October 14, 2025 - October 27, 2025 - Quarter Round Down - New Garbage Disposal Installed - Truck - Air Nailer - Deadbolt Installed - Basement Outlet Work - Porch Light Refurbished

My Blog Reflection

You only live once, but if you work it right, once is enough.

Joe E. Lewis

October 14, 2025:

We went to Alexa's house to reinstall the quarter round which had been taken up to sand and refinish the floors. We laid out the pieces we had and it was clear that there was a lot missing. Alexa texted the floor refinisher and was told that some was put in the attic and some in the basement. We quickly located the pieces placed in the attic but we could find none in the basement. All of the quarter round for the front bedroom was missing. We looked and looked and found no more quarter round anywhere. Assuming we would not find the missing pieces, Alexa purchased replacement quarter round at Ace Hardware. Interestingly, they did not have it at the lumber yard but did at Ace Hardware. How weird is that? We were all still quite puzzled that these large pieces of quarter round were missing.

When Alexa purchased the quarter round she also purchased a new garbage disposal. While I got the old run to run, I couldn't get the cutters to move in and out as they should. This caused the disposal to vibrate considerably and make a lot of noise. We decided to install it, purchasing one which was the same brand and model as the old one to simplify installation. Installation went well until we tried to attach the drain. The new disposal, although the same brand and model as the old one, was a little smaller and the drain just would not match up. With a trip to the hardware store we were able to get another piece to make the connection work.

In the evening Alexa called and said that the quarter round mystery was solved. In looking at earlier pictures she had taken of the rooms she noticed that there had been no quarter round in the front bedroom. When it was carpeted by the previous owners they did not reinstall the quarter round, as they did in the back bedroom when carpet was installed in there. Strange.

This is a picture of the newly purchased pine quarter round. 

This is some of the old quarter round I brought home to spruce up with a little stain and new polyurethane.

I have to make the new quarter round look like the ninety year old quarter round in the above picture. By mixing two stains that I had on hand we were able to come up with a good match.

October 17, 2025:

This morning Kelly and I got our flu shots and Covid shots. Kelly scheduled it for a Friday because last year we both felt ill for two days after. This year was no different. We were both achy for the weekend. I also had a bad headache and chills. 

October 19, 2025:

A picture of the new quarter round stained and polyurethaned and ready for installation. It will be a close match.

Inherited Ducks:

I inherited ten beautifully carved ducks from my friend Ron in 2010. I really don't have a lot of interest in them and over the years have attempted to sell them. I gave one to the local Catholic School for an auction item one year. Recently Kelly got a hit on the ducks when she posted about them. It was a lady who was the daughter of the lady who had carved the ducks about twenty years ago. She stating that she and her family would be interested in buying them. We settled on a price and she will be here this Saturday to pick them up. We are glad they are going back to the family. Here is a picture of the nine left. They are all beautiful.

October 20, 2025:

I headed to St. Louis early in the morning with the truck and trailer. Alexa hired two guys to carry all of her furniture from her second floor apartment and put it in my truck and trailer or in the garage for setting out at a later date for bulk trash pickup. Money well spent. Both the truck and trailer were full. Once back in Perryville Alexa and Aaron unloaded everything. In the late afternoon Alexa and Aaron made another trip with the truck to St. Louis for another load of boxes. (They have lots of "stuff".)

October 21, 2025:

This morning Alexa and Aaron jumped in the truck and went to the apartment for another load to be brought to Perryville. Lots of miles on the truck lately. LOL 

The bottom basement stair tread was broken so today Kelly and I went over and removed it, glued it, and clamped it. It will be ready for a re-install tomorrow. Alexa wants to paint these stair treads so I wanted to get it repaired first.

Tomorrow and John and I will be adding another circuit for outlets in the basement and deciding what conduit is necessary for an electric line to the garage. It will be a full day.

October 23, 2025:

Alexa and I reinstalled the quarter round using my air nailer. We immediately had an issue. On the top there is plastic cap that is an air diverter. You can swivel it around so that the air does not hit you in the face when you pull the trigger. I was using it when that cap popped off. Of course it is plastic. (Did I mention I hate plastic?) I tried to glue the broken part of the cap but it didn't work. I ordered a new one off e-Bay. Here is the nailer without the cap. We continued to use it without the cap so we could get the job finished.

Alexa has been making multiple trips in the truck from St. Louis to Perryville to move her stuff. She has probably now driven it almost as many miles as I have. I noticed this on the odometer as I was driving today. Lots of miles on this truck but he runs like a top.

October 24, 2025:

Alexa painted the bedroom and living room walls. The living room gray came out nice. The bedroom color is way to "pink". It looked like Pepto Bismol to me.  She will be repainting it. 

The only lock on the back door was the old skeleton key from the 1930s and it didn't work. 

Here is a picture of the new deadbolt I installed.

I also shaved the bathroom closet door and adjusted the lock plate so that it would stay closed as well.

October 25, 2025:

We measured for window shades today and Alexa picked out a new paint color for the bedroom. 

On the way to purchase the bedroom paint we spotted this line of cars getting coffee at Scooters here in town. I had never seen the line all the way out onto the highway. I'm sure the reason is that there is a soccer tournament starting soon at the soccer park.

Alexa re-painted the walls a much better color. It has a pink cast to it, which is hard to see with the overwhelming prior color.

This is what the back porch light looked like. The cover was not on because of the electric outlet added.

We found the cover, which was the old brass look so it needed updating. I spray painted it black and reinstalled it. Much nicer.

October 26, 2025:

I worked on the basement outlets for a few hours. No more all-day projects for me anymore. John and I still need to staple up the wire, connect one outlet to the electric, and put lights in the two "rooms" in the basement. We hope to get all this completed on Wednesday afternoon.

October 27, 2025:

It was treatment day. It started with a blood draw, my last visit with my oncologist, who is retiring, a hormone shot in the buttocks, a bone protection shot in the stomach, all at the Siteman Cancer Center in South County. We then had a trip to downtown BJC for a IV for the Radium 223 shot. A full day with treatments at two different BJC facilities. After all treatments were complete we stopped at Alexa's apartment where she packed her clothes in Kelly's car. We then made a quick stop at Costco for a few items before coming home. 

I scheduled nothing for tomorrow because I never know how I'll feel after a treatment. That being said, I do have to get another blood draw for my GP visit on Thursday. I feel like a pin cushion.

 

October 1, 2025 - October 13, 2025 - Work on Alexa's House Continues: Electric Subpanel Installed; Cellar Door Rebuilt; Paint Colors Picked; Garbage Disposal Installed

My Blog Reflection

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.

Albert Einstein

October 3, 2025:

Alexa, with my guidance, rebuilt the cellar door with new wood. We were able to use the old runners, hinges, and tin. The rebuild came out nice. Here is a picture from the inside. I installed a chain to keep it from hitting the house wall when opened and a new hasp lock.

October 7, 2025:

Alexa's house was built in the 1930s and although the electric has been updated, it definitely needs more electric circuits. There is only one outlet in the basement and that is for the furnace. There is no electric in the unattached garage. 

The main electric panel was full and actually it had some breakers with two wires on them. (Not allowed by code.) For more circuits we had to install a subpanel. I purchased a subpanel and today John got it installed. My help consisted of staying out of his way and holding the light on occasion. 

We need more circuit breakers for a line out to the garage and for installing outlets in the basement. I ordered the additional breakers.

October 9, 2025:

Daughter Annie and Granddaughter Wren flew in from Mountain View, California, for a couple of days. It is so great to see them. Annie wanted to help Alexa get the house ready.

October 10, 2025:

Earlier in the week Alexa and Aaron had removed all of the covers for the hot water heat fins and cleaned them. Annie helped reinstall them. She also helped Alexa with paint samples for the walls, and a few other chores. 

The house came with a refrigerator but no stove. I found a nice stove on Facebook Market PLace for $100.00 and once Alexa approved Kelly and I drove to Ste. Genevieve to pick it up. Upon picking it up we were told that the oven works perfectly but the door will not open up completely. I looked at it and clearly something was wrong but it didn't look too serious. We loaded it on the trailer and put it in the garage at Alexa's.

Thinking there was something wrong with the oven door hinges, I had been looking online on how to take the oven door off. In looking online I determined that I needed a model number to get the correct information for removing the door. We couldn't find a model number anywhere on the oven. I went back online and learned that the model number is on a sticker next to the storage drawer below the oven. This was the only place we had not looked. We immediately found the number and immediately noted that with the storage drawer partially open the oven door opened perfectly. There wasn't anything wrong with the oven door. The issue was that the oven door was binding on the storage drawer when it was closed. 

We pulled the storage drawer totally out and found that the drawer was off the track and that the track had been bent at some point. Apparently the drawer had been forced in on an angle creating a bind on the oven door. Here is a picture. You can see that the aluminum drawer runner was not in the track of the runner mounted on the stove. It was above it. This pushed the drawer up against the bottom of the oven door.

After pulling the storage drawer out it was a quick fix with a hammer and pliers to get the drawer slide "adjusted" and back in the track. 

The adjustable stove feet were rusted in place. With some "BP Blaster" and a wrench Annie was able to then remove the adjustable feet from the stove. We purchased liquid rubber to coat them so they won't scratch the newly finished floor when we install the stove.

A while back Kelly purchased a prime rib roast. Today Bob smoked it for us. Bob and Ronnie then came over and we all gathered for supper. We enjoyed the prime rib along with mashed potatoes and corn. Bob and Ronnie brought a blueberry crisp for dessert. It was all delicious.

October 11, 2025:

We had to get the refrigerator out of the house so they could refinish the floors. We had to take the front door off and the handles off the refrigerator to get it out and on to the front porch. Today we all met at the house and decided to move the refrigerator and stove inside while we had the manpower. After taking the front door off again both appliances then went in without a hitch. Kelly reinstalled the handles on the refrigerator and we let the refrigerator and stove sit on cardboard until Alexa gets the wall next to the refrigerator painted and we get the rubberized feet reinstalled on the stove. 

October 12, 2025:

Alexa painted the wall next to the refrigerator. We then relocated the stove plug so that it would be behind the stove, where it should be, rather than out in the room. We then moved the fridge and stove into their final positions. I made a wooden plug to fill the old hole in the floor where the stove outlet originally came up. I put a little stain on the plug and and then gave it a couple of coats of polyurethane. It looks okay and will be partially covered by a new baseboard.

We then decided to reinstall the garbage disposal. It had been frozen and would not turn. I had taken it home to work on it. I did get the motor to turn but I could only get the interior "chopping bars" to move in and out by prying each with a screwdriver. They should be loose to chop up food and throw it out the drain. No amount of oil or rust buster would make them work properly. I hoped installing it may loosen the cutters up.

Once the disposal was installed it was extremely loud and vibrated considerably. It was suggested that I put a bag of ice down it to see if that frees up the cutters. If not Alexa may need to spring for a new disposal in the near future.

After going in numerous directions on wall paint color, as you can see in these two pictures, Alexa picked a color for the living room and a different color for the bedroom. The colors she picked will brighten up both rooms.

Painting over the brown ceiling and walls will take two coats in each room. The ceilings are going to be painted "Ceiling White" to add more light in the rooms. She will start painting next week. She took my truck back to her apartment in St. Louis to bring a load of stuff down tomorrow morning.

October 13, 2025:

I purchased a bag of ice today, and, with only about a pound dropped down the disposal, all it did was crush the ice like a snow cone until it filled up the disposal and tripped its internal breaker. Time for a new disposal.

At noon Alexa arrived and unloaded more stuff into our basement. She then went over to the house to wash down the doors and woodwork. Next we will be reinstalling the quarter round which was taken up for the floor sanding. Painting and moving in should be soon.

This afternoon I had a Zoom call with Freedom's Pre-K Class in Tracey, California. I was to explain to four year olds what a judge does. I put on my robe and had my gavel handy. It was a little difficult to explain a judge's job to four year olds. LOL. They had great questions like: what was my favorite color, my favorite animal, my favorite food, etc. This was better than when I talked to high schoolers,. I would ask if they had any questions and they would all sit there like bumps on a log. Little kids are much more fun.