Lord of the Castle

Our house has three 3′ x 7′ south facing windows in the living room and three more in the master bedroom. I don’t say that because our house is unique. That is the style in our neighborhood.

Those big, beautiful windows look great but they sure do let the heat in! One of our neighbors has actually covered ALL of his front windows with aluminum foil because they face the west. It looks terrible but the alternative is paying to run the air conditioner non-stop.

When I ordered the screen for the master bath, I also opted to replace those six old screens with the solar screen material. After seeing how dramatically the screen reduced the heat in the master bath, I wanted to figure out a way to mount a screen to cover the upper 4′ of those six south facing windows.

But, I had to get hoofing it on the bedroom ceiling. I didn’t have time to figure that problem out.

I made an offhanded remark to my son that that if he could figure out a way to make a frame that would be easy to install and remove, he could possible make some money with many of our neighbors.

This afternoon, as my wife and I pulled into the driveway, Big A walked out the front door with a wood frame that he had designed and built from scratch. As we walked up to the house, he tapped it into place. It fit perfectly.

It is an ingenious design. I mean, it is really good…and I am not one of those fathers who thinks that everything my kids do is fantastic. If anything, I need to be a little bit more complimentary.

First, it will hold a screen that will cover the entire window AND hold it securely in place. Second, it is relatively easy to install and remove. Third, it mounts flush with the existing exterior wood trim and when it is painted white, will look like it came from the factory!

He must get that from his mother’s side of the family!

Having trouble finding time to write these days…

Nights are out of the question. By the time I finish working on the house and taking a shower, Cakes and Big A are just arriving home from the restaurant and want to talk. So, I am going to bed AT LEAST an hour late every night.

Despite the late retirement, I still end up waking up before 5:00. I can’t really control that. My internal clock is set.

So, since I am getting less than six hours of sleep, I have been so tired that I am taking a 15-20 minute nap during my lunch break. So, no posts are getting written.

Besides all that, I don’t think that I have the skill to make construction “entertaining” or “interesting.

The construction on the bedroom ceiling is finished. I have started on the ceiling in the master bathroom.

I am pushing hard to finish because Big A is helping me with the “mudding and taping” of the drywall. I hope that we will have both rooms primed and painted before we leave to take him back to school in two weeks.

Although the summer is almost over, we plan on buying a gas BBQ. Whether we get one this year or next spring is another question.

As with most things in our marriage, this simple object has turned into a point of discussion. Naturally, my wife wants a big one. She said that she would barbecue every night if she could.

I want one that we can use at home and take with us if we go on a trip. I wanted her to see a few of the portable grills that I have looked at.

Then, the  idea of fishing in the lake near our house came up when I stumbled upon a fishing kayak on Craig’s List. I can actually see myself learning to fish that way…stop by the lake on the way home, carry the kayak to the water, get in some exercise by rowing and then see if I can actually catch a fish.

 The idea of getting a small boat, hooking it up to the truck, backing it into the water, parking the truck, etc. just seems like so much work, I know I will never do it.

So, I decided to take the family to visit the local outdoor store, The Bass Pro Shop. If you love the outdoors, this is your place.

Boats from $600 to $30,000. Guns of every size and shape. Fishing poles and gear…each specifically designed to catch nearly every single type of fish that God ever created. Knives, camouflage clothing, etc. etc.

There are more ways to spend your money than you ever thought possible! Good thing that I am not an outdoors-man!

Sometime, the middle of the night, my wife accidentally woke me up. I don’t really know what she was doing…reading, doing laundry, something.

As I settled back in to go to sleep, a bug tried to go up my nose. I brushed it away and said, “Whoa…a mosquito is trying to get me.”

“That’s not a mosquito.”

“What is it?”

“A fruit fly.”

“A fruit fly? Why do you say that?”

“They’re breeding in our old refrigerator.”

“W-H-A-A-A-A-T?”

“The guy who serviced our washer looked at it and told me.”

 When we bought the new refrigerator, I didn’t quite know what to do with the old one.

Our neighborhood is too nice to leave it on the curb for a few days. The garage is full of boxes, trucks, lawnmowers and lumber. So, I decided to leave the old one in the house until I sold it or got rid of it.

Guess what I was doing at 5:30 this morning?

Moving my refrigerator out of our kitchen onto our back deck…

Now, that is hard enough to do by yourself. However, if you add the fact that my son just recently cut a 4′ x 3′ foot hole in the floor right at that very spot, the degree of difficulty increases significantly.

Just another day at the castle!

My son didn’t go to work today. So, to his credit, he decided to help me out at home.

He and his mother decided to finish pulling up the old linoleum floor in the kitchen. I thought, “That’s great! I can use all the help I can get!”

As they were nearing the end, they discovered that the sub-floor was rotted through right where it meets the sliding glass door that leads out to the deck.

Big A grabbed the saw and cut out the offending section out. I must admit that he did a pretty good job.

However, the end result is that I have a gaping 4′ x 3′ hole in the kitchen floor and the kitchen wasn’t all that big to begin with!

The problem is complicated enough to where I have to fix it.

But my plate is already full with the master bedroom remodel!

And I have to finish that so my wife and I can finally move into our bedroom! We have been sleeping on mattresses that we put down on the floor of the third bedroom for the past three weeks.

Needless to say, I was frustrated. But, what was I going to say to them? I couldn’t very well chew them out for “helping” me!

No…I just thanked them and and avoided all further discussion by heading straight to the bedroom as soon as I got home from work.

Everyone will just have to learn to avoid the huge hole in the floor until I can get to it.

I couldn’t wait to get home today so I pick up my and install my new solar screens.

My first challenge was to figure out how to get a 4′ x 4′ screen home while driving a Toyota Paseo???

It wouldn’t fit in the trunk.

It was also too big to fit in the front door.

So, I VERY gently (I didn’t want to bend the metal frame!) tied it to the roof of the car and drove home VERY slowly. Fortunately, there was very little traffic on the roads that I chose.

When I got home, I hopped out to check the condition of the screen…Great! Still intact! Part one of the mission was accomplished.

I got out my 16′ extension ladder out and positioned it up against the house.

Oh…the ladder only doesn’t even reach to the bottom of the bathroom window…Ah, I can make it work!”

I grabbed the screen (remember that it is 4 feet square) and headed up the ladder. It didn’t take long before I realized that I was more than a little bit above the ground! I didn’t seem to notice those things when I was younger.

I tried every which way I could but I still couldn’t reach the top of the window!

“Shoot! I need a bigger ladder…I didn’t plan for that!”

Down the ladder, into the house to get the keys to fire up Wild Bill to drive to Lowe’s.

Once inside, it quickly became apparent that this was going to take some time…

They had various length extension ladders, step ladders and multi-position ladders. Then, you have to choose whether you prefer one made of aluminum, fiberglass or wood.

Obviously I did not accomplish all that I had planned for the evening…

But I do have a nice, shiny new ladder!

I have heard it said that good and bad are like trains that run on tracks right beside one another and they usually arrive at about the same time.

Cakes started college today…but not the traditional way.

She has enrolled with College Plus and will utilize the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) option to complete 1/2 to 3/4 of her Business Administration degree requirements. The remainder will be done through an online university. She is hoping to complete here degree in less than three years

While all that is going on, she will continue to work her two jobs. How about that…making money while you go to school!

Today, she had her initiation call with the young lady who will be her mentor during the first year of the program.

The first part of the course focuses on developing personal academic skills like speed reading, memorization techniques, studying, note taking and communication or writing skills. Then, she will start studying and taking the tests.

That is a good thing, right?

Another good thing is that I bought all of the material that they use about 7 years ago when Bean (our oldest) was starting school. So, we are “saving” about $250.

I put the word “saving” in quotation marks because Bean never used any of the materials! Kimba never used it. Big A never used it. Finally, Cakes is going to use it.

So what’s bad?

First, the CD for the Advanced Communication Series wouldn’t play on any of the computers. That meant that I had to postpone work on the bedroom ceiling and download and install the latest version of iTunes to fix that.

Then, Cakes informed me that the speed reading course was recorded on videotape. That meant a trip to the storage facility to get the television!

The memorization program is recorded on cassette tapes. Fortunately, about a year ago, I bought two Sony Walkmans because I have so many preaching tapes that I want to listen to. But, where are they?

I was able to solve all three of the problems but my attitude wasn’t all that great…

I’ve got a bedroom project to finish!!!