Now that the garage is up, it’s time to work on finishing it off. Rick is my undocumented slave. That and the fact that he really needs to work on his skills for when he owns a home. Rich has a lot of techniques and experience to share. I figure they might as well as work on this together and do a little knowledge transfer.
The first task is to insulate the garage. Rich wants to do the ceiling and seal off the ends as much as possible. That’s Rick’s first task. While he was off on break, they got started. However, it is going a lot slower than I thought it might. Last week, Rick went back to class and is working the insulation job around classes and homework. Right now, Rick has almost completed the ceiling. I’m hoping that is done by the end of this week. Then they can start on the wall.
Once the insulation is completed, Rich is thinking ahead to the dry wall. It might be easier to get that hired out and done. Someone working full time can probably complete it in a week or so. Rich decided to do the electrical work on the outside of the dry wall so that he could make changes as he needs. We think the code is to do conduit (metal pipe) so it won’t matter what side of the wall its on.
The stove in the kitchen has been acting flaky for a while. Rich made chicken a couple of weeks ago and it wouldn’t hold the temperature. It took forever for that darn bird to cook. If I calculate it correctly, the stove might be 10 years old. I’m not exactly sure when Dave bought it, but I do know it was part of the remodel. That took place a couple of years before we bought the house, at least.
Rich and I bought reviewed stoves online trying to pinpoint what we wanted in the way of features. Funny, we looked at the same features. We wanted a convection oven, 5 burners with the center being the elongated burner, and stainless steel. I had seen the Frigidaire online and the reviews were really good.
On Saturday, we went out on some errands and stopped by the appliance store to take a long and actually do some hands-on review. Grand carries several of the top brands and then it is easier to compare. There was the Frigidaire along with several others stoves. It had the features I wanted and several more that were a surprise. After walking around and comparing, it came down the Frigidaire.
Luckily, Rich was feeling generous and agreed to purchase the stove. Delivery is coming on Tuesday. That’s great, because I’m home! They will deliver, hook it up, and haul away the old one. Can’t argue with that.
I subscribe to Mishka the Talking Husky on YouTube. This is the cutest Husky and she repeats a lot of words and phrase. I have to watch another talk because mine is broken. Sascha barely communicates verbally. She has subtle actions, but no outright direction. She only barks when she is frustrated or extremely excited about something. She barks when she is getting ready to go scooter.
Anyway, Mishka’s owner was showing a new trick that they are attempting to teach their dog. They took a piece of cheese and get Mishka to twist in the air. They call it Twist. Rich thought it looked cool. He started trying to teach Sascha. Turns out, she doesn’t really care for the bacon treats. Most of the time, she flops onto her side rather than twist for the treat. So Rich bought cheese ends from the deli. Now Sascha will twist for a cheese treat and almost consistently. Who knew that Sascha liked cheese that much! As Rich works with Sascha, we’ll attempt to get video of the progress.
This past week was long. My PM was in from Colorado. When Beth makes it into the office, I go in every day. That tends to take its toll on me. Sad to say that, but it’s true. We have meetings and try to do some strategic planning. Of course, there is lunch every day. That’s a hard one. Luckily, I was able to work at home on Friday. I finally got some work done, but I was so tired from the rest of the week.
I did knock off on time so I could go to bowling with Rich. Once a month, I go with him and watch while the Motorola league bowls. I know a lot of the guys, either from work or just from the bowling event. I like going now. I have people to catch up with every month. I think the guys like talking to me. They do come around my table. Then we go out to eat afterwards.
This week, Rich wanted to check out a place called Blues Bar. It’s just a few miles beyond the bowling alley. Some of the guys from work go out there for lunch. It’s a BBQ and Beer type of restaurant and club. They have a lot of microbrews on draft, which is a plus. The theme is Blues Brothers so there is a lot of memorabilia around. There are really large screen TVs everywhere for the local team games.
We got in and got seated. The beer menu was really good. Rich started off with Flying Dog Doggy Style APA. The waitress served it in a 10 oz glass and it should have been a 16 oz glass. She brought Rich a free 16 oz version after he completed the first one. Then he went for the Very Mad Cow Milk Stout from Revolution. It was so good. I know because I get to at least taste them, even if I can’t drink a full one. Someone has to be the DD.
We ordered the rib appetizer plate, brisket, and pulled pork. The food was really good. The mac and cheese had onions, bacon, and lots of cheese. I was impressed with both the drink and the food. I highly recommend this place to anyone in the Mount Prospect area. Fun and delicious.
