Black Friday was gray, here

I slept badly Thanksgiving night. At times, it felt like I hadn’t slept at all. So, when I saw it was 6:30 AM, I just gave up and got out of bed.

I made a cup of coffee. While the brewer was heating up, I surveyed the damage in my kitchen [insert shudder, here]. I went in and finished the Blog entry and posted it. Then I made another cup of coffee and watched the morning news for a while. I finally went out and started cleaning up the kitchen.

It was very windy out and the temperature (so warm and beautiful yesterday) has been falling like a rock overnight. The three-day weekend forecast is for highs in the low 30’s, with occasional snow showers each day.

I got everything cleaned up, spray-sanitized and the dishwasher started. All I had left was to hand-wash my chef’s knives (I had used the Wustof for all the prep work, so I turned to my trusty Shun for turkey carving) and the roasting pan.

Then I shaved and showered. I did a load of towels and my bathrobe, and began today’s adventures.

The first thing I had to tackle was fixing the car. I was wishing I had done this yesterday when it was warm, BTW. But I rigged up two lights in the garage (that sucker was really buried. I managed (with great difficulty and at the price of a nasty gash on the back of my hand) to get the leaking hose end off. As I suspected, it was slit next to the clamp.

So, I threw away that clamp and cut off the hose at the slit. I put on a new clamp and with even greater difficulty, got the hose back in the fitting. Then I tightened the clamp with a long screwdriver and mostly by feel.

I topped off the antifreeze and backed the car outside. I let it sit there and warm up, using a flashlight to look for leaks. I decided I wish the clamp was closer to the end of the hose (I hope it tightened on the fitting!) but there was no sign of leaking.

I grabbed my wallet and took the car over to the quarter car wash. I hosed down the underside to wash off all the old antifreeze. Then I drove it back home and left it, still running in the driveway, while I cleaned up all the old kitty litter I’d put down to soak up the old spilled antifreeze.

I put down some fresh kitty litter and checked the hose one more time (no leaks). Then I drove it inside, shut it off and closed the garage door. I will keep checking it of course, but I think I might have fixed it!

It was just after noon, BTW, and the little bit of sun we had earlier was long gone. It was windy and the ominous gray clouds overhead were forcing me to keep the lights on in the house.

Inside, I treated the cats, washed my hands and changed my bandage. Then I put in a new razor blade, knelt down and started scraping the tile floor in the bathroom. There were little splotches of foam sealant smears, drips of paint and caulk or spackling here and there. I’d like to get it as clean as possible before I install the new vanity.

I used the vacuum hose to pick up the scrapings from the razor knife. Once I thought I had it as best as I could, I scrubbed the floor with a stiff brush and some Ajax cleaner with bleach. I let that sit for a spell (to try and bleach out any remaining stains) and then rinsed it with clear hot water and my mop. I took a break to let it dry and let my back recover a bit.

Since I was taking a break anyway, I made myself some lunch. You guessed it: a turkey sandwich! Then I took a nap.

When I got up it was 2:00 PM and snowing. There was a light covering of cleanser powder still on the now-dried floor. So, first I ran over it with the vacuum and then I washed the entire floor with Pine-Sol and hot water with a mop. I let that dry while I went out to get the mail.

It was raw outside with still the occasional snowflakes. None of the snow stayed on the ground, but at the rate the temperature is falling, I don’t think that will be the case if it snows tomorrow or Sunday.

When the floor was dry, I put the vanity back in to mark the holes I need to drill into the tile. Then I took the vanity back out and spent what seemed like forever drilling two holes through the tile and thick mortar. This was killer on my back as you had to push to keep the pressure on the drill bit. The first one I did standing up and bending over (stupid). The second, I used a chair. But, it still hurt.

The sad part is that I have two more to drill later this weekend...

So, it was almost 6:00 PM, and I quit for the day. I watched the news until 7:00 PM.

Then I switched to Netflix and watched three episodes back-to-back of Agatha Christie’s Poirot. I had caught the occasional one on PBS before and loved them but these were all new to me.

Somewhere during my marathon, I paused it and made a piled-high turkey sandwich and ate that with a sliced tomato on the side and a McClure’s dill pickle. I must admit I made little audible groans when eating it and the cats thought I was nuts. But, it was that good!

I took a pain pill (so I could sleep) and went to bed at 11:15.