Work projects

Yesterday, a dear and wonderful friend with a dear and wonderful husband and their dear and wonderful daughter came to our home to do projects. They arrived at 11:00 am. Originally, the husband had wanted to cut down trees in the back yard, but it has been raining and it would have been a muddy mess. Tom wanted to wait another month for the weather to be dry again a little longer.

Tom and L discussed which trees they wanted to topple. L is a real project guy, having built several additions to his different homes he has owned over time. He now has a house that is pretty much the way he wants it, or only has outside summer projects to address. I loved when my friend E offered up her husband's services for work projects. L is also an electrician. With the wiring in this house I need all the help I can get.

L looked in our garage power box only to find the wires are 14 gage not 12 gage, which is code. He recommends caution when plugging in to the outlets to make sure we don't put in to many items with high amp age and over load the wires, as the breakers might not trip as they should. We'll add the breaker box to our to do list. We are to go around and match and label all the breakers to lights and outlets. L had a cool plug tool that told you if an outlet was wired properly. I am going to get one for myself.

Since the trees were off the table for the day, we picked different projects to address. I had taken the cadet motor, in the man cave, in for servicing last week. New elements had been installed and the dusty motor had been cleaned. That visit cost me $115, but a new cadet would have run $240. I brought the cadet home and installed it. I thought everything was fine, but when Tom tried to use it, it kept shutting off. We thought it was the thermostat. L took a look at everything and finally opened up the cadet to look at my install. He found I had installed it upside down. 50/50 shot at getting it right and I miss. Everyone laughs, but I am grateful the problem was that easy to solve. It took an hour to figure out what the matter was.

Our next project is the running toilet. The main floor bathroom has a toilet that just occasionally runs. A slow leak from tank to bowl seems to be the culprit. My friend E pulls the plug and we add a replacement part to our list we are making of things we need at the hardware store.

Tom brings in the instant hot water, in a box that has been sitting in the garage since the first month we moved into the house. He wants to install it. Under the sink are all sorts of interesting plumbing. The list of things the men will need from the store grows; clamps, copper piping, isolation valve, caps, pressure joints. The list is long and if you have ever tried to do plumbing, everything has to be the right size and the right item. I am mentally rolling my eyes as I think it might be best for the men to go get these items themselves just to make sure what is brought home is correct, but I go ahead and do the run, twice.

Finally, three hours later the instant hot is installed and Tom is happy. I am happy. I don't like having boxes of things just sit and not be installed.

We had also been on a time crunch because the Lions were playing the Saints in New Orleans. Tom had to watch the game which started at 5:00 pm. After 5:oo pm he was done with honey do lists. We were so excited to get our projects done. E and I had time to sit on the couch and chat.

We even got more than one project done. The heater in the man cave works. We added a switch onto the cadet itself, but found once the motor was installed properly, the thermostat did operate properly. Now the two switches work together. The room feels delightfully warm and turns off the heat at just the right time.

The toilet still needs one more item to operate without running. I think the float needs adjusting and the washer in the bottom may need replacing. The float is a screw on the side of a tall tube on this model. My girl friend knows how to adjust it, so we will finish tackling it this week.

It was just so much fun accomplishing these tasks with friends. I called my girl friend this morning. When she picked up her first comment was "it's leaking". She tends always to think the worst, but I told her it was just the opposite. Tom was almost giddy as he filled his coffee cup this morning with instant hot water, not having to wait for the microwave for two minutes.

There is a reason he doesn't do Starbucks. He needs his caffeine NOW, with no waiting in lines, or for it to be prepared. He almost clicked his heals with glee, as he took his first sip from the cup. I thanked her and her husband for their assistance.

I can't wait until our next project day. I look forward to the chain saw day. E even has a friend that will buck up the wood and take it away. Tom's face perked up at the thought. He had not been looking forward to clean up. L was looking forward to the manly task of using his chain saw on a big tree. Nothing is more satisfying to a project driven man, or frightening to me, than seeing a tree 40 feet tall fall over. The trees I cut down were spindly things. These next trees are older and more substantial in their girth. A satisfying challenge to any testosterone driven male. So, in March, we tackle the trees. In the meantime I am still sorting and tossing in the basement.

I made room enough this week, that we can set up the resistance trainer today with Trevor's help. Then I want to move the TV game center in to that room. The boys want me to get a futon or couch for them. Right now they are using folding chairs which will work just fine for a while. I might even bring down the camp chairs for them. Anyway, off to the dungeon for more house keeping.