We’re doing a lower-key parade party this year–there’s only 60+ people RSVP’d, which means we’ll get 80–but that still means we have to get the house and yard spruced up. I busted my hump on Saturday getting the lawn shaped up with the new mower and repaired trimmer, painted the front of the garage, washed the front stairs, organized inside the garage, bagged brush and yard waste, and generally made the place look better. Last weekend I shattered the outside window of the front door with a rock when I was edging the walk, so I had to order a replacement unit in the hopes it will be here before the parade. In the meantime I knocked all of the loose tiny bits of glass out of the frame and vacuumed up everything I could see. It sucked being out in 103˚ heat all day, but the yard looks much better for it.
I took some time on Sunday to upgrade the compressor setup I bought from Bennett a few weeks ago. It’s a Craftsman 25 gallon/4HP unit, and dates back to the year I graduated college. It came with two hoses coupled to make one long one, and the first section was old and cracked. I pulled that off, replaced it with a junction and an inline water filter, then re-attached the second hose. I also picked up an inflation kit and filled Finn’s sumo balls to find where one of them was leaking, then aired up all the tires in the garage.
I’d also bought $40 air wrench, but failed to realize the drive size was 3/8″ (the tiniest available). This is not optimal but I’ve got 3/8″ sockets, so I dragged my old cast-iron kitchen sink from 620 South Lakewood out of the garage and used the air wrench to bolt the mounting plates to some reinforced lumber on the wall next to the rain barrel. I still can’t lift anything above 20 lbs. by myself, and I couldn’t barely lift that sink on my own on a good day, but with some added muscle on Parade Day we should be able to get it up off the ground and mounted to the wall.
My sunglasses have gone missing since Friday afternoon, when I went out to get us some lunch. I remember wearing them back to the house but after that the trail goes completely cold and they are in none of the normal places I would have stashed them. I go through phases like this where my systems work for six months or a year and then I have a spell where I lose things, which drives me NUTS. I developed a system for myself years ago that revolves around my messenger bag: Important stuff (keys, wallet, phone, sunglasses, notebook, camera, train ticket, headphones) go in the bag. If it comes out of the bag, it’s with me, and if I put it down, it goes back into the bag. This is how I’ve kept this pair of sunglasses since before Finn was born, and they are on their second set of lenses. They have been everywhere with me for years and now I feel like I’ve lost a limb. I hate to lose things, especially my everyday items. I feel like they have been stolen; I can’t think of where they might be.