I feel the need...

[cue Steppenwolf]

Hardcore

It's been nice bike ridin' weather, and I removed my windshield a few weeks ago since it has warmed up a bit. Saturday, Glenda and I rode to a local park where her company had an Earth Day picnic. We had a good time and a good lunch, catfish and chicken catered by a local restaurant called Bottomfeeders. We got home and our neighbors were outside, so we went over and chatted with them for a bit. After an hour or so, I could tell I'd been in the sun long enough and bid my farewell. Glenda stayed over there a few more hours, so now her arms, neck and nose are burned. Sunday, we planned to meet her family for lunch in celebration of my brother in law's 50th birthday. Glenda didn't feel like riding the bike since she'd burned the day before, so I rode it alone to lunch. I usually ride the left tire track on the highway and move over when passing 18 wheelers, dump trucks, etc. Well, a semi was heading my way so I moved over, and when he passed, he kicked up a rock that hit me square on the right shin. OUCH! I've got a nice bruise there this week. I'm just glad it didn't get any higher...

I took a good natured shot at Sal in an earlier blog about having a Sportster, however, the last few times in the Harley dealer, I've found myself kind of admiring the 1200N retro looking Sportsters. I particular like the olive/black and the primer red colors. I passed a guy riding one on the road the other day with black pipes on it, and it looked like an old custom bike. Very cool. But still, with my size, I think I would look like the king in Pocketbike Racer on a Sportster... :)

Faucets - check.

Well, I finished the last faucet replacement last night. I stopped on the way home and bought some plumber's putty, and I went ahead and removed the two drains in the master bath and replaced the silicone with it. Although after thinking about it all day yesterday, I had determined that the seal around the top of the drain wasn't the problem. Water gets to the outside no matter what because the drain has holes around the top to catch water from the sink overflow drain. I got home and turned the water on to check, and as I suspected, I had just not tightened the nut on the bottom enough to create a good seal with the rubber grommet. I had just hand tightened it since it was plastic pipe and had the hand tighten gussets on it. I got a wrench and tightened it down a bit more until it quit leaking, and all is good.

Also, last week the shower head in the master bath came apart. It was some cheap-o plastic deal. I went and got the one out of the guest bath to use until I bought a replacement. Well, it was coming apart and isn't any count either, so I used some of our Amazon gift cards (thanks, Chase) and bought two new shower heads, one for each bathroom. They'll be delivered today. Woohoo!

Katina does NOT live here!

I have caller ID. I use it. If you call my house, and you have caller ID blocked, I AIN'T pickin' up! So, a few weeks ago, I decided to start answering these calls when I am home, and to start calling numbers back that actually show up on the caller ID. We've been getting 5 to 6 hang-ups during the day, and then 2 to 3 calls in the evening, as well as calls on Saturday, and even calls at 9am on SUNDAY!? Well, when I started answering, I found out that some debt collectors are looking for Katina. And apparently, she gave them my number. Now, the very first call I answered, I tell the nice lady that she has the wrong number, Katina doesn't live here. She asks me for a local number that she can be reached. I'm like, "Ummm, what makes you think I f'in know Katina?" Anyway, she promises to remove my number. That was 3 weeks ago. Now they are leaving messages on the answering machine because the computer thinks someone has answered. So I check messages in the afternoon and I get 5 messages that are 5 seconds of silence followed by, "Hello, Katina? Hello? Hello?" at which point I scream into the empty room, "KATINA DON'T F'IN LIVE HERE!" So, I keep answering, and they keep promising to take my name off of the list.

On another note, I decided to do a little home improvement this weekend. We bought 3 new bathroom faucets to replace the crappy contractor's grade ones that were initially installed. I knew the faucet part would be pretty simple, but these also came with new pop-up drains, and I needed to replace those also since we changed from chrome to brushed nickel. Although I'm pretty handy, plumbing is not one of my strong points. I got through both sinks in the master bath last night and we let them sit overnight before using. I got up this morning and tested them out, and sure enough, BOTH drains are leaking somewhere. I have a feeling that it is around the drain itself, because the plumber's putty I had was no good anymore, and all I had was some old silicone caulking to use. I'm going to stop today and get the right stuff and change it out tonight. I thought that if the silicone got a good seal, that it would be no problem, but apparently it didn't seal well. I should have started on the one in the guest bath, because brushing your teeth over the tub stinks.