What did you do today?

[havasu]

Zanne, the PSA test is a blood test used primarily to screen for prostate cancer. The test measures the amount of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in your blood. PSA is a protein produced by both cancerous and noncancerous tissue in the prostate, a small gland that sits below the bladder in men.

 

[zannej]

Thanks, Havasu. IIRC, my grandfather had prostate cancer but it was his heart that went out before the cancer could get him. I think my brother is due for a prostate exam after his birthday in February.

Robocalls woke me up early this morning & I haven't been able to get back to sleep. I don't know what time zone they are calling from but it started around 6am. Not sure what time the subsequent calls were since I ignored them. Answering machine got some of them.

I'm waiting for the filler primer to reach 24 hours of drying time before doing another sanding & then hopefully I can do the white primer afterward. I'll let that dry and then prep to do the top coat. I'll try to remember to get pictures. I've been lazy & haven't taken any yet.

I'm also planning to see what sort of roofing options are available for my friend's roof. It's 30' wide x 24' long but the top 14' is at a steeper incline which means he'd need angle transition pieces. I'm going to see what they have at the local hardware store and price it out. The leaks are only in the bottom 10' so we're trying to figure out the best solution. He's got asphalt shingles on & I'm wondering if it would be better to just mop on some kind of sealant over it for now. He kept saying it was only 10' so I thought it wouldn't be so expensive for metal roofing until he told me the full dimensions. The tarp he put up there got shredded in a wind storm so it's no longer stopping the leaks.
I wish it were possible to transition from asphalt shingles on the top to metal on the bottom 10'.

 

[highup]

Nice Rusty!
I went to the doctors for the results of my 3rd. PSA test....
It is still “0” ,
I pray it stays that way

Great news Don.

 

[highup]

Granddaughter went up two levels in gymnastics and still got an 8.9 in floor exercise last weekend. (perfect is 10).

So neat she keeps at this and does so we'll. Heck, I'm still wondering what line of work I want to do for a career.

 

[DarisMulkin]

Robocalls woke me up early this morning

Z get ahold of your phone provider and they can hook you so you don't get the robocalls. We did after the Apple calls a couple weeks ago 17 in one day, matter of hours actually. My neighbor knows someone that got close to 80 in one day. They told us how to do it and haven't gotten hardly any since before Christmas. One will slip through but not many.

 

[Don Monfils]

From what I understand , when the doctor does a prostate exam ( the finger) the only thing they can tell is if the prostate is hard or soft.
I was told by my primary care doctor and a urologist that I had an enlarged prostate.
When I had it removed the surgeon said it was normal size.
The PSA test is how they found my cancer.
I had no symptoms.

 

[zannej]

Daris, I had myself put on the do not call list which stopped the calls for awhile but I've started getting them more frequently of late. Many of them spoof numbers within the US but are actually from other countries. My friend told me they call to see who picks up so they can sell that number to other groups so those groups will call. The ones that do have robo messages have stuff about changing interest rates on credit cards, nonexistent car warranties, etc. We sometimes get things claiming to be surveys. There are a few ones from call centers for fake charities trying to get donations. Had more trouble with those than anything else. Fraternal order of police ones tend to be the most obnoxious & rudest- I had one tell me he could call me multiple times a day every day for however long he wanted to make me give them money. I told him he'd be looking at a lawsuit for harassment as I was telling him right then not to call me again & he wasn't getting a dime from us.

I had another "charity" call where I told him I don't donate over the phone. He said he'd send something in the mail but in the meantime, he was going to put me down as having agreed to pay $40. I told him "Absolutely not!" He kept insisting that I let him put down that I agreed to pay & I told him "No" repeatedly. He then said "I'm just going to put down you agreed---" I said "Oh hell no! Not only no, but don't bother to send me anything and take me off your call list. I will NEVER donate to this org." They know that if they put someone down as agreeing to pay they can later sue them for that amount as they view it as a promise so they trick a lot of people with that.

I sanded the last coat of filler primer & think it's decent enough for an exterior door. White primer for metal doors was a mess though. I've never had spray paint that came out so inconsistently and splotchy. I shook it for 2 minutes straight this time but it still sort of spurted and didn't spray right. Not sure if the mix is bad or if it's a faulty nozzle or what. The filler primer came out smoothly, but this stuff was just bleh. Tomorrow I'm going to wipe it down with a tack cloth. Primer has to dry 48 hours before top coat & the other side has had more than 48 hours so I can flip the door and paint that side, then flip it back the next day to do the other side. I might paint the door frame and trim as well.

After my post earlier I napped until 4pm. I just felt so exhausted even though I slept all night. I'm still very tire, although I think getting outside in the fresh air helped a little. I need to start working on preparing the house on the inside to be able to install that door soon. Gonna get some plastic tubs & start piling my brother's laundry in it (he has his crap all over the damn floor filling the hallway. I also need to finish some demo on the walls for the old bathroom.

 

[Floorist]

Sounds like a fun weekend. 2-4 inches of rain, then ice, then 3-5 inches of snow possible.
High Friday 65, high Sat. 28

 

[zannej]

I'm still feeling tired, but I'm awake at least (for now). Looks like it's going to rain today but I hope not. I want to go do some painting, although I need to grab my tack cloths from my friend's house. I thought I had some here but I can't find any.
It's cold in here and I was looking for my gray blanket but I just looked down and saw that the dog has stolen it. She dragged it to the end of the bed and burrowed under it & is sleeping peacefully. I don't want to disturb her.

 

[zannej]

I found my tack cloths & got the 1st coat of top coat on the door.
I also carried a round table from the kitchen down to the workshop to sand because the mofo kept snagging my clothes-- ripped my new pants. I sanded it & plan to paint it with the blue paint for the door but I need to get a little wood putty to cover a nail that just barely pokes through.
The door still needs some touch-ups before I flip it over to do the other side & I'll see if it needs a 2nd coat before I do that, but I think it turned out fairly well considering I never used the foam rollers before.
Table before:
After:

Door before:
After (still wet):

 

[DarisMulkin]

Z it might just be the camera angle but are you sure you put the doggy door on the right end? It looks in the picture that the door knob hole is closer to the other end which is the bottom. Just asking?

 

[zannej]

LOL. I had to look at it again to make sure. It's the camera angle. The hinges are in the correct place and orientation, and the rubber draft protection (which came pre-installed on the door) is on the bottom near the pet door. When we took the door off the hinges I made sure we set it so that the top was facing away in to the workshop & the bottom was easy to access.

The table has some ugly legs made out of scrap wood so I want to paint them, but I'm debating whether to do the whole thing in blue or have the legs painted a different color. I think all blue would be a bit too much so I'm thinking white legs. My mother likes the blue & white color combo.

I'm waiting for the paint to cure more & then will go flip it to do the other side. The awning supports will be painted white-- currently they are black so I might hit them with a very light coat of the filler primer to make the top coat cover better. I need to hit the store to get some better brushes-- gonna see if there are any good foam brushes & see how they work. I'll have backup bristled ones if I don't like the foam.

I'm thinking that after I get the door & frame fully painted, I can move on to caulking/adding some sort of corner trim to the formica near the kitchen sink. It looks like there used to be trim there but it's gone & water has been getting under the formica & there were bugs on it. I'm going to let add that tub & tile corner trim stuff & then caulk along any seams so water can't get in (after thoroughly cleaning it and drying it out). Then I can move on to my bathroom floor while I give the door & frame a week to cure.

 

[Floorist]

Got gas at $1.43 with my rewards card. Reg. price is $2.07. Finally got my weight down to 229. 4 years ago I weighed 272.

 

[DarisMulkin]

Quit making me feel bad. Got diabetic check up tomorrow. A1c ain't aas bad as I thought it was. I'll still catch hell.

 

[highup]

Gas is $3.05 here. Hasn't changed in weeks.

 

[havasu]

I got gas at $3.14 yesterday at Sam's Club. Ironic since the penal code defined 314 as exposing ones genitals in public.

 

[Floorist]

Quit making me feel bad. Got diabetic check up tomorrow. A1c ain't aas bad as I thought it was. I'll still catch hell.

I probably would not be walking without the weight loss. I had no choice.

 

[DarisMulkin]

I know the feeling on the walking, back is killing me and takes out my legs so it is short walks-to the fridge-and back, plus my right shoulder is killing me. Got an app't for that the 27th and one for my back the first week next month. I wonder if they will do them both at the same time? Being my right shoulder I'm so right handed that the only thing I can do left handed is scratch my right elbow. I may have to hire someone to do my morning paper work for me.

 

[zannej]

I've been trying to walk more on nicer days. The cows like to see me when I go out. Monday & Tuesday were nasty and rainy so I didn't go to the workshop. But, I did get pricing on roofing for my friend and the store owner talked to my friend and said he'd give him some rake trim as a birthday present. Said he'd have him look at some off color trim & see what he liked but the rest of the materials would be around $740 plus tax (which is 10.5%). I forgot to ask about gable trim & the filler pieces under the ridge caps. Guy offered free delivery as well since my friend's house is not too far. The shop owner is a very nice man. I also talked about getting a new little barn put up for the cows. He said all I have to do is pick a spot, tell him the measurements, and he'll come put it up. Will have to see what the pricing is though. Got the oil changed in the CR-V & had them look at the front passenger side wheel to see why it squealed at high speeds. Something on the back of the brake pad had come loose and was scraping. They didn't charge for that-- total was $20 (we provided the oil and filter).

I think I'm around 230lbs but I haven't stepped on a scale. I've been ravenous lately and I don't know why. The fat is pressing on my diaphragm though so it's making it harder to move around & I really need to lose it.

Today I watched the final 2 episodes of Crisis of Infinite Earths and then went to the workshop to continue putting painter's tape over the weather stripping on the door frame. I did a sloppy job since I had trouble reaching the higher spots and lower spots. I will probably have to adjust the tape better later. I will have to spray some Killz on parts of it bc some kind of schmutz got on it. I tried sanding it off, but it's stained and I suspect there is mold. So I got the Killz mold-killing stain blocking primer. I decided to hit the top of the round table with some filler primer to see if it would help cover the grooves. First coat didn't seem to sink in well so I might use something to sort of spread it in to the cracks on the 2nd coat. I have to wait 24 hours before sanding though. I think I'll hit the legs with the Killz primer and then just put clear poly over them. I'm debating whether or not to put clear poly over the tabletop once I put the Behr paint on.

I'll have to get pictures later, but I am happy with how the 2nd coat of paint turned out on the door. I watched some youtube videos for painting tips and saw someone do coats where he pressed harder with the roller and then went back and did very light rollovers to smooth it out. That technique seemed to work & the color is beautiful. A bug had landed on the door in one spot and gotten stuck. I pulled it off so it messed up the paint a little (since it was dried) so I dabbed a little paint on as touch-up.

I'll have to see what the weather is like tomorrow to decide what I'm going to work on before the 24'hour period for the primer drying. If it's not raining I'll try to go get some more hay for the cows.

 

[zannej]

Went to the store & picked up some hay with molasses for the cows, went to Walmart to get antacids & put gas in the truck ($2.229/gallon for the cheapest stuff), picked up mail, made lunch, fed the cows (red cow was trying to climb into the truck to get to the hay), went down to the workshop to get pictures of my projects. I'm still happy with the 2nd coat on the inner side of the door. 1st coat on that side had been rougher than the 1st coat on the other side. I should have flipped over the cardboard I used on the work table to protect the door because it had residue from primer that stuck to the dry paint and needs to be washed off (I'll flip it over before 2nd coat on the outer side of the door). I did some touch-up on the outer side, sprayed some Killz stain/mold blocking primer on the door frame. Either I did it wrong or the nozzle is wonky because it splattered, sputtered, and then just sort of poured the paint straight down the nozzle on to my hand (while holding the can upright). Either it's got an obstruction or I wasn't pressing right-- but it left sort of cobwebs on the frame & spots/splatters. I'm going to have to sand it later. I was not happy with how it went on but will see if I can get it to spray better next time. The filler primer went on much more smoothly. I got the 2nd coat on. Not sure if I have enough for a 3rd coat but I'll see how much I can squeeze out of it after sanding it tomorrow. The good news is that I sanded the point of the nail enough that it's now blunt and won't be visible when I paint it.

I'm going to use the clean metal primer on the bolts since I'm certain the white tape will come off on the pet door. Then I can use the trim paint on the pet door and bolts. I still need to do a 2nd coat of paint on the outer side of the door, but I want to wait for the filler primer to dry enough to set my supplies on top of it. I'm going to have to tape some cardboard in place to keep it from moving and letting the door get scratched again (since the single coat side got scratched in a spot). At least I have a better roller technique now.

I'll probably move the table to the other side of the door frame before doing the next coat of filler primer to avoid any contamination of the door while it dries. I'll also have to see about touch-ups on the door frame. I might just have to wait until I have the door frame put in to do some of the painting on it so it will hold still instead of wobbling.
Table with 1st coat of filler primer:
2nd coat (still wet):

1st coat on outside half of door (before touch-ups):

Door frame with what I assume is mold (prior to priming- I didn't pick up my camera for after shots bc I didn't want to get paint on my phone since my hand got drenched):

2nd coat on other side of door: