This was certainly an eventful week in Arkansas. It all started last Sunday when it started to snow and did not let up until Monday. By the time is stopped snowing, we had 6-8 inches on the ground. It is an amazing transformation to go from a dismal brown landscape to a beautifully carpeted bright white, and just overnight. And to step outside and 'hear' the quiet solitude that permeates the area; no cars, no dogs barking, no birds chirping - just quiet stillness. Because this type of weather is not common to the area, the state, county, city do not have the road clearing capability many snow prone areas have. While the main arteries are cleared within a day, secondary roads like mine may take longer to plow. But then, why go anywhere anyway?
Okay, so I did go out, and I managed to get stuck in the snow! I was at Home Depot buying a sheet of drywall and was pushing the cart out to the truck and got stuck in an inch or two of snow. Just reversed course and all was well. Those carts just don't maneuver in snow.
Monday I worked in the kitchen for several hours. I removed the 'box' or soffit from over the former cabinets on one wall and discovered that several electrical wires were in that space and not in the attic. And of course the wires were not long enough to merely reroute above the ceiling joists, that would be too easy. It was necessary to shut off the appropriate breaker, cut the offending wires, add junction boxes and run additional wire. All which had to be done from the attic. No standing room there; all the work had to be done kneeling or sitting; until I got closer to the eaves and had to do the low crawl under the heat ducts. I decided that I am not getting older - my body is just not as agile, flexible, or responsive as it used to be!
Knowing there was more snow due on Tuesday, I went out and shoveled snow from the driveway so that I could get out of the garage if needed and then around the truck. Fortunately the snow was light and powdery and made for easy removal. I did have on long underwear and insulated outer gear and despite the single digit temperatures, stayed warm.
Tuesday I was scheduled for a prostate biopsy; The office was open, but unfortunately their pipes were frozen. My appointment is now for the following Tuesday. The cold weather hit a lot of people hard; lots of frozen pipes and only a few electrical outages. The heat unit for one of my tenants died on Monday; my HVAC guy was able to get it up and running on used parts but the unit needs immediate replacement. A new unit is on order. Only had one tenant with a problem (and that was really Rebecca's rent house) - the pipes to the washing machine were frozen. Took 2-3 days to thaw without any problems.
Tuesday and Wednesday were snow days for the schools, so there was no seminary. We did receive an additional 3-4 inches of snow which I shoveled off Thursday. Mid week the night temperatures dropped below zero degrees and daytime temperatures were in the teens. Even with the wood burning stove, the heat pump could not keep the house at 68 degrees, where I normally have it set. It would just run continuously without increasing the temperature. So I lowered the thermostat setting. I also cleaned the snow from off the outdoor unit and around it; that seemed to help.
A month ago during my visit to the dermatologist, he suggested having an ophthalmologist look at the red spot on one of my lower eyelids; it has been there about a year and his concern was it might be cancerous. I was not able to get an appointment prior to my trip in March, so it was scheduled for April. But this past week that eye was bothering me a bit and I had the impression Wednesday night to call and see if there were any cancelations due to the weather. I called at 8:30 Thursday morning and an hour later I was in the office. After a routine eye check, I did see the doctor who confirmed the spot probably is cancerous (she did not think it was a melanoma) and would require a biopsy. Normally they would schedule another appointment for that procedure, but due to cancelations that day, she had time to do that. I don't know how you can inject anesthesia into the thin skin of the bottom eyelid and then remove enough tissue for a biopsy without causing any pain (on a scale of 1-10, this did not even register a 1) amazes me. It will take a couple of days to get the lab report back, but they were going to schedule me for an appointment with a specialist that does this type of surgical removal just in case it is cancerous.
I continued to work on the kitchen the rest of the day. Each of the two walls had 3-4 wires that needed to be rerouted and one plumbing vent pipe and each required at least one trip up into the attic. There were a few times when I would get up there only to discover I did not bring the right tool and go back to retrieve it. Exercise is good for a healthy body, right?
Friday, Nathan, the guy who will build my wall and make the kitchen cabinets came by at 8. We discussed the proposed plan and hopefully he will be here to start work within 7-10 days.
Later that morning, I was making good headway when one of my tenants called. This family has rented from me for six years and he often will call me about minor items rather than call the property manager. He is good about fixing minor items himself, which I appreciate. This time he needed some assistance. He recently had shoulder surgery and is not to be lifting or putting pressure on that arm. The short pipe (plastic) that protrudes from the bath wall to which the shower head is attached, broke off in the elbow in the wall. He needed someone to use an easy out to remove the remaining plastic from the elbow's threads. Easy fix, right? NO. The easy out would not clean out the threads. I was able to go on the back side of that wall and cut an access hole and get a pipe wrench on the elbow; unfortunately, instead of just the elbow turning, the entire pipe was turning. This would require a second pipe wrench, which was at home. But while doing all this, the toilet cycled a couple of times. Jason told me he had changed out the internal parts and it still leaked. Not good for water conservation. So on my trip home to get the right parts, I picked up a used toilet sitting my shed (thank you Deborah and Ian) and proceeded to Home Depot to get appropriate parts. Back at the house, it was an easy fix to remove and replace the elbow and install an access plate where I had cut out the drywall. Then I replaced the toilet. This entire evolution took about four hours and overlapped the scheduled sibling zoom call, which obviously I missed.
In the process of doing this repair, it was discovered that water had been leaking from the shower head into the wall and the drywall was deteriorating. While there is a fiberglass tub surround which still provides some rigidity to the wall, it is only a matter of time before disaster strikes. So on my to do list I have added installing a new tile tub surround later this spring/early summer.
Needless to say, not much was accomplished on the home front that day. Saturday I had a list of 10 things to do in the kitchen. That list now contains only four things, the final one being covering the wall/ceiling with sheetrock. I had to remove part of the 'box' over the kitchen sink area and discovered a few more wires; fortunately, I won't have to worry about those since that wall is being removed.
This side is now ready for taping and mudding.
This photo intrigues me; inspite of snowy weather, three inches of snow covering the solar panel and no sun, this solar powered light still knew when the sun set and illuminated.
May your light so shine when things get dark and dreary!
And that has been my week.
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