Foolin' Around All Day...
I'm going to do EXACTLY what I want to do all day today after surviving a withering week of BS and dealing with the incompetence of some of my critical vendors.
It's one thing to be three or four weeks late with some products, but to then have me drive across Knoxtown to pick them up...
...and then get them back here to the shop and find out they were only partially finished?
So yesterday I had to drag the box of parts BACK down to the Machine Shop and hopefully I will see something again some time early next week.
I've been paying these guys early but I suspect they might wait longer than 30 days to get a check from me this time.
So any way...I have a half painted french door in the dining room to finish dealing with, and then Georgia Tech plays NC State on ESPN at noon and it's pretty much going to take an act of congress to get me out of the bed or off of the sofa for the next 24 hours.
Hope everyone has at least half as good a weekend as I plan on having.
Regards Y'all...
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Self-Induced Home Improvement Insanity
What Ever You Do...Don't Listen To The "Professionals"...
So there I was, sitting around all comfortable on my sofa some time last Summer--I think it was in June or July of 2009--when I put down my beer and I said to my self...I said:
"Self...you need get up off of your butt, drive down to Home Depot, and get the stuff needed to replace that old crappy 48 year old painted carport door you have there in the Kitchen with a nice stained wooden French door with lots of windows."
Then in an extended conniption fit of mental malaise, I said..."and while you are at it, why not cut a hole through the wood and bricks in the back wall of the dining room and put in another Painted French door with a bunch of glass..."
And then, for the grand Finale...
"If you do all of that stuff, you're just gonna have to buy a another 6'-8" high by 3'-0" wide 100 pound slab of wood and replace your front door, but this time make it solid and just drill a little, itty, bitty hole, in it and put in one of those peep-hole thingies so you can spy on who ever is at your door rather than just looking out the giant picture window two feet away."
And so I did.
BUY all of that stuff needed to do all of those projects last summer.
Problem is, by the time I got the hole pounded through the back wall of the house through the bricks and the associated new deck finished...
and did I mention the new Turbo Pup door in the wall, also cut through solid brick?
It was all I could manage to do to get the old carport door taken down and the new bare door slab cut to match the existing hinges and door strike positions in the old hand built, vintage 1963 wood door frames.
Thus through last winter and all of this spring and summer until about three weeks ago two of my three new doors (not counting the Turbo Pup door) hung un-stained/un-painted in their openings.
And the new front door slab?
It's a random piece of art still today out on my carport (hoping to be installed next week.)
And any way, recently I opened up the year old cans of wood grain sealer and Maple colored stain and Spar Polyurethane and proceeded to slather a new color and finish on the bare wood of the Carport door.
Problem was, instead of using blue painters' masking tape to cover the glass of TWELVE GLASS PANES, I listened to an acquaintance's father who is a self proclaimed "professional" house painter and he told me to just slap the finish on the door and then use a razor blade and mineral spirits to clean the stain and paint off when I was finished.
I'd like to just write the word "W R O N G" here and be done with the subject.
But...
I my considered Redneck experience the guy just wasn't W R O N G, he was freaking stoned or hallucinating.
I've just gotten through with three days working part time dealing with the biggest clean up mess ever seen since a buddy's wife decided to give her dog an enema (don't ask.)
At first I swore that dynamite wouldn't get the crap off of the glass panes of my new door.
But then finally, using a combination of razor blades, a chemical called "Goof Off" (Imagine that), and some 000 steel wool along with a pint of Vodka (internal operator lubricant) and some massive personal determination as of about three PM today I have a fairly nice looking new French door.
And all I know is my "Professional" painter might have suffered a good cursing out if I had seen him this past week while I was suffering (and twenty five years ago there might have been black eyes and broken noses involved in the proceedings.)
But any way, one and one-half doors installed (paint on the rear French door going on tomorrow), and then next week I hope to get the front door cut in and installed before the first snow storm.
Wish me luck...If you will...
So there I was, sitting around all comfortable on my sofa some time last Summer--I think it was in June or July of 2009--when I put down my beer and I said to my self...I said:
"Self...you need get up off of your butt, drive down to Home Depot, and get the stuff needed to replace that old crappy 48 year old painted carport door you have there in the Kitchen with a nice stained wooden French door with lots of windows."
Then in an extended conniption fit of mental malaise, I said..."and while you are at it, why not cut a hole through the wood and bricks in the back wall of the dining room and put in another Painted French door with a bunch of glass..."
And then, for the grand Finale...
"If you do all of that stuff, you're just gonna have to buy a another 6'-8" high by 3'-0" wide 100 pound slab of wood and replace your front door, but this time make it solid and just drill a little, itty, bitty hole, in it and put in one of those peep-hole thingies so you can spy on who ever is at your door rather than just looking out the giant picture window two feet away."
And so I did.
BUY all of that stuff needed to do all of those projects last summer.
Problem is, by the time I got the hole pounded through the back wall of the house through the bricks and the associated new deck finished...
and did I mention the new Turbo Pup door in the wall, also cut through solid brick?
It was all I could manage to do to get the old carport door taken down and the new bare door slab cut to match the existing hinges and door strike positions in the old hand built, vintage 1963 wood door frames.
Thus through last winter and all of this spring and summer until about three weeks ago two of my three new doors (not counting the Turbo Pup door) hung un-stained/un-painted in their openings.
And the new front door slab?
It's a random piece of art still today out on my carport (hoping to be installed next week.)
And any way, recently I opened up the year old cans of wood grain sealer and Maple colored stain and Spar Polyurethane and proceeded to slather a new color and finish on the bare wood of the Carport door.
Problem was, instead of using blue painters' masking tape to cover the glass of TWELVE GLASS PANES, I listened to an acquaintance's father who is a self proclaimed "professional" house painter and he told me to just slap the finish on the door and then use a razor blade and mineral spirits to clean the stain and paint off when I was finished.
I'd like to just write the word "W R O N G" here and be done with the subject.
But...
I my considered Redneck experience the guy just wasn't W R O N G, he was freaking stoned or hallucinating.
I've just gotten through with three days working part time dealing with the biggest clean up mess ever seen since a buddy's wife decided to give her dog an enema (don't ask.)
At first I swore that dynamite wouldn't get the crap off of the glass panes of my new door.
But then finally, using a combination of razor blades, a chemical called "Goof Off" (Imagine that), and some 000 steel wool along with a pint of Vodka (internal operator lubricant) and some massive personal determination as of about three PM today I have a fairly nice looking new French door.
And all I know is my "Professional" painter might have suffered a good cursing out if I had seen him this past week while I was suffering (and twenty five years ago there might have been black eyes and broken noses involved in the proceedings.)
But any way, one and one-half doors installed (paint on the rear French door going on tomorrow), and then next week I hope to get the front door cut in and installed before the first snow storm.
Wish me luck...If you will...
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
My First You Tube Submission
Blackwater Grill Rocks...
I mentioned a couple of times here on the blog that back this last spring my buddy John down on St. Simons Island, Georgia had the pleasure of having his restaurant--Blackwater Grill--featured on Food Network's "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives."
We caught the show when it was broadcast but missed Mr. Howton's viewing party because we were stuck up here in East Tennessee when the show aired (and we were invited to the filming but again we were 8 hours away and couldn't do the trip at the time.)
So any way, here's the You Tube video I sent out last night from the DVD I received in the mail yesterday:
The head Chef Jamie and I have cooked together in the SSI Chili Cookoff the past two years and I've been asked to do the event again next year with this wonderful group of people.
If you have never been to our little island St. Simons you really are missing a beautiful unique destination, and if you've been there you know I know what I'm talking about.
I mentioned a couple of times here on the blog that back this last spring my buddy John down on St. Simons Island, Georgia had the pleasure of having his restaurant--Blackwater Grill--featured on Food Network's "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives."
We caught the show when it was broadcast but missed Mr. Howton's viewing party because we were stuck up here in East Tennessee when the show aired (and we were invited to the filming but again we were 8 hours away and couldn't do the trip at the time.)
So any way, here's the You Tube video I sent out last night from the DVD I received in the mail yesterday:
The head Chef Jamie and I have cooked together in the SSI Chili Cookoff the past two years and I've been asked to do the event again next year with this wonderful group of people.
If you have never been to
I'm Supposed To Be At The Beach Now?
This Working For A Living Crap Sucks...
OK, I'm not quite sure what is happening but for the third time in as many months we've had to cancel a trip away from the Turbo Pup Compound here on the banks of the Mighty Tennessee River.
This most recent malfunction was due in part to Pat having a a slight illness causing Vertigo, and then I came up with a fit of new work which had to be done by the middle of next week. Thus leaving town for ten days or two weeks was just out of the question since the trip was supposed to begin last Wednesday.
Pat's still taking a week off and just hanging around with me and the Turbo Puppy, but I have an erratic work schedule and am also trying to get some lingering home improvement projects finished--like the year old wood door stain and polyurethane on the carport project, and the new front door slab installation project and so on ...
...and...well, you get my drift.
I really, Really, REALLY would rather be at the beach right now but other more important things prevented that from happening, and what drives me crazy is how the government treats people that work for themselves and earn a living without actually getting a regular paycheck from some evil rich business owner or the government.
You see, I don't get paid unless I work, and I can't just run off on vacation and still have money coming in the door in the form of sick leave or vacation pay, and yet the government--local and national--acts like every single dollar I manage to bring into the mail box is their money until I can prove that I have some reason to claim it for myself.
Doesn't that suck? And next year or the year after if things go as planned our family could actually be one of those evil groups of people with an apparent income of over $250,000 because I own a Subchapter S business and all of the money earned passes to the owner(s)and Pat makes a nice living at her job.
It's a sad day when class and wealth envy created by the government and the government education system and associated programs make a large part of the population believe that people don't deserve to keep a substantial portion of the money they earn by working and sacrificing and doing the things that it takes to make above "average" income.
I guess you could understand why there might be an incentive to not make any money if all the government is going to do is step in and claim 39% or 50% of it at the end of the year.
Maybe I'm just dense or stupid, but still, here I sit this morning, 600 miles away from the ocean, processing invoices and purchase orders and worrying about having to beat the idiots at the local Machine Shop into getting some finished parts back to me next week....
...and worrying about how I can afford to hire an accountant this year to keep me out of trouble with the IRS next year.
It's amazing that I'm trying to throw money at vendors and having trouble getting them to do anything in the process?
I guess that the good news is that apparently there is some business being conducted out there somewhere, and the few people that still have jobs are busy so I just have to wait for their services.
Speaking of busy...time for me to get back to work I guess...
Y'all have a LOVELY Sunday...If you will...
OK, I'm not quite sure what is happening but for the third time in as many months we've had to cancel a trip away from the Turbo Pup Compound here on the banks of the Mighty Tennessee River.
This most recent malfunction was due in part to Pat having a a slight illness causing Vertigo, and then I came up with a fit of new work which had to be done by the middle of next week. Thus leaving town for ten days or two weeks was just out of the question since the trip was supposed to begin last Wednesday.
Pat's still taking a week off and just hanging around with me and the Turbo Puppy, but I have an erratic work schedule and am also trying to get some lingering home improvement projects finished--like the year old wood door stain and polyurethane on the carport project, and the new front door slab installation project and so on ...
...and...well, you get my drift.
I really, Really, REALLY would rather be at the beach right now but other more important things prevented that from happening, and what drives me crazy is how the government treats people that work for themselves and earn a living without actually getting a regular paycheck from some evil rich business owner or the government.
You see, I don't get paid unless I work, and I can't just run off on vacation and still have money coming in the door in the form of sick leave or vacation pay, and yet the government--local and national--acts like every single dollar I manage to bring into the mail box is their money until I can prove that I have some reason to claim it for myself.
Doesn't that suck? And next year or the year after if things go as planned our family could actually be one of those evil groups of people with an apparent income of over $250,000 because I own a Subchapter S business and all of the money earned passes to the owner(s)and Pat makes a nice living at her job.
It's a sad day when class and wealth envy created by the government and the government education system and associated programs make a large part of the population believe that people don't deserve to keep a substantial portion of the money they earn by working and sacrificing and doing the things that it takes to make above "average" income.
I guess you could understand why there might be an incentive to not make any money if all the government is going to do is step in and claim 39% or 50% of it at the end of the year.
Maybe I'm just dense or stupid, but still, here I sit this morning, 600 miles away from the ocean, processing invoices and purchase orders and worrying about having to beat the idiots at the local Machine Shop into getting some finished parts back to me next week....
...and worrying about how I can afford to hire an accountant this year to keep me out of trouble with the IRS next year.
It's amazing that I'm trying to throw money at vendors and having trouble getting them to do anything in the process?
I guess that the good news is that apparently there is some business being conducted out there somewhere, and the few people that still have jobs are busy so I just have to wait for their services.
Speaking of busy...time for me to get back to work I guess...
Y'all have a LOVELY Sunday...If you will...
