Thanksgiving Weekend, Day 3

I woke up at 7:30 PM on Saturday, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Other than the occasional bathroom trips, I had slept through the night! I made a cup of coffee and wrote out the Blog entry. I posted it and then went through my morning routine.

My back was still quite sore, but spending time in the shower seemed to help. I got dressed and headed out to Home Depot for drain stuff. I hope the Black Friday madness has abated, although they advertised the sales lasting from Thanksgiving evening until Sunday night. [Hey, folks, I don’t want a low-priced 60-inch plasma TV, I just want some bathroom drain fixtures!]

Now, I know its “Small Business Saturday” where you are supposed to show support for your local merchants by shopping there instead of the chain or “big-box” stores, but I don’t have any small business-owned hardware stores nearby. Are there any left? Anyway, for my hardware needs, I went to Home Depot. I got in and out easily and didn’t see any of these massive crowds as shown on the news.

Next, I did support “Small Business Saturday” by eating breakfast at that little, family-owned Coney at Middlebelt and 5-Mile. I had two eggs, over easy, sausage links and way too many hash browns (that I couldn’t finish).

Finally, I stopped at Westborn (not exactly a small business, but smaller, say, than Kroger’s – no locally-owned grocery stores anymore, either). I needed to replenish my supply of both bread and mayonnaise (too many turkey sandwiches, LOL). On impulse, I picked up one of those little boxes of Clementines that so remind me of the holidays.

Back home before 10:30, I put the groceries away and spread the plumbing stuff all over the bed (so I can locate it easier).

Before I forgot that I wanted to do it, I took a 12x12-inch square of thin sheet steel (like I used on the squirrel feeder) and used construction adhesive to put it on the bottom of the upturned vanity. I held it in place with first a can of paint (to take the picture) and then a clamp and screwed in on with five screws. I’m just guessing, but I think it will help to radiate the heat out from under the cabinet.

While that dried, I got to work on the sink. I installed the old faucets, new waterlines and the new drain. I hate trying to tighten things upside down and inside cabinets, so I want to get all that out of the way before I put it on.

I got out what I thought was silicone adhesive and found it was just silicone caulk. Damn! So, I put my coat back on and went back to Home Depot. They didn’t have any silicone adhesive (I had a tough time finding it when I tiled the downstairs shower, too). But they did have adhesive for installing sinks on tile, so I bought that.

I also bought four scrub brushes to repair my old, handmade boot scraper. The brushes fell apart last winter and its almost time to get it out.

Back home, I treated the cats and then got back to work. I finished installing the mechanism to raise and lower the drain plug.

Then I took a deep breath, tapped in the wall anchors and screwed in the base cabinet, using fender washers.

I put the sink on, drew a few pencil marks, took it off again, and applied a sh*t-load of adhesive to the wall, one inch under the pencil marks. Then I took an even bigger breath and put on the sink.

Now, your probably asking yourself, “What about the two other holes he said he had to drill?” Well, here’s the story. I did mark them on the wall (you can probably see the black Sharpie marks on the wall in the fender washer and screw picture), but there are two things wrong. One, the holes are high inside the small area back of the sink, where I couldn’t get a normal screw driver in to fit (I did buy hex head screws so I might be able to use a ratchet and socket). And, two, my back is already screwed up big time from the last two holes.

Since the sink has a recessed part that allows it to sit “down” over the cabinet, rather than on top of it, I got to thinking: if its glued to the wall and captured by the cabinet on the sides and front, why bolt it on? After all, there was no hardware in the box and the instructions simply said attach it any way you want, but be sure to put adhesive on the wall behind the sink.

Suspecting I might just be wimping out, I called my friend, B___, who has done his fair share of DIY projects and explained the situation to him. He thought about it and decided I was probably right. As long as it can’t move, even if somebody fell against it, there’s no real advantage to screwing it to the wall.

So, screw it, I am not going to screw it on.

The adhesive tube said it had to cure for at least 24 hours before being exposed to water, so I decided I wouldn’t even caulk it (to let the air flow get to the adhesive). I did take a picture for you, but remember, this is still not functional. It’s just to let you see the progress to date.

Myself, I took a break and laid on the bed to watch some TV and rest my aching back. While I was lying down, I called CVS about my prescription. I heard on the news this morning that Ranbaxy (a company in New Delhi, India) was recalling their generic equivalent for Lipitor due to some being found with ground glass in them. So, guess what I take? Yep, you guessed it!

But the pharmacist checked and said it was only specific lot numbers and I didn’t have that particular lot. Ummm... is that supposed to make me feel more secure?

I was getting hungry, so I warmed up the rest of the unfrozen cabbage casserole and ate that for dinner. Man does not live on turkey alone. Bacon? Possibly; but not turkey.

When I was done I worked on the weird drain set up and hooked the water lines into the shut off. I tested the water lines and had no leaks.

The drain had leaks at two places. I tightened the plastic nut on one and it went away. The other was coming from the new metal drain itself and will require a little more attention (or replacement, which would tick me off).

But, it was almost 10:00 PM and I was tired of messing with this. So, I quit for the night. I started to watch TV but when I found myself dozing, I just shut it off and sent to bed.