Blog Archive

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

PROGRESS...NOT A LOT, BUT SOME

           I’m making some progress with the assistance of my granddaughter and two sons. On Saturday, they all came in the morning and cut up the old dead hot tub and put it into Haley’s truck. It was getting warm, but they then took the time to look at all the crap I’d sorted and put on the table.

Amazingly, the table is fairly clear, but Thor’s garage is not. With the exception of the stuff the boys identified as garbage or metal recycling, Thor took the majority of the boxes and trays of junk home. AJ and Haley did pull out some things they wanted, but not much. They kinda sorted through it, but when the garage is heating up to more than 80 degrees, who wants to look at every single screwdriver, drill bit, wrench, screw and nail. Whatever Thor can’t use or doesn’t want, he’ll donate to a place down the street from where he lives.

We didn’t haul any boxes out of the garage attic because it had to be more than 100 degrees up there. There’ll be another time for that. It’s really kinda funny how I couldn’t do anything in the garage because it was too cold, and now, I’m going to have to plan around it being too hot.

I was very impressed by how Haley and her dad worked so closely together. They almost didn’t need to talk. I guess after all the work Haley has done with her dad on the ’57 Chevy pickup and her own truck, she’s come to intuit what her dad needs or wants. Even more impressive (to me anyway), was her knowledge of the tools being used and what was needed to break out the wood surround once it was cut…she just took her foot and gave it a good kick.

It was also good to see AJ and Thor working together. Sometimes AJ’s idea worked and other times, it was Thor who provided the answer to whatever they were addressing. They got the hot tub to the back-garage door. AJ had measured, but it wasn’t going to fit. Thor took the door off the hinges…AJ was thinking he’d have to undo the hinges. It still didn’t fit, so AJ used his Sawzall to remove what looked like an X of fiberglas on the bottom. It was actually two pieces of wood that had been covered by fiberglas. AJ sawed and Thor used a hammer to pry the wood out. They work well together. It also does my heart a world of wonderfulness to hear them laugh and joke with each other about stuff.

Finally, it fit and they slid it through the garage to Haley’s truck. Then, they had to figure out how to get it in the bed. There was a large board on the side of the house they used to slide the tub up into the truck. Then, all the other bits and pieces were tossed into the hot tub itself. The cover was then placed on top and tied down. AJ and Haley took it off to the dump when they finished looking at the stuff on the table. The way it was situated in Haley’s truck, I’m sure people thought they were getting a new hot tub…and wondered why when it was so hot.


Once again, I really have to laugh at John’s inability to do stuff properly either at home or when he wasn’t getting paid. I cannot remember if one of the boys helped him, but at some point, he put Trex boards under the hot tub. I remember when he had the boys help him put the whole thing on a four-wheeled dolly so he could put the Trex down. I didn’t pay any attention…not my project.

Anyway, once the hot tub was removed Saturday, there is an area in the middle of the Trex that doesn’t have any boards, just the old decking. I don’t know why since I know there are three long pieces of Trex on the side of the house. As per usual, it was good enough for the purpose, no one would see it, and John was done with that project. I told the boys I’d clean up the deck, but I think I may have to have one of them come and cut pieces of Trex to fit in the empty area…or measure it and ask my neighbor Dave to cut it for me.


So, I’m making headway with the crap-fest, but just not as quickly as I’d like. I talked to a woman on Sunday who has been a widow for five years. She understood perfectly how much I’d just like to BE DONE, but encouraged me to take my time and be patient with myself. Good advice I do believe.

No comments:

Post a Comment