PLUMBING!!!! ARGH!!!

Did I tell you I hate plumbing?  I surrender.  Called a plumber Wednesday morning when I discovered that all my labors have failed.  Leaks.  I can't get them stopped.  Then the cut off valves under the bathroom sinks started leaking.  ARGH!  Nothing I tried made it stop.  Called a plumber.  He can't make it until next Wednesday.  He is a one man operation and comes highly recommended.  After I described my situation he says he thinks the lines should be replaced along with the cut off valves, the rubber seals do go bad.  That just didn't occur to me.  However I don't want to tackle the cut off valves.  I have issues getting the water cut off to the house and that is what this will require.

While he is here I will have him look at two other issues I have been putting off.  We have extremely high water pressure, so I will most likely have pressure relief valve installed.  We also have extremely hard water and lime build up is a problem.  We don't have a water softener.  The main cut off valve to the house won't do it's job anymore.  It won't cut off.  I assume the lime has built up so much it keeps it from closing all the way.  I will have him replace that also.  Just get it all addressed at one time.  One simple job has turned into something other than that.  May not be that big of deal but my patience is at an end and I want it done right.  SMH.

K's replacement phone arrived yesterday and seems to be working just fine with no issues like the last one.  So far.  

We will head over to my Mother and Dad's today.  We will take them some leftover BBQ and beans and try to stop obsessing about plumbing.  I hate plumbing.

Happy Trails

Did I tell you I Hate Plumbing?

Well I do.  The contorting and lying awkwardly while you try to disconnect and reconnect lines.  And then they leak.  Every stinking time.  No, I won't call a plumber for anything this minor.  Yes, it takes me longer to find my tools than it should, if I find all of the right ones.  Yes, I have to try reconnecting when it leaks because the teflon tape forgot to put itself on one of the connections.  Stupid tape.  

It all started with a leaky bathroom faucet handle.  I had a replacement cartridge that should be a simple fix.  Should have been.  This cartridge was sent by the manufacturer as a replacement and I had it on hand for several years.  Evidently it was the wrong one and they no longer make the one I needed.  SMH.  This meant having to replace the faucet completely along with another so they would match as we have two sinks in the bathroom.  I waited until Monday to go to Home Depot to get the one I found online to replace the current.  They went up 30$ apiece by Monday morning.  I didn't know they were on sale at the time I found them.  So my procrastination due to my hating plumbing cost me an extra 60$.  Still cheaper than a plumber is what I tell myself so I don't feel too bad.

Worked on the leaks I found after letting it sit overnight.  That was another struggle.  That's when I found where that teflon tape forgot to do its job.  I hate plumbing and love having Motrin.

K's replacement phone we got her a few months ago has been giving her fits.  It would freeze up at the most inopportune time and often.  Since she has insurance on it she is getting a replacement today.  It won't be new, the send 'rebuilt' models.  So we aren't doing any errands and I still haven't seen my Mother for Mother's Day as we await the arrival of this phone.  With all the package theft in our neighborhood, we don't want to miss the phone and have it laying on the porch.  We will shoot for tomorrow and take them some BBQ and beans.

Happy Trails

Mother's Day Sunday

It actually turned out pretty well.  At least K seemed to think so.  The best thing she liked was our boys showed up at church Sunday morning.  This was the first time our new Daughter-in-Law (I call her the Amazon since she is taller than me) had been there so K could introduce her to those there hadn't met her.  She seemed very happy.  

How did the brisket turn out?  Not like I prefered.  I tried a new cut, one that had the fat cap trimmed off.  No, not market trimmed, a little less than that.  I had never done that myself even though everything I read says to do that.  When I saw these at the store I decided to give them a try.  In a word, 'dry.'  At least compared to my usual and also not near as tender, but still had great flavor.  You usually don't even need a knife with the way I cook mine.  For those that like a little bit of chewiness with your brisket, this would have been great.  There are those that like it that way and those that like it falling apart and very moist.  Mine usually falls in the second.  I also tried a new rub I bought when we visited Cooper's BBQ in Llano since I liked the taste so well.  It is saltier than my regular.  I also rubbed it in a let it sit much longer than usual, 24 hours.  That resulted in the rub permeating the meat better, yet since it is salt based, it may have had something to do with the dryness.  That experiment over, I will most certainly go back to the usual untrimmed brisket.  I bought two of the trimmed so I will have to try cooking it just a bit different, probably nest month.  Maybe a little lower heat.  The grill worked fine, I think I was cooking a little hotter than usual also, but maybe not.  I never had thermometers on my old grill, this one has two.  Sticking to tried and true methods seems to work best IMO but I am always willing to try something new to improve even more.  

I also cooked a rack of Baby Back Ribs for the Amazon since she is broken and doesn't' like beef.  They were falling off the bone tender.  When my Son tried to pick them up the bone slipped out of the meat, with no meat on it.  I would say that is pretty tender.  At least the ribs turned out like they usually do.  In fact both boys seemed to have wanted ribs instead of brisket.  I have tons of compliments on my ribs but I don't cook then very often.  Why? Yes, I think they are pretty good too but I get my fill of pork pretty quick.  I just prefer beef.  

Happy Trails

I Know

Yes, I know, I have been slacking posting recently.  We have been pretty busy with just life things, nothing unusual.  That has caused me to fall down on the job of posting here.  We are currently in the middle of a Spring Cleaning type of effort that includes some yard work also.  We are having most of the family over for BBQ on Mother's Day and this seemed like a good time to get things cleaned up.  Since we have been battling health issues the past few months we have gotten way behind in keeping things in order around here.  No, we won't finish everything this week, we don't have to, but we have made a big dent in it.  I still have some shrubs that have died from a fungus I found out about.  So I will have to remove four large shrubs and one that has grown to tree size.  Red Tip Photinias are susceptible to a certain fungus and it devastated ours.  I have three left that don't look so good but I am holding out hope they will survive.  I am not sure when this removal will take place.  I don't have a place to dispose of the cut wood.  There will be quite a bit from the tree size one.  Our neighborhood usually has a once a year brush pick up/drop off.  It is this Saturday.  I will have my hands full cooking the BBQ for Sunday.  I just don't have enough time to do both.  I can see the shrub removal taking a couple days.  

I also tried to fix a faucet that was leaking.  It's old enough that they don't make parts for it anymore.  I need to replace it now.  We have two sinks in the bathroom where it is so I will have to replace both faucets so they match.  It turned into a bigger job than I expected.  I can't even get the one back together as the 'part' is so corroded from our hard water.  Not sure when I will get to this, maybe today, maybe not.

Yes, I can be a slacker at times when the energy levels just don't get high enough.  I am blaming that on my recent surgery and illnesses.  I am just not bouncing back like I hoped.  Well that's my story anyway and I'm sticking to it.

Happy Trails

Lost it

I had a long post about things I encountered and discussed with the wife this past weekend.  Somehow I hit something on my keyboard and it was all gone.  No idea what I did.  Frustrating to say the least.  Maybe good for you as I was moralizing a bit.  Either way I couldn't bring it back.  I don't have to the patience to sit here and put that together again.

So I will head out to do a bit of yard work to get it in shape for the BBQ we will have Mother's' Day.

Happy Trails

Hopeful

This Friday is hopefully the last doctor appointment either of us has for awhile.  I actually have another in July with the Urologist as I do every 6 months to verify there is no return of my prostate cancer.  The one Friday is with a GI, one that comes every 5 years so he can look around inside me and make sure there is no colon cancer.  Yes, that's right, I am prepping today for that.  Not leaving the house and trying to keep from starving on a clear liquid diet.  K had the same thing om Wednesday.  So we have been a bit occupied.  

Since the two smoker/pits I had been using were pretty much useless, I will have them hauled off.  Found guy that will do it for free.  He scraps the iron, that is how he makes money on that deal.  I am expecting his call any moment.  I had to get the heaviest one off the patio.  In doing so it has to come down three wooden steps I built.  The thing is so heavy and the wood so old, it broke two steps.  That was what I did the other day, replace the steps completely.  

I had to get that done pretty quick since Buster uses them all the time to get in and out of the house.  he could have easily hurt himself.  

I will put the new pit to use the day before Mother's day.  We will have the family over for brisket etc.  I am anxious to see how this new one works.  Only draw back is the Grandkids will not be here.  They will be on their way back from visiting Great Grandparents in Arizona.

The garden is lush.  Plenty of bloome and even several tomatoes have appeared.  I don't see any of the stink bugs we had last year and am hoping we won't.  Not sure if it's the Marigolds or something else.

Yes, I need to weed and weedeat around the border.  It will have to wait until next week....or so.  Don't judge me.

Happy Trails

Gators and Whataburger

Only in Texas.  A massive gator was trying to cross the road near Cleveland, Texas.  They had to get someone to move him.  Every time a vehicle would pass he would raise up and hiss at them, impeding traffic instead of moving on his way.  I can see a new special on the Whataburger menu now.

A gator and Whataburger in the same photo, nowhere else but Texas.

All 11' 6" inches of a possible gatorburger with cheese.  You want fries with that?  That's a big boy.  He was safely removed, only his dignity was hurt.

It reminds me of the time my Grandfather and his brother-in-law, my Uncle Billy, caught one while running trotlines South of town.  They hauled him up to the house and got some photos and then someone called the newspaper and they came out.  I have a photo and a copy of the article somewhere, but unfortunately it's one of those things you never see until you run across it again.  I have no idea where it is.  It was a big boy too.  9' long.  Not as big as this one but still pretty big for two old men to haul home in the back of their Ford pickup just because they could.  No idea what became of it.  No, I am sure it lived on, I know they didn't kill it.  It was illegal to do so then, there were no seasons for hunting them as now.  Funny how some things can spur your memories.

Happy Trails