Day 43

It was an interesting day. Ellen got almost all of the painting in the apartment done. She only has one door left to do.

Tomorrow's garbage day, so I hauled out the garbage. I also took a bunch of the junk that the previous owners had left in the well house and put it in the can. They also left some nuts and bolts in there that I sorted and moved to my parts cabinet in the garage.

I fixed the door seal on another door that the previous owners had messed up. Then I put a door seal on the apartment's garage door. I also sanded the new table some more. Now it's ready for Ellen to put on the second coat. Finally, I finished sorting the rest of the CD's. There's still more than two large boxes of them that didn't fit in the CD storage cabinet.

The IR extender came today so I installed it after lunch. It works like a champ. I need to get another cable to run to the subwoofer.

The paper started coming today. I'll have to make sure I set aside time to read it.

They were supposed to fix the dishwasher today. The service guy called to say he was coming. He asked what was wrong. When Ellen told him that it wouldn't turn on, he said look for a light switch that controls it. We found one and the dishwasher worked. So no service call, and we saved $60.

I contacted a guy from Craig's list about a table saw. He responded and we went to see it tonight. It's an old, heavily built, Craftsman. They don't build them like that anymore. For $100 it was a great buy. It was no picnic getting it off the truck though. The thing must weigh over 100 pounds.

Day 42

I got up fairly early this morning. I just didn't feel like sleeping in.

I called about getting the mower fixed. They wanted me to bring it in and they'll fix it in 3 or 4 weeks. It sounded stupid to me, but I don't have any choice. So I loaded it in the truck and drove it over. Unfortunately the ramps I bought are barely long enough to use if I can back up the truck to a slope.

Then we loaded up the truck with the washer, a light fixture, and some other junk that the previous owners left. It cost $20 to leave it at the "recycle" center. It was really just a transfer station.

The station was in Bee Cave. So we stopped at the mall and did some Christmas shopping. We also stopped at Lowe's and bought some curtains.

When we got home I put up the curtains in the apartment's small bedroom and living room. They look OK. Not great, but OK.

After dinner we attended the neighborhood association's annual meeting. There were six people there including us. They have trouble getting the board members to attend. The big issue was getting people to vote on increasing the dues.

Sears finally called about the dishwasher. They'll be here tomorrow "sometime between 8 and 5".

Day 41

I scored the RG6 today. I also got a bunch of connectors and a crimper. All for $65, that's a real deal.

We had to meet the seller in downtown Austin. So after-wards we went back up to Fry's to buy an antenna. They were out of stock. Instead I bought a whole lot of the hardware that I'll need to install the antenna. I'll have to get the antenna online.

Along the way we did some grocery shopping. I signed up for a newspaper subscription at a booth in front of HEB.

On the way home we stopped at a park so that Lucy could run. She did a whole lot of retrieves before she just got too tired to do anymore. That didn't do it for her though. When we got home she recuperated in about 2 hours and then drove us crazy. We gave her a Kong with a couple of cookies in it to keep her occupied.

I was going to do some work, but watching football interfered with that.

Day 40

Ellen is getting close to a red letter day. She finished painting the kitchen today. She needs to paint the inside of the entry doors and put a second coat on the closet doors. When that's done she will be FINISHED WITH THE APARTMENT PAINTING. She's already looking at colors for the guest bathroom in the house.

They called today about delivering the bed. It will be here Wednesday afternoon.

I made two scores on Craig's list. I got a rug for the large bedroom in the apartment. I also contacted a guy about getting some RG6. It's at a great price. I'll be meeting him tomorrow.

While Ellen painted I did a bunch of little tasks. I measured all the windows so that we can get drapes. I replaced the kitchen light in the apartment with the kitchen light that used to be in the house. Then I replaced the knob on one of the apartment's bathroom doors with one that used to be in the house. I fixed a sticking problem with the same door. Finally I picked up all of the paper in the bathroom and moved all of the stuff back into it.

With a floor and some window coverings the apartment wouldn't look half bad. We can't hide that it's a cheaply built place. However, it looks lightyears better than it did when we bought the place.

Day 39

We slept in rather than participate fully in Black Friday. We did our share though. After noon we went to Target, Walmart, and Best Buy. We didn't buy anything at Target because what we wanted wasn't there. We bought about 6 discounted blu-rays at each of Walmart and Best Buy. I was impressed with Best Buy. Even in the afternoon they had plenty of most of their loss leader products in stock.

When we got home I did a little bit of work on the apartment bathroom. I put the switch outlets back on after putting backing washers on the switches. This was needed because the builders couldn't nail a box to a stud correctly.

I also ordered the stuff we wanted from Target through their website.

We also scored the final piece of furniture that we needed for the house. We got a reproduction of an antique washstand to use as a microwave cart. It fits really well.

Day 38

Today is Thanksgiving. We'll have slices of a smoked turkey breast a little later.

We went over to Sears to buy some things at their Thanksgiving sale. I even managed to get a couple of Black Friday items today. The big things were a cart for the lawn mower and another set of shelves for the garage.

When I got home I spent the afternoon putting the cart and shelf together. Ellen did a little more painting in the apartment bathroom. She's getting very close to finishing it.

I was pissed that I couldn't find a paper. We didn't start looking until noon, and by then every place was sold out.

I'm going to watch football for the rest of the evening.

Day 37

I was planning on getting some stuff accomplished today, but it didn't work out that way. We stayed up pretty late last night, so we slept in late today. When we did get up I didn't feel like putting on much of an effort.

I decided to fill up the CD holder in the apartment. It only holds a fraction (about 150) of the CD's in my collection. So I unpacked all of the CD's and tried to pick out 150 of the best. That took all day and it still isn't done.

We also went out and got the ramps at Harbor Freight. We didn't go anywhere else.

Day 36

After yesterday's major effort we decided to take it easy today. We went around to several stores and bought a few items for the house. I tried to get some ramps for the truck at Harbor Freight so that I can load the lawn mower. They didn't have them, but they are supposed to have them tomorrow.

We met a lady from Craig's list in the Sear's parking lot. She sold us a nice dresser for the apartment. It turns out that her real job is laying tile. We'll probably talk to her about doing our bathroom.

We also stopped at the post office and Ellen solved the mystery of why we weren't getting our mail. The dumbshit at the post office gave us the keys to the wrong mailbox. The right box was filled with our mail.

After we go back we just sort of screwed around. Reading, surfing, watching TV and a movie.

Day 35

Ellen spent the day as a painting fool. She worked a good eight hours or more on the bathroom. She's got it almost done. When she finishes the doors the apartment will be finished. This is a big accomplishment. Except for some help I gave her on the living room and hallway she painted the whole apartment her self.

I had a crappy day. I started out trying to finish painting the table. Apparently the paint I put on reacted with the existing paint. The result was a surface covered with rough bumps like sandpaper. So instead of painting I sanded.

I called the home warranty place about the dishwasher. It's going to cost $60 to have them send someone out to look at it. The fine print says I might have to pay for parts also. Some warranty. I also called a guy to pick up the washer. He didn't want to.

Then I tried to install the flooring that I bought last Spring in the apartment attic. The 4x4 sheets wouldn't fit through the attic access so I had to cut them in half. By the time I got that done it was hotter than hell in that attic.

Then I decided to do something "easy". I got out the lawnmower to finish up a section by the back gate. I got about 1/4 done when the mower blade drive belt slipped off. I spent 2 hours struggling to get it back on. I thought I had it on correctly, but I was wrong. I got a little more mowing done before the belt self destructed. Now I have to buy some ramps so I can load the mower on the truck to get it fixed.

The only thing that went without a hitch was putting away the speaker shipping boxes. I'm disgusted.

Day 34

We basically took the day off. The morning was spent sleeping in and surfing. The only thing that we accomplished was giving the dog a dogicure. We went off to the grocery store to buy a paper. Then we came back and Ellen watched a chick flick while I read the paper.

One interesting thing. The subwoofer wasn't making noise today. I'm not sure if it has a problem or not.

We did a lot of online investigation on a new TV. I think we'll wait until after "cyber Monday" to order it.

I did spend a little time modifying a battery holder for the trailer. It's going to take a little effort to install, so I'll defer that for awhile.

Day 33

I'm writing this a little early because I'm tired and I don't want to wait until later.

We got to bed after midnight last night and got up at 7:45. We left a little after 8 to pick up the washer. Then we returned items at Home Depot and Radio Shack. We stopped to look at TV's at Best Buy. They didn't have the right models. We also picked up things for the house ad Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Target.

When we got back we installed the washer. Ellen did a test run and discovered that I hadn't tightened the hoses enough. Then she continued painting the bathroom. I was going to put a second coat on the table, but it isn't dry yet. So instead I went out and did some more weed eating. I got the front yard and most of the side yard done. I've still got the rest of the side yard, the back yard, and the area around the playhouse to go.

I may go look at a CD stand if the seller calls me back tonight.

Day 32

We started by going up to Fry's to get an optical cable. It's 30 miles one way. We ended up going to the Harbor Freight next door first. I bought a bunch of miscellaneous tools that I needed.

When we got to Fry's we bought the cable, a USB dongle, a soldering iron, and some cell phone chargers. All of it was much cheaper than we could have gotten anywhere else. We also looked at TV's. They have the one we want at a good price. Unfortunately the price isn't so good after giving the state $200. I think we'll order it online.

I was supposed to pick up the washer in the afternoon. The seller backed out. The guy with the table saw didn't call either.

More painting. Ellen in the bathroom. I put the second coat on the shelves and painted the table we bought. It will definitely need a second coat. Then I put all of the tools that I bought away.

I went to the house and finished pulling the wires. Then Ellen helped me put the TV back on the wall. We spent an hour or more setting up the pre-amp again. I even managed to make the trigger work for the new amplifiers. The bad part was that one of the HDMI cables was bad. That will only be a problem if we get HD satellite.

We ate our first dinner in the house - frozen pizza. After-wards we found out that the dishwasher won't turn on. I hope the home warranty covers that at least.

After everything was finally set up, we watched a blu-ray version of the latest Star Trek movie. I'd already seen it, so I left once I was sure the sound system was set up.

Day 31

We started out by gong to an estate sale. We scored a nice end table for the large bedroom in the apartment. It cost all of $5.00. Then we went to another place that advertised a warehouse of miscellaneous stuff. It was a bust. I was full of old broken down antiques and parts for repairing antiques.

After we got home it was time to do some more painting. Ellen continued on the bathroom. It looks like it will take a solid two coats to cover the ugly paint that was there. I painted the other sides of all the shelves. I also pulled the wires for the surround sound up to the TV. I would have finished except the optical cable wasn't long enough.

Then it was time to conference w/Jerry on finances. It looks like we are doing OK. It's just that after a lifetime of saving it feels wrong to withdraw money from an account.

In the evening I got a line on a second washer for $75. I'm going to try to get it tomorrow. Also a guy called about a table saw I asked about. I should be able to get that tomorrow also.

We finished the day conferencing in on the board meeting. The connection was lousy, so it was hard to keep up with what was going on.

Day 30

One month since we left the land of rain and cold. I haven't missed it one bit.

We spent the morning working. Ellen continued on the bathroom. It's going to take a lot of paint. After the first coat the underlying grey color is plain to see.

I put the shelf up in the laundry room. I also replaced the dryer hose connector with a flat one so that I could move the machines closer to the wall. It wasn't a big move, but it made a big difference.

After lunch we went to Wimberly to buy another table for the apartment kitchen. It's a lot better quality than the one we have now. Also it has drop leaves which make it fit better. We also stopped at ACE to get some paint for the table and some real, American made, masonry bits. On the way back we stopped in Dripping Springs at Home Depot for more bathroom paint. We also went to HEB and bought a whole lot of food. It's nice to have a place to store stuff.

After dinner I decided to do some more work. I drilled the rest of the second mounting hole for the closet door guide. With a decent bit it took about 30 seconds. Then I hung up a bunch of my tools on the pegboard in the garage. I like that a lot better than rooting for them in a toolbox.

Day 29

I began the day by getting a line on a new bathroom vanity for the apartment. $50 complete with sink and faucet. We'll see if the seller comes through.

We got kind of a slow start getting to Home Depot. It turns out that we got the wrong kind of rod holders. We bought the right ones. I also scored a parts bin at Lowes. I really needed it.

When we got back I took down the shelves in the bathroom and painted them. I think they're going to need two coats. It wasn't until I painted the shelves white that I realized what a dingy color they had painted the apartment. No wonder it looks so much better now.

Ellen paid a shit load of bills and then started to do some more painting in the bathroom. She is also doing the laundry. It's going to take all day.

After the painting I tried to put in the closet door guide. I got one hole drilled in the cement. The second hole hit a rock. I only got about halfway down before the drill bit was so dull that it broke. Oh well, back to Home Depot.

To fill in time I moved all my nuts and bolts to the new parts bin. It's got plenty of room for more. Then I spent an hour weedeating the areas that I couldn't hit with the mower. I got all of the area around the pump house and the basketball hoop done. I still have to do the yard. Maybe tomorrow.

Day 28

This was another pretty good day. I got the paper pulled up in the kitchen and the kitchen put back together. It came out great. I also got the broken washer out of the apartment and into the garage. I hung the closet doors. I couldn't put in the guides because the masonry bit I had was a cheap piece of Chinese shit that BENT when I tried to use it. Not broke, bent.

So while Ellen started cutting in the bathroom, I started to remove the remaining finish from the chest. From what Ellen's done, I think the bathroom is going to turn out as good as the kitchen. I made some good progress on the chest, but it's going to take a lot more work.

We did our daily trip to Home Depot (at least it seems that way). I picked up some hopefully decent bits and a shelf for the laundry room so Ellen can hang up clothes. Unfortunately part of the shelf doesn't fit together. That means another trip tomorrow morning. We also found a couple of nice rugs there at very good prices.

When I got home I started to do the shelf. I also spread out the rugs. They look pretty good.

Now, if I could find a cheap washer my life would be complete.

Day 27

We kind of hit the jackpot today. We continued our search for the bed at this large mall north of here. We looked in Macy's, Penney's, and Sears. Sears had a couple of beds that we could live with, but they cost $1,000.

Then we went to Dillard's. We'd never been in one of their stores before. They had good quality beds at better prices than we had seen anywhere. They even had a memory foam bed a a semi-reasonable ($1,299) price. Ellen decided that she needed that one. While they were doing the paperwork the salesman told us that the bed would cost only $1,000. Nice.

We walked the entire mall. It's large and had two floors. We scored another great deal at Penney's. We got a full set of pans and cooking utensils for less than half price. Apparently lots of stores are holding Black Friday sales early.

The savings more than offset running out of propane in the morning and having to pay $3.50/gal to get a tank filled.

Day 26

There was good and bad today. Ellen finished painting the apartment kitchen. That leaves only the bathroom and the apartment is painted.

I didn't do as well. I started to hang the closet doors. I got the doors cut. The doors are amazing. They're basically cardboard with a microscopic layer of wood on the outside. However, when I opened the slide box half the hardware was missing. I filled in some time trimming a tree and beginning to work on the chest. It's going to take some time to complete.

After lunch we went to look for a bed. The place we went to wanted a minimum of $1,100 for a bed. We're going to look at some other places tomorrow. We also tried to look at some furniture, but the sellers left home before we got there.

I struck out at buying a washer for the apartment. There's a lot out there, so I'm confident that we'll get one eventually.

Day 25

The washer/dryer was due in the early afternoon, so we headed to Home Depot in the morning. Ellen needed a little more paint to finish the kitchen. Also she had located a cheap mattress place near us.

At Home Depot we got the paint, some pegboard for the garage, an a microwave. The microwave was cheap, so we bought it. Then we went over to Target and bought bedding for the apartment bedrooms. Target was having a sale, so we got some bargains.

Then we went over and bought a full size mattress set for the apartment. It cost a little more than we thought, but it's a nice bed.

After that we went home to wait for the washer/dryer. It came on time. Ellen is really thrilled with them. She started immediately to wash the clothes that we hadn't been able to wash. I called about getting the washer fixed. The guy said that it wasn't worth fixing.

I installed the pegboard in the garage. Then we went to the grocery store. Now that we have a real refrigerator, so we bought a lot of stuff to put in it.

Day 24

After all the work we did yesterday, I decided to take it easy today. We got a surprising amount accomplished anyway. There were ads for two estate sales on Craig's list. We went to both. The first was a disappointment. It was really a low quality moving sale. The second was a real estate sale. I picked up a few small items at a great price.

After we went to the sale we went to Sears. They had some very good prices on washer/dryers, so we bought a pair. I also bought a whole house water filter for less than one third its normal price. It was a display model.

Then we went over to the gun club and signed up as members. We shot a round. The targets were pretty good. They have a "hard" course as well as an easy and "normal" course. They agreed to let us ship our ammo there. That avoids us having to pay shipping.

Finally, we stopped at a consignment furniture store. It had a perfect lamp table for the house, so we bought it.

All in all it was a successful day.

Day 23

We got our refrigerator today. It's pretty neat. We bought it last night about 8:00. It was delivered this morning before 10.

Both of us made a lot of progress today. Ellen got the first coat of paint on the kitchen and almost finished the trim. She has about one more day of work to do on the kitchen. She worked hard all day on it.

I took the washer apart, but I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. Of course the process soaked the paper that I had put down in the bathroom. I think the question is moot. Sears is having a washing machine sale tomorrow and we'll probably buy one.

Then I installed the new pump and oven vent in the trailer. The pump would have been easy except the manufacturer changed the way the pump connects to the water hoses. That necessitated a trip to Lowes. While I was there I got some nuts for the bunk beds and some casters for the full bed.

With the pump, nuts, and casters installed I decided to finish up the mowing. I spent two+ dusty dirty hours mowing the back road, the entry road, the area around the pump house, and the front yard. Things look pretty good. They'll look better if I bother to do some more work with the weedeater.

We're both very tired tonight. I think tomorrow should be a light day.

Day 22

I started out by doing the final connections on the audio system and turning it on. It works and sounds fine in 2 channel. I'm going to have to wait until Ellen reconfigures the preamp to check out surround. While doing this I discovered that the subwoofer is broken again. This time I think I'll just replace it.

After that I started to cleanup and put away stuff in the garage. I got about 1/4 done before I ran out of time.

Ellen continued to cut in the kitchen. She's a little over half way done.

After lunch we went to get the truck's door lock fixed (20+ miles down to San Marcos). It cost $450 and took most of the afternoon. Then we went over to Lowes and bought some closet doors for the apartment's large bedroom and a refrigerator for the house.

When we got home I filled the garbage can up and put it out for tomorrow.

Day 21

It was a pretty good day. I got the paper pulled up in the large bedroom. The furniture is back in place. All we need to do is get a mattress and it's ready for habitation. Then I swept up the place and then taped the bathroom. That's all the taping that needs to be done in the apartment.

Ellen got a lot of the cutting in done for the kitchen. There a lot of it to do. The kitchen is going to be really yellow - just what we wanted.

Two weird things. First last night I sprayed the wasp nests outside the apartment door. It killed a lot of bugs, but there were a lot left. All day long there were sick and not so sick wasps buzzing around the door. The not so sick ones were aggressive. I'm going to hit them again tonight.

That lead to the second weird thing. One of the wasps bit Lucy while she was in the kitchen. She jumped into the paint tray that Ellen was using. Lucy got paint all over her foot and face. She got an immediate bath.

After lunch we went to look at a couch from Craig's list. We didn't buy it. We bought the matching love seat instead. It was cheaper, in better shape, and fits the apartment better. All in all a good score.

We also drove into south Austin to look at a couple of antique stores. They didn't have anything that interested us.

Day 20

I finally got the stereo hooked together except for on speaker. I need to get some wire for it. I hope it all works when I turn it on.

I spent more than an hour putting together the bar stools we bought yesterday. They really fit well in the kitchen.

While I was doing that Ellen finished up the large bedroom. She even got a small start on the kitchen.

In the afternoon we went up north to pick up a set of bunk beds. They are very nice and sturdy. Now we have to get bedding. We had to partially disassemble them to get them through the tiny door into the bedroom. That was a serious pain in the ass.

In the evening I watched the Packers kick the shit out of Dallas. How nice.

Day 19

Ellen did a little painting of the large bedroom in the morning. She's getting near done. I spent the morning calling people on Craig's list. Also the speakers came this morning. Three big boxes that took awhile to unpack.

We spent the whole afternoon going to Craig's list people and doing some shopping. We got a chest and some bar stools. I also got some adapters for the stereo trigger cables. We ended up near Cabela's, so we stopped in. We bought a few odds and ends. I was surprised that we didn't have more credit. After all, I charged the $900 it cost to fix the well on that card.

Day 18

I forgot to post for this day. Nothing memorable happened anyway. We went to a couple of estate sales. There wasn't anything of interest.

Ellen worked on the large bedroom. It's slow going because of the closet. She's getting near finished though.

I used the mower for the first time. I mowed the entry road, the front yard, the back yard, and the side yard and septic field. I had to go over everything at least twice because the grass (weeds really) was so high. It's a very dirty job. I ended up covered in dirt and grass clippings. I still have the road to the shed and the area around the basketball hoop to mow.

After mowing I did a little more unpacking/putting away of stuff in the house. It's time consuming and I use it as a time filling task when I'm too disgusted to do anything else.

Day 17

Ellen put in a long day. She touched up the paint in the small bedroom and painted the door. Then she got the large bedroom completely painted except for the closet. She even put a second coat on two of the walls.

I started the day by taping the kitchen. It was a pain because I had to work around the table and appliances. Then I took up the paper in the small bedroom. That completes the small bedroom.

The guy we bought the mower from delivered it in the morning. It looks great. I'm going to try it out tomorrow. That gives the grass some time to dry out from yesterday's rain.

In the afternoon i put some handles on the CD cabinet that we bought. I think that they came out looking pretty good. Then I continued to wire up the stereo. I needed another cable so I went to my trunk to get one. I ended up cleaning out the whole trunk in order to find what I needed. Then I discovered that the new amps use a micro plug for the trigger cables. I'll need to get adapters or make up cables.

I think that we'll hit a couple of estate sales tomorrow morning before doing any work.

Day 16

We were tired, so we slept in. Then we decided to do some errands. We had to get money for the mower. We also wanted to get a post office box. I needed to get a prescription filled. And we wanted to look into a credit union.

We got the money and the prescription. We got an application for the post office box, but no box. The credit unions didn't have loan officers, so we have to call people. All in all not a very good score.

I did order some repair parts for the trailer. I also did some work to hook up the two amplifiers for the surround sound. I got it about 2/3 done before I quit because I didn't feel like working anymore.

Tomorrow we'll get back to work. Ellen will start on the second bedroom and I'll tape up the kitchen and finish the stereo wiring.

Day 15

This was a big change from yesterday. The day started out cloudy and cool. It warmed up a little and the wind started blowing. Then it started raining in the late afternoon.

They replaced the pressure tank in the morning. The water is working now.

From my point of view the weather was perfect. I spent half of the day weed eating around the parking areas and the driveway. I didn't get the driveway done because I ran out of extension cords.

I also taped up the big bedroom in the apartment. Ellen made a lot of progress. She put the second coat on the small bedroom and did its trim. She'll be able to start the big bedroom tomorrow.

I also finally finished unloading the trailer. I even got a lot of the stuff that was supposed to go into the garage put away. There's still a lot to go though.

In the evening we went to see a lawn tractor that was advertised on Craig's list. It was in good shape at a reasonable price so we're going to buy it. We'll have to get the money from somewhere tomorrow. We also did the laundry art a laundromat. That's because the hot water smells like sulphur and the water coming out of the tap is brown.

Day 14

It was hot (85 degrees) and humid (75%) today. That made for a sweaty and uncomfortable day. I started out by putting down the paper in the apartment's small bedroom. Then Ellen spent the day putting the first coat of paint on it.

While Ellen was painting I weed-eated the car parking space. I also cut back the Wisteria on the deck. The thing was amazing. During the summer it had managed to grow across the 5 foot entrance to the deck and wrap around the post on the other side.

The weed eating stopped when the guard fell off and I didn't have the right screws to reattach it. I started unloading the trailer. I got the inside unloaded and the tool cart assembled to put some of the stuff in. The cowhide that we bought looks great on the bedroom floor.

The well guys came out to fix the well. The bladder in the pressure tank had ruptured. Unfortunately that causes the well pump to short cycle. This had damaged the well pump. Hopefully it won't need replacing. They're bring out a new pressure tank tomorrow.

We spent the late afternoon looking at appliances. They didn't have what we wanted in stock. I also picked up a DVD cabinet that I saw on Craig's list. It's a nice inlaid cabinet in great shape that I got for $45.