September 18th: Keeping busy

When I returned to Encinitas, I discovered a new shower curtain at Wendy's. Matt spotted it but it was Wendy that had to have it. Very fun. It must be the influence of some of my genes. It reminded me of the "fish" dinnerware set Linda begrudgingly let me buy! If you would like to buy the shower curtain Wendy got it at Target.

Wendy's new shower curtain

Last Wednesday, even in Encinitas, which was not close to the wildfires, we could smell some smoke from the wildfires north and east of us. It wasn't very thick but we could see a haze in the sky and the sun had an eerie glow to it. Air quality not the best! It wasn't bad enough to keep me indoors so I went for a walk. It seems like I always come across something different. The tree in the picture was made out of thick pieces of pine bark. Quite creative. 

Then as I was almost back home, I noticed a new mailbox by for the house with the burrow sculpture. By the way, note the masks on the sculptures! They were also a new addition.

It was a very pleasant evening Wednesday so I went for a late walk. It was almost a full moon and everything seemed either black or white. It wasn't bright enough to get a clear picture but I liked the silhouette of these very tall palm trees. The view is from the entrance to the beach looking back up the hill toward my house.

Most of my plants are doing well. I have enjoyed using the fresh basil and thyme. Unfortunately, my Greek oregano plant just never made it. The succulents Karen gave me to put in Rebecca's tiny flower pots, are also doing well. I've had them over a month. They seem fine, but they aren't doing anything. I asked Karen about it and she said it will take months before I'll see real growth. Hmmm...why am I "growing" these? I guess they are cute sitting on my windowsill. 

Very slow growing succulents from Karen

Basil and Thyme

The California wildfires around L.A. were still producing a lot of smoke Wednesday and Thursday. I had planned to go to L.A. Saturday to help Rebecca install a window air conditioner in the small gym behind her garage. Thursday night she called and said the air quality was too bad to be working outside so we cancelled. Then Friday evening she called and said the air had improved. So early Saturday morning I headed to Studio City. Driving through L.A there were several places where the smoke was quite visible. But as I got closer to Studio City, the air was pretty clear.

Rebecca's house and a big pile of dirt.

Hole and new pipe

When I arrived at Rebecca's, there were construction trucks in front of her house. She knew when she bought the house that a water/sewer line had to be replaced. It required digging a big hole in the yard and the street, so it has been a while since they put her on the schedule. It hasn't caused her a problem  but it will be nice to have it taken care of.

As soon as I arrived we got started. I was going to leave Sunday morning. We first determined where to place the air conditioner. There wasn't an appropriate window so that meant cutting a hole in the stucco wall. Stucco is pretty tough stuff! We determined the best location for the air conditioner was close to the ceiling in a corner. That meant a lot of ladder work but it would work best in that location.

Top left for air conditioner

Next I got to work cutting the inside hole through the drywall  From inside I drilled holes in the four corners, cut and removed the dry wall. Then I cut the 2x4 out that was in the way. And then, I tried the stucco. I had purchased some mortar drill bits and masonry reciprocating saw blades when we installed the dog door, twice :)  The reciprocating saw just wasn't getting the job done, plus it would have made a very large dusty mess inside. 

Removing drywall

New plan. Put cardboard up on the inside to block the dust and cut from the outside with Matt's circular saw, which was equipped with a diamond blade. It was awkward standing on the ladder and holding the circular saw side ways but I got the job done. The stucco has a mind of it's own and I was careful to not make the hole too big. The air conditioner weighs 85 lbs. Fortunately Rebecca is pretty strong so the two of us were able to lift it up to the hole. It almost fit! :( 

We set it back down and I did some fine tuning to the hole with a concrete chisel from Matt's tool bucket. Matt's tool bucket is like magic, it seems no matter what we need it's in there. That's why I always bring it with me.

So we knew it would fit, but I needed to make some bracing to hold it up. But even though it was partially in the hole, most of the 85 lbs. was outside. Rebecca held it up for a while but it was going to take a lot of time to support it. We hated to have to take it down again. Hmmmm. How can we hold it up? We didn't have any boards tall enough to work. I tried wedging wood inside at the top of the air conditioner to hold it. But I wasn't comfortable it would stay. I had a vision of the new air conditioner crashing down on us!

Then Rebecca had a great idea. She said, "Maybe we can set it on one of the steps of the step ladder. Worked great.

Ladder holding up the air conditioner until I could get it secured.

That was nice because we decided it was time to quit for the day. The air quality was cooperating so we were looking forward to the final 3 episodes of the Game of Thrones on the big screen. Rebecca suggested we just order a delivered dinner and it sounded good to me. A nice thing about her neighborhood is that close by, there are many restaurants that deliver. I had a tuna & shrimp burrito! Didn't look like much but tasted great.

While I had been working on installing the air conditioner Rebecca was multi-tasking when I didn't need her help. She had installed a rubber floor which is very nice for a gym. 

Rubber Floor Tiles being installed

Rebecca also spent time painting the trim and the walls. It's looking really good. She patched a lot of holes and rough spots on the wood trim.

I was going to leave for home Sunday morning, (after walking the dogs of course) when Rebecca left to watch the Browns game with a friend. We would have needed to take the air conditioner out and set it in the garage for safety sake. We couldn't leave it sitting on the ladder. I suggested that if she could help me a little before she left, I could get it securely installed. The outlet for the air conditioner looked too far away, and I said I wouldn't be able to get it running, but at least it would be installed. I didn't even have the supplies I'd need to add the electrical outlet. Rebecca was all for it and said I might as well stay Sunday night and we could watch the final episode of the Game of Thrones. We were too tired to watch all 3 episodes the night before. Good plan!

The installation went better than expected while Rebecca was gone. I designed a way to secure the air conditioner without using external support brackets on the wall. Also, once I finished securing it, I unwrapped the electrical cord and found it reached the outlet. I couldn't run it along the wall but that would allow her to use the air conditioner as she continued working. I enjoyed having her come to inspect the installation when she returned home. I had the room down to 68 degrees! Seldom does a project proceed better than expected! Trim boards inside and out will happen later, but the opening is well insulated and the air conditioner is ready for use. 

 

We enjoyed the final episode of Game of Thrones. We think Lord of the Rings will be next. It will be great on the big screen! I took the dogs for a final walk Monday morning and then headed home.

I drove through a little smoke on the way back to Encinitas but it wasn't too bad. I was going to try my new wetsuit over the weekend but ended up going to Studio City. So Matt invited me to join him when he went to a lagoon for his regularly scheduled swim with buddies. Of course, I would not be swimming the 1&3/4 miles they were going to do. With Matt's help, I got the wetsuit on, half the challenge, and all went well. I really enjoyed being in the water again. I don't know why I waited so long. The swim prompted me to buy a snorkel set. Matt told me there is a great snorkeling/swimming place in La Jolla, not far away. I really like the new fins. I needed a new set in Florida so I bought a really nice pair and I can just take them with me when I return who knows when!

New wetsuit, Lagoon swim

New fins