The Roof Goes Up and the Awning ... Stays Up
The ugly awning got a reprieve yesterday. Lawrence and I spent about 90 minutes on a trip to Lowe's, including total travel time, then loading and unloading. Purchases included: 12 sheets of plywood,...
View ArticleA Serious Disconnect
Have you ever seen the movie “Cool Hand Luke?” If so, you’re no doubt familiar with the line: “What we have here is a failure to communicate.”Earlier this month, we ported our landline to AT&T...
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Going Batty
It never fails that when I have a million things going, I manage to add one more.In this case, it’s at least 50 more. We’re having a Halloween party at work this week and I’m on the committee. A...
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Awning … Gone!
One of the highlights of Saturday was the long-awaited departure of the awning! Within the first 90 minutes of work, Lawrence and I got to the point I had hoped that we would reach during our workday...
View ArticleOh, Menard's ...
I currently have four pending orders with Menard’s, three of which are directly tied to the patio project.The oldest of these dates back to Sept. 15; the most recent is from Monday. I don’t yet have...
View ArticlePinched
Earlier this week, I was awakened at 2 a.m. by an excruciating pain between my neck and right shoulder. It radiated into my upper arm.It took a long time to die down and nearly as long to find a way to...
View ArticleSlowed to a Crawl
My neck/shoulder is better. (Today, it's moved away from my neck and a little down into my upper back.)I debated going outside and trying to finish my brickwork. Thinking that I should just lay low...
View ArticleThe Good, The Great and the Very, Very Ugly
I took yet another Friday off and the extended weekend produced a mixed bag of results. The good: My neck and shoulder have healed. (Crosses fingers.) On Friday, we got the second side of the patio...
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Sorry, That’s Discontinued
If you’ve never heard those words before regarding a needed product for a home improvement project, I hope that you never do. But this week, it sucks to be me: I heard that phrase while trying to track...
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The "Special" Project
I alluded to a special project Lawrence and I half-completed. Well, here it is. We managed to complete this last Saturday.This is the new back storm door. (Note the construction in the upper right...
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A Roofing Lesson
I'll caveat this post by concluding that I am an idiot. In fairness, sometimes you don't know what you don't know. Except for picking up those ripped from the roof in 2006 (the roof our current one...
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Changing Up
I can't believe I haven't posted these yet, but I've been a little busy. And, since yesterday, been having trouble signing into my account. But that's a rant I don't have the energy to go off about.So,...
View ArticleGee Thanks, Mother Nature
A couple of months ago, I was delighted when I saw a fall forecast preview that predicted a "warmer than average November." If only ...It's been below average most of the month and downright...
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Happy Thanksgiving!
It's been a busy day around here -- for me at least. It's probably the only day of the year you can almost always find me in the kitchen.I got a later start than usual this year. Instead of being up...
View ArticleTwo Tales of Black Friday
"You're an idiot."That's what someone said to me on a friend's Facebook thread where I was talking about Black Friday shopping. The person was apparently vehemently opposed to the annual post-holiday...
View ArticleMerry Christmas!
Wow. Where did December go?Well, it went toward a multitude of year-end projects at work. And our annual holiday charity program. And sickness. Don't forget the sickness. Both the mother and I seem to...
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Wait. Where did 2014 go?
Hi! Remember me? Yeah. That me. The one at This D*mn House.I can hardly believe that 2014 is nearly half over. It's been a really busy one already. (Can't you tell? It's June 26 and I'm just NOW...
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Rockin' Robins
Just as things were starting to get fired up again at This D*mn House, I came out one morning to find straw and other debris all over Pearl's roof and hood. It seems a robin had been trying to build a...
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Channeling Michelangelo
Getting back to the progress on the porch ...Once we got the back sealed up, Lawrence came and added the shingles to the sides of the porch. In the "Let's Make the Whole House Match" department, we...
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A Crew Member Moves On
As Lawrence and I were working over Memorial Day weekend, a car pulled up in the alley at the edge of the driveway. A man got out and approached us."I don't mean to bother people who are working," he...
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Dead Woman Walking
Today I returned to work after a four-day weekend. Before you envy me too much, I spent 40+ hours of that time working on the patio. But I'm getting too far ahead in the update.A few weekends ago, I...
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Columns! But wait, WTF?!
I managed to score the day off before the Fourth. Lawrence didn't have plans, so we thought that, at long last, we could FINALLY get the columns up. It was a day I had been waiting for since November...
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Better Than Factory
Have I mentioned lately that I love Lawrence?He has never officially told me no. He has gently nudged me in other directions. He has provided a working alternative. But he has never just flat out said,...
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A Recap ... And a Reveal - Part 1
So, last August I tore down the deck. I didn't know just how we were going to build the covered porch out back that we had been talking about off and on for years. What I did know was that nothing was...
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A Recap ... And a Reveal - Part 2
Not to leave you up in the air, but ... in my last post, that's exactly where the patio/porch project was. We had framed the roof and it was need of shingles. After some rookie errors on my part (not...
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