Christmas time is upon us again and if I hear one more Christmas jingle on the radio, I think I’m going to die vomiting.
I have to ask, are all Christmas songs so damn blasted saccharine? I’m normally slightly hypoglycemic, but I feel damn near diabetic after another rousing rendition of “Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer”. I can’t seem to change the dial quickly enough to keep from sugar spiking. Time to get an iPod for the Goldwing, I think.
Speaking of the Goldwing, looks like I’m going to be grounded for a while, as snowy weather is finally making it through the Salt Lake valley. The cold never stops me, I used to love snowmobiling when I was a kid, but snow and 850 lbs. motorcycles don’t mix well. So it’s “cage” time again. At least the 4Runner has a CD player.
The house renovations are moving along slowly, but surely. I had to buy a 9 AMP DeWALT drill to mix up the self-leveling compound for the bathroom floor of the master bedroom and I have to say that I really like this beast. It’s a DW130V, with a maximum RPM of only 550, but has enough torque to flip a car over. The drill weighs 7.5 lbs. on its own, but the mixing attachment probably added a pound or two. As far as the job itself, basically you add 50 lbs. of a powder mix to 5 1/2 quarts of water and you get a thin cement, which self levels when you pour it out. It was one dusty, dirty job, but it’s done. Almost 200 square feet of flooring covered and leveled – ready for cement board and finally tile – after I build the shower, of course.
Probably the worst part about the process of leveling the floor, was putting down the metal lath. If you’ve never worked with lath before, imagine a miniature chain-link fence, in sheets of 3×8. It’s only about 1/16 of an inch thick and is meant to be stapled to the plywood underfloor in order to provide a grip for the leveling compound. It’s easy enough to move around and place, but cutting it is a chore. In order to get any kind of precision, you have to cut one link at a time and the cut edges are jagged little bastards, ready to draw blood at the slightest hint of flesh. Leather gloves are a must for this job.
We got nailed with a notice on our door a couple of weeks ago, that said the three small trees along the roadway were in violation of city ordinance to keep a 12 foot high clearance over the road and sidewalk. They’ve been untouched and unnoticed for the last seven years we’ve lived here and for much of the 30 previous that the house has stood, so I can only think that the city is scrounging for money anyplace they can find it. At least they gave us seven days to fix it before being fined.
After examining the situation, if we just cut the branches away to clear the road and walk, we’d have a thin cross section of each tree left, about three feet wide. The trees only stood 14-16 feet tall, so you’re talking one weird looking end result. Our only choice was to cut them down. Now there’s no shade at all in the front yard.
If there is a god, or karma, or something of the like – the legislator who made this stupid ordinance will die of exposure in the desert for lack of shade.
