Chris
Well-Known Member
I slurry backfilled my trench today. Ran around like a chicken setting up traffic control four times today.
What did you do today?
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Chris
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The other two pics. Also my freebee for helping out another contractor.
I just finished doing a takeoff for 36 apartment units of drainage piping. I am very tired.
Chris
Well-Known Member
I must first preface the following by declaring that I come from a family of slobs and have very low energy. The only one in my family who was very hardworking and had the willpower and energy to do a lot of stuff was my father. In fact, he was a bit of a workaholic. He thought the solution to everything was more work even when the doctor said it was time to rest and take it easy.
My mother has always been taken care of-- first by her parents, then by my father, and now by me. She's never been good at cleaning. She's especially bad at doing dishes. When I was a child and my father was working 60+ hour weeks and having to travel for work, my mother just stopped doing dishes for awhile. There were dishes piled up and growing mold on them. My father was exhausted for work so he offered to pay me and my sister to haul the dishes out in the yard and spray them with a hose. He made it a fun game. My mother also hired someone to come clean the house from time to time. My father handled the outside yard work (which he seemed to enjoy doing). When I was younger I had a lot of energy (like doing 200 situps per night energy) and would help with yard work, feed the animals (chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, guinea hens, pigeons, quail, cats, dogs, horses, cow), collect chicken eggs, change litterpans, etc.
Age and longterm illness have taken the wind out of my sails though. I barely have enough energy to get myself something to eat nowadays. So it takes me much longer to do things and I have to take breaks and naps in between.
Anyhoo, my brother had cats in his room and didn't change the litterpan so the cats started crapping on his clothes. He shoved his clothes out into the hallway and laundry room (covered the laundryroom floor with his crappy clothes) and didn't want to touch them. Of course, the cats decided to add to the crap pile and it got to the point that we couldn't even go into the laundry room. I've been washing my clothes in the bathtub and sink for the past few months. My mother has just been buying more clothes and re-wearing the same ones over and over after spraying them with fabreeze.
My brother declared at some point that he was absolutely not going to clean up the crappy clothes in the hall and laundry room and that someone else would have to do it. Well, we both know that there is no way in hell that my mother would do it. She won't clean up after her own messes much less someone else's. So the task fell to me. My mother was having temper tantrums and I knew it needed to be done so I started working on it. I put on some rubber gloves and started excavating the room yesterday. The insulation back there is insufficient so its a hot area so I had to keep leaving to cool off. I filled up 5 plastic tubs with my brother's laundry (and a liberal topping of cat crap and hauled it out to the porch where I started spraying stuff off with a carwash attachment on a hose. Then I soaked the stuff overnight and rinsed it off today. I hung it out and went to continue excavation and filled up three more tubs and rinsed the contents and have them soaking to get some of the stuff to detach.
I then filled up 4 more tubs and had my brother carry them out to the porch. The hose started leaking and it got dark out so I decided to continue tomorrow. Then I had fun sweeping up literally piles and piles of dried cat feces. Discovered that every single swiffer wet jet we own is broken and the mop that we have is crap. I ended up stepping on swiffer pads and using my feet to mop the floor. So now I have it cleared enough that people can use the laundry room.
My mother had been insisting that we get it done by tonight so she could do some laundry. But guess who decided that doing her laundry was not so important now? ARG!
Anyway, at least I got that mess out of the way and now I am trying to talk my mother in to remodeling. We have the Electrolux high capacity washer dryers that are each 27" wide and 31.5" deep. We have the pedestal drawers that go underneath. From the way the washer and dryer fit, the wall that the units are up against is about 60" wide (possibly less). I'll have to get actual measurements and stuff.. I just had brain freeze.
Anyway, I want to tear out the tiny bathroom which currently only has a toilet crammed between two walls that are 23" apart. I know it would not be cheap to move the toilet, but I'm thinking of creating a toilet stall and having a toilet in there with either bifold doors or an accordion door or even a shower curtain for the cover with the sink outside in the laundry room for rinsing clothes and then just having that entire area opened up so we have more space and can maybe put up some sort of rod on which to hang clothing. I wish Electrolux had made the clothes folding shelf thingy that Maytag made that spans both appliances to keep stuff from falling in between but I could probably make something and get a stepstool or something. Although if I have enough space in there I might be able to have a counter or something in there. I found something my father started building and never finished that I might be able to repurpose for that. I'm thinking of putting some mirrors in to make the space look bigger. I have some old mirror glass down in the workshop.
Which section would be the best for posting a discussion of remodeling a laundry room and asking for advice?
And here I go babbling again. whee.
TL: DR? Today was crappy. Need to remodel laundry room.
My mother has always been taken care of-- first by her parents, then by my father, and now by me. She's never been good at cleaning. She's especially bad at doing dishes. When I was a child and my father was working 60+ hour weeks and having to travel for work, my mother just stopped doing dishes for awhile. There were dishes piled up and growing mold on them. My father was exhausted for work so he offered to pay me and my sister to haul the dishes out in the yard and spray them with a hose. He made it a fun game. My mother also hired someone to come clean the house from time to time. My father handled the outside yard work (which he seemed to enjoy doing). When I was younger I had a lot of energy (like doing 200 situps per night energy) and would help with yard work, feed the animals (chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, guinea hens, pigeons, quail, cats, dogs, horses, cow), collect chicken eggs, change litterpans, etc.
Age and longterm illness have taken the wind out of my sails though. I barely have enough energy to get myself something to eat nowadays. So it takes me much longer to do things and I have to take breaks and naps in between.
Anyhoo, my brother had cats in his room and didn't change the litterpan so the cats started crapping on his clothes. He shoved his clothes out into the hallway and laundry room (covered the laundryroom floor with his crappy clothes) and didn't want to touch them. Of course, the cats decided to add to the crap pile and it got to the point that we couldn't even go into the laundry room. I've been washing my clothes in the bathtub and sink for the past few months. My mother has just been buying more clothes and re-wearing the same ones over and over after spraying them with fabreeze.
My brother declared at some point that he was absolutely not going to clean up the crappy clothes in the hall and laundry room and that someone else would have to do it. Well, we both know that there is no way in hell that my mother would do it. She won't clean up after her own messes much less someone else's. So the task fell to me. My mother was having temper tantrums and I knew it needed to be done so I started working on it. I put on some rubber gloves and started excavating the room yesterday. The insulation back there is insufficient so its a hot area so I had to keep leaving to cool off. I filled up 5 plastic tubs with my brother's laundry (and a liberal topping of cat crap and hauled it out to the porch where I started spraying stuff off with a carwash attachment on a hose. Then I soaked the stuff overnight and rinsed it off today. I hung it out and went to continue excavation and filled up three more tubs and rinsed the contents and have them soaking to get some of the stuff to detach.
I then filled up 4 more tubs and had my brother carry them out to the porch. The hose started leaking and it got dark out so I decided to continue tomorrow. Then I had fun sweeping up literally piles and piles of dried cat feces. Discovered that every single swiffer wet jet we own is broken and the mop that we have is crap. I ended up stepping on swiffer pads and using my feet to mop the floor. So now I have it cleared enough that people can use the laundry room.
My mother had been insisting that we get it done by tonight so she could do some laundry. But guess who decided that doing her laundry was not so important now? ARG!
Anyway, at least I got that mess out of the way and now I am trying to talk my mother in to remodeling. We have the Electrolux high capacity washer dryers that are each 27" wide and 31.5" deep. We have the pedestal drawers that go underneath. From the way the washer and dryer fit, the wall that the units are up against is about 60" wide (possibly less). I'll have to get actual measurements and stuff.. I just had brain freeze.
Anyway, I want to tear out the tiny bathroom which currently only has a toilet crammed between two walls that are 23" apart. I know it would not be cheap to move the toilet, but I'm thinking of creating a toilet stall and having a toilet in there with either bifold doors or an accordion door or even a shower curtain for the cover with the sink outside in the laundry room for rinsing clothes and then just having that entire area opened up so we have more space and can maybe put up some sort of rod on which to hang clothing. I wish Electrolux had made the clothes folding shelf thingy that Maytag made that spans both appliances to keep stuff from falling in between but I could probably make something and get a stepstool or something. Although if I have enough space in there I might be able to have a counter or something in there. I found something my father started building and never finished that I might be able to repurpose for that. I'm thinking of putting some mirrors in to make the space look bigger. I have some old mirror glass down in the workshop.
Which section would be the best for posting a discussion of remodeling a laundry room and asking for advice?
And here I go babbling again. whee.
TL: DR? Today was crappy. Need to remodel laundry room.
Last edited:
I'd recommend a thread titled "Bathroom remodel, assistance requested" in the general discussion section. Also, good luck!
Chris
Well-Known Member
So I think I got a driver for my rental company fired today. He went to one of the jobs I just finished to pick up a hoe and the battery was dead on the backhoe so he asked the super on the job to jump it and then started to talk crap about me to him since I didn't answer my phone when he called me six times in a row while I was in a meeting. He then told my rental guy who is the manager that someone vandalised the battery box and left me a nasty message for not leaving the key behind. He ended up not taking the machine. My sales guy called me and asked about the vandalism and I had no idea so I said I would look into it and that was when I called the super to find all this out. I have been on and off the phone with all the management this evening letting them know how I felt about their driver talking crap to the people I work for and blaming me for vandalism that did not happen.
I didn't do anything today except physical therapy for a few hours. In the afternoon, me and the G/F drove 20 miles (to Tom's Farm Chris) and had a ice cream. Who-wee... I'm getting old!
Chris
Well-Known Member
Should have called, I was around all day.
I looked for you on the carousel, but you weren't there.
Chris
Well-Known Member
I was on the toy excavator digging a hole.
Chris
Well-Known Member
So went to work this morning at 3:30 am and was home by 7 am. Now waiting for the manager of the equipment rental company to come to my office for a meeting.
You have an office now?
Moving up in the world, I see.
Moving up in the world, I see.
Chris
Well-Known Member
Not really, it is still a home office. Maybe in the next couple months I will have an office. I am trying to find one with a nice sized shop that won't break the bank.
That's what I'm talking about! I can see the couches, fridges full of beer, pool tables, poker games, women (a real big wish on the girls!)
I bought $1300 worth of Milwaukee cordless tools.
I drove 2 hours, past Los Angeles so my knee doctor could give me more pills, and schedule my next appointment for 3 months. What a waste of a 1/2 tank of gas.
Chris
Well-Known Member
I got the paperwork back from the state on the corporation of my company.
Chris
Well-Known Member
Off to the mountains for some relaxing and drinking.
