Day 341

We got up with the alarm today.  It was a quick shave/brush teeth, then pet stuff.  There was no time for breakfast.  We had to be at the Mazda place at 8:40.  I left at 8 and it was good that we did.  The stop lights on Mopac weren't bad, but the backup for downtown started at the William Cannon exit.  I got off there, waited at the light, and then got back on.  That allowed me to use the exit lanes to get to 290.  It's the only reason we got there on time.

It didn't take all that long for the oil change and inspection.  Better yet, there was no charge (really pre-paid).  Unfortunately the car's been recalled and it will take half a day to fix it.  We'll have to schedule a time to do that.  Lucy even got a couple of treats.  I played a lot of Minions.  We had to sit in front of a TV playing a daytime talk show.  It was painful.

After the oil change we stopped at hate-chicken for a late (10:00) breakfast.  The number of people going through the drive through and inside was amazing.  They had a guy out there directing traffic and another taking drive through orders.  They were needed.  Lucy got some egg.

We then went over to Lowe's to get lag bolts and stuff to make a door stop for the safe door.  I also got a better latch for the metal cabinet.  Lucy got a lot of petting, but no treats.  The next stop was the soccer field.  Lucy did 15 long retrieves, which was impressive because it was sunny and hot.  After a stop at the post office we went home.

When we got back I took out the recycling and then went to the garage to assemble a door stop and replace the cabinet latch.  It was hot in the garage, but I figured I'd need a shower later anyway. 

I took the door stop back to the house and installed it.  It worked sweet.  Then I bolted the safe to the wall.  The first bolt went easy.  The second and third caused me grief.  The drill hung up on the interior felt and balled it all up.  Then the drill got dull and didn't want to drill through the safe.  It took quite awhile to fix.

By then it was 2 and I stopped for lunch and a shower.  Afterwards I decided to load the safe even though I was pretty tired.

The internal space in the new safe is significantly smaller than the old one.  It's 2 inches shallower, and the walls are thicker.  I spent a lot of time making sure the shelves were in the optimal place.  I even went out to the garage cut, and rewrapped, one of the extra shelves to allow me to use part of the right hand long gun space as a shelf.  The pockets on the inside of the door were really helpful.

I did manage to get everything into the new safe except for one rifle which I switched with one in the small safe.  It's not going to hold anything else.  The good thing is that even though it's more crowded, things are actually a little more accessible.  I'm happy.

I didn't get finished until almost 5:30.  I was really tired - it was a full day.  The evening was reading, surfing, and TV.  Basically occupy recliner.