Home Sweet Home

Yes it's true....for Xmas Candy and I agreed to give the gift that keeps on giving.....a kitchen update. It all started innocently enough. Got a quote from Victor to take down the wall paper in the kitchen and service porch and paint the outside of the cabinets.

Well.... then the girlfriends get involved and the topic becomes colors and textures and maybe this or maybe that. But no big deal right? We'll just hang until the plan gets fully hatched and then call Victor for a date to do the deed.

Then the greed factor rears it's ugly head. Yep....just as you though, we had only begun to get into the "We'll just hang" mode when Victor calls up and says something like I don't have any work two days from now and I need to pay my painters so I'll give you a kick ass deal to paint the kitchen if you'll just let me do it.

Well shiver me timbers....how, I ask you, do you turn down a guy who can make a compelling case like that? After all ...his poor guys.

So it's now Tuesday and we've agreed to start the job on Thursday and It'll take two days to strip the wall paper and prep and paint the walls and outside of the cabinets. Not such a big deal until the OOPS falls out of your pocket. Candy has scheduled a girls night out dinner at our house for Thursday night. Not so bad, Victor is OK with doing the deed Friday Saturday.

So between Tuesday and the Thursday girls night out dinner Candy learns that:
1. The cabinet doors really do need to come off for the paint job to be decent (good thought).
2. You don't just paint over the hinge and expect it to really look good
3. In fact you paint the hinges a different color to really make the whole thing....POP!
4. The inside of the cabinets should be painted so it all really looks updated.
3. Therefore the cabinets A L L must be emptied so they can be painted.
4. While we're at it lets add drawer and door pulls.

Good thing and Mom and I are a CAN DO couple! It did get done.

Even considering that on the Thursday I had a little wrist surgery with Dr. Nick Yaru where he cut out the ganglia that was on my right wrist.

Not quite what I would have expected. Because it was wrapped around the vein where you take someones pulse, it was one of those surgeries with the doc wearing the magnifying binoculars and a turnacut around the arm just in case. I am, of course, completely knocked out.

Long story for a kitchen paint job but I think you catch the drift. We have the technology to keep life interesting. Check out the pictures. The final leg of the journey is to replace the old seeable hinges with no seeums. Therefore the doors are not back up yet.

What's a little update among friends

Some water has passed under the bridge since I last posted so grab yer life jacket and here we go.

Not much has happened really since New Year. Each month that goes by Candy is becoming a better leader for the community and school at Adams Elementary. She still works way to much and too hard but many people benefit from it.

As a part of my new year resolutions I've been trying to wrap up some old topics so I can focus more on the important ones. The list includes some adjustments to Dewey Rudolphs boarding ladder and watermaker - DONE. Sandy Castaluccis Duffy needs new charger and batteries - Not Done. Sell Jasons' truck - Not Done.

My goal is to focus on my family, my business, and my boat (in that order). I'll probably still dabble in the Trinidad HOA because it takes little time and I think I can offer something to the community that we've all enjoyed for so many years.

As far as the business goes I've still not been consistent with time spent but it is still developing. Late in December I finally achieved a breakthrough at Los Angeles WorlD Airports (AKA LAX) and they purchased a sample quantity of batteries for some floor scrubbers used in the maintenance department. They want to stop the corrosion on their equipment from the hydorchloric acid fumes.

They liked what they found and in Jan purchased another $20K worth just to get going. I'm not sure what the potential here is yet but they could buy $100K per year. Since LAX is a part of the City of Los Angeles I had to jump through some hoops to get Discover registered as a vendor with the city etc.. I've only got a few more hoops and I'll be positioned to sell to the city at large.

I'll still have to find the buyers and sell the product but at least, there will not be any administrative roadblocks to making the sale. I'm pretty enthusiastic.

Also Mark and Joanne have not been happy running the warehouse so they're trying to get a large battery reseller from Ohio (Harris Battery) to come take it over. I met the owners last year and they seemed nice enough so we'll see what comes. I expect it would be a good thing for all. They'll be in town this week to see the place and talk turkey.

As a Christmas gift between mom and me we wanted to spruce up the kitchen so we called Victor (the painter) and he and his guys stripped the wall paper in the kitchen and service area and painted the walls and all of the kitchen cabinets. We're still in process but we're also adding some under cabinet lighting in the kitchen and copper splash behind the stove and where the lights are in the ceiling. We're also going to replace all of the cabinet door hinges with ones that you cannot see.

It's really looking pretty nice and mom loves it too. Right now there are no doors on the cabinets but when we get that done I'll post some photogs.

So back to the "clearing things off of my plate" topic. The kitchen now is in the way of completing all of the other stuff including the boat. No worries....I'll "git er done!

Genevieve has still not lost her will to complain so I'm calling that a positive. She's very unhappy about where she's living, but there are no good alternatives yet. It's not that the place is bad, she would just rather be back at her own home. Who wouldn't? We've looked into another place that might be more homey but there aren't any vacancies on the close horizon yet.

You may recall the bump I had on my right wrist. Dr. Yaru took it off for me last week. I would have thought that it would be an office procedure but OH NO. It turns out that it was wrapped around the artery in my wrist (you know, where you take someones pulse). So the procedure was done in the Hoag surgy center with my lights out and Yaru with his telescopic eyes.

I guess if there's a possibility of blood spurting they like to do it in the surgy center because that's where they keep the cleaning materials. It all went without a hitch or any holes in arteries. Next week I get the stitches out.

Today was Super Bowl Sunday and Mom and I watch a great game. New England Patriots (with an 18-0 season) vs the NY Giants (underdogs for sure). In the final 60 seconds the score was 14-10 NE and NY took possession of the ball and ground down field to score with 1 second left ing the game.

That's all for now folks. We hope that you are all well and enjoying the wonders that life has to offer. We miss you greatly.