Kitchen

My wife, Christina and I looked at some new appliances a while back and we decided on Kenmore Elite, even though we have had a horrible time with repairs with our Electrolux washer and dryer.  The call center sends a repair tech out to verify that it is broken even though we call in the part number and the kit number that is need BEFORE the tech arrives (door gasket on washer gets torn)  and this wastes the time of the tech and myself or my wife who has to be here (and I can never get a time when I am not working.

But we both agreed that it wasn't an issue with the technicians but a problem at the call center.

Side note.  I can now order the gasket and install it myself with out the need of a tech and not void my warranty.

The Dishwasher

The Refrigerator

We already have a Range that is 4 years old and just repaired from lightning damage.  so now it is a matter of wait for our Tax return and we will use that this year for appliances instead of a new furnace or washer and dryer for the parents.  And that will be a story for another day.

 

P U !

Went to bed earlier than normal and woke up about 2 am.  did a walk around through the house and turned off lights and other things.  When I....... Damn,  WTF is that smell????  

Smells familiar....

If anyone can remember, awhile back I bought a mini van that was the home of many mice.  and they made a mess of things.  I took that car apart ( 90 degree weather ) stripped the interior and cleaned that car so that horrible dead mouse smell would be gone...

That's it!!!!!

I think the mouse poison we put down around the foundation and under the floor worked.  But now the mice are dead in places that are kinda hard to get at. 

I got 1 carcass out.  did a little bleaching.  do more in the morning I think.  getting tired again.... night night  

Christmas of 2010

Things have happened over the years that make you smile and then there are the times that make milk come out of your nose because you are laughing so hard.

My friend, Jim Sparks and his 2 children , Jimmy and Jillian, came down from Alexandria, MN for the holiday and we were going to the parents house for supper.

Mom was getting the mashed potatoes ready and Dad was sitting in his corner chair in the kitchen drinking coffee with Sparky and I when I noticed Jillian fascinated with Dads carbon fiber leg.  So I told her about the time when I found dad snoring in the living room and snuck up to him.  I unscrewed his ankle joint and turned his foot all the way around so it was pointing backwards.....when dad woke up and tried to chase after me, all he could do was run in circles.

Jillian looked me square in the eyes and with the most believing tone said reeeaally????  coffee and milk came out of my nose and grandma almost chocked on her teeth...

There are affidavits on file....

Dads last wishes, the grease fire, and the burning permit....

The relationship between my father in law and myself has changed over the years.  My wife was 17 and still in high school when she became pregnant with our first son, Todd.  Other than the fact that this was against the law, sexual contact with a child.  But my BIGGEST fear came from  my father in law, Ronald.  This man stood almost 7 foot tall and about 380 lbs.  my biggest fear was falling while running away and Ron falling on top of me  while he was screaming at me "why???"  glad I woke up from that one...

After 2 more children, and several jobs (gonna have to post my resume some time...) Ron and I were on his ramp talking about what to do in case some thing happened to him....We talked about taking care of mom and getting rid of worldly things...when we discussed his last wishes....At this point in our lives we have both understood that we misjudged each other.  And now it was more like father and son instead of the boy who got my daughter knocked up and ran...And we were able to talk about alot of things and be serious when we needed and not when we had to.  Dad and i talked about his cremation and his funeral arrangements.

The next day, while I was driving around, I had the most evil thought.  So I called up Dad and put my plan in motion.

Robert: ummm,  Dad?
Ronald: Yes?
Robert:  I have some bad news, good,news, bad news and maybe worse news....
Ronald: ????????
Robert: Remember how we talked about you not wanting a big event for a funeral and just wanted a simple cremation?
Ronald: yes?

At this point I could hear in his voice that he was getting ready to bite the hook and I needed to get ready to reel him in fast.

Robert: So I called around and got some estimates for your final "demise" and all of the local crematoriums would not be able to handle your size.....
Ronald: ?? what ???
Robert: So I thought about how cheap could I go if we did this ourselves....
Ronald:WHAT????
Robert:  ya!,  So I thought we get a shipping crate that a freezer came in and used that and tossed you in the fire pit we could get the job done for... say 10 to 20 bucks.....
Ronald:..............
Robert: But then I was concerned about problems with the fire department so I called the chief about prearranging a burning permit.  But was told something about not burning anything bigger than my finger and needing to control the smoke since I lived in town....well that idea went up in flames when I told him of my plans and he was concerned with a residential grease fire...
Ronald:  YOU SON OF A B****!  I am gonna fall on you and beat you with my peg.

(yes I really did tell this to my dad.)

after a while we both got done laughing....I called back a few hours later and upped it.

Robert:  DAD!  Great news!  The fire chief called back and was wondering if this could be used as a training exercise in putting out LARGE grease fires....but I was concerned with if we get this fire going would be able to put it out... and more to the point, should we?

We laughed so hard.

Saturday and Sunday

My first weekend on call after Ron and I started to break up the months to give him some free time.  Got nice start to the day on Saturday,  Called Jeff in the morning to let him know about a cancellation and made sure he had my number if he needed me and told him I would switch the phone at 1800.

Started off by moving the contents of our OLD living room to NEW living room.  But that had to wait after about an hour.  I realized that I was only going to get 1 day to mow out at Greendale properties that I needed to do that now before 1800.

Went to Randy's Family Restaurant for lunch with George Eavey and the rest of the family, Then went to Greendale and mowed.  Tina Took over for me when I got to the front where she can handle the tractor.  I went to the garage and put the little boat away for the season and got two 3/4 tread tires out to put on the front of my van #28 and the battery from the boat to put in storage.

Did a few SHH discharges and a MAYO detox.  but all in all it was a really good weekend.

I finally get to have a cup of coffee whenever I want it now.  Yes, I am serious,  wife only lets me have 1 cup of coffee in the morning with my blood pressure pill.

I thought it was time to post a picture of my wife working.  she is doing a lot of things that I never give her credit for and never tell her how good she is to me.

Not the best picture, but I love her dearly.  (And she works her ass off)

Todd and I carrying down the 15$  TV and putting it back on the stand.  Funny thing though,  the TV cost 15$ and the stand cost 200$

No I didn't make Todd stand there with the power cable in his mouth,  but this was the only time he wasn't yelling. 

We couldn't get the locks to screw back into the holes.  (how many Polocks does it take to screw a screw?)

Working on a little cable management,  The days of computer work sometimes comes back.

Bad picture of good cable management

I got the Cable runs down stairs so we had HDTV to watch some of the 9/11 specials.  (Bug had a lot of questions)  the one that was the hardest to answer was " why are you and mommy crying"

I also got a very unexpected call.  Guy was back early and wanted to trade.... he will take tonight from me and I will do tomorrow night.....  Let me see... I get a good nights sleep and the on call after a full day and may or may not go out,  or.......O hell there is no bad side.  I had to do it.  Bear was calling and I needed to get some sleep.  My legs are killing me from running up and down the stairs.

Mostly done..... for now

Todd,Bug and myself painted his room.  Then Bug and I replaced all the outlets with new 15 amp units and repaired the missing grounds.  Had to buy a new boxspring for him cause his other bed didn't need one.  Todd and Tyler made short work of carring all of his furniture and clothing and computer and.........well, all of his stuff.
Good night Todd. 
We need to do the kitchen/laundry room upstairs next. 

On a side note... I did enjoy Todd cleaning and putting all of his things away and being proud of the job that he had done.

Primer going on and some stuff moved in.

Had brunch with George at Perkins, then we went to Menards for a few things (sponge sanding block, light bulbs, and dish washing supplies)

I thought that this would be a good time for Todd to learn to appreciate his hard work by doing as much himself as he can.

So I had him start off by sanding the patching that we did yesterday and prep the walls for primer.  then I had him take all the plastic out and shake it out, wash the floor, and then put it all back.  Then he put a gallon of primer up.

While all this was going on I had Bug and Tyler running around getting things from upstairs and bring down to be washed and put away.

I called a friend, James (Computer Wizards) give me a hand with carrying the stove down.  he also broke down my little kitchen table and brought that down.  (had to do some flipping around but got it done with the help of the Bug)

After the table was done I made supper for all and did the dishes.  My wife and Todd dried and put them away.  (thanks guys)

On a side note.... I have had the hiccups all day and my side and back hurts so bad thinking of going to ER.  will try and sleep, if I cant, will see Dr. in morning.