bedroom, getting there,

allen levine

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new york city burbs
this is my current project.
Im going to build cherry knee wall panels with drawers on each end, panels in the middle where a bed will be.
been laying on the floor(like a beached whale) for 2 days pulling staples and taking off molding.
My tiny home was built mid 40s, first owners around 1948 or 49, and that is the original floor they put in.
I was surprised it was in fine shape, will fill in the bad spots with vinyl flooring to even out, putting laminate down.
Not sure if we are going to move up here, or stay downstairs. I recently installed a new tv canteliever bracket and last week put up the shelf for the box, only because I like the music channels on cable while I work.

none of this is fun. What need to be done, is the house dormered, along with new sheetrock, but theres no way Im doing that at this point in mylife, as IM hoping in 5 years we are out of here.(maybe its 6 years till my wife retires, but I might be wintering in florida long before that)

this is crap work when youre fat, old and arthritic. Im happy its been relatively cool outside and no real heat is expected next 10 days, so I can get to repairing walls and prep for painting.

for those of you who live in large beautiful homes, this is how the other half lives.

this is the larger of the two bedrooms upstairs, this one has a bathroom.

my feelings are Im not getting any younger, I don't want to go through an expense and bring someone in to do the work as my wife suggests, so in order to make my home more pleasing to the eye when it comes time to sell, while Im still able too, no matter how slow I am these days, its the right time to refresh the floors and paint.
 

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Looks like a fun project, Allen. I'll be interested in seeing your progress.

As to Wintering in Florida, There's nothing but a bunch of Yankees down there! Oh, wait............

Actually, you might want to check out South Georgia. We moved here from Florida to escape the tax and insurance rates. We're still close enough to Florida beaches to get there easy enough when we want.
 
2 of my sisters, and my brother live in the ft Lauderdale and west palm area.
40% of my relatives live in florida.
Most of my friends I grew up with who have moved out of state, live in florida. Some in tampa, Sarasota, ft pierce, and along the east, Jupiter, delray, boyton.

one niece is a lawyer in talahassee(spelling?)or maybe shes in Jacksonville now, cant keep up with that one, one niece is becoming a PA in south florida, one nephew is a nurse in west palm area, one nephew is a lawyer in Miami.

Ill have a lot more family down there than any other place.

its where were going. Im pretty sure my sil and bil(my wife is very close with her sister) will move there also when they retire a few years past us.

were probably going to stay up here for the summer months, just not sure if well own or rent here by then.

but right now, I have to get this house painted and in a bit more desirable shape for buyers

IM not doing any electrical work, my son is doing all of that, and its his back that will hurt when he lays my new floor.


.
 
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last week I listened to the weathermen, they claimed storms popping up anytime from weds afternoon on thru the weekend.
So I never went for the sheet goods. ( I needed to pick up 9 sheets total, asst.,)
Its a ride for me over bridges, and lots of traffic, so I wanted a nice clear day as the sheets will lay out on the tailgate.

tues there was a call for rain late in the day, so I went out tues morning right after rushhour, around 9:45 or so, and sure enough, I got caught in the rain halfway home before noon.
ONce again, the weathermen cost me money.

It was a bad vibe to start, and the intense heat up here this week, seems Im not getting good dry times on the paint, and when I pulled off the tape around the moldings, uh,vey, its touch up this, touch up that, then re touch up, etc.........

Today, the thermostat up here is at the far right, as far as it goes, close to 90, and the humidity up here has to be 80%.
I think all the heat has messed up my brain, as I couldn't seem to get the measurements down for the cabs and the panels.
Eventually, my brain kicked in enough and I managed to write it all down so I can go break down sheets and put the remainding sheets in the shed.
Before I broke down any sheets, I decided to make a template of the cabinet size , just a frame to make sure, since the knee walls and ceiling are tricky, a frame of the correct size to make sure it will fit in.
As I was using my larger brad gun to pop the frame together, holding it on the workbench, didn't realize my chest was right next to the top, I shot a 2.5 inch brad, which went in crooked, and shot right into my left breast area. felt like some giant insect stung me good. Ofcourse, many bad words were yelled, I resisted the temptation to toss that brad gun through the window, afterall, what purpose would that serve?
broken shop window, and no more large brad gun.(yeah, but the window has a small crack Ive beenmeaning to get repaired,and I really want a new set of brad guns, but this is not how to go about it)
My wife came home for lunch, we had a nice lunch, and after she went upstairs, she insisted I cease all work today, afraid Id keel over in this heat and shed be a widow.
I told her Im not working upstairs anymore today, and the AC is blasting away in the garage/shop.
I showed her my booboo, she told me to be more careful, not to make idiotic mistakes, shes very comforting when I hurt myself. Im pretty sure if I dropdead in this heat, shed stand over me yelling at me to get up because its my turn to cook on the bbq tonight, shes not doing it.

us older gentlemen understand(and some of not as young as they used to be gals) that in this heat and humidity, our bodies just don't function like they used too, and we need to slow down and keep drinking water. Take a lot of breaks, maybe just take the day off, and sit on the hammock or Adirondack chair, or go to the park and sip a lemonade.
But no, even though my body was aching, not being a hero or anything, just wanting to move on as Im falling behind of the mental schedule I make for myself for my projects, I decided to do some nonsense work to get me moving along.
I needed to break down some sheets, so I needed to get the rest of the sheets out of the garage and into the shed, a task Im not fond of, as its a lot of heavy lifting. For me at least, I don't have the strength I used too.
I knew it was hot, and I know the sun is cooking in my yard, so I decided to just take it easy, not to hurt my back, and just get it done.
so 15 seconds after I roll the sheetrock cart out of the garage with all the sheets on it, I roll the cart right over my big right toe. I didn't hear a crunch, but the toe is now a lot bigger than it was this morning.

I get the sheets I needed into the garage to break them down. All is going well, using the track saw, breaking them down into piecse I can handle on the TS.
I use those pink insulation boards on my work bench for a base when I cut with track saw.
After I cut the last piece, I pulled away the left piece, and didn't realize the weight of that side was keeping the other piece from falling over, as I didn't quite line the pink boards up centered on the table. As I see the right piece starting to go over the edge, pulling the pink boards up on one end, the track saw sitting on that piece, started to fall also, so quickly, I just stepped over and managed to grab the cord, but it just managed to fall onto the same foot as I rolled over the cart.
My foot broke the fall, but that festool 75 track saw is one big monster and its very heavy, and it hurt.

I would have tossed it out the window, but its too heavy to throw.

That was it, I had enough.

Like slapstick comedy.

Im sure most of my minor accidents are because my space is just too small to work in, making it difficult to maneuver large boards around.

I bent down on my way into the house to pick up a water bottle I had tossed in anger when I rolled over my foot, and ofcourse, I tapped my head into the hose reel hanging on the back of my house. Not a big knock, but enough to feel it.

Not sure why I cant seem to avoid these minor dings all the time. I don't think Im careless.

anyway, just shooting the breeze , making fun of myself.
 
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I think we should all pitch in and buy Allen a GoPro video camera to mount on the wall of his shop. Some of these exploits could get millions of hits on YouTube. :D

Sorry to hear you had a rough day, Allen. Hopefully the temps will ease up somewhat and give you a chance to get caught back up to your schedule.
 
ya know, its not that that hot outside here right now, its mid 80s but that humidity at 70% and dewpoint at 66 is not very inviting.

I got all the guts of the cabinets screwed together. Several ways I could have approached these cabs, but I felt the easiest andleaving little room for error, just make different boxes for the different depths I need, then just attach them together, and attach face frame.
After I finish them, I will put a bead of silicone around any joint, and paint the back of the cabinets just to seal the wood.

the bottom two will hold drawers, the top box will have an electrical outlet in it to power a clock radio. Theres one set of cabs on each side, too hot to carry the other one up, just wanted to make sure all fits well.
the left stud is not plumb, I have to move it a touch.
I had to adjust the panel design, as the two swing arm lights that are going to be used, have tremendous mounting plates, almost 6 inches, so Ill increase the top rail on the panel and the other mistake was my wife picked out lights that have cords. not a biggie, but Ill have to use the cord hiders.(its an attic bedroom, Im not getting all that fussy)
Nothing exciting, I picked out the cherry for the cabs face frame, but Im done already today at noon. No desire to do anything else. Im thinking about driving over to the beach and sitting in the shade for an hour or so.
 

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Im done already today at noon. No desire to do anything else. Im thinking about driving over to the beach and sitting in the shade for an hour or so.

Ah, how I wish I was retired. :D

Threads like this make me even more focused on retiring sooner than planned. I want some free time while I am still able to do the things I enjoy :D.

Allen, the bright side to this is that you have a good amount of time to do this. Now for some of us that would mean we would drag the project out for 2 years but, with your work ethic, I see no problems. You will get to enjoy the improvements and they will up the value of your house when you're ready to head south. Its a win-win.
 
Ah, how I wish I was retired. :D

I discovered that retirement isn't all that its thought it is.
sure, the first year or so, you are thrilled to pursue your hobbys, things you couldn't do when you worked, travel, etc.......but then there comes a time, when you have to start trying to figure out what to do. Ofcourse, you can sit in a chair and sip a beverage until you croak, but I cant do that.
If Im not moving, Im unhappy.

I believe a balance of whats called semi retirement is best. Working 2 days a week and keeping yourself just busy enough that you always seem to have enough on your plate to occupy your time.
I think once my wife retires, its gonna be worse.

its like, ok, so if I don't cut face frames today, what is the big deal? Ill cut them the next day, or when I get back. Or the day after that.
Problem is, Im just becoming more unproductive each month.

I will finish this bedroom before thanksgiving. (sorry, just had to say that, the reason I love this site)
 
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Threads like this make me even more focused on retiring sooner than planned. I want some free time while I am still able to do the things I enjoy :D.

Allen, the bright side to this is that you have a good amount of time to do this. Now for some of us that would mean we would drag the project out for 2 years but, with your work ethic, I see no problems. You will get to enjoy the improvements and they will up the value of your house when you're ready to head south. Its a win-win.

Im ready to head south or west to Arizona for the winters right now.
Perhaps not this year, but by next winter I might be wintering in dryer warmer climates and my wife would be joining me as often as she could over the 3-4 month period.
 
"Not sure why I cant seem to avoid these minor dings all the time. I don't think I'm careless."

I used to know a guy in fact I still know him real well who used to refer to himself as a dingbat. In fact I was wearing a floppy brimmed hat to protect myself from the sun & ran into the corner of the bedroom slide out on my 5th wheel this morning. Dingbat it anyway.
 
this project is moving very slowly for me.

Ive only built and stained the box face frames, haven't even begun any wall panels yet.

Thought today Id be milling up a ton of cherry for all of that while ff's dry, but my wife has me running around, picked up 20 lbs of chicken cutlets from the butcher, took care of my daughters car stuff at mechanic, ran down to the local village offices to make some inquiries, and now I will finish off the day with some ironing.

tomorrow, my son is coming early and we are 100% getting the floor installed, and with any extra time, he will start redoing the wiring for the outlets and switches.
 
...I believe a balance of whats called semi retirement is best. Working 2 days a week and keeping yourself just busy enough that you always seem to have enough on your plate to occupy your time...

That's pretty much how my dad is doing it at age 83. He still goes into the office a few days a week, usually just for a few hours. He's starting to gear down, though. At one point in time he was a licensed Professional Engineer in 7 or 8 states. Eventually he let them all expire except his NM license, and this year he didn't even renew that one. This is the first year in over 50 that he didn't renew his license. He's had a good run. :thumb:
 
your dad is smart.

If you are physically able to work, and enjoy your job, why give it up.



My plumbers dad is 89, and he actually still takes a call or two for his old time customers.(at 88, he replaced the capacitor on my garage door opener)
 
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