Promises, Promises

Today was the day we were supposed to possibly get our shower repaired, but once again that promise is one that has not been kept.  We were supposed to hear from Mike on Wednesday.  Yeah, right.  Today dawned clear and still no word from him, so Rick called him and left a message that said he needs to get the shower repaired by next Friday at the latest or we will be filing a formal complain with both the Better Business Bureau and with the Florida Licensing Board.  We have had it.  Our patience is gone, and we are both frustrated and angry to say the least.

Stephanie called last night and told us that she is having her knee surgery moved, so we made accommodations today to be with her while she is having the procedure.  That helped solidify our decision not to build the shed this year.  We really have neither the time nor the money to do so.  Instead, we will concentrate on getting the cement slab poured and letting that cure for the summer.  That way we know it will be set and ready for us in the fall. Stephanie is still coming down to visit us in February, so we are happy that she can come and rest for a while.  I hope the weather cooperates.

Today Rick promised that we could get our garage back into some semblance of order.  He kept his promise. The walls are all dried, so we were able to hang the ladders back up and also to hang the rakes, shovels, and other gardening equipment.  The tub with the excess lumber went next to the water heater for now, and then we started to tackle the shelves.  We soon noted that we needed boxes to hold all of the items that we have accumulated, and the best system we have found is the waterproof tubs from The Container Store.

By 10:30 this morning we were on our way to Tampa.  I love The Container Store. They have everything one needs to be organized, and their waterproof tubs are great for Florida garages especially when the humid summers arrive. For those of you not familiar with the Container Store, it is worth the time to check them out online.  We ended up buying four more large tubs, two smaller tubs, and four "men's shoe box" containers for little items.  The bill was enough to make one gulp, but it will protect our belongings, so they were worth it in the end.  Do it once, and do it right.

Once home, we dragged the garbage receptacle to the front of the garage and started to sort through our accumulations.  We now have waterproof tubs dedicated to painting, plastering, sanding, electricity, plumbing, spare parts, bike locks and chains, bike parts, and miscellaneous other items.  The hardest part was not the sorting but rather rearranging the height of the shelves on the storage units to hold our new tubs in the most space-saving manner.  We have worked our way through the first shelving unit with great success!

Tubs with labels help us keep items visible
and accessible.

Of course, we still have the other shelf unit to go, and we still need to find space for those items that we want to keep. Our huge garbage receptacle is filled to the brim.  Rick can hardly move it.  Eventually, we hope to get the floor space cleared enough so that we can get both bikes down and can actually ride them this year before the hot weather arrives.  Too much to hope for?  Nah. We just need to stay determined and to realize that having a shed for the "big stuff" like cement mixers and power washers really will be a welcome addition to our property next year.

OK, so the rest of the garage is still a
mangled heap of items that needs organization.
Now we know what to do tomorrow!