Baby-Stepping in the Unwanted Project

I suppose the way to get Hick to work on those flip houses is to show my obvious disapproval. The more I emphasize that I don't want to keep Cheap House to completion, the more Hick seems to thumb his nose at me and work on it every day. Despite two doctor appointments and a surgery (oops, canceled the day before) this week!

Tuesday, Hick sent me a picture of the bedroom closet:

I'm pretty sure this closet did not exist until Hick and Old Buddy built it, and put up the drywall. As I recall, this room was originally the living room, at the front right side of Cheap House.

In the background, you can see the hall that leads to the kitchen. And through the archway to the left, the back door that enters into what is now the living room.

Hick's really showing me who's boss! If I complain a little more (perhaps not humanly possible), Cheap House might be done in no time. Imagine if Hick worked a full day on it four days a week! Rather than three hours.

Val's Upcoming Accolades

Monday night I was preparing Hick's supper when I heard a text on my phone. I didn't recognize the number. Turns out it was from an old high school classmate. I think. For sure, it was from a teammate on my high school volleyball team.

___________________________________________________________

Hello My Ladies...I was informed today that our 1975 State Volleyball team are going to be inducted into the Rebel Hall of Fame in February. I am waiting for the athletic director to send  a letter with all the details. When I do, I will forward it to you all.

Yippee!

Awesome!!! Thanks for letting us know!!!

That will be fun !!

"thumb" (That was me, saying I'm a Boomer without saying I'm a Boomer.)

Thanks!!

Our guys '76 Basketball team will also be going in the same night. Pretty cool.

Very cool and unexpected!!! How fun

Agreed

Cool! Best class ever!! 

___________________________________________________________

That's the sender, and nine responses. So 10 players. I think we had 12 on the team, but I don't remember for sure. If I could walk down my 13 rail-less basement stairs, I could look at the big felt State of Missouri on my office wall, which has the names of all of us. We won 2nd Place in the state volleyball tournament during the 1975-76 school year. This Missouri-shaped banner used to hang in the fieldhouse, for all to see, with many other teams' honors. I guess they cleared out the old fogies. Because there was a silent auction years ago, and I won the banner.

The same year, our boys' basketball team placed 3rd in the state basketball tournament. They will be inducted that night as well.

Anyhoo... the ceremony is supposedly on February 26th. No more details. I imagine it will be before or after a basketball game, or at half time. Not sure I will attend. Nobody wants to see a doddering old VALedictorian try to walk out onto a sunken gym floor. 

But it's nice to know that a piece of my history might once again be on display in a trophy case somewhere.

Always the Businessman

Hick sent me a text Sunday evening, saying he was running a little late, and just closing up his SUS2.5 (Storage Unit Store 2.5). When he got home, I heard the rest of the story.

"I was carrying my stuff inside, ready to leave, when this lady pulled up. She said she wanted all three of my deer heads. They're $50 apiece. So that was $150. I got them for her, and was ready to lock up, when I seen a truck pull onto the lot. I went and turned on my light to show that I was open. It was a young guy who bought a bunch of ammo for $110, and a red light laser sight for $50. He had a gal with him, and a couple of kids. They bought a $15 copper dog. So I made $325 in about ten minutes."

I don't know why that lady wanted the three mounted heads. Maybe she's getting Christmas gifts early. Or maybe she's in cahoots with hunters who don't have good aim. They'd better not use a red light laser sight, either. It's not legal for deer hunting.

That's our Hick. He's not going to miss a sale! He's been especially busy lately, because deer season is imminent. If only he was motivated at the same level for finishing two flip houses.

The Weekendly Harem Report

We almost made it through the weekend without Harem interference. ALMOST!

Sunday night, Hick and I were watching football. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs the Bears in Chicago. We are Buccaneers fans because of quarterback Baker Mayfield. He was helming the Sooners while The Pony was at OU. Hick and HOS (Hick's Oldest Son) went (8-hour drive) to a game. It was WILD! I was even a Cleveland Browns fan when Baker (we're on a first-name basis, you know) played there after being the #1 draft pick.

Anyhoo... shortly before 8:00, Hick took a bathroom break during a commercial. He leaves his phone on the charger by the bathroom sink. When he returned to the living room, he said:

"That crazy drinkin' woman sent me a text. She wants her door lock changed. Says it is 'of the utmost importance.'"

"Does she think you're gonna rush over there tonight to fix it? What did you tell her?"

"I ain't told her nothin'. I suspect she gave her boyfriend a key, and now she wants her lock changed. She'll have to pay. It'll cost her $100 to change it."

"Sounds like maybe she should make a call of utmost importance to 911, if she has a problem like that. Don't you have chains on the doors?"

"No, but that's her other option. I'll tell her she can get the lock changed for $100, or I can put a chain on her door."

Hick also added that it might be time for this chunk of his Harem to find a new place to live. The police WERE called last weekend. I think she's the one who did the calling.

Do You Know the Muffin, Val?

We've finally had a bout of "seasonal" weather. Below freezing Saturday night! Daytime temps in the fifties on Friday and Saturday. I've been waiting SO LONG for this change. The Easter hambone has been burning a hole in FRIG II's freezer, waiting for a delicious pot of ham and beans. 

Of course no pot of ham and beans is complete without CORN MUFFINS! I suppose cornbread would do, but everybody here has always liked the muffin form. Good thing I didn't say muffin SHAPE, because they would be sorely disappointed.

Oh, they look muffin-y enough, if you excuse that one lying on top. But the Truth in Blogging Law requires me to show the other view.

They're ALL like that! I baked conehead muffins! I don't know how this happened. I've been making corn muffins for years. 

I'm not trying to re-invent the wheel. I use the basic box mix, JIFFY. I follow the instructions to the letter. I make two boxes at once. So that requires 2 eggs, and 2/3 cup of milk. I used the same trusty bowl. Did not over-stir. Let the batter sit for four minutes before filling the muffin tin, which I had treated with PAM non-stick spray. EXACTLY the same as I always make the corn muffins. Same oven. Same temperature. Same time.

But my muffins came out cone-headed!

Oh, well. Genius and The Pony aren't here anymore to criticize my muffin prowess. Hick doesn't care. They eat just the same. The flavor was good. The only drawback I see is for Hick, who cuts his muffins in half, and butters both sides. 

Hmm. After that last sentence, I recall how I told Hick, carrying his plate to the living room: 

"The butter slid off your muffin. Do you want this knife before I put it in the sink?"

"No. I'll use my spoon."

No wonder Hick's butter done slid off his muffin!

Finishing the Week With Laundry

This will round out Hick's work this week on Cheap House. I guess he is trying to appease me by sending pictures every afternoon (Monday-Thursday) to prove he has actually been working on Cheap House. I'm surprised he can tear himself away from the attention of his Harem. The pictures usually show up at lunch time. I was a bit suspicious of these two, because they came in at 9:57 and 9:59. Lunch doesn't open until 10:30. I guess Hick was slacking off on his Thursday "Friday."

"Just a little drywall"

I had to ask which room this was supposed to be. "The laundry room is where orange ladder is. The other is doorway going into bedroom."

That still doesn't let me picture which part of the laundry room. I don't know what's to the left. Obviously an outside wall with the blue insulation. But I don't think the laundry room will be this big. Maybe. I think the water heater will go in there, too. Not sure about the HVAC that we haven't yet contracted for the $9000 estimate. Or HAVE we???

Here's the hallway to the front door. And a view into a front bedroom. I'm not sure where the drywall was put up. The ceiling part looks older. Perhaps the wall on the left, where there appears to be a thermostat. For what? The old furnace, maybe. But this new drywall might just be the little end of the hall wall. Oh, and there's another ladder. I guess Hick and Old Buddy have His & His ladders, heh, heh.

From the looks of that stack of drywall, Hick must have had this (secret) plan for a while. It's been a couple months since I paid the Lowe's bill for drywall. I had assumed (you know what that makes me!) that it was for Lap House, because Hick had hired that $1000 guy to build a couple walls.

Anyhoo... I don't know how much more work will get done, or how soon. I have to wait on the evidence pictures.

In Case You Were Waiting for the Other 3 Walls to Drop

Perhaps "drop" is not the word I should have used. But if you were wondering about the other three walls of the Cheap House living room, Hick has also put up drywall on them. You know, as a courtesy to any flipper who might want to buy it to make sure we have so much invested that keeping it to finish would be the best plan.

That's the wall facing the neighbor with the two reticulated pythons, who Hick saw in the yard, "walking" one of them.

Here's the interior wall. It's opposite the back door. I think the laundry room is on the other side of it.

This is part of the wall to the left, as you walk in the back door. With Old Buddy doing shadow puppets, it seems. The kitchen is on the other side of this wall.

This is the whole wall that divides the living room and kitchen. The archway goes into the kitchen. You can see the entry to a front bedroom through here, with Hick's tools in the front hall.

Of course as I write this, it's Friday. So no more work going on here (or at Lap House) until Monday. It's a never-ending project. I shouldn't complain, because Hick is doing all the work. But HE'S the one who wanted two flips at once. So I think he should be working on them, and not on all his side jobs.