Feb 23 - catching up

Yesterday was mostly about catching up, but of course I added something new to the list as well.

I got Christie's bike back together; had to buy a new chain to finish the job. Had I planned ahead, I could have added a master link, but I didn't. This is better anyway.

The fellow who painted the frame obviously has not done bicycles before. He painted over the cantilever brake posts, which I had to sand off. He also got a lot of paint into the bottom bracket threads, which caused me no end of trouble. Anyway ... it's finished.

I also continued work on the bathroom, hanging the pictures that Sandy bought and caulking the baseboard. I still have to hang the mirror, towel bars and toilet paper holder but the end is in sight. I moved forward on the mirror as well, gluing a piece of plywood to the back so that I can screw in hangers. I want that to dry a full 24 hours so I probably won't touch it again until tomorrow.

With the painting of the railing finished, I decided that I didn't want to do 3-4 coats of paint on the still-brown crown molding at the den ceiling, so I pulled it down -- Sandy didn't want it up there anyway. Since it was nailed to the wall and ceiling, I then used painters caulk to fill all the little holes and found that the white paint from the railing is almost a perfect match for the leftover marks on the ceiling and wall ... from my desk over to the sliding doors. It seems that they used a different white, repainting at some point, the wall on the other side of the slider around to the stairs. I now have a darker shadow on those two walls coming down 8-10 inches from the ceiling. Grrr. All the paint in this house is a half-done job when you start working at it.

Sandy would simply leave that shadow for now, waiting for the room to be redone ... I don't like looking at it and may simply use the paint to finish the walls which will blend it all in. I may wait until I tackle the hardwood, however, which will likely be a March project ... maybe.

What else ... oh, sorting out Sandy's medical coverage and looking for alternatives for my own life insurance ... going to the post office ... dinner with Harris and Debbie and their friends ... another day gone.

It stayed warm all day with no more rain, although it threatened. We'd talked about boating but it was so cloudy through past lunch that I just kept going at the projects here. Today looks to be another warm albeit cloudy day. I need to get out biking ...

I'm considering going out with Harris this a.m. along with his visiting friend Ted, biking with the Mosquito Lagoon bicycle club. They ride Wed, Fri and Sun. I told them not to wait for me; if I show up, great; if not ...

Onward !