New Floors

Day 1

Son David inspired this home improvement. He replaced the flooring in his bathroom, and we saw his handiwork during our recent visit. We found a really good deal at the Home Depot in Hendersonville, and now I have one bathroom done and one to go.

Day 2

I stripped out two layers of flooring and replaced it with this. It took me about 4 hours today: work a little, rest a little, work a little, rest a little. My beautiful bride helped with the floor removal and clean up. Thanks, Sweetie.

New Water Heater (revisited)

Back in September I decided to go ahead and replace our water heater. It was manufactured in 1993, and so, it was a problem waiting to happen. Normally, I have replaced my own water heater, but this one was a nightmare. Look at the plumbing before the replacement.

September 18, 2013

The plumber did away with all the unneeded mess. He made a manifold under the house and ran one line up to the heater and one line back down. The result was a nice clean installation.

The water heater lives between our air handler and a closet wall.  Here is the closet put back into place after the installation.

I plan on calling on Tanner Plumbing again when I decide to replace the old polybutylene pipes.

Bathroom Vanity Redo

Wednesday, December 18.  Today, I ripped out the old vanity in the Master Bath. I was able to install the new countertop and sinks. I will be replacing the floor and making a new front with three doors.

This is the before picture.  We had already painted the walls.
The new top is an inch and a half deeper, and I raised it 3.5 inches.

Thursday, December 19

I rebuilt the floor for the vanity, and we bought new medicine 

cabinets/mirrors.  Tomorrow we will be redoing the water 

supplies and put in cut-off valves.

Friday, December 20, Happy birthday, Tim.

My neighbor friend, Phil L., came over and helped me redo the water supply
under the sinks. Now, I have cut-off valves.

After Phil left, I finished off the frame for the vanity. This
is the fitting. It fit.

Here it is sanded and stained.  Marcia picked out the stain,
Golden Oak. It is just right.

I also finished the doors and put concealed hinges on them. Tomorrow, I will be putting a couple of coats of poly on the frame and the doors. Because of the smell, I will leave them in the shed a day or two before final installation. More to come...

Saturday, December 21

Two coats of poly, new door knobs, doors hung, and initial final fitting.

I am very satisfied.

Before and after. Click on picture to enlarge.

December 23

I put in two slide out shelves in the middle section. Now, it is done.

New Siding

We had new siding, fascia, and soffits put on the house. The guys who did the job were artisans. They had a real eye for detail. 

December 23

It is finished, just in time for Christmas. The guys came out today and put the shutters on and finished up the fascia/soffits above the carport.

The shutters here are drawn on to give you an idea
of how it will look when finished.

They made a sill for each window.

The wrapped each window with a brick mold wrap.

We got an octagonal eave vent.

They wrapped the shed.

We got new gutters on the shed.

Buying a Hiccup

I was in the Wal-Mart the other day looking for some cough medicine. A man and his wife were blocking my way because they were looking at every package comparing the ingredients. They were getting on each others nerves a bit, too, because the man had a severe case of the hiccups, and they were keeping him from completing his sentences. They were the kind of hiccups that were uncontrollable, and they shook him with each, "Hic!"  I was being prevented from getting my cough medicine by this predicament. I decided to draw on my experience as a middle school teacher. The following is a true account of what happened. I bought his hiccups.

I walked up to the man and told him the following:  "I see you have a good case of the hiccups, and I would like to buy them off of you."

I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my wallet. "I've got ten dollars here, and I am willing to give it to you if you will just hiccup for me one more time." While I said that sentence, I opened my wallet and pulled out a ten dollar bill and held it out to him. As I finished the sentence, his eyes grew large as he looked at the saw buck and then looked up at me. I said, "Now, it has to be a real hiccup, not a fake one. Just hiccup for me one more time, and this can be yours." Silence reigned while the cycle of hiccups was interrupted. He said, "They are gone. I've been hiccuping all over this store. I was hiccuping back in the garden section, and now they are gone."

I have performed this buying of the hiccup for over twenty years and have not lost a dime. After I first heard about the trick, I began offering a quarter. That worked, so then I started offering fifty cents. Finally, I would offer a dollar. On this particular day, I didn't know it, but all I had in my wallet was a ten dollar bill, so I offered that. It was the most expensive hiccup I ever bought. And, it didn't cost me a thing.

How does it work? Hiccups are an involuntary response. A person has no control over them. You can fake hiccups, but you cannot purposefully hiccup for real. When I offer to buy a hiccup and the offer is real, it flips a switch in the person's brain. Now, they are focusing on trying to hiccup, and since you cannot will a genuine hiccup, time passes, and the hiccups are gone.

The man and his wife were amazed, and I put the ten bucks back in my wallet, picked out my cough medicine, and headed for the check-out.