Bogieblog

Week Off From Work Turns into Work

I have had a week off from my day job, so I decided to tackle a project that has been waiting for over 2 years, installing the interior trim for the windows that I had replaced in the summer of 2014. This is an intimidating project for me because

• I've never trimmed windows before
• The windows were installed when there was no sheet rock installed - important because
• the old sheet rock was 1/4" thick and the sheet rock I had installed was 1/2" thick.
• and of course the new windows were trued up with the outside trim (they had no choice), so that means all window casings are below the sheet rock
• I'm not good at visualizing, so figuring out what I needed to make the trim look presentable was daunting
• Three windows are not like the other windows; two bay windows and the garden window in the bathroom
• Another two windows are side-by-side, but each with their own casings.
• Of the 4 windows of roughly the same size and shape, only two are along the same side of the house, so those were the only two that were nominally unsquare the same way.

But with a week off, I figured the only way to get the trim done, was to just freaking start. So I did. And I could bore everyone, including me, by detailing all the steps I took, but let's just suffice to say that since last Saturday, I have spent an entire day shopping, most of a day shopping, and another 2.5 hours shopping (today) - just for parts to put the trim together. If you understand that the closest places to get the stuff I needed was in Concord, 40-45 minutes away, it makes more sense. Plus, one of those "shopping" days I had a dentist appointment (replaced a filling that had cracked) that took a couple of hours and I moved the ton of pellets out of the shed and into the basement. Oh, and then there was the snow storm that kept me hopping with snow blowing and shoveling (the reason I moved the pellets - while I still had easy access to the shed).

These are the first 3 windows I got done; the living room bay window, the small window to the side of the pellet stove in the living room, and the bay window in the bedroom. Why yes, I do have fancy "shades" in the living room (hopefully soon to be rectified).

 

These four windows I completed today; the small bedroom window, the craft room side window (it and the small bedroom window were the two I was able to do at the same time since they are on the same wall of the house so were similarly off), the craft room backside window, and the bathroom garden window.

I also worked my night job, stained wood (necessitating waiting for dry time), and caulked around all the windows (pre-trim) (had to wait at least 8 hours for that to dry). I was not able to use all the trim that I had taken off, sanded down, stained and polyurethaned last year, but I was able to use some of it.

Those are my excuses for not having the side-by-side windows in the office trimmed. Nor have I caulked the trim work that I have completed so far. And, there is at least one window (that I recall anyway) that still needs 2 minor finish pieces placed along the insides. Those are minor issues that aren't readily evident and I can do at anytime I get the ambition.

I am happy with the progress I have made and the windows look so much better than they did just a week ago.

Season's Greeting

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and can spend time with loved ones and friends!

 

I a couple of days I hope to reveal what I've worked on today and will again tomorrow. It is something I mentioned a couple of times when Cop Car and her HH were here.

Good Bye Until Spring

No, I'm not going to hibernate - although that doesn't sound like a bad idea as we have already had a morning low of -4, with the high at 13 (Friday). We've also had several snow storms, after which, it hasn't gotten warm enough to melt off. It is good bye to the bike; Friday my favored dealer came and picked up the bike to put it into nice warm storage. I needed the room as with pellets, car, snow blower and bike, the garage was pretty much as full as it could get. In the second picture, you can get an idea of how close to the wall I had to park the car in order to have room to open the door without hitting the bike.

I had arranged to have the bike picked up on Friday, but was not given a time. I needed to burn a vacation day anyway (use or lose), so that was no big deal. Bryan, a service tech, called me at 9 on Friday to see if he could pick it up that morning. By 9:43 he was ready to start loading it into the van (sorry for the picture hue - it was snowy, overcast and that side is in whatever shade there was so everything turned a bluish hue)

 

After he got it all secured and strapped in, he pulled out of the driveway at 9:46

 

This is the first time I've had this service, usually dropping it off myself. However, I needed some of the work done offered by the top tier storage package. That work is done at a discount and the package includes their picking it up and dropping it off in the spring.

At least I got some room in the garage.

Later that day I took the car into town to run some errands and charge up the battery and lube up all the moving parts - I hadn't driven it in a couple of weeks. I was able to park the car in the garage in the middle instead of to the side - you'll just have to imagine how that looks since I haven't taken a picture.

Hard Headed

5 minutes before I would have left my night job I slipped and cracked my head on the tile over concrete floor. Wow that hurt and made a loud sound! Sat up for a minute to see how I felt - yep, I'm good. Started feeling around the back of my head to see if there were any dents, yeah, I'll be fine. Then looked at my hand and saw a bunch of blood. Got up to grab a paper towel to soak it up, and looked at the floor - hmm, lots of blood there. Paper towels came away pretty soaked.

Night of firsts: called 911 for myself (called for other people, but not for me), got an ambulance ride, got a concussion (diagnosed). They asked about pain level; 3 - and I added that I used to have migraines so I tolerate pain quite well since they looked skeptical. I was given the choice of stitches or not, and I opted for not (the doc said if it was him, he wouldn't - it would stop the bleeding but not accomplish much more).

They took a CAT scan to make sure there was no internal stuff since I wouldn't have anyone to check on me thru the night. Finally my boss came and got me at midnight and I arrived home a little before 1 AM. Long day since it started at 3:30 AM of Friday

No lifting or bending for a couple of days - um, yeah right, there's a snow event headed our way and I'll be shoveling and blowing snow Monday. I won't be moving a ton of pellets today as a concession. I do feel like my mind is about 2 feet behind me - not sight-wise, but just a slightly distant feeling, but otherwise I'm fine.

Not the way I wanted to start the weekend!

Clouds With a Silver Lining

On my way home from work Friday afternoon, about 3 miles from home, I stopped at the side of the road to take pictures of the clouds.

Very pretty and made me smile.

Of Bike and Snow

I have not ridden the bike since 10/16/16. Yesterday I was going to take it out for a quick spin to Henniker and back. That would accomplish a couple of things; fill the gas tank, get oil circulating thru the engine and clutch, and charge up the battery.

Naturally it started snowing as I pulled it out of the garage into the driveway. I decided that Mother Nature did not intend for me to ride so let the bike warm up and charge in the driveway then shut it down and backed it back into the garage.

 

If you look closely there are a couple of snow flakes on the seat. It was hard getting a picture since the engine had already warmed the seat up somewhat before I thought to get pictures.

Guess it is time to arrange for the dealer to come pick it up for winter storage :(

Bedroom Closet is Usefull Again

Last weekend I got the closet so close to finished that I was able to put my clothes back into it. The only things left are to create a box for the pipes and nail in the floor trim.

The bottom two shelves are totally new additions - the pipes run between the two shelves. The clothing rod and upper shelf are new, replacements for what was there previously.