Monday...

Last day of this stretch of vacation days, and I'm nowhere near as done as I'd hoped. But, back to work! Wired in the plug for the dishwasher. I had to turn the box sideways as the bottom hit on the dishwasher roller when I test fitted it (so much for measure twice, cut once). One thing I noticed was that in using the 220 stove line for power, there is no ground (and the microwave installation guide as pretty emphatic on there needing to be a ground). Oh bother...

I need a 2 x 4 to make the braces for the new front face on the dishwasher, another 1 x 12 and some other stuff (like pipe clamps for the pantry conduit) that I didn't think of before. So, went to lunch with my friend B___ , and afterwards stopped at Home Depot. It's now official! I have spent more money on installing the microwave than I did to buy the microwave. Doesn't seem right, somehow...

Back home and unpacked. Added a clamp to the water line for the dishwasher and ran a ground wire to the electrical box. That takes care of that bothersome ground wire business. Now it's back to carpentry. Cut angle braces from the 2 x 4 and glued and screwed them in. Then cut the face board and nailed it on. Stained it, as well as the exposed ends of the new upper cabinet bottom shelf. Installed the dishwasher! Hurray! One big thing out of my way.

Used the pipe clamps to secure the conduit inside the pantry. Then had to mark each shelf and cut out a notch with the saber saw. Washed the top of each shelf and installed them, so they could air dry.

Now lining up the bottom bracket for the microwave (it's late and I don't feel like cutting the holes for the ductwork yet - that's the next big thing). Stopped and put all the canned goods back in the pantry. Hey, I can see the top of my kitchen table again!

Turned my attention to the Newt tank (broken filter, remember?) Pulled out the plastic plants, branch and the useless filter. Then I vacuumed the gravel, adding more gravel where it was needed. Put in the new filter and more water. Then I went and washed off the plastic stuff (baking soda and salt mixture with a clean brush). Put everything back together, added about three more gallons of water and Newt and Goldie are good to go.

Tired out again, so just opened a can of chili for dinner. Went to bed at 9:00 PM.