Milwaukee Brewers & Master Bath Reno

Last Saturday (August 31st) we went to a Milwaukee Brewers game with my stepson and sister in law. We got seats only one section from where we sat last time we attended a game, in the same row. We’re creatures of habit, I guess. Between the tickets and parking the outing was $58, not including food. The Brewers were giving out $10 food vouchers to every fan, however, so we didn’t spend much out of pocket after using them. One of the things I look forward to most there is the vanilla and sugar-covered roasted nuts they sell. It’s $7 for a large combo (cashews, pecans, and almonds), but they are well worth it. I also had a cheddar burger which, while not really worth the $6.50 price tag, was pretty decent. This couple accused us of being in their seats shortly after we first sat down, which was funny. They were very nice about it, but they insisted that we had all been sold duplicate tickets until I spotted the section # on their tickets and pointed out it was 425, not 426 like they insisted. I even asked them if they were sure and the lady glanced at her ticket and pointed to the section and said, “it says 426” to which I replied, “actually, it says 425”. They were pretty embarrassed. I would be too! Then again, I’d probably check my own ticket ten times and make sure I was in the section mentioned on the ticket before I told some people they were in my seat.

Sunday we visited my parents to celebrate Labor Day since on the actual day we started a mini renovation of the master bathroom. To save money we’re using leftover tile from the kids’ bathroom renovation for our floor and a new lighting fixture and towel bars we had purchased years ago. We’re not replacing the tub, sink, or counter for now. The only thing we had to buy was paint and it was an ordeal like always. I really hate picking out paint colors because whenever I try to get something light beige I end up with some barbie-doll-looking color. The color itself looks ok in natural light, but not under the lighting in the actual bathroom! It has a pink hue to it which I hate, but we don’t want to spend any more money right now so we will have to adjust to it for the time-being. The grout on the floor is currently drying, then Joe has to install the towel bars and reinstall the toilet. Once done I will post pictures. I’m just happy this renovation is taking less than two weeks unlike the previous bathroom re-hauls!

Crazy Rain

Immediately after a day of non-stop rain.

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A few hours later.

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Lots of rain hit the area yesterday causing much flooding and destruction. I feel bad for people whose homes flooded. The above photos taken of the courtyard behind our townhome was the worst of it in our immediate area.

Furnace Motor

Remember the whole issue we had with the furnace after getting a new unit installed? I’m happy to report that ABT replaced the motor in our furnace this morning and now everything is great. The furnace is so much quieter and I am so relieved! No more whining noise can be heard throughout the duct work. The repair guy informed us he was swapping a motor at someone else’s house today too, so apparently this is more common than they led us to believe initially. Kinda sucks for them to have to do all that extra work due to a manufacturer’s fault, but I’m just glad it’s now resolved.

Garage Organization Project

Last week we decided it was about time we bit the bullet and put some money into buying some shelving for the garage to better store all our stuff, particularly the storage totes holding holiday decor and whatnot. We made plans to do it this weekend and as it neared I got more and more excited. Seriously, I don’t think anything excites me more than getting organized.

Friday after work we headed to Menards and dropped almost $300 on shelving – 1 really large metal unit, 1 smaller unit, and shelving that mounts to the ceiling. When we got home we decided we’d just put together the free-standing shelving so we could organize it on Saturday but once we got going we were motivated to just do it all right then and there.

Here’s what it looked like before.

Before

And here’s what it looked like about two hours later.

After - Day 1

Joe wasn’t entirely happy with the results, so we went to Menards on Saturday and got another shelving unit, so this is what it looks like now (sans bikes as we need to reconfigure them).

After - Day 2

I’m so happy that I can finally get to my decorations without having to ask Joe to move four boxes to get to one. I can get everything myself, plus all the extra home stuff (like fabric softener, toilet paper, and paper towels) are within easy reach as well. I can’t believe we waited so long to do this.

Unfortunately the left side of the garage is a total mess now with all the empty boxes from the shelving, extra drywall from the last remodel, and moulding that no longer have a place on the right side, so we’re going to have to work on that side next weekend. We’re debating whether or not we’re going to keep and use the ceiling storage or not, so that hasn’t been taken out of the box yet.

This morning when I checked the Menards ad I saw that the two big shelving units we had just purchased were on sale for $30 less plus an additional $20 rebate, so we went back and they gave us back the difference for the sale price ($60 total) in merchandise credit and we can get another $40 back via the rebate so that’s pretty cool. The credit never expires so next time we need something for the home we’ll just go to Menards instead of Home Depot or Lowes which is fine by me as I’ve noticed Menards typically has better prices anyway.

Storms & Air Conditioning

The above photo explains the last day and a half after a pretty brutal storm ripped through the area. While we were lucky to not have lost our power we were without cable, (home) phone service, and internet from Monday morning until yesterday around 5 pm. It was brutal. ;)

Tree Branch Falls During Storm

We fared better than our neighbor, however. This looks worse than it really was as I do not think their car suffered more than some scratches, but the gutters over their garage were dented. We also just learned their house is up for short sale which terrifies me as who knows what kind of people will move in next. We could get lucky and they’ll be quieter, pet-free, and non-smokers, or they could be the complete opposite and make us miss our current neighbors. I wish we could afford to buy the place ourselves and rent it out so we could control who we end up living next to since we’re going to be here for at least a few more years until the home prices recover.

Speaking of being without things, our air conditioning died on June 10th. Due to the high volume of requests we couldn’t get anyone to even look at it until June 20th because we had decided to bite the bullet and have the entire system, including the furnace, replaced. We knew there was a freon leak in the air conditioner which we had paid to be refilled at least twice (once each season if my memory serves me correctly) so we knew it was time to do something more permanent since the furnace was getting old as well.

New Air Conditioner

At a coworker’s suggestion we went with ABT Electronics. Joe took the day off on Friday the the 22nd for them to do the install. When I got home from work I noticed it was running pretty loudly – a very noticeable and annoying humming was coming from the furnace. In addition to that the air stopped working shortly after it shut off and then was turned back on. We were not pleased. After many phone calls and being talked down to we finally got someone out on that Saturday to take a look and they found the cause of the air ceasing to work was a loosely connected wire in the outside unit. Fixing the noise wasn’t so easy. Try as he might, including using metal tape to seal all the joints in the ducts, he could not make the noise go away (although he did quiet it somewhat). As he was an installer we had an actual technician come out later that night and right away he knew the issue was the motor. He said he had seen the same issue in a few other units. Apparently there’s a fault in them and he said he’d have to order the parts from the manufacturer. Therefore we have to deal with the noise for a few more weeks but at least there’s some relief in sight, or so I hope. I’m starting to get a bit used to the noise but will still be happier once it’s been eradicated.