Sink is in!

Yesterday was fun. I finished the laminate and beveled the edges all the way around.
The most fun was lowering the sink into it's permanent home. My friends, Jim and Shirley, were nice enough to come over and help with that. We sat around and visited for quite a while. Shirley stamped her approval on the choice of hardware that I bought.
Shirley suggests not putting any backsplash on the walls at the bar. We discussed putting backsplash on the part that is above the cupboards, and not on the sides where you sit. I am leaning toward the latter. The laminate is close enough to the wall to just slightly cove a little painting caulk into the corner. Comment on this for me.
It froze last night. I am sure the dahlias are now done for the year.
Kayak Bandit

Hand and Foot(ball)

Yesterday was Monday. Yesterday was Monday Night Football. Last night, as on every Monday night, I hosted a get together with my friends. The game is on in the background and we visit, eat and play cards.
I call my weekly event Monday Night Games. I am thinking of renaming it Hand and Foot(ball).
Last night Joanne and I played Hand and Foot. This is a card game that everyone in my extended family knows and loves. Joanne played as though she had played this forever. The first hand she trounced me 1780 to 350. She caught me with a red three! The second hand I won, but she still was ahead 3355 to 2590. The last hand was so lopsided that we did not count it. I had not gotten to my foot, I had a red three and I threw her out on her nose. If you see Joanne, tell her to be more respectful of her host or she may get 86ed for life!
Kayak Bandit

Hard Part Done!

After I took bandit to the vet, I set about putting the laminate on my cupboards. Here is a look at what is done. I had to stop and clean up in time for Monday Night Football.
Kayak Bandit

Good Doggie

Well, I took bandit to the vet this morning, as planned. His swelling is down and he is doing great. The doctor told me that it is okay if he bends his knee as long as the ankle stays straight. The tendon does not get stretched to it's limit until both the ankle and the knee are bent.
You will notice that he now has a cone over his head to prevent him from messing with the injury. It is natural for a dog to lick at the wound, but with Bandit so bored, he is likely to take licking the wound to the limit. He had not licked at all until the bandage slipped down and exposed the stitches. The doctor recommended he keep the cone on since he is now somewhat adjusted to it. I feel so bad for his dignity!
In the video he is eating some Cheetos. I think he needs some wholesome food.
Kayak Bandit

Ready For Laminate

Here is what the kitchen looks like after all the countertops are installed. I am going to rest for today and install the laminate tomorrow. Notice that the sink hole is ready. It fits snuggly, but just fine.

I am taking Bandit to the Vet tomorrow because his bandage is slipping down his leg. I suppose it is because the swelling is going down and the bandage is not as tight as it used to be when first wrapped.
Kayak Bandit

Kitchen Update

Hi Everyone,
It is Sunday morning and I feel great! I survived the emotional trauma of my dog cutting his tendon in two. I made some great progress on my kitchen. And, I am taking next week off to nurse my doggie along toward full mobility.
I feel especially great because I am doing the fun part of the kitchen remodel. The nasty part of tearing out and breathing the remodel dust is in the past. I can now smell the new wood. I love building the cabinets. They are all roughed in and will get the laminate today.
The following video is from a couple days ago. Some of the cabinet face frames are not installed and the counter top is not on. If I get to work now, I may have video of that part by tonight.

Bandit is bored. As I take him for his potty breaks, he looks beyond the fence with longing. But no, the mean guy at the end of the leash just hauls him back to the house as soon as finished with his do do. Some times I take him to the shop with me and he lays on a pile of sawdust while I work. I chose times that I am not using the planer because that machine is what makes the big pile of sawdust that he likes to lay on. The planer is very noisy and he is spooked by it.
Next year, for our family vacation, we are planning to go to Fort Stevens. We have not chosen an exact date yet. If you would like to join with us, let us know your choice of date. We are looking at late July or August.
Back to work,
Kayak Bandit

Bandit - - - Before and After

Mice Look Out

A person that reads my blog sent me this following link in an effort to help me with my mouse problem. They claim it works great. We will see, because I am going to try it.

How to Build a Mouse Trap

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

This is a way to build the best mouse trap. No more messy spring traps or sticky paper. This trap lasts for weeks.

Steps

1. Gather the necessary equipment (see "Things You'll Need").
   
2. Secure the coffee can lid on the empty coffee can with some sort of glue or contact cement.
   
3. Drill a hole large enough for the dowel rod in the center of coffee can lid as well as the center of the bottom of coffee can. This should allow the coffee can to spin freely once the Dowel Rod is inserted through the holes in the can.
   
4. Drill a hole in the side of the 5 gallon bucket a couple of inches from the rim.
   
5. Drill another hole in the 5 gallon bucket directly opposite the first.
   
6. Insert the Dowel Rod into one hole of the 5 gallon bucket, then through the hole in the lid of the coffee can, then out the bottom of the coffee can, then finally through the opposite hole on in the 5 gallon bucket.
   
7. Fill the 5 gallon bucket up with antifreeze so that there is about 5 to 6 inches of antifreeze in bottom.
   
8. Coat the outside of the coffee can with peanut butter.
   
9. Set the ramp up to the rim of the 5 gallon bucket.
   
10. Locate the coffee can so that it is in middle of the dowel rod in the center of the 5 gallon bucket.
    
11. Leave it and clean it out as necessary.
    

Tips

• The idea here is that the mice walk up the ramp and jump onto the coffee can in an attempt to get to the peanut butter. When they land on the coffee can, it spins and they fall into the bucket of antifreeze. The reason for the antifreeze is that it seems to preserve the mice so they don't smell. Works great in locations where you are not able to clean it out frequently.
  
• Be sure the holes in the coffee can are large enough to allow the coffee can to spin freely.
  
• Set the ramp in such a way that is no too steep for a mouse to walk up.
  
• If you're concerned about kids getting into the antifreeze, water works in place of the antifreeze.
  
• To make this a humane trap and avoid drowning the mouse you can also simply not put any liquid in the bucket. Be sure to check the bucket regularly so as not to starve the animal and to empty the bucket at a good distance from your house to avoid the mouse finding its way back.
  

Warnings

• Keep out of reach of children!
  
• Antifreeze is both attractive and toxic to most household pets. If you foresee this being a problem, substitute a different liquid.
  
• Use Plumbing or RV antifreeze. It's non-toxic and won't kill your kids and pets.
  

Things You'll Need

• 5 Gallon bucket
  
• Empty Coffee Can (with lid)
  
• Peanut Butter
  
• 1/4" Dowel Rod or something similar (a little longer than the diameter of the 5 Gallon Bucket)
  
• Antifreeze (get at any grocery or automotive store)
  
• Something to make a ramp that will reach the top of the 5 Gallon Bucket
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Build Your Own Small Mammal Trap
  
• How to Catch a Mouse
  
• How to Get a Mouse Out of the House
  
• How to Trap Cockroaches
  
• How to Make a Flea Trap
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Build a Mouse Trap. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

I am very sad tonight because bandit hurt himself really bad. He cut his right rear leg tendon completely in two where it connects to the socket. This is the socket on us that we call knee. He is in the hospital tonight and they will try to reattach the tendon tomorrow. He will not get to chase around at all for a couple months. I sure hope he heals up without pain.
You find out how attached you are to your pet when he is absent. My house is not at all the same without him.
I was planning to go get a cat today. Now that Bandit is hurt, I dare not introduce a cat. Bandit might think the cat is his replacement. Bandit will be confused, as it is.
Kayak Bandit

Mouse Will NOT Win!

So, you read about my failure to catch the mouse. Yesterday, I would have pursued him with a chainsaw if one was nearby. I refuse to resort to poison since I have a dog. So I continue with traps that obviously do not work.
Yesterday, my dear sister, Sharon, wrote the following;

Why don't you get a cat?

So, I thought about Sharon's question. Here is my answer;

I did not think about getting a cat, okay?

But, I am thinking real hard now. I would love to have a cat. I just worry about the times that I will be away. And - - Litterboxes!
Kayak Bandit

The Mouse Is Winning

I do not know how many mice I have in my house. Any time that I have seen any it has been alone. Today I was eating lunch in the living room when a mouse came up the stairs and behind the old kitchen cabinet that is currently in the dining room. I will eventually get rid of it when the kitchen is done. Adjacent to the cabinet is the kitchen range.
I jumped up from my lunch and grabbed a broom. I was going to get the little shit. I was determined. I moved the stove and then the cabinet. As I moved the cabinet, out came the mouse. I grabbed for the broom, letting the cabinet fall and make a gouge in my new hardwood floor. I took a swing at the mouse and nearly knocked my new chandelier down. I regrouped and continued looking for him, but to no avail. As I moved the stuff back into position, I notice I scratched the floor. The mouse is winning.
Kayak Bandit

Gettin High

I used to install a lot of formica. I remember that formica used to cost a dollar per square foot. Today the going price is two dollars per foot. Formica has doubled in the last twenty five years. At first when I realized the price had doubled I thought that it was excessive. The salesman pointed out how much other things have gone up.
For instance, gas used to be 27.9 cents per gallon. Sugar was ten cents for five pounds. No one even considered paying for water. Have you seen any candy for a penny lately?
Kayak Bandit

Dock

Today I turned on my computer to discover that my friend, Jeff (Stormcrow to letterboxers) , had posted a new letterbox out past Tum Tum. I have always liked that area and chose to skip working on the kitchen long enough to go and get the box and hopefully be the first finder. I translated the clues to discover the spot is right across the highway from the DNR campground and boat ramp.
I was the superintendent for the project back in about 1990 when we build the dock, ramp and concrete walls that line the water's edge. The timing for the project was very critical because the park is next to Lake Spokane which is created by Long Lake Dam. There was going to be a large drawdown of the water for a brief time to do maintenance to the dam. This gave the DNR a chance to have the park redone. We bid the job with the understanding that the work had to get done in the drawdown period, PERIOD. I prebuilt all the forms for the walls and hired my brother Larry to be the lead carpenter for the wall while I worked principally on the dock and ramp.
Larry stayed in my trailer house at the site. One night a bunch of very intocicated locals came down there and started shooting guns and such. Larry was too petrified to confront them since he had no guns. The next night we locked the gate to keep out the problem. This worked very good for the most part. One evening Larry went to town to buy some groceries and when he returned, discovered his glasses were still in the trailer. He could not see well enough to work the combination. He had to walk the mile or so to the trailer and back up to get the gate open.
After we were done with the crane that drove the piling for the dock, they parked it up by the highway to be picked up the next day. Some people broke out all the windows in the crane.
So, back to today. After I found the letterbox, I walked into the park to see the place. It is beautiful. It was fun to sit high on the hill and look at the beauty of our world. Some of the beauty was with my families help.
Kayak Bandit

Greek

Every year, here in Spokane, the Greek Church puts on a nice festival. They open the Church to everyone to learn more about themselves. One thing I learned a long time ago is how delicious their food is. I was planning to keep working on my kitchen all day today, but every time I think of something that could take me away from home, such as needing some more nails or lumber, I immediately consider how far out of the way it would be to go by the festival. I seem to be obsessed about going and getting some baklava. I am always obsessing about something.
I think I might as well go down there and get it over with. Does anyone know the schedule? If I time it right, I could probably get a meal too. Great idea! Thanks for the suggestion.
Kayak Bandit

Smoothie

I have been frustrated for a long time about my table saw. It vibrates really bad when you first start to use it. After a while it gets a little better, but not great.
Another thing that frustrates me is not being able to see as good as I would like to see. I find that when I assemble pieces of my cabinets, I have to feel and double check myself to make sure the boards are lined up properly. And, reading a measurement is tough. I have to be very careful planing boards down to a certain thickness.
Well, I am able to report good progress on all of this. I got a flyer in the mail from Woodcrafters. They had a dial caliper on sale from over fifty dollars down to twenty nine ninety nine. So on my lunch break today, I stopped to buy the calipers. I looked it over and you can easily read accurately to one sixty forth of an inch. I mean to say that it is very easy to read.
While I was there I looked at the vee belts that they sell for my saw. They had this style that is modular. You just twist several links together to create a belt to the right length. The salesman said he installed it on his own Craftsman saw with good results. I could not resist.
I came home after work and installed the belt. Wow!!!!!!! I do not recognize the saw. It is perfectly smooth. It is a real smoothie!
Kayak Bandit

Still Alive

Well, anyone that is worried why I have not posted for a while, stop! I am fine. I have been busy and my mind has not been able to create the blog. Some days I sit down in front of the computer and the words just appear. Not lately.
I was talking to Dick, Red Lion Man, and he said Barb has mentioned most mornings that I did not post. She was a little worried. Speaking of them, be sure to go to the link and see what they are up to. They are on an extended working vacation that sounds like a lot of fun (and work).
Yesterday I took five newbies out kayaking. I am afraid they have the fever. They were talking about going shopping for kayaks and racks for atop their car. I warn you not to try it if you cannot afford to buy yourself a kayak. Almost everyone really likes kayaking. The day was cool until underway. Once you started paddling, you were just right.
I forgot the storage bags to carry the lunch in the kayaks, so we returned to Doug and Colleen's home to eat her fabulous lunch. The day was a perfect success. It may have been the last kayak outing until the eagles show up in December. I love to go out then and see them swooping down to pick kokanee trout from the water. Last year it was so cold that in quiet water there was a skim of ice. It is toasty inside the kayak. I can hardly wait.
My cabinets are progressing slowly. At times I am completely anal about getting them perfect. Where did that come from? At other times, I am down right lazy and slow. I have decided to take the week after next off to work on the kitchen. I want the kitchen off my back so I can play without feeling guilty.
Boy, that was not hard. I should blog every day.
Kayak Bandit

Furnace Repair

I have a furnace again. A kayak friend has a furnace business and he allowed me to buy from his wholesale account. I bought the part and when I went to install it, it was a little different than the old one. I took it back and to my surprise, the correct one was twenty five dollars cheaper. When does that ever happen?
I installed it after dinner and tested the furnace. Another surprise - it worked! Boy, that takes a lot off my mind.
Today, I worked on my custom cabinets. I am building the lazy susans. It is rather time consuming for me since I have not built cabinets for a long time, and never a lazy susan. I keep thinking I am past the slow tedious stuff, but everything is slow and tedious when all the units are unique. I cannot set up the saw and cut a whole stack of similar parts.
I am thinking about going for a bike ride tomorrow. The weather is perfect. My kitchen can wait. What to do?
Kayak Bandit

Last Work Day

Yipee!!
TGIF!!
I know I should not wish my life away, but it is great that friday has arrived. I look forward to the weekend. This is a wonderful time of year. There is the smell of fall, that smell reminds me of past hunting camps.
In the fall, the weather can avoid a hard freeze for a while, or it can freeze my dahlias early. They are looking mighty fine right now. Recently, I planted a letterbox in my garden to invite my letterboxing friends to come see the dahlias.
The smell of fall reminds me to get ready for winter. Last spring my furnace quit working. I used electric heaters until I did not need heat at all. So, I better get it fixed. Yesterday, I bought the part to fix it. It does not have the same number of places to connect wires as the old one. I will take it back today and see what they say. Isn't that the way repair projects often go?
I hope all of you have a great weekend.
Kayak Bandit

Mouse Opinion

My sister Sharon writes:

Yeah!! I'm glad you're clear over there, as I doubt you'll release it in a park by me. If it were me, I'd stomp its grimey little rodent head.

Sharon

As you can all see, there are others in my family that are mean like me!

Kayak Bandit

Mouse Photo

Okay, you can exhale. Kayak Bandit Caught the mouse.
The first thing I did was call Steph to tell the grandkids. Lily was very happy. Lily wants me to turn it loose in a park on the play structure. I am in favor of that. Do you want this mouse released in the park next to your home? You will never know. I am telling no one where I release the mouse.
The mouse has had no opportunity to groom himself since he was trapped in a small space with a lot of peanut butter. He is having a bad hair day.
May little mouse life long and happy.
Kayak Bandit

Runnin on Empty

What type of person are you? Do you let your gas tank get so low that the warning light comes on before you start looking for a gas station? Or, do you fill up every time you pass your favorite gas station even if you have plenty of gas?
I bet you are somewhere between those two scenarios. As for me, I have the mentality that my cars are out of gas if they get to one quarter tank. I get antsy if it gets close or below that level.
So, the next question is what to do about my low level in the "fuel tank" of life. You see, I am running on fumes in the energy, time, motivation and money department. I keep thinking about how easy tasks were when I was much younger. Why, I could cut a couple loads of firewood and deliver it to someone in the daytime and still have energy left to go to the archery range in the evening. I barely have enough energy to get the chainsaw sharpened before I am looking for a resting spot.
My motivation tank, energy tank and time tank are in direct conflict with the money tank. I could hire more of the work except that my money tank cannot stand for it. I have to say that I was mislead whenever I heard people talking fondly of the golden years. I think those people were duped into believing yellow snow is the gold they seek.
Kayak Bandit