Trickster Dave.........

Well before we left to be with family and friends in another state we had a small gift exchange of our own, momma, daddy, Malia and jelly bean. Well while daddy Dave was wrapping momma Mandy's gift he was some what concerned that she might guess the contents from feeling the package. So how to  disguise  it?............     In this pic you can see momma mandy eyeing up the package with questioning eyes.

So what did daddy Dave do but took some packaging tape and taped a pen to the top and a container of momma Mandy's hand/face cream to the bottom..........

in order to disguise the next gift daddy Dave just taped the package to another box he had on hand and wrapped.....trickster Dave strikes again.

At last.....

Well Christmas as always was a action packed day full of gifts, family and food. Here is a morning pic of malia with her doll jesse from the toy story movie(this is her fav movie at this time). She is rocking her pj's here.

I don't know if you remember this character from the last years Christmas, it is Mandy's uncle Craig he's a hoot always keeping Malia laughing. It looks like the bows have multiplied this year.

Early Christmas...........

Well sense we won't be home for christmas(going to hang with the inlaws ) we do a gift exchange before hand. Here Malia try's out her new chair, which is sized just right for her, she seems to like it.

 

Hey Malia your suppose to open the present not sit on it.......silly girl

Pop goes the question......

Well if you don't know by now I guess I'll be the one to tell ya. Yep ...........my scholarly brother has decided to take that leap of faith and ask his sweet thang  to be his future bride. With a plan in place and a weekend of ring shopping to be done he came down for a visit. After an eventful ring shopping experience getting to know the in's and out's of diamond shopping. It's not just as simple as picking one out you have to do your home work to ensure that you are getting a quality stone. It can get a little complicated so I won't bore you just remember the three c's next time your diamond shopping ....color...clarity...and cut.

and here's the stone chosen by my bro as symbol of his love for her. Not a supper pic, which doesn't do it justice, it's best viewed in person so next time you see that Newley engaged couple just ask I'm sure she'll be delighted to show you. Congrats congrats congrats.....

How to play solitary......

In this short roll of clips malia will demonstrate how to play solitary, first deal out all your cards into random piles.

then put the one which looks the tastiest into your mouth

Didnt get a tasty hand? Did it leave a bad taste in your mouth, quickly stuff the King of hearts into your mouth for a flavor release.

The king of hearts didn't suit ya try the nine of hearts, just don't accedently swallow, or you'll get a royal flush....

when in doubt throw down your cards and go all in......

Ever tried bobbing for apples, how about bobbing for cards, water not included.

well it looks like the card game is on hold......malia had a call come in on her new card phone. Ring ring ring Hello.

Scarf it down.........

Typically when I say scarf it down I would be usually talking about a delicious greasy hamburger, or something else from David's food pyramid of unhealthiness.  But as time passes and my little ladie gets older she tends to do a little dressing up. In this pic she snagged some of momma Mandy's scarfs and is gallivanting around in them. I believe momma helped her try on the first one and then she went on from there. I love Both my laddies they keep me on my toes.

Mean girl.........

Why is Barkley eagerly looking behind the couch? It's like there is something important behind that large bulky piece of furniture. Well in barkleys world there is one thing which is the #1 thing on his mind.....his ball. But how would his ball make it into such a confined space............

well here is the reason....I don't know if it's cause she's a mean girl...or a smart girl. It seems Malia has thrown Barkleys ball behind the couch on purpose. Ya see Barkley doesn't like too much touch time from Malia, but when he is occupied its open game for petting. With his ball behind the couch he is so concerned with getting it that he lets Malia love on him. This is one way she gets his attention.

Use #465 for cpvc."............

Well with all the Christmas decorating going on it was daddy Dave's duty to put up some lights on the outside of the dwelling. When it came to running a continued strand of lights along the top the fence daddy came to a trouble spot. How would he get the lights across the top of the gate still leaving it usable? Well after a little digging he found a extra piece of cpvc left over from a past project. After a couple of pre drilled holes and four well placed screws a arch was formed allowing a bridge for the lights, carry on daddy Dave.

Here's a night pick of some of his handy work, not as much as I would like but these holidays seem a little more hectic.

Chimney cleaning it's a .....snap?

Well it's that time of year again when I have to go up on the roof top licked split and hope not to fall of the roof top like ol saint nick. It's been a lot easier Sence I installed a exhaust sleeve down the chiming so just a few swipes with the chimney brush and I'm done. But.........

this time I had an equipment malfunction, and on the last upward stroke the fiberglass rod broke......look at the positive side at least I had my hand on it when the breakage occurred so that the broken piece did not fall black down to the furnace below(that would have been a hot mess). Before to long I'll have to head off and purchase a replacement piece, regular mantiance on chimneys  is a requirement this time of year. stay warm and Tostie my friends.

Deserves a wedgie........

Do you ever sometime wish that you could just give someone a wedgie, i know we are grown up but sometimes i come across a individual in which i would love to grab their under-draws and pull them to a place were the sun doesn't shine, set them down and send them on there way. While at work the other evening I walked by a customer who was enjoying some of the free samples which my place of imployment provides. He turned to throw away the rind from a piece of orange slice, but missed the trash can totally. He then looked at me and said oops I missed the trash can...... and then just walked off......leaving it on the floor........wedgie...anyone.

This is not a homophobic rant or anything like that but a choice of words I found humorous, it is a little on the perverted side so readers beware.The other evening while at work I was stocking up some produce. I guess I was in the way of a customer who needed something In which was in front of. This customer came up behind me and with a very gayish voice says "do you mind if I reach around ya". No thanks I dont want a reach around but thanks for the offer....is what I didn't say but was thinking as I appolagise and move out of his way.

Worst case realized.........

Worst case....but best case of the worse senero, if that makes any sense.  See a collapsed main drain line was my worst senero mainly because it looked to travel back under ground under the house to the street, making it impossible to repair because of the lack of space under the house. On my second day working on the clog I was using a plumbing bladder an attachment which hooks to the hose and puts out a pressurized stream. Still I was not making any progress it seemed I was hitting something solid(a collapsed line). As I was walking around the house on a trip back to the truck , about midways down the side of the house I noticed a wet spot with some paper bits laying around, this puzzled me thinking maybe someone had dumped out some water/something. Back to work I went on the clog but then on another trip back to the truck to bring out the big guns(power drain cleaner), I noticed the wet spot was bigger with more debris. I stopped and puzzled this, then a best case senero popped in my head maybe this was a clean out point which had lost the cap and was blocked. After a little more inspecting I soon discovered this was not the case but the line was completely collapsed and full of gravel from the driveway. It looks like the main line actually comes out from under the house and under the driveway and down to the street.

now replacing a section of main drain line is not hard when it comes to the actual replacing but exposing the pipe is we're the work comes in. Now in this case the broken section of pipe was under a gravel driveway. Have you ever tried to dig up a gravel driveway.....not easy to say the least. The pipe may have been crushed or dug up when the driveway was re-graveled just speculation though. After exposing the drain line off to the hardware store I went to get parts. As I arrive back darkness is falling, after a quick clean out of the old pipes they were still full of rocks I put the new section of PVC pipe in...a little glue.....and rubber sleeves.  This was the perfect time to put in a clean out, a t-section of pipe with a removable top to make clean out a snap next time. After a quick clean up and reburying the new section I was off towards home to enjoy the rest of my evening with my two ladies and that little growing jelly bean. 

Been there done that.........

Well out I went yesterday in reply to reports of a slow main drain this was a different home not the one of which my last plumbing adventure was partaken in. upon arrival I crawled under the house to take a look. When I say crawl I mean scoot on my stomach, this has the smallest access I have ever been in, there were a couple points when I thought I might get stuck, what a place to be caught. O yeah did I mention that I was scooting through more SEWAGE....... it seems who ever did the plumbing on this house was also not to fond of the crawl space and it looks like they didn't spend as much time on the glueing part of the job as they should. Here we have pictured above the scene  when I crawled...I mean scooted under. Right when I opened the access panel that all to familure smell hit my nose, forget about a couple of coffee in the morning now this will wake you up(or make you start crying).

Well not having all supplies on hand I attempted to re-clean and Re-glue, which seems to have done the trick for now.

after some more scooting around I eventually found the main sewer access at the back of the house. It's kind of frustrating I mean all the core plumbing meets at the back of the house, then the main sewage pipe goes back to the street? It back tracks. Why not have had it meet at the front then down to the street, this just means my 50feet of power drain cleaner line will probable just go about a

Half the distance of the house.

After a little while of drain cleaning time and a little hose work I got this black cottage cheese stuff to start coming out, but shouldn't it be going the other way....? I was running into some sort of blockage, hope it's not a tree root, or worse a collapsed drain line that would be a nightmare. Did I mention that it was raining like cats and dogs.....nice. Well after darkness fell I packed and capped it off for the night. Looks like I might be heading out fri for another try. 

Re joist..re joist......Emanuel

While tarring out the damaged floor joist it seemed like it would never end. One after another they had to be taken out. It seems that after all that time exposed to moisture didn't do any good for the structure. After tarring out The worst in the kitchen area  I then had to continue under the bathroom, removing damaged joist.

But after another long day a new subfloor was installed in the bathroom, and all the damaged joist were replaced...o happy days..o happy days. Project Hawkins Is on track as planned. Of course the week I had off from work went by too fast, and i wish I had gotten more done, but that's always the case.

Orkin man......I think I love you......

             Well as you know if you read a past blog ol daddy Dave was sure he had termites on one of his rental houses. he was looking to treat as soon as possible, and not haveing the resources or knowledge to do it his self he was gonna have to hire out. Being the smart consumer oll Dave went ahead and scheduled a couple inspections as to get an idea of the cost and extent of the infestation. well the first company which came out was more of a mom and pop company, now I'm all about the small man they usually can give you the best price. Upon arrival the owner walked up and we exchanged the usual good days, he walk around the house and then inside briefly, and then said ......yep you got termites and I can get rid of them for you for a one time fee of $595. Of course there is a annual fee if you want them to maintain the property(thanks but no thanks). 

        Well with head hung low and numbers swirling through my head off home I headed. But the next day I had another appointment but this time with a name brand company Orkin. The inspector scheduled to meet me there at 9am, and of course I was running a little late(all ways seems to be the case now days having a little girl). When I arrived the inspectors truck was there but he was no where to be found, but around the back of the house the access panel was open I the assumed he was under the house. As I open up the house and call out, I heard him responsed and he said he would be right with me. 

          As he emerged covered in dust and cobwebs, we began to exchange the normal pleasentrys. He then informed me that I infact did.................wate for it..................not have termites. This was kind of a surprise but ill take it that's for sure. He said he saw places were past treatment had been done but could not tell how long it had been Sence  treatment. I pointed out the termite damage and what I thought were termites, the damage was termite damage, But from a past infestation. And the termites I saw were nothing but black ants which had made a home in the hollowed out wood(yea felt kind of dum but who cares I didn't have termites). he then begins to give me a little knowledge on termites, you could tell he knew his wood eating pest. 

           Now after the conversation came the price to prevent, and of course like expected the big name company was higher by about 3times, $1339 is what a piece of mind would cost me. But it just goes to show you the first guy didn't even do a inspection, maybe he didn't want to get dirty, or maybe he was allergic to dust....I guess well never know, why would I pay someone to fix a problem they said I had but didn't. Looks to be a little shady and he was the owner/operator. After talking to the Orkin man he was talking about the chemicals being expensive and that sometime smaller company's will dilute in order to cut cost. He said that you have to put a certain gallon per foot, and most of the small timers didn't even have gauges on there equipment, so how can the tell what theve sprayed. What do they do .......ah that looks like about enough.

             Not saying all small company's are like this but how would we ever know? It never fails me no matter what I'm working on, cars, houses, lawn mowers this rule still applies........You Get What You Pay For. Now I'm not saying I'm going to drop 13hundred and some change on termite prevention, but I'm for darn sure I want the job done right. But for now I have time to decide my next move cause...................I don't have termites...la ti da. Thanks Orkin man.......I think I love you.

Book end?.........

Just leave it up to resourceful Malia to entertain her self. Momma Mandy's sewing stuff took a dive to the floor and Malia up in its place.....I guess she's practicing being a book end. Silly girl

Termite...tonight.....

So ive swam with the maggots, slept with the roaches(roach motel), why not call it a day and dance with some termites. Well it might not look like dinner to you but it sure did to a colony of termites. It seems they have made themselves at home in one of the property's I'm working on. It does look like we may have caught them in time, but it seems they have made a meal out of one of the floor joist.

This is a pic of the disintegrating joist, which will have to be replaced, along with a couple others just to be on the safe side. And of course a call to the orkin man was made. Now is the best time to do this now that daddy Dave has torn out the floors, easy access. Good times and great rentals.

Tire--d of hanging.........

Well I figured it was about time to do something With my spare tire, no not the one around my waist but the one for my trailer. The spare has just been lying on the floor inside the trailer getting more in the way than anything. I could just have easily went and bought a pre made mount which attaches to the frame but after thinking it through, I thought it might not work so well with the incline I drive up and down, there is a good chance it would scrub. So with a little thought And a couple of supplies I had lying around I set off to make a mount. The above pic is of some pre drilled holes all ready drilled into trailer.

this is a pic of the bracket making process. I taped two similar shaped aluminum scraps together and dilled the mounting holes so they would be the same on both brackets.

here's the bracket mounted and ready for a little tire action.

and wala and so we have a homemade spare tire holder, cost a couple bucks for some long bolts, I picked up at habitat.

Sawdust floor?...........

Yep it looks to be a floor made of sawdust, to the untrained eye at least. It actual is or was a floor made out of particle board. With exposure to moisture particle board will crumble, and in this extreme case it decenagrated.  

this made removal of this sub standard flooring a hassle because it crumbled so easily. It was almost easier to sweep it up. The particle board was placed over the top of plywood which didn't make the process  Any easier.   This seemed to because the window ac unit were not draining properly and drained down the wall and onto the floor.

Here we go again........

I do declare, if I'm not crawling through renter sewage, then I'm playing in a roach motel(well at least this time it's by choice).  Yeah by choice ya see when momma mandy and daddy Dave were rental shopping they came across this one particular house which needed a lot of work. This would deter most home buyers but  not ol daddy Dave, he saw the potential. Needless to say it needs a lot of work and Davy had decided to take a week off from work so he could work on this particular house. Well the kitchen is a complete tear out so while taking down some cabinets he kept finding these remnants of past visitors. Yep, those are roaches, not just one or two but a city full. It was like this everywhere, behind light switches, baseboards, trim, drywall, these little boogers were everywhere. 

At least they all were dead, no food no life. While tearing down molding I would get showered with roach carcasses and fecies. When tearing out drywall, behind it I would find tons of them just laying around. Here's a pic of some behind a piece of drywall I removed. It looks like a roach lava lamp, I guess this spider was eating good. Feel free to enlarge pics to get the details, enjoy.

O malia where are you.?........

Well while outside puttering around in the garage, I let Malia run around and get into trouble, often she does. But on this occasion when I turned around I did not instantly see her, I knew she was just there so time did not permit for her to be far. As I step around my truck into the back yard I here a noise coming from under the trailer. It seems that malia has seen mr Barkley relaxing under here during the dog days of summer on occasion. She was just laying under there playing with the dirt.

what a little stinker.........

Decorating time.......

It's that time of year again, for all those Christmas crazys(ya momma mandy is one of these) to come out. Here momma mandy twisted dads arm and set a decorating date. So up to the attic daddy Dave went and down came with the tree(ya fakester makester). So with the tree set up and decorations a hanging you would think daddy's Dave's work is done but nooooooooo, now outside he goes to hang some Christmas cheer.

Golden touch

That girls has a golden touch, everything she touches turns to gold(as seen in the pick, yep thats golden cutlery). What better way to eat such a fine bird on thanksgiving than with the finest silverware, or shall I say Goldware.