At least as far as what I set out to accomplish four months ago, that is, but now that it’s done, the fire pit itself and the walkway around the fire pit area look absolutely awful.

I’m not going to do anything about either of them right now because I need to move on. I’ve been stuck on the same three projects all year, and now I need to focus on getting the videos for all of them done.

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The thing I like second most about my bike – the first being how comfortable it is to ride – is how simple it is. For starters, it has no cables of any kind on it. Not for the brakes, and not for the gears, of which it also has none.

It has a very simple set of ball bearings in the pedals, and one in the headstock. The rear wheel is the most complicated part of the whole bike because the brake is incorporated into the hub. It’s called a coaster brake, and it’s often maligned by elitist bike snobs.

I love this bike. I’ve had it for 13 years, and like a modern bike of Theseus, I’ve replaced every piece of it in that time. Well, not every piece. The frame is still original; otherwise, I wouldn’t consider it the same bike.

Last year, I had to replace my rear hub, and while it isn’t totally fucked like it was a year ago, I think I might replace it again this year because my rear wheel is bent to shit the hub is a little grindy. I find that tends to happen over time. I also need new tires, and it wouldn’t hurt to replace my bearings.

But that’s all going to have to wait because I don’t have any of that stuff on me right now, so this afternoon, I did a little alignment and some tightening, and got through my whole ride with no problems.

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I don’t know if I’ve written about the hole in my bathroom floor and wall in this blog, but I’ve had a hole in my bathroom floor and wall for over a year. I’ve been putting off repairing it because I don’t have money to remodel a bathroom and buy new flooring for the bathroom, bedroom, and living room – all of which were affected by the initial flood – and I just don’t know where to start. I’ve never done tile work before, and I don’t have enough tiles to replace the ones I broke when I opened up the wall. So, that poses a big problem, too.

Today, I used the multitool to remove the grout so I could pop out seven tiles. I managed to save three of them. I cut the hardboard and drywall back to a stud, so I can patch the hole in the wall. I feel like I moved the needle on this project slightly, but I still feel like I’m way over my head.

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Since I was going to be in the garage all afternoon, I figured I might as well let anyone interested in buying my unwanted shit an opportunity to come take it off my hands, so I posted an ad on Craigslist advertising a Friday Afternoon Garage Sale. No one came. I received a message from someone asking how much I wanted for the planer, but he didn’t reply to my response.

So, I didn’t sell anything, but I built some shelves, and I used some wood that I’ve just been storing for years, freed up some space, and created more, so the day wasn’t a total waste.

The post I Built A Shelf Today appeared first on Retro Active Lifestyle.

I looked around and found this plastic fork. I folded the corner of the bag with the hole in it over itself and clipped it with the tines of the fork. Then, I popped it in the microwave and hoped the fork didn’t melt. To my great delight, it didn’t! My broccoli cooked perfectly, and dinner was saved. Yay me!

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This afternoon, I decided to remedy that by wiring the lights to be plugged into an outlet so that they will come on with the rest of the patio lights. The procedure was exceedingly simple and went far smoother than I anticipated.

I used an old variable voltage AC to DC power transformer that I picked up at that free sale last month. The lights previously ran on three AA batteries, which is 4.5 volts. As it happened, one of the settings on the transformer was 4.5 volts, so that was handy.

Besides the voltage settings, the tips on the end of the cord are also interchangeable. One of the tips is a standard 1/8″ TRS plug, and I happened to have a female 1/8″ TRS jack, so I drilled out the cork to accommodate the jack and wired up the lights.

Voila! Now, the lights come on with the rest of the patio lights.

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The cashier at Lowe’s started talking before we even got to her register. Bonnie was riding on the cart, and the cashier asked what aisle I found her in. Then, she talked non-stop throughout the entire transaction and continued until we were out the door. She just talked nonsense the whole time about Bonnie being an item for sale in the store. She was riffing, but nothing she said was either funny or interesting.

I don’t make small talk. If I don’t have something to say, I will not engage with you, even to be polite. I realized last night why people like the cashier make me so fucking crazy. It’s because I can’t tune people out. If someone is talking to me, I can’t not pay attention, so when they’re talking gibberish, it becomes extremely taxing, especially when I’m trying to focus on a task.

This morning, I spread the two new bags around the patio, and it was so much easier than the first bag because it was all just powdery and soft. There were no clumps in it at all. Unfortunately, they weren’t enough. I needed a fourth bag, but not a whole bag. So, back we went to the Lowe’s in the next city. We went to the garden section first so Bonnie could get some plants, and then we went to building materials to grab a back of sand topping mix. The cashier said, “We sell plants at this end?” pointing out the irregularity of paying for plants at the building materials register. She scanned them all and was about to complete the transaction when I asked her if she scanned the bag of cement. She hadn’t even noticed it. Pay the fuck attention, I thought. Why the fuck do you think we came all the way down to building materials to buy plants?

After I paid, I held my finger over the POS machine so I could choose to have my receipt emailed to me instead of printed out because I didn’t want a paper receipt. Before I could tap it, though, she bypassed the option on her end and printed my receipt. It happens at every Lowe’s. At self-checkout, it gives you the option of a printer receipt or an email and printed receipt, but there’s no option for leaving the store without a piece of fucking paper. Obviously, I’m in the minority of people who want their receipts emailed because the cashiers automatically print the receipts without asking. Last year, my local grocery store added a prompt to the POS machine asking for donations to some charity. It didn’t take long for the cashiers to start reaching over to tap the skip button because nobody wants to donate to unknown charities when they’re checking out. That, I get. What I don’t get is who the fuck wants paper receipts?

I spread the final bag around and used about 3/4 of it. I’m glad I didn’t use all of it because now I have extra to fill in any place that I missed and make patches if need be. The fire pit remodel is basically done. I still need to make four tables to go on top of the 4 x 4 posts that I mounted the electrical boxes to, but that’s a whole other project.

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