And the Self Isolation continues!!

Heh. 

Well,  I think I might have mentioned at some point over the years that I,  in fact,  could quite likely get along just fine living as a "recluse".   Not a hermit,  mind you.  I likes my wifi and all that.  And getting deliveries to the door would be problematic if living as a hermit.  Plus,  if I were to chose to live in some remote gawd fersaken place,  I'm afraid I'd be very much alone. 

Anyhoodle.   There's always something to while away the hours.  At least until my knees start to complain.  And Oh Lordy.

But this isn't a Pity Party,  so let's not go there.

After the bulk of the painting is done downstairs,  and before I starting making some moves in the furniture department,  I figured I'd suck it up and finally put down some baseboard of some sort.

This stuff is actually considered "casing",  but the baseboard that I was looking at was kinda flimsy,  and I wasn't about to blow too much dough on some fancy schmancy stuff made from Oak say,  as it is the basement after all.   I had thought that I'd be painting it one of the colours that would perhaps be a nice contrast to the paint on the walls,  but T.C. took a look at the primed bit that I put down as a bit of a reference/test,  and declared that she thought she'd like it to be white.

So white it is:

Always best to paint it ahead of time I find,  so as not to be forced to spend all that effort on hands and knees trying not to get paint everywhere.

The beauty of the white is (or any colour for that matter) I can caulk any little "issues"  I might find,  and then just paint over it.


Me likey.

None of that has actually been nailed in place,  by the way.  We're still at the "fitting" stage here.


I'll get back to this once my knees stop complaining.

And to think,  there was a time when I could spend a day doing just this,  and then go in to work and carry on until midnight. 

It's been a while.

So if I think of it,  it's been a few years now that I've been "self isolating".

Hope y'all are hanging in there.

Thanks for stopping by.

Keep your stick on the ice.

And wash your hands.

As the stomach turns.

Well kids,  looks like the idiots are in full panic mode.   Reports are the stores are whacko,  but these are second hand reports as,  being a Pensioner,  I don't go to the store on a Thursday night,  or any other time when the Worker Bees are in need of a good shop.

Saw one of my long time Facebook friends commenting on the line-ups at one place (on Facebook,  of course),  and moments later,  got a call from Daughter Number One saying she and hubby went in that store,  took a look at the lines,  turned around and left.

I did go to Costco on Wednesday for the usual.  Milk,  bread, cream and....toilet paper.   But,  Costco is where I do buy toilet paper,  unless it's on sale at Food Basics,  just down the street from us.   There was a bit of nuttiness in the toilet paper aisle,  but nothing like I've seen on the news. 

I was actually a little embarrassed to be buying toilet paper,  as I really didn't want to be part of "that crowd".  I can't figure out if the ones that were buying two and three bales,  are actually running variety stores and selling it at a profit?  If you think you're going to have the shits that bad to need that much toilet paper,  there's going to be other issues.  Besides,  when it comes out like that,  it's kind of a "self cleaning" situation.

But let's not go down that rabbit hole.  Is that a pun? 

Not sure.

Anyhoo,  I think Daughter Number one was trying to get some guidance as to whether or not they should stick to their plans to go to Cabo San Lucas in a couple weeks.  She didn't really come out and ask the Old Man (that wouldn't be cool)  but it was one topic of discussion.   The flight down is direct,  but the return leg has a stop over in the US.   That could be problematic.   The flight cancellation wouldn't be too much of a concern,  as many of the airlines are waving their fees in that regard,  but they've paid for the villa already.  Ain't gonna get that mulla back.


Now to some other (more sane) news:

Work continues in the painting department.  I ain't no ball of fire,  I'll tell you that much.  I suspect I put in a good solid three or four hours some days,  and then I get a little tired or hungry,  and my motivation begins to suffer.  Admittedly,  there have been a couple times when I've done a wee bit in the evening,  just to finish off a section.

And we made a discovery.

See,  Travelling Companion had this idea that "we" want to replace the fridge that I've now moved to paint behind.  So fine,  we did some looking on the usual sites,  settling on a model from Costco.  Wasn't about to pull the trigger any time soon however.  The idea was,  that the fridge is "really noisy",  and if we're going to be putting the day bed down there for an extra sleeping area,  then  it "has to go".

Plus, it seemed to be running way too much.

Except,  when I moved it about five feet,  sort of around the corner from the kitchen area,  I immediately noticed that,  not only was it heaps quieter,  but that it also wasn't coming on nearly as often. 

Huh?

I even thought that perhaps it had stopped working,  and decided to check on it.  Nope,  running just fine.

Well see,  where it had been sitting,  it's not entirely level.  I didn't think being slightly off kilter would make such a huge difference.  Apparently it does.

This is a fridge that we bought second hand almost 20 years ago,  and it's been chugging away down there all this time.  So,  having a new fridge would definitely help in terms of energy conservation.  I'm just not too sure how long it would take to save that five or six hundred dollars in electricity costs.

I suspect,  another 20 years..


Anyway,  hope y'all are doing well.  Self isolating and all.   Turns out,  I've been self isolating for years and years.

Who knew?

Thanks for stopping by.

It's not the painting, it's the prep.

There have been many a time when,  lying there semi-comatose on my big comfy couch down in the "Man Cave",   that I've thought that maybe,  someday,  possibly,  I'd give the whole place a paint job.

I like thoughts.   Thoughts are great.  They require minimal effort.

Then along comes T.C. who,  during our trip back from Ottawa (well,  Osgoode really)  last weekend, (no,  a week ago last weekend...) managed to "rearrange the whole house".   Here I thought she was having a little shut eye but NO,  she was THINKING.

There's a big difference,  between the way I "think" about things,  and the way T.C. "thinks" about things.   When T.C. engages in this activity,  it usually means work.

For me.

 So, along with moving random dressers,  beds and desks,  there was going to be some painting.

Ooof.


Oh ya,  forgot to mention.

Took a little road trip last week. (no Bob,  two weeks ago.)

Sister-in-law and hubby who live in Kingston,  had (wait for it) taken the train to Toronto a few weeks back,  stayed overnight at another sister-in-law's place,  and then flown off to San Diego for a visit/vacation.  Her hubby has two brothers in California.  Of course,  they naturally counted on taking the train once again back to Kingston from Toronto.

See where this is going?

They arrived back in Toronto on the Tuesday (a week ago)  and having come to terms with the train issue,  thought they'd take the BUS to Kingston.

You may or may not be aware that there have been some rail disruptions in this country due to some land disputes with some of our First Nations.  I'm not going to get into it,  'cause I'll just say something I shouldn't.  Even though it may very well be the very thing that every one is thinking.

A while back already,  we had been thinking of taking a wee trip out that way for a visit,  as both the Kingston Party and the Osgoode Parties had come for their usual Christmas visit,  and I was looking forward to showing up at their respective doors and getting fed and lubricated.

Didn't plan on driving though.

It's been a long,  long time since I ever took a bus most anywhere in this country,  and taking a bus to either Kingston or Ottawa has me hearkening back to some time in the 70s.   I was a student then,  and bus fare was something I could afford, and besides, I didn't have a car at the time.

Skip ahead some 40 years.  Um,  I don't take no bus.  And I don't expect anyone else close to my age or older to it either.

Besides, ever heard of The Corona virus?   To me,  a bus would just be a smaller version of a Petri dish,  such as those really big Petri dishes, that on the outside look suspiciously like a cruise ships.



So,  we drove off to Toronto a week ago last Thursday morning to fetch the Travellers,  and continues on to Kingston.   We didn't stay in Kingston,  even though we were invited,  as I know perfectly well that,  when I've been away for any length of time,  the very last thing I would want, would be to play host to a couple folks who,  even though they may have provided some very timely transportation,  are still going need a bed made up and food put on the table. 

Besides,  it was only another couple hours to get to Osgoode,  so as to mooch off the other set of Christmas guests.   Also,  it was my sister's birthday (indeterminate age,  but she's older than me)  She lives in Nepean (part of greater Ottawa)  and we wanted to see her on her birthday.

All well and good.

Skip then ahead to getting home and getting to work.

It's OK.   Really.  I don't mind too much.  Except that,  in "Bob Land",  we don't just prime and paint over the crappy jobs that have gone on before. 

First of all,  back in 1992,  when we built this apartment,  there was a bit of a push on to get it done in a timely fashion.  Took long enough to clean out all the junk,  come up with some sort of layout,  cut up the concrete floor for the plumbing,  and then get on with putting up walls, etc.

As a result,  there were several "hands" at work.  With varying degrees of skill,  let's say?   So there was that.

Then skip ahead to around 2001,  and Daughter Number Two and one of her college buddies thought they'd paint.  Well.  I'll not say much,  except that I'm now taking the time to first of all fix some of the dry walling boo-boos from way back,  and then sorting out some of the other "issues".   Like,  I just spent maybe a half hour scraping paint off of a phone jack that should have been removed,  and not half painted over.

That sort of thing.

And yes,  once upon a time,  we had these things called "phone jacks".   Old school I realise.  But I either keep it in its place,  or patch the ensuing hole once I take it out.  Either way,  pain in the ...

You might notice up at the top of that one window there,  where you can see the corner bead?  Wasn't done properly.  Had to scrap off the very thin layer of drywall compound and fix it by taping it,  and then applying more mud.

So I did get one wall completely done,  and some stuff put back in that corner.  I initially,  naively thought I'd completely remove the cantilevered cabinet where that TV is sitting,  but thought better of it. 

Too many wires.

And,  that's life here at The Ponderosa.

Just when you think you're "retired".

Ha!


Thanks for stopping by.

Keep that stick on the ice.