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no name. i made this up. it is good

you need 6 cups of honey comb cereal, broke up, crumbled [6 cups after crumbling]
1 cup p-nut butter
1 bag of marshmallows
wax paper
put marshmallows and p=nut butter in the microwave for about a minute
add to smashed honey comb
put on wax paper, cover with wax paper roll out in a 1/2'' thick brick
let it set, then enjoy
 
@Zanne I did that asking questions and such for Dad for about 3 years. I kept a notebook, I still have it. Met Dad's cardiologist's nurse out yesterday and she commented on how organized I was and on top of things. I had to remember stuff as Dad liked to remember as he wanted things to be, and not as they were. You're doing good.
 
Frodo, where it appears to be broken is at the bottom brass ring part which I think is some kind of threaded thing. I'll have to take a better look.

Thanks, Angie.

Today I cleaned the front room, filled a whole bunch of trash bags & got my brother to haul them out. I helped him carry out a large overfull litterbox that he hadn't taken out for over 6 months. It took two people to lift it (it's a massive litterbox). I then cleaned up in the kitchen & organized stuff. I wanted to put stuff in the pantry and decided to remove the empty cat food bags I'd been storing in there to use to put used litter in (bc the bags tend to get torn if I put litter in them). Turns out cats had been slipping in there (bc the door was ajar) and using them as litterboxes. They'd also knocked things off of shelves. I found unopened soda cans (that my bro bought right before he was diagnosed with diabetes & gave up sodas)- they were empty. There were some unopened cans of some kind of chili that were also empty. The metal rotted and the contents spilled out all over the floor. So, after I cleared out all the trash I had to sweep, mop, scrub, and dry the floor. I also cleared some old stuff off the shelves that bugs had gotten in to. I can now put stuff away in the pantry. I still need to put away stuff next to the front room, throw out the empty boxes, and then clean up the living room. My friend is coming over tomorrow to help us move out the old TV.

I'm taking a little break and waiting for my Naproxyn to kick in since my body hates me right now. Once I watch Colbert's monologue I'll get back to work. For now I'm checking messages and Sir Hammington is hugging my neck.
 
I cleaned the floor in my bathroom (the one that has not been used since 2008) & pulled back the sheet vinyl. The self-leveling botched job wasn't as sharp & pronounced as I remembered. Either it dulled over time or I did a better job sanding & chiseling than I thought. My best friend is coming over Thursday to hit it with the grinder in the highest/bumpiest spots. Might not be as much work as I thought (I hope not). He insisted on doing the grinding since he's used a grinder before & is worried I would hurt myself. I got him some medium impact gloves, a face shield, safety glasses, dust mask, and gel knee pads. I also got a small shop vac to keep in the house. The one in the workshop is huge, heavy, and clunky. I wouldn't be able to get it through my bathroom door, so I got a little 3-gallon one. Grabbed some extra filters & bags for it just in case. Once the grinding is done & all the dust is vacuumed up, I will go get some patch leveling stuff to level out the floor & grab some doublesided acrylic tape to secure the sheet vinyl once it's set back in place (after the patch dries of course). When I was taking the painter's tape off, the wood paneling I painted started peeling (the actual wood, not the paint). It peeled up several inches so it can't be covered by baseboard so I'll need wainscoting. I hope I can find some good waterproof stuff for that. I'll do it the same height as the vanity & maybe add some sort of top trim. I have a chest of drawers to set next to the toilet but it needs a new coat of paint & new hardware. I got some wood wheels from a craft store to use as sort of escutcheons for the new pulls but I need to trim them down a little on one side- maybe cut off 1/8". Not sure how to do that. Maybe if I mark them and carefully use a coping saw... They are too small to use a conventional table saw on.

The crappy glue-up shower wall panels are falling off & the plywood behind them is no good. I still need to patch the scraped porcelain on the cast iron tub. I had a repair kit but it's very old & I lost the instructions. That is not a critical thing though. I'm leaning toward getting a direct-to-stud surround as a replacement- Delta Classic 500 or something like that is actually in stock at the local HD. I've also decided to go with a cheaper trim kit & valve. Instead of going Moen Kingsley & paying $100+ for the valve & $80+ for the trim I can get the Delta Lahara for around $70 or $80 & the Multichoice valve for about $30. I still want to get the Moen tub spout, but I'll have to check to see if I have set screw or twist on type. I'm hoping for set screw bc knowing my luck the twist-on one would be crooked.

Seeing Gary's bathroom remodeling pics inspired me to finally get moving on this. I'm going to have to nag myself to not procrastinate too much & to actually get things done. I'm really hoping to have the bathroom functioning by the time my sister comes to visit in April. I'm hoping to surprise her with it. I'm also hoping it will surprise my brother if I get it all done while he's at work. I'll have to make sure to take my friend to Taco Bell as a "thank you" once stuff is done. Hell, might even take him to Texas Roadhouse if he's up to it.

I sometimes feel bad for asking for his help so much, but then he knows he can call me any time of night or day if he needs a lift or help. He can call at 3am & be 2 hours away & need a lift & he knows I'll come get him (he found that out the hard way).

My brother is doing well at his new job. He's about to get a promotion & a $2 raise. Not sure if the paperwork went through yet. He's trying to talk to the lady in HR about getting his medical benefits & such bc he needs insurance to pay for his medicines. He's currently on Medicaid but they are refusing to pay for some of his meds.
 
Yesterday I spent a couple hours in the basement with the plumber watching his tv screen as he snaked a camera through the sewer line. Everything was looking just fine until he got about 8 feet out, right in the middle of the basement floor! My day was not a happy one, to say the least! There we could see an "elbow or tee" with a caved in wall! Now they have to put a 2' x 4' hole in the floor to get at it. Waiting today for them to call with the estimate. :eek: Even worse was as they were locating the direction the line that I "assumed" ran out the front to the street, it runs out the side under the driveway and through the "expletive deleted" neighbor's property, to the street beyond. Glad the problem isn't over there!
 
Chris! It's great to see you! How have you been? How are things in Idaho? What have you been up to? I'm guessing you've been keeping busy.

OldernDirt, that does not sound like fun. I take it you don't get along well with the neighbors.

I just got my 3rd robo-call of the day. Two were from the same exact company when I selected the "opt out of calls" thing months ago. Another was something that started with "This is not a sales call". I once actually listened to the whole thing, but it's a sales call. So when they say that, I just hang up.
 
Been good. Been busy. We had another daughter a month ago, this makes three. Bought a building in downtown and rebuilding it to be a craft ice cream/beer joint. Trying to get out of construction completely. My back has gotten worse and in my shoulder I have two torn ligaments, arthritis and tendinitis of the bicep. It needs surgery but I've been putting it off. Trying to hold out till the fall. Other than that everything is good. Still glad I left California and will never go back.
 
Hi Chris
Just now saw your post. sorry to hear about your tore up arm. take care of it.
But it is a blessing in discuise if it gets you out of construction and into something less physical
the ice cream/beer joint sounds kinda cool. we have a washeteria slash bar that does very well
you can wash your clothes, play pool drink a beer while you wait.

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Sorry to hear about your back & your arm, but I'm happy to hear about your new daughter & the new business. I hope it will go well.

I've been working on my bathroom a bit. I got my friend over to grind down the botched self-leveling job. There were only a few high spots that really needed to be taken down & the rest can be fixed with more (fresh) leveling patch. My friend really liked the kneepads I got him & he said the grinder was a good one & was impressed with the diamond cup wheel. He had the face shield, impact gloves, & safety glasses. I wore a pair of aviator's goggles from Wish & ran the shop vac. At one point a couple of chunks of stuff flew, but I caught them immediately with the vacuum. It didn't take long. While he worked on the floor, his fiance hauled out trash bags, swept up broken glass (cats knocked a bunch of stuff down right before I left) & wiped down the counter. I took them both out to Taco Bell afterward & they looked at cabinets & countertops. He was surprised to see the cabinet he wants is actually much less expensive than expected. When he gets his paycheck I'll take him back up there to get it.

I'm holding off on the next patch leveling until he can come out again to help bc I'm a total uncoordinated monkey with stuff like that. I'm hoping he'll be available again soon. I'm not buying the leveling stuff until it's time to use it so I don't have a problem with it expiring.

I have a harder time doing things since my back doesn't want to cooperate. Last week I woke up and actually felt good. It felt like I was in my 20s again & I was ready to leap out of bed. Tried to stand up, back said "nope" & I fell back down & was reminded that I'm in my 40s.
 
They put me on prednisone for a week, the first two days I felt 18 again and it was awesome. Then I got every side effect out there
 
I'm glad I'm not on them anymore. Found our my vitamin D levels were way low. Fixing that has helped with some of my issues. If I could just reduce the inflammation in my back I'd be happy
 
I know a girl named Gabby who takes Gabapentin. My father took it for restless leg syndrome. I was given Meloxicam for my back pain but the side effects were the symptoms of a heart attack so I couldn't take it for long. I now take Naproxyn but only when it's really bothering me.
I already take two medicines that cause weight gain so I want to avoid steroids.

My friend's fiance came over and cleaned some more. My back wasn't cooperating so I couldn't do much. She's 21 & full of energy so she was able to work hard & fast. She's coming back Sunday to help some more. I really got behind on the housework & the cats haven't helped. As much as I love them, they are destructive & keep knocking everything on the floor. They broke the Nu-Wave induction cooker yesterday (and broke more glass).

Tomorrow I plan to sweep & vacuum my bathroom up, try to get the sheet vinyl lined up better, & then lay it back flat until my friend can help me with the new leveling patch. I'm tempted to try a test area somewhere to see how easy/difficult it is to work with. I wish I had a screen for my bathroom window (it's got a storm window over it) so I could air the place out. Since I grew up on a farm, shared a bathroom with my brother, and worked at a zoo, I'm used to some pretty strong foul odors. The weird thing is, I can't go into a Bath & Bodyworks bc all the scented junk in there makes my eyes burn, nose run, & makes me cough. I can't stand all the perfume junk.
 
Been busy the last few days running errands. Got some leveling mix to try to patch the floor, but friend who was supposed to come over wasn't able to. I also had an annoying experience at Lowes. Our little Nu-wave induction cooker thing broke & we ordered a new better one- ship-to-store at Lowes. Big mistake. They called Thursday to say it had arrived & was ready for pickup, but I was on the opposite side of the state helping a friend. Went Friday to pick it up. Long story short, they lost it. Waited over 2 hours & my kidney stones kicked in hard. My mother was with me so she stayed in the store & asked to speak with the store manager. We ended up leaving empty-handed & were told they would deliver it to us for free when they find it (more like IF they find it). There was another customer who had been waiting on an item they misplaced 2 weeks ago. Her shower didn't have a glass door bc the monkeys laid it down flat on the floor and didn't notice it until the store manager really sent them looking. I think if they don't find it by next Thursday, I'll call & insist they send a new one directly to my house w/o charging the $80 shipping.

I used my truck to haul a new cabinet (lower cabinet to go under sink) & a countertop for my friend. The back, sides, and bottom are some kind of particle board so I just went over today and put some waterguard on it to make sure it won't get ruined if water spills on the floor.

My friend won't be free until Tuesday to help me with stuff, so I am debating trying to do the leveling stuff w/o his help (having an extra set of hands is a good thing) either tomorrow or Monday.

One good thing that came from the Lowes trip was the other customer talked to my mother for awhile & apparently she gets kidney stones too. She takes the same medicine I take for thyroid & her doctors just told her that the thyroid meds can cause the kidney stones & that one way to reduce them is to drink more citrus juice & eat more citrus fruits.

My mother drinks more water than me but doesn't drink citrus juice & she gets some minor kidney stones. I get them more frequently of late. My brother drinks a lot of citrus juice at work & he doesn't get kidney stones- we all take thyroid meds so there may be something to it. I got some fresh OJ yesterday.
 
Lowes still hasn't found my cooktop. I think it's time to cancel the order & insist they send me one w/o shipping charges.

My friend hasn't had time to come over & help me just yet but I've been helping him out. He didn't have a working kitchen sink. Yesterday I helped him get his new lower cabinet in place, set the countertop on, & guided him on how to cut out the hole for the sink. He previously messed it another second-hand countertop bc he didn't have a good plan. He wanted to try to mark on the underside & cut. I got him to put painter's tape in the general edge area, put the sink on it upside down, marked the edges, measured in about 1/2" (which is what that sink needed to fit), used a straight edge to connect the marks, then had him drill a hole in each corner so the jigsaw wouldn't have problems at direction changes. There was a problem with my charger not working for the batteries (fortunately I have a new one handy) so it ran out of juice 3/4 of the way through the cutting. After a brief charging period on the rapid charger we got it done (I supported the piece that was being cut out so it wouldn't bind the blade on the final cut). Sink fit in snugly.

I had wanted him to run the vent pipe out the wall instead of through the floor (he thought the vent could be added under the house) but he refused & put the pipe through the floor anyway. I got up extra early today to get working on the DWV part & he was too tired to argue w/ me so I was able to talk him out of doing an S-trap. He still didn't quite understand how things would fit together so when we got back to the house I put it together for him, even marked where he needed to cut pipe & made sure that we left extra space from the dry fit to compensate for the differences with the solvent weld. He uses waaaay too much of the glue though. I had to wipe some of it out of the trap adapter bc a large glob of it went into the slip fit end & started eating away at the surface. I managed to get it in time though.

Unfortunately, he didn't purge the waterlines before hooking directly to the faucet so it gunked up the faucet & it wouldn't work. He had never heard about purging them first. I told him it should always be done before hooking up a new fixture no matter how clean he thinks the lines are-- there could be something in there-- like excess globs of dried pvc solvent or dirt that backflowed. In this case there was air & dirt in the lines when I had him run them into the bucket. He waited until they ran clear & smoothly before connecting him to the new faucet that I got for him at Walmart. He went from a fugly chrome low-neck piece of garbage to a stainless steel gooseneck. I'll have to get pictures later. I also marked off the countertop where he's going to need to cut off the excess so the fridge can fit next to it but he didn't feel like doing the cutting yet. Then we started staining the cabinet. Got one door done when his stupid ex called over something & he had to go.

It's not finished yet and it's not perfect but it works. He fixed Mom's computer so she could do her taxes. Need to go over later to print them (didn't have a printer cable at first) & then we can shut the computer down & he's going to help me mouse-proof it. Not sure how the mice keep getting in, but they have ruined 3 video cards so far. We are going to make different desk arrangements & I'm going to have to stay on her about keeping trash away from the computer.
 

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