Sunday
2pm, Birthday BBQ party (#1 of 2) for our younger daughter, at my 87 yr old
Mother-In-Law's house who lives nearby - *great* when the kids were
little, free baby sitter, etc.
One bottom roller on her
kitchen screen door goes to hardware heaven just before we arrive. This
particular sliding glass door (and screen) has consumed ~60 hours of my
lifetime, if I add up repairs over the years. If I had any brains I'd have paid
out of my own pocket to have it replaced, be *way* ahead of the game by
now. At least more brain cells left - a precious commodity, at this point
!
Endure various grimaced
looks from Mother-In-Law, Sister-In-Laws, Wife, Niece, et al, as they try
to use the door, broken-bottom-roller-grinding-against-bare-metal. Of course,
it's 200% humidity, so keeping the glass door closed not really an option
... 47 yr-old central AC gave up the ghost *long* ago, and ceiling + floor
fans aren't helping enough w. pea-soup humidity. I take the screen door
off, tweak the remains of the dead roller, probably made it worse.
After dinner I bring the
portable BBQ back home, grab a few tools, miraculously/quickly find a spare roller, and
head back to Mother-In-Law's house (trip #1). After quickly stripping the
rusted screw I try to chisel off the head with a screwdriver + hammer, slicing
my finger open. Bleeding profusely, I decide to call it a day, telling
Mother-In-Law I'd either come back later (if it wasn't raining), or
tomorrow (Monday morning), Labor Day. Endure additional facial grimaces.
Monday morning trips to Mother-In-Law's:
~9:00 am
trip #2: bring Impact Driver, screw extractor set, spray lube,
WD40, + box of misc. coarse-thread screws. Quickly strip screw even worse.
~9:30 am trip #3:
drive home (again), grab drill bits, head back to Mother-In-Law's. Drain both
batteries drilling out screw, get ~75% through.
~9:45 am trip
#4: drive home (again), grab 1/2 inch hammer drill :-> and
extension cord, head back to Mother-In-Law's. Takes all of 5
minutes to drill rest of screw out / install replacement roller / put
screen in / hit all four rollers w. spray lube, and 'get-outta-dodge'.
Monday 2pm, our
dishwasher goes belly up 30 minutes before guests show up for Birthday BBQ #2
at our house. Frenzied attempt to repair dishwasher, disassemble/clean all
moving parts, still no-workee. Party is great, 8:45 pm with dishes
piled to ceiling, my wife says, "I know where we're going tomorrow
night - dishwasher shopping!", all smiling/happy - new kitchen appliance,
yay! Motivated by (a) my cheapness, and (b) avoiding even *more*
work of schlepping new dishwasher home + installing same, I take
out my repair kit (recycled childs canvas purse :-), with torx bits,
t-handle wrench, ratchet screwdriver, etc. Takes ten minutes to remove
dishwasher front cover, diagnose broken door switch, put in wire shunt,
dishwasher is back in action by 9pm
:->>
