Lord of the Castle

I have told you on more than one occasion that I literally spent 20 years remodeling and adding on to our house in California. One of my goals was to make the house energy efficient.

The house was a typical 1,600 square feet ranch style house with cathedral ceilings and a 4 ton A/C unit. The rule of thumb in air conditioning is 1 ton cooling capacity for every 400 square feet. So, it was perfectly sized when it was built in 1958.

When we bought it in 1989, it was just under 2,000 square feet. It still had a 4 ton unit. Not perfectly sized…

The undersized A/C unit combined with the vaulted, open beam ceilings in the San Fernando Valley made for a very hot house. That air conditioner would run all day and we would never see 90º!

So, I installed ceilings and insulation, redid the A/C ducting etc., etc. and got the house to where it was truly live-able. We only used the air conditioning on days when the temperature went over 95º.

Near the end of my time in California, I learned about radiant barrier foil and installed it in our new kitchen addition. I never really got to see if it worked.

When I finished the job, I had 1 1/2 boxes left over. Then, the man who introduced me to the product gave me another box that he had left over. Since it costs about &70 a box and I couldn’t think of anyone who would actually use it, I brought them with me to Kansas City.

Do you remember that I told you that I discovered that the master bedroom is really just a very large sauna? What do you think was the first step that I took to try to solve the problem?

You guessed it…that foil that I brought with me because it was too expensive to throw away!

And…guess what?

It is already working. I have only finished about half of the area I plan to cover and the room is already noticeably cooler!

Yahoo! I think my plan is going to work!

I was on the back porch studying the Bible this morning when I heard  my neighbor across the street start mowing his grass.

My first thought was disbelief. It as 7:00 in the morning! Why would he start that early?

I quickly figured it out. My momma dinnit raise no foo!

It has been very hot and humid here the past few days. The heat index (it the “feels like” for summer) has been well into  triple digits.

I then changed from questioning his judgment to thinking that I would be wise to follow his lead! I quickly packed up my stuff and headed to the garage.

Our new mower was still in the box. I bought it the same night that we bought the refrigerator. (might as well milk that 10% coupon for all it’s worth!)

I finished the  “some assembly required” in about 15 minutes only to run into my next hurdle…

Gasoline…

But, I was not altogether unprepared. I bought a new gas can the same night I bought the mower and the refrigerator. (that 10% coupon thing again)

It was at this point that I got the “brilliant” idea that changed the rest of the day…

“I’ll go to Home Depot and get the material that I need for the master bedroom project and then buy gas on the way home. I’ll get it all done in one trip!”

I then went upstairs to the master bedroom and developed my material list  (let me translate that…I figured out how I was going to build it and what wood I would need to do it. Let’s just say that it took a little time!) and headed to Home Depot.

After loading up Wild Bill, it was then that I realized…

The gas can was in the garage!@*%&

So, much for killing two birds with one stone!

Back to the house, park Wild Bill, get the gas can, hop in the Super Crew and go get the gas.

When I finally pulled that string to start the mower for the very first time, my neighbor was nowhere to be found. He had finished, cleaned up everything and gone back inside.

I finished mowing at 11:00. I am not saying that was the hottest part of the day but it is a long way from the cool of the day!

My shirt was drenched with sweat…and I generally do not sweat!

As I started edging our driveway, I had the beginnings of a heat induced headache.

It’s been awhile since I took a class in the school of hard knocks but at least  I am ready to roll next week!

On the positive side, I am now, officially a mowing Mid-Westerner. All that is left is that barbecue thing.

Ever since we started moving 2 weeks ago, I have been getting progressively more fatigued.

On Monday night, I was so tired that I went to bed at 8:00 and actually felt a little refreshed when I woke up at  5:30 A.M.

In fact, I was so encouraged by my progress that I planned on repeating that procedure on Tuesday night. As you probably read, my wife and I embarked on a Marco Polo-like trek to buy a new refrigerator!

I knew ahead of time that last night was going to be a long one.

Even though I successfully unloaded  the refrigerator off of our pickup truck by myself, there was no way I was going to try to carry it up a flight of stairs by myself…

“Well…unloading it wasn’t really all that hard…I wonder if I could do it?”

Thankfully, a wave of fatigue hit me and I came back to my senses…

“What the heck am I thinking? I need help. I’ll move it tomorrow night when Big A gets home from working at restaurant.”

I plugged it in and left it in the garage.

Well he came home and we carried it up the stairs with no major mistakes. Nothing got banged or scratched. In fact, that went so smoothly that we also brought the washing machine up.

But, all of that accomplishment was quickly overrun by the fatigue I felt when I woke up this morning. All I could think about was that for the second night in a row, I was moving a refrigerator at 10:30 at night!

I have endeavored to teach my children that with every decision comes consequences. If you choose this, you give up that.

Ever since I have been in the Kansas City area, I have lived in an apartment. One of the great benefits was that I didn’t have to fix anything! After remodeling a house for 20 years, that was a very welcomed change.

But, we bought a house and those days are over now.

As soon as I got home last night, I resumed my usual routine of scouring the Craig’s List ads for the stainless steel refrigerator, dishwasher and gas range that we need. I had no sooner sat down and opened the computer when my wife did her best imitation of a tsunami…

“The refrigerator isn’t working.” (She was referring to the refrigerator that came with the house)

“What do you mean it’s not working?”

“It’s not keeping the food cold. In fact, I put a bag of ice inside it to help it get cold and it started melting immediately.”

Just like that, all of my plans for the evening were completely washed away. My plans on getting a super deal on a gently used refrigerator were vanquished too. We needed a refrigerator now…or I could just let all of the food spoil…

We spent the next 4 hours buying a new refrigerator…

First, we went to Home Depot…

then to Lowe’s…

then back home (we forgot the 10% Lowe’s coupon)…

then to Sear’s (just in case)…

then since we were in the neighborhood) to Costco…

And since we were there, we might as well do a little shopping…

I unloaded our new side by side, stainless steel Whirlpool refrigerator from Lowe’s at 10:30 at night!

Waaahh! I miss the apartment! She would have called maintenance and it all would have been fixed before I got home!

I have told you that no one thought that it was a good idea to buy where we did. Some said that the city had a reputation for gang violence. Others cited a spreading blight.

However, my research told me that the crime statistics were actually lower than the “nicer” city directly east of us!

Still, when we were choosing where to live, I was very aware that the city that we settled in had a less than stellar reputation. We felt like this is the place that we are supposed to live. We figured that if God wants us to live here, He is big enough to protect us.

That being said, I am pretty conscious about security.

You need to know this to fully appreciate today’s story.

I woke up early this morning and went down to the family room to study the Bible for awhile before going to work.

Since it was a cool morning, I opened the two windows closest to my writing table. The crickets were still chirping (?).

After about a half hour, I heard a few footsteps just outside of the window to my left in our back yard.

Then, nothing…

I went back to studying…

I heard a few more footsteps…

I thought, “You have got to be kidding me! Am I going to have to deal with this already?”

I turned off my desk lamp and quietly moved toward the open window.

As I moved, I heard several hurried steps.

When I reached the window, my eyes had nearly adjusted to the darkness. I peered to the place where I heard the most recent footsteps…

Just 15 feet away from me, I saw the the outline of the prospective intruder! I was staring at a young, 4 point buck deer who was staring at me!

After a second or two of silence, he snorted at me!

It was too early in the morning to yell so I did the only thing that I could think of…

I snorted back at him!

He jumped straight up into the air, then turned 180 degrees in the midst of his second jump and then hopped and turn sideways and looked at me again.

Now he was about 20 feet away from me.

He snorted again!

I snorted back!

He hurried about 15 feet further away and and then turned and looked at me again.

This was too much fun! I didn’t wait. This time, I snorted first. (By this time, I really needed a tissue but since he and I were the only ones up, I didn’t think it mattered all that much.)

He took 2-3 small steps toward me…and then snorted!

I snorted back.

He trotted about 15 feet further away.

By now, dawn was just starting to make its appearance.