Daily Archives: November 13, 2015
Happy Friday. . .
Well, today’s promised ‘Mostly Sunny’ never appeared, not even a peek. But it was in the 60’s, and nice enough to finish up reinstalling my outside door handle.
Yesterday afternoon I left the job like this, with the toothpicks sticking out like little spikes.
I warned Jan about it going in and out of the rig, and then last night I tripped over the door mat in the dark and almost impaled myself. But luckily no skin was broken.
Remember, I do these things so you won’t have to.
So the first thing I did today was to use a pair of nippers (end flush cutters) like these to cut off the bundles flush with the rig.
I was happy to see that it took some effort to cut through the bundles of toothpicks. But I was quickly ready the next step.
Pilot holes.
So out came my favorite power tool: My WORX Power Screw Driver.
I bought it a couple of years ago, and it’s held up great.
With its lithium-ion battery it holds a charge for months, so it’s always ready to go when I pull it out of the bag. Plus it’s strong enough, with enough torque to twist it out of my hand if I don’t hold on tight.
The WORX also has two ‘cylinders’ that each hold six screwdriver bits. The cylinders snap into place and allow you to quickly change bits. One cylinder holds standard bits, like slot, Phillips, etc., and the other one holds TORX, and Star type bits.
When I ordered the WORX I also got a set of these, a 1/4-inch Hex Shank Drill Bit Set.
These bits chuck right into the driver, and stay in the bag with the WORX.
I first drilled a pilot pilot hold into the toothpick bundles, using a 5/64” bit and then a pilot hole with the 1/8” bit shown about. I put a piece of tape on the bit as a depth stop, since I didn’t want to drill all the way through the wall and out the other side. That would be bad.
The holes done, I mounted the hardware and started putting in the screws. And I quickly discovered that it was very difficult to screw the #12 screws into the wood by hand. So out came my WORK again.
Unlike a large drill, the WORX is very controllable so I didn’t have to worried about over-tightening and stripping out the screws. Which as I said is what I think happened at the repair place in Prescott.
It turned out that even my driver had a problem with the toothpick-Gorilla Glue combination. Not from too little power to do the job, but me holding it against the torque. But I quickly had the 5 screws in place and here is the result this evening.
Today being Friday, it was time for a Whataburger run, with a little Wal-Mart shopping thrown in. Funny, but it used to be a Wal-Mart run with a stop for Whataburger on the way home.
But unfortunately we were once again back to the same routine with the same cashier. I tell her I want a #6 with Cheese with only these ingredients, Ketchup, Mustard, Tomatoes, and Grilled Onions. She looks at me and says, “You want lettuce on that?”
“No. Only these four things.”
Finally it looks right on the little screen and we moved on to my burger. And after I tell her my order, once again stressing the ‘only’, she looks at me and says, “So, no lettuce?” Sheesh!
Back in the early 70’s when Jan and I were both in college, we worked together as the Grill Team at the then busiest McDonald’s in the country, which was in Birmingham, AL. They had the first playground, the first Ronald McDonald Birthday Parties, and we were one of the 5 locations that tested the Quarter Pounder before it was rolled out to the rest of the country.
It was really a great job, Jan did the buns, and I ran the grill. There was no breakfast then, and they didn’t open until 10:30am. Jan and I would walk in the door a few minutes before 11am, put on our aprons and paper caps, and hit the grill area. Then at 2pm, we would hang up our aprons and walk out the door. So no cleaning, no mopping, etc., Occasionally on weekends we would work other hours if there was a University of Alabama game in town that weekend. Then it was a real madhouse when multiple buses would pull into the parking lot.
Anyway she wouldn’t have lasted 10 minutes at that McDonald’s, or any other place I worked over the years in college.
One thing I picked up at Wal-Mart was some more of the these Hot Hands Hand Warmers.
I discovered last night, when it was 43 degrees, that I didn’t have another package like I thought. So that was a necessary item to pick up.
But while I was doing that, I also found these, much to my joy.
These are adhesive foot warmers. You just peel off the film, put them on the floor and then step on them in your socks (they warn you not to put them on your bare feet).
And boy, do they work. My feet have been warm and toasty all night. The only problem is that I only picked up 2 packages to test, and since it’s supposed to be in low 40’s every night until we leave next Sunday, I want some more.
So it looks like another Chicken Express run is in my future.
With a stop at Wal-Mart.
Wrapping up, Brandi and Landon say, “Happy Friday!”
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Thought for the Day:
All will become clear when it is too late to matter.
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