Alternate Use For A Firearms Cleaning Rod & Bore Brush

There I was, finally doing some needed cleanup in my apartment today and I was almost happily pushing furniture out of the way to vacuum the floors. That was almost happy untiI I realized that the vacuum was blowing around the dog hair, human hair, lint, dust bunnies and whatever else was on the floor instead of sucking it up. So, I took off the roller brushes, cleaned them and started again. Still the problem persisted; so, I took off the main hose and the tube that it is attached too and took a look - all clear. Then a look down the extension of the tube, that is permanently attached to the body of the vacuum cleaner revealed what looked like a blockage. It was a pain in the neck getting it out. I tried pushing it out with some long skinny things to no avail; then I tried a cleaning rod with a shotgun bore brush attached to pull it out - also no go. Then another try with the cleaning rod this time attached to a 38 caliber bore brush which gave it enough room to slide past the side of the blockage. It all came out fairly easily over the course of fives or six twirling swipes. First I got a small piece of paper towel, then a few more larger pieces with dog hair & and dust, then what amounted to what could have been a full toupee's worth of hair for a bald guy but made up of dog hair, human hair, lint, dust bunnies and other filth. Damn, it was packed in there, in all it was about a time and a half larger than my fist. Now though, the vacuum, a 5 year old Shark brand, works just fine again.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

I Started Painting...

...the small bedroom about a week ago. Well, not really painting, but opening and cleaning out cracks, then plastering. I did more of it yesterday,sanding (thank the gods for a good dust mask), then a second coat of spackle where needed. Then more sanding today, then vacuuming up the mess. After that I washed the walls and ceiling, just a rinse really. Then I taped up all the molding. Then I realized, holy horse feathers, some of the cracks were still not fully filled in with spackle. So a finishing touch with the spackle.

Before I started all this today, I tried to replace the handle on the upstairs toilet. Gave a turn of the nut to take it off, and wham the side of the toilet tank broke off. Thank goodness only above the water line. It looks like it must have been cracked there somehow, maybe however the handle got busted put the crack in the tank. I wonder. Did not matter, because I needed to think about replacing either the tank or the whole shebang. I opted for the tank, but the guy at Home Depot told me the tank size is no longer made. I find that hard to believe - I mean that a tank today will not fit on a toilet of old, if only because all the other holes, as in the ones to attach the bowl to the floor, the flush hole, the valve hole, remain standard sized throughout the years. So I hemmed and hawed and just bought some painting supplies. I figure I'll check better on the tank size, maybe go to a plumbing supply store and see if I can get just the tank. It would be a whole lot easier to fix that.

On the way home from HD, I stopped at the local supermarket. I picked up a couple of lamb chops, a 12 pack of St. Pauli Girl, and some cherry flavored seltzer (great with vodka). The chops went down on the grill right after I got home, and a couple of beers soon followed the chops down my gullet. Then back up to the room to get done what I outlined above. Right now, over another St. Pauli Girl, I am here typing this, and waiting for the spot jobs of spackling to dry. I figure about an hour or two. I'll get that sanded and then its primer/sealer time. Hopefully I get the whole room, really more like a jail cell, done tonight with the primer/sealer, then tomorrow I'll put on the paint. The wife wanted lime green, and I got something between the outside and inside colors of a lime. Green for the walls, white for the ceiling. I think it is disgusting, she has not seen it yet. I hope she likes it. Really though, I figure once on the walls, with the stained woodwork trim, it will look nice.

Wait a minute. What was that? I think I hear a duetches frauline calling me, a St. Pauli Girl at that. Time for another cold one; later for you.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Brand New Craftsman Lawn Mower,...

...that I picked up at Sears last night, meant a newly mown (or is it mowed?) lawn today. An old edge trimmer that did not work when I plugged it in, and then got a quick repair (took apart the handle and reconnected a loose wire, even I never knew I was so handy) meant that the front and back postage stamp sized lawns are now trim albeit still pretty poor excuses for lawns. Then a quick blow round the house with the leaf blower, followed by a quick sweep up of a pile of debris here and there, and the old homestead looks presentable. Now for some refinishing of the front door, a job started about a week or so ago but had to discontinue because of the weather, and it will really look a lot better round here. After that maybe some filling in of holes in the garden, our newest dog Mimi is a digger, then maybe a few dabs of hot sauce here and there where she usually digs and I am hopeful that problem will be gone. Once I'm all done with my chores, I'll be enjoying the best shower I have taken in awhile. I cannot wait to feel the cascading streams of hot water running over head, then flowing over my body till it trickles down between my toes as I take the first hot shower in our house since the new water heater was installed earlier today. Yes the new A.O. Smith hot water heater, a jumbo one at that holding 50 gallons (our last only held 30 gallons) is in place and all fired up. Utopia right here at home (even though I'll be broke for the next month or three paying for it all), but still Utopia - can you imagine that!

I had better get going if I really want to be first into the shower; I've lots of work to do before then, and Brendan gets home from school and lacrosse practice within a few hours, so time is of the essence. Later for you.

All the best,
Glenn B

Interrupted Obligations

There I was working away on the front door frame feeling good because I had sanded it down so it looked not as good as newly cut wood, but pretty darned close. I then started to fill some small holes and cracks, well I should say almost started. I opened the tube of wood filer I had on hand, and low and behold someone else had used it already and cut the nozzle tip down to nothing. So, when the cap was replaced it did not make a seal having only a tiny nub of tip left. Yes you guessed it, the putty was dry for the most part. I got 3 small holes filled and the rest of it was not workable. Hopefully Linda will listen to her voice mails before coming home and pick up some wood putty from the local hardware store. I am none to happy I had to stop the job, I hate interruptions for crap like that. Things like that, the little ones, make me loose my cool big time, funny because I handle big problems much better. My solution though was to sit down, take a breather, write this, and now to go and make myself lunch. Now that sounds like a winner of an idea.

Later for you, and later for the Cherry or Ipswich Pine Finish for the front door frame; and that will be a decision to be made once the frau gets home.

All the best,
GB

Household Obligations- a never ending joy

A productive day at home is what I was expecting to have today. I took the day off to refinish the front door and door frame, to paint the side door and frame, and to get a haircut so I'd look nice for the wife tomorrow on our anniversary. I also figured I'd be making up for my lack of production as of late on this blog as to a gun post or two. Now the new dog is barfing all over the place, and we will soon be off to the vet. Hopefully we won't be there too long, but who can tell - she seems pretty sick. I am also hoping it is only a stomach bug that will pass quickly, but the wife told me that Mimi grabbed a raccoon skull we have in the basement and was mouthing it last night, then started getting sick. I am hoping she did not ingest any toxins. I kind of doubt that had anything to do with it, but one never knows what chemicals they use to preserve those things (it was a store bought one) bought for my son. Needless to say, I checked the basement for other things that might appear appealing to her as chew toys.

Once I get home, I guess I can add the chore of going to Home Depot to pick up a carpet cleaner to my list of to dos! The list only gets longer, or so it seems.

All the best,
Glenn B

Shopping, Flooring, More Shopping...

...those are the plans for my day, and I woke up late this morning. I am just getting into the swing of things right now so this will need be brief. I am off to Home Depot to pick up a nail gun (has to go faster than drilling pilot holes in oak floorboards then hammering in each nail one at a time with multiple hammer blows, then setting each nail with a nail set.

Then off to buy my wife a nice Christmas present.Yes as usual, I have again waited until the last minute, well at least the last day to get my Christmas shopping finished. No panic though, I know where to go, and what to buy, to make her smile. No it will not be diamonds, nor a cute muscular male slave (both on her wish list - really that is what she wrote down).

Oh well - no more time to write until maybe tonight. Have a joyous Christmas Eve.

All the best,
Glenn B

Fall Has Befallen Us...

...along with about a ton of leaves. It was pretty warm out today, low 50's, and I had intended on finishing our front door and door frame, then I heard my wife sweeping leaves on our side patio. Oh-oh I thought, I had better get my arse in gear and get the rest of the leaves cleaned up since it had not been done in way too long. I had wanted my son to do it for a few weeks now, but I will admit he works on Sundays, and has been busy at least 4 hours each Saturday in school with SAT preparation and I had let him slide thinking I would do it. Then it was one delay after another. So I figured what the heck, I had better do it, and his turn starts next weekend. So I grabbed my trusty Toro electric leaf blower, and got to ot. I started at 1125, and was gung-ho to get it done, and man oh man after 3 weeks it sure needed it. When I was done, and mind you I only cleaned up the front yard and along the sides of my house, on our very small lot (40x100 I think), I looked at the clock and I had been at it non-stop for 2 hours and 25 minutes. Wow, where did the time go on such a small lot. I guess most of the time went to my using the vacuum function on the leaf blower to pick up virtually all the leaves once I had blown them into 4 nice sized piles. It sort of takes forever using that, and it would have been much quicker just picking them up and putting them in a trash bag, but I like to have them chewed up by the blower/vacuum before I bag em, and the Toro does that pretty well. Uses more electricity, saves on plastic bags - a standoff maybe, then again maybe not. I figure I could have chopped of an hour on my time had I just scooped em up after I had blown em into piles. Oh well. If I decide to use any for my compost pile, and I am pretty sure I'll use at least one of the four 50 gallon bags full of leaf litter for the compost heap, at least it will have been chopped up and start to compost faster because of it. Yep, that was right, I filled four 50 gallon bags with leaves, and a few twigs, today - and out lots is only 40x100 and I did not even touch the back yard. The sad thing is, that the tree out in front of my house still has at least 75% of all its leaves; it usually drops them well after the other trees on the block are bare. I cannot wait, more fun, next time though watching my son do it. As for this time, I did a good enough job to have my wife compliment me on how nice the property looked after I was finished. That made the job worthwhile.

While I have some other odd jobs that need to be done, like the front door and door frame needing finishing, I think they can wait for a later time. Right now I need to clean up, then go out and buy a nice cake for my wife's birthday. It actually falls during this week, but we are having a special dinner today (she is cooking it), so I figured I'd at least buy a nice b'day cake for her. Then I think I'll take some time getting ready for hunting season, cleaning guns, cleaning hunting clothing, packing things so they are ready. Sure hunting season is still two weeks away, but I like to be able to grab and go, without having to pack the night before I leave.

All the best,
Glenn B

Things to do today...

...for me include getting back to sleep. Insomnia sicks. Well this may not be insomnia since I fell asleep earlier than usual, and just woke up. Hopefully though I'll be able to get back to dreamland before too long.

Once the sun is well up in the sky, I need to do some painting. Have to finish off painting my entryway. Started about 2 weeks ago, did the scraping and plastering, then the primer, all one day at a time on the weekends; now for the actual paint. Better for me to do it in stages and take my time, less chance of me getting frustrated over something and then screwing up.

After that I'll be off to possibly spend $350 on a Woma Python. Go figure, you would think I'd be buying a gun with that money. The thing is I maybe able to sell the snake for about $200 profit, so I may plunk down the change for it. Then I'll buy the gun.

I also have to get the house ready for my brother-in-law, the older one, who is going into the hospital nearby my home, to possibly get a stent on Friday. He will be staying with us a few days. Supposed to be in and out of the hospital on the same day. When I was younger something like this probably would have required at least a week of hospital food and enemas. Oh the joys of the wonders of modern medicine!

I am also thinking of buying a treestand at a local sporting goods store. Bought one a while back from Sportsmansguide.com, but it arrived in poor shape after UPS apparently manhandled it. They actually managed to bend the steel, so I returned it for a refund. Now Dick's Sporting Goods seems to have a decent one on sale.. I do not like Dick's all that much (That just sounded wrong, almost as if I like em, and not a sporting goods store at that.) I do not like Dick's Sporting Goods all that much, but my options are very limited nearby to my home so I am afraid I'll have to get one there.

After all that, maybe a little mortar repair on the stone work around my small front patio, and maybe a little pointing on my front and side stoops. Always a first time for me to try doing something I have never done. After that I'll probably need a strong libation (LOL).

Yes, I do have tomorrow off from work. Took off mainly to help get the place ready for my brother-in-law, and to pick him up if need be to bring him to our place. On Friday I'll take him to the hospital and pick him up from there when they are done with him. Hopefully all will go well.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Day Off, But A Busy One...

...is exactly how today went for me. I took today off in anticipation of receiving 20 baby Bearded Dragons by Fed-Ex. While I was waiting for them I did some chores around the house. I started with cleaning up my animal tanks; and I got about 1/2 through when I ran out of pine shavings for the mouse tanks. Then I decided to go to work in the front entry way to our house and got some sanding done of areas I plastered a few days ago. Just as I was getting ready to start that, the Bearded Dragons showed up with the Fed-Ex guy. They got all my attention for the next 45 minutes or so. I got 21 of them, one arriving DOA, the others seemingly okay except for one that looked a bit air sick (or whatever).

Once they were put into tanks and set up with proper heat and lighting, it was back to the sanding. I started that without using a dust mask. After just a minute or two, I decided that a dust mask was what anyone with half a brain would use, so the half a brain that was not thinking earlier had a good thought at that moment and I got one out of my shed. Man what a mess sanding spackle/plaster makes. Luckily it was a fairly small job, confined to a vestibule sized entry way. I finished the job with a good clean up.

After that it was onto the computer to contact the dealer who shipped me the bearded dragons. Sent him a pic of the dead one, and sort of complained that these were apparently younger and much smaller than he promised. Time will tell if he remedies that, maybe with a partial refund. That would be nice, otherwise next time I buy it will be from someone else. These guys will make an appearance at the Long Island Herpetological Society's 18th Annual Reptile Expo this Saturday, at SUNY Farmingdale. Hopefully I'll earn my money back, and have a few left over for a future breeding project. I have not heard anything back yet, but I'll be patient as he went in for knee surgery today. I trust he will contact me when he can.

Took a shower, felt nice and fresh, then had the oddball idea of cleaning the leaves on my sidewalk and front lawn. I guess the shower could have waited. I filled a 55 gallon drum sized bag with leaves and other debris like twigs and seed pods. Oh joy I was dirty filthy again, and sweaty too. I figured since I was dirty why not clean some weeeeeeeds (they grow just like those e's just did) out of the garden, and I did that for at least another hours or so. Yup, another clean up was in store for me.


All that aside, I was off to Costco. Now Costco near me is usually a madhouse of humanity. Today it was on the quiet side. I guess being a weekday, and being I was there at about 3:30 PM was a good thing. I was in and out of there in about 45 minutes at most; a new record for me. Once outside, I stopped at the liquor store right next to Costco where I picked up a birthday present for yours truly. Tomorrow I will enjoy some of that Stoly Vodka as I celebrate my 52nd. After Costco is was home to offload. Then I went to Queens to check out a Exo_Terra reptile tank someone was selling. Brand new, in the box, at below cost by about $25. I took it, and $160 disappeared quicker than I earned it for sure. On the way back home I stopped at a local Petco and picked up another of those tanks, though a smaller one. It was on sale for less than half price. No I am not upgrading my reptile & amphibian enclosures. I will either raffle these off or sell them at the LIHS Reptile Expo this weekend to earn some money for the society. Any profit above what I p[aid for them goes to the society. Nothing in it for me except that I know I am doing good for the society.

For the last hour or so, I have been trying to fix my virus protection software from Windows Live One Care. It keeps telling me it needs urgent attention because the virus definitions are out of date, but when I try to update the update fails. I think I'll be picking up Norton Internet Security again tomorrow. My Windows Live One care is due to expire in about 2 months, but I do not like the product at all; so back to Norton for me. Even though I did not much Norton's support policies, there product is superior. Hopefully no viruses or other nasties will infect my PC before I get Norton installed.

Tomorrow promises to be busier than today, and I also have tomorrow off. Besides getting ready for the reptile expo, I have other chores to do, and I have to take Brendan for his first (and I hope only) road test. Should prove to be an interesting day.

All the best,
Glenn B