Saturday's Failure!

I woke up several times during the night but successfully went back to sleep. I finally gave up and got out of bed at 6:39 AM. I made a cup of coffee and then wrote and posted the Blog entry and a couple of pictures.

I leisurely ate breakfast, shaved and showered and then got dressed. I left the house for a shopping run at 9:30 AM.

I took the shorts I bought at Target back. Thankfully, I only washed one before I tried it on as it was WAY too big! So, I took all three back (you can only get these in the summertime for some reason, so I have to stock up – last year’s batch is down to only one, worn set). Also, thankfully, they did take the one I washed back and I just exchanged them all for three smaller-sized ones. I keep forgetting I no longer wear the same size as I once did.

Then it was on to Kroger. I got everything on the list, except for something Melissa recommended. She said it was called “Western Jalapeno cheese spread” and was delicious. She also said she has to stock up on them when she’s here because they are not sold down south. Well, I even asked a store guy, but they don’t seem to be sold in Kroger’s either.

I made one last stop at the Feed Store for more birdseed. Then I headed home.

I unpacked everything and put it all away. I wrote the date on the four replacement herbs and spices I bought before they went into the cupboard. BTW, I’m not sure if it’s true, but Michelle at work told me (when I was telling her about throwing away most of my herbs and spices) that “red” spices (like chili powder, Caribbean jerk seasoning, paprika, etc.) are the first ones to lose potency. Like I said, don’t know if that’s true, but I thought I’d pass it along.

I changed into my old shorts and t-shirt and started washing all my work clothes.

Jake called and we chatted for a bit. It sounds like as uncomfortable that the weather is around here, it’s even worse in South Carolina! I told him I was going to try and install that shower door today and we hung up on that note.

There were a few backyard issues I needed to attend to first though. I used the Velco tape to secure my tomatoes to the next rung on their trellis (and was reminded that I need to pick some of the green beans).

I had noticed before that “something” was knocking down the dill in the raised bed garden and finally figured it out. It was the paddle from the wind chime. So, I removed the hook from the wall (after taking down the wind chime) and moved it to the maple tree (the one that holds up one end of the hammock that never got put up this year). Then I hung the wind chime back up (I do love the sound of it and hope I will still be able to hear it inside the house).

Since I had the drill out, I took down the hook next to the kitchen window (where I’ve tried unsuccessfully for years to lure hummingbirds to my feeder). I use it in the winter for the suet cage, so I relocated that back to the bird feeding area (by the fire pit). I dug out the suet cage and some suet (I had it in the chest freezer so it wouldn’t melt in this heat) and hung it up. I took some photos of both so you could see what I meant.

[Note to self: remember to caulk the holes in the siding, when the caulk gun is not in use, to prevent water and/or insects from getting behind the siding.]

Then I got the wheelbarrow and took the new 40 pound bag of seed from the car out to the can in the bird feeder area. Since I had the camera with me. I took a couple of pictures of the new flowers that are showing up in the mailbox garden. I’ll have to ask CC what they are as I don’t recognize them, either, (unless you know and can comment on the photo).

Back inside, I put my brace back on and then I used the awl to punch a small hole in the center of each dowel (so I can start the drill without it moving around). I had to stop then and put the work clothes in the dryer and set the timer.

So, back to the shower door. I drilled through all six dowels with a drill bit just smaller than and as long (2 1/2 inches) as the #8 screws. Then I drilled the dowels out with a drill bit just larger than the screws, but only as deep as the penciled length next to each dowel. I’d measure the drill bit and wrap electrician’s tape around the bit so I would know when to stop.

Next, I put the long Phillips bit I bought into the drill and, after caulking the back, installed the two wall jams. The screws worked perfectly! I was happy I’d solved the problem of not being able to use wall anchors. Damn clever of me!!

But, there was a problem. When I originally set the tile in the door surround, I was not considering putting in a glass shower door. I just set them in. But, now that the shower light is on, and I am outside of the shower, I can see where several tiles are not even. The wall jams are not touching some tiles at all while they are tight to others. Damn!

Well, heavy caulk should take care of that right? Wrong! After I put the door into the hinge jam and temporarily set it in place, I put in the strike expander jam (don’t even bother to ask, okay?) and tried to shut the door.

It wouldn’t shut! I scribed a pencil line on the strike expander jam (where its supposed to go into) and the door was 1/4-inch too big for the opening. Damn, damn, damn!

I quit for a bit and ate half a musk melon (I can’t remember how to spell cantelope), which was an impulse buy at Kroger. It was okay, but not nearly as sweet as one homegrown, or at least grown in Michigan. As I ate, I thought... and thought... and thought...

I didn’t want to chop out any tile. But, if I do nothing at all, the door is a waste as I already pitched the cardboard. So, when I was done with lunch, I did what I would do with a wooden door. I scribed a line so that “theoretically” if I cut out places in the aluminum, the door should fit.

Since these are aluminum channels with uneven sized sides, I couldn’t use the saber saw. I thought briefly about the Sawzall with the metal blade, but that would be too hard to control. Instead, at last, I settled on Jake’s electric grinder wheel. I took off my brace so I wouldn’t get metal crap on it.

I spent about two hours out in the hot garage, grinding, filing the turned-over edges, etc., and then testing the fit, again and again. I got it a lot closer, but I never got it right. Finally, standing there, sweating and covered with grinding dust, I realized I had failed and that I had to get the original wall jams unscrewed before the silicone caulk dried.

It was close at that. I had to pry them off with a pry bar after taking out the screws. I scraped off the bulk of the silicone caulk on the tiles with a putty knife, but I will have to go back when its fully dried and scrape them again with a razor knife.

I suppose I can drill out the dowels just a little and fill the holes with the same almond colored caulk I need to put on the siding outside (to fill in the holes from the hooks I removed this morning). But, I had to admit defeat on this project. Which was a bitter pill to swallow, because I can usually figure out some way or another to make my ideas work. Oh well, you win some and you lose some. This one I lost.

It was after 5:30 PM when I gave up. I cleaned up myself and my tools and started supper. I browned a pound of ground chuck I thawed last night, drained the grease from it and added in a can of Manwich. I let that get happy on low while I watered the front container gardens.

Then I went out back and carried two buckets of water to the peonies (watering the petunia pot and filling the birdbath on my way). On the second trip back, Rick and Tammy called me over to the fence. They proudly presented me with five more huge cucumbers and warned me to expect a TON of butternut squash (Rick doesn’t like it, so just Tammy eats it and they give the rest away to family and friends, like me).

I hooked up the hose to the soaker hose in the vegetable garden, turned on the water and went inside. I set the stove timer for two hours and plated (well, paper-plated) my dinner: Two onion rolls filled with the sloppy joe mixture and a scoop of redskin potato salad from the Kroger Deli (not an impulse buy, lol!) I ate that watching the rest of the evening news.

This slaughter in Colorado is really getting to me! What the hell is the world coming to? I’d be the first to admit I wouldn’t hesitate shooting somebody who meant to hurt me or mine. I can even understand terrorist acts by oppressed people on some level. But, randomly killing strangers in a theater? Why?

Anyway, I took my evening pills and settled back to relax. The only thing I had left was to turn the water off. B___ called and we caught each other up. After our brief chat, I shut off the water (the timer had gone off while we were talking) and put the hose near the north gate (so I can water the front lawn first thing in the morning). Then I watched TV until bedtime.