'Tis the season

"ImmoralMinority" (araimondo) 04/19/2020 at 19:57 • Filed to: None

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I had a lot of money tied up in travel before the pandemic. We had a spring break trip- 10 days in Spain and Portugal planned, and I w as picking up the tab for my MIL to join us- including joining KY wife and I in First Class round trip. My older son was supposed to be in college in Texas, and the younger one would be flying coach (yes, you get to fly coach in this family until you work for the upgrade). My wife and son were supposed to be going on a June trip with his AP History class. All canceled, money coming back. So I put a little in the house.

This pump is transformational.

I finally hired a pool guy this year, and he recommended that I get this Polaris pool sweep with a dedicated pump. He was right, the pool looks fantastic. I had it replastered this winter, but they screwed up the steps and there is cracking. I am on a list for that to get fixed. He wants to put in a fancy variable speed pump for the pond I built, and I think I am going to do it. The pond has not gotten enough love this spring because of my recovery from pacemaker surgery and because I just don’t love it like I used to.

Ever fall out of love with a hobby? We had a mysterious fish die-off a few months ago, and I have had problems motivating myself to work on warm weather set up. So it is green and nasty. On a more positive note, Mrs IM has grown tired of my car/scooter/bike parts taking up space, and recruited the kids to help as a family to get our carport cleaned up.

I don’t have before pics, thank God, but trust me when I tell you it was a nightmare in there. We pulled all of my crap out of the cabinets in the back and made a big pile of trash for the junk man.

The cabinets are really crappy, and we agreed that I will demolish them and replace them with something, better, ideally steel cabinets that can go with us when we sell this house in a few years and move on to pursue our big dream. If all goes according to plan, I will have shop space for them then. For now, the middle one with the stuck sliding door is empty, the right hand one is full of hoarded tile for our eventual kitchen remodel, and my parts and supplies are in the left hand side.

As you can see, better cabinets are important, as space is an issue. I have a plastic crate of parts that she evicted from our guest room.

I need to sell those old wheels and tires. They are Koenig Rewinds, and are in good shape. One has a little curb rash but the others are perfect.

I really need to clean out and organize my little work shed. It is actually fairly organized, but my Halloween stuff in there makes it look worse than it is. Two chairs got put in there. If I move them, and get some cabinet space for the clutter, it should be pretty good.

It really looks worse than it is. I think she most wants the cabinets so my car washing stuff gets stored. As you can see, I have a problem with experimentation with different car cleaning products. I think I have settled on a few things I like, but these need to get put away somewhere. Cabinets will help.

Some oil and other products are mixed in. Bit the worst is done, and now I get to go shop for cabinets. We also got a really nice coffee maker today. Our old one was crappy and this morning’s broken carafe made a good justification to upgrade.

The thing that really scares me is the thought of organizing my toolbox. You do NOT want to see what it looks like in there. Trust me.

Pumpkin and Daisy for your time.

Just Jeepin' > ImmoralMinority 04/19/2020 at 20:02

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When I bought my house, there were two ponds. A couple years after I moved in, one sprung a leak, so I rescued what fish I could to move them to the other pond.

A few months later the surviving pond also sprung a leak. Everybody died.

No more ponds. I love the idea of a pond, but in actuality, meh. Of course, that’s how I feel about home ownership too. Too much work.

HoustonRunner > ImmoralMinority 04/19/2020 at 20:13

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I’ve got several thousand in a trip to Europe this summer (late June) still tied up with United. As of now the policy says they are not giving refunds, just travel credits that can be used for two years. I’m trying to wait it out a bit, but the end of April is one of the deadlines to cancel and get full credit. I am pretty confident it will be extended, and my trip was into UK and out of Italy, so I still have hope I can get the cash back. But I’m not 100% sure yet.

Any tips?

gin-san - shitpost specialist > ImmoralMinority 04/19/2020 at 20:16

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Looks like you had a productive weekend!

I’ve never flown First Class, must be nice. I was supposed to go to Japan and Korea but had to cancel all that too, luckily the only thing my friend and I had to cancel were our flights with United, which ended up working out perfectly (just waiting on a the full refund to get to me). Nicest flight I’ve taken was one where I paid extra for one of those economy seats with extra leg room and that was well worth it.

TheRealBicycleBuck > HoustonRunner 04/19/2020 at 20:24

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https://thepointsguy.com/guide/refund-for-canceled-flight/

TheRealBicycleBuck > ImmoralMinority 04/19/2020 at 20:27

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I have too much of that cleanup work to do myself. It isn’t fun and I don’t want to do it. Good job on tackling yours!

Kiltedpadre > ImmoralMinority 04/19/2020 at 20:27

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I seriously need to do some major garage organizing. The plan was to have a garage sale this spring, clear out the junk left in the attic by the previous homeowner, and figure out how to better store our bikes and the two kayaks I picked up this winter.

Well, needless to say a garage sale probably isn’t happening, and our trash service isn’t taking anything beyond what fits in our regular bin until further notice so clearing the attic is on hold. Once the thrift stores reopen I may say screw it and dump a bunch of the stuff I planned to sell there.

I think I’m going to get a ceiling storage system for the kayaks, but I’m still not sure what to do with the bikes. 

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > ImmoralMinority 04/19/2020 at 20:37

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I think my dad has the exact same pool sweep and pump setup. It’s a massive help.

Also, 12 cup KitchenAid coffee machine... I might need to make an investment if it's as solid as their mixers 

Steve in Manhattan > ImmoralMinority 04/19/2020 at 21:19

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Ah, the Polaris - my buddy’s pool business sold and repaired them. I even put a few in one summer. Not sure if they’re state-of-the-art now, but they were in the 80s.

Chariotoflove > ImmoralMinority 04/19/2020 at 21:56

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My SIL has a stocked koi pond that came with the new house they bought.  I should say had.  They have been visited lately by a heron that likes carp.  She tried to buy a decoy heron to serve as a scarecrow and save the ones left. No dice.  Before it arrived, the pond was emptied with nothing by shimmering scales left on the rocks. She is traumatized, but that’s the circle of life.

shop-teacher > ImmoralMinority 04/19/2020 at 22:59

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The car port looks much better!

I know what you mean about falling out of love with a hobby. RC cars have come and gone for me. That one is tempting to jump back into, but I know how much money I’ll end up spending if I do.

Customizing diecast cars came and went pretty quickly for me. The problem is, I hate painting. Kinda makes it hard to do the job right!

M.T. Blake > ImmoralMinority 04/19/2020 at 23:15

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I was suppose to fly to Tokyo tomorrow for 10 days. Two and a half years of planning... postponed.

On a side note, that pool vac is the same one we used to have. NEVER ever get the hook and loop bags. Only the zipper bags work. The hook and loop always get clogged with fine debris and stop holding. We probably went through a dozen bags in the ten years we had our pool. I rebuilt that damn vac three times too. I was too cheap to buy a completely new one.

HoustonRunner > TheRealBicycleBuck 04/20/2020 at 08:23

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Thanks.  My challenge is the flights aren’t canceled (yet).