Part 1: The Weekend
I guess I'll start with a weekend update. Overall, it was a good one.
Saturday we definitely wanted to head out somewhere, since the weather was scheduled for beautiful and I had a new lens to play with! I was actually thinking kinda ambitious, like driving up to St. Augustine or somewhere else that we rarely (if ever) go. But it had been a while since we'd seen my Mom or our friend Holly, so we decided to do that instead. Went to Mom's to let the girls play for a while, and then we all went out to lunch and to the Hammock Trails on the way out to the beach--the land out there is all Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore, so it's nice and protected and lovely. I used to drive out to the Hammock Trails once in a while in my high school/college days, but probably hadn't been back since then. It's a very nice walk, though the mosquitos were out in force after the rains we've had lately.
After the trail we went back to Mom's for a little ice cream, and then went to Chain of Lakes park to meet up with Holly and her kids. That's a nice park, it has a great long walking trail along the lakes, and there's a very cool observation tower along the way. The girls had fun there, of course, and then it was back home for dinner and our usual evening routine.
Sunday we had no plans, but ended up staying home most of the day. But I was quite productive! I worked on the pool quite a bit--I never got it completely cleaned up last swimming season, and it got worse over the winter. Now that spring is around the corner, I want to get an early start on getting it back into shape! So that's a work in progress, but I think it's coming along. I'd also been meaning to finish ripping out one of the big plants in the pool area so we could turn that bed into a nectar garden for the butterflies that occasionally find their way into the enclosure. I always feel bad when one gets trapped in there and I can't catch it to get it out--they usually die since there's no food for them in there. Or wasn't, anyway! Now there are a few plants in there that should keep them going until I can get them out of there. Or who knows, maybe we'll add some host plants as well and have our own little enclosed butterfly habitat. We'll see how it goes.
I also took another stab at changing the oil in my car. Did I mention that? I tried it a few weeks ago, and could not get the drain plug bolt loose. I'm not sure if it was overtightened when the oil was last changed, or if I was using the wrong tool, or both--but it would not budge and I ended up rounding off the bold head. I tried again the next weekend, having gotten better tools, but it was too rounded to do any good. I'd resigned myself to having to take it in and probably pay extra to get the damn thing removed, but I did a little more research and decided that one more shot with a set of bolt extractor sockets was in order. So I got a set, got the car jacked up in the garage, and gave it a try.. only to discover that the largest extractor socket in the set I got was actually 12.5mm, not 13mm, and wouldn't get a grip on the bolt. Gah! I tried it for a while, and banged up my hands good trying a pair of Vise-Grips pliers as well, all to no avail. In frustration I set out shopping for the next larger extractor socket. Went to NAPA and they had nothing--why I ever bother going there I have no idea. Went to AutoZone and they had a set, but it was $25 and overlapped the set I had, plus they were deep sockets and I didn't have that much working room. Checked Home Depot and they looked at me like I had three heads when I asked if they carried them. So no dice. I was going to give up and just order the other sizes of the set I had, but I figured what the hell, I'll try a little more. I attacked the bolt head with a file to make it a little smaller and give it some straighter edges, whacked the extractor socket on there with a hammer, and finally the thing came loose! I made a big mess of dirty oil on the garage floor, but finally the deed was done! So next time it shouldn't be nearly so difficult. Sheesh, what an ordeal!
But today my hands are still a bit grimy and sore and scratched up, my neck and back hurt from twisting around under the car, my legs are sore from working to pull that plant out of the ground. This grown-up homeowner stuff is painful, I tell ya.
After all that, I noticed some crud on the car so I washed it, which turned into waxing it too since it had been a while. By then it was dinner time, and after that we decided to go take a walk around Crane's Roost park and feed some ducks. And get milkshakes, since I definitely felt like I deserved one. :)
And that was the weekend. How was yours?
Saturday we definitely wanted to head out somewhere, since the weather was scheduled for beautiful and I had a new lens to play with! I was actually thinking kinda ambitious, like driving up to St. Augustine or somewhere else that we rarely (if ever) go. But it had been a while since we'd seen my Mom or our friend Holly, so we decided to do that instead. Went to Mom's to let the girls play for a while, and then we all went out to lunch and to the Hammock Trails on the way out to the beach--the land out there is all Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore, so it's nice and protected and lovely. I used to drive out to the Hammock Trails once in a while in my high school/college days, but probably hadn't been back since then. It's a very nice walk, though the mosquitos were out in force after the rains we've had lately.
After the trail we went back to Mom's for a little ice cream, and then went to Chain of Lakes park to meet up with Holly and her kids. That's a nice park, it has a great long walking trail along the lakes, and there's a very cool observation tower along the way. The girls had fun there, of course, and then it was back home for dinner and our usual evening routine.
Sunday we had no plans, but ended up staying home most of the day. But I was quite productive! I worked on the pool quite a bit--I never got it completely cleaned up last swimming season, and it got worse over the winter. Now that spring is around the corner, I want to get an early start on getting it back into shape! So that's a work in progress, but I think it's coming along. I'd also been meaning to finish ripping out one of the big plants in the pool area so we could turn that bed into a nectar garden for the butterflies that occasionally find their way into the enclosure. I always feel bad when one gets trapped in there and I can't catch it to get it out--they usually die since there's no food for them in there. Or wasn't, anyway! Now there are a few plants in there that should keep them going until I can get them out of there. Or who knows, maybe we'll add some host plants as well and have our own little enclosed butterfly habitat. We'll see how it goes.
I also took another stab at changing the oil in my car. Did I mention that? I tried it a few weeks ago, and could not get the drain plug bolt loose. I'm not sure if it was overtightened when the oil was last changed, or if I was using the wrong tool, or both--but it would not budge and I ended up rounding off the bold head. I tried again the next weekend, having gotten better tools, but it was too rounded to do any good. I'd resigned myself to having to take it in and probably pay extra to get the damn thing removed, but I did a little more research and decided that one more shot with a set of bolt extractor sockets was in order. So I got a set, got the car jacked up in the garage, and gave it a try.. only to discover that the largest extractor socket in the set I got was actually 12.5mm, not 13mm, and wouldn't get a grip on the bolt. Gah! I tried it for a while, and banged up my hands good trying a pair of Vise-Grips pliers as well, all to no avail. In frustration I set out shopping for the next larger extractor socket. Went to NAPA and they had nothing--why I ever bother going there I have no idea. Went to AutoZone and they had a set, but it was $25 and overlapped the set I had, plus they were deep sockets and I didn't have that much working room. Checked Home Depot and they looked at me like I had three heads when I asked if they carried them. So no dice. I was going to give up and just order the other sizes of the set I had, but I figured what the hell, I'll try a little more. I attacked the bolt head with a file to make it a little smaller and give it some straighter edges, whacked the extractor socket on there with a hammer, and finally the thing came loose! I made a big mess of dirty oil on the garage floor, but finally the deed was done! So next time it shouldn't be nearly so difficult. Sheesh, what an ordeal!
But today my hands are still a bit grimy and sore and scratched up, my neck and back hurt from twisting around under the car, my legs are sore from working to pull that plant out of the ground. This grown-up homeowner stuff is painful, I tell ya.
After all that, I noticed some crud on the car so I washed it, which turned into waxing it too since it had been a while. By then it was dinner time, and after that we decided to go take a walk around Crane's Roost park and feed some ducks. And get milkshakes, since I definitely felt like I deserved one. :)
And that was the weekend. How was yours?