This day actually started out very well. Rick climbed into the attic and successfully added braces to the superstructure of the house so we have something to nail into when we move the wall for the master bathroom next year. Still no hard hat, Bug, but his hard head came out in one piece and the 2 x 6 is firmly screwed into place.
Then the day went downhill for a while. I did not sleep well at all last night; worries about dipping into our reserve savings had me tossing and turning at 2:00 a.m. and out on the couch in the living room by 3:30 so as not to wake Rick. (He missed me by 4:30 and could not get back to sleep himself after that time.) Therefore, part of the reason that the day may have turned sour probably can be contributed to a lack of sleep.
We waited this morning for my kitchen sink to be delivered and for Steve, the pest control guy, to show up. We made a hurried trip to the store this morning so we would be home by the time he was scheduled to come at 9:00 a.m. When we returned home (at approximately 8:30) the Bay Area Termite and Pest Control car was parked in front of our house, and the technician they sent out was just about to depart. We had some bug issues, so we invited him in and he sprayed to eliminate the spiders, silverfish, and cockroaches (that, thankfully, we have only spied in the garage so far). When we asked if Steve was still coming at 9:00 to discuss termites, he claimed he did not know. I'll spare you the details and suspense by telling you that he once again never showed up, and on Rick's threat of taking our business elsewhere, he promised to show up tomorrow. While Little Orphan Annie believed that the sun will come up tomorrow, I am not sure I have the same faith that Steve will show up any time soon.
My sink was supposed to be delivered any time between 9 - 1. At 1:00 p.m., Rick went to the glass store to return the wrongly-cut glass while I awaited the promised wash basin. At 1:30 a van drove into the driveway and a man came to the door, telling me he had my sink. He carefully took the heavy sink out of the van, placed it on a dolly, and wheeled it into the house. He gently eased it flat onto the floor. He said, "Please sign here and print your last name on the line below." Stupid me thought that I was just signing an acknowledgement that I had received the sink. He then left a copy of the receipt for me and drove away. I carefully opened the box only to discover that the beautiful Kohler sink had a huge crack and chipped porcelain on the ridge between the two basins. (Ha! So much for the box's claim that Kohler was guaranteed not to chip! They even had the audacity to lie in two different languages!) I picked up the receipt looking for a number to call and then read that I had signed a form that said I had inspected and received an undamaged product in good working condition.
I lost it. I was so upset that by the time Rick came home, he found me in hysterics. He walked in with less than a smile on his face since the woman at the glass place tried to tell him that he was getting a bargain for the glass even though we paid full price and were not at fault that the glass was cut incorrectly. When he saw me, I burst into tears, telling him that it was all my fault and that I did not understand what I signed, and that I was really stupid. He took time to calm me down and then let me kill things. (When I am angry, it helps if I kill things. Don't panic, family, Rick is still taking in oxygen because usually what I kill is weeds in the garden. ) I grabbed a shovel and started to dig out the buried patio stones in the back yard, ripping up grass and weeds as I discovered that the patio is much bigger than we originally thought it was.
I ended the day on a better note. When I came into the house, I found that Beth at Cengage had contacted me, and I can now begin my freelance work on PowerPoints for two of their textbooks. I also found, in the mail, the first notice of what I will get in July as a retirement check. While it is half of what I used to make, it certainly at least gives me a sense of worth again to be bringing in income from two sources... all in one day. I am excited to get going on the Cengage work, and I am happy that my 28 years of teaching will bring in some very desperately needed income at this time.
We capped off the day by getting away from the house and going to dinner at a downtown restaurant. OK, the day was not quite done with us yet. As we dined, the skies opened up into a deluge that the world has not witnessed since Noah built the ark. We took a chance after dinner by waiting for the rain to abate a little, and then made a run for the truck. Unfortunately, streets in downtown Dunedin flood easily, so we were both drenched by the time we reached the truck. We piled in, started the engine, and the rain suddenly stopped as quickly as it had started. Within minutes, the sun was peeking out just long enough to set.
Annie was right. The sun will come up...tomorrow, and we both really hope that it will bring with it a better day.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
And the work goes on...
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| Freesia flowers! I suppose I should get a better vase. |
Yesterday, because all of the insulation is gone from the attic right now, Rick was able to remove the water-damaged portion of the south kitchen wall and to remove the moldy (quite literally!) kitchen ceiling. He chopped that plaster all down and then cut a new piece of drywall to fit in its place. We can see by looking at the two-toned paint job in the ceiling where a huge area had already been repaired due to leaks in the roof, but the wall damage and moldy ceiling that Rick worked on yesterday were hidden under upper cupboards that we removed earlier.
He also removed wires and patched in two previous electrical boxes -- one for what must have been a 1960's clock located above the cupboards, and the other for the thermostat that controlled the ceiling heat that originally kept this house cozy. We have those same capped boxes in both bedrooms, the living room, and the Florida room in the house. Contractors tell us that the wires are embedded in the plaster that makes up the ceilings in this house.
According to neighbors, this house originally had a traditional Florida tile roof. While they are beautiful and quite durable, when they do start to leak, they apparently leak badly. The roof on this house must have leaked for quite a while before someone stepped in and told the former owner, Jackie Scott, that she had to repair the roof. We know from the inspector that roof boards were replaced at the time that the new shingled roof was put on approximately 8 years ago. The neighbor, Monty, said that removing the tile roof cost Jackie over $20,000, so at least that was one expense we were spared. Monty also said that as Jackie declined mentally she became paranoid and did not want to let anyone come into the house. That may be another reason that the house was in such bad shape when we purchased it.
Last night we used some of our gift money from birthdays and Mothers/ Fathers Day to purchase a bed frame and box spring from Sam's Club. While not terribly expensive, it certainly was appreciated when I was able to get out of bed this morning without having to literally crawl off the mattress before I could boost myself up. My right knee certainly appreciates being able to just sit up and immediately stand as I left the bed. Osteoarthritis is a part of my heredity, and although it seems to be slightly better in the warmer weather, the knees, fingers, and hands are still pretty stiff when I first get up in the morning. (Egad! I'm not THAT old, am I? Thanks Dad and Grandma Falk!)
Early this morning Rick again ascended the ladder into the crawl space that we call an attic. He slithered over to above the master bathroom (headroom is less that 16") and literally pounded the old heater out of the ceiling into my waiting hands. And Lindsay, no, daddy did NOT wear his hard hat, and he bumped into at least three nails up there with his hard head!! While he was up there, he figured out more of our scary wiring and realized that we will have to add lumber between the studs to support the top of the wall we want to move. All of the attic work must be completed by tomorrow since we are getting 15 inches of insulation blown into the attic by Friday. That means that we also must rebuild a drop-in door above the access space where the old whole-house fan once resided. So much to do, and so little time!
Our one disenchantment with this whole remodeling adventure has been with the contractors we find in Florida. Everyone is very friendly, and they all talk a good story, but we have found very few who are really reliable. Perhaps this is just a cultural difference from people in "the North." I have issues with the lawn person who apparently "sent us the wrong contract" that promised to cut the lawn weekly in the summer (it needs it) and bi-weekly in the winter. Tim, who owns the lawn service, claims that we have the same agreement as Steve and Chris where he just comes bi-weekly. After all, he said, their lawn only needs cutting every other week, and since we are related, our lawn must be the same. Rick and he get along just fine, but I do not care for the man at all. I guess I will just have to get used to grass up to my #$$ in the backyard since Tim is only coming once every other week. At least that gives the freesias time to grow.
We currently are waiting for the heating/ air conditioning grates that were supposed to be delivered on Tuesday and for the pest control man who was supposed to meet with us sometime yesterday. We finally called the HVAC contractor who had lost all of our records and thus had to reschedule for Thursday. As for the pest control man? He still has not shown up.
On a happy note, one thing -- my kitchen sink -- actually is going to arrive early. The Internet tracking system says that the sink will not be delivered until July 6, but we got a call this morning that the sink will be delivered between 9 - 2 tomorrow. Since we ripped out everything in the kitchen, including the kitchen sink, having a new one to install soon brings a big smile to my face.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Monday, Monday...
Today was another busy day (aren't they all?) with some positive steps forward. We were both discouraged yesterday because we wanted to work on the kitchen and a million little jobs kept us from meeting our goals.
Before we got to the kitchen, I asked Rick if he could change the electrical switches and receptacles in the Florida room to make working on our computers easier. Well, one thing led to another, and not only did he complete the Florida room, but he also moved on to the living room. That is when Gladys tried to kill him.
We have a three-panel switch next to the front door. We know that the right-hand switch operates the motion-sensor light on the front porch, and we know that the left-hand switch operates the receptacle next to the door so that we can turn on a light when we come in the front door. The middle switch, however, was a mystery. (We actually had two other mysteries that we solved... more on that later.) Rick turned off the circuits in the electrical panel to work on the switches. He started with the porch light switch and made the mistake of accidentally touching the box with the tip of his screwdriver. The POP and spark that shot from the box sent him back about 6 feet and melted a part of the screwdriver. OK, Gladys is not subtle when she does not like something.
Further investigation showed that the idiot who disconnected whatever was connected to the middle switch must have turned it off at the electrical panel, cut the wires and removed whatever was connected to it, and then turned the circuit back on. Two live wires sitting in the middle of the box, buried under a jumble of other wires. No wire nuts... no electrical tape... just live wires. Nice, huh? We thought that the scary electrical business was solved with the new panel, but the sparking kitchen light and now this killer switch have us saying an extra prayer before we approach anything electric.
We never did figure out what the middle switch once operated (although a poorly patched ceiling hints at an overhead light or fan from the past), but we did learn that a non-functioning plug works just fine once the breaker is not tripped, and the porch light (across the room and out the door) also works once that breaker is reset! One mystery remains that way, but the other two mysteries were solved.
In Florida, we have met all kinds of creatures. The not-so-little bird on the right is just one example. This guy wandered into our yard during a drizzly day yesterday, and I am always amazed at the size of these birds. This one easily topped 3 1/2 feet tall!
Today started early so as not to get caught in the shower when the insulation contractor arrived. We had started pushing the plastic tubing needed for a central vacuum system through the attic yesterday, but the temps were too high by the time we threaded over 30 feet of tubing to the approximate location where we wanted the tube to come down the wall for Rick to bring it down from the attic. Today, by 7:30 a.m., he overcame a little claustrophobia, a little rodent-phobia (what IS the technical term for that?), and his general repulsion of climbing into a smelly attic by going up and fishing the tubes to the correct place. By 8:00 a.m., the tube was in place, the hole was cut in the ceiling of the closet, and the tubes were connected and coming down the wall for eventual hook-up (probably next summer when we may be able to afford it) for the rest of the vac system.
We were done before the two men came to suck all of the rodent- poop and urine-soaked inch of insulation out of the attic. We would have liked to learn more about what they were doing, but they spoke only a little more English than we spoke Spanish, so communication was not a key component of our interaction with them. They actually sucked out three and one half huge 4 x 6 foot bags of old insulation. The new stuff -- 15 inches for R30 -- will go in on Friday. That certainly will beat what was up there, so we are hoping that our next energy bill will not look like someone had major surgery in the family. (Actually, perhaps Gladys HAS had major surgery with all that we have done to her!)
While the contractors were in the attic, Rick and I tackled the kitchen. I now have the easiest-to-clean kitchen in America since it has nothing in it and nothing on the walls. The wallpaper that is around the top of the kitchen is now gone, and I made Rick take pictures of ME working for once since I usually am the photographer, thus making it seem like he is doing all of the work. I scrubbed wallpaper paste off the former eat-in kitchen/ dining area wall while Rick plastered the middle of the walls where we removed the ceramic tile. While I admit that he does more skilled work than I do, I am tired enough at night to know that I DO occasionally contribute to the effort.
I end this today with the beauty of Florida. Last night we took a break and sat outside. The sky was so blue and the palm tree was gently swaying in the breeze, so I had to take a picture that I could print and stare at when we are up to our armpits with snow this winter.
The other pictures are of the flowers that keep popping up in the middle of our backyard when the landscapers neglect us for two weeks in a row. Rick says that they are probably weeds, but that is OK. When I was a kid I always thought that dandelions looked pretty too, and my mother would always put them in water when I picked them for her. So does anyone know what these flowers are? If so, please let me know. I think they are pretty, even if they are weeds. God does good work, so who am I to complain?
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| Rick working on Florida room receptacle. |
We have a three-panel switch next to the front door. We know that the right-hand switch operates the motion-sensor light on the front porch, and we know that the left-hand switch operates the receptacle next to the door so that we can turn on a light when we come in the front door. The middle switch, however, was a mystery. (We actually had two other mysteries that we solved... more on that later.) Rick turned off the circuits in the electrical panel to work on the switches. He started with the porch light switch and made the mistake of accidentally touching the box with the tip of his screwdriver. The POP and spark that shot from the box sent him back about 6 feet and melted a part of the screwdriver. OK, Gladys is not subtle when she does not like something.
Further investigation showed that the idiot who disconnected whatever was connected to the middle switch must have turned it off at the electrical panel, cut the wires and removed whatever was connected to it, and then turned the circuit back on. Two live wires sitting in the middle of the box, buried under a jumble of other wires. No wire nuts... no electrical tape... just live wires. Nice, huh? We thought that the scary electrical business was solved with the new panel, but the sparking kitchen light and now this killer switch have us saying an extra prayer before we approach anything electric.
We never did figure out what the middle switch once operated (although a poorly patched ceiling hints at an overhead light or fan from the past), but we did learn that a non-functioning plug works just fine once the breaker is not tripped, and the porch light (across the room and out the door) also works once that breaker is reset! One mystery remains that way, but the other two mysteries were solved.
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| Visitor in our yard. |
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| Note size compared to the neighbor's truck. |
Today started early so as not to get caught in the shower when the insulation contractor arrived. We had started pushing the plastic tubing needed for a central vacuum system through the attic yesterday, but the temps were too high by the time we threaded over 30 feet of tubing to the approximate location where we wanted the tube to come down the wall for Rick to bring it down from the attic. Today, by 7:30 a.m., he overcame a little claustrophobia, a little rodent-phobia (what IS the technical term for that?), and his general repulsion of climbing into a smelly attic by going up and fishing the tubes to the correct place. By 8:00 a.m., the tube was in place, the hole was cut in the ceiling of the closet, and the tubes were connected and coming down the wall for eventual hook-up (probably next summer when we may be able to afford it) for the rest of the vac system.
We were done before the two men came to suck all of the rodent- poop and urine-soaked inch of insulation out of the attic. We would have liked to learn more about what they were doing, but they spoke only a little more English than we spoke Spanish, so communication was not a key component of our interaction with them. They actually sucked out three and one half huge 4 x 6 foot bags of old insulation. The new stuff -- 15 inches for R30 -- will go in on Friday. That certainly will beat what was up there, so we are hoping that our next energy bill will not look like someone had major surgery in the family. (Actually, perhaps Gladys HAS had major surgery with all that we have done to her!)
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| Out, out damned spot... of wallpaper glue! |
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| The wallpaper above is gone, as is everything else in the kitchen! |
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| The palm tree Rick bought me for my birthday when we bought Gladys. |
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| Mystery flowers in my "fancy" vase. |
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| Send me an email at saa1376@new.rr.com if you know what this is! |
Saturday, June 25, 2011
More Pictures
For some reason, this blog will only let me put in so many pictures before it fights me.
Rick also did a beautiful job of finishing the cherry tables for the living room. We have yet to figure out where to put everything.
Our main task today was getting rid of the tile in the kitchen. We have lots of work to do yet before the kitchen is near being "livable" again. After Rick finished with this, he scraped the walls and then plastered them. Now it is my turn to go scrub the parts of the walls that I can get to in that room.
Cher used to sing, "And the beat goes on..." This Sher now sings, "And the work goes on..." Someday, Gladys will be a showplace, and she will always be a home to us.
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| Master bedroom before. Note the glue stain from old carpet. |
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| Master bedroom after the floors were finished. |
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| Master bedroom looking toward the master bath. The wall markings are gone enough so that we can tear out the rest of the wall and enlarge the bathroom without worrying about the original footprint of the room. |
Rick also did a beautiful job of finishing the cherry tables for the living room. We have yet to figure out where to put everything.
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| Finished cherry table top. |
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| We have two of these and one long sofa table. |
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| The original tile in this house was built to last. Using all his might, Rick could barely chip it away in pieces. Gladys fought back, cutting his hands, leg, and arms with flying tile chips. |
Cher used to sing, "And the beat goes on..." This Sher now sings, "And the work goes on..." Someday, Gladys will be a showplace, and she will always be a home to us.
Pictures of Progress
I am taking time out of a busy day to send the pictures that I promised yesterday. We strongly suggest to Steve and Chris that they think about having their terrazzo floors redone. Although their efforts have made their floors far cleaner than my brief scrubbing did on Gladys, I am amazed at the difference I feel in just sweeping and vacuuming the floors. Not every stain came out, but the floors are far better and cleaner than they were before. They both look and feel like glass, so overall we are happy with the results... and the floors now have a protective coating that will help to preserve them. Take a look at the before and after pictures:
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| Living room/ Florida room before the refinishing. |
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| Living room/ Florida room after. Note the "traffic pattern" stain is gone from the entry way just to the left of the picture. |
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| Florida Room after refinishing. The glue stain from the removed track of the glass doors is the only thing that did not come out well. We will have to live with it as a part of the "history" of Gladys. |
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| Spare Bedroom before with rust stain in middle. |
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| Spare Bedroom after. |
Friday, June 24, 2011
Happy Birthday, Rick!
We often joke that for my 26th birthday, Rick bought me a toilet. That is true. We had just moved into our first house, were short on money, and needed to replace the "necessities" of life. Today was Rick's 59th birthday, so for his birthday he got a present and so did I.
His "gift" was a new garage door and opener. Hooray! We can finally touch a button and actually have not only a garage door that opens, but also one that seals out the fruit rats. The workmen came at a little after 9:00 this morning and finished at about 1:00 p.m. We now have a new hurricane-proof garage door (you should see the steel behind this sucker!) and a new opener with two remotes and a key-less, coded touch pad. It works better than our garage door in Wisconsin (and for the price, it should!).
My "gift" on his birthday was the delivery of our new oven. It is similar to my stove at home, and for the first-ever edible that I made, I baked Rick a key-lime pie (his favorite) for his birthday. Lacking birthday candles, I lit a regular candle, sang off-key, and he celebrated another year.
The rains have finally come to Florida, and we learned yesterday that we have yet another challenge (and expense) to face. The storms in Florida are usually brief, filled with thunder and lightening, and characterized by downpours. During one deluge yesterday, Gladys peed! We were just moving back into the house yesterday, having spent four days in a motel while the floors were refinished. As we were moving items in, the rains started. Rick was working in one of the bedrooms and as I rounded the corner from the kitchen, I saw a two-foot puddle of water inside the Florida room by the back door. Gladys wet herself then, and to a lesser degree later in another storm. (This is sort of like an old lady who slightly pees her pants when she sneezes or laughs too hard!) The problem is the configuration of the house roof meeting the Florida room roof and the waterfall that results during a storm. We had been warned by the floor people not to let water "set" on the newly polished floors, and then Gladys goes and leaks all over.
Our resolution will be two-fold. First, we have to replace the back doors in this house, which we knew. We can get a new back door and install it ourselves for a couple of hundred dollars. We would rather not spend the money, but we knew we might have to do so before we left for the winter. The greater "fix" is to have rain gutters installed. We got a bid today from a company, and like everything else, this will set us back another $1000. Replacing the door will not permanently solve the problem, so we have no choice. We want to get this house secure before we leave in August, so this is just one more unexpected step we have to take.
To celebrate Rick's birthday (now that we can finally get in and out of the garage with the bikes) we decided this evening to take our first bike ride since we have been here. Another "surprise": the one thing that did not make the trip well was our bicycle pump. When Rick went to fill the tires, the pump did not work. We will have to try to take it apart tomorrow to see if we can fix it or look for an inexpensive pump for now. One of the main reasons we came to Dunedin was to use the bike trail, so this minor set-back will not stop us from our goal.
On a positive note, Rick put together the first of the three cherry tables that he made for the house, and it is beautiful. I am took tired and the time is too late tonight to post pictures of our bright new floors and the table, but I will try to do that tomorrow.
His "gift" was a new garage door and opener. Hooray! We can finally touch a button and actually have not only a garage door that opens, but also one that seals out the fruit rats. The workmen came at a little after 9:00 this morning and finished at about 1:00 p.m. We now have a new hurricane-proof garage door (you should see the steel behind this sucker!) and a new opener with two remotes and a key-less, coded touch pad. It works better than our garage door in Wisconsin (and for the price, it should!).
My "gift" on his birthday was the delivery of our new oven. It is similar to my stove at home, and for the first-ever edible that I made, I baked Rick a key-lime pie (his favorite) for his birthday. Lacking birthday candles, I lit a regular candle, sang off-key, and he celebrated another year.
The rains have finally come to Florida, and we learned yesterday that we have yet another challenge (and expense) to face. The storms in Florida are usually brief, filled with thunder and lightening, and characterized by downpours. During one deluge yesterday, Gladys peed! We were just moving back into the house yesterday, having spent four days in a motel while the floors were refinished. As we were moving items in, the rains started. Rick was working in one of the bedrooms and as I rounded the corner from the kitchen, I saw a two-foot puddle of water inside the Florida room by the back door. Gladys wet herself then, and to a lesser degree later in another storm. (This is sort of like an old lady who slightly pees her pants when she sneezes or laughs too hard!) The problem is the configuration of the house roof meeting the Florida room roof and the waterfall that results during a storm. We had been warned by the floor people not to let water "set" on the newly polished floors, and then Gladys goes and leaks all over.
Our resolution will be two-fold. First, we have to replace the back doors in this house, which we knew. We can get a new back door and install it ourselves for a couple of hundred dollars. We would rather not spend the money, but we knew we might have to do so before we left for the winter. The greater "fix" is to have rain gutters installed. We got a bid today from a company, and like everything else, this will set us back another $1000. Replacing the door will not permanently solve the problem, so we have no choice. We want to get this house secure before we leave in August, so this is just one more unexpected step we have to take.
To celebrate Rick's birthday (now that we can finally get in and out of the garage with the bikes) we decided this evening to take our first bike ride since we have been here. Another "surprise": the one thing that did not make the trip well was our bicycle pump. When Rick went to fill the tires, the pump did not work. We will have to try to take it apart tomorrow to see if we can fix it or look for an inexpensive pump for now. One of the main reasons we came to Dunedin was to use the bike trail, so this minor set-back will not stop us from our goal.
On a positive note, Rick put together the first of the three cherry tables that he made for the house, and it is beautiful. I am took tired and the time is too late tonight to post pictures of our bright new floors and the table, but I will try to do that tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Bruised, Bitten, and Beat
We arrived at approximately 8:00 a.m. to let Jason into the house to work on the floors. We again dedicated ourselves to working outside, and at first the day was tolerable. Rick worked on caulking the vents in the eaves, and I continued to wash down the drip edge on the roof. I discovered that the person who put the first course of shingles on the Florida room did not know how to measure or to use a chalk line. On the south side of the room, the shingles overlapped the drip edge by the requisite 1.5 inches, but by the time the shingle line reached the north side, the shingles were actually shy of the drip edge by .25 of an inch! Either the room is terribly crooked, the chalk line was way off, or the person who put on that first row was an amateur who drank his lunch.
The sun soon caught up with Rick, so he had to leave the south side of the house before he fell off the ladder. We took a break at about 10:30 by driving to McDonalds. I desperately needed a restroom, and we both needed to get out of the 90+ heat by that time. For $2.14 we each had a small yogurt/fruit parfait and a free glass of water. We cooled off enough to continue our day without serious threat of heat stroke... at least for a while.
A funny side note: yesterday when we were in Home Depot a sales person came up to me and said, "M'am, may I ask you a question? How much do you like your current kitchen cupboards?"
I just laughed and said, "Hey, Rick, how much do we like our kitchen cupboards?"
"We don't have any kitchen cupboards, " Rick said. I thought the salesman was going to fall over.
"None?" he asked. Rick told him that we had just gutted the kitchen so we had no kitchen cupboards.
"Then you are in the market for some new ones, " the young man said.
"Not for another two or three years," Rick said. Again, we got the "these two don't have both oars in
the water" look. We explained that we were only here for a few more weeks and that the steel shelves, a make-shift sink supported by 2x4s, and a microwave on a small counter top will serve us quite well.
The poor sales person just said, "O-Kaaay," and walked onward, trying to get away from the two crazies from Wisconsin who where definitely short a few teacups in their mental cupboards.
After our yogurt break, we returned to the house and started to focus on the overgrown landscape of the back yard. That is where the bruised (ran into and was hit by branches) and bitten (the bugs of Florida have feasted on me since I arrived) took place. We worked until noon and barely made a noticeable difference in how the backyard looked. We decided to go to Publix, a local grocery store, to get one of their delicious sandwiches for lunch. As we walked into the market, we ran into Mike Paliquin, a man that Rick worked with during his days in the printing industry. We knew that Mike lived in Dunedin, but we did not expect to see him so soon. Turns out that we live only about .5 to .75 miles from where he lives, and his children all attended school in our neighborhood. Rick and Mike would have talked forever if I had not finally mentioned that I was dying of starvation.
Mike said that he teaches international marketing part time at three different colleges in the area, and he urged me to apply at St. Petersburg College. He also said that online opportunities were available at one of the colleges, so that may be something that I have to investigate further if I feel the need to do so later.
We worked until about 2:00 p.m. on the yard, and at the end of that time, we had cleared just a little area in one corner of the back yard. We actually have about four trees we should take down. I hate to think of doing so not only because of the expense but also because of the shade we will sacrifice. However, the tree closest to the house is dangerous (brittle and leaning toward the house) and the others are called pepper trees which are nuisance trees. The trees will be spared for at least one more year. They can thank the lack of money for their reprieve.
One unsettling discovery was one rotting small tree that seemed to be crawling with termites. It is far from the house, but we will have to use care in disposing of it so that we do not get the little critters anywhere near our currently termite-free house.
Other discoveries included a large brown bottle with some sort of syrupy brown liquid inside. Rick would have smelled it, but I was not that curious. I also found one squashed soda can, one half-buried cement bowl that might be an inverted small birdbath, one perfectly good paving block, and one really funky green plant that is bordered in deep purple. I really need to get a book on Florida plants and animals. I have no idea if anything (other than the Mother-in-law's tongue) are poisonous or will give me a terminal rash. If any of the plants are illegal or could be sold for profit in a seedy part of town, I also do not have a clue about that. I just know that the garden has been neglected but the overgrown state is a blessing in disguise. The neighbor behind us had grass that is at least knee high in the back, so I am glad that I have vegetation to block our view of his own personal little yard of horrors.
Rick and I return to the hotel each evening so beat that we barely have time to check e-mail before we crawl into bed. As I type this, I can hear the TV which almost -- but not quite -- drowns out the sound of Rick snoring.
Gladys has undergone a tremendous change in the last three weeks, although from the outside not much seems to be changed. We are bruised, bitten, and battered, but Gladys slowly but surely is beginning to respond to the pampering.
The sun soon caught up with Rick, so he had to leave the south side of the house before he fell off the ladder. We took a break at about 10:30 by driving to McDonalds. I desperately needed a restroom, and we both needed to get out of the 90+ heat by that time. For $2.14 we each had a small yogurt/fruit parfait and a free glass of water. We cooled off enough to continue our day without serious threat of heat stroke... at least for a while.
A funny side note: yesterday when we were in Home Depot a sales person came up to me and said, "M'am, may I ask you a question? How much do you like your current kitchen cupboards?"
I just laughed and said, "Hey, Rick, how much do we like our kitchen cupboards?"
"We don't have any kitchen cupboards, " Rick said. I thought the salesman was going to fall over.
"None?" he asked. Rick told him that we had just gutted the kitchen so we had no kitchen cupboards.
"Then you are in the market for some new ones, " the young man said.
"Not for another two or three years," Rick said. Again, we got the "these two don't have both oars in
the water" look. We explained that we were only here for a few more weeks and that the steel shelves, a make-shift sink supported by 2x4s, and a microwave on a small counter top will serve us quite well.
The poor sales person just said, "O-Kaaay," and walked onward, trying to get away from the two crazies from Wisconsin who where definitely short a few teacups in their mental cupboards.
After our yogurt break, we returned to the house and started to focus on the overgrown landscape of the back yard. That is where the bruised (ran into and was hit by branches) and bitten (the bugs of Florida have feasted on me since I arrived) took place. We worked until noon and barely made a noticeable difference in how the backyard looked. We decided to go to Publix, a local grocery store, to get one of their delicious sandwiches for lunch. As we walked into the market, we ran into Mike Paliquin, a man that Rick worked with during his days in the printing industry. We knew that Mike lived in Dunedin, but we did not expect to see him so soon. Turns out that we live only about .5 to .75 miles from where he lives, and his children all attended school in our neighborhood. Rick and Mike would have talked forever if I had not finally mentioned that I was dying of starvation.
Mike said that he teaches international marketing part time at three different colleges in the area, and he urged me to apply at St. Petersburg College. He also said that online opportunities were available at one of the colleges, so that may be something that I have to investigate further if I feel the need to do so later.
We worked until about 2:00 p.m. on the yard, and at the end of that time, we had cleared just a little area in one corner of the back yard. We actually have about four trees we should take down. I hate to think of doing so not only because of the expense but also because of the shade we will sacrifice. However, the tree closest to the house is dangerous (brittle and leaning toward the house) and the others are called pepper trees which are nuisance trees. The trees will be spared for at least one more year. They can thank the lack of money for their reprieve.
One unsettling discovery was one rotting small tree that seemed to be crawling with termites. It is far from the house, but we will have to use care in disposing of it so that we do not get the little critters anywhere near our currently termite-free house.
Other discoveries included a large brown bottle with some sort of syrupy brown liquid inside. Rick would have smelled it, but I was not that curious. I also found one squashed soda can, one half-buried cement bowl that might be an inverted small birdbath, one perfectly good paving block, and one really funky green plant that is bordered in deep purple. I really need to get a book on Florida plants and animals. I have no idea if anything (other than the Mother-in-law's tongue) are poisonous or will give me a terminal rash. If any of the plants are illegal or could be sold for profit in a seedy part of town, I also do not have a clue about that. I just know that the garden has been neglected but the overgrown state is a blessing in disguise. The neighbor behind us had grass that is at least knee high in the back, so I am glad that I have vegetation to block our view of his own personal little yard of horrors.
Rick and I return to the hotel each evening so beat that we barely have time to check e-mail before we crawl into bed. As I type this, I can hear the TV which almost -- but not quite -- drowns out the sound of Rick snoring.
Gladys has undergone a tremendous change in the last three weeks, although from the outside not much seems to be changed. We are bruised, bitten, and battered, but Gladys slowly but surely is beginning to respond to the pampering.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
The Look will Floor You...
We were up early today to travel 1/2 an hour to get to the house by 7:00 a.m. so the floor crew could get an early start. They spent a full day yesterday grinding the floors down with a slurry of who-knows-what and water. Then they bleached the floor, especially the parts of the floor that had stains from water, old walls, aluminum tracks (from the doors) and rust stains. They use bleach that is normally used in beauty salons, so it cannot be too caustic. (Of course, with all of the old ladies in Florida, maybe the strong stuff is needed...)
The floors today looked much cleaner and better than they probably have in years. The crew have cleaned and bleached some of the cracks, took out all of the nailing strips from the bedrooms, and spent time today doing the detailed hand-grinding around the toilets and along the walls. Another application of bleach went on today to further try to reduce the appearance of stains that remain. Unfortunately, the worst stain is a glue stain that snakes across the house where the old glass doors separated the living and Florida rooms. We probably will have to live with that stain, but polishing and the addition of furnishings will make it less noticeable than it does right now in a totally empty house. This IS an old house, so occasionally Gladys will show a wrinkle or two.
Rick and I spent most of the day outside removing the wooden strips under the soffit vents and reinstalling them. As we go closer to one corner of the Florida room, we began to smell the distinct odor of a rotting rat. We have not caught a rat for two days, so we thought that we had gotten them all out of the attic. We think now that we have trapped some of them in the attic especially since we came upon a tiny newborn rat that was quickly dispatched from the current world. We will continue to clear the house of the vermin so that we feel we can leave the house secure.
When we finished one section of the Florida room, I washed down the drip edge which was covered with dirt and debris from the roof. The appearance of the house improved immensely. We know a good coat of paint on the soffits would improve the appearance greatly, but at this point a good bath is the best that we can do for Gladys.
We will go back tomorrow to finish the soffit work. In taking down the screening under the soffit vents, we discovered that the Florida room roof, which is fairly flat, has almost no insulation in it. We will contact the insulation company that is coming in next week to see if we can get some insulation blown into that roof also. We know that the real savings will not come until we can replace all of the Florida room windows, but for now we need to take this one step at a time. More insulation certainly will not hurt our energy bills!
I talked to my friend Rose as she was my guardian angel today. I applied online to work at NWTC in the fall as an adjunct instructor. Rose went to campus and signed me up for the classes I would like to teach. She went beyond the call of duty, and I owe her a huge thanks. I promised her at least a home made key lime pie when we return home in August.
Rick and I learned today that we can tolerate working outdoors as long as we quit by at least 11:30 a.m. Going in and out of the air conditioning is more hard on us than just staying in the heat. Dunedin usually has a beautiful tropical breeze, and we found that sitting in the backyard in the shade while enjoying the breeze was quite tolerable even though the temperatures were in the low 90s.
No rain is in sight, and our hearts go out to all of the Florida residents who are losing their homes to the numerous wildfires around the state. Most of the fires are either south of us or are in the northeast corner of the state near Georgia. Pinellas County really is a peninsula that juts out into the Gulf of Mexico, so we are cut off from mainland fires. However, if a fire starts on the peninsula, it would spread quickly since right the county is rain-starved and thus very dry. This is supposed to be Florida's rainy season; unfortunately, the rain that the people did get brought lots of lightening which just ignited other fires. Lots and lots of rain would certainly help fight the fires, though.
The floors today looked much cleaner and better than they probably have in years. The crew have cleaned and bleached some of the cracks, took out all of the nailing strips from the bedrooms, and spent time today doing the detailed hand-grinding around the toilets and along the walls. Another application of bleach went on today to further try to reduce the appearance of stains that remain. Unfortunately, the worst stain is a glue stain that snakes across the house where the old glass doors separated the living and Florida rooms. We probably will have to live with that stain, but polishing and the addition of furnishings will make it less noticeable than it does right now in a totally empty house. This IS an old house, so occasionally Gladys will show a wrinkle or two.
Rick and I spent most of the day outside removing the wooden strips under the soffit vents and reinstalling them. As we go closer to one corner of the Florida room, we began to smell the distinct odor of a rotting rat. We have not caught a rat for two days, so we thought that we had gotten them all out of the attic. We think now that we have trapped some of them in the attic especially since we came upon a tiny newborn rat that was quickly dispatched from the current world. We will continue to clear the house of the vermin so that we feel we can leave the house secure.
When we finished one section of the Florida room, I washed down the drip edge which was covered with dirt and debris from the roof. The appearance of the house improved immensely. We know a good coat of paint on the soffits would improve the appearance greatly, but at this point a good bath is the best that we can do for Gladys.
We will go back tomorrow to finish the soffit work. In taking down the screening under the soffit vents, we discovered that the Florida room roof, which is fairly flat, has almost no insulation in it. We will contact the insulation company that is coming in next week to see if we can get some insulation blown into that roof also. We know that the real savings will not come until we can replace all of the Florida room windows, but for now we need to take this one step at a time. More insulation certainly will not hurt our energy bills!
I talked to my friend Rose as she was my guardian angel today. I applied online to work at NWTC in the fall as an adjunct instructor. Rose went to campus and signed me up for the classes I would like to teach. She went beyond the call of duty, and I owe her a huge thanks. I promised her at least a home made key lime pie when we return home in August.
Rick and I learned today that we can tolerate working outdoors as long as we quit by at least 11:30 a.m. Going in and out of the air conditioning is more hard on us than just staying in the heat. Dunedin usually has a beautiful tropical breeze, and we found that sitting in the backyard in the shade while enjoying the breeze was quite tolerable even though the temperatures were in the low 90s.
No rain is in sight, and our hearts go out to all of the Florida residents who are losing their homes to the numerous wildfires around the state. Most of the fires are either south of us or are in the northeast corner of the state near Georgia. Pinellas County really is a peninsula that juts out into the Gulf of Mexico, so we are cut off from mainland fires. However, if a fire starts on the peninsula, it would spread quickly since right the county is rain-starved and thus very dry. This is supposed to be Florida's rainy season; unfortunately, the rain that the people did get brought lots of lightening which just ignited other fires. Lots and lots of rain would certainly help fight the fires, though.
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