January 28 - February 6, 2026 - Golf Carts - Rock Polishing - Drawer Painting - Fan - Bloodwork - Dehumidifier - Lunch - Edging - Potluck

My Blog Reflection

Liberty is not doing whatever you want - it's being free to choose what is right.

John Locke

January 28, 2026:

It is too cold to do much outside. You know it's a little boring when I post something about Walmart, but here it is anyway. There is a dedicated concrete walking/golf cart path, from our park and the one next door, to Walmart. When you reach Walmart there is a designated area for golf cart parking. Yesterday I went to pick up some juice and found that I occupied the last golf cart parking space available. I had never run into that before and found it interesting that so many people had driven their golf carts to Walmart on a Wednesday afternoon. Usually there are no more than a half dozen carts parked. It's hard to see "Buster" because he's down on the end. 

In the afternoon Kelly broke out the rock polishing machine I bought her for her birthday and selected some rocks to polish. Here is a picture of the rocks before polishing. Due to their shapes, the ones on the left will be tumbled through more grit. Since the ones on the right are rounded they will need less tumbling to be polished. I think the process takes about two weeks.

After the rocks and grit were loaded we found a shelf in the shop for the machine to sit. We want it out there because it makes a considerable noise 24/7 as it tumbles the rocks. When we were first married we lived in a three-room shotgun apartment. I bought Kelly a rock polisher for Christmas and we ended up putting it in the bedroom closet so we could close the door to cut down on the noise it made for weeks on end. No such problem this time. We don't hear it at all inside.

January 31, 2026:

Most of the furniture came with the house. The bedroom set is a rattan dresser, a chest, and two end tables. The previous owner put mothballs in all of the drawers and after three years the smell still has not gone away. It permeated the wooden drawers. Kelly hates the mothball smell on her clothes so she decided to paint all of the drawers with KILZ to get rid of the odor. It was either that or purchase a new bedroom set. I gladly agreed to the KILZ treatment.

We went to Home Depot and purchased a quart of KILZ. We picked out a latex version of KILZ and luckily Kelly asked the attendant about it. He said that to eliminate smells she must use the oil based, original version. Glad she asked. 

Here is the dresser with the drawers removed for painting and clothes piled on top. The dresser itself does not smell. To be safe Kelly sprayed the inside wood with vinegar, which she read online will help get rid of mothball odor.

I removed all of the hardware and Kelly painted all of the drawers out in the Florida Room. She painted them out there to contain the smell from the KILZ. Here is a picture of the painted drawers lined up to dry.

While Kelly was painting I worked on removing the bathroom fan cover so I could clean the squirrel cage fan. The prior owner had painted the cover to the wall. I carefully cut along the edge of the cover before trying to pry it loose. The cover is held on by a spring clip top and bottom. You pry the cover from the wall and then reach in and squeeze the spring clips to release the cover. In theory this works. I found that it would not come out enough for me to get a hand in there to release the spring clips. 

There was no squeezing the clips with my hand nor with a needle nose pliers. On my second attempt the bottom spring clip broke. Once I got the bottom off I was able to get the top spring clip off. With a broken bottom clip the cover was never going to stay tight again. I decided to purchase two screws to attach the cover to the fan frame. 

Even with carefully cutting along the cover's edge, the cover did not come off without tearing a little paint and drywall paper away. So while at Home Depot I purchased some spackling to make a repair. 

Here is a picture of the fan squirrel cage. It certainly needed a good cleaning. I'm sure it hadn't been cleaned since installed, whenever that was. Two different sized brushes and a straw taped on the end of the small shop vac cleaned everything up satisfactorily. I forgot to take an "after" picture.

I purchased a product called "spackling" at Home Depot but it is really dry wall mud in a small container. Spackling is for plaster and is much harder. This product is really better for a project like this. It is pink going on and dries white. Luckily I have some matching paint.

February 1, 2026:

Last night the wind picked up and the temperature dropped significantly. This morning it was 35 degrees and felt like 25 degrees. The high is only going to be 45 degrees today. Not the Florida weather we like. I brought in the flag and laid the front porch rocking chairs on their side due to the wind.

The drawers were dry so they were reinstalled. Kelly then painted the two drawers in her end table. While she did that I sanded the patch around the fan cover and then painted the area. The paint matched well. I then installed the fan cover. The cover will be easier to take off in the future for cleaning.

February 2, 2026:

Kelly's turn for doctors. She saw her Florida cardiologist today and has to go back for a follow-up in a couple of weeks. It is still relatively cold here. It is down in the 30s at night and only up into the 50s during day. We are watching a lot of TV. The furnace is getting a good workout. I'm going to hate to see the electric bill.

February 3, 2026:

I had to go to Quest to get my blood drawn for two different doctors. Luckily the orders were both there so I only had to be stuck once.

Yesterday the dehumidifier that came with the house crapped out. I have no idea of its age. The fan blew air but the compressor wouldn't kick on so it was doing nothing. I banged on it a few times and the compressor started. Unfortunately, once it stopped the compressor would not come back on. I put it out in the trash this morning. 

We really don't need the dehumidifier right now because of the cold temperature but hopefully that won't last much longer. We purchased a replacement from Amazon after trying for an hour to order one online from Costco. Costco's online ordering leaves a lot to be desired plus they add shipping costs to the store where you then have to go to pick it up. We got a lower price and free shipping to our door from Amazon. It will be here by the 10th.

February 4, 2026:

It remains "cold" here but hopefully up to 70 degrees this afternoon. With warmer temperatures I need to wash the green mold off the back of the house which never gets sun.  I also need to squirt off the front porch and the car which both have layer of black dust that permeates everything down here. 

I talked a few days ago about the freezer needing to be colder in order for the icemaker to work properly. I never would have thought of that as a problem with low ice production until I read it on the internet as a fix. Turning the temperature down in the freezer did the trick. Here is the icemaker today. Since it is cooler we haven't been using much ice so I turned it off until we use it down. Totally cool!

There is a "Valentine's Day Dance" on the 11th. I went up this morning and purchased tickets. We always enjoy the dances here even though we don't dance much anymore. For "Valentine's Day" Kelly purchased tickets for a candlelight classical music concert at a church in St. Petersburg. It will be nice evening I'm sure.

A Florida activity Kelly started last year was been to seek out a different cultural cuisine restaurant for lunch on Wednesdays. Today we went to "bb.q chicken", a Korean BBQ chicken restaurant about a half mile away. The entire menu is fried chicken wings. Most Korean BBQ is spicy hot. I got the original wings, Kelly got the "medium" spicy ones. I tasted one of her medium spicy wings and it was too hot for me. I can't imagine what the "hot spicy" wings would be like. The wait staff were two Korean gentlemen who were very friendly and great at explaining everything on the menu to us. We greatly enjoyed the meal, which was our late lunch and early supper.   

Edging:

Last year brother-in-law, Jim, and I installed some 12 x 12 inch pavers in back of the house for a convenient spot for the grill to sit. I didn't like it in the grass. While doing so we found that to the right of where we were working there were two rows of pavers which were completely covered by viney weeds and dirt. We had absolutely no idea they were there when we started. We uncovered them and I painted the entire area with some leftover paint from the shed.  

This year I returned to find that the viney weeds had once again grown over the pavers, along with a coating of sandy mud. The mud washes on to the pavers from the grass because the grass is about two inches higher. The viney weeds are what we have for "grass" here in the park. The only way to correct this problem is to install some type of edging. 

We went to Lowes and purchased metal edging which comes in eight foot lengths. Here are pictures of the area after I cleared off the weeds and most of the mud. The arrows point to where the grass and dirt gravitate on to the pavers. The metal edging we purchased is laying there waiting to be installed tomorrow.

February 5, 2026:

  

Rain and strong winds moved into the area. At 10:30 a.m. the rain stopped. It is 51 degrees but feels like 45 degrees with the wind. The strong wind actually makes it feel much colder than that to me. Despite the weather I installed the edging. I am having trouble getting it deep enough into the ground due to the dry weather conditions. I have found that when sand is dry and packed it is as hard as the clay we have back in Missouri. I soaked the area, which helped, but I will still need to work on it a little. Future weeds and dirt should be limited.

February 6, 2026:

The colder weather continues with a high of 59 degrees today. 

Today we participated in our first "event" here in the park. There was a potluck upper with rolled pork loin as the provided meat. Everyone brings a side dish to feed about six people. I made candied sweet potatoes which have been a hit. All were consumed. The potluck suppers are an easy way to interact and meet others here in the park while getting plenty to eat.

 

  

 

January 17 - 27, 2026 Shop Wall Painted - Trip South - Roberts RV Park - Outlet Replaced - Happy Hour - Car to Shop - Specks - Podiatrist

My Blog Reflection

Everything you have in life is the product of someone else’s struggle. 

Josh Johnson

January 17, 2026:

Alexa is getting ready to paint her basement walls which have been neglected for many years. The prior owner walled off an area in the basement using 2 x 4s and wafer board. Alexa is using this area as a shop so that dust and debris from projects can be somewhat contained. The wafer board was unpainted and it will absorb a lot of paint.

I gave her some old latex paint I had to use for a base coat for the wafer board. She painted and it is now ready for a coat of paint on the entire basement in a color she picks out. I would go with white but she thinks that is too stark.

January 20, 2026:

I woke up this morning to find that our furnace is off and the thermostat is bright red with a notation that a service technician is needed. I changed the filter and punched around on the buttons. The furnace came on and then appeared to be operating correctly. I called for a service call just to check it out. I have medical appointments in St. Louis today and thereafter visiting my sister who is recovering from surgery, so I will just have to leave the door unlocked for the repairman. I know him so that is not a concern.

At my doctor visit the field study team wanted me back in St. Louis on March 14th for another full body bone scan and CT scan. Telling them of our desire to spend some time in Florida, they pushed it back until April 1st. I also have to be back at the oncologist on April 14th for an oncology visit and a Lupron shot. My liver enzymes were very high so in two weeks I have to have another blood draw in Florida. It's always something.

January 21, 2026:

Snow is predicted in Perryville and throughout the South this weekend. To get ahead of the weather we are heading to Florida tomorrow. Rather than driving through the Atlanta traffic nightmare we are going to go through Alabama. This route is an hour longer but with the long traffic delays around Atlanta it may be about the same time. 

Today is packing day. Since we plan on flying home we can't take more than we can bring back on the plane. We already have all the clothes we need in Florida. We will take a lot of food down that we have on hand so it doesn't go to waste.

January 22, 2026:

We left Perryville at 5:15 a.m. headed to Florida. While driving through Tennessee we saw highway trucks in a number of areas spreading brine to keep the roads from freezing. All through Alabama we drove in a light misty rain. The sky looked like something was coming all day.

We drove eleven hours and stopped for the night in Dothan, Alabama. Using the “Hoteltonight” app, which I highly recommend, we found a nice room at a Clarion Inn  for $69.00 including all taxes and fees. The hotel had a bar and grill so we ordered wings and fries for supper. We hadn’t eaten since breakfast so we were ready to chow down. Our room was very nice. We watched some news and checked all of our emails using the free wi-fi.

January 23, 2026:

The free breakfast at the the Clarion Inn didn’t materialize. We went down and all they had out were waffles and yogurt. We checked out and stopped down the road for a huge breakfast at Denny's. As the outside weather warmed up on the drive it was obvious the car A/C was not working. It was 80 degrees outside so a little A/C would have felt great.

We arrived at the house at 2:00 p.m. Everything seemed to be in order, more on that later. We unpacked the car, turned on the dehumidifier, and threw out the DampRid liquids. We then went to Spectrum to get TV and internet equipment. From there we headed to a local repair shop to see when they could check out the A/C. He scheduled it for first thing Monday morning. I could drop it off and walk the two miles home but my plantar fasciitis won’t allow that. My plan is to load my bike in the back of Bart and ride my bike back.

We decided to wait until tomorrow to hook up the internet because it never seems to go smoothly. I changed the furnace filter, which wasn’t bad for eight months. Of course the AC was set to run very little, just to get some humidity out. I also turned on the dehumidifier since it was 67 percent humidity. Humidity is a big issue in Florida. 

We decided to contact a podiatrist about my plantar fasciitis. We found one nearby who takes my insurance so I made an appointment online for Tuesday morning. It is MUCH easier to get into a specialist quickly down here than in Missouri.

January 24, 2026:

Of course I was up early. I had turned on the ice maker last night and it made one set of cubes and stopped. I thought there may be a little air in the water line due to the water having been turned off. I got online and learned that the freezer has to be 10 degrees or colder for the ice maker to work. The freezer was 10 degrees by my room thermometer so I turned the freezer down. Hopefully it will start working now.

I then uncovered the golf cart, hooked up the battery wires, checked all of the water levels in the batteries, and put it on the charger. This is the outlet I installed on the carport last year for charging the golf cart. For some reason this GFI outlet was dead. 

I ran an extension cord from another outlet on the side of the house and plugged in the charger. I’ll deal with the bad outlet later.

While the batteries were charging I sprayed the weeds growing in the gravel golf cart driveway. After they have died I’m going to pull all of the dead weeds, spray a bunch of weed killer, and pour mulch glue all over the rocks. Hopefully this will slow down weed growth and keep the gravel from washing out in hard rains.

The kitchen clock that came with the house had an off white ceramic ring around it. It was no surprise that the battery was dead. Kelly said she wanted to paint the decorative clock surround green to match the accent walls. I did that as well as putting in a new battery. Here is a picture. It does provide a nice additional accent for the wall.

We then tackled connecting the Spectrum equipment for internet and TV. I was following the written instructions and all was going pretty well but there was nothing at all in the instructions about the TV receiver they had given us. Not one word.

In the printed instructions there was a reference to their app for installation. I downloaded it and it visually walked me through every step of the installation indicating percent of each software download. It was a dream to use. The only issue now is that we don’t seem to have the TV and Spectrum TV synced. Moving from one to the other is convoluted. We will figure it out.

We drove to Home Depot and purchased a new carport electric outlet. Kelly wanted to drive through Roberts RV Park, where we stayed each winter for six years. We always had to reserve a year in advance to get a spot. The street we liked was “Audrey” and there was never an empty space. Here are two pictures of a part of Audrey Street now, just three years later, in the height of the season. It is less than half full. How things change in a short time.

Part of this vacancy is due to the hateful management, who ran off many multi-year winter residents like us. You may remember that three years ago he told me I couldn't come back because I posted on Facebook how many machines were not working in the laundry. It is also partly due to Trump pissing off the Canadians who haven’t come back. Florida has taken a major tourism hit, not just at the RV parks.

Back at the house I proceeded to install the new carport electric outlet. I had put in a GFI outlet last year, which for some reason quit working. GFI outlets are a pain like that. I realized that this outlet was downstream from a GFI outlet so I didn’t need this one to be a GFI. A new, regular outlet was installed and works fine.

It was now Happy Hour. At the RV park every evening that meant dozens of folks gathered around with a drink and visited until everyone went in for supper. We really miss that interaction and the great friends we made over the years. All activities in this park are organized. People stay inside most of the time. People don't mossie around and talk to people because people aren't sitting out.

We made a "new to us" adult beverage - Whiskey and Ginger Ale, known as a Whiskey Ginger. We enjoyed it while sitting on the front porch soaking up some sun. There was a record high temperature here today - 83 degrees - while much of the country was experiencing extreme cold. Here’s a picture of Kelly taking it all in around five in the evening.

Our across-the-street neighbor, John, came over and visited for about a half hour. A nice end to the day.

January 25, 2026:

My plan to get back home after dropping off the car for the AC repair was to throw my bike in the back of the HHR and ride it home. It is about two miles away. I aired up the tires for the trip but when I came back an hour later the front tire had lost most of its air. Apparently the forty year old inner tube had given up the ghost. I took the tube out, checked the tire closely for any possible puncture, and double checked the inner tube size. I then hopped on the golf cart and rode over to Walmart to purchase a new inner tube. Unfortunately, they did not have the size I needed. I came back home and ordered one from Amazon. Of course it will get here to late for me to use tomorrow. I called Celina and she was glad to give me a ride.

The rest of the day was spent watching the NFL playoffs. I hated that the Broncos lost but glad the Seahawks won.

January 26, 2026:

I dropped the HHR off at the shop at 8:00 a.m.  I laughed because I wanted to tell Celina the name of the repair shop so she could meet me there and realized I didn't know the name. I just knew where it was located. Luckily, Celina was familiar with the shop and gave me a ride home. I made a contact in my phone - Suncoast Auto and Tire - for any future issues.  At 9:10 a.m. the shop called and had already diagnosed the problem. The cooling fan was not working, which caused the AC system to build up pressure, which caused the pressure valve to blow off and release Freon. A new cooling fan, new Freon, and labor would be $679.00. I authorized them to fix it. This is the first repair on this car in about 8 years so I'm not complaining. Additionally, you need AC in a car in Florida.

While the house seemed to be in order when we first arrived, Kelly noticed some sawdust like specks on the window sills in the master bedroom and in the master bath. We had been told to watch for this because it is evidence of termites. Termites are a real issue down here. Here is a picture.

I got in touch with our bug guy who came over immediately. He verified that the specks are in fact evidence of termites and showed me at least one hole in the molding above where they came through. The house has to be tented and gassed  to get rid of them. The house was tented in 2018 so this is a constant problem. If we purchased his insurance for $190.00 per year, tenting would be free. If we did not he will give us a cut rate of $1,400.00 because we are current customers. I don't remember if we have been paying for the insurance. He will let me know. He said these termites are not fast acting so they will wait to tent the house when we leave. Alway something.

January 27, 2026:

I had an appointment today with a podiatrist to see if something could be done with my plantar fasciitis, which has been an issue since before Christmas. It is much easier to get in to see a specialist here than in Missouri. 

Upon feeling my foot he immediately noted that: I had a bone spur, the ligament on the top of my foot had stretched thus putting more strain on the bottom ligaments, and my foot moves too far in either direction, thus not providing needed support. 

He took an x-ray and I could clearly see the bone spur, which he said was of no significance. It was also easy to see that due to the stretched top ligament the bone joints in my foot were not "meshing" like they should. He said all of this has developed over a long period of time. Since I've had pain for six weeks he suggested an anti-inflammatory drug for thirty days. He said it had a 50/50 chance of eliminating the pain. He also suggested I roll my foot over a frozen water bottle for fifteen minutes every day. He then discussed various options if the medication didn't work. Unfortunately, due to my bone cancer, most of these options are not available to me. That being the case his next suggestion would be to have a custom shoe insert made, at what we both thought is an astronomical cost. The insert would help provide the support my foot needs and is not getting due to the stretched top ligament. He made an appointment to come back in two weeks to see if the medication worked. My medical problems never seem to have easy fixes. I am looking forward to some relief so I can get back to walking without a limp.

Early in the afternoon the moving van for our neighbors, Doug and Judy, was packed and they were heading to their new home in South Carolina. I got to hug them both and told them how much I enjoyed them as neighbors and appreciated their watching our place when we were not there. It is so sad to realize you will never see people you enjoy again.   

January 5 -16, 2026 Christmas Tree Down - Medical Visits - Dishwasher Install - Bedroom Light Repair - Kitchen P-trap Replaced

 My Blog Reflection

When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.

Dalai Lama

January 4, 2026:

Since the day before Christmas I have been dealing with a case of plantar fasciitis in my left foot. I'm doing what I can to address the issue but the "cures" are all over the place. I’m trying to stay off of it as much as possible. I miss not being able to walk with the guys in the morning and hope to get back to that soon.

Once back home from our Lake Tahoe trip, it was time to take down the Christmas Tree, pack up all of the decorations, and store the trains and train board. Another Christmas season was under our belt. The train board is four foot by six foot and sits on six ten-inch long legs. My dad made it when I was about eight years old so it is close to seventy years old. The trains and train board have only been used at Christmas over these many years. I need to make new legs for it but I never think to work on it during the rest of the year. Legs with rollers would make sense as we need to move the board around to decorate the tree sitting on top. 

January 5, 2026:

Today Alexa bought a dishwasher from Marcuzzo Electric here in Perryville. It was the same price as one at Lowes and there was no delivery charge. Her house never had a dishwasher so the kitchen base cabinet has to be modified to accommodate it. We will also need to run electric to it from the electric panel and make a new water connection under the sink. 

January 6, 2026:

After a church meeting this afternoon I worked on the chain saw. When we last used it on the tree in Alexa’s back yard the chain oil passage became blocked. I took it apart today and cleaned everything out. As far as I can tell it is working properly now. We need to make the last two cuts of the trunk to finish that project.

The dishwasher was delivered late this afternoon so tomorrow we will start on cutting out the kitchen cabinet for an install.

January 7, 2026:

Here is a picture of the kitchen cabinets before we started on the modification for the dishwasher. The RED arrow points to where the dishwasher will be installed. The GREEN arrow points to a cutting board pull out at the other end of the cabinets. Alexa will never use this, so to compensate for the loss of two drawers for the dishwasher install, we plan on eliminating the pull out cutting board and make that spot into another drawer.

These cabinets are all homemade out of plywood and pine boards. The base cabinet had a middle shelf and a bottom shelf. Both had to be cut out, as well as the drawer facia. It took two different power saws, and a good amount of time, to make these cuts. Upon cutting out the bottom shelf we found that there was another layer of shelf under the first. Here are two pictures. 

This additional shelf layer was nailed to a box made of 2 x 4s attached to the floor. We could not imagine why this shelf was there. We speculated that at some point in the past the current base cabinet was built over the top of an old cabinet structure. It was a bit of a challenge to get it all sawn out. Here is a picture of the raw dishwasher opening after we thought everything in the way for the dishwasher install had been removed.

Next we cut two boards to enclose the dishwasher, which is not as wide or as tall as the old cabinet area. We had hoped to have enough space beside the dishwasher for a narrow cookie pan cabinet. While there is additional space to the right, most of the area is behind a cabinet setback which was made to clear the window sill nearby. Any cabinet door opening would be far too narrow for any practical use.

Here is a picture of the two boards, top and right that we installed to enclose the dishwasher. The gaps in the wood have been filled with wood filler and they will all be sanded and painted white.

We are going to fill the cavity to the right of the dishwasher with some insulation I had on hand to help with any noise produced.

With all of the shelving out the dishwasher STILL would not slide totally back into the cabinet. What could possible be the problem? The first thing I noticed was a piece of the old baseboard and quarter round sticking out in the corner from a prior cabinet remodel. Here is Alexa cutting it out with the oscillating saw. A slow process.

With the baseboard cut out the dishwasher STILL would not slide all the way in. I looked all around in the cabinet opening for any obstruction. Then it hit me. The six inch board holding up the back of the countertop was hitting the top of the dishwasher. Here is a picture with an arrow pointing to the board. It took forever to cut this board out from one end to the other with the oscillating saw, which is the only saw that would work in there.

At last the dishwasher finally slid back into place as far as it was going to go with the depth of these homemade cabinets, which are a little narrower than modern cabinets. 

At this point we had been hard at it for eight hours and we had had no lunch. We quit for the day. Here is a picture of the wood that we took out of the cabinet. Quite a pile.

Every project needs a supervisor and we had ours. This is Frankie inspecting our work after we quit for the day and got out of the way.

January 8, 2026:

There was no work on the dishwasher project today. I had been notified on Tuesday that I was scheduled for a full body bone scan and a CT scan this morning at 8:00 a.m. in St Louis. Tomorrow afternoon I have to go back to St. Louis for a final visit with the radiology oncology department. This visit will conclude my six-month field study treatment program. It has not been bad but it has not been fun either. The treatment limited my daily activities and delayed winter time spent in Florida this year by at least a month.

January 9, 2026:

We got busy in the morning and ran a new electric line from the subpanel to the dishwasher. We weren't able to finish the electric install because I had my final visit with the radiology department in St. Louis in the early afternoon. The visit yielded great news. The scans taken the day before indicated that there has been no new growth in any of my tumors. This was the best result that could have been expected. A very good day.

January 10, 2026:

Several of us worked at the Hill of Peace Lutheran Church to get the huge cedar Christmas Tree out.  The tree, cut about a month ago, shedded many clumps of Cedar needles on the way out. Getting them all out of the carpet took a while.  

Work on Alexa's dishwasher install will resume on Monday since she is working this weekend.

January 11, 2026:

Alexa worked all weekend so I mostly watched the football playoffs. I did take the face off the cutting board drawer to convert it into a face for a new drawer. I filled the cutting board slot with a board on hand and filled the cracks with wood putty for sanding. 

Getting the cutting board out of the cabinet won’t be as easy as I anticipated. I thought there would be some release of the stop that keeps it from pulling out but if there was I couldn’t find it. We will unscrew everything we can find and hope the cutting board and frame comes out. We will use the wood from the two drawers that were eliminated to make a new drawer.

January 12, 2026:

I planned on continuing with the dishwasher install but Kelly and Alexa went antiquing in Ste. Genevieve instead. I can work on it by myself but Alexa wants to help and learn to do all this. In my shop I worked some more on the new drawer face that would replace the cutting board face.

January 13, 2026:

In the morning we started back on the dishwasher project. I thought the six inch cavity to the left of the dishwasher may amplify the sound the dishwasher makes when running so I had Alexa fill the area with some old fiberglass batts I had in the shop. They were held in place by bowing wooden sticks I had cut and gluing the ends in place.

We then installed a ground fault outlet under the sink. I wanted it under the sink rather than behind the dishwasher so that it would be easily accessible in the future. There wasn't any room for it behind the dishwasher anyway. 

Once the outlet was installed we connected the drain hose to the garbage disposal. All that was left was connecting the hot water line. I disconnected the faucet fitting so I could take this picture to the hardware store to show them the type of "T" fitting I needed to connect the dishwasher.

When working on old plumbing it is rare that I purchase the right plumbing connection my first trip. With the help of the "Ace Hardware Man" I purchased the correct fitting. 

Once everything was connected there were no water leaks. Alexa ran a test load as spelled out in the instructions. Still no leaks under the sink nor under the dishwasher. Alexa then installed the bottom insulation and the kick plate. With that the install was complete. (Mostly). Here is what the dishwasher looks like installed. It sticks out more than it should but that is because these homemade cabinets are not as deep as newer cabinets. 

I was going to lunch with Gary and had a little time before leaving so Alexa and I tore into removing the cutting board and the mechanism supporting it. We found out it was built to withstand an earthquake. In frustration I finally just yanked it out. Once it was out it was clear that much of the space for the new drawer I envisioned was filled solid with wood. Apparently there had been a different cabinet configuration at one time and they just built a newer one over it. The end result is that the new drawer will only be about and inch and a half high. It will be good enough for her knives I guess. Pictures will follow when we get back to that project. 

I went to lunch with Gary eating at "The Pub" in Altenburg. They had an excellent half-pound burger. After enjoying it we took advantage of the beautiful day and drove around for an hour in the Eastern end of the County. Gary showed me the farms of some of his relatives and his Granddad's Farm where he worked each summer as a kid. It was great to learn about all of this history.

While riding around and telling Gary about the protracted dishwasher installation, he advised that under the electrical code we did not need a GFI for the dishwasher outlet under the sink. We have a future project that entails putting in an outlet above the countertop on the left end of the cabinet. When the time comes I will move the GFI to that location so we don't have to buy another. 

After Gary dropped me off back at her house, Alexa advised that the back bedroom light would not work, even with new bulbs installed. The bedroom has two doors (I don't know why) and a switch by each door, ie. two three-way switches. I thought maybe one or both of the switches were bad. I checked them as best I could with my voltmeter and they seemed to be operating correctly. I could not get power at either switch nor at the light. I had exhausted my limited knowledge. I messaged Gary who said he would be over the next morning at 8:00 a.m. to see what he could figure out.

January 15, 2026:

Gary arrived right on time and began diagnosing the problem. The bedroom light and switches were all wired with the old "knob and tube" wiring from when the house was originally built. Most of the house had been rewired but apparently this ceiling light had not. 

Gary found that no power was getting to the first switch, which fed the other switch as well as the light. I thought we would need to pull up the floorboards in the attic to look for electrical connections up there. Before doing that Gary suggested we look downstairs for any wiring issues because power had to originate from down there. Gary quickly spotted two "knob and tube" wires which came down through the wall where one light switch was located. The old wires had pieces cut out of them. Gary was pretty sure this was our problem. When someone eliminated the bulk of the old "knob and tube" wiring to upgrade the house wiring, these wires coming down from the bedroom light switch had been cut when they were still needed for the ceiling light to work. 

Unfortunately they cut the wires off very short where they came down out of the wall. Gary was able to crimp new wires on and connect new wires back to the cut ends about two feet away.  WE HAD LIGHT! Here is a picture of the repair. You can see the blue crimp connectors on both ends of the patch wire.

When the subpanel was installed I tried to label every circuit but one I could not. Once the back bedroom light worked we found that it was on the circuit breaker I couldn't trace earlier. We also found that the back bedroom light, the attic light, the bathroom light, and the front bedroom light were all wired to that circuit breaker. The circuit breaker mystery was solved. It and the new dishwasher circuit were appropriately labeled. 

It was very generous of Gary to devote his time and expertise to this project for Alexa.  In looking at the dishwasher installation he suggested we place a piece of small trim around the three sides of the dishwasher to hide the black gasket so the installation would look more finished. Great idea. We will do that.

January 16, 2026:

The last project for a while was replacing the trap under the kitchen sink which leaks. The 1/ 1/2 inch trap pipe seemed to be cracked because it constantly slowly dripped. I hadn't thought about it but Gary pointed out by the trap dripping it no longer acts as a trap for sewer smell. The metal tailpiece was rusting through so it needed to be replaced as well.

A quick trip to Ace Hardware and we had the new trap and tailpiece we needed. It was an easy install only taking about fifteen minutes. 

Unfortunately, after about an hour water was barely accumulating above the threads where the old black plastic elbow connected to the new p-trap. 

Upon taking the trap back out and looking at the old fitting I noticed that the interior flange was a little rough in one spot. Since the black fitting was glued on, and will be a pain to cut off and replace. I sanded the rough edge smooth and wound Teflon tape around the threads before reconnecting the new p-trap. This should easily stop the very minor leak. If it does not we will another project in the future of cutting the black elbow out and replacing it with a new one. A much bigger project than we had today.

We purchased a piece of trim for around the dishwasher and Alexa painted it. Monday and Tuesday are both doctor appointment days so getting the trim installed may be delayed until Wednesday.