12.7.2021

 Jim sanded the other side of the shelves this morning...

Then got the other side of all the pieces primed...

With the steel he picked up yesterday, he got pieces to size and made a nice bevel on them...

He will attach them to the front of the shelves to keep them from bowing with all the potential weight...

Then he started sanding all the skim coated wall area.  Such a nasty job - besides trying not to inhale all the fine plaster dust, after he's done there is so much clean up.  He has to brush down all the wall surface area, then sweep the floors a couple times and finally vacuuming.  

Starting to do the hand trimming of the primer application...

Rolling on the primer...

He was bound and determined to get this finished before coming upstairs for the night - and he did!

High 33/Low 23

12.6.2021

I had a work crisis this morning - my postage meter needed to update the postal service's increased rates over Christmas (how crazy is that?) so that I could use it to do some mailings.  The machine needs to be hooked to the internet in order for that to happen; since we moved it into the pantry room, we needed to come up with another way to make that happen.  Jim had a wireless transmitter that he was hoping to use but it wouldn't connect.  He ended up finding a really long cable to temporarily go from the meter into the wood shop bathroom area where we have the technology devices located.  It worked and I was able to get my work done - thanks, dear!  It took a chunk out of his work day so glad that's done.

Mom and I headed out early this morning to do pickups at Home Depot, Target and the grocery store.  While it's not like shopping yourself and we don't get any walking in, it feels safer to do it this way right now.

Jim started priming the pantry shelves today...

Drying...

In the afternoon, Jim got my car ready to do a steel pickup.  Since he couldn't take his 4Runner as usual, he covered all the seats with blankets to protect them.  He's going to use this steel to strengthen the shelves in the pantry room (because you know I'm going to load them up!).  But what would have cost $20 a couple of years ago was now over $70!  

High 49/Low 28 - rain in PM

 

12.5.2021

 Jim continued to do more work on the shelves in the pantry room.  Once he had everything with the shelf structure done, he took everything apart.  He put the rest of the fasteners in the ledger boards.

Then he started painting!

They look so good!

Jim worked on finding and ordering some special tools and parts for the car repair.  He's hoping that he can do the press work himself rather than take it to a dealer or engine shop.

At the end of the day, Jim moved the excavator next to the pole barn where it will live for the winter.  He will then take the battery out and get it covered.

High 35/Low 28

12.4.2021

Jim spent more time in the wood shop this morning, hand sanding the pantry shelf... 

Using the jointer on small pieces...

In the afternoon, it was back down in the auto shop.  He spent time last night researching the issue and trying to determine how to fix it.

After putting on all those shiny new brake parts, he had to take them all apart...

He had a bearing splitter that he managed to get on but he has to figure out how to get this pressed bearing off so he continues working the issue.

High 33/Low 24

12.3.2021

 Jim prepping more wood - checking to see how straight this piece is...

Jim's expression below perfectly captures his look when I try and sneak up and take a clandestine picture of him using the jointer...

More wood in the gluing process...

Putting the shelf piece through the drum sander...

He had just a bit of time before lunch so he started doing some sanding on the top of the west wall...

The other side is in place...

However, when putting the drive side back together, Jim detected an issue and took apart the other side to confirm his findings.  He discovered something even worse.

Probably two years before our move to NY, Jim went through the process of installing new rear axle bearings.  Unfortunately, when he had the ABS gear pressed on, it was  positioned incorrectly, so the rear seal never mated correctly.  This was why it leaked.  Jim got the specs out of his service manual and verified that it was off by about 1/2".  At this point, he has to figure out how he can proceed.  He doesn't have the equipment to take it apart so he will first try our local Toyota dealer to see what they have to say. But he's dead in the water at this point as far as moving forward.  

High 32/Low 19

12.2.2021

It was a bit of a snowy start to the day - probably got 3" of wet snow.  It was really pretty.  Then as the temperatures rose, we got some misty rain and lots of fog moved in.

The new glides that Jim ordered came in so Jim spent a good portion of his day working on the drawers in Mom's closet unit.  He had to take all the old glides off and attach the new ones...

Look how gorgeous!

All four drawers are in and look so good - Mom already has them all filled up!

He worked on getting more wood glued up for shelves...

Pieces drying...

Then he went down into the auto bay and did lots of hand cleaning of the parts he had degreased yesterday.  He started working on reassembling the rear axle...

We had planned to take Mom to the Festival of Trees in Saratoga this evening and then go out to eat.  However, after some family members in Ohio came down with Covid after gathering for the holiday, we decided we needed to be more careful again, so we're planning on going back to taking even more precautions to be as safe as possible.  Plus, staying home on Angel is never a bad thing!

High 40/Low 28 - 3" of snow overnight

12.1.2021

 

Whew - hard to believe the year is drawing to an end.  But there's still a whole month ahead of us so bring it on!

Mom and I headed out for lots of errands this morning.  Jim had been busy in the wood shop so there's was lots for us to see when we got home.

This is what the shelving units will look like - there will be adjustable shelves on both of the big shelves so we can do lots of organization!  So very excited.

Jim glued up more wood - this piece had a bend to it so he had to cut it in half, straighten each piece and glue it back together...

Continuing on with skim coating the west wall this afternoon...

Scraping the plaster off...

Then he took his plaster tools out to clean them.  In addition, he used the engine degreaser and tackled the other brake and axle parts.  They were in worse shape than the passenger side so it took a few cycles to get them clean.  Not so much fun in the cold.

We picked up a few electrical parts for Jim when we were out, so he was able to put a new switch on the cord that operates the bullet heater we use in the auto bay...

High 38/Low 26