part 2

So, yes, I’ve rebuilt the front porch railings, suffered a cold, and have STILL had time to wire the basement. Actually, the wiring didn’t take too long, once I got started on it. All I need to do now is actually hook the cabling up to the circuit breaker box. I have the circuit breakers, and everything is ready to go, I just need the connector thingies that go around the cable where it actually enters the breaker box. About $1, and everything should be hot! I can’t wait for this, because right now I have my stereo and tv hooked up to an extension cord, running up to one of those light bulb sockets with the outlets in it. Yeah, hot outlets in the walls (or framing, as the case may be) would be a luxury I haven’t had in the basement yet. Right now, I have my computer, desk lamp, cable modem and router, printer, etcetera, hooked up into two 6 outlet surge suppressors, ran together, and run into the outlet which also powers the fridge down here. The only other hot outlet in the basement is the one that powers the washing machine. I’ve also got an extension cord coming off of that, which I’ve been using to power my saws, drills, and any other tools needed to frame and wire the basement. It’s almost time to begin installing drywall. Of course, purchasing the drywall will be a chore, too, because as if being unemployed for a year wasn’t bad enough, and unemployment benefits running out, my truck decided this would be a good time to have the transmission go out! I guess I’ll have to call in a favor or two from a friend with a truck, to haul the drywall home, and help me carry it downstairs. (lucky friends I have, huh?)***

A former coworker called me up to ask me to come over and “hook up” his surround sound on his stereo. Mind you, he is as much into computers as I am (and employed) but he doesn’t know how to hook up his speakers? Oh well, he said he’d pay me to do it, so I went down one day to hook it up for him. When I got there, I looked around, and something didn’t look right. He explained that he had the speakers at the back of the room, as well as the speakers at the front, but the rear speakers were not working. So, I took a look behind the stereo at the connections. Everything seemed to look alright, but he was right, the rear speakers had no sound coming out of them. So, I went to the front of the stereo, and pushed the “speaker” button, and viola! We have sound coming out of the rear speakers as well. But he wasn’t satisfied, because it didn’t “sound” like surround sound. It was then I informed him that he would have to actually HAVE surround sound speakers, in order for them to sound like surround sound. He didn’t have surround sound speakers, he just had front and rear speakers. Then, as I was sitting on the couch, looking around his house, I casually mentioned that he needed to paint and spruce up the place some. He agreed, so I came up with some ideas for his house, and he decided then and there that I was going to paint his entire house. (Gee, that hurts my pocketbook so much, you know?) So, I am probably going to be heading over to his house again tomorrow evening to go pick up some paint, and I’ll probably start painting his house on Wednesday. I’m going to make it pretty wild, though. I’m going to put some stripes on his walls, in colors to match the persian rug he has in the living room. The dining room, which connects to the living room, will also have the base color, but will not have the stripes. He was concerned about the bathrooms, too, but has no ideas as to what color for them. He just says, “You know what looks good, Just make it look good!”

So yeah, now you know that I HAVE actually been busy, and not just sitting around the house eating bonbons! Tomorrow, I have to clean up the basement and try to get the garage cleaned out so I can get my car back in there. Of course, I have to have the basement cleaned, organised somewhat, and STILL have room to bring some drywall in and stack, too. Hopefully this will be doable. There is a LOT of stuff down here! Most of my boxes and belongings are down here in the basement, including my computer desk and “office”, as well as Virgin Lion’s things she doesn’t want to get rid of, but doesn’t want upstairs, and her ex husband, sister, and a friend all also have things stored down here. It should be interesting, to say the least.

Well, until next time….