Home repair is fun

Remodeling your bathroom is not for those with a faint heart or a dearth of cash. I thought I was all that and a bag of chips when I replaced a wax seal years ago. Oh, I was so young and innocent then.

We are on week two now. I have not been able to sleep at my own house for 1.5 weeks of those 2. I contracted this work out b/c 1) I had to gut the whole thing and replace rotten subflooring which hello I like tools and wood as much as the next person but I know when I don't know what I am doing which would have been then/now; 2) I needed to get it done before I have a Swiss Renter for three months who will be renting/paying for my clawfoot tub starting Feb 1 and at this point, I am wondering why I agreed to a renter but whatever, it's only for a little while and I get a tub out of the deal; and 3) good lord who has the time to remodel your own bathroom these days like when would I be able to knock down a wall and re-route plumbing and re-wire and drywall and etc etc = never. So that is where we stand. I also need you to pray for the safe and speedy delivery of my clawfoot tub which is being driven god knows where out of Pennsylvania to here and if it doesn't come tomorrow, they can't deliver until Tues. I don't even know what to say anymore. I am trying to be zen throughout this whole ordeal. And failing.

Would you like to geek out on some before, during, and after pix? Sure you would because what could be more exciting than looking at someone else's bathroom is what I say. You will have to wait for the 'after' pix until after whenever that is but hopefully Mon or Tues lord willing. Here you go:

This was taken in July when I was looking to buy the place:



This was when the side wall was knocked out and the toilet still worked. Those were the days..



This is total gutted and new subfloor installed. The toilet is but a dream.



This is The Farmer planing my wood. Which is not a euphemism but should be.



This is drywalled and repurposed wood floors installed. Please note the arrow where the toilet will be hopefully tomorrow.



Stay tuned for more during/after pix. Yes, I know, very riveting. Very edgy. The excitement is palpable.

Edited: Here you go, the moment you've been waiting for. My bathroom is DUN holla.

Guess things are different here out in the country

Hello to you. It's been a long week of ups and downs I have to say. Recap: Work travel travel bombshell work play work. All I can say is that I'm glad it's the weekend so I can try to up the play a little bit.

Right now, it's what, 1130pm on a Sat night and I took a little break from writing a final project report to create a quick LJ/Bird tumblr because hello why not I like to have the point and post slash handy all in one place. And clearly, I am avoiding the report writing by blog writing this very post so you know.

Good things of late since I don't want to focus on the kinda major bad thing that happened this week which will affect my life/choices in some way although I'm not sure how yet: 1) The drive to western Kansas was lovely as always, it looked a lot like this:



2) I got the word that I will continue on my consulting gig ($$) for the next year with a group of folks I really like even if it means I have to go back to that Damn City again in a few weeks on my actual birthday so I better not get stuck there again I mean it; 3) Hello the Seattle Storm won the damned WNBA championship in case you hadn't noticed; 4) Spent some quality time with my new galfriend last night out in the country on her farm and it's really nice to hang with someone again, though you know, it's still hard, but it's good too; 5) I mowed the grass today even though the humidity was 1 million but you know how much I love mowing grass which is a lot and I bought a lilac bush and an early amethyst beautyberry bush to plant in the yard not sure where yet but it makes me happy; 6) Tomorrow I will help friends build some wooden sides for their flatbed 1/2 ton truck which of course means that I will finally be getting some wood action with my tools and man I miss the heck out of that; and 7) The dogs are snoring right now and it's quiet outside and some storms kinda came though so it will be a good night for sleeping in this house that I love like no one's business.

Enough of this chitchat, I need to write words that make sense even though no one in our damn government is going to read them. Goodnight to you.

Door handle

So I moved some of my stuff in tonight. Borrowed a friend's pickup truck and loaded/unloaded three trips full of stuff. In a million degrees. My sweat was sweating. Am definitely not complaining, just saying. My friends called me giddy last night when I was showing them around. Trust me, I am not the giddy sort. I do not do giddy. But hello, MY OWN HOUSE IT'S MINE ALL MINE EXCEPT THE PART THAT THE BANK OWNS BUT WHO CARES MY OWN PERFECT LITTLE HOUSE YAY!

Ahem.

And so, I now have a reason to use my "tool time" and "wood" tags on blog posts again. Here's where my shop is going:



And my private little backyard where I will have garden parties and plant stuff and hang out with the dogs and various/sundry MY YARD HELLO WOO stuff:



Yeah, I'm sure my posts for awhile are gonna be all housey and whatnot. I will try to do exciting things in itand report back. Like COOK AND HAVE PARTIES AND SET UP MY CUTE LITTLE LIBRARY/READING ROOM WITH ALL KINDS OF SUN AND WINDOWS ALL AROUND IT AND ALSO AND AND ETC.

Until then, I am off to find that door handle that I was looking for:

Morchella bordello

Quick rundown of life here:

1. I have pitchfork-elbow from helping plant 100 tomato plants and mulching a bunch of hay on the girls' farm last night. I can barely bend my left arm. Of course, I'm not using it for much else so no worries!

2. My strai friend A has a bday tomorrow and so we had pizza and beer tonight. She calls it celebrating her bday season. I say fine.

3. It has been rainy and cold here which is weird for May - I've found 6 spike morel mushrooms growing in my own front yard. They smell like a locker room and I am no fan, but have picked them for my friends. This weekend promises to be in the 80s and sunny so woo to the hoo.

4. I was in a series of meetings from 930am to 415pm today. I literally had time to use the restroom once. This is no way to live!

5. The dogs have been appreciating their country life. And by country, I mean grass and things that normal animals take for granted. It is like they have reclaimed their country dog selves and are rolling all over stuff, smelling actual things that occur in nature, and basically living life. I think they also do not miss all of the concrete and bullshit from out east. I like them like this.

6. I found my glasses by the way. I had placed them in a 'safe place' out at the farm which of course was a window sill ledge far away from anyone/thing. I also took two naps on Sunday to recover and quite frankly am still tired. Oh age! Why must you vex me so?

7. Soon I will be househunting for reals (as they say). In other words, I am looking forward to home ownership and believe that by the early/mid summer, I will have my own crib. Aww ya, MTV cribs KS style. When this event occurs, there will be pictures and stories of parties and cookouts and various/sundry home-related topics the likes of which this blog has never seen. Soon I will unpack all of those tools I have had packed up for 3.2 years and I will be cutting some fucking wood and nailing some shit left/right. Holla.

8. Who else is excited about the new WNBA season? I am. Go Storm. That's all I have to say about that.

9. You know how Harry Potter has that scar on his forehead? I took a shower last night and this am, got ready for work etc etc sans hair washing and noticed that in the back of my head, I have this sorta jagged bald area that looks not unlike a lightning bolt. Now, I have a decent head of hair, so imagine my surprise at this situation. I'm going to have to do a back comb-over to cover that shit up. Aside: My favorite poet Mary Oliver admitted that she's currently reading the Harry Potter series. This is prob why I love her like a hurricane.

10. I leave you with a Chick Flick I took at the girls' farm a few weeks ago:

Real-time Tool Time!

Check it, how totally dorky is this?

I am going to document in real time my wax seal replacement adventure. I didn't get to it this weekend but am starting it now. Because I've got a website up with instructions, I thought I'd geek out and blog it at the same time. This passes for entertainment where I come from.

So first off, the target (4:16pm):



Mission control center (4:56pm):




I'm off to the garage now to get tools and shut off the water etc. More later..

Ok, so undoing the toilet and picking it up was easy. The only issue was that it was hard to remove all the water. Here is the nastiness of what it looks like (4:56pm).



Plus it smells like the bathroom of a fraternity house. Good times! I'm off to scrap up that old wax seal and clean up all the gunk on the floor. More later..

That whole scraping off the old wax seal thing and the gunk cleaning? By far the worst part of this whole deal, but I was done soon enough and put the new seal on (5:30pm):



To help squish the seal down, I enlisted The Agent to sit on my lap when she returned home:



There are some benefits to home repair:



And that was it! The finished product which looks exactly like the initial target (6:09pm):



The whole thing took way less time than I thought and it was easy (if a little nasty) to do. Kinda makes you want to do it yourself, doesn't it? Uh yeah, not so much ;)