Hold me back... Hold me back...

At the apartment complex when we take Copper for a walk, he is always on a leash.  The terrier half of him strains at the leash to get to the rabbits, birds and squirrels that he encounters.  He'll run to the end of the retractable leash until it stops him short.

At the house, we can take him outside off the leash.  He minds well enough that he comes back when he calls.  However, we were wondering how he would react the first time he encountered a critter in the yard. Would he go tearing after it?

Yesterday, when Robyn took him outside at the house off the leash.  There was a gray squirrel in a small tree just outside the back door (I saw a black one the other day.)  Copper just stood calmly on the steps and stared at it.  Guess all that stuff on the leash was just bluster.

Sunday was another productive day for us.  An early start at Home Depot where we picked up the new tub and the wall enclosure.  Interesting loading it in the 35 degree weather with the 30 mph winds and occasional snow flurry.  I learned my lesson from trying to haul the 12 foot long 2x4's down the interstate so we took surface streets from Home Depot to the house. 

I used every inch of the 50 foot rope I keep in the back of the truck to tie everything down but the wind still blew over the box with the enclosure walls.

My corner trim for the sheet rock got caught between the box and the side of the truck and all three pieces have a nice little crimp in them now. 

We bought a white fiberglass tub with a reinforced bottom so we don't have to pack it with mortar to keep the floor of the tub from flexing when the tub is used.  The walls and tub have a joint which hooks together and doesn't require caulking or greenboard.  (I'll put up the greenboard regardless.)

Robyn's main project for the day was to finish putting up the replacement for the ceiling fan that used to be in the dining room.  Here she is attaching the crystals...

Once all the crystals were attached, we wrapped the chandelier in plastic; sanded the spackling over the holes of the drywall screws attaching the medallion to the ceiling (the screws were countersunk); and then Robyn did a bit of touch-up...

For those of you who may not remember what this room looked like when we first started, here is a before shot...



We still need to put the crown molding and curtains up and install the flooring, but this is how the room looks now.

Even after cutting off over 4 foot of chain and wire, we're going to have to shorten the chain some more.



But that's a project for another day.

Another big accomplishment for the day, was finishing up the master bedroom.  Here's some shots of it...

As soon as the closet is painted, we can put the flooring down and start moving furniture into this room.

We also got the last of the sheetrock up on the soffits in the living room.

Unfortunately, my cordless drill ran out of battery about the same time I ran out of sheetrock screws.  Robyn was raking the yard to get pieces of debris up so we can cut the grass next weekend.  She encountered some issues as well.

Final bit of work for the day was to carry the bathtub upstairs.

Copper was just about as excited about this tub as he was with one full of water.

Expedition Ikea

Friday, Robyn was in continuing education classes all day at the Rivercentre in St. Paul.  She got back to the apartment just as I was wrapping up my walk with Copper and I was headed over to the manager's office to discuss our rent bill for the month.  The bill had come in for the full month and our lease was up on the 27th so there was a small overbilling.

However, this provided me an opportunity to discuss something with the manager Robyn and I had talked about earlier in the week.  Since the 27th fell on the Friday before Memorial Day, we wanted to extend our lease through at least Monday.  This gave us another weekend to work on the house.  I figured since it was a holiday weekend and our lease was up on Friday and it was unlikely they would be able to get anyone in to inspect and paint the apartment over the weekend, the manager would be receptive.  He was.

As soon as my discussion with the manager was done, Robyn and I headed to Ikea to check out the kitchen cabinets.  On an earlier visit, we had seen a model kitchen with a design similar to the kitchen in our house so we wanted to price the cabinets.  I figured it they were within a $100 of what I had priced at Lowe's and Home Depot the Ikea cabinets would be a viable option as I was going to have to paint the other ones.  They weren't; just 2 cabinets were $100 more than the 4 comparable cabinets I had priced out at Lowe's and Home Depot.  C'est la vie.

However, we didn't go away empty-handed.  Robyn picked up the painting she had identified for the blackberry bedroom.  I got this cool tubing cutter that is designed to cut tubing in confined spaces.  We also purchased track lighting for the kitchen.

The lighting is 11 foot long with 5 halogen bulbs.  The track is flexible and has the additional benefit of being a green product.

Friday evening, we had to go to a birthday party so my trip to Home Depot Saturday morning wasn't until 9:15.  When I walked in, the same manager who had helped me Wednesday was there.  She looked at me in surprise thinking I'd had a problem with the delivery.  I said, "Nope, the delivery folks hadn't called yet. I'm just here to pick up the toilet that was special ordered and a gallon of white paint for the closet."

Forty-five minutes later as Robyn and I were driving to the house, the call came in to Robyn.  The driver said, "I'll be there in 30 to 45 minutes."  Robyn said, "Perfect."

About the only thing not perfect was the weather; a heavy drizzle.  The washer, dryer, dishwasher, stove and refrigerator were on 3 pallets.  Ivie (sorry if I misspelled the name), the driver, parked his semi out in front of the house and brought the appliances by forklift around to the garage in the back.  Thank goodness because the stairs at the front of the house are about 7 foot higher than street level.  I'm also glad the city inspector had complained about the garage being opened; I had secured it 4 or 5 weeks ago as a result.

Ivie was a great guy.  From North Carolina, near Raleigh, originally, he was personable as only a true southerner is.

Saturday, we saw the fruits of a lot of the work we had done before.  I finished building the box around the ductwork in the living room.  Robyn even helped hang sheetrock for the first time in her life.

I painted the ceiling of what will be our bedroom.  As I was finishing up building the ductwork box, Robyn painted the walls; I came back upstairs and did the edging at the top of the walls.  Here are the results after one coat:

As soon as the second coat is done, we'll be ready to put the laminate down in the room.

Back down stairs to the sheetrock which we weren't able to finish because my cordless drill ran out of juice... but we're getting closer.

But it isn't like we don't have a bunch of other stuff to do... Like the chandelier for the dining room:

Gonna be fun to put all the crystals on it... Right Robyn???

For Deliver, Press "4"

Yesterday was a bit of a frustrating day.  Appliances were supposed to be delivered.  However, when Wednesday morning rolled around, Home Depot had yet to schedule a time. 

Yeah, Robyn and I had both missed a call from Home Depot on Tuesday but no message was left.  When we tried to return the call, we got stuck in “auto-attendant” hell without any way to break free.  The calls went something like this…

“Thank you for calling the… Home Depot.

• “For Store Hours and directions, press 1.
• “If you know the 3-digit extension of the person you are trying to reach, press 2.
• “To speak to an associate in one of our departments, press 3
• “If you are calling about an installation, special order, or delivery, press 4

Pressing “4” then brings you to this menu tree…

• “For water heater installation, press 1.
• “For heating and air condition installations,  press 2.
• “For other installations or special orders, press 3.
• “For deliveries, press 4.
• “To repeat these options, press 9.
• “To return to the main menu, press #

Pressing “4” then brings you to this menu which said to press “1” that brought you all the way back to the first menu.

Jeez….  At least when I tried it again today, it had been fixed.

So Wednesday morning, Robyn and I both headed off to work with a contingency plan that if they called again we would set a time I could be there which was 10:30 am as I was in a meeting in the bowels of a building in St. Paul where there was no cell phone service.

When I finished up my meeting around 10:00, I had a text message waiting from Robyn saying, “The delivery people from Home Depot are there.  They said they could come back at 10:30 am.”

I’m thinking, “Great, I can be there in 5 minutes.  Even if they’re late, this will take an hour at most.”

Wrong!!!

11:00 am came and went… no delivery

12:00 noon came and went… no delivery and waiting in the wintry mix had gotten old.

Robyn gave me the contact number which I called.  I asked the dispatcher, “Where’s my delivery? You said you would be here at 10:30!”  He said he’d call the driver who called me back.

 

I asked the driver, “Where are you?” 

His response was, “You weren’t there. So I called Home Depot and they told me to bring the stuff back to the store.”

I’m like, “What???? You told us you would be here at 10:30.  Why would you take the stuff back?”

He said, “That’s what Home Depot said to do.”

I asked, “Why would you do that? You couldn’t even call?”

He said, “We called and told you we would be there between 8:00 am and noon.”

I said, “We never had contact with anyone who told us what time the delivery would be.  If we had, we would have been here.”

He said, “We called and told you we would be here.”

I ended the call by expressing my displeasure and opinion about his competence in as restrained colorful manner as my anger would allow.

…and then I drove to the Home Depot where we purchased the appliances and spoke to the store manager.

The manager was quite apologetic and very helpful with rescheduling the delivery and promised her personal attention.  She also made a small adjustment for our inconvenience.

Weekend Update...

Even for a long weekend, sometimes it's difficult tell the progress that has been made.  We ended up putting a a third coat of blue paint on the bottom part of the dining room (2 coats just didn't appear to be enough) and then took the masking paper and tape off the molding.

That's a reflection on the wall...

While Robyn was going around, touching up the places covered by tape (or pulled loose by the tape), I put the first coat of paint on the ceiling medallion.

There was a ceiling fan previously on the ceiling which was just attached to the slats under the plaster with 2 lag bolts.  I don't know how it didn't fall down.  I cut a hole in the ceiling where the wire was dangling and put a junction box in, attached to the ceiling joist.  I don't like plastic boxes, but the ceiling fixture we're putting in is much lighter than the ceiling fan, plus it won't have whirling blades.

Both of the wires were the same color, so I put a piece of black electric tap on the on that connects to the black wire.  The mirrored cap for the light fixture is also a little bit bigger than the hole in the medallion so I traced around it and then cut out a recess for the edges so it would fit flush against the ceiling and I would be able to attach the medallion to the ceiling.

This was a "paint" weekend with us priming the master bedroom, but forgetting to prime the closet.

We also got in a bit of shopping at... you guessed it... Home Depot.  Home Depot was having a clearance sale on floor and discontinued models of appliances.  Even though we were a week or two in front of when we intended to purchase appliances, we got such a great deal, saving several hundred dollars, we went ahead and purchased a side-by-side refrigerator, gas stove, dish washer, washer and gas dryer. This complied with our mantra... Never pay full price!!!

...and Robyn got drapes for the dining room windows as well.

This helper doesn't scream when you hit it...

Today, I continued the building of a soffit around the ductwork in the living room.  This particular run of ductwork requires a box 12' 8" long X 12" wide X 12" deep.  Building the box and then attaching it to the ceiling would basically mean that Robyn and I would have to lift five 12 foot long 2x4's and hold them up until they are attached; something we can't do by ourselves.  So I decided to build them in place.  Difficult still but not nearly as challenging.  Using "helpers" like the one below, I could put up a section at a time and attach it by myself.

I figured this was a more prudent approach after the first 2x4 came loose from the ceiling before I could get it nailed up and conked Robyn on the head, leaving a nice little mark on the back of her head where the 2x4 hit her and her forehead where it knocked her into the ladder.  She didn't scream either... but her eyes watered.

We also bought our first appliance for the house.

This way we can bring leftovers from home in the cooler Tammy got me for my birthday and heat them.  Today we had Cincinnati chili over spaghetti squash.

We also put the final coat on the dining room; Robyn did most of the work.  

No, dear, that isn't a scepter

Today was spent getting new Minnesota plates for Robyn's car, getting her oil changed, a quick trip to Home Depot for more painting supplies, and her surprising me at Sam's Club with a card and the receipt for my birthday present.

An awesome hybrid grill...

Too bad the food doesn't come with it.  I can't wait to put it together and use it.  It will be great to grill again after being in an apartment where it isn't allowed.

We did get some work done on the house today.  While I was painting the ceiling in the dining room, Robyn was taping off the living room.  Later she joined me in the dining room and we got the first coat of paint on the walls above the plate shelf.

After priming, it looks like we'll only need one coat on the ceiling.  The upper part of the wall will definitely need 2 coats.

As we were wrapping up the day, Robyn "discovered" one of my gadgets, the painter stirrer I use for the 5 gallon buckets of paint.

You should have heard her exclaim, "You use this with your drill to stir the paint? This is so cool!!"  You would have thought it was me.

Itchy... Itchy...

Wednesday while I was waiting for the City of St. Paul inspector to show up to inspect the water heater installation, I took the opportunity to put some fiberglass insulation around the ductwork where it passes through the ceiling and walls.

I will be boxing in all the ductwork with 5/8” sheetrock which is 1 hour burn barrier rated but in the meantime I wanted to add some additional protection by filling the open areas around the ductwork which could be a potential pathway between floors and rooms if there were a fire.

Not really that difficult to do.  A $15 25 foot-long of R19 unback insulation was my raw material.  I just cut off 6” strips to insert around the ductwork wherever it passed between rooms and floors.  Basically a 15 minute job.

I’ve installed insulation before so I know how itchy it can be if it gets in your clothes and on your skin.  For that reason I work long sleeves and gloves.

And wouldn’t you know, it still got on me in a few spots.  Fortunately, the itching is still mild and I’m not scratching like a maniac.

As for the water heater inspection, it passed.  The inspector, Steve Fernlund, was a great guy and gave me some tips on the City of St. Paul inspection process as well as some advice on when a permit is required and when it isn’t.