The driveway work is finished!

It really looks good. Everything went very well this afternoon except that the guy that did the work- and did the measuring for the amount of concrete I needed, can't add. It wasn't 3/4 of a yard of mud I neeeded because when we dumped that much in the hole, it didn't begin to fill it up!

It took 2 1/4 yards of mud to fill the hole! Seems Jack got distracted while he was measuring and doing the math and only told me how much I needed for 1 portion of the job. Fortunately it wasn't a problem- except for the added expense- to go pick up the 2nd load of concrete just a few blocks away.

I'm really pleased with the way this job has turned out.

The hole's excavated-

and the concrete pouring and finishing for the driveway improvement takes place tomorrow afternoon. Tonight I had to dig out the 2nd half of the dirt that the concrete guy decided he did not need in his yard. But he came over and helped me do the shoveling and moving so it's ready for the concrete. I'm taking the afternoon off from work tomorrow to drag home a 3/4 yard load in a trailer and Jack should be done before supper.

Already I'm asking myself why it took me 10 years to get this done. I can see that it will be a huge improvement on the access to the house when it's finished.

This light is making me verrry cranky!

Back in September when I was rebuilding the shop roof, I replaced the motion sensor floodlight that had been up there for 8 years with a new one, this light, from Home Depot. The old one was working but the lense cover was pretty cracked so I decided I'd just stick up a new light as part of the project.

The damm thing doesn't work!

I've had this light off the wall 3 times now. I've purchased and installed a second sensor. I've bench checked this light and it seems to work just fine. I've rehung it on the wall, 3 times, and it seems to work for a week or two, then it defaults to an "always on" mode. I've followed the reset instructions- repeatedly, without success. I'm using the same wiring that I used with the previous light.

I'm really fed up! I need a light back there to provide illumination on the front of the shop but this light is not working for me. I haven't decided what my next solution is going to be but I've got to have a new solution for my shop!

I'm whupped-

beat down, tired, sore, worn out and bushed. I shouldn't be so hammered but I am.

The job is beating my butt right now with all my program funds needing to be obligated by 1 August, not 30 September, as I was working towards. Now I have to get all the money obligated, through numerous, complicated channels or risk loosing it and crashing my program. On top of all the high-level funding attention my program (and me) are getting, nothing- absolutely nothing is coming together simply and streamlined and by the plan.

So, I am burning the brain cells and energy trying to get this program on track and at double-speed before I get clobbered for not completed on time.

Do you know how hard it is to buy ~58,000 feet of two sizes of wire today? Its not easy.


The kitchen overhaul is nearing completion and is really starting to look nice. The floors are done and there is minor painting to be finished. The countertops arrived and were installed yesterday and they look terrific.

Once the countertop was installed, it was my turn to do all the plumbing of the new sink and faucet. That turned out to be an all day effort and all done on my hands and knees, or my shoulders to get everything connected.

All the plumbing is new, including shut-off valves, all the way down to the cabinet floor. I also added an electrical box to the wall to enclose the garbage disposal wiring connections that used to just dangle. I installed a new garbage disposal and all new drain pipes.

Of course all that took multiple trips to the big-box store to get the parts- and then the right parts and then the extended length parts I needed to get everything to fit. And only the compression fitting on the icemaker connection leaked when I turned all the water back on. Of course it slipped out under pressure, and while I was under the sink, so it really soaked me pretty good before I got the water shut off!

Today I took it a little easier, meeting Carol for coffee then refinishing the boards that were being used as a floor under the sink that I removed yesterday. I also got the swamp cooler hooked up and running, swept out my shop and re-glued the chrome nose bumper on Sleek Black Beauty that had come loose. Removing the old glue with Goo-Gone took a long time but it didn't wreck the paint so I took the time. Its glued back on tonight and the tape is in place to hold it tight until tomorrow.

And when I get done posting this- I'm folding laundry so I will be ready for this week.

Speaking of this week- we should be closing on the house refinancing in a couple days. Wednesday night is a Mark Knopfler concert and although I don't have tickets just yet, I will have tickets by tomorrow and I'm going to that show! The BSU is agreeing to go along even if she doesn't care about the music. Its a night out so she'll humor me.

And the grass needs mowed!

The home repairs start this week!

Oh, this is going to be painful... I mentioned in the previous post that I received a significant amount of retroactive pay from the VA last week and the BSU has already called Rex the contractor to come over and give us an estimate for the remodeling and repairs to our kitchen and dining room. We have had bare sheetrock on a wall and the ceiling where she removed a closet several years ago and there are room rugs covering up the area where the dining table sits, where only subfloor material resides since we moved in in 1999. We have an unused portable dishwasher taking up space where a new cabinet is going to go and be turned into a breakfast bar.

So, we are getting a new tile floor throughout the dining area and kitchen. The walls are getting finished and the ceiling is getting textured and painted. We have to pick out the cabinet and then Rex will install it and then we have to hire another contractor to install new countertops. And of course, the BSU doesn't want laminate countertops- too 60s looking according to her, so we have been looking at acrylic top colors. Of course, that means we will have to replace the sink and then the faucet assembly and redo the backsplash areas too. We won't be replacing the cabinets or doors right now but I suspect new doors might not be too far away in my future. I also suspect it will be weeks before my upstairs area returns to a finished appearance...

But, it needs doing and I can't get my dad, the busy handyman, to to drive up from Florida and bring his tools to do the job so I guess Rex will get the work. And my VA compensation will be put to good use right off the bat. Stand by for updates and pictures...