I owe, I owe, so off to work I go…

Sunday night, the Channel 4 weatherman said it would be hot on Monday, with a “slight” chance of showers in the morning, but clearing up before noon.

Well, I drove to work in the light rain. I had to walk indoors at 10:00 a.m. because it was still raining. And, when I left for lunch, it was still raining! And, it was NOT hot, it was damp and cool.

I went to Westborn and got a few things. Then I went home and made a BLT. The BLT was excellent, BTW!

It did stop raining enough to walk outside at 3:00 p.m. But it was still damp and cool. Hey, I wasn’t complaining. That just meant I didn’t have to water the grass seed tonight! 

When I got home after work, I took the trashcan out to the road. I went in, treated the cats and changed clothes.

Then I went out to the garage and the rocker repair. I had thought about it all day and discarded the idea of turning it over and finishing painting it. Why? Because the rockers split and I had to fix them. If you remember, I put a piece of wolmanized wood on the bench bottom because the indoor/outdoor carpet occasionally gets wets and I didn’t want it to rot. Well, if you look at the repair photos, you would probably realized (sooner than I did) that the rocker split due to water damage.

So, instead of finishing the damn thing tonight (as planned), I lightly sanded the bottom of the rockers. Then I got out the polyurethane and brushed a thick coat on them. That “might” take care of any water damage. Either way, I had to let it set at least overnight.

From there, I moved on to the mysterious electrical problem with the six outlets (come on, you remember, right?) It’s been a while, but its time I revisited that. Now, as you remember, we have determined its not the nearest plug in line from them to the fuse box. And its not anything up in the attic.So, I took the front off the fuse box and checked every wire (I think this is the second time I’ve done that) that leads to a fuse. All of them were live. (Dammit!) That means the next step will be busting out drywall in the garage wall so I can trace the wires back. (Groan).

While I was putting the fuse box face back on, there was a big commotion at the rear of the garage (by the workbench). I looked and it was a squirrel! I don’t know if he just got in while the door was open, or had been stuck in there over the weekend, but I chased him out! Stupid squirrel!

I went inside and preheated the oven to 350 degrees. I took the three baking potatoes I bought at Westborn, punched holes in them with a fork and covered them with canola oil. Then I covered them with Kosher salt. I stuck them in the oven on the open rack and set the timer for 40 minutes.

I got the power washer box from the garage and put a couple of items I had in it for Goodwill (if you remember, its not a good idea here to put empty boxes of pricey items out to the road as it might give thieves ideas). Since they didn’t fill it up, I went to go into the attic and look for other things to donate.

But, when I went to pull down the ladder, the decorative rope broke! Damn! 

So, I got a kitchen chair and a fork, climbed up and pried it open enough to get my fingers in and pull it down.

I found a few more items I was willing to give up and then went back downstairs. I got out the other end of the decorative rope that I had saved, threaded it through the little hole, tied a big knot and put the ladder back up.

I took the baked potatoes out of the oven and proceeded to make more of the ham and broccoli egg cups.  The recipe’s on the August 3 post, in case you forgot.

I have been accumulating a list of “tech” movies I thought that, as a member of the IT staff, I should see. So, I went online to Netflix and found NONE of them were available! WTF? How am I supposed to keep current on my job?

In case you were wondering, the list was as follows (spoiler alert: I already discounted the Matrix movies as “techie,” but too far out): “Social Network,” “Sneakers” (which I have seen, but wouldn’t mind seeing again), “Hackers” and “Real Genius.” I guess I will have to check Pay-Per-View or rent them. Are there any video rental stores still in existence?

When the egg cups were done, I put in some broccoli (left over from the egg cups) and garlic in the oven to roast. I know I saw this on Facebook, but have forgotten who posted it.

You simply put a chopped head of broccoli (I didn’t have quite that much left, of course) and 2-3 (I used 4) minced cloves of garlic in a baggie. You add two tablespoons of olive oil, some salt and pepper to that and shake the p*ss out of it. You put them on a cookie sheet (I used a foil-lined half sheet pan) and roast in the oven (on the top rack) at 375 degrees F. for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, I made my real dinner (finally): a Marie Callender’s Chicken Pot pie in the microwave (the oven’s been pretty busy tonight). I ate that with some of the roasted broccoli (crunchy and delicious, BTW).

I watched one taped TV show, but when it was finished, it was already 10:30 p.m. so I went to bed.