The saga continues.  To get the latest chapter click on over to our  Projects page and select Exterior Painting: 2017.

Back around the same time the idea of painting the house was percolating  in my head or, maybe even before, Paula and I decided it was time to get serious about enlarging our north “side” patio.  This is the oft used but smaller of our two patios.  A contractor, recommended by Paula’s retired boss at CM, was selected.  After a few email exchanges and modifications to the original plan the contract was signed.  It was a simple small job consisting of busting out a 2′ border on two sides and replacing it with a 6′ border (see diagram – gray sections get removed and gray and blue are new additions).

Our rainy spring complicated the scheduling of the job but eventually there was a break and the work commenced on Monday March 13.  Was one little hitch though.  The concrete truck arrived and the two man (one being the owner) crew were not ready to pour mud.  It was at this point to me it was very obvious the guys went into rush mode.  Doesn’t take an MBA to realize that the meter is ticking while the truck driver is sitting twiddling his fingers.   They even had two loads of concrete poured when I reminded them they had not yet installed the rebar to tie this new into the old!!  It is during this frenetic pace that I have a sneaking suspicion that they nudged a fence post with their Bobcat.  Long story short the workmanship wasn’t acceptable and the contractor tore it all out and re-poured it.  He later admitted he was not proud of the original work.

We are enjoying the extra elbow room.  Was one of those things you wished you had done years earlier.

The new patio pretty much “cemented ” the painting project now on the schedule for April.  It also was the catalyst for some cleaning up of the back yard, mending a rickety gate along with replacing a post and rail plus reseeding the area adjacent to the new patio.  Of course I had all these tasks scheduled, choreographed, planned and dialed up.  But as we all know “the best laid plans of mice and men ….”

Some time during the past cold dark winter days the bug got planted in my head that it was time to get a fresh coat of paint on the house.  Actually, from the looks of the south facing wall it was overdue by a year or two.  I am beginning to believe it was a severe case of longing for the warmer and sunnier days to come that festered this idea.  So on May 7, after a normal period of thinking this project out, I got the extension ladder down, gathered my meager paint prep tools together and began scraping on the south wall.  Objective was to get this sun baked wall spruced up before the heat got cranking in earnest.  May has come and gone and as of June 1 I have logged 139 hours on the project and estimate that 60% of the task is behind me.  75 of those hours have been dealing with scraping, caulking and buffing up rain  gutters and downspouts.  So why is it referred to as “painting”?

Those of you that know me probably are wondering what the rush is about.  Well, the job has to be completed by June 24 which is when Paula and I travel to Baker, Oregon to pickup Emily.  We get to have her, without parents, for a few days.

Stay tuned for additional painting details plus distractions encountered along the way such as patio doors, concrete contractors, smoke alarms and the mystery of refrigerator lights.

So the Supco 3-in-1 starter came today.  Installed it in short order and the compressor fired right up!  Things are looking good – no smoke, no flames.  I blew out some dust bunnies and cleaned up the fridge innards as best I could.  Rolled her back into place and transferred a few items from the garage fridge.  Has been a couple hours and things are cooling down and the compressor is humming along.  Yee-haw!!

So Sunday morning I get up and following my normal ritual go to the freezer to get some ice cubes –  I like my Joint Juice on the rocks.  Pulling out the ice cube tray (no fancy through-the-door ice dispenser for me – no sirree, keep it simple) I find only water in the miniature pools.  “Oh oh”, I say to myself, “this is not good”.  Poking a nearby chunk of meat I find it a little soft.  Adrenaline kicks in to wake me up and I get busy transferring items to our 30+ year old refer in the garage.  Did I mention Paula was at the cabin?

As some of you know and can attest to Paula and I have not been happy with this refrigerator since it was installed 11 years ago during the kitchen face lift.  Thinking its’ life was past a search began online for a replacement.  A suitable unit was eventually found – do you know how difficult it is to find simple basic home appliances now days?

Then I looked to see if Professor Google had some ideas on what might be broke.  Found some YouTube videos for troubleshooting and determined that the compressor was OK.  That left the Start Relay Overload doohickey as the likely culprit for my not getting my daily Joint Juice.

Of course the part from a local supplier was $80.  Didn’t want to invest that much in case the compressor really wasn’t  ok.  A quick Amazon search found one for $40.  Then watched  another video that mentioned a Supco starter.  Found one of those for $12 (local guy wanted $34).  Figured the fridge was worth $12 to verify if the compressor did still have life.  So the order was submitted.

Unfortunately, there is also a lot of discussion in forums that this Supco device is not a permanent solution.  But I then found the OEM part for $24 – of course after the $12 part was ordered.  But, if the part works I will probably play it safe and get the $24 OEM part.  So for $36 bucks Paula and I may continue to get to listen to this fridge pop for a while longer.

The part should arrive Tuesday or Wednesday.

Stay tuned.