During the week before we left to ride the Triple Bypass, the GF and I (but mostly the GF) tore out the basement bathroom and replaced the nasty black toilet with a new efficient white one, and the huge vanity with a pedestal sink. The toilet was out on the curb waiting to be picked up by the local trash company. Note that I said “was”.
It’s gone.
Someone took it.
Someone took a nasty, unwashed, broken black toilet from my front curb.
Wow.
This weekend marks the second weekend in a row we’ve held a garage sale. I’m going to count it as a nearly complete success. Most of the large items we wanted to peddle away have been, and those that remain will very likely go on Craig’s List or eBay without too much trouble. It’s been a lot of work, but we’ve got hard cash in hand now and open garage space.
Everybody wins!
I’d love to say this weekend was relaxing, but I seem to be having a hard time finding anything relaxing at the moment. I won’t go through the laundry list of things on my mind (including – but certainly not limited to – laundry), but it’s a pretty hefty load. It’s really quite minuscule compared to what others are experiencing, or have experienced, but it’s mine, and like any other white, middle-class male, I have no sense of real hardship or struggle, so little things piled up sometimes get to me.
Enough of that.
Friday night was spent, at least in part, preparing for the garage sale that would span Saturday and Sunday. In addition to that, I spent it preparing for another epic training/endurance ride. I don’t remember much of Friday, so let’s move on…
Saturday morning arrived much too soon. We got up at 07:30. On the agenda was moving the copious amounts of flotsam and jetsam for sale out of the garage and onto the driveway, pricing what hadn’t yet been, and getting cash from the bank for change. That done, I had to get a good breakfast, go over the Torelli, get together all the stuff I’d need for a long day on the saddle, and get myself on the road. With the TBP fast approaching, I have to get all the good miles in that I can. I’m feeling the pressure.
In short, I did so, and it was a great ride. My route, available on mapmyride.com for ease of exporting to my Garmin Edge, proved to be fantastic, as I knew it would. I’ve ridden every foot of that route, but never in this particular configuration. Normally I’ll head to Lawrence via 24/40 and come back via K32, or I’ll head out from Olathe, and come back via the same route. This time I did one big loop, heading out 24/40 to Lawrence, and back via country highways south of K10 and into Olathe, where I picked up the roads I learned on the Spring Classic ’08 route.
The way out was noteworthy only in that I took fewer breaks than I normally do, and had a mild to brisk headwind nearly the whole way out. Arriving in Lawrence, I was most pleasantly surprised to find a friend actually at home. Until Saturday, I was 0 for 2 catching her at home. We sat and chatted in her living room, giving me a chance to have a bite, rest the legs, and catch up with a bit of her life.
As I left her place, I was looking forward to having a tail wind, but it wasn’t to be. It wasn’t that the wind switched… on the contrary, it just died out there, so I had neither tail nor head wind. All things considered, it certainly could have been worse. I wasn’t complaining then, and I’m not complaining now. At least not about that.
It is with no small amount of irony that I report that the most noteworthy part of the ride back into the KC Metro area was being passed by an old style roadster driven by an older blond woman. There was a triple take on that one. I’ve always been a fan of that style of car, and would someday really like to have one for lazy Sunday drives around a lake somewhere. I imagine by the time that desire becomes reality, cars will be powered by small nuclear reactors and only touch tire to road when at rest.
By the time I got home, just over 90 miles and 6 hours later, the sale was packed back into the garage and the doors closed. Fortunately, the GF had help in the form of our next door neighbors as well as a friend of hers from Lawrence. I felt more than a little bad leaving her alone, but she assured me that she understood the need for miles. When I found out for sure that she had company, I rested much easier. The rest of the evening was spent on the couch watching the idiot box and counting the money we’d made. Almost $300 for a bunch of stuff we just wanted to get rid of. Not bad at all.
Sunday was in part a repeat of Saturday, at least for the GF. I didn’t get out and ride again, having developed quite a need for a rest day. Instead, we moved the for-sale contents of the garage onto the driveway, and started immediately in on the rum & cokes (or rum and RCs, as the case was). We had about $50 worth of business before the storm clouds rolled in furiously from the north, and at just after noon, we called it. It was dead as it was, and with no customers, there was no need to keep things open. I drove around and gathered up the signs, and we contemplated what to do with the rest of the day. Home Depot and Target played small roles, as did the idiot box, and a couple of movies.
This morning, I rode the Kona on account of the threat of rain. I rode sans lighting because I couldn’t find my light battery in the chaos that is our post-garage sale homestead. Furthermore, when I got here, I realized I had no shoes. Somehow, they’d all made their way back home last week, and I forgot to pick them up. Hilarity.
Ah, Monday…
Late notice, but we’re having a garage sale this weekend. Lots of stuff that Absolutely Must Go!! Come by if you’re local and want to sift through what we got.
Among the items is a home gym, a washer/dryer pair, lots of clothes, some smaller televisions and a stand, and various odds and ends of the sort you, yourself, will probably put in your own garage sale before long.
As for where we live, here’s a hint… I start at home when I leave for work on my daily bike commutes…
This morning was a busy morning. I got up and had a cup of coffee, and then wasted no time before heading to the garage and the yard, to work on the bikes.
On the Kona:
Replaced the old knobby tires with new Continental Town & Country 26″ X 2.1″ tires. Win. I cannot wait to try them out in the morning. Still, there’s a part of me that hopes with a fervor that they don’t explode or get a flat within minutes of their maiden voyage. The old tires and tubes had been around for so long that they’d nearly melded together like the rear end of some woman stuck to a toilet after two years of sedentary bathroom life.
Cleaned the drive train with a toothbrush and some degreaser. Win. It’s a wonder that thing shifted at all with all the caked on gunk on the RD cogs. Amazing.
Adjusted the fenders a bit. Win. It looks better… if it’s possible to make “geek” look “better.”
On the Torelli:
Tightened the rear brake against the seat stays in an attempt to eliminate a pesky creaking that comes with every crank revolution under stress. I don’t think it worked, but knowing what it is, I’m not worried about it. Lose. I’ll have to talk to my mechanic again about it and see if he can explain what he did to fix it last time.
Cleaned the drive train with a toothbrush and some degreaser. Win.
Found and straightened the kink in the chain that happened yesterday when the chain fled the RD. Win.
Adjusted the FD to shift easier onto the big ring. Win. This took a few really short test rides around the neighborhood to get right.
Adjusted the RD to shift not-so-much off the big cassette cog. Win. As with the FD, this took a few really short test rides around the neighborhood to get right.
Meanwhile, the GF was rearranging the kitchen and hall closets to better make use of the relatively small space we’re both living in now. She unpacked a few boxes as well, and started separating “Keep” and “Sell” stuff into appropriate piles.
All in all, a very productive morning.
After that, it was off to the pool hall to work on our games. In the vein of preventative maintenance, there is nothing like time at the table to help keep the game in order. We played a couple games of Straight Pool, the first to 40 and the second to 50. We’re starting slow.
Then it was getting the taxes done in order to prevent the IRS from coming down on us. My refund is pretty fat this year. Not sure exactly what I’m going to use it for, but I see debt reduction in the near future.
Between all of the above activities, we unloaded a box here and a box there that had gathered in the moving of the GF from Lawrence to here, thereby preventing the house from becoming and staying a cluttered, box-ridden mess.
Yay for preventative maintenance!
The GF and I spent some time today putting up more siding in the basement, and building out a shelf along two walls. The shelf is just a nice and useful way to finish off the the top of the foundation below the windows. I’m in a split level, see, and the basement is only partially below ground.
We spent way too much time (and money) at The Home Depot, but we got quite a bit accomplished. Some of the most difficult areas have been boarded in. Their odd angles and strange corners were no match for our mastery. Now, all we need do is buy the trim to cover up all the gaps between the boards. Some of that we acquired at The Home Depot for to play with, but we need a lot more.
For the area above the foundation, we were going to try to use some sort of blown insulation, but we couldn’t find anything that was cheap and easy. So we were going to use fiberglass insulation, but that stuff itches like the dickens. Instead, we went with “Green” newspaper clipping insulation. That’ll go up today, tonight, or tomorrow. Then we’ll finish out the walls around the windows and will be about 2/3 of the way done with the walls.
I still love how the ceiling turned out.
We still need to board in the bike alcove, and the outside of the basement bathroom. I’d like to find an insulation solution for the area around the furnace, but that might be on the garage side, rather than the basement side (the furnace is in a little room nestled between the two, with access via the garage).
We’re still not sure what to do about one wall. We want to build a bar on that side of the room, but we need to plan ahead for water and drainage lines. Plumbing is not my thing, so I’m going to have to do some research before even starting on that wall.
The only mishap was me smashing my finger against the foundation while prying out the old shelves. I saw stars, but kept my cool. It’s a little black and blue today, but I might not lose it. A small price to pay for adding an entire room’s worth of living space to the house.
The GF and I took some time yesterday to get some of the basement done. Having purchased the beadboard last week, and as we’re running out of time before her move in date (have I not mentioned that?), we want to finish the basement to a livable state as soon as possible. The ceiling is done, and now we’re working on the walls. So far, the siding is going up really well. We figure if we can get two or three pieces up a day, we’ll be done in time w/o being overly stressed by the effort. It’s pretty heavy stuff, having actually been designed as exterior siding, but it looks really good, and it was cheap.
It’ll be exciting to finally have a basement we can use. I’ve lived here for almost 4 years now, and am just not getting around to it. So much for grandiose plans, eh? Oh well… while I was here by myself, I had no real *need* for it. With the GF moving in with her pets, it’ll be nice to have the extra room.
Speaking of pets, her dog, Tank is not at all excited about the basement. Loud noises turn that 85lb muscle bound brute of a Pitt Rotty mix into a sniveling, whiny baby. He hides out in the far end of the yard, obviously miserable and nervous. I don’t think Squanto likes it much either, but he reacts by trying to get as close to us as physically possible. That’s not very convenient when we’re swinging hammers around.
So far, the siding looks really nice. It’s unfinished pine paneling, and I’m honestly not sure if I want to paint or stain it. We’ll see how it looks when it’s all installed, but what up there now looks kinda nice.
Once the siding is in place, and the detail work is done, I may take some of the carpet out and replace it with tiles (or a sufficient facsimile) by the door, beneath the bikes, and later on under the bar, but other than that, the carpet will stay. Then it’s the bathroom, the bar, and the fireplace bricks (which are sagging dangerously).
Sunday, the GF and I painted the ceiling in my basement flat black. We used a 2200psi Wagner airless sprayer, and it worked like a champ – far better than I thought it would, to be honest.
I have very low ceilings down there, and when I bought the house, they were dropped and tiled. That made the very low ceilings that much lower. More than that, they were badly tiled, with nasty tiles, and had some obvious and poorly done patching in a few locations.
A few months back, I tore all that down. It was filthy work worthy of Dirty Jobs. Mice had taken residency above the tiles in years past, and they left all manner of proof of their existence behind. When I was tearing the tiles down, I had everything from little corpses and hundreds of thousands of droppings, to cigarette butts and old light bulbs fall on me. Very unpleasant, I tell you. Once the tiles were finally down and bagged up, I had to tear down the framing for the tiles. That wasn’t as nasty, but it was considerably more difficult. Whatever else might be said of the previous owners, they knew how to put up ceiling tile framing. Even so, the tearing down was easy compared to the cleaning up. All that lumber full of nails had to be discarded, and I didn’t want to hand over a bunch of rusty tetanus to those who would take it away from the curb. It took me hours to clean up after the demolition, but I like to think it was worth it.
That was months ago, like I said. Since then, the ceiling has been bare joists and exposed ductwork. From the outset, my plan has always been to simply paint it all black. I didn’t want to drop the ceiling any lower, but I didn’t want to call attention to the exposed whatnot, either. Motivation being what it is, it’s taken me this long to finally get the painting done. I have to say it wouldn’t have been done yesterday but for the insistence of the GF. She really kept me on task. Partly sick, and party just malaise, my heart just wasn’t in it. Now that it’s done though, I’m extremely pleased!
The flat black ceiling retreats far more than I thought it would. Though it’s as dark as it can be, it doesn’t make the space smaller like I was afraid it would. Instead, it disappears and leaves you with the impression that you have a lot more room than you really do. The huge I-Beam and ductwork that stretches down the middle of the room, effectively dividing the space in two, similarly retreats now that it’s all black. I may hang some fabric between the joists to break it up a little, but honestly, that doesn’t seem nearly as critical now than before we painted. I really do like it a lot.
I still need to paint the register covers, and get some good light fixtures, but once that’s done, the ceiling will be finished! On to the walls, the fireplace, the bar and the bathroom after that!
Ok, this isn’t huge, but I’m proud of it. A few months back in a fit of productivity, I tore down all the ceiling tiles and the framework holding those tiles up in my basement. That, unfortunately, left three gaping holes where duct registers used to be. Until this weekend, I (with help from the GF) kept them closed using a combination of duct tape and paper grocery bags.
This weekend, we went to Home Depot, got some sheet metal and a couple round 6″ registers, and plugged them there holes. Using the sheet metal, I bent custom mounts for the registers, and cut holes in them. Simple computer case screws hold them firmly in place, and now I have complete control over the the basement heating again. Plus they look pretty neat.
That’s all well and good, b/c the furnace crapped the bed on Saturday. Not the entire furnace, mind you, just the piece that lets gas flow. There’s a little electronically controlled nozzle/gate that controls the gas flow so it’s not burning all the time. That gate wasn’t letting any gas through. Dennis from Stratton Mechanical came out early Sunday, and though it wasn’t an easy fix (nor how either of us would have wanted to spend our Sunday), he got it done for me. I highly recommend Stratton. Good guys, they.
Now with the custom registers in place, the ceiling all bare, it’s time to take the next step: prime and paint the ceiling black prior to finishing the walls again. Then I’ll start looking up bar plans and the GF and I will start building the bar! Woot!
Yesterday I finished the home gym room. With the completion of that room, the upstairs is officially Almost Done.
What that means is that I still have a few minor projects left to do. I’d like to rebuild the shelves in the closets and paint the closet interiors. I still need to paint the window frame in the home gym (about 20 minutes from gathering the supplies to clean-up). I’ll need some window treatment for the same window. I also need some sort of curtains or drapery for the sliding glass door. Oh, and I need to finally fix the rollers in that sliding glass door. Then there’s the paint touch-up in the living room, and the final trim paint in the garage entryway.
But that’s it. I can start on destroying the basement any time.
