What did you do today?

[Ron Van]

Well…as I feared, there was more wrong with my son in law’s John Deere than a drive belt. We trailered it over to our house after church today and tore it apart. Luckily, it only needs a new pulley, which he is supposed to pick up tomorrow.

 

[Flyover]

Finally caved and mowed the grass for the first time this year. I was finally persuaded by the fact that if I let it get too long the biting insects move in. I still left it long enough for the dandelions and little purple flowers to remain, so the bees were mad for a little while but as soon as I was done they were free to resume their activities.

Saw a lot of frogs and toads today too, that was cool.

 

[Rusty]

Mowed mine for the 2nd time. It was cold out there, temp in the 40s and 30-40 mph winds.

 

[Spicoli43]

Can't mow until the end of May, probably the 27th... Could be Early June depending on how it goes. Can't even turn on the sprinklers until Mothers' Day.

This year, I'm leaving it at 4" and mulching. That's apparently the big secret that nobody tells anyone. I was real excited to buy a bagger for my mower to make it real nice and neat, but the dump charges for clippings, I thought it was free recycling, which it literally is, but not here...

Oh well, saved me $800 on the bagger.

 

[Eddie_T]

I used to bag and put the clippings in the compost pile but now I just 'cut it high and let it lie'. Actually small hostas and ajuga are taking over my lawn and instead of protesting I am adding Dwarf Mondo Grass to the mix and letting them all compete. May the best ground cover win!

 

[Spicoli43]

I gotta cut all my sprinkler lines to add more heads, Orbit 360's that have a 15' radius. The original Rain Bird 50' whatever they are never worked properly and I have had to replace a couple every year. A sprinkler tech told me Rain Bird makes the best controllers, but everything else they make is junk. The Orbit 360's are great so far, but they don't reach far enough, hence cutting pipe...

 

[havasu]

I've added so much grass seed, Marathon and winter rye, along with fertilizer, and a recent dose of Scott's "Weed and Feed", my grass needs mowing 2-3 times a week. Yeah, it is beautiful, but seems all I do is mow my lawn. I just paid a "mow and blow" gardener to deal with this for the next 2 months.

 

[Eddie_T]

I experienced an odd odor in the house this morning. It was illusive and I couldn't find the source. It's quite windy outside and I finally deduced that maybe the wind across the chimney had created a negative pressure in the house and that when the wind subsided makeup air would be drawn in through the chimney (the damper and fireplace doors not being a perfect seal). I kinda verified that by opening the patio door just a crack and feeling an inrush of air.

I have made 13-14 hrs of intermittent fasting for several days in a row. I am trying to lose belly fat. In the past nothing has worked but I am trying chamomile and lemon/ginger tea before bed. The tea is claimed by some to turn hard fat into soft fat that can be burned. I am skeptical but have ̶n̶o̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ something to lose.

Today I am hoping the wind subsides so I can do some speed walking. I have sat around too much and tire easily. After only a couple of short walks (one normal and one speed) I see definite improvement so that encourages me to walk more.

 

[HandyOne]

@Eddie_T I hope your plan works out for you. @havasu have fun with all the grass seeds. I guess with the water issues from time to time that your grass dies off? Is that what happens?

 

[zannej]

Ron, the project is looking great! Those HoldRite brackets are cool. I didn't realize they bent at the edges like that. Might make my installation easier for the coper for the tub spouts.

Havasu, I wish I knew more about grass. The stuff we had in Guam was tough to cut. Back then I had no idea you could change the cutting height on a lawnmower because I'd only used a bush hog on the tractor before. The grass was very thick and would stall the lawnmower. We had to rent one to use because every time we bought one it got stolen.

Spicoli, I'm glad you saved the $800 on the bagger. I would have been annoyed to bag it up and then get charged for recycling it.

Eddie, I hope the belly fat loss works.

When I do drink tea, it has to be caffeine free. I wonder if I should try chamomile or lemon ginger. I'm back to getting more salads to nibble on when I get hungry. Found that I felt worse when I ate more carbs/sugars. Well, more that I have hard crashes and no energy afterward. Rice is ok, but too much bread or brownies/donuts stuff hit me. I've been trying to find more snacks that are lower carb.

It wasn't cold this morning but I had 9 cats in my room. Lady Sylvanas had decided that she likes sleeping on my bed. Ginger is back to sleeping on my bed too. She used to spend more time in here but the last few days she's been wanting to be on the bed. Senator Snugglebum is still being a jerk. The dogs have been breaking up fights between him and other cats. He bit me for the first time ever the other day. I don't think he was trying to hurt me, he just tried to chew on my knuckle for some reason. He didn't break the skin so I think it was an attempt at grooming.

Itsy caught about 3 mice in the past few days. She hadn't been catching them and I asked her when she was going to hunt mice again. She made a little cooing noise at me and that night she caught 2 mice. I gave her the bacon from my salad as a reward. I like the bacon but it gets stuck between my teeth.

I emptied the trash in my bathroom and need to haul it out. Still trying to coordinate with my friend on when he can come out to help me with the bathroom. He said sometime this week but right now he's at an obgyn appointment with the gf. They were both feeling lousy yesterday.

It look snice and sunny out so I should see if the dogs want to go for a walk.

 

[Ron Van]

Finally caved and mowed the grass for the first time this year. I was finally persuaded by the fact that if I let it get too long the biting insects move in. I still left it long enough for the dandelions and little purple flowers to remain, so the bees were mad for a little while but as soon as I was done they were free to resume their activities.

Saw a lot of frogs and toads today too, that was cool.

I got geese in my yard! They retaliate.

 

[Ron Van]

Put a coat of mud on the closet and toilet walls. I think one more coat on the closet and I’ll be ready for crown molding, baseboard and paint. Then I can put the shelves and rods in. That will be awesome to have a closet again.





But first, I still have to help my SIL with his lawn tractor. Hopefully, he gets the pulley today and brings it over soon.

 

[Ron Van]

Ron, the project is looking great! Those HoldRite brackets are cool. I didn't realize they bent at the edges like that. Might make my installation easier for the coper for the tub spouts.

Well, the HoldRites are supposed to be installed before the sheetrock. Then you just screw them flat on the studs and sheetrock over them but I did it backwards and installed the sheetrock first and then had to bend the HoldTite brackets to fit between the studs, which wasn't easy. They are pretty thick. I put them in a vise and pounded them with a ball peen hammer.

Are you using copper to go from your Bath Valve to the spout? Are you using PEX for the supply lines?

 

[Rusty]

I experienced an odd odor in the house this morning. It was illusive and I couldn't find the source. It's quite windy outside and I finally deduced that maybe the wind across the chimney had created a negative pressure in the house and that when the wind subsided makeup air would be drawn in through the chimney (the damper and fireplace doors not being a perfect seal). I kinda verified that by opening the patio door just a crack and feeling an inrush of air.

I have made 13-14 hrs of intermittent fasting for several days in a row. I am trying to lose belly fat. In the past nothing has worked but I am trying chamomile and lemon/ginger tea before bed. The tea is claimed by some to turn hard fat into soft fat that can be burned. I am skeptical but have ̶n̶o̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ something to lose.

Today I am hoping the wind subsides so I can do some speed walking. I have sat around too much and tire easily. After only a couple of short walks (one normal and one speed) I see definite improvement so that encourages me to walk more.

My 27 year old autistic son got up to 409 two years ago. He decided to lose weight. He is at 242. He is shooting for 225. I wish I had his willpower.
Have not found anything he can't do. He taught himself to read, write and speak Japanese. And then he taught himself computer coding.

 

[Spicoli43]

I found out in a documentary that Nawlins BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM AH AH AH AH got it's nickname "The Big Easy" because it was easy for musicians to get gigs by just playing on the streets.

That show was from 2017 though, now "The Big Easy" relates to how easy it is to get murdered there... #1 in the country.

 

[zannej]

Its also easy to get shot in New Orleans. It has the highest murder rate per capita in the US.

Ron, I will be bridging the copper with PEX because I don't plan to use the tub much and don't care if the shower drips when tub is being filled. The copper elbow I have has a sharkbite fitting on it. I'm going to add a cinch fitting to the valve. I'm going to install the cementboard and shower wall panel before installing the valve and such. That way I have some wiggle room for putting it in and don't have to worry about not lining things up properly.

Rusty, my brother used to be over 400lbs. He's down to something like 260 now. He's got a large frame to begin with so I doubt he could get under 250 and be healthy. My brother also taught himself Japanese-- well, he studied online & with apps and such.

I know this has been discussed before and someone probably answered already but my memory sucks- has anyone here used agave as a sugar substitute? I was watching one of the baking shows and they had to use agave instead of sugar.

Senator Snugglebum ran into the pantry when I was feeding the furry a-holes. I tried to get him out but he hid under a shelf so I shut him in and turned the light off. He spent a few hours in there. When I walked by I heard him meowing. I opened the door and he popped out and immediately started eating. I don't normally lock the cats in but I was too tired to deal with it. It was so peaceful while he was in there though. He wasn't bullying any of the other cats.

 

[Spicoli43]

Just made Coconut Lentil Khichdi with Garam Masala... Hoosier Daddy! Homie Say Whaaaa???

The Garam Masala was the kicker I was missing...

Also have some Tahini and the Bean things I need for whatever that was called, going to try it this week...

 

[zannej]

My attempt to sleep through the night was thwarted once again. Last night I asked Mom if she would want to eat orange chicken "later" and said "like for dinner". She apparently didn't listen to the last part. At 4 something in the morning she woke me up and said "I thought you were going to make orange chicken!" I tried to wake myself up and said I'd meant for dinner. She said she was hungry right then so I had to get up and make it. Racked out for a good while after that at least.

Friend messaged me. Needed gas. Still hasn't gotten paid by his crappy employer. In person he told me his girlfriend miscarried. He had to take her to the hospital in Lake Charles. In the past her old boyfriend wouldn't take her to the doctor when she asked. But this time she went to a decent doctor who figured out the problem. She's got a blood type issue that makes it so she has to get some kind of injection while pregnant so her body doesn't reject the fetus.

I saw my friend's mother at the store. She watched his daughter while he took the gf to the hospital. Apparently she wants more grandkids so she was encouraging them to keep trying.

I grabbed some groceries and while I was bringing them in, Aminatu ran ahead of me and tried to jump up on a plastic bin but seemingly forgot the old microwave was on top of that-- or she just didn't hop as high as intended. Slammed face first into the old microwave. There was a loud clang. She shook her head and jumped up next to it and then on top of it and then onto the counter. She's now decided that she needs to be comforted so she's on my lap.

I ate a salad and feel like I need another nap.

 

[Ron Van]

Painted the closet wall and the toilet wall. Tomorrow I’ll install crown mounding and baseboard. Then clothes racks.

 

[havasu]

Loving your work Ron!