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Whisper It In My Ear.
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Jul 8, 2011 10:52 am
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Better yet ... leave a message, that no one else can or will see, except me. 
I've seen this on other Blogs and decided to give it a trial period on my own.
Who knows ... there may actually be someone out there who wants to get a non-public message to me, but is severely limited in doing so as a standard member.
Be my guest!
*looks around at the completely empty audience and sighs 
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Weekend Physical Exertions in Confined and Open Spaces
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May 21, 2012 11:37 am
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Sorry to disappoint anyone by the title, but no ... this isn't a post about having wild sex in a small car at a drive-in movie!!!
This past Friday I began the weekend by trimming the hedges and bushes in front of my home, then spending the next 3 hours cutting my half acre of grass (yes, with a 22" lawn mower, even though it is self-propelled, it takes me 3 hours).
After showering and getting dressed, Happy and I spent the evening having dinner with my love and her kids, at her house.
It was an early night for us though, as my legs were sore, and my love had just finished her first full week back to work after having been out of work for over a year.
Needless to say, we were both tired ... and she was looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday morning, but we did make plans to have some 'we' time at my house, Saturday evening.
Weekends don't have any significance, as far as my sleeping habits go, and I was out of bed a little after 7 am, even though my legs were still a little stiff and sore.
After Happy went out and watered a few trees in the back yard, I sat down at the computer with my first cup of coffee for the day.
Very unexpectedly, my love called at 8:45 am, and I could tell immediately by her voice that she hadn't gotten much sleep ... and when I asked her about it, she said she had a 'little emergency', and asked me if I could I help her.
Long story short, the handle that flushes her toilet broke the night before, and even though she figured out how to shut off the water supply to keep it from running all night, she was all upset and didn't get much sleep worrying about it.
** It should be noted here that my love worries about EVERYTHING! **
I told her that replacing the handle would only be a 10 minute job, once I got a new one, but as her toilet was about 30 years old (and looked it), she said she wanted to replace it with a whole new one!
Having already replaced a total of 3 toilets in my lifetime, with the last one having been done just last spring, I told her I would pack up my tools and be up in about an hour ... that would give her time to look online at Home Depot and Lowes, to see what brand, style, color, cost, she wanted ... and we could go get one and I would replace it.
Silly me ... she had already been online for over an hour doing so, as well as watching an online video that showed step-by-step how to replace an old toilet with a new one!
Fast forward to me getting there and measuring what she had with a tape measure, to make sure we didn't get something that wouldn't fit (her bathroom is very small and the sink vanity is right up against the toilet tank) ... then we went up to the local Home Depot, she picked out a new one, and we also got a new flexible water feed hose and a tube of silicone caulk.
Lifting the 90 lbs. of the boxed-up new toilet off the rack and then into my truck wasn't too much of a strain, but I took my time carrying it up the stairs in her house to the bathroom ... after all, 90 lbs, is 90 lbs., and I'm not getting any younger!
The old toilet was drained of all the water and I was able to disconnect it fairly quick, even though there's not much room for someone my size to work there ... and although it felt heavier than the new one, I managed to get it down the stairs and outside without falling down the stairs or getting a hernia!
After I scraped off all of the old remnants of the old wax ring and stuffed an old towel in the drain, my love cleaned the wall and floor area where the toilet had been of all the 'yucky' stuff.
I unpacked the new toilet from the box it was in, and before assembling it, I made sure it would fit by piecing it together, in place, despite having already measured the old one and having the dimensions of the new one on the box label.
It would indeed fit, but I would have to assemble it from the floor up, as I installed it, as there just wasn't enough room for me to place it already assembled onto the two floor bolts.
The 'bowl', or base went first, which was no problem, even though there wasn't enough room for me to comfortably work between the base and the tub, but I was able to 'finger-tighten' it to the floor.
Likewise putting the tank onto the base, but that's where the lack of space proved to be a nightmare.
There are two slot-head bolts with heavy rubber gasket-washers that go down through the tank, through the back top of the bowl, and are secured there with washers and nuts on each side, underneath.
The left side one was no problem, as there was enough space for me to get my left arm and hand, and part of my body under there, to tighten the nut, while my right hand was down inside of the tank, keeping the slotted bolt head from turning ... but the right side of the toilet was flush up against the side of the vanity, with no space whatsoever!
Try as I may, I couldn't get enough of my weight down on the top of the tank, so that the right side nut and bolt would be tight enough to seal the gasket-washer ... which would have left the tank a bit wobbly, and eventually would cause water to leak out of the tank.
My love tried to help, by pushing down on the right side of the top of the tank, but with me there, and the vanity being in the way, and her being only 5' tall, she couldn't get close enough to push it down hard enough.
After loosening the left side, I finally put the side of my head on the top of the right side of the tank to push it down, and with my left hand down inside the tank, and my right arm stretched under the edge of the bowl and up to secure the underneath nut and washer with my right hand, I got it 'china-to-china' tight, with no wobble; then, I re-tightened the left side.
This was one time when having long arms became a bonus.
After installing the seat and cover, caulking all around the base with the clear silicone, and a 'final-tightening' of the base nuts with a wrench, I installed the new flexible feed-water hose, turned on the water, and flushed it a few times, checking for any leaks, which thankfully, there were none.
After several hours of being on my knees, being wedged in a very tight space, and feeling like Gulliver in the land of Lilliput, in a second floor bathroom on an 82 degree day, my knees were burning with pain, and I was soaked with sweat!
I packed up my tools, loaded the old toilet in the back of my truck (yes, it was DEFINITELY heavier than the new one), to get rid of it, and after kissing my love good-bye, drove to where I dumped off the old toilet, and then went home.
A few hours later, after I had showered and relaxed, and she had run a few errands, my love showed up at my house, we had dinner together ... and, we even managed to spend some extended 'quality' physical time together, where having more than enough room to do so is NEVER an issue ... before she went home.
Even though we attended a multiple family-member's birthday/dinner at her sister's home all day yesterday (one cake to celebrate two birthdays, a day apart), which basically just saw us sitting around on the deck all day, and not moving around too much (except when all of the kids went swimming in the lake, and we went along to watch them), I'm STILL feeling the effects of ALL of my body's physical exertions from this past weekend, today.
... And, unlike my love, who had to get up and go to work this morning, I get to just sit around and recuperate, some more!
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Lately, This Is True
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May 18, 2012 8:29 am
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At times, although rarely, my motivational factor drops to near zero!
The past few days, especially for the 3 days in a row that it rained this week, that is how I've been feeling.
Getting out of bed in the morning becomes more of a necessity than a desire, and even though the weather had turned nice again yesterday, I just sat in the house all day, in front of my computer.
I can only guess at why I feel this way, but whatever the reason, at least I do have something that will get me going today ... about half an acre of grass to be cut, after trimming the hedges and shrubs out front.
Even though I cut the grass just last Friday, the warmer weather and rain we've had in the past week served to literally have everything that is green outside explode with growth!
So he won't have to stay in the house alone for 3 or 4 hours, I put up a 'run' for Happy that I attach his leash to, so he can be outside with me, although 'confined' to the back yard ... his puppy sense of smell and adventure tend to have him wander off of the yard if I let him run free, and I can't watch him constantly while I'm mowing and trimming.
Oh well, I might as well keep this short and get to it, as the rest of this weekend's weather forecast is for another good one, and with any kind of luck, someone may be interested in looking at my home to buy it.
... And, with the extended forecast of rain and showers for most of the days next week, I already know that I'll be out there again, probably next Friday!
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A Reason To Smile
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May 17, 2012 12:24 pm
221 Views
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It's not often that I'll go to my mail box ... pull out what has been delivered ... look through it ... open everything except the 'junk' mail ... and smile.
... But today I did!
Along with the water bill, the renewal form for my motor vehicle registration, and two (2) post cards from different moving & storage companies (I've been getting at least one a week since my house went on the market), I received a statement for professional services due from my attorney.
That may not sound like anything to smile about, but the amount due for the items on that statement represents the final cost for the divorce proceedings from ex-wife #3 ... and when added to what I've already paid him, amounts to a grand total of $850.00!
Yes ... you read right, $850.00, TOTAL!!!
No, I'm not pulling your leg here, or recommending that everyone contemplating filing divorce papers on their spouse, and wanting to save some big bucks, relocate to Connecticut, first ... I'm just sharing the reality and truth of MY personal cost!
Even though my now-ex hired a RFB attorney, I acted as my own legal representative through the divorce portion of the proceedings, which was uncontested ... and once that was over with, I brought in my attorney for the financial case management, as my 'co-counsel'.
He did advise me on what I needed to do, as far as what would be my best possible outcome, but I continued to provide and file the necessary paperwork, without his office being involved.
He did have to spend 20 minutes in court with me last month, when the final financial case management agreements were presided over by a judge, but I continued to 'do-it-myself' by filing the deed transfers to my property, that removed my ex-wife from them, afterwards, instead of doing so through his office.
In addition to my 'paltry' legal bill, it did cost me a cash settlement to my ex that amounted to less than 8% of my total property holdings, based on the current appraisal by the property appraiser that I paid for.
That figure was decided upon and recommended to the judge by two random attorneys, who look over each party's financial affidavits, during what they call a "Master's Hearing".
Both parties have the choice of accepting their decision or fighting it, but at that point it's pretty much cut-and-dried, and any changes to that decision become a 'crap-shoot' for both parties (I may have been ordered to pay more, the same amount, or nothing, depending on the mood of the judge, which party was fighting it, and whatever reasons there may have been as to why it was being fought).
My ex ended up getting just over 25% of that cash settlement, as the check was made out to her RFB attorney, as 'trustee' for my ex ... which translated means my ex hadn't paid her anything since the original retainer to get the ball rolling ... which she had 'suckered' ... excuse me, 'borrowed', from her mother.
...And, even though I'd never incriminate myself, or anyone else, by saying how I found out ... I know exactly how much her RFB attorney had charged her for everything ... which ended up totaling over 18 times what my attorney's fee was!
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Open House - Epilogue
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May 16, 2012 1:06 pm
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So there you have it, my friends ... you now have viewed all of the rooms in my home, know the dimensions of those rooms, and with but a few exceptions, by a few individual's ... you now know what colors you don't want painted on the walls!
As with any life-altering situation that I have ever been faced with, I've resolved it in my mind that I have no other choice than to sell my home.
I don't blame anyone or anything for the circumstances that have brought me to this juncture of my life, nor will I give up hope that someone out there will not only want to buy my home, but will be able to secure the financing for it ... and soon.
I sincerely don't expect any of you who have looked at these pictures or read what I've written about my home to be sending me an email with an offer to buy it ... I never did.
*** Although, in retrospect, if I was going to ... and seeing as it just happens to be HNW ... I would definitely have signed with the woman in this picture as my real estate agent! ***
Under 'normal' circumstances, I never would have relaxed that 'veil of discretion' that many of us maintain to guard our privacy, and been as revealing as I have been in showing you my home.
... But, as I won't be residing here for much longer ... one way or another ... I'm glad that I was able to share this part of who I am with you all, before I walk out the front door, for the last time.
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Open House - Let's Take It Out In The Back Yard
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May 15, 2012 8:20 am
316 Views
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As comfortable as I am in any room in my home, so too am I comfortable in my own back yard ... especially at this time of the year.
The bursts of separate colors that dotted my back yard from the forsythia's, lilacs, and quince have all faded, but those few areas of isolated color are now filled by the many shades of lush green, and my one Japanese red maple, now that all of the leaves on the trees and bushes are full again.
The lawn is at it's best, now that the days of warmth, sunshine, and rain have rejuvenated it from its winter dormancy, and its growth has been made uniform, by it being mowed several times already.
As was the case last year, there are no seasonal additions to my back yard.
The screened canvas gazebo remains disassembled and stored in my storage shed, along with the over-sized folding canvas chairs and small tables.
My 'Dante's Inferno' model gas-grill will probably make a few appearances ... but like last summer, will for the most part remain in the storage shed, only to be wheeled out for occasional use.
Over the course of the many years I've lived here, my back yard has played host to several different swing sets, sand boxes, inflatable pools, lawn toys, and one tree house ...
... has seen many various types and numbers of lawn and patio furniture and grills, that were used for birthday, holiday, and week-end parties, or just for outdoor evening meals or relaxing ...
... during the winter, areas of it became skating rinks and also served as the get-off-and-go-again bottom of sled and toboggan runs ...
...and, the many hours of playing catch with gloves and baseballs, tossing around a football, frisbee, or kicking soccer balls, fortunately never resulted in one broken window.
Every indigenous species of birds around here, red and gray squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, raccoons, possums, skunks, snakes, moles, a few whitetail deer, neighborhood kids, dogs, cats, and my current mail carrier, have all practiced Eminent Domain through my back yard.
And including Happy, over the years a total of 7 dogs, too many cats to count, 5 rabbits, and one iguana, that grew to be 3 feet long, have all used my back yard as their personal 'toilet'; that required 'extra' lawn maintenance ... and more than a few back step 'scrapings' of sandals and sneakers!
Thinking back on all of those years, and the memories of all the things that have happened in my back yard, often brings a smile to my lips ... and if I could only have one dollar, for each and every hour that I mowed the lawn, raked leaves, trimmed the bushes, picked up fallen twigs, branches, limbs, and the half dozen trees that have come down in my back yard over the years, after hurricanes, close-by tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, and last October's pre-Halloween heavy wet snowfall ... I wouldn't have to sell my house.
... But at least, I'll always have those memories, of my back yard.
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Open House - The Laundry Room
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May 14, 2012 8:04 am
329 Views
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The final room that I'll show you inside my home (because the garage and the crawl space storage area is too much of a mess) is the laundry room, which is also in my basement.
Even though it was partitioned off from the rest of the basement shortly after the house was built, it remained unfinished until 4 years ago.
Any job worth doing is worth doing completely and right, so I added another ceiling light fixture, insulated and sheet-rocked the walls and the ceiling, framed and covered the opening to the crawl space behind the furnace and around the chimney with sheet rock, added stained wood floor, window, and door molding, and extended the vinyl flooring squares from the basement to cover the entire laundry room floor.
The window faces southwest, so the walls were painted a pale yellow to take advantage of the natural outside lighting, with the ceiling again painted with a semi-gloss white.
I put up some more free-standing corner shelving, and if you look in the bottom picture, although it's tough to make out clearly, I put in a full-room length hanger rod and shelf for extra and off-season clothes.
The hanger rod was the 'tough nut' that I had to crack for this room.
As the finished room is 8' X 12', I had to figure a way to make an 8 foot long hanger rod that didn't sag in the middle when loaded, and could be securely attached at both ends.
The conventional materials for hanger rods are either wood or aluminum tubing, and without a center support, which would keep it from sagging, and take away a small amount of hanger space, I came up with an alternative that proved to be much better.
I used a 1 - 1/4" diameter cast iron pipe, threaded on the outside ends, and two cast iron floor hub flanges, threaded on the inside.
Before I put up the sheet rock on the walls, I placed and attached two 2" X 6" stud sections between the vertical 2" X 4" studs on each end, to anchor the floor hub flanges to through the sheet rock with heavy lag screws ... and before I installed it, I coated the rod and flanges with Rustoleum spray enamel in a milk chocolate color.
After I had installed it, I tested it for strength and found that even by hanging on it with my full 225 lbs. of weight in the middle, the rod deflected less than 1/4 of an inch!
Although it is empty today, ex-wife #3 would fill it, the top shelf above it, a hope chest, and two chests of drawers with her 'off-season' clothing and shoes ... and STILL had MORE clothes she would pack away in several of those super-large plastic tub and top containers, for storage in the crawl space!
Her 'in-season' clothes and shoes would occupy 3/4 of the master bedroom closet, half of the other large bedroom closet, and all of the small bedroom closet, as well as all of her dresser drawers!
It's no wonder that she FILLED a U-Haul truck when she moved out of here, despite her taking only a few pieces of furniture!
I've heard the expression "clothes horse" applied to those that have an over-abundance of fashionable clothing ... but in her specific case, "clothes Clydesdale" would be more appropriate! 
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Open House - Let's Go Down To The Basement
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May 12, 2012 8:38 am
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In one corner of the kitchen is the door to go down to the basement, laundry room, garage, and during snowy weather, another outside door, at the ground level, at the front of the house.
When I finished building the house and moved into it, the only thing I did down here was to put up a wall and door to partition off the garage from the rest of the basement.
After a few years, I partitioned off the laundry room from the basement, put up white ceiling tiles, antique white paneling, and black & white checkerboard vinyl floor tiles to turn the basement into a rec room, with a few pieces of used furniture.
That was a short-lived idea, and for many years it became a 'junk' room, where things that weren't being used were stored, albeit quite haphazardly.
Four years ago, when I totally gutted and renovated the entire house, I used the basement as my workshop for staining wooden doors and moldings, cutting wood, and cutting sheetrock, for the upstairs rooms.
When the upstairs was completed, and as an afterthought, I decided to gut and renovate the basement, and also did the laundry room, which was never finished, too.
After additional lighting and outlets were put in, I routed all of the wiring for electricity, cable, and telephones, and insulated everywhere.
Sheetrock replaced the paneling and ceiling tiles, new vinyl flooring squares were put down, and a new wooden access door to the 'crawl-space' storage area, under the entire lower level of the house {and measures 24' X 24' X 4' high), was made and installed. I did get to pick the light green for this room, and as with all the other ceilings in the house, this one was painted with a semi-gloss white latex paint (it always makes the ceilings look 'new' with that degree of 'shine' on them, IMHO ).
Except for the area that is taken up by the stairs, the basement room measures 12' X 14', with the ceilings being only 7' high, except where the center support beam for the house (also covered with sheetrock) is 6' 4".
The picture on the left is looking up the stairs to the kitchen (with my little 'ham' on them).
The top picture on the right shows another angle of the stairs, the access door to the crawl space, and what turned out to be the toughest part of it all, in putting it up ... the angled 'ceiling' that covers the bottom of the upstairs stairs!
** attaching thin fir strips to the bottom of the oak upstairs stairs, strong enough to hold the sheetrock, and not splitting the oak, was quite the challenge! **
The middle view shows the doors to the garage and the laundry room (and no, there was no way to get away with removing the center beam support, so I just painted it the same color as the stairs), as well as some free-standing corner shelving I put in.
... And the bottom picture is looking at the 'other' front door and window, from the stairs.
Ex-wife #3 bought a gargantuan-sized couch and love seat for this room, and a portable TV was set up after I ran yet another cable from where the main cable comes into the garage and is split, and once again, the basement became a rec room.
Runner-rugs were put down, and during the wintertime the basement door was used to come and go to save the wall-to-wall carpeting in the living room, and not have to deal with the outside front stairs after a snowstorm, even after they were shoveled (being concrete, they tend to get icy, especially with daytime melting followed by nighttime freezing, and using salt on them erodes the concrete).
All of that furniture moved upstairs or was put in the crawl space, when her oldest moved in with his girlfriend, and they had their baby, while living down there.
Today, the room remains empty, except for one old chest of drawers that I refurbished, and it will remain so, until my home is sold.
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Open House - My Bedroom
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May 11, 2012 12:44 pm
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The 'master' bedroom in my home is 12' X 13' and most of it is taken up by my California King-sized, 4-poster bed.
Of all of the beds I've ever slept on (as well as doing other 'things' on) throughout my life, this is hands-down the winner in my book for both comfort and size.
For me, being 6' 4" tall, and having had three spinal operations in my life, I don't make this claim lightly.
The 30 year warranteed Stearns & Foster pillow-topped and bottomed mattress I have is as firm as any mattress I've ever tried, and as it's only had 5 years of use, thus far, I've never had a sleepless night on it.
Living alone, there's obviously more room in it than I'll ever need, but even when ex #3 slept with me, there was the option of cuddling up in the middle, or having enough room to turn over, without things going 'bump' during the night!
There are a few problems associated with having a bed this big, though ...
- making it, is one. The mattress is 6' 6" wide, 6' 8" long, and 19" thick. Add the side boards and foot board and it takes quite awhile to walk around this behemoth while changing the sheets; and,
- getting on and off of it. The 19" thick, pillow-topped and bottomed mattress is on two box springs (side-by-side), that rest on a heavy wooden under-frame, that is off of the floor ... and because of this arrangement, the measured height of the top of the mattress is 38" high off of the floor ... no problem for me, but an impossible height for my little dog Happy to jump on and off of ... and why, because she is only 5' tall, I bought a two-step, step-stand, for my love to be able to get up on it, without having to resort to mountain-climbing equipment!
As far as it being a 'playground' goes ... let's just say that there is plenty of room on it (although there has never been more than two on it at once, it could easily accommodate four) ... and accidently falling off of it, during the throes of passion, has never even been close to having happened!
The only two other possible things I can tell you about my bed is that because it is so heavy and massive, no matter what the level of activity on it, it never shakes, moves, nor have the posts ever bounced against the walls ... and, no ... no one has ever been tied to the bedposts ... yet! 
So now you know where I spend about 1/3 of my life, sleeping ... and sometimes, even more time doing 'other' things! 
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Open House - The 'Spare' Bedrooms
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May 10, 2012 7:21 am
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Living alone, I really have no need for 3 bedrooms, but that hasn't always been the case.
Over the course of my life in my home, 3 ex-wives, my 3 children, 2 ex-step-children (one of whom lived here with his girlfriend and their baby), and 2 ex-mother-in-law's have lived under my roof at various stages, for various lengths of time.
The top picture shows the larger of the two spare bedrooms, which is 11' X 12', and located at one end of the house, at the back of it, while the picture of the smaller one at the bottom is 10' X 10' and looks out on the front of the house.
The smaller room served as the nursery for all 3 of my kids, and as they grew, first my oldest daughter, and then my son, graduated to the larger room with their own bedroom sets.
When my youngest daughter outgrew her crib, her own bedroom set replaced it, and even after my son went away to college, it remained her bedroom until she moved out.
Now that the house is for sale, I still have to replace the doors to both rooms and the closet door in the smaller bedroom, courtesy of ex-wife #3's mentally ill youngest child, who had a habit of punching walls and doors whenever an 'episode' of that illness would occur.
It won't be the first time that those doors were replaced, but currently at $24. a door (not to mention having to drill out holes for the door handles, recess the hinges, and stain them), thankfully, it will be the last time.
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Open House - The Upper Level Hall
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May 9, 2012 10:25 am
463 Views
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Technically it's not a room, although I've heard tell that jail cells aren't as big as my hallway! The entire 'hall' area measures 6' 6" X 8'.
Even though I already showed you the bathroom, which is on the upper level of my split-level home, to get to it and the bedrooms you have to climb 6 stairs (left side of picture) to get up there.
Once at the top, the two large bedrooms are in front of you (top right picture), the smaller bedroom is to the left, and the bathroom is on your immediate right.
The middle picture on the right is what you would see as you come out of the bathroom with the smaller bedroom door frame visible on the left, my bedroom in the center, and the other large bedroom to the right.
The bottom picture on the right is what you see as you come out of my bedroom. The bathroom is at the far left, a storage closet (and access to the upper and lower attics) is to it's right, and the stairs down are straight ahead.
Careful! Happy has a habit of NOT moving from the next to last top stair when someone wants to go downstairs!
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Open House Resumed - The Bathroom
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May 8, 2012 12:40 pm
516 Views
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In the interest of maintaining my personal integrity to never knowingly disappoint anyone, I am resuming the 'Open House' posts of my home.
Thank you for saying you enjoyed them, bb!
What can I say about my bathroom???
Yes, there is ONLY one in the house ... but living alone doesn't pose any current problems for someone ALWAYS waiting to use it ... and for whomever buys the house, the provisions to add a second small bathroom in the basement are available, but capped.
** As a washer and dryer have always occupied the area adjacent to the drains that are capped, I never put in a second toilet and sink ... although at times in the past, when my back teeth were floating, I wished that I had! **
When I totally gutted and renovated my home 4 years ago (after ex-wife #2 left), the bath did undergo changes ... in fact except for the stained wooden shutters that are hinged to cover the lower-half of the window, almost everything was changed!
There had been a large wood with sliding mirror-doors 'medicine cabinet' (do people still call them that?) on the wall, over the vanity and sink, that replaced the smaller chrome recessed one that I put in when I built the house.
On each side of the original medicine cabinet were two wall mounted lights, each with an electrical outlet, but neither of them allowed the use of 3-pronged appliances (the advent of blow dryers, curling irons, etc. necessitated that it be changed). The wooden cabinet did have one 3-pronged outlet, but it was so big that I had to remove the light fixtures, using the wires from one of them to power the integrated 4-light bar at the top of it and the outlet. I just disconnected and capped the other one, and curled up the BX cable inside the recess, behind it.
Ex-wife #3's idea for the bathroom was to get rid of the cabinet in favor of a 24" X 30" wall mirror, and I installed two chrome and frosted glass cup, wall mounted, two-bulb lights, and two GFCI double outlets, on either side of it. A wall mounted single glass shelf was also installed just below the mirror, where a toothbrush holder resides on one end of it.
I had previously replaced the soft pastel-green ceramic tiles that went halfway up all of the walls with white laminated textured paneling, which was still in excellent shape, but I did install stained wood molding on the top of it.
The one piece vanity, with the cut-out for the sink, and sits on top of two drawers and 4 cabinets was also in good shape, so it was left alone.
The 'fugly' contact paper that ex-wife #2 had put up on the rest of the walls was removed, and a chocolate brown color was painted there and on the baseboard heating unit.
The fiberglass tub surround (that replaced the original soft pastel green ceramic tiles) was cracked and in poor condition, so it was replaced with white laminate plastic sheets and corners with shelves, after the sheet rock under it was totally replaced due to water damage.
The sink, toilet, and bath tub were all a soft pastel green color, but as the sink had a crack in it (probably from ex-wife #2, who was only 5' 3", and used to climb up on the vanity to change the light bulbs in the medicine cabinet light bar), and that color was no longer available, I replaced it with a white one that sits on the vanity and is raised up about 3/4 of an inch, instead of being flush with a vanity ring around it.
All of the fixtures were gold with clear plastic handles (and peeling ... again, ex-wife #2's choices), so all of them, as well as the towel and washcloth holders, recessed toilet paper holder, and light switch plate were replaced with chrome.
Rather than just replace the shower curtain rod with another straight chrome one, I installed one of those outward curved ones that gives you a little more 'elbow room' and eliminates the vinyl inside shower curtain from 'attacking' you while taking a shower!
After a new vinyl floor was installed, I sealed the walls and floor around the tub with clear silicone caulking to prevent any water damage to the sub-flooring.
I also installed a ceiling-mounted 100 cfm exhaust fan and light, dead center, which precludes the room from becoming 'foggy' after a hot shower, and with two self-closing vents on the unit itself and on the outside vent, cold air never comes in.
Other than a linen closet that the door to it is hidden behind, when the bathroom door is open, what you see in the pictures is it, and measures 8' deep, with 3' 6" of width between the vanity/cabinets (which is 5' long) and the linen closet, and opens to 7' between the wall where the toilet is and the bath tub, which is 5' long (no, I never have taken a bath in my home!).
About the only other things I can think to add are:
- in my years as a young adult, I did embrace the 'porcelain Goddess', after too much partying ... several times;
- I sincerely doubt that I will ever again utter these words loudly, to anyone ... "Come on up here and take a look at this!" ... because Happy already has a habit of standing up on his hind legs and looking into the bowl every time I flush the toilet;
- I absolutely HATE cleaning the toilet and tub; and,
- until my home is sold, and as it has always been ... it will STILL be my my favorite place to read the Sunday newspaper, while taking care of 'business'!
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Color My World ... My Yard, Not the Song!
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May 7, 2012 12:02 pm
522 Views
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NOTICE: I've decided to curtail writing 'Open House' posts. The declining number of views and comments told me it was too boring for most, and besides ... nothing much goes on in my bedroom, so why would anyone want to see that?
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We now return you to a 'regular' Blog ...
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For those of you who DO have jobs, it's back to work Monday.
For those of us who don't ... it's just another day in the life.
I helped my love ... no, to be honest, I near-crippled myself helping my love ... with her yard beautification yesterday!
We (loosely translated means she did it all ... I was just along to carry the stuff) had already gone to several places for her annuals, perennials, and mulch, and she had already put in a lot of them.
My job was to spread the mulch around all of the plants she finished putting in yesterday and the stuff that remained from previous years.
I came prepared wearing my 'outside work clothes', which after my love saw me in them, prompted her to start calling me a 'raggy'!
I'll admit that the jeans I had on have almost outlived their serviceable lifetime, because they are so worn at the knees that holes have blown out so bad, that half of my legs are showing through the rips and pieces hanging ... but they're the only pair of 'yard-work' jeans I have ... and even when I was on my knees, all I had to do is pull up the ripped-up pieces to cover those spots and keep my knees from becoming coated with ground-in dirt and grass.
Under her determined and watchful supervising eye, I accomplished this feat in just under 3 hours, and yes, even I'll admit, it does look great!
... But, after we were done and I sat to have a cup of coffee ... the PAIN started!
The entire areas on the backs of both of my legs were screaming in pain!
Every muscle, tendon, ligament ... and probably the skin on the back of my legs, had been continually stretched from straddling her flowerbeds, for most of the afternoon!
When my love asked why I didn't do it on my hands and knees, as she did, my only thought was to stand us both in front of a large mirror and remind her that she is 5' 0" and I'm 6' 4" ... I'm just too damn big to get down on all fours in the flower beds!!!!
Even after I managed to get up from the kitchen table and somehow climb the stairs to her bathroom, to shower and change, the gait of my walk still resembled that of an old whore on Sunday morning!
Now that may sound like a bit of an exaggeration to most, but after a long period of physical inactivity on my part (this entire winter only required shoveling 3 times), and having only mowed my lawn once, thus far; my body was letting me know that it's time to start doing more things of a physical nature, or it's going to continue to attack me with the pain that I experienced yesterday and last night!
With that in mind, I went fishing this morning!
I also noticed a lot of new vibrant colors out in my back yard, when Happy was out lifting his leg on anything vertical, after I got home (the quince bush and forsythia's have already bloomed and gone, and my dogwood out front didn't fare too well after that late October heavy wet snowfall, last fall).
Now even though I agree with my love that her yard looks great with all of the colors added by the flowers and mulch, I didn't spend a dime or have to do a thing to basically have the same feeling.
Does anyone know what those little bluish-purple flowers are (lower right picture) that are taking over the lawn on one side of my house?
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