Isn't Sunday the official Day or Rest?

I woke up early again on Sunday. It was 10 degrees! So, my lake out back is now an ice rink, I suppose (it was too dark to tell).

I had a cup of coffee and then started making my Sunday dinner. I got out the oval slow cooker and sprayed the inside with canola oil (I find that makes for easier cleanup, later). Then I put in a medium yellow onion, peeled and quartered. Next, I peeled four carrots and cut them into chunks, then in they went. I put about eight baby redskin in – I left the littlest ones whole and halved the bigger ones. Note: the recipe I was using called for four redskin potatoes, quartered. I cut two stalks of celery into thirds. These went in the slow cooker as well.

I rinsed off the corned beef and laid that on top of the veggies. I opened the spice packet and sprinkled them on top. I pressed them into the meat as best as I could. Then I added one bottle of Guinness stout. Finally, I added plain water until it just covered the brisket. I turned the slow cooker on low and walked away. I’ll check it in eight hours or so.

I listened to the rest of the morning news while I started marking the shower walls for the holes I need to drill. I used a tape measure and a level along with the template that was provided in the shower rod instructions.

But I stopped there to shave, shower, get dressed and do the Sunday morning chores. Then I went back to work on the shower rod.

I put a masking tape “x” over each hole to be drilled so the drill bit wouldn’t “walk.” Then I used a center punch and tapped it lightly to get through the tile glaze.

I got the holes drilled. The special bit I bought for tile and glass worked perfectly (unlike the carbide-tipped cement drill bit I used for the grab rail). Unfortunately, it broke drilling the last damn hole! So, I had to finish that one with a cement bit. Then I put in the wall anchors.

Then came the real problems! The layout of the screw holes does not allow for using my drill motor with a Philips bit (not enough room). So, after trashing my arms using the drill to make the holes, I had to try and screw each 2-inch long bolt in by hand.

Also, this is truly a two-man job (one to hold the rods so they don’t turn and the other to screw in the six bolts). I managed to compensate for the other guy (who wasn’t here) by using masking tape to hold up the opposite end.

But, I had to keep stopping and resting my right arm. So, it was taking forever. I took a break at noon and ate some lunch (the rest of the Brussels sprouts with bacon). Then I rested on the bed.

I went back at the shower rod around 2:00 p.m. I got the screws in as far as I could with my longest straight screwdriver, but they were all still about half an inch away from the walls! The only thing I could come up with is that I needed a longer screwdriver. The two rods are spaced so that I could no longer get my hand in to turn the one I have.

Sidebar: What idiot designed this stupid thing? You couldn’t make it so a person could screw it on without difficulty? Dammit!

So, the project was put on hold until Monday, when I can go buy a longer screw driver.

About 4:00 p.m. I checked on the corned beef (the house has been filled with the smell of it since noon). Everything seemed done, so I turned the oven onto “Warm” (170 degrees F.) I took the corned beef and all the vegetables out of the slow cooker and put them in the metal lasagna pan. I covered that with aluminum foil and stuck it in the oven.

Then I cut a medium-sized head of cabbage in half. I cut one half into four wedges. I stuck them into the cooking liquid still in the slow cooker and turned it on to “High.”

I checked on it after 30 minutes. The cabbage was cooked, but still had some crunch to it (just what I wanted). I mixed up some horseradish with mayonnaise to eat with the meat. I cut the meat against the grain and fixed a plate. I took a photo for you before I dug in.

It tasted almost as good as it smelled. I ate way too much (but I’d been waiting for hours!) What surprised me the most was how good the carrots tasted. I'm not usually that big a fan of carrots, but these were fantastic!

At 6:00 p.m., I watched an old favorite on Turner Classic Movies: After the Thin Man (1936). It was the second in a series of movies about Nick and Nora Charles and I love them all.

After that was over, I tried to catch up on some taped shows until bedtime.