North Carolina Update

Maureen has made tremendous progress on unpacking boxes.  We are down to oddball stuff that you have to decide what to do with.  Several boxes with Liam’s name on them that we really don’t know what to do with.  Pictures that have to be hung.  Stuff from our office at the old house that we haven’t made a place for mainly because there is no space for a designated office in our new house.  And, stuff that is going to be ultimately stored in the (upper) garage anyway.  Which brings me to my topic.  I finally got to break out my shop equipment.  I built two sets of simple shelving/storage racks to hold tubs and boxes that will remain stored in the garage.  Sports equipment, camping gear, holiday decorations, and the like.  My (lower) garage and workshop is still in need of attention.  I’m digging out all of my woodworking books looking for that perfect workbench plan.  I’ve already got an idea for the first cabinet for my shop area and my goal is to get started building and organizing early in December.  First I want to paint the shop, and I hate painting.  I dislike painting so much I’ve been putting off picking a color.  Subconsciously (and apparently consciously as well) I know if I don’t pick a color I can’t buy the paint, ergo I don’t have to paint!  I’m thinking about a light green like they use in operating rooms.  You know, if you stare at the color red (blood) too long it’s the color of the spots you see in front of your face immediately after.  I’m not that bad with my power tools but I’m always scraping, scratching, getting splinters, and the like when I piddle around the shop.  The way my arms and hands are scratched up you’d think I worked for a living!  I did paint the shelves in the (upper) garage which brings me to my next; “What I learned from my Uncle John” installment.

2.  You can clean and dry a paint roller with a garden hose!

You read that right; you can dry a paint roller with the stream from a garden hose.  I painted the garage storage shelves semi-gloss black.  I used one 12” roller and one 3” inch roller and you can look at those paint rollers now, and except for maybe a speck or two on the end cap or handle you can’t tell what color I used on either.  When using this method, until you get the hang of it, I highly recommend that you remove all jewelry, watches, eyeglasses, and don’t wear anything that you don’t want splattered with stray water/paint spray.  You can do this without getting spray all over yourself but it takes a bit of practice.  It’s all about the speed you can get the roller spinning and centrifugal force.  Get the paint soaked roller good and wet with the hose, set the hose on a hard stream, and then apply the stream to the edge of the roller so that the force of the stream gets the roller spinning at a high speed.  Work the stream up and down the roller and “wa la”, it’s like magic!  After soaking and spinning the roller a few times working the hose stream up and down, reversing the direction of spin a couple of times, you will see all of the paint expelled from the roller.  Then, get the hose stream out to the edge of the roller as far from the center as possible with the stream still contacting the nap of the roller, and the high speed spin will also expel 99% of the water.  When you are done, the tips of the nap will be ever so slightly damp, but the roller will be essentially dry and ready for use with any other color.  One thing Uncle John never did teach me was how to paint without getting paint all over me and my clothing.  You know, like Tom Hanks in “Turner and Hooch.”  Hank’s character paints an entire hallway and does not get a speck of paint on himself.  Of course, if you look at Uncle John’s collection of t-shirts and shorts, I don’t think he has the hang of that either.  And if Uncle John can’t do it, it probably can’t be done!  “Turner and Hooch” was fiction after all.

The Saturday before Thanksgiving the in-laws headed back to Cleveland after a ten day stay.  Both of them will attest to the quality of the accommodations we have ready for you in our newly remodeled and furnished downstairs apartment.  Anne helped Maureen and they were able to unpack about half the remaining boxes that were in the garage.  Between their hard work, my new shelving/storage racks, and a little judicious rearranging of the leftover boxes and tubs, all three vehicles can now spend the fast coming winter in-doors overnight.  Jim, God bless him, went after the leaves in the front yard.  I have to say that the front of my house looks as good as it has since the leaves started falling.  But Jim was after every last leaf and the leaves were falling and the breeze was blowing the whole time he was raking.  And the leaves don’t stop falling and the wind doesn’t just stop blowing more leaves in behind you just because you think you’ve finished an area.  Talk about the definition of futility.  I wouldn’t even let him start in the back yard.  It’s just way too discouraging.  Once again I had to remind Jim and Anne both that I am the “Number One” son-in-law.  Not just because I was the first and have longevity on my competition.  There are lots of other reasons, not the least of which was my recent reverse “Beverly Hillbillies”; packing up the family and moving back from California so they could be closer to their daughter and grandson.  It’s no secret that all of the Neligan women are strong willed and outspoken.  However, during this discussion of what should be my elevated status among the spouses it was brought up that I may not have landed the most challenging of the three daughters.  It seems my closest competition for no. 1 son-in-law has an exceptionally close relationship with the almighty.  The two most common answers to questions about his wedded bliss are; “It’s a miracle!” and “God only knows!”  No matter, I’m still the number one son-in-law, although this thinly veiled attempt at anonymity may not be enough to make it safe for me to show myself in Cleveland after this update is published.

For those of you who have only lived in Southern California, getting your vehicles inside overnight might not seem like a big deal.  Last night it got down to 28 degrees.  Not the 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit) that you’re used to, but the 28 degrees Fahrenheit (-2 degrees Celsius) which is below freezing.  And it’s just Thanksgiving.  When it gets that cold (and it will get colder) you have to think about things like frost on the windshield.  You have to be careful not to just run out and switch on your windshield wipers to get the frost off.  If the wiper blades are frozen to the windshield it’s quite possible to rip the rubber blades off the wiper arms, or even break the wiper motor if you are not careful.  It looks as if the local tire store is going to get some business from us as well.  Those skinny little sissy Southern California tires on Maureen and Liam’s cars are just not going to cut it.  I see a new set of “All-Weather” tires in their future.  Because we definitely get all of the weather here.

We were able to spend Thanksgiving with my family this year.  The last time I was home for Thanksgiving was 2009 according to the family tablecloth.  Each Thanksgiving my family has a tradition that whomever attends our family Thanksgiving dinner signs the tablecloth.  Then my mother embroiders the names and dates permanently into the tablecloth.  There are hand prints from the younger ones, signatures of guests, and of course family members from about 18 years of Thanksgiving dinners.  

Our plan is to spend the New Year in Cleveland but we will spend our first Christmas on the east coast in our new home.  It was a challenge to find a space for the Christmas tree.  Our home has lots of windows and doors which makes for a nice airy feeling but wall space is at a premium.  And with all of our furniture in place there is just no manageable space for the footprint of a normal sized 6 foot Christmas tree in our living area.  Introducing the "Pencil Tree."  "What the heck is a "Pencil Tree" you ask?"  At least I had to ask.  Apparently the pencil tree has been popular for a couple of years now.  Of course no one has ever accused me of being up with the times.  Anyway, here is our "Pencil Tree."

Maybe the small footprint will just leave more floor space for my, I mean our, presents!

I have some stuff going on with my shop, my mother is visiting with us through Christmas, and Liam will be starting his in-door track season this coming weekend, but I think I will save all of that for my next update.  We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and that no one got trampled at Wal-Mart on "Black Friday".

Have a wonderful holiday season!

Rick, Maureen and Liam