thanks for sharing the picture!

 

[Flyover]

We joke that between the 2 of us, we have some pretty bad luck.

Jeez, yeah I can see why. Good luck with everything!

I fail at a lot of important things--some of which you're clearly better at than me--but I do keep my house clean, despite having a pre-schooler and an infant. The way I do it is just to have routines, so it isn't something my wife or I have to think about, it's just a set of habits we can't help but do by default. Like, it feels strange if I do the dishes but don't also clean the kitchen counters and sweep under the dining room table. Or, I start to feel anxious when the recycling bin gets full so I feel relieved after I've emptied it into the bin in the garage. While I'm brushing my teeth I always wander around and make the bed, so now it's a weird morning if I don't. That kind of thing.

Break "keeping your house clean" down into little tasks and make each one a habit. Every human is wired to form habits, and this is very handy when you exploit it and put it to good use. (Addiction, nervous ticks, etc. are the downside of this wiring.)

Of course it's easier said than done; I'm not dealing with any serious medical problems or caring for anyone else who has them, so I understand if that advice isn't immediately actionable. But that's how I keep my house clean anyway.

 

[zannej]

Jeez, yeah I can see why. Good luck with everything!

I fail at a lot of important things--some of which you're clearly better at than me--but I do keep my house clean, despite having a pre-schooler and an infant. The way I do it is just to have routines, so it isn't something my wife or I have to think about, it's just a set of habits we can't help but do by default. Like, it feels strange if I do the dishes but don't also clean the kitchen counters and sweep under the dining room table. Or, I start to feel anxious when the recycling bin gets full so I feel relieved after I've emptied it into the bin in the garage. While I'm brushing my teeth I always wander around and make the bed, so now it's a weird morning if I don't. That kind of thing.

Break "keeping your house clean" down into little tasks and make each one a habit. Every human is wired to form habits, and this is very handy when you exploit it and put it to good use. (Addiction, nervous ticks, etc. are the downside of this wiring.)

Of course it's easier said than done; I'm not dealing with any serious medical problems or caring for anyone else who has them, so I understand if that advice isn't immediately actionable. But that's how I keep my house clean anyway.

It doesn't sound to me like you fail at a lot of things. Seems like you accomplish quite a bit. I wish I had that motivation to clean the way you do. Cleaning was never something my mother did much so we didn't learn by example.
You are absolutely right about getting in to a routine. It's something I need to do. I've just struggled to even wake up at the same time each day. I am a night owl and have trouble getting my brain to rest at night. Even when I've tried adjusting my schedule it doesn't work out for me. Partially because my mother is a night owl and she will wake me up if she wants something (we got a panasonic phone system that comes with an intercom-- you can page any other handset in the house from any handset -- and she likes to page me a LOT). It can be anything from her having low blood sugar and needing me to bring her something to eat to her wanting me to come see what she's done in her coloring books or to tell me about something she saw online. She just automatically assumes I'm always awake. LOL. Good thing my room is across the house and she can't hear me swearing when she wakes me up sometimes.

My brother works in afternoon to night shift so he's usually asleep in the morning. It's rare for anyone to get up before noon.

During the daytime I sleep a lot. Just browsing the internet can make me tired. I set an alarm but I always sleep through it lately so I don't wake up when I should. I really do need to get in to some sort of schedule. I try to start cleaning stuff and then get tired and need to sit down or lay down. Although, I'm about to wake my brother up (since its his day off) to help me clean.

I'm always in awe of people here who get so much done-- particularly Chris who suffered back injury and still keeps working hard. And Frodo came out of a coma and is still more active than I am.

 

[Flyover]

I don't know anyone's back story here but based on zannej's comment it sounds like many of you have been through a lot. Way more than I have, that's for sure. (Back injuries? Comas? Tumors? Thyroid issues? What are the odds??) Cheers to you guys for being able to remain active enough to get use out of a home repair/DIY forum!

 

[zannej]

Thanks, Flyover.
Today/yesterday was much more productive. It looks like a hoarder house in here. I filled about 4 or 5 more bags in the living room and am still working on it. Our wedge seat that came with our sectional sofa broke (the back on it broke free from the seat) and the sick cat used it as a litterbox. We had so much stuff piled up no one could even get to it. So, I cleared a path and then cleaned it off (bc it was piled with crap-- literally). No wonder we were getting sick. It's just not healthy and I should have done it much sooner. I let my brother have at the wedge seat with a sledgehammer to break it up so it would be easier to remove. Seat went out the back door, back went out the window. I have another trash bag almost filled but in one of the bags I found my late father's notebook. It had sketches and measurements of the entire house, sketches and measurements for things he wanted to build, a nice drawing of the kitchen (when still in planning stages), and the most heartbreaking thing for me was seeing his drawing of his dream house-- the front view was on one page and the floorplan was on another. I've tucked it away in a drawer for safe keeping. I wish he'd gotten to live in that dream house. I'll be honest, it's making me cry to think about it-- plus I really miss him. And there are symbols in his sketches that I don't know the meaning of and I wish I could ask him.

But at least I've been getting stuff done. My brother held bags for me and he got the chair out and helped with a little bit of picking up. My back is "talking ugly" to me so I'm taking a little break, but I'm going to head back in a few minutes to continue working. I want to get it set up so my brother can bring the new massage recliner in before daylight. And I have to take my fried's girlfriend to a doctor's appointment in a couple of hours. My mother was saying "You should get some sleep" and I said "Can't sleep-- brain won't let me. Keeps thinking about how I have to get up early in the morning."

I should have gotten some "before" pictures of the room but I admit I'm ashamed of how bad it was (and it's still pretty bad through most of the room). But I'll get some "after" ones when I get it picked up more.

I found a friggin' printer behind the wedge seat. I also found a waterproof mattress cover still in a bag. That is going over the massage chair in case my sick cat decides to be a jerk.