Final HVAC and electrical inspections passed on the new shop today, and getting a minor completed item on the main structure signed off reset the permit expiration date, getting me time to do the awning and paver driveway in not-February, when the ground is neither frozen nor liquid. The inspector was super-helpful in navigating the process.
We got a puppy and it has allowed me to wake up my teenage daughter without her yelling at me.
if I need to go wake up daughter. I bring the puppy and put the pup on her bed. The puppy likes kids face and wakes up not angry. Win
Took the kid sledding. We had a great time. All the bullE36 M3 and problems disappeared. For 2 hours, I was free.
Thanks, buddy.
I came in here with the intention of mentioning one minor win and then realized I have a handful. Please forgive the lengthy post.
I finally bought a pop-up canopy. Spent more than I wanted (despite being on clearance) and got more than I need, meaning it's built with heavier fabric and has a vent and two awnings to give 10x17 coverage. It'll be nice to be able to set that up for driveway repair tasks or gardening chores when the western Oregon winter and spring weather is doing what it always does.
Spotted an old four-stroke string trimmer at the local feelgood resale charity shop. I don't need another trimmer, but it has the split boom that lets it share accessories with my existing trimmer. Took a chance on it for $30 and it makes brap-brap noises on starting fluid. More than likely it was donated because it has a dumb trimmer head that takes precut lengths of line, or because the fuel lines have turned to chalk and it won't stay running. It will be nice to have one that runs a little quieter than the old Poulan and doesn't need premix. Or maybe I'll get stupid and hang the engine on a stand-up scooter. We'll see.
One of my coworkers is a certified master gardener. In exchange for tuning up his Honda cultivator and correcting some deferred maintenance, he gave us a bunch of grow lights that Mrs. Monohue wanted for her veggie seedlings.
Little Monohue started preschool this week. No drama, no protestations. It will be hugely beneficial for both him and his mother to get him out of the house for a few hours a day and engaged with other kids and other adults. And a couple of weeks ago he decided it was time for him to leave the crib in our room and start sleeping in his own bed. Both of those are actually fairly major wins, as minor wins go.
I've cut alcohol consumption from any old time I want down to two days a week, with exceptions allowed for particularly brutal days. Also trying to snack less, especially after dinner, and trying to get in the habit of using a dish so I know when I'm done rather than just going elbow-deep into the bag or box of whatever until I realize I'm way past the point of no return. I hope to see some slow and steady results on the scale. If those don't occur I will revisit the approach. If nothing else, I don't feel as lethargic at the end of the day as I used to, and am spending less money on consumables.
January had an unusually high number of working hours, and I got reimbursed for a fair number of travel miles, so we have a little more in the kitty than normal.
So far, so good...
Friday afternoon we got called to the paint building. It was cold Friday and one of the heaters wasn't working. We found a tripped thermal switch inside and reset it.
We're up there this morning and notice the same heater is not running, but it wasn't nearly as cold and not particularly cold in the room. Right away apprentice boy starts taking it apart and went straight to the thermal switch, which was ok. I watch him for a while and ask a few questions. He was stumped and admitted as much, so I told him to put it back together.
Then I powered down the other unit and opened the door. Within a minute the heater cycled on. He learned an important lesson about troubleshooting and jumping to conclusions. Teaching has become my favourite part of the job.
My dad was discharged from the hospital today and I've got him home.
Though it's a bit of a pain, old man with enlarged prostate is kind of enjoying the freedom permitted him by Foley catheter and thigh bag.
The airline found our baggage and got it to us today!
Great weekend with the kids, went 1 children's museum per day, with kids via family or friends with us each day. The almost-2 year old stayed dry for all of our car rides and trips, 1 week into learning.
Tonight I cleaned the courier off and emptied ~100lbs worth of metal out of the garage that I have been saving "just in case" for years. I might wish I had some of it back, but I don't think so.
Just learned that I can get a CDL with diabetes. They updated the rules in 2018.
A week ago I get a call from my wife saying the rear part of the exhaust fell off of our 2010 9-5 while she was pulling into her parking space at work. The car had "custom" exhaust on it when we bought it that droned badly around 2200 rpm, made riding in the back of it not the best, so this was good news to me. My middle son and I went to see what the damage was and used coat hangers to get the middle section off the ground, the best part is the drone is gone and I honestly don't think the car is any lounder now.
We found a place with pretty good huevos rancheros over the weekend. It's an hour away, but it's a nice drive up the Columbia River Gorge in an area we like to visit every now and then anyhow.
I was wrong - I contacted Menards and they said to bring it back.
A very minor win but a win is a win: It was 60 F sunny and dry here today so the fun car got uncovered and taken for a ride.
You know how when folks try to build a better idiot-proof thing and it just takes the idiots stepping up their game? I'm guessing I was the idiot this time. I had cause to try out sendcutsend for some brackets, and was expecting them soon.
This morning, I get a voicemail from someone, leaving no name, who says they have a package for me, "looks like some machined parts," and to call back if that makes sense.
I go back and look at the order, and the shipping address is my street number, but instead of my street name, it's the same number street as the last digit of my house number. I can only guess, but I'm thinking I got out of sync with one of those auto-populating/validating things and tabbed away just as/after/or-before it was doing something clever, possibly in competition with the browser trying to enter a saved address... I should've caught it, but I guess I — the better idiot in question — got the upper hand in the arms race this time.
Anyhow, the win is that I got ahold of the caller, and he very nicely (if a little trepidatiously) went ten minutes the wrong direction on his errands to drop my stuff off. This may have been in part motivated by not wanting to invite some random person who can't enter a reasonable shipping address (c'est moi) to his house, but I appreciate it all the same. It was also kinda funny that he asked whether the MGB GT under cover in the driveway was a Jag and when I corrected him, he noted his dad still has the MGA he bought for $45 when he was 12. The guy was an architect, so he also got a kick out of the new shop and the planned awning for which he was delivering the brackets.
I have discovered Chemical Guys car cleaning products and it is good. I will never go back to my old products and methods for cleaning cars.
I took Saturday off yesterday to literally have one day off a week. I basically did a little cleaning, some cooking, cat petting, sleeping, and screwing around all day and I deserved it.
Got a little smoker to go with the big smoker...
Went junkyarding with wae today. Was unable to get anything I was looking for, but we snagged a transmission and some interior parts for him from a relatively well-preserved Neon. I'm just happy to have gotten out of the house for something other than the usual errands or trip to the drive through.
Two 10' sections of pipe fit in the S60R with the trunklid closed.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
That's fantastic.
I won $400 on the work Super Bowl squares. I don't watch the sport, I don't understand the sport, I don't understand how the squares work. I just paid my coworker $40, scribbled my name in some random spots, and come into work to an envelope of money on my toolbox.
Had a great day yesterday wrenching on my oldest car with him. He has been into cars since he was 3, now 19, but now that he nominally has a car of his own that he likes he seems to be more interested in working in the garage. We changed the oil, plugs, Direct Ignition Cassette, its an 02 SAAB 9-5 Aero, swapped out the Xenon headlight bulbs and electronics and polished up the headlights.
After years of pining, I finally have a garage!
In reply to G_Body_Man (Forum Supporter) :
Awesome. Hadn't heard from you in a while.
In reply to G_Body_Man (Forum Supporter) :
Look at you all growns up!
(sorry that's a swingers reference which I know is ancient history in movies terms)
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