What did you do today?

[zannej]

I got to rest today and I put together a new litterbox with a pull-out drawer & a hole in the top where the cats can get down. One cat used it thus far. Another was checking it out, started trying to climb down, lost her balance, flipped over and landed on her back in the pan, then jumped back out as quickly as she could. LOL. Others have been poking around looking at it and not sure what to make of it. The first cat refused to get out though so I had to take the top off and pick her up so other cats could use it. One problem I now see is that other cats can ambush ones that use the box and my cats are ******** so they will absolutely do that.

Other than the litterbox thing, doing shoulder exercises, and sleeping- I cooked for Mom.

 

[zannej]

I successfully changed the cabin air filter in my truck. It was easier than I thought it would be once I got the clips detached. I did have to open the door to be able to move my right foot out of the way though. Old filter had leaves in it. Didn't take long.

Did my shoulder exercises (the ones I'm physically capable of doing-- there are some I can't do bc I can't move my arm into the proper positions). Visited my friend and had him ride with me to Walmart to get his gf's pickup order (she was feeling sick). He listened to the weird sounds truck is making. could be suspension. It wasn't making those noises before I took it to the dealership. Gonna have a local shop look and see if they can figure out what the problem is. I started charging my new tire inflator/jumpstart kit. Comes in its own handy case.

Made vegetable fried rice-- 2nd attempt. I like how it turned out. Pic was after we ate some of it.

 

[JPfloor]

Played with my new 20 dollar pocket hole jig today. Handy little gizmo.

Built an outdoor bench. One day project. Nothing fancy here but sturdy. Last bench I built had screws showing all over the place! Now ya can’t find one.

I’ll run the router around the edges and throw on a coat of stain, maybe some poly and done. Maybe just paint the legs black.. I need a few more…

 

[Tile Tom]

Just finished a kitchen remodel today. Floor to ceiling, everything new.
Homeowner was very happy with the outcome. While packing up he asked if I would like a beer, mix drink or a cigar. I jokingly said a Cuban would be nice. He ran downstairs and came back up to hand me a hand rolled cuban cigar…. Thought that was pretty cool!

 

[C.J.]

Did some table saw maintenance today. Gotta clean up and lube the worm gear every so often. Checked and adjusted my rip fence then checked to see how my bevel was and if it needed adjustment. Close enough to me.

Had to plane down some planks so I could make some trim strips to match the flooring I was working with. This was one of my favorite tricks to do up against a slider or something like that. Matches the floor perfectly and it gives a clean look.

Looks like a dirty planer bed that needs to be cleaned. I ended up wiping it down with lacquer then polished the bed with Brasso before I waxed it. Shoulda cleaned the rollers but I didn’t feel like getting my fingers that close to the blades so that’ll wait till next time.

 

[kwfloors]

Dealing with a lawyer now to evict some guys off my place. Going to get interesting in a couple of days.

 

[zannej]

Ooh, what pockethole jig did you get? How easy is it to use? I actually have an amazon page open looking for them but my internet went out and my brain isn't cooperating. Internet was out most of Tuesday and part of Wednesday morning. Slept pretty much all day Tuesday except to empty the kitchen trash (managed to do it using mainly the one good arm).

Good luck with the eviction kwfloors.

My left shoulder is starting to make crunch noises when I move it, but its moving a bit more. I can raise it a couple inches more now. I can also raise it without bending the elbow. The pulley rope thingy helps. Not feeling so great though. The rain made me sleepy.

I cleaned litterboxes today and cooked for mom. Went to cook for myself and the air fryer was dead. I tried plugging it in to different outlets that I knew worked but its toast. Lasted a few years though. The exact same model is on sale right now: Amazon.com

It's a nice little thing. Great for making burgers, chicken strips, fries, and all sorts of stuff. It's basically a mini convection oven. I was sad that it died. While transferring my burgers from the air fryer to the frying pan, one burger split in half and one half fell on the floor. Cats were happy. Then a cat ran up and took a big chunk out of the other burger before I could transfer it to the pan. She's too cute for me to get mad at her though.

Mom decided she wanted a larger air fryer so she got one that had a coupon that is much larger. Like 26qt or something. Hopefully I can figure out how to use it easily.

My brother brought me home a salad so I'm about to go eat it.

 

[JPfloor]

Ooh, what pockethole jig did you get? How easy is it to use?

Kreg brand.

Pretty easy. You just have to set the jig and bit at the right depth for the thickness of the wood you’re drilling through and buy the right length screw for the thickness of the wood you’re screwing into. If you buy the $20 model you’ll need a clamp too.

 

[DarisMulkin]

I've had the Kreg kit for maybe 7 years now and love it. Using the right screws is a definite.

 

[JPfloor]

Dealing with a lawyer now to evict some guys off my place. Going to get interesting in a couple of days.

I had to do that once. Ended up offering them money to leave. Here in NY it could have taken a long time to get them out legally. It was cheaper and easier to pay them… Still sticks in my craw that I had to pay a person like that..

 

[DarisMulkin]

I repo'ed a house when the ex and I split up. She wanted to use her lawyer and we went with her for a year and was no farther ahead than when we started and it was costing us more and more. I fired her and got my own who came highly recommended and it was over in 3 months I believe and the people gone.

 

[zannej]

I'm thinking of getting one of the Kreg jig kits but am debating whether it is worth it to spend more. I think getting something with clamps and the right type of screws would be good. I really hate the look of pocketholes but I can see they may be useful. I got a dowel kit bc I prefer dowels, but being able to have the strength of screws would also be nice. I need to find the wooden plugs (I only seem to see plastic) for the holes. Or maybe I can just fill them up with putty.
This one looked interesting but I wonder if I can get pieces separately for less $ https://www.amazon.com/Kreg-KPHJ320-22-Pocket-Hole-KHC-MICRO-Clamp/dp/B0B15KFCDW/

I had to haul trash out bc my brother refused. I'm a bit irritated with him bc there were 2 simple things I asked him to do before going to work-- take out the trash, and unload his new monitor from the front passenger seat of the truck so Mom would have a place to sit. He didn't do either. If he lived on his own he'd never survive. He can't do even the simplest things and he's going to be 43 next month. I'm not going to be around to take care of him forever.

So, I had to take care of that and drove Mom to State Farm to get something settled with the premiums. They are supposed to automatically deduct it from our bank but they didn't and sent a note accusing us of failure to pay and they were going to cancel the insurance. They also had conflicting info on how much was owed. Even the agent said it was confusing but said the system only showed the lower amount and took payment. She was very nice about it.

Went to Walmart but there were no riding carts. So, Mom walked around leaning on a cart. Fastest trip I've ever had with her in the store bc she got too tired to keep going and wanted to go back out to the truck. I gave her the keys and checked out. Then stopped at TSC to get cow feed. I realized I forgot to get milk (my brother drank the last of it and forgot to get more when I asked him to). Stopped at a local IGA and grabbed some. Also forgot to get bread (guess who ate most of it?). I'll have to make a list.

Meds still have me feeling cruddy but hopefully my shoulder will heal. I slammed it into the doorway while carrying in groceries though so its throbbing. I'm about to take a nap and then will do more exercises.

 

[C.J.]

Opened up a brand new bit driver set. Figured I better get a pic while it’s still perfect.

Found a scrap piece of an old glue lam beam today. We ran it through the planer to clean it up. Wonder what the heck we’ll turn that into.

 

[Floorist]

Opened up a brand new bit driver set. Figured I better get a pic while it’s still perfect.

View attachment 16148

Found a scrap piece of an old glue lam beam today. We ran it through the planer to clean it up. Wonder what the heck we’ll turn that into.

View attachment 16149

Do you still have a job?

 

[C.J.]

Do you still have a job?

It’s more of an organized play group. Here’s another cutting block I finished up the other day. Walnut, maple and some other random light woods. One of the guys is gonna give it to his gram grams.

Those Kreg jigs are awesome. I was adjusting my jig the other day. Slice the test piece open and you can see exactly where your drill bit is going.

 

[JPfloor]

I'm thinking of getting one of the Kreg jig kits but am debating whether it is worth it to spend more. I think getting something with clamps and the right type of screws would be good. I really hate the look of pocketholes but I can see they may be useful. I got a dowel kit bc I prefer dowels, but being able to have the strength of screws would also be nice. I need to find the wooden plugs (I only seem to see plastic) for the holes. Or maybe I can just fill them up with putty.
This one looked interesting but I wonder if I can get pieces separately for less $ https://www.amazon.com/Kreg-KPHJ320-22-Pocket-Hole-KHC-MICRO-Clamp/dp/B0B15KFCDW/

The little 20 dollar single hole jig does the same job as the bigger, self locking jigs, just takes longer. If you’re setting up a shop, or do a lot of building, I’d go with the bigger fancy one… If it’s just an occasional back yard job, and you’re in no hurry, go cheap,

That 34 dollar two hole jig from Amazon with the clamp included is a good price if you don’t already own a clamp. Any kinda clamp will do.

 

[Floorist]

The little 20 dollar single hole jig does the same job as the bigger, self locking jigs, just takes longer. If you’re setting up a shop, or do a lot of building, I’d go with the bigger fancy one… If it’s just an occasional back yard job, and you’re in no hurry, go cheap,

That 34 dollar two hole jig from Amazon with the clamp included is a good price if you don’t already own a clamp. Any kinda clamp will do.

I have probably 30 assorted clamps. Do you need a corner clamp, like a picture frame clamp?

 

[zannej]

Ooh, it went down in price. It was $39 when I looked at it before. LOL. I might get it but I'm debating.

Cleaned litterboxes, did shoulder exercises, picked up some trash, refilled water for cats, went to get curbside pickup at Walmart, sat around at my friend's house waiting for his gf to be ready to go get her stuff from her ex's place. Good thing my brother came along bc there was some heavy stuff. The ex tossed most of her stuff outside. He's still holding on to her expensive vacuum and my baker's rack. I'm going to have to go get them another day. Wasn't any room in the truck. She was pissed that he just put stuff outside bc there are crackheads in the area who come and take stuff.

Friend's toddler has double ear infection again and was crying. He wanted the new gf to hold him but she was busy hemming a dress for a client & then she had to deliver it. My brother and I took turns distracting him to get him to stop fussing.

Grabbed takeout from a local place and brought it home. Ate and then I restocked the toothpick dispenser, filled a salt shaker with diatomaceous earth & sprinkled it around the living room and kitchen, transferred cat treats from container that the cats can rip open to one they can't get open. Fed kitties and am lying down. Boo (my oldest cat) just climbed on me.

 

[highup]

Who do you trust for weather?
For Saturday, Sunday and Monday, AccuWeather says 25, 16, and 23
NOAA says 30, 23 and 28.
It's almost never that we get down to 26, tho we can have a lot of 29 to 35 temps in December to late January. Our frost line depth is 0.
I don't recall a low of 16 since 1989.
During that two week freak cold snap, it got down to 9 at my place.
That was the first and only 9 degree temp in my 65 years of life. The reason cold temperatures are an issue here is because water pipes aren't very very deep as a matter of fact under my mobile home it runs across the ground underneath from the water supply to where it comes up inside.
If it looks like it's gonna get crazy cold, I just turn the water on at a fast drip before going to bed.
If I need to get up in the middle of the night, I'll turn the water faucet all the way on for a minute or two and then back to a fast drip.
I don't have a clue how you people up north survive the winters.
If I'd does get down to 16, I won't be able to maintain 65 indoors.

 

[zannej]

I don't know if I "trust" anyone for weather but I can see the predictions. I know sometimes they expect rain and it doesn't but I know its only a prediction and not a certainty.

I'm in the same situation with it not getting that cold very often. I think we had a cold snap that had the coldest temps recorded here in 100 years (that was when the pipes ruptured). Its been getting colder every winter & more pipes keep bursting. Pipes here aren't buried very deep like in your area.

Today I did my shoulder exercises & got my arm to lift a few more inches higher. Still won't go straight up, but I'm making progress. I put my back against the door while using the rope pulley thing and pulled down with my right arm to pull my left arm up more. I turned sideways to try to stretch it up to the side a bit more (but that motion is less flexible). I can reach behind my back a little bit and I can reach away from me to grab stuff without pain (so long as I don't stretch too much).

I went to get mail and while waiting in line to get my packages there were a couple of kids running around playing. Their mother was quietly trying to get them to calm down but they were too full of energy. They weren't causing any harm and it was good to see kids actually playing instead of having faces buried in phones. I envied their energy.

I took some pictures of the peeling paint on my truck (happened after I took it through the car wash when it was too cold).
Pic doesn't show it so well, but the paint on the hood is the worst-- it's curling up like dead leaves. I don't know what the black stuff is, it doesn't want to come off easily but when I try it turns red.

This is where paint came off on the side of the bed:

A little bit on the door

A small strip peeling near the windshield

This last chip was caused by the accident in 2018 when the drunk driver ran into my fender and bent my hood. The body shop that worked on it refused to paint that part for some reason. They also spilled paint thinner inside the vehicle and ruined the PU leather on the arm rests but I think that place went out of business now.

I got the Duplicolor touch-up stick that will scrape off rust and let me brush on the matching paint and then do clearcoat, but I don't think that would work for some of the larger areas like the spot on the hood (not that I can even reach the spot on the hood without some sort of stepstool or ladder).

I'm thinking the hood might require spray paint (which duplicolor makes). Will have to sand it and try to smooth the edges though. I don't need it to be perfect, but I want to prevent rust and more paint peeling.

(As an aside, that black crud never comes off in the car wash and I tried washing it off myself but had trouble and then I fell getting out of the truck bed and hurt my right shoulder- which was sore for months).

Anyone done touch-up paint on a vehicle before? I don't have a garage or covered area so that complicates things-- but I'm thinking of getting a tent. Would be cheaper than going to the local body shop that takes forever & leaves orange peel texture after charging thousands of $$.