Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Spring Has Sprung

Monday: (03/10) Spring has sprung but I haven’t. I basically took the day off and did nothing. It was sprinkling this morning but not enough for a good excuse. The rest of the week is supposed to be really nice. My breakfast was leftover chorizo and eggs. For lunch I had hotdog and cheese wraps. Dinner was a trail meal test. I had a Knoor baby back ribs flavored rice. It’s a cook for 7 minutes meal that I just soaked in really hot water for 20 minutes. Pretty good but I need to remember to use about 3/4 of the designated amount of water. I also had some dried steak (really thick jerky). A good meal on the run.



Tuesday: (03/11) It was cold and windy this morning. Here I am ready for summer in my shorts and short sleeved shirt and no jacket and it feels like winter is on the way back. I walked across the San Jose State University campus for breakfast at La Victoria restaurant downtown. My usual bacon breakfast burrito. I got back home at 0930. The wind was gusting even stronger. I considered another day off but really need to get some work done. But with such winds, painting, stripping paint or sanding were out. So I considered trimming out some old sewer lines from under the house. They are fully abandoned now that the rain gutters have been routed elsewhere. That would be dirty but it would be out of the weather. However, they can be removed anytime. So I redirected myself to the outside portion of that project, installing the rest of the drain lines for the gutters at the front and South side of the house connecting a line I installed previously under the sidewalk on the North side. So I estimated the material and headed off to Home Depot (HD). I got most of the stuff I needed at one HD location and the rest at another HD location. Cruising down the freeway on my return I noticed the drain pipe wasn’t visible above the windshield anymore. Oops. I pulled off the freeway early and checked. As I stopped there was a thump and the pipes reappeared. The rack had come loose and the load was flying above the roof. No pipe damaged or lost. I put another strap on the rack to hold it down.

San Jose No Stumps
I stowed the material and then in my ADD ways, redirected my efforts to remove the stumps of the three bushes I had cut down in the front flowerbed. I will be installing the drain lines in that area as well as the sump and a sidewalk next to the house on the South side of the porch. I then loaded up some dirt in my 5 gallon buckets and filled the back of the jeep with the buckets. The flower bed is higher than the foundation of the house The sidewalk will be below the foundation lip so it will be sunken  a little from the yard and driveway. It will drain into the sump as well. I’ll have a couple more loads of dirt to haul lowering the flower bed and digging the sump but today was a start on this windy day. Lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich. For dinner I had a bowl of chili.

Wednesday: (03/12) The weather was nicer today, no wind. I sanded both sides of the front of the porch. I cooked some sausage and pancakes for breakfast. Lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich. Dinner at the Home Town Buffet on the way home. I dumped the load of dirt.

Thursday: (03/13) Lou and I had an appointment in the morning. I got back to work after lunch loading my buckets with more dirt. Another load headed to Palo Alto tonight. I moved the scaffolds and sanded the the edge joist of the roof. Next week I need to sand under the eves on both sides of the porch and then, do a lot of caulking and filling. Possibly a little paint will finally be applied next week? Dawn made hot cereal for breakfast. I picked up some egg rolls and a shrimp ball for lunch from King Egg Rolls. I stopped for dinner on the way home at Sweet Tomatoes. I try to make up for few vegetables during the week with a visit to the salad bar.



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