Adrian: Amatuer Handyman/ Stairmaster

I am Homer D. Poe, the weekend warrior.  Instead of going adventuring in the forest and such, I go to Home Depot, and then start repairing my girlfriend Lili's place.  This weekend was all about building stair rails on the back stairs.  You see, Lili has trouble with her balance and has always worried about going up and down the stairs on the back.  So today was the day I started working on the rails.

This was going to be quite simple, but quite involved.  Due to the height of the 4X4 posts, I was going to have to first dig them in a hole two feet deep, and then use carriage bolts to hold the post to the stairs.  Again, it sounds simple, but it's lots of hard work and very time consuming.  I mean, who gets up at 7 AM on a Saturday voluntarily?

First up, it's time to dig the hole, and drop the post in.  But before that I am trying to get a shot of what I will be working on.  And then Monster the Dog gets in the way.

So here is a better shot.

Here's one of my clamps holding the post in place while I secure carriage bolts to it.

Next up, I will speed up the story.  Let's just say it's 2,3,4,5 more posts go in.

Monster the Dog just loves to get involved in the photo shots.

So next up was adding the rails to the posts.  And after that was that magical feeling after hours of work, you know the job is done.

 

I already see next week's job.  Laying down the primer on it.  And then the week after that, painting the stairs and rails a nice red color.

But that's not my only work for the day.  I also do small jobs.  Things like putting knobs on the bathroom cabinets.

And then there is putting the cover on the back door outside light.

I also checked in own garden.  I remember when those coleus plants were 6 inches high.  Now they are pushing two and a half feet.  I'm quite happy with it so far.

I did a few other things, but I didn't take pictures.  That will come in the next post.  But really, that's enough for one day.  Whew.  So hang on for more handyman adventures next week.  I think it's going to get messy.

Doggie

Long story short, I made a video for my friend Josh.  He has a song I've always liked called "Doggie."  So I "borrowed" my girlfriend's (and kinda mine) dog Monster. 

It was something that I enjoyed doing.  It's a fun creative process.  It just takes a while to learn all the features of the video maker.  But enough talk.  Let's go right to the video.  And one more thing.  You can find Josh's music page on Facebook.  Just look up Josh Paul in Tampa, Fl.

I hope you enjoyed it.  Take care.

Adrian: Amateur Handyman/ Bathroom Remodeler

As promised, here is my adventure in painting.  I truly feel like a weekend warrior, if that warrior was named Homer D. Poe.  (See previous post.) 

Here's the beginning of the story.  Like I have said a few times, my girlfriend Lili moved into a new place.  The people who lived there before did their best to destroy the place.  The bathroom was really hard hit.  The landlord repaired a lot of water damage and completely replaced the floor.  The bathroom was also painted, but it was painted in a dog shit brown kind of color.  And it looked like it was done in a hurry, so it was a piss poor job.

That's where I come in.  I had talked to Lili about painting the bathroom and doing a little remodeling on it.  She completely agreed.  Luckily, I have a lot of tools and such so we kept the cost down.  We only had to buy one gallon of wind swept blue paint, and the landlord will take the cost off the rent.  So really, we are keeping the cost of this project way down. 

As always, I have taken a bunch of pictures.  That way, you can really see the transformation.  First off we start with the "before" pictures.

So yeah, you can really see that it is just a terrible brown color.  Next up comes "the taping."  Honestly, we put painter's tape everywhere.

We decided to put the blue down first.  There was more of it, and all the trim was going to be white so it only made sense. 

 

Next up it was time to add the white paint.  Actually, it was more of a cream whitewash, but it blended nicely.

Of course there was a lot of things that happened in-between pictures, but I am doing the Cliff's Notes version of things.  That, and with pictures.  Next up is our finished project.  Let's look!

What an awesome outcome.  With a lot of hard work and elbow grease, everything just fell into place.  The bathroom looks really inviting with the new colors and a brand new shower curtain.  And I'm proud to say we did it without me and Lili trying to kill each other.  So in closing I want to say I am really excited about this, but would also like to thank my little helper.  That would be Monster the Dog.  (See picture below.)

I Am Homer

It has finally occurred to me that I am Homer.  No, not that one.

Also, I'm not that Homer either.

I am this Homer. 

That's right.  I am Homer D. Poe.  The Home Depot mascot.  Maybe I should start at the beginning.

You see, I didn't exactly expect to have a girlfriend, but life was kind to me, and I met Lili.  Due to life being even more kind to us, she was able to find a place near where I live, and get out of the not so nice place she was at.  The only problem with the new place is that, the people who lived their before Lili did their best to destroy the place.

The landlord and his three sons due their best to take care of all their properties, but they are stretched thin.  So a lot has fallen on me to make the place better.  And I've done a pretty good job.

If I am Homer, then let's start with the garden section.  The place had no real garden or hedges.  So I put in the garden.  I also put in the patio block.  It looks pretty good, and totally changes the look of the place. 

Moving onto the lumber section, I added onto the front steps.  I added a post and handrails for the stairs and ramp that lead to the front door.  I don't want to talk bad about the landlord or his sons, but since their time is limited, they don't do the best job in the world.  When I added the rails and things, I took my time and did it perfect the first time.  And I am really happy with the job I did.  I even added a ledge to the rail so I can put my drink on it. 

Let's go to plumbing section.  The kids who lived there before Lili destroyed the water spigot.  So it got capped off.  So my Dad and I put in a new water spigot outside.  That was we can water the plants, and use the spigot for outdoor things. 

Dad and I also added a new shower head in the bathroom.  The old shower head looked like something from the 70's and honestly, looked like something you'd find in a 1950's Shasta trailer.  I mean, it worked, but something else would definitely work better.  So Lili picked out a shower head she wanted, and Dad and I got it working.

Let's move onto the pest control section.  Again when Lili moved in there were some friends left behind.  And lots of them.  So I started my own personal war against the bugs.  First I dropped some very nasty poison called "Demon."  Then I dropped down some stuff even worse than that.  Seriously, I threw up when I started to put it down.  Yes, it's that vicious.  And then I did something that hadn't been done in a long time.  I put down some triasicide around the yard.  You put it in a spreader like you do fertilizer.  It is good to kill fleas and ticks so I know the dog appreciates it. 

That left me with a problem that I never had.  I had put down three types of poison repeatedly, but was still having problems.  I found out that the bugs that were still there needed a completely different type of poison.  So it got ordered through the internet, and I laid it down.  That got their attention.  Really.  They started coming out of the woodwork immediately. 

Now, let's go to the paint section.  Again, the house was torn up so the landlord did paint it.  However, all he had was paint that I will call "dog shit brown," so that's what he painted the inside.  The bathroom had the most damage so it got a lot of paint.  Well, not that much paint.  It was not applied very well.  It looked like it was done in a hurry.  So Lili and I decided to paint it.  We choose "wind swept blue."

In my next post I will show the pictures of what we did to the bathroom.  I have to say I am really happy with what we have done so far with it.

Everyone tries to find their way in life.  They also try to find out what they are good at.  If I am remembered as a blue collar "Homer," then I am okay with that.