Saturday, getting it done!

Never really went back to sleep after my 4:00 AM bathroom trip. Did yesterday's blog post, read in bed, etc. When I did get up, I made some scrambled eggs for breakfast, and then just showered. This morning is going to be busy!

I was at Brighthouse (my cable company) at 9:00 AM to pick up another DVR so Jake and Carla can use their TV while they are here. Next stop was the library. I dropped off five books and chose five more. Then I raced home, as I have a salesman from Magic Windows coming at 11:00 AM to give me a quote for installing a custom shower liner in the downstairs basement.

Got home with time to spare, so I put back on the sink face I had removed to replace the faucet. I got to use my air guns again, which is always fun! (Oh, God, am I turning into Tim Allen or what?)

The salesman showed up and I showed him the project. If it did nothing else, it did make me smile! I can buy the insert for under $200 at Home Depot and do it myself, right? But, to be fair, his is custom extruded to match my dimensions, etc., and featured three shelves in one corner, a grab bar and new fixtures. Still, the price came out to be $6,900, but with all my discounts (lol!), the "good for 6 months" price is $5,105. However, if I signed up today (and today only) the price is $3,140! Hmmm... I think NOT!

After he packed up and left (he had samples, you see) I also left. First I hit the bank and the ATM, and got the car washed. Then I got my oil changed where I always go. The guy (I didn't recognize him) asked me, "Are you sure you just want regular oil. Volvo's require synthetic oil." I said, "Listen, pal! I fell for that for two oil changes, but at the last one your own guy here told me I didn't need it at all! So, which is it?" He said, "Well, its just we recommend it for Volvos, BMW's, etc." I said, "Well, 'recommended' or not, I'd rather pay $25 than the $50 you got out of me twice before!"

Next it was Home Depot (you must think I'm now an official DYI junkie or something) and then Meijer's for a few things. I got home just after 1:00 PM, changed clothes and went to work.

First, I filled up the wood rack and added a length of chain to make sure things don't fall over. I put all the 2 x 2's and 2 x 4's up in the attic (actually, I just pitched them up there. I will need to go up when it's not so hot and straighten that out!) I used the furniture dolly and a lot of ingenuity and by 3:30 PM, the pipe-making bench was sitting in its proper place in the garage.

I took a break at that point to go out and start cutting up and burning the molding on the patio (I am sick of looking at it!) I got it all cut up and about half burned when Jake and Carla popped in.

They told me the story behind each of the 10 (was it?) houses they were shown today. One sounded particularly creepy! But, they may have found the one. At least they are going back for a second visit and asked me to come along. So, they'll set that up for this coming week sometime.

We talked both in the kitchen and out on the patio, while Jake kept the fire burning. I invited them to eat with me, but they just had lunch a little while ago and weren't hungry. But I was, so I warmed up the last of the smoked pork loin I'd been thawing since the morning. Then I sliced it thin and fork shredded the slices. I added good old Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce and set it to simmer. When it was warm, I ate it on a Kaiser roll with a dill pickle and some salt & vinegar chips.

After they left, I went in the garage and carried out three armloads of more wood to burn. I cut it all up but only got about 1/4 of it burned. I blew the sawdust off the band saw and carried it out to its new home in the garage. I took a picture and posted it, BTW. It was 8:00 PM by then, so I quit for the night and settled in to read. I stayed up until midnight, reading and I did have two more pulled pork sandwiches during that time. I finished my book, BTW.

I'm not sure why, but I wasn't really sleepy, so I channel surfed and ended up watching a hilarious, if very, very irreverent (some might say dirty and gross) comedy special with Sarah Silverman. First time I've seen her. When it was finished, so was I. Turned out the light, opened the window and went to sleep.