Hick House Exterior: Some Siding 04-10-19

With warmer weather for exterior repair work, Hick and HOS (Hick's Oldest Son) have been concentrating on the facade of Hick House. Let's backtrack a bit to recall the original appearance on February 25, when Hick and HOS went to see if it was worth $5000.

The city inspectors decreed that the upper triangle area over the porch needed fixing. That seems pretty minor to me, having seen the rest of Hick House, but as soon as conditions were safe for HOS to clamber up there without slipping, Hick assigned him to climb up there and put on some siding. Siding which HOS was given, FREE, by a buddy. Probably after a demolition project, because it was definitely used siding.

This was on March 28. I did not think that was an improvement, but I didn't want to belittle the hard work HOS had put into it. The added stuff on the porch did not help the aesthetics of Hick House. But it IS a construction site, and materials have to be piled somewhere. With no water hooked up, they couldn't spray the siding to clean it.

By April 8, HOS had been up there with a bucket of water and a scrub brush, improving the appearance of the now-completed section of siding.

That part is done, except for some paint along the eaves, or whatever that trim is called.

HOS has also started siding the side of Hick House.

Still a work in progress. That's their dumpster trailer that will be hauled to the landfill after they squeeze as much junk into it as possible. You can see the concrete garage building with no roof, behind the dumpster trailer.

Also note the steps that go up to the back porch pantry area off the kitchen. That's Hick's current project. More on it tomorrow. Those steps are another item cited by the city inspector for demolition.

The Road Worrier: Beyond Thevictorian Home

Winter wreaks havoc on our gravel roads. The gravel gets sucked down in the mud with repeated freezing and thawing, and potholes multiply. Neither state nor county road departments maintain them. We are on our own. Well, Hick and I, plus another 48 families who live up in here.

A couple times a year, some of the men decided it's time to work on the roads. All it takes to be on the unofficial road committee is a tractor, and communication with other tractor-owners. They used to go door to door and announce their plan, asking for contributions for gravel. Now they just put it on Facebook. As you might imagine, not everyone donates. I can understand if someone is on a tight budget and can't afford it. You'd think that over 20 years, twice a year, they would happen upon better times, and be able to kick in some cash. Gravel ain't free, you know. Even though the tractor labor of the unofficial road crew is. However, as with any microcosm of society, there are the ants breaking their backs, preparing for the future, and the freeloading grasshoppers waiting to benefit.

A load of gravel is currently $160 with the dump truck drivers Hick uses. His buddy will sometimes do it for cost, since he has a dump truck, but he's working out of town right now. A couple up the road from us called Hick, and said they were buying two loads of gravel, one for their driveway, and one for the road in front of their property. They asked if Hick knew who could haul it, and would Hick spread it out for them. Of course he did, and said he would. Even Neighbor Tommy bought a load of gravel (just for his driveway) and asked Hick to spread it. He did.

Another guy up the road by those people also bought two loads of gravel, and our neighbor next door, Copper Jack's human parents, bought a load. Other tractor guys spread them. Some of that gravel benefited the potholes in front of our BARn field, since there was enough to spread down this way. Hick felt like those people should have had their gravel dumped down by the mailboxes, since everybody uses that portion of the road, and it was in the worst shape. I disagreed.

"I don't blame them. If I was paying for two loads of gravel, you can bet that I'd put it in front of my house first, then where it was needed. Why should the deadbeats benefit?"

Little did I know that I WAS buying two loads of gravel, and that Hick put one down on a curve by the mailboxes, and the other on the road that runs past our other 10 acres where HOS is currently living. Though not right in front of that property, or its neighbor next to it. More in front of Crazy Stick Road Man's property. Don't even bother to ask if he contributed any money.

Hick had his reasons for that location. It's the road he takes out to the auction, and has really deep potholes, because nobody on that side has ever contributed any money for the roads. Gravel has been dumped there, though, and work done on that section, because it's the quickest road to the highway, for all the people who work in the city.

A couple of other families kicked in for a couple loads, and someone else gave Hick $60 towards a load of gravel. Any little bit helps. People who donate their money like that, and don't contact a gravel-hauler on their own, don't specify where the rock should go. They trust the unofficial road committee to make the decision on where rock is needed the most. It's been that way for 20 years, and the unofficial road committee members have not abused their power by having immaculate roads in front of their own properties. You can bet we'd have heard about it.

As you might imagine, the Never-Payers are the most vocal about where the gravel goes.

A couple days after the gravel was delivered and the potholes were filled in, the driving was much improved. No more dodging 20 potholes on the curve down by the creek, where items like a broken aquarium and an old refrigerator have been dumped in previous years. I even complimented Hick on his efforts. (!!!)

"That section is much better. Not even bumpy now."

"Yeah. I had a load of 2-inch-plus dumped there. I used it to fill in the potholes while the guy was gone getting me a load of inch-minus. Then I smoothed that over the top. It did turn out good."

Then a Never-Payer who lives closest to that section, who has to drive over it every day, got on the association's Facebook page and asked where the gravel was! Hick got on there and told her where all the loads had been put. I don't know his exact wording, or her response, other than she indignantly told him, "MY HUSBAND HAS A TRACTOR, AND HE WORKS ON THE ROADS!"

According to Hick, her husband does have a tractor. In fact, Hick encountered him on it, dragging gravel from the pothole area down towards the mailboxes (not towards their house). I figured Hick was just blowing off steam because his beautiful roadscaping had been disturbed. Then I drove over it the next day. It felt like my teeth were rattled loose, and several vertebrae compacted. Of course I called Hick.

"That road is a mess! It was better before it got fixed than it is now!"

"I know. That guy don't know what he's doing. Instead of letting the rock settle, and the 2-inch-plus filling in the holes and keeping the inch-minus in place, he drug that 2-inch-plus out in the middle, all the way down to the mailboxes."

"You want it in the middle, so the traffic on it lets it spread, instead of bouncing it off the edge of the road. But you don't want 2-inch-plus to drive on! You need one-inch minus for that. Not the big chunks. I can't believe the mess he's got it in now."

"Yeah, and you know who's going to get blamed for it. YOU!"

"I ain't payin' for no more rock to fix that mess!"

"I'm pretty sure nobody else is, either. They just paid!"

A few years ago, we had one old guy used to drive his 4-wheeler along, with a bucket and shovel, and get rocks out of the creek and patch potholes. Sadly, he sold his property and moved. I stopped to thank him a couple times, and he said he was just trying to help out.
I miss that guy.

Sometimes, it's better if some people don't help out.
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Other titles I contemplated:

You Can't Judge a Bum By His Shovel

The Road to the Mailboxes is Paved With Not-Heavenish Intentions
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A Harbinger of Ka-Ching?

Yesterday, I shared my ladybug sighting on Saturday. After missing a photo op with it, then finding it again on my mirror while waiting at a red light on my way to Orb K for scratchers... my mood was nearly at Level 10 on the Happiness Scale. How could I possibly top seeing a ladybug?

I'll show you how.

With a scratcher win! Not just any scratcher win. A scratcher win that comes maybe once a year for me. Last year twice, but that was extraordinary. This $5 ticket matched every number. I figured they'd all be $5 prizes, and was excited that I'd have a $75 winner. But it wasn't!

IT WAS A $1000 WINNER!

We'll have to drive it to the city to the Missouri Lottery office to redeem it, because retailers can't pay any ticket higher than $600. Such a terrible ordeal to go through.
Val people problems...

No special plans for this windfall. It will be socked away (not in an actual sock) for future consideration. It's not needed for my currently healthy casino bankroll. It might be needed (unfair to me, of course, since I bought it with my weekly cash allowance) for "surprise" purchases by Hick.

You never know when he might be stopping by The Good Feet Store. Or buying a new lawnmower. Or need 20% of the purchase price for a house.

A Spirit Lifter Alters Val's Mood

I caught a cold during CasinoPalooza 4, from my sister the ex-mayor's wife. How dare she BREATHE while riding in the seat behind me in A-Cad! I got over it quick enough, in eight days. Unfortunately, three days after that, I caught the much-worse virus that Hick had come down with. It's kickin' my ample rumpus. I'm on day seven of that one, haven't slept for four nights, and can't shake the cough.

I wasn't feeling up to snuff on my trip to town Saturday. I really wanted my 44 oz Diet Coke, though. And of course some scratchers. The day was overcast, temps in the upper 60s, so there's that. I was mentally arguing with myself about where I was going to get scratchers. I had $30 of winners to cash in. Of course I'd get a ticket at The Gas Station Chicken Store when purchasing my magical elixir. I hadn't been to Country Mart in a few days. So their lottery machine was a candidate. Orb K would probably be my other stop, having not been there for a few days, either.

The Gas Station Chicken Store business concluded, I almost went up the street to Casey's, to get it over with, leaving only Country Mart. But I didn't. I'd stick to the original plan. I headed through the light to Country Mart, and parked where T-Hoe had locked himself into PARK. Didn't bump the concrete bumper thingy this time.

As I headed inside for two tickets, I pushed in a cart. I had no plans to shop, only to return a cart to their vestibule. I'm a do-gooder like that. Karma. You never know when it will strike. Hopefully, I wasn't acting as Typhoid Cart-Val and spreading my disease...

I returned with my tickets and climbed into T-Hoe, thankfully shifting him into reverse with no issues. As I looked out the driver's side window for four-wheeled or two-legged victims in need of avoidance, I noticed a spot on the window. Huh. It's amazing how high that pothole water can splash!

Wait a minute. That spot was moving. Moving up the window, a perfect circle, not like a water droplet sliding up with a tail due to air blowing on it. I was moving forward now, on the way to exit the parking lot, when I looked again.

IT WAS A LADYBUG!

I was looking at the legs and underside of a ladybug as it crawled up my window. Up, up, up. Of all the times! I really wanted picture of that ladybug! I pulled into an empty row of parking spaces at the top of the parking lot. That ladybug had already reached the top  of my window and disappeared.

Grabbing my phone, I got out and searched the door. Not on the window. Not on the top of the door frame. I climbed up on the running board with the door open. Not on the roof. Not on the rubber gutter thingy along the door frame. Not on the windshield. Not on the hood. Dang it! Pics or it didn't happen, you know!

I was still thinking about my missed photo-op as I pulled out of the parking lot, and got in the left turn lane to head under the overpass to Orb K. The light was red, as usual. I think their timing system is off. I was happy to have seen the ladybug, but sad that I missed a picture. If only I'd looked out the side window before putting T-Hoe in reverse, I could have gotten a photo of that ladybug's undercarriage as it climbed.

I looked out the window, to see if cross traffic was slowing, wondering if it was finally time for my green arrow.

THE LADYBUG WAS ON THE MIRROR!

I got a quick shot, through the window. Unfocused, but definitely my ladybug. You can see Orb K's red roof under the overpass. And in the mirror, the rat poison factory where Neighbor Tommy worked for one week.

Dang it! My light had indeed turned green, so I had to drive. You don't want to be the one lagging at that arrow. People behind you get really mad, because then only two of them can run the red light instead of three! Seriously. That green arrow does not stay green long enough for the width of the intersection, and I was already three cars back.

Ooh, yeah! My next light was red. The ladybug was still on the mirror! Probably going to Orb K with me. I put down the window and zoomed in my phone camera, and THE LADYBUG FLEW AWAY! Dang it.

At least I had the first picture, even though out of focus. A ladybug found me. And I had proof.

You can bet I looked all over T-Hoe for the ladybug when I got to Orb K, but it was gone. I found something else there, though. More on that tomorrow.

Hick House Downstairs: The Doors 04-05-19

Hick House contains many portals of assorted dimensions. Doors galore, from one room to another. My favorite was FREE!

Actually, that's a PAIR of doors. I think they're beautiful. When Hick went by the home of This Guy's Son, to pick up the truck keys, he saw these in the front yard. This Guy's Son said, "I'm throwing those doors away. If you want them for your house, you can have them." Of course Hick did! He loaded them up when he returned This Guy's truck and keys, and dropped them off in the bedroom of Hick House. The room they're using as a workshop right now.

The plan was to put these doors in that square archway (Hick is the one who originally called it an archway) between the living room and master bedroom. I'm no designer, but I could picture these beauties by day with a colorful curtain mounted on each one, gathered in the middle like an hourglass, then released at night for privacy.

Alas. My vision lasted only one day. Hick discovered that he would need to enlarge the square archway by 10 inches to fit in the doors, and that is a LOAD-BEARING WALL! He'd have to tear out part of the wall, and get a new beam 10 inches longer to span the opening. As you know, the plan for Hick House is to make a safe home that will pass city inspection. While he would have loved to put those doors in, Hick said, "I ain't spendin' money to buy a beam and re-do that archway!"

I asked what would become of those doors, and Hick said, "They're comin' home with ME!" Even though HOS (Hick's Oldest Son) had the idea to put them outside as a door for that concrete-walled garage/outbuilding. Usually HOS has better instincts than that! Hick pointed out that people would break them for fun, and that they could see inside the building if they were planning to steal tools or whatever HOS eventually stores in there.

Hick was on a door-hanging binge, I guess, and framed in a door for that archway area, rather than waiting to see if he had money left for shelves. The result is nowhere near as aesthetically pleasing as those frenchy kind of windowed doors.

That is now the way to get from the living room to the master bedroom. HOS has already painted the trim gray, since this picture. Hick says he's leaving the door brown, but I think it would look good in a contrasting bright color. This door was also FREE, the one Hick and This Guy drove 90 miles to get from This Guy's Brother.

The living room window has now been given its final framing. It has also gotten the gray trim treatment. Out the window, you can kind of see that concrete garage building.

The trees line the little creek, and then there's a neighbor's house on the other side.

Hick hung the door that goes from the kitchen to the back porch pantry. It's by the built-in cabinets. I assumed it was the original door to the house, because the panel design is exactly like the built-in cabinets that HOS painted gray and white.

Imagine my surprise when Hick said it was not! "I got it up at the Storage Units from my buddy. For FREE. It was a pocket door. I'll have to put a knob and hardware on it. I had to patch a little part at the bottom, but it's not that noticeable unless you know it's there."

After seeing the first coat of HOS's paint job, I think this door is going to look spectacular. Some might even call it breathtaking. You know. For a $5000 house that is being made safe and inspection-passing.

Not a CENTSational Week for a Future Pennyillionaire

Slow start this week. I stopped by Casey's over in Sis Town on WEDNESDAY, April 3, for some scratchers (won $10), and on the way inside, found my first penny of the week.

It was a 1995 heads-up specimen, waiting there just for me.

I snatched it up forthwith.
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The very next day, THURSDAY, April 4, I came upon my second penny at the Backroads Casey's.

See it? There under the pink Orbit gum? I was rushed, having to interact with a somewhat surly clerk scanning my scratcher winners. For naught. I won nothing on the ones I traded for. Can't win if you don't play, though!

At least I got my face-down 2012 penny!
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2019 Running Total
Penny   # 50, 51.
Dime    still at 7.
Nickel  still at 5.
Quarter  still at 1.

2018 TOTALS
Penny  131
Dime  17
Nickel  6
Quarter  1

2017 TOTALS (Started in March, 2017)
Penny  78
Dime   6
Nickel  0
Quarter  0
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Hick House Downstairs: Bathroom 04-02-19

The bathroom of Hick House, which has been built from scratch, is not showing a lot of progress. Hick says it's one of the last things he's planning to do, lest HOS (Hick's Oldest Son) think that it's move-in ready once the water and electric are done.

HOS has put in the ring where the toilet goes, and painted the walls green. Hick says it's a different shade than the kitchen, a bit lighter, but I'm not so sure. It may or may not show in the photos. Here's a picture from Hick, AND a picture OF Hick!

I think his intent was to show that HOS had put stain on the wood floor. However, knowing Hick, his intent might have been to show his narcissistic reflection in the $5 medicine cabinet he got at the auction. You can faintly see the green color of the walls here. Hick couldn't go in and turn on the light, because the stain was drying on the floor.

Notice the light switch on the wall framed out (can't put up drywall until plumbing is in) by the shower. Hick got himself in another pickle. We might as well call him Mr. Dill. When he was wiring and putting up the bathroom door, he made a minor faux pas. With the door hung and trimmed, he opened it to walk in, and noticed that he'd put the light switch BEHIND THE DOOR! So you have to go in and close the door before you can turn on the light. He couldn't flip the door to open the other way, because he'd already trimmed off the bottom of the door to make it flush with the floor. Old houses are sometimes a little off-square, you know.

Being a resourceful Mr. Dill, Hick put the switch to the ceiling light/exhaust fan there on the shower wall. So you can step inside, turn on THAT light, and then, after closing the door, the one that will be over the sink if you also need it.

You can barely see the color of the walls in this photo, taken by me from the kitchen, across the hall. At least I didn't capture my frightening likeness in that medicine cabinet mirror. My purpose here was to show the floor, which HOS scraped with a wire brush, and applied stain, then later a clear coat. I think it turned out pretty good.

This picture kind of washes out the color of the bathroom walls, but shows that HOS has also stained the floor of the hall, but hasn't applied clear coat yet. The kitchen floor is headed for the same treatment, after most of the other work is done, so they can still work in there without waiting for it to dry, or messing it up.

Next up on the Hick House Tour, on Sunday: miscellaneous doors for kitchen and living room.