45 thoughts on “May 26, 2014: Memorial Day”

  1. From now on whenever my wife asks me to build something (i.e. a swing set for the trinket), no one else is allowed in the backyard with me. Ugh, these things are always a pain in the ass and I hate working with wood to begin with, so I complain about it and then she gets mad that I complain.

    Also, summer can go away now. It's only 75, but even still it's an uncomfortable, grimy feeling. I miss snow.

    1. Since we are on this topic: my wife has twice(!) broken plastic pieces on the top shelf of the dishwasher that I put in two years ago, costing me more that $150. Recently, she carelessly put a steak knife with a plastic handle in the dishwasher, causing it to fall on the heating element and melting. The melted plastic hardened into a lot of little pieces, apparently clogging the drain pump so that water will not exit the dishwasher.

      Replacing a drain pump on my dishwasher requires that I remove the dishwasher from the cabinet. It just so happens that the previous owner of our house put in a hard wood floor in front of the old dishwasher, leaving about a half inch ledge in front of the dishwasher. It was very difficult to put the dishwasher in, but I was able to manage it.

      My wife is on a new kick: she thinks I should HIRE everything done. Putting together a swing set? That should be HIRED. Well, if I had unlimited funds, I would do that, but I don't have unlimited funds. But, I cannot get the damned dishwasher out by myself. And I can't ask my neighbor to help me, because he hires everything done and he and his wife have repeatedly made fun of me for doing things myself. So, I am going to hire a guy to help me pull the damned thing out. It really irritates me.

      1. It's all shit menards stuff too, which means the wood is all warped rendering measurements nearly useless and everything un level. I probably should have just bought the wood and designed the damb thing myself.

        I think your neighbors sounds insufferable. Fortunately, the street i live on is filled with guys who all have mechanically inclined jobs, so no one hires anyone to do anything.

        1. They are interfering with marital issues. They are good people generally, but they don't seem to get that they have two salaries and we have only one. Plus, they have been living in their house for a very long time, meaning they probably don't have a mortgage payment. So, yeah, I might hire shitty jobs then. But, our situation is different.

          1. I believe in comparative advantage, but also grew up in small-town midwest. It has taken me years to come to grips with hiring out what I am not good at or physically not suited for. A lot if the stuff you guys do is just beyond my capacity or willingness to attempt. God bless yah.

            1. Dishwasher is fixed. The guy came and we got the damned thing out,, which was a two man job and the hard part. It was two minutes to remove and replace the pump. $64. That's pretty cheap (plus the $70 pump). The problem was that there was a rubber band wrapped around the impeller. A rubber band!

              So, I knew what the problem was and how to fix it. I probably could have just taken the rubber band off, but the motor had a little play in it, so best to just replace it. If not for that effing floor, this would have been a 15 to 20 minute job.

              A rubber band. My wife swore up and down that she makes sure the dishes are scraped off before she puts them in the dishwasher. A rubber freaking band. Someone owes me.

              1. I have a dishwasher issue also in Scandia. Not draining fast enuf. Water on the floor.

                I thot might be the drainage pipes, but snaked them out and no issues. Wondering now if something plugging up the bottom of the dishwasher ala Stick. It has been in play since 1989...

    2. It's been nice on the golf course this week, but in principal, I agree. We've got the AL on at home, because we've got no shade for most of the day, and our house ends up a hot, humid oven whenever the temp gets above 70.

    3. Also, summer can go away now. It's only 75, but even still it's an uncomfortable, grimy feeling. I miss snow.

      I'm pulling this out next February.

      Also, it's 80 here at 9:40, on the way to a modest 96. A good day for yard work.

          1. I'll give you a third on that one, as participating in Memorial Day activities today in service uniforms almost had a number of aging legion members falling out.

          2. Indeed. You can always put on more clothes. I'd be happy with summer weather in the 60s.

          3. Count me in too - I ran yesterday morning and felt sick until about 2. I was fully hydrated and well rested, but came away with a headache and nausea - heat and humidity suck.

      1. It is absolutely beautiful here. Mid-to-upper 70s, and for a change fairly light winds. I went for my first real bicycle ride of the year and loved it.

      1. Right. If this works (I know Nick Nelson has been advocating this for quite a while), it could have a very positive carryover to next year.

    1. Sounds great except Hicks has struck out in 26% of his PAs against left-handed pitchers. I would think that would go up while facing right-handed pitchers. I can't imagine that transition is going to go well at the MLB level. Hopefully, batting right-handed every day will make him more comfortable with it since that was the side he was able to swing from the least.

      1. They can just send him down to Rochester for a couple of months to work on it. We must have some centerfielder in the system that we can plug in for 150-200 ABs. Right?

  2. In addition to my dishwasher fiasco, I tore out two bushes and repurposed the flower bed that they were in. Tore out the edging, removed the mulch, worked the soil. Went and got some fill, and I planted it to grass. Then I fertilized the rest of the lawn.

    I am tired.

    1. Got most of the hedges trimmed. Looks like I made the right choice rather than stick with the game.

      Then we went to see Grand Budapest Hotel (excellent fun). And then I smoked some beef ribs and potatoes. Num num.

  3. Oh, and the wife went out to get Chinese food. When she left, there was a HUGE oil spot beneath her car. I chased after her, thinking that she would be stranded. Nope, she got the four miles to the Chinese joint. I started her car and it seemed to be running fine and the oil light was not on. So there must be some oil and some pressure. Then why the huge leak?

    I drove it a half mile to the shop. It is never nothing.

    1. I certainly wouldn't trust an oil light to tell me when the level is low. That's what the dipstick is for. Regardless, taking it in to the shop is a good call if it's leaving giant oil spots behind.

      1. Not for level, but pressure. A while back, the oil pressure light came on: we had a leaky filter. So, yes, the dipstick is for oil level, but if you are in a catastrophic situation, the oil light will come on.

        1. Well, if you caught a leaky filter with it before, it sounds like your oil light is fairly trustworthy. In my experience, the oil light is much more likely to come on because the sensor went bad than it is for anything oil-related, but then, two of my three daily-driver vehicles are over 200,000 miles and the third is within shouting distance.

  4. Brought the neighbors their papers and mail (they went to the lake this weekend) and stuck around to watch some of the extra inning Yankees/Cardinals. Correctly spookied a McCann HBP and gave mental kudos to Randy Choate for his effective wildness.

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