Episode 15: Thus Spracht the Megginator

How many days had it been? She was not sure, one, two, three...it didn't matter. In her world just one day was months. She had been happy in her home, but then she was dragged from it's familiar confines and taken to an alien domicile. Oh, the patrons were friendly enough- playing with her and giving her treats and pats on the head, but that did nothing to lessen the rage that was building inside her. The Masters had left her for the weekend, and now they had returned and carried on with life as though nothing had happened. Somewhere in her minuscule brain a spark of a plan had formed, growing in it's diabolical complexity until it had reached fruition, and the time for it's execution was at hand. Soon, the Masters would be leaving for the day, and then they would know the fullness of her wrath. Oh yes, they would pay...and pay dearly. Ha Ha Ha Ha Haaaaaaaa!!!!!!

Today I was greeted at the front door by Meg. To some of you that doesn't seem all that unusual, but for me that greeting could only be met with apprehension. You see, Meg is not allowed to roam the house when we are not home. We have tried that in the past. It only led to tears. I was surprised to find that the bathroom door was still closed, so how was it that she was able to get out? Please turn your attention to Exhibit A.

What you see appears to be a certain Australian Shepherd escaping through what? A hole in the wall between the kitchen and the bathroom?!!! Why the heck is there a hole where there should be drywall? Was Ed that sloppy? I say unto you: Nay. Behold, this calamity was wrought upon me by none other than....Project Manager Meggie herself!!!! Yes! The dog busted a hole through the wall and got loose into the house! How could this have happened?

A little background...

You might recall a comment I made on the last post that mentioned how Meg had managed to turn on the water in the bathroom and get soaked. She was sneezing for days, and not just any sneeze. These were the kind of sneezes that made you want to call for an exorcist. A few weeks ago I had to bust out part of the bathroom floor to replace the toilet drain. This left a small hole under the wall into the kitchen. Meg figured out that if she tucked in her ears really tight and sucked in her gut she could just squeeze under the wall, past the plumbing, and into the kitchen. Since that time concrete has been poured back into that hole and any passage to the kitchen was blocked. The Megginator, however, did not realize this. Hence the water issue. Having tasted freedom, she has continued to try to dig her way out of the bathroom. She has learned that concrete is a lot tougher than gravel. She has also learned that if she tries too hard she might accidentally turn on the water valve for the toilet and end up spending an undetermined amount of time taking a cold shower. Drywall has proven to be a much softer target. I can only imagine the sight of her clawing and beating her head against the wall until it finally gave out, exploding and raining debris into the kitchen. Then, through the dust, the silhouette of the Megginator, glowing eyes and all, slowly stepping out of the haze. She surveys her work and then with a triumphant howl announces that her revenge is complete!!!

Oh yeah, the revenge part. We went to Michigan for my grandfather's birthday this weekend. We left Meg with my Mom, where apparently she did quite well. She seems determined to make us pay for leaving her, though. She did escape through the newly christened Nutmeg Tunnel, and then found a box of granola bars to devour. Just so you know, dogs should never have granola. I will not detail why this is so. Just know that nothing good can ever come of the pairing of canines and high fiber. Nothing!!!

Episode 14: Ed To the Lake: I Will Crush You...or squish you, or whatever...

We had a couple of rainy days, this week. Lake Eduard has made an attempt to re-establish it's dominance over the landscape of my backyard- a land I call... Desolation. I banished the lake when I got home from work yesterday afternoon, however Mother Nature decided to lend Lake E. a hand and dumped some more rain on us. As I returned home today, under the brilliant light of a bright and sunny day, I was greeted once again by many waters, which I have to admit were crystal clear and would have been quite beautiful if not surrounded by a half-demolished patio and two rather large piles of wet dirt. As pleasant as it appeared, the pump was sent into action and the waters were once again parted.

Just ignore the wheelbarrow and the overturned Christmas tree. I have framed in and re-sheathed the back wall of the laundry room. No more doorway! I will be installing new siding to that entire section once the window has been installed. The plumbing you see will be covered up when I pour new concrete into the foundation and then the new patio will be laid over the rest, after some gravel and sand have been applied.

Here is the inside of the new laundry room, minus the old doorway. It is in it's temporary setup, right now. Behind the washer is the frame for the new window. I'll cut that out when the window is ready to be installed.

I have also re-poured the concrete in the kitchen, so there is a floor in there once again. I haven't taken a picture of that, yet. I will probably do that tomorrow once I have the plumbing completed in there.

Episode 13: Ahh... Lucky Thirteen

I was working in an old hotel downtown and they skip the 13th floor. The floors jump from 12 to 14. Since I do not wish to jinx myself, I shall also skip the 13th Chapter. This little blurb is just for continuity.

Episode 12: C-C-C-Collld-d-d-d!!!

New Year's Eve I worked outside all day in the wind. It was cold! I wasn't able to get warm again until I got in bed that night. The New Year began Thursday morning as I entered the cavern that was my kitchen, and I felt somewhat like Luke Skywalker as he awoke in the cave of the snow beast. I could actually see my breath in the kitchen! Fortunately, unlike poor Luke, I was not hanging upside down with my feet frozen to the ceiling. Luke, however, did possess the Force to aid him in his dilema. I, unfortunately, do not possess the Force.



The worst part of the job is over. The drain lines have all been tied in to the existing plumbing. I spent Friday running the drain line to the laundry room and then framing and re-sheathing the wall. I didn't take pictures of the work on the wall, as it had started to snow, and then turned to rain. I'm not sure why the original construction poured the concrete pad up to the height of the wall's base plate, but when the installers of that concrete abomination that was the patio raised it up that extra 4 inches, it allowed water to run under the wall. I don't know how long it has been like that, but the base plate was disintegrated. What I thought was dirt was actually what was left of the wood. Once I had pulled off the rotted sheathing and the old door frame, the wall was just hanging there. I had to frame in the doorway to accept a window, anchor the framing to the concrete with the Ramset, and reinforce the wall. Once I had installed the new sheathing the wall was pretty solid. I then turned my attention to the old exhaust fan in the kitchen. I had cut the power to it a couple of weeks ago. I pulled that out of the wall, which left a 27 x 27 hole. I framed that in and applied sheathing and building felt to the outside. I will have to patch the exterior brick wall at a later time. Dad plans on removing the back steps to his house and putting in a deck. The bricks on the steps closely match the ones on my house, so I'll be grabbing those to patch the brick veneer.

I put new insulation in some of the walls. That helps with the draft quite a bit. I'm not putting all of it in until I have all of the electrical and water lines run and sure that nothing is leaking.