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May 1, 2008
There are some who say that the US economy is being held together solely on the strength of the current home improvement craze. That craze of course, is being generated in large part by the home improvement and decorating shows featured on HGTV, DIY, etc. Home improvement and decorating is just the tip of the iceberg, as any homeowner will tell you. The real biggie in my opinion is the ongoing maintenance requirement needed to keep a house in top-notch condition.
We’ve been in our current home for almost a year now and it has seen its share of decorating, home improvement and maintenance projects, at least as much as our budget will allow. Margo is the resident painter around here and has been tackling the indoor painting chores of which there are many. This house was built in 1997 and was originally occupied by a single elderly man up until we came along and bought it from him. He was more than happy to live for over ten years looking at the original stark white walls. The entire interior was Refrigerator White and had been that way ever since the contractor painted it way back when. Actually I wouldn’t really call the walls painted, but rather “primed” for the real paint that was supposed to be applied by the first homeowner.
Margo grew up in a home that was very well decorated by her mother, who not only had some natural decorating talent, but also had some formal training. I’m trying to think back but I don’t remember ever seeing a wall in her home that didn’t have color on it. Anyway, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and Margo loves to put color on the walls. Thankfully she also has some decorating talent and actually likes to paint! Thank goodness for that, as I’d rather do just about anything but paint. With her around I thought I was off the hook regarding having to paint, but I forgot about the shed. Being an outdoor job and technically my workspace, I thought that I should be the one to spruce it up.
One thing that attracted me to this house was the fact that it has a really nice little shed out back. It’s 14’x18’ and of wood frame construction. It’s wired for electricity, has florescent lights, and even a fully functional telephone. It came equipped with two sturdy workbenches and plenty of shelving. It should be a dream workshop for me, but after a year in the house, it has ended up becoming a catchall for the overflow items from the garage and is a mess inside. Not that we have that much extra junk sitting around, it’s just that I’m a very poor organizer and have been procrastinating when it comes to planning out that space.
Like the rest of this house, the wood exterior of the shed had the original coat of paint that it was born with. I could see areas of bare wood starting to show through, so I figured it was time to break out the brushes and get to painting.
May 5, 2008
As I was saying in the previous journal entry, I don’t like to paint. I’m not a bad painter once I get started, but I just don’t like the process of preparation, painting and cleanup. With that in mind, I decided to try to make painting the shed as painless a process as possible.
Brush painting the shed would take forever and rolling it wouldn’t be much better, so I decided to spray paint it using one of those inexpensive spray kits offered by Lowe’s and other home centers. It took me a while to decide on which spay rig to buy, but I finally ended up with a Wagner airless spray gun kit. The Wagner kit comes with everything necessary to spray exterior latex paint, so I was good to go.
Even using the spray kit, painting the shed turned out to be quite a bit of work. There was still prep work to do, plus the learning curve for using the spray gun and the usual cleanup afterward. I used three different color paints, which consisted of a base color for the main structure then two trim colors. I masked each area off with painter’s tape and newspaper, which added extra time to the job but was necessary to eliminate overspray.
The spray rig worked well and ended up saving me a ton of time and aggravation. It allowed me to paint all of the nooks and crannies easily and without being a contortionist. I do have to say that using one of these economy spray rigs is still a messy proposition. If you ever decide to try one out be sure to wear very old clothes and expect to spend plenty of time cleaning the spray gun and its accessories between colors and at the end of the job.
Once the shed was painted, I decided to renew the screen on the windows as the original screens had seen better days. Final touches included a decorative outdoor thermometer on the front wall, followed by a motion sensitive floodlight for nighttime security. I have to say that I’m very pleased with the results of my work. Now if I could just motivate myself to get started on organizing the inside. (Photos of my completed job including a “before” photo can be seen in the Daily Chatter Photo section.)
May 24, 2008
Other news for the month of May centers on our purchase of a larger tow vehicle for our new travel trailer (see Our Current RV, RV Blogs). The truck, a 2003 Dodge 2500 quad cab diesel, joined the family on May 14, and since then I’ve been spending time changing fluids, making small repairs and cleaning.
May 26, 2008
This has been a pretty nice Memorial Day weekend. The weather is beautiful out and it’s a day to relax and reflect on those in the Armed Forces who have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe and preserve our freedoms. Our thanks go out to all of the military men, women and families who have given so much to make our country great.
Margo and I will be spending the day relaxing. No highway travel for us this weekend. Fuel prices are high and facilities are crowded, so we’re putting off travel until next month when we’ll be making a trip to the beach with the new RV. As usual, we’ll keep you posted on how that trip goes.
May 29, 2008
Each time we move from one state to another, we’re always amazed at how different each state handles their individual Departments of Motor Vehicles. In our home state of California, the DMV offices are set up for one stop shopping. Both drivers and their vehicles can be licensed at the same offices and at the same time. They even make appointments for people to help speed the process. Unfortunately not all states are that efficient.
Since leaving California we’ve lived in Indiana, Florida, New Mexico and North Carolina. Each move has entailed a trip to the DMV to register the cars and to get new drivers licenses. When we head out to the local DMV, we’re always braced for the worst simply because we don’t know what to expect when we get there.
So here we are once again, needing to go through the process as we work to establish our North Carolina residency. Today was to be the day for us to register our car and truck. Again we were braced for the worst, but we need not have been. The process was quick, inexpensive and they even handed us our new license plates on the spot. The entire process only took about 10 minutes and we were out the door.
North Carolina has a state vehicle inspection requirement, so once a vehicle is registered in the state, it needs to be taken to an authorized inspection station within 10 days to have the inspection performed. Our inspections only took a few minutes for each vehicle and cost $9.10 apiece. Personally, I think vehicle inspections are a waste of time and money but, like they say, “it can’t hurt”. What does hurt is the fact that North Carolina requires that the large state inspection sticker be placed on the lower left hand side of the windshield where it serves to partially block the driver’s view. I don’t see the “safety” in this practice. Being somewhat of a trouble maker, I’m going to engage in a letter writing campaign suggesting that a small sticker be placed on the license plate as a substitute for the large view blocking sticker on the windshield. We’ll see what happens.
After all of the moves and DMV stops we’ve had to make over the past few years, we can’t help but wonder why this country doesn’t have a national drivers license and “USA” license plates. It would sure make life easier for those folks who move a lot. I suspect that it has more to do with revenue than anything else, but I’m sure there could be a way for monies to be collected for a “residency fee” or some other such tax. I would also like to see motor vehicle laws standardized throughout the country, but I’m thinking that would be way too much to ask for. For now we’ll just have to be happy with our nice new North Carolina license plates or as they call them here, “tags”.
May 30, 2008
I woke up this morning thinking that today was the 29th day of the month instead of the 30th. Normally this would be no big deal, but my birthday is on the 30th, and I had intended to get my chores done on the 29th, so that I could goof off on my birthday. Imagine my surprise when I heard the morning news anchors refer to today as the 30th. Darn, no goofing off for today as I had necessary yard work to do outside and then there were errands to run as well. I don’t know how I got to be off on the calendar, but it sometimes happens to people who are in a full retirement mode.
After our morning coffee we decided to run our errands, which included a trip over to Lowe’s to pick up some outside annuals and plants from the garden department. When we got there the garden department was packed with people and quite busy. It must be spring. I was following Margo around with a cart, when the phone rang and it was our daughter Jennifer calling to wish me a happy birthday. She said that she and her sister had sent me a surprise birthday gift and, that it was scheduled to be delivered this morning. It was obvious from the tone of her voice that she couldn’t wait for me to open the gift and, that she was disappointed we were at Lowe’s and not at home. We had a nice little chat where I assured her that we were heading home soon, and then I hung up and went back to following Margo around the garden center.
We were discussing which annuals to buy when the phone rang again, this time with our other daughter Heather calling. She had also called to wish me a happy birthday and was equally interested in whether or not my birthday gift had been delivered. At this point I’m thinking that we needed to wrap up our shopping and get back to the house.
Once back at the house I looked to see if anything had been delivered but there was nothing. So I got out our trusty John Deere riding mower and proceeded to cut the grass. I love driving the mower so even though I refer to this process as “work”, it really isn’t.
After mowing I was blowing off the driveway with the leaf blower when it suddenly quit working. Attempts to restart it failed, so I did the only thing a guy can do in this situation; I took it apart. Come to find out the cylinder head bolts had come loose and the little engine was losing compression and the ability to keep running. It was an easy fix but, a messy one.
So here I am covered in grease when the much anticipated birthday gift arrives in a cardboard box. Dang, there was no way I was going to try opening it with my hands all greasy, so it took me a little while to get things picked up and to get my hands washed.
Opening the box was a lot of fun and I loved the gift. This is my 65th birthday and is seen by many family members to be a landmark of sorts. To me it was just another birthday but, looking back I guess you could say it is a landmark, sort of like the “big Three-O” or the “big Four-O”, etc. Being a special birthday, the girls bought me a very nice (and very expensive) bottle of Scotch whiskey. May grandparents were from Scotland originally, so I come from a long line of Scotch aficionados. My dad (with no Scotch background what-so-ever) also loved Scotch, so I guess it’s only natural that I should like it too. For those who know Scotch whiskey, this particular gift is a bottle of 86 proof, 14-year-old Oban. I would never buy this for myself so it was very much appreciated.
Later in the day with my chores complete, I raised a glass of the Oban to the “big Six-Five” and to having such a wonderful family. I’m truly blessed. Thanks girls! Love you!
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