Road Trip

I woke up refreshed at 7:00 AM on Saturday. My sunny disposition turned sour when I saw cat barf on the bedspread and on the rug next to my bed. So, I cleaned up the mess, treated the stains and started the washer. Then I finally got a cup of coffee and my oatmeal breakfast.

I checked my email and found Amy’s Father’s Day present: a year’s subscription to a magazine called Everyday Food. Thanks, Amy!

When the washer stopped, I put the stuff in the dryer and dug out my oscillating sprinkler. The lawn around the patio is wheat-colored and I can’t take it anymore! So, I hooked up the sprinkler and turned it on. After a few adjustments, I went back inside, made another cup of coffee and finished up then posted the Blog Entry.

After an hour had passed (I watched the Today show) I went out and shut off the water. Fortunately, the area I was watering has the rain gauge in it so I was able to verify what I remembered from last year: One hour of the sprinkler equals 1/2 inch of water on the area. Satisfied, I moved the sprinkler to the other rear area burnt by the sun near the house and turned it back on.

It’s getting too late to do the front yard today, and it “may” rain on Father’s Day morning, so I’ll wait on worrying about that. This time, though, I remembered the microwave has a timer, so I set that for an hour. Then I put my brace on and got to work.

The spackling seems dry, so I started to hand sand it. I sucked up the dust with the vacuum cleaner. Now, I’m pretty sure the self stick tile won’t "self stick" to raw spackling. So I put a few dots of silicone adhesive on the spot. Then I continued tiling. There was only one tricky tile (at the side of the stove next to the pantry. I measured it out, cut it and, without taking off the backing, tried it. Nope! It took three separate cuts, but I finally got it.

If you remember, I had to stay away from the curled up edges of the original linoleum. So, once I had the stove area finished, I caulked all the edges. I noticed (as you probably did when I posted the picture of the spackling) that I never painted the base board behind the stove. “Who would ever see it?” was probably my original rational. But, since I have to paint the caulk (well, I don’t “have” to, I want to) I cut a piece of 3/4 round to fit up against it. I had to cut it in two pieces to go behind the gas line, BTW. When the caulk dries (probably by tomorrow) I’ll nail it in and paint everything.

In the meantime, I cut down a board and put it on top of the tile at the rear of the stove area (which did not want to stick). I added the two 10-pound dumbbells to give it some pressure.

It was just about noon and seemed like a good time to quit, since I have a graduation party to go to that starts at 3:00 PM in New Baltimore. I put the bedspread and the rug back in place and started a load of clothes, including the shorts and t-shirt I’d been working in. I sprayed my brace with Fabreeze and hung it up to dry, then I put on my robe, made a cup of coffee and laid on the bed to rest.

Then I got right back up as I hadn’t made a map for getting to the party. That printed out, I really did rest for a bit. Of course, I did have to get up to put the clothes in the dryer and later to hang and fold them.

Oh, and while I’m thinking about it, that Velcro idea didn’t work, either. The weight of the bed controller pulled the self-stick Velcro off the bottom of the bed. So, I still have the controller problems and the bed still slides all over the place.

Finally, I shaved and showered and left for the party around 3:00 PM. My brace was in the back seat with my walker, so the hour or so trip shouldn’t hurt my back too much.

The first sign of trouble came when I saw a sign that said the ramp from I-96 (which I was on) to I-94 (where I had to go) was closed. Hmmm… No problem. I’d just get off on I-75 North and, in a few miles, get onto I-94 East. Well, wouldn’t you know it, that was the official detour, so everyone else was going to the same place I was.

Worse yet, the exit to Comerica Park (where the Tigers were playing this afternoon) comes BEFORE the I-94 exit, so that whole area was one big parking lot with people trying to get onto I-75 from I-96 and people trying to get over and get off at the baseball stadium exit.

It did give me time, though, to see that I-94 West (how I would normally have gone home) was shut down to one lane and the backup there extended for miles.

Other than that and a little hiccup at I-94 and 23 Mile Road (more construction) the trip was uneventful, except for the chugging whenever accelerating.

I got to the party about 4:30 PM. There were no close parking spaces (of course) but it did give me a chance to put on my brace and take a nice roll down the road.

Once I found Deanna (the graduate’s Mother), I was okay. The weird part was that, other than my brothers, Coletta and Kathy, I could only name maybe five or six people I knew. I mentioned that to my Brother Carl and he said, “Well, then why did you come?” I said, “I’m representing our generation!” He laughed and said it was a little sad that all of us didn’t even fill one table any more.

But, it was a pleasant day (it was cooler there than in Redford and with a nice breeze) and I had interesting conversations with the family. Food was served about 5:00 PM and it was delicious!

I had to borrow Carl’s cane (which was way too short for me) to go to the bathroom twice. There were steps up the deck and steps from the garage to the kitchen, so there was no way the walker would have worked. Definitely not ADA approved, this house was not designed for us crips!

Finally Carl announced he had to leave for Brandon’s (not the graduate Brandon, but Amanda’s husband Brandon) birthday party, so I said I would leave with him and give him the iris. My nephew Jim (the graduate’s dad) walked with me down to the car and we chatted a bit.

Carl got his iris and headed for Armada and I headed out of the sub for 23 Mile Road. I was almost there when I remembered I still had my brace on, so I stopped and took it off. Then I drove home.

This time I got off of I-94 onto I-696 and took that out to the Southfield. I took the Southfield to I-96 and then to home. I got there about 7:00 PM.

I treated the cats and changed clothes. I didn’t feel like playing with tile, but I did feel the need to do something so, after drinking a cup of coffee and filling in the Blog entry to date, I went out in the garage and brought in the air compressor and the 50-foot hose (I’ll need it to nail on all the 3/4 round molding). I also brought in the three nail guns and nails. I thought briefly about putting in the 3/4 round behind the stove and painting that area. But it was already after 8:15 so I just brought in the paint brush I’ll need in the morning.

Then I went and watched some TV. I didn’t make it through two 2-hour shows before I fell asleep. And, that was Saturday!