What did you do today?

[zannej]

Nice! I don't have kindle, but I think my brother might have something to be able to download it.

My internet is still throttled. I've gotten stuff done around the house though. Friend came over to help me move the metal shelf rack in the pantry so I could clean underneath it and it was a total mess. Found a bunch of expired stuff on the floor (cats got in and knocked stuff down). Also found some cans at the back of the rack that had expired, lids had fallen in, and contents were dried up. Had some old cans of soda that leaked-- there were unopened ones that were empty and some half empty-- it was a red soda that dumped all over the floor and got sticky and was really gross. It mingled with the mouse & cat pee. Cats had been using the underneath part as a litterbox too, so there were probably 50lbs of dried cat crap in there. They are no longer allowed in there. I scrubbed the hell out of the floor while singing a song about the only "magical" thing about Magic Eraser is how it magically shreds & tears. My back started giving me trouble so I put stuff under my shoes and wiped the floor vigorously with my feet to clean stuff up. My friend came over to diagnose the leaking toilet tank-- all of the rubber washers had broken. He added more washers and reinforcement (I got two kits of washers, bolts, & nuts-- the 2nd kit had rubber washers that were too small but it had wing nuts for the bottom so we used those). After he left the fill valve was not working properly-- it just kept spraying from the wrong part so early this morning I brought him over to remove the old fill valve & install a new one. He also was so annoyed by how filthy my brother's room was that he decided to clean it while I was cleaning the pantry. I took some breaks to help him haul trash bags out of the house since my brother wasn't doing it. He heard me asking my brother to carry the heavy trash can out & my brother being a dick and saying "It has wheels" (nevermind it's his job to take it out). So my friend tricked him in to getting his shoes on under the pretense of helping him move the old mini fridge to the truck, but he took it out himself while my brother was getting his shoes and then said "Oh, you have shoes on so you can take that trash can out now." He badgered him until he did it. LOL. I also took an old chair from my brother's room and pushed it in to the front room (which was a royal pain getting it around stuff) so he wouldn't just throw it out the back door. I plan to get the kitchen cleaned up more & store stuff where cats can't knock it down, put anything they can puncture in plastic bins, and put anything cardboard in plastic bins to keep mice & bugs out. I need to finish cleaning the floor in the pantry now that the metal shelves are moved back in place. My back noped out on me yesterday. I bought my friend & his fiance dinner last night and this morning I got him breakfast as a thank you for his help. Even though he owes us money, I always try to give him food.

Tomorrow I plan to go over and do touch-up paint on my friend's cabinets & then go to Sam's to get more water.

Photos of the pantry floor before cleaning (well, after I cleaned half the floor that wasn't under the shelves-- The seam in the vinyl sheet gave me trouble):
After cleaning:

Metal screen mesh on the walls and ceiling to keep mice out. Makes it hard to clean though:

I'm going to need to find a way to plaster or paint over that stuff-- maybe tack it tighter with short nails and then plaster over with something that can be painted and will be easy to clean.

Once I'm done cleaning the rest of the floor more thoroughly I'll get pictures.

Meanwhile, Lady Sylvanas is locked out of her pantry domain but she's found a new perch:
It's normally Aminatu's place to sit so she had some things to say about it:
Biscuits was confused (yeah, I know, mess behind him-- I'm working on it):

 

[zannej]

Cleaned more of the floor in the pantry. Cleaned up in the kitchen a bit too but was too tired to do too much. I put plastic bins in the pantry but still need to figure out exactly what I'm putting in which bin and how to stack it & what to do with stuff that is in cardboard boxes and stuff in the kitchen. I still need to put something at the back of the storage shelves to keep stuff from falling off the back.

 

[highup]

Working for some wonderful people continuing the Coretec flooring into their living room. Kitchen, dining room and hall got Coretec a year ago and they decided to get rid of the living room carpet and the Pergo entry. That way everything is the same.
The lady of the house always comes home on Fridays saying:
"It's pay day, how much do we owe you?"
She seems eager to pay up..... so nice not to have to beg. They don't ask my price upfront like I am bidding the job, so in fairness, I am overly fair with my hours. I don't mark up materials and let them know it.
I installed the carpet for them about 20 years ago and they still like me, they really really like me.
It feels so nice to have such fun customers. It makes work fun.

 

[Floorist]

Happy Birthday Daris.

 

[Jon]

Yeah Happy Birthday Old Fella

 

[DarisMulkin]

Thanks for the birthday wishes. I appreciate it.

 

[Jon]

But everybody gets a holiday in NZ as it was my birthday on the 6th Feb
They reckon its for another reason but I know the real reason, I was born on the 6th so everybody gets a holiday

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitangi_Day

 

[Floorist]

But everybody gets a holiday in NZ as it was my birthday on the 6th Feb
They reckon its for another reason but I know the real reason, I was born on the 6th so everybody gets a holiday

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitangi_Day

Happy late Birthday Jon.

 

[DarisMulkin]

Sorry I missed your birthday Jon, I have a reason, I'm older.

 

[Don Monfils]

Happy birthday guys
Don’t forget about mine on the 17th.

 

[DarisMulkin]

Happy birthday guys
Don’t forget about mine on the 17th.

Same day as my daughters, you going to be 48 also?

 

[zannej]

Belated Happy Birthday, Jon and Daris!

Highup, it's good when customers like you & appreciate you.

So, I had a bit of frustration today. I went to go get my mail and my post office box was locked. Last time the clerk unlocked it and gave me my mail- which contained the renewal slip. I didn't know the renewal slip was in there and my mother found it when I brought her the mail. I asked her to hand it to me but she refused & said we didn't need it. I don't know what she did with it after that, but it disappeared. I was told by the clerk that I had to return that slip and that they can't print another one for me. So today I was told that I can't even get my packages if I have a package slip, I can't get any of my mail, I will have to pay a $24 unlock fee to get my box unlocked BUT, I can't get it unlocked until I bring in that paper. There is a good chance it got destroyed by now so I have no idea where it is or how I'm going to get my box unlocked. I tried to renew online but Group E customers can't avail themselves of online services. There were zero forms online on the post office site or anywhere that I searched for renewing a Group E box. There was 3 month renewal, 3 month renewal in Spanish, and renewal of business boxes, but nothing for general renewal. I'm going to have to talk to the postmaster bc my mother gets some of her medicine mailed to her. It's incredibly frustrating that their system is this flawed. A person shouldn't lose access to their box bc of one slip of paper. In the past they printed out a 2nd slip as a reminder. The employee I've been dealing with is new & started to give me attitude about it. I need to find the postmaster and see if he's more reasonable or if something can be done.

Meanwhile, I filled two 55 gallon bags of my mom's trash while looking for the paper.

I brought an old dog house over to my friend's house bc his dogs were sleeping out in the cold on his porch. There is an old fuzzy dog mat inside that I hope will be appealing to them. They kicked their tiny dog out because he kept chewing on walls, chewing on furniture, chewing cords, & peeing/pooping all over. It's been getting below freezing outside and he hates being out there. There are also some dogs other people abandoned who sleep on the porch along with the cats-- one of the cats was abandoned by his owner and the other two are my friends cats that his fiance threw out because one of them crapped on the couch. The cats sleep on top of the dogs to keep warm. Oh wait-- there are 4 cats-- another one that was abandoned by her owner. She hangs out because they put blankets on the porch and feed her.

I get being frustrated by animals making messes and being destructive, but I think it's cruel to put them out in the cold where they could freeze to death. My spoiled kitties are piled on me right now. I got a new fuzzy blanket that they love. It works out because they keep me warm.

I almost forgot that while I was at my friend's house I took measurements in his bathroom and realized his plan to put in a 60"x30" showertub wouldn't work the way he wanted. Would create too tight of a fit and it can't go on the opposite wall because the ceiling slopes down too low. But, if he flips it sideways it will fit-- but he will have to move his toilet over. He actually likes that plan better and I found the shower and tub he wants & convinced his fiance to like it.

 

[Jon]

Nothing ever falls into place for you does it zannej?

 

[Don Monfils]

Close... 53 Daris

 

[Jon]

Young fella

 

[DarisMulkin]

Close... 53 Daris

Damn!! I started before you were born buy a couple months if you were born after September.

 

[highup]

I skip s day and all you guys turn into old geezers..... sheesh, what am I gonna do?
Happy Birthday guys.

 

[zannej]

LOL. Jon, I do seem to have odd luck. In some ways I am very lucky (still have a home & family & such) but weird things happen. My luck isn't as bad as my friend's though. He canceled his debit card & told the bank not to allow any automatic charges. They allowed an automatic charge after the card was disabled and it put him in the red so they charged him an overdraft fee (again). This is about the 3rd time they have allowed an overdraft when he told them not to allow charges to things. He's still waiting to get his taxes but I'm worried that his ex will get them due to lying about him being in arrears on child support. He's really banking on the taxes to be able to get a vehicle & fix his house up more.

Today was one of my lazy days. I was just not feeling great but I'm still planning to do something productive before midnight. I'm trying to do at least one productive thing per day (aside from cooking for Mom). Today is my baby brother's 40th birthday but he had to go to work. There's a nasty thunderstorm out there right now- hope my friend's roof isn't leaking too badly. One of my cats just came in from the rain & decided to get water all over my pillow. LOL.

I just had total brainfreeze.

 

[zannej]

I helped my friend install his new vinyl plank. It was flexible enough to follow the imperfections in his floor (although I had advised trying to level it or at least take the bumps out first). He didn't want to wait & thus far the floor looks great. It's much better than the fugly plywood that was down there. The old base molding stayed in because the plywood was built up around it and the baseboard sinks in & is very difficult to remove. He's going to add shoe molding/quarter round to cover the edges. I wasn't sure what to do at first & my back wasn't cooperating but once my pain meds kicked in I was able to help more. I set up the next boards, marked boards for cutting on the ends while he started on the next row, then I would start the next row while he was setting the last board in the previous row. Once we got the first row done and realized we should be moving right to left instead of left to right, things went pretty smoothly. My friend needed some breaks in between because he was doing all the heavy lifting and such. I kept sweeping the floor and cleaning the area to make sure there was nothing nasty and nothing sticking up underneath the planks-- I removed some dog crap and chewing gum from various spots. I'm so glad I brought my mallet & my new speed square. I unintentionally brought a pencil that had fallen in to my flooring saw's box by serendipity. I brought safety glasses but no one used them. Had my full Matrix 6-piece set & we used the screwdriver for some stuff and the oscillating attachment (well, "we" means my friend). It really brightened the room up and everyone commented on how much nicer it looked. It really goes well with the cabinets and the stainless steel appliances. There was very little waste and only one mistake in the cutting so there was a box and a half left. We decided not to return the last box just in case the floor ever needs repairs or if he wants to use it for something else. The floor is very easy to sweep-- stuff just slides so easily, but it's not slippery to people wearing socks. I stepped in mud so I was walking around in my socks. It would have been knocked out faster if my brother hadn't gone to the store and we needed him to help move the fridge. He's getting a different fridge soon though-- selling the current one to a mutual friend and buying a taller one from another friend. My brother was cooking while we were doing the installation.

My friend loved my flooring saw. He said there was no resistance while cutting the planks and it went through like a hot knife through butter. He did accidentally overcut in some areas but they will be covered by trim/molding. I think he's going to get a wider threshold for his pantry doorway. I took a bunch of photos (forgot to get one of the area with the stove once it was completed) but the color looks off in the pictures. It looks more yellowish in the pictures so the floor looks sort of blonde, but it's really a light white-ish gray. I think it's Stone Ash or something like that.

 

[Jon]

Looks good to me