I slept in a little on Sunday. But, when I got up, I grabbed
a cup of coffee and watched the news for a bit. Then I made myself some soft
boiled eggs for breakfast. Since I can’t eat breakfast before my doctor visit,
I promised myself I would on Saturday.
I eventually shaved, showered and got dressed. It had rained
overnight and was still sprinkling, but I drove to Home Depot and got a
four-inch hole saw and an arbor for it. Next, I went to Meijer’s and got a can
of Rotel (it worked out great in my goulash, so I thought I’d try it again).
Finally, I went to CVS and picked up the prescription
refills that my Doctor called in yesterday. While I was there, I got my flu
shot.
Remember me saying the Armor-All looked streaked and I hope
it didn’t dry like that? Well, it did. So, since the rain had stopped, I left
the truck outside and redid the application. But this time I applied it in a
circular motion, rather than back and forth.
I left it to dry and went inside to change into shorts and
t-shirt. It was getting muggy. But I wanted to put in the light, switch and
outside plug today and correctly wire them into the house circuits.
Next, I got the step ladder, the hole saw and the drill
motor. I placed the drill in the center of the light thingie and drilled away.
It easily went through the vinyl thingie, but it seemed like it was taking forever
to get through the half-inch pressboard. What the hell?
So, I pulled it out and found my contractor neighbor had
installed the damn thing half on top of the stud!!!
So, I studied on it for a while. I decided I could cut out
the rest of the 2x4 with the saber saw on the inside. But, I didn’t like the
idea of having a weakened 2x4 framing the window. So, I sistered in one next to
it.
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Then I cut out the rest of the circle in the 2x4 with the
saber saw.
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Now, I had a perfectly good plastic box I had bought (the
kind that comes with two nails in it), but the nail flanges kept it from going
in the hole. The only other one I had was a short metal one (made for tight
applications). So, I figured out just how far I could extend it out and still
get the wire into the box.
Sidebar: At this point, the frustration level was such that
I decided against wiring it in correctly with a switch, the plug and the 14/2 Romex
and just used a heavy duty extension cord.
Then I cut a 2x4 down to that measurement and screwed it to
the stud. Next, I went outside and screwed the little metal box into it.
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Of course, the normal screws were now way too short. So, I
rooted around in the garage and, luckily, found some long ones. Of course, now
everything was a bit floppy. But, I wired the light fixture in and, after a
whole lot of trial and error, got it attached to the box. I plugged it in and
it worked!!!
I got dressed again and went out to Home Depot for some foam
insulation. I sprayed that around the window itself (I had to do that anyway)
and in the little circle I had cut out from the stud. I made a total mess of it
and will have to trim it with a razor knife once it dries.
I pulled the truck inside (it looked much better, BTW) and
buttoned up the front for the night.
Inside, it was just after 5:30 p.m. (too late for a nap) so
I walked out back and set up the square head sprinkler in the vegetable garden.
I came inside and set the timer for an hour. Then I started
to prep for dinner. I rough chopped ¾ of a medium sided head of cabbage and
diced an onion. Then I cut a smoked sausage into coins.
I added a whole stick of butter to my 12-inch skillet and
put in the cabbage and onion. I cooked them on medium high for about five
minutes, stirring so they didn’t stick to the pan.
Then I added the sausage, the 10-ounce can of Rotel and half
of a 10-ounce can of fine diced tomatoes.
Note: the recipe calls for using a 15-ounce can of either
fine diced tomatoes of Rotel, but I didn’t see either one of those in the
15-ounce size.
Then I put a lid on it and simmered it for 20-25 minutes.
While I waited, I went out, shut off the water and wound up the hose. Back
inside, I started the last load of the weekend wash.
I dished out a bowl and tried it. Whew! It was good, but
pretty spicy. I guess the large can of tomato puree and the extra water I added
to my goulash helped to mask the Rotel somewhat in that dish.
I went in and watched some TV. When they cooled, I put the
leftovers in two containers and into the fridge. I hung up my clothes and then
went to bed at 9:00 p.m. It had been a long day!
