12 Days, Huh?
Drat. So much for regular posting. Unfortunately, nothing much of note has been going on.
I went to a "Beer Bash" on Friday at the local wine depot. What a joke. The 'patio party' had all of three people out there and it smelled of pot. Not fresh smoked either. Anyway, the group I was with decided unanimously to just get dinner and dash. We didn't stay for the live music either. And, based on the two 'songs' I heard, we weren't missing much by leaving.
School is in full stride right now. The schedule is a little grueling. I had no idea when I was a student it was possible that the professor wanted to be there even less than me. We have a fall break coming up this next week. The fall break is just two days but boy, oh boy, am I looking forward to it.
I hate when a fun, casual idea turns into a major project. Mole day is coming up. My department cohorts were going to celebrate by dressing up kind of nerdy and mentioning it to the students. WELL... one of the instructors just happened to mention this plan to our chair/boss. Oh jesus, now the fun, casual idea has morphed into a monster. We found out on Thursday that the 'word' had gone all the way to the ACTING PRESIDENT of the COLLEGE. The school AP has allotted us funds for mole day activities and they are going to list it in the bulletin that goes to the local paper. Fuck me. By Friday (the next day) we needed to have a list of activities written out. And next week we are off Thursday and Friday so everything needs to be done by Wednesday. Kill me. What was going to be a fun and casual thing just involving the science department is now a campus-wide "celebration" involving announcements on the TV bulletins, posted signs, contests, food, and local news coverage. Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck. Like I don't have enough shit to take care of in the middle of the semester with a course overload.
Work on the house is same as always. Slow but progressing. I almost maimed myself with the extension ladder this past week. I had it extended and was trying to un-extend it. I suppose, in retrospect, that trying to do this alone was stupid. The ladder is a 32' fiberglass behemoth. I only had it extended seven or eight rungs. In any event, that was enough for me to totally lose control and just barely manage to maneuver it away from the WINDOWS before it came crashing down on the ground! I modified my methods this weekend. I take the ladder down extended and then retract it while it is lying on the ground. Much more effective and, more importantly, safer for my bodily health and house.
Speaking of ladders, I really must remember to clean up debris from demo work before climbing on a ladder positioned in the middle of said debris. Otherwise, on climbing down off the ladder, there is a high likelihood of stepping on the debris in an ungainly and unbalanced fashion leading to sprained ankles. Really must remember that in the future. For now, ice and an ace bandage will have to do. Damn.
I really, really hope to have the wall/ceiling repair/remodel done this week. I've reframed the area, hung the sheet rock, and put on the first layer of mudding. Of course, once I finish there will be pictures posted. By the way, does anyone have tips for mudding the outside corners? I cannot for the life of me figure out how to make the mud 'stop' at the corner. I keep getting these little mud boogers hanging on. For now, my plan is to sand, and then sand some more to get rid of the boogers. It would be handy to find a way to avoid them altogether. In a not totally unrelated thought, I was really worried about the inside corners. I remember the ex had a hard time with them when he and his brother did the mudding for the basement. Just for the record, I don't know/remember what the trouble was about. I had a wall-to-wall inside corner and a ceiling-to-wall inside corner. I pre-cut the corner tape, laid some mud, shoved the tape in, and mudded/feathered over it. It was cake. I do have to admit though, I think I may be a bit too generous with the joint compound. Maybe that is why my tape stuck up just fine.
Oh, and I am learning how to embrace my inner sketchiness. When I was looking at houses here, the homeowner remodelling technique was determined to be, well, shit. And as it turns out, so is the work of professionals down here. They fudge on everything. Well, on this most recent project, I fudged in what I would consider a 'big ugly way'. I only bought one sheet (4'x8') of drywall (or sheet rock, if you prefer). I needed three long but narrow pieces, one end cap type piece, and then this weird triangle piece. The pictures will show why. Anyway, when I was done with the narrow pieces and the end cap I only had scraps left. Instead of getting another sheet of drywall, I put up scraps in the triangle area. This is totally sketchy because... wait for it... one of the scrap pieces is not actually attached to a stud! In fact, it isn't attached to anything! A free-floating piece of drywall. Yes, sketch at nearly it's best. The only thing that doesn't make this totally sketch is that once I mud the shit out of the area, it shouldn't really matter. Oh, the pity I feel if the next homeowner tries to hang a picture there. Baaahahahahahaha!!!! Oh, just so you know I am not a totally heartless sketch bitch homeowner - it would be a weird place to hang anything.
I really wish that men who are one of the following: missing teeth, barely above retarded, more than 60 years old, religious zealots, or bigoted assholes... would stop hitting on me! Dammit. This place seriously sucks in a special way that I have never had to deal with before.
On the upside, when I needed to buy only one sheet of drywall, joint compound, three 2'x4's, screws, tape, 3 metal outside corners, a roll of insulation, and one sheet of plywood (for a different project) - they delivered it for free AND offered to unload it in the room where I needed the stuff! I declined because my cats are indoor cats and I was concerned that the delivery man would leave the door hanging open between trips to the truck. But, wow, not the treatment I would get in a big city. A funny thing occurred during the delivery. I said I would take the joint compound inside while he unloaded the sheet goods. He kind of gave me a look and said, "oooookaaaay." He totally thought I wouldn't be able to lift the 5 gallon thing of joint compound. HA! Don't mess with me. I go to the gym and, gasp, don't do just cardio. And when I lift, I like to use free weights. Egads. He was surprised. It made me giggle inside.
Mmm, I just cannot think of anything else to write about. I am guessing that I won't blog again until I have pictures to post. Maybe Thursday if all goes well. Hope everyone had an excellent weekend!
I went to a "Beer Bash" on Friday at the local wine depot. What a joke. The 'patio party' had all of three people out there and it smelled of pot. Not fresh smoked either. Anyway, the group I was with decided unanimously to just get dinner and dash. We didn't stay for the live music either. And, based on the two 'songs' I heard, we weren't missing much by leaving.
School is in full stride right now. The schedule is a little grueling. I had no idea when I was a student it was possible that the professor wanted to be there even less than me. We have a fall break coming up this next week. The fall break is just two days but boy, oh boy, am I looking forward to it.
I hate when a fun, casual idea turns into a major project. Mole day is coming up. My department cohorts were going to celebrate by dressing up kind of nerdy and mentioning it to the students. WELL... one of the instructors just happened to mention this plan to our chair/boss. Oh jesus, now the fun, casual idea has morphed into a monster. We found out on Thursday that the 'word' had gone all the way to the ACTING PRESIDENT of the COLLEGE. The school AP has allotted us funds for mole day activities and they are going to list it in the bulletin that goes to the local paper. Fuck me. By Friday (the next day) we needed to have a list of activities written out. And next week we are off Thursday and Friday so everything needs to be done by Wednesday. Kill me. What was going to be a fun and casual thing just involving the science department is now a campus-wide "celebration" involving announcements on the TV bulletins, posted signs, contests, food, and local news coverage. Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck. Like I don't have enough shit to take care of in the middle of the semester with a course overload.
Work on the house is same as always. Slow but progressing. I almost maimed myself with the extension ladder this past week. I had it extended and was trying to un-extend it. I suppose, in retrospect, that trying to do this alone was stupid. The ladder is a 32' fiberglass behemoth. I only had it extended seven or eight rungs. In any event, that was enough for me to totally lose control and just barely manage to maneuver it away from the WINDOWS before it came crashing down on the ground! I modified my methods this weekend. I take the ladder down extended and then retract it while it is lying on the ground. Much more effective and, more importantly, safer for my bodily health and house.
Speaking of ladders, I really must remember to clean up debris from demo work before climbing on a ladder positioned in the middle of said debris. Otherwise, on climbing down off the ladder, there is a high likelihood of stepping on the debris in an ungainly and unbalanced fashion leading to sprained ankles. Really must remember that in the future. For now, ice and an ace bandage will have to do. Damn.
I really, really hope to have the wall/ceiling repair/remodel done this week. I've reframed the area, hung the sheet rock, and put on the first layer of mudding. Of course, once I finish there will be pictures posted. By the way, does anyone have tips for mudding the outside corners? I cannot for the life of me figure out how to make the mud 'stop' at the corner. I keep getting these little mud boogers hanging on. For now, my plan is to sand, and then sand some more to get rid of the boogers. It would be handy to find a way to avoid them altogether. In a not totally unrelated thought, I was really worried about the inside corners. I remember the ex had a hard time with them when he and his brother did the mudding for the basement. Just for the record, I don't know/remember what the trouble was about. I had a wall-to-wall inside corner and a ceiling-to-wall inside corner. I pre-cut the corner tape, laid some mud, shoved the tape in, and mudded/feathered over it. It was cake. I do have to admit though, I think I may be a bit too generous with the joint compound. Maybe that is why my tape stuck up just fine.
Oh, and I am learning how to embrace my inner sketchiness. When I was looking at houses here, the homeowner remodelling technique was determined to be, well, shit. And as it turns out, so is the work of professionals down here. They fudge on everything. Well, on this most recent project, I fudged in what I would consider a 'big ugly way'. I only bought one sheet (4'x8') of drywall (or sheet rock, if you prefer). I needed three long but narrow pieces, one end cap type piece, and then this weird triangle piece. The pictures will show why. Anyway, when I was done with the narrow pieces and the end cap I only had scraps left. Instead of getting another sheet of drywall, I put up scraps in the triangle area. This is totally sketchy because... wait for it... one of the scrap pieces is not actually attached to a stud! In fact, it isn't attached to anything! A free-floating piece of drywall. Yes, sketch at nearly it's best. The only thing that doesn't make this totally sketch is that once I mud the shit out of the area, it shouldn't really matter. Oh, the pity I feel if the next homeowner tries to hang a picture there. Baaahahahahahaha!!!! Oh, just so you know I am not a totally heartless sketch bitch homeowner - it would be a weird place to hang anything.
I really wish that men who are one of the following: missing teeth, barely above retarded, more than 60 years old, religious zealots, or bigoted assholes... would stop hitting on me! Dammit. This place seriously sucks in a special way that I have never had to deal with before.
On the upside, when I needed to buy only one sheet of drywall, joint compound, three 2'x4's, screws, tape, 3 metal outside corners, a roll of insulation, and one sheet of plywood (for a different project) - they delivered it for free AND offered to unload it in the room where I needed the stuff! I declined because my cats are indoor cats and I was concerned that the delivery man would leave the door hanging open between trips to the truck. But, wow, not the treatment I would get in a big city. A funny thing occurred during the delivery. I said I would take the joint compound inside while he unloaded the sheet goods. He kind of gave me a look and said, "oooookaaaay." He totally thought I wouldn't be able to lift the 5 gallon thing of joint compound. HA! Don't mess with me. I go to the gym and, gasp, don't do just cardio. And when I lift, I like to use free weights. Egads. He was surprised. It made me giggle inside.
Mmm, I just cannot think of anything else to write about. I am guessing that I won't blog again until I have pictures to post. Maybe Thursday if all goes well. Hope everyone had an excellent weekend!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment