What did you do today?

Flyover, that's a lot of work. I strained something in my shoulder using the mop somehow-- I was using the scrubber brush on my mop to try to get up some stubborn crud. I really need to exercise more if mopping causes problems. LOL.

 

Cooked for my family

 

I helped my best friend cut get his kitchen sink put in the new countertop. Last week I hauled the cabinet & countertop for him from the store & earlier this week I put waterseal on the bottom of the cabinet to protect it from water leaks. He was going to try a complicated way of cutting the countertop & I had an easier solution. I had him put the sink face down on the top, figure out where it would sit, then mark out the area w/ painter's tape, set it again, traced around the sink, then measured 1/2" in (that's how much overhang there was) in multiple places, used a straight edge to connect the marks, then told him to drill 4 holes (1 in each corner). So every time there was a direction change, he just lined up the jigsaw inside the hole at the correct angle. Ran out of battery power & the charger I brought wasn't working so I had to drive home & grab my other charger & bring it back.

I brought my mother over so she could do her taxes (he fixed her computer & had it set up there). She finished them & watched TV while we waited for the batteries to charge. Tomorrow I'm going over early to help him w/ the DWV part of the plumbing. He needs a new drain & some slip-fit pvc bc the old setup broke. I also am going to get him to put a vent on it. He was just going to do an S-trap but I talked him out of it.

This time I made sure he's using a wye instead of a tee for the bottom & I'm going to have him put a cleanout on it. Once we get his sink & plumbing all fixed up, he's going to help me try to mouse-proof Mom's computer. I got some fiberglass screen to try. Little buggers have ruined 3 video cards by somehow squeezing in & pissing all over.

If there's time, I might help him stain the cabinet.

 

Got up early & went over to my friend's house so we could get some stuff done before he got to work. I meant to come over at 7 but slept in. He had told me to come as early as I wanted but expected it to be around 9 or something.

I talked him out of getting an S-trap kit. He didn't want to run the pipe outside the house so he got a cheap AAV. It was the only kind they had. Picked up a new slip-joint double drain kit, trap adapter, S-tee, & the AAV. He was too tired to grasp what I was explaining as I was telling him how it would all go together. When we walked out of the store I saw the truck of one of the only two local plumbers (it's the guy who won't come out to my house). Apparently he was standing right next to me as I was explaining how it worked to my friend. My friend said I must have been right bc he knows the guy & the guy would have butted in to tell me if I was wrong. When we got back to his house I put it all together for him & showed him how to fit it in. I also marked where he needed to cut pipe (leaving an allowance for the difference with solvent weld). I also marked the countertop with painter's tape & marked where it would be cut so the fridge can fit next to the counter. He had previously hooked up his water supply lines but I forgot to tell him to purge the lines before hooking them to the sink. He tried to turn the sink on & nothing came out. I asked him if he had purged the lines first & he said "No. I never do that." I told him that even if he thinks the lines are clean, he should always run the water through the supply lines for a little bit before hooking the sink up. I asked him if he had a bucket & he said he had a pot. He went into the bathroom and was dumping a pot out when I noticed a bucket right at his feet & pointed it out. So, after detaching the sink, he turned the water on & cleared the lines. There were bursts of air & it came out muddy. He ran it until it was clear. Then hooked back to the faucet but it was still clogged. So we made a trip to Walmart to grab a new faucet (much better one than the fugly cheap one he had before). Got that one set up & running, and then we started staining the cabinets. Got one door done but his stupid ex called & wanted something for their kid (she of course waited until the last minute to spring it on him) so he had to go. I'll have to go back later to finish the staining. It takes more work for the look he's going for-- have to really rub the stain in so the wood grain still shows through it. I still have to take my mother over later to print her taxes (she said the program won't send her taxes electronically unless she also prints them at the same time).

After watching how much glue my friend uses when he connects pvc, I've decided that I will do the gluing when we work on the stuff at my house. I had to quickly wipe some of the excess out of the trap adapter so it didn't run it.

 

Went back over after a nap & brought Mom to print her taxes. My bro finally found his tax info so she filed his as well-- well, his federal. Louisiana doesn't allow electronic filing for state taxes. While she was doing that, I finished staining the cabinet. My friend didn't give his fiance a heads up about the new faucet so she was pleasantly surprised & immediately started doing dishes.

We went to eat afterward & just got home. I'm tired but feel good about being productive & I know my friend appreciates it-- and it will be more motivation for him helping me with my bathroom.

I made a picture of the old type of faucet he had vs what I got him now (decided not to go w/ a pull-down bc his fiance would break it).


This is a stock photo of the unfinished base cabinet:


And here's the cabinet (they wanted it to look sort of ash gray but still see wood grain). This is just the first coat.

I think at least the middle panels still need a 2nd coat but it turned out nicely.
I'll have to see later if the footboard will take stain or if it will need primer & paint bc I don't think it will look right if it stays that color. They eventually want to have dark gray flooring put in.

 

Hah, I like the granite countertop + high end stove + $5 plastic drawers used as more kitchen cabinets and to hold the coffee maker. Priorities!

 

Broke up what I could, in the basement, with the 20lb demo hammer before the rental was up. Now I just need to haul all that cement up from the basement to my truck....If only I could get a rental on a tiny conveyor belt....ooooooooo and some of those R/C front end loaders

 

Flyover, that's an $80 laminate countertop (cheapest one they had in that size), used stove w/ broken touchscreen for the oven (just needs a replacement part), & the drawers will go back in the bedroom after they get more cabinets for the kitchen. This is the home of my friend who's old house burned and this house was previously a meth house that he's fixing up. The kitchen was originally off to the right in another room (absolutely tiny) but the roof keeps leaking & ruined the old cabinets & everything in there so he's having to just build a new kitchen. He's going to close off most of the old kitchen & turn the remainder into a pantry. He really needs to get his roof fixed but that's going to be expensive.

I hit it with a 2nd coat of stain. Still not perfect so it needs some touch-up. Looks more like paint than stain now. Helped him cut the countertop & get the fridge moved in. They need more counters to hold the microwave & coffee maker.

Today (well, technically yesterday) I got up at 5:30am, took my medicine & got things set up for a long car trip. Rest of the family was ready to leave at 6am. Then a 3hr drive to go pick my sister up from her hotel (she was in another city for a convention). Drove another hour & a half to visit an elderly friend (she's going to be 95 in July). Had lunch with her & sat and chatted for a few hours. Refueled the truck, then drove back to my sister's hotel, grabbed some Arby's, went to her hotel room & ate, then I managed to get in about a 20min nap. My mother managed to get a longer nap but I don't like her driving so I still drove the 3hrs back home. We made a pit stop at a 24hr walmart for bathroom breaks & my mother & brother grabbed some frozen food. Got back after 1am. My brother carried some of the groceries in but just left them out so I had to put everything away.

Tomorrow (later today) my friend was supposed to come over to help me fix my floor but his ex is dumping his daughter on him so he won't be able to come out. I'll probably sleep all day anyway. He's not off from work again until Thursday.

 

Oh, wow.

 

The meth house was once a nice house that belonged to my friend's grandmother. She wanted it left to him when she passed away but she didn't have a written will so his mother took it & rented it out to meth-heads. When we were first clearing it out his fiance found heroin & syringes in drawers. It had gone to crap so much that the mother couldn't rent it anymore so she gave it to my friend so he can fix it up. Roof is still leaking terribly in the room beyond the hanging blanket so that still needs to be fixed & he needs more cabinets.
One of the doors needs some touch-up but it's looking better now. Countertop was cut & fridge is in place.


My cooktop I ordered from Lowes (that I went to pick up on the 5th & they couldn't find it) never got delivered. I got 2 e-mails from Lowes. One from a real person at CS saying delivery would be today and noting the conversation they had with the management. The other was an automated reminder for me to come get my item. Called the store & they had no idea WTF I was talking about. Employee tried to put me on hold & I got transferred & had to explain things all over again to another clueless employee. First one had said my name wasn't on delivery list. 2nd one confirmed they had no record of delivery order & had no intention of delivering it & only way for me to get it would be to physically go there & pick it up. She did confirm that it's actually there & said she put her hands on it so when I get up there it should be there. I e-mailed the CS person back to update him on that & am waiting for my mother to finish her computer game to go with me to the store. I'm still exhausted from yesterday's driving & she's better at raising hell with people over money stuff. She already spoke with the store manager before so she knows what the person looks like & can speak with them again. I'm too tired to deal with people.

 

Mom wasn't feeling well & decided not to go so I went without her. I remembered that she wanted me to pick up the pills the pharmacy shorted her & I had a prescription to pick up. There was a looong line & when I got up there they couldn't find her stuff. They shorted her 8 pills but they only put that they owed her 7 so I just took the 7 pills in a bottle & headed to Sams club (bc she nagged me about getting more bottled water there before I left). Fortunately, Sams is right near Lowes. Light turned red on me as I pulled out of Sam's so I cut through the Hobby Lobby parking lot & went straight there. I turned on my phone to load up the order # & show the e-mail where they told me my item was going to be delivered today. Phone immediately rang & Mom wanted me to pick something up at Sam's. I told her I'd already been there. Went inside & I asked for the store manager who wasn't in. I got the assistant store manager & showed her the e-mail & explained the situation-- that I'd already been there on the 5th to pick up my item & they couldn't find it & I'd been waiting & they said they would deliver it but when I called they said they wouldn't deliver it & I was rather frustrated. Showed the order # so she went and got the box. I mentioned how I should get some compensation for all my trouble but she just ignored it & I'm not aggressive on things like that like Mom is so I didn't push the issue (plus I was just too exhausted to argue). I did have her open it so I could confirm it wasn't damaged & it was fine. When she took it out of the shipping box, I saw that the NuWave box had a handle so I asked her to leave it out so I could use the handle. I did take both boxes just in case. Went back to Sam's to grab the stuff Mom wanted- pulled it up on my phone to ask an employee where it was bc it had been moved. Picked up a 3/4" anti-fatigue mat to set on the floor in front of where the new NuWave sits to buffer if it manages to get pushed off again (plus they are so nice to stand on).
I put the NuWave box on the counter to open it & 3 cats rushed over to sit on the box. Got it unboxed & was trying to take it out of the plastic. One of the cats climbed on it and laid down while I was tearing plastic while another continued to sit on the box. It says not to place it on a magnetic surface & not to put it on a gas or electric range. My old one sat on the electric range before & I put the styrofoam that had been on it's surface underneath it. I think I will get some sort of non-slip mat to go underneath & a silicone mat to protect the top for when it isn't in use. If I do a review of it for Lowes I can be entered into a sweepstakes to win a $300 gift card. I get 2 entries if I post pictures.