Same routine as yesterday; up at 7 AM, open up the house, feed the cats, clean the litter tray, start a load of laundry, make the coffee, and drink the coffee while using our iPads.
Our daughter’s 34th birthday is tomorrow but she is flying to Las Vegas today to meet up with her husband who is there on a company outing. We will celebrate her birthday when they get back, perhaps in conjunction with Father’s Day and Linda’s birthday, which is at the end of the month.
Linda left at 9 AM for Brighton Honda to have the 12 V battery in her car checked. The battery light came on the other day so we thought it might need to be replaced. Around 9:20 AM I heard thunder and a short time later we had a brief, heavy downpour. Linda called at the same time and said the battery tested OK. The problem could be the alternator, of course, but presumably the dealer service people know that and checked for that. If not, we will likely be back there sooner rather than later.
Linda headed on to Meijer’s to do the grocery shopping. Today was trash pickup day so I took the trash can to the street. After meeting with Brad from Chuck It Junk Removal the other day we decided we would rent their trailer for 5 days. For the same price as having them physically handle 1/3 of a truck of junk (5 cu. yd.) we can get rid of a full truck of junk (15 cu. yd.) by loading it ourselves. Deal.
I got a call from Phil Jarrell regarding my request for pricing to dig a foundation hole for a ham radio tower foundation. It was a useful conversation in that I had not previously realized that I will need a concrete contractor in addition to the concrete supplier. The only thing the concrete supplier will do is show up with a cement mixer truck and dump the concrete where they are instructed to. The concrete contractor will actually place rebar, build forms, provide carts or a pumper, and get the concrete from the truck to the hole. Phil recommended Mike Fearer of Bid-Rite Concrete as a good guy who would work with me to get this done.
I talked with Chuck about getting a key to his shop so we could have the new refrigerator delivered there and have the old one picked up without having to trouble him to be there. He agreed and suggested that we contact the guy down the street about removing the old windshield and installing the new one as part of the refrigerator swap.
Rather than dig into our bus interior remodeling project I have used the last couple of days to finalize decisions about various products and order them. One of the things I have wanted/needed for a while is a cable entrance box that will allow me to route transmission lines and control cables into the basement from outside. I talked to Chris Perri, KF7P, at the Dayton Hamvention last month and decided that I liked his custom fabricated cable entry boxes. I got his business card at the Hamvention and exchanged a couple of e-mails with him this week. I decided this morning how I want the box initially configured and e-mailed my specs to Chris. I would like to run the cabling for the cell phone booster through this box so I needed to get it on order. Speaking of which, the cell phone booster system arrived today via UPS so I am feeling more comfortable that all of the stuff I am ordering will actually get delivered to our house.
Wednesday’s and Fridays are when Recycle Livingston is open and the Wednesday hours are 11 AM to 5:30 PM. We had my car loaded up with recyclables and Linda drove over after lunch to drop them off. When she got back she made a batch of her yummy granola and I got a couple more loads of laundry done while continuing to work at my computer.
After doing my alternate tile layout for the bus floor yesterday I decided that I liked the way it looked better than the original ad that it would not involve any more cutting than the row/column layout. I also felt confident that I had an accurate enough tile count to go ahead and order the tiles. I drove to the Shell station to fill my tank and then drove to Lynch Carpet in Howell. I ordered 12 boxes of the 16″ x 16″ Armstrong Alterna Luxury Vinyl Tile in the La Plata Creme Fresh pattern, and a gallon each of the vinyl adhesive and Glacier vinyl grout. There are 14 tiles per box (24.89 sq. ft.) for a total of 168 tiles (just under 300 sq. ft.). The inside floor area of the bus is around 300 sq. ft. before subtracting out walls and cabinets but we will be using some of the tiles on vertical surfaces in the entry stairwell and cockpit and around the box that supports the bed platform. My estimate is that I will have 10 extra tiles. The guy at Lynch Carpet suggested that I use a scrap piece of tile as a spacer when installing the tiles but I may use the little plastic “X” pieces designed for this purpose.
From Lynch Carpet I drove to Lowe’s in Howell to see if they had a different portable air compressor that might be more appropriate than the 6 gallon Porter Cable we just bought. The Porter-Cable air compressor has a maximum regulated pressure of 150 PSI but that is also the maximum tank pressure. I will have to test it on one of the front bus tires to determine if it will get the job done and if not I will return it.
The guy at Lynch Carpet also suggested that I rent a handheld grinder from Abe’s or A-1 Rental, both in Howell. Abe’s did not have any grinders of any kind and A-1 was closed on Wednesdays. The gal at Abe’s suggested the tool rental service at the Howell Home Depot, so I stopped there. They also did not have a handheld grinder but they did have a floor model concrete grinder. It was so heavy that I doubt if we could have gotten it into the bus and it was too big to maneuver in the tight spaces where I need to work. They did have a lighter/smaller floor stripper and I may give that a try before I resort to grinding off the thinset with an angle grinder and diamond impregnated wheel and/or a belt sander with a very aggressive belt.
Pat Davidson called from Apex Roofing while I was out so I called him back. They will be able to start on our roof next week Monday or Tuesday and will deliver the shingles on Friday this week. I confirmed that we wanted two of the 14″ light tunnels for the living room. I also indicated that I had scrapped the idea of building a dormer or installing a roof hatch as I simply did not get this taken care of in time.
Linda had closed up the house and turned on the air-conditioning while I was out. It was pulling moisture out of the air but would not bring the air temperature lower than 78 degrees. Not good. This will be our third summer in this house and we have not used the air-conditioning very much. The first summer we were gone for most of June, all of July, and a few days in August. We had the unit serviced last year and thought it was working OK but perhaps did not really use it after that. We did install filters in the return air grills so perhaps they are restricting the airflow too much. It is also possible that it needs refrigerant. I will have to check our records from last year and then call TOMTEK to arrange to have it serviced again.
Linda’s brother, Ron, and his wife, Mary, arrived early this evening. They are on their way to northwest Illinois for a week-long organized bicycle ride. They have to be there on Saturday and will be spending the next three nights at our house. Visits from them are usually not more than once a year but we really enjoy their company when they are here.
For dinner Linda made a nice green salad and then made whole wheat angel hair pasta with onions, garlic, and mushrooms lightly sautéed in olive oil. Ron does not imbibe but Linda, Mary, and I had a glass (or two) of Moscato. We moved to the deck after dinner and had fresh strawberries for dessert. It cooled off as darkness set in and we eventually moved back inside. The other three were in the kitchen and I was sitting on the sofa when Juniper suddenly caught a mouse in the middle of the living room, or at least that is where I noticed that she had it. She took it downstairs and I got her to drop it in the bathroom sink but I was unable to get it into a container to take it outside and it escaped into my office. I closed the doors but I have no doubt it can go wherever it wants in the house from there. When I returned upstairs we chatted until 11 PM and then all turned in for the evening.