Dave’s Good Stuff

With the upstairs all but done, I’m looking now to the patio. Whoever installed it before did NOT know what they were doing. Big surprise there. The previous owner didn’t know what he was doing in a lot of ways, except when it came to the drink. He knew that. Oh yes. He knew that, and it’s showed in every room we’ve had to redo.

So, the weeds got so bad on the patio that they’re starting to warp the lay of the bricks (with some help, naturally, from ground squirrels). Admittedly, I let it get that bad. I could have sprayed. I could have pulled. But it would have been a losing battle b/c the bricks were laid straight on the dirt. No gravel, sand or landscapers plastic was used. He might as well have seeded it with Dandilions and been done with it. Dumbass. Lining the patio are old, rotting and yet still very heavy railroad ties. Those have got to go.

I see lots of digging, lots of gravel and sand, lots of leveling and lots of moving bricks around in my near future. But the end result… I’m hoping it’ll be something to be proud of.

After discovering, as you might recall, a leaky patch job a couple nights ago, I committed myself to fixing it last night. Over lunch I bought all the supplies (propane torch, heat shields, solder, flux, etc.), and got to it soon after getting home. I admit it, I stalled some. Because… well… fire.

At first I was going to try to melt the previous solder and pull the capped T-joint we used as a coupling, but there were several things wrong with this scenario. With *any* water in the pipe, it would take a LONG time to melt the solder. If and when the solder was melted, I would have to work VERY hard to get the joint out, given how tight the gap it spans is. If and when I got the joint out, I may not be able to use it again anyway. If I could use it again, I’d have to work VERY hard to get it back in.

So, after talking with my Dad (you’re never too old to get fatherly advice), I decided to just cut the T-joint out, giving me a lot more room, and two clean ends to work with.

With a 3 inch gap in the pipe now, and a capped T-joint in hand, I made the entirely-too-familiar trip to the Home Depot. At first, I was looking for a copper union, but the associate turned me on to the much simpler and easy to understand full slip sweat repair coupling. Feeling a lot more confident, I picked up two (you can never be too safe when the ability to shower and cook at home is at stake), and was on my way.

Once home, it didn’t take any longer than 30 minutes to prepare the four ends and solder them in place. The most aggravating part at this point was the fact that one of the installed ends kept dripping. A tip from my Dad came in handy here. Some white bread stuffed up in that pipe dried it out, and stopped the leaking long enough for me to get the job done… and now I can say I’ve put white bread in my water pipes! I don’t know why that’s so cool to me, but it is.

A few minutes cooling time and…

Woot! No leaks!

I feel more and more handy every day.

You may recall a certain incident with a water pipe in my basement. Seems the fix applied by my neighbor, well meaning though it was, didn’t take. I noticed some water dripping, and then realized that the wall was wet beneath the coupling last night. It couldn’t have been leaking for long, as the moisture really wasn’t that widespread yet, and the carpet only damp, not soaked. All the same, I’m glad I caught it early, b/c I can only imagine solder giving way w/o anyone at home, just spraying water all over the place for hours and hours. Oh yeah! Good times!

So, I shut the water off last night (can I get a Hell Yeah for having found it?), turning it on only long enough to shower this morning, and then off again for the day while we’re at work. That way, there’s plenty of time for the pipe to drain, and I don’t have to live in fear all day of finding a flooded basement (which is still full of the Woman’s valuables).

Tonight, I’m going to take the new propane torch and soldering supplies I just bought and do my best to burn the house - burn the house - burn the house down. I imagine myself, my head up in the joists for hours and hours tonight fussing with this and that before finally triumphantly declaring victory over my hated foe.

The kitchen cabinets are done!! Finally! The only things left to do are caulking around the counter tops, painting the window above the sink, and reconnecting the electrical wires to the garbage disposal. That’s IT! Woot!!

One of my plans for next season is to ride from my home in KC to my parent’s home in Wichita. KC to Lawrence is easy. I want to challenge myself next summer. I figure, based on my, albiet slight, experience that it’ll take two days, two and a half on the outside. It’s 193 miles from door to door, which is pretty much two centuries on consecutive days. Certainly not an impossible feat. If I take a week off, and do it on a 3 day weekend, that’ll give me at least 5 days of good visiting, possibly helping to get some of Dad’s projects done.

Thing is… I don’t have the slightest idea how to get from here to there, whilst avoiding nasty high traffic highways. I’ve got plenty of time between now and then, but I want to start thinking about it, and mapping it out now. So… any ideas?

A bud and I rode to Lawrence again yesterday. After my first ride out there, and then the Lone Star Century the weekend after that, this ride really didn’t leave us that tired. We started around 11:45 and were done at 3:45 with a half-hour break in Lawrence. That makes for 3 and a half hours total riding time, covering 58 miles, for about 16mph average. Not bad for a couple wannabes who barely know their tires from the asphalt.

My legs are a little rubbery today, but that could be b/c I didn’t really back off in spin class this morning. I thought about it, but when it came time to press the pedals, there was not backing off. I figure if I’m going to pay money to spin, and get up at 5:00am to boot, I’m going to get as much out of it as I can. But that’s just me…

The Woman will be back in a couple of days, and I didn’t get as much done on the Living Room as I’d hoped. The kitchen is all but done, with the only remaining items being those things Keystone Kitchens is coming back on Monday to do, and the cleaning up and painting of the window.

In the living room, I was able to get myself motivated enough to get the ceiling painted, the baseboard molding finished (quarterround installed and all painted), the crown molding painted but not installed, and the walls painted. Railings still need to go up. Another coat of paint on the stair risers needs to go on, and the trim around the doors and windows needs some work.

Between those things, general cleaning up and laundry, I don’t imagine I’ll get too much riding - or anything else - in before Sunday. Bah.

That said, I’m going to go out tonight to play darts and pool with friends. It’s our traditional dart night, and I need another break.