Tile Floor

Today, I laid the tile floor in my kitchen. It came out quite nice, if I say so myself. Here are a couple pictures.

Tomorrow, I plan to go to the lumber store and buy a special piece of oak to make stair nosing for the top step coming in from the back door.

I need to stay after it, because Stephanie is coming to visit. I hope the weather is good, because we will not have all the appliances back into the kitchen. We will do just fine. Steph and her kids adapt well.

I sure enjoyed watching the interviews by Pastor Rick Warren. Did anyone else watch them?

Catch you tomorrow,
Kayak Bandit

Big Dog, Little Dog

Bear was a very large dog. We surmise that he was half Setter and half Newfoundland. His head was large, proportionally to the already large frame. I think he weighed about ninety pounds.
I think you already know that I took him with me to work most days. Well, I was remodeling a home for a friend of mine. They had this small, and I do mean small, miniature Chihuahua. I swear that you could have lain him on a dinner plate all stretched out and none of his body would have hung over the edge of the plate. The two dogs played endlessly. It was so funny to see Bear trotting, slow for him, behind this other dog that was running as fast as he could till his legs were blurry.
This one very hot day, I decided to go to the Orient Store for a pack of Pepsi. Since the store was easy to go into and back out in a hurry, I decided to bring both dogs along. I parked my Dodge Van, leaving both windows open and found what I wanted. As I was returning to the Van, I saw the most precious thing ever. I will try to paint a word picture to do it justice. I did not have a camera.
As Bear would always do, he was watching for my return. He was standing up with his front feet in my seat and his back feet on the engine hump. When he stood in my seat he had to lower his head from normal height in order to look out the side window. As I said earlier, his head was very large and it took up most of the window. What was so hilarious, was that every so often, this little tiny black head would pop up over the bottom of the door into view and then fall back away. You could see that this little dog wanted to see what Bear was looking at. He was so small that even standing on his tip toes he could not stay high enough to gaze out the window. Both dogs had this "glad you came back" look on their faces. It was so precious. A real Mutt and Jeff, if ever there was one.
Kayak Bandit

Garbage Disposal Placement Revisited

I know we have already been over this subject. I really appreciate every comment. Thanks for voting in the poll.
Some of those that commented said they could not be sure of their position unless they knew the layout of the kitchen. So, I drew a little sketch that will give you an idea what my cupboards will be like.
Everything to the right of the sink, extending over the dishwasher is clear counter space. Everything to the left of the sink is clear counter space until the stove. You can see there is plenty of space on either side to use as one chooses. The sink wall is ten feet long. The window is centered on that wall. The sink will also be centered on that wall directly beneath the window.
I am moving the disposer switch from left of the sink to slightly left of center of window and sink. It will be somewhat behind the left side sink bowl.
Notice that the sink I am buying is not equal sized. The bowl on the left is larger than the right. Also notice the faucet is behind the smaller, right side bowl. Here is a link to my choice.
It is possible that the actual sink I have in mind is slightly different from this link. I remembered my choice had the drain holes far back. I know the one at Home Depot had the holes in the rear of the sink which will allow room in front under the sink for a garbage can.
Someone commented that the faucet they like has the sprayer incorporated into the faucet. My daughter Jenny has one of these. You just pull it out and squeeze to get it to change from stream to spray. You can also pull it out and not squeeze the trigger. This works well to fill tall pots that don't fit under the faucet. She likes it a lot.The whole sink area looks better without the extra sprayer. I think I will get one.
This added information may have changed your opinion. Somehow, I doubt it. But, if it did, go back to the poll and change your vote.
Now I have to decide whether to abide by the poll results or stay with the unified voices of my two very lovely daughters. Stephanie has commented for you to read. Maybe Jennifer will post her ideas also. Watch for a poll that asks whether to honor my daughters opinions despite the fact they are in the minority on this issue.
Again, thank you for weighing in on this important decision.
Kayak Bandit

Stupid Bandit

Today, was the day I chose to turn off the water and replace the last of the old galvanized pipes. I made sure I gave the bird bath a fresh dose of water, as well as Bandit's water bucket.
Shortly after turning off the water, I discovered I had forgotten one fitting to complete the job. So I loaded Bandit into the Cherokee and fetched it up from the local hardware store. I even parked in the shade for my best friend, Bandit. As I got back home, Bandit insisted on carrying his favorite ball from the Cherokee. What the heck, I let him. I usually leave it in the car for our letterboxing trips. I was much too busy to throw the ball for him, but he kept it close and hinted that he was ready to play catch whenever I was.
I was nearly done with the whole project when I could wait no longer to go potty. I dismissed the first and second urge, but this third one could wait no longer. So, I went down stairs to the extra bathroom. Just as I finished, a friend was calling me on the phone that was upstairs. I ran for the phone, but missed the call. Luckily, I had caller ID and was able to return the call.
Once we concluded our call, I went back to my plumbing project. I was up on a stool gluing the very last pipe when I heard slurping coming from the recently used bathroom. You guessed it. Bandit was not only drinking from the filthy toilet, he had also dropped his ball into the toilet for safe keeping while he drank. Gross!!!!!!!!!!!
I ran up and outside calling for Bandit. He came running straight to me, proudly offering me the ball to throw. He almost touched me with the contaminated ball. Instead, I told him to "STAY" while I returned to my project. I kept the outside door closed so he could not even think of coming inside.
I turned the water back on. I turned it on slowly and watched for any leaks. None. Good job, if I say so myself. Now I am ready to hang sheetrock.
I eventually went outside and got the garden hose out. Bandit loves the water hose. I sprayed water and he jumped and bit at the stream of water. I kept this up for a very long time, hoping beyond hope that it would cleanse him.
I was ready to give him away for a short time. Now that he is clean and he promised to never get filthy again, we are on good terms.
Kayak Bandit

Garbage Disposal Placement

One would think it would be easy to decide which side of a double sink should have the garbage disposal. Well I am here to tell it is not easy.
For most of this spring, I have been planning ahead to the day that I tear out the last parts of my kitchen before I reassemble everything. Well, on Saturday, I tore everything out. Now I must wash dishes in the bathroom sink. I cooked breakfast on my camp stove outside. It was pretty good, if I say so myself.
But now that I am getting ready to put the wires and plumbing back into the wall, I have to place everything just so. I want it to be perfect. The problem is, I want it to be perfect in the eyes of any eventual wife. I know some of you married guys are confused. You probably think it would be great to slap everything together without harassment from the little old lady. Sure you do, uh huh? I bet if you think this all the way through though, you will see the quandary. It might be okay for the short term to put a light switch on the wrong side of a sink, but not for the long term.
If you choose the wrong side, that sweet little bride will get more upset every time she uses the misplaced switch. Pretty soon the sweet little bride is no longer as sweet as you would like. "What ever made you think to put that switch there?" "That is the dumbest place to put a switch!" "It will cost twenty thousand dollars to hire a contractor to fix your stupid mistake, and I ain't payin' for it, you are!"
Enough about that. Suffice it to say, I want to get it right in case I trick some pretty thing into marrying me. Here is the debate. My dishwasher is to the right of the sink. My stove is on the left. I am buying a double sink that has the faucets to the right of center, with the larger sink on the left. With the faucets to the right, it seems your right hand will be busy with the sprayer. That only leaves one choice in my mind for which side to install the garbage disposer switch. You guessed it, the left. That solves today's question.
I am headed off to install the switch on the left. The debate is over on that, but the debate will begin anew when it is time to actually install the disposer. So, go to my poll and help me choose the right way to install the disposer.
Kayak Bandit

Bare Walls

It is still the 4th of July, 2008, as I sit here to write this blog. It will post in the morning.
I began my holiday by doing my yard work. I edged the lawn before mowing. Bandit gets so excited as I get the lawn tools out. He knows that I will throw the ball for him while I work. Today was no exception. I threw it to the worst spots I could imagine. He could always find the ball though. I did wear him out. As I came into the back yard, he was laying next to his water dish panting. His ball was floating in the water. He was tuckered out.
Once the lawn work was done, I attacked the kitchen. I had gone as far as I could with the kitchen sink still in place, so today I tore that out too. Boy, was it a lot of work. When they built stuff back in 1952, they wanted it to last forever. Everything was nailed with big nails and the metal parts were all rusted. I now have it all stripped to the bare walls. So the next step is to reroute some wires and replace the galvanized pipes with copper.
I was going to buy a new sink, but looking the old one over, convinced me to reuse it. I am going to get a new disposer. I have most of the other materials I need to continue.
With no kitchen, I plan to eat on paper plates and cook most of my food on the bar-b-que. Tonight I had a nice steak and corn-on-the-cob. Yum yum!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Kayak Bandit

Pipe Day

Today, was a bonus day of the best kind. Here I am minding my own business at work when I discover that I had exceeded the maximum number of 320 hours of saved vacation time. Last pay period ended with me at 314 hours. So when this pay period needed to add my usual 7 hours, I over shot the maximum by one hour. Boy was I relieved it was only one hour.
As I considered what to do, I realized I had only two days remaining in this accounting period to use another 7 hours. So I went to the boss and asked what could be done. He suggested I take today off. See what I mean about a bonus day!
So, what to do with such a gift from nowhere. I got up and made a pot of coffee. I called Group Health to straighten out why they had locked me out of the site to check on my doctor stuff. It seems they lock you out after going eighteen months without using it. It was all understandable until they would not let me reuse the password I prefer to use. Once you use a password one time, they will never let you reuse it. Boy did that tick me off. How is an old man of sixty supposed to remember all these different passwords. The very nice lady on the phone told me that this is the most frequent complaint and conversation she has to deal with. Why don't they get a clue and let you reuse a stinking password? I relented when she assured me she would promptly pass my remarks on to management.
So I got that taken care of. More coffee. Oh, yeah, my results from my physical were excellent. My cholesterol is a little high, but I started out with high cholesterol. My doctor assures me it is okay.
Last weekend I started replacing some old galvanized pipes that share the wall between the bathroom and kitchen. Well, one thing leads to another, and I also rerouted some electrical wires too. All was going along nicely until I was putting the final touches on running the abs pipe above the basement bathroom. I had to stand on a step stool to reach. I propped all the parts within easy reach. I opened the glue can and glued one end of the pipe. As I withdrew my arm to get a new load of glue onto the dauber, I bumped into an electrical wire and dropped the dauber. It could not have been worse. It went right down inside a wall. It was way beyond recovery.
I jumped down from my perch and ran to the garage to find another dauber. I found an old can of abs glue. I removed the lid, but the glue had hardened so badly that I could not use it. Now I was frantic. I needed to return to my pipe before the applied glue hardened. I found a can of pvc glue and wiped all the glue from the dauber and then used it. I did not know this old man could move so fast. It all went well for the rest of the install.
The new faucet in the bathroom really works good and looks good too. If it lasts for fifty six years like the one I replaced, someone else will have to replace it. I do not intend to repair plumbing for many more years.
Kayak Bandit