January 5, 2010

  • The Fireplace Saga Continues.....

     
    TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

    *Sigh*  I could almost wish we were back in Florida so it would keep the Beast working outside most of the year.  He would be happily taking care of his special fruit trees from the University of Florida designs and his various orange trees.  Instead, because this is WINTER and it's COLD AS HELL here, I get stuck with another of the Beast's projects.  The fireplace (propane) is definitely going to be a real pain in the ass.

    Today he removed the baseboard since it prevents the fireplace from sitting flush against the wall.  He will trim it after it's in place and working and replace it.  He drilled through the floor but was able to do it underneath the drywall since there is a space there.  However, he did it at an angle and managed to hit one of the support beams underneath so he ended up having to re-drill the hole (this is for the copper line that will connect to the fireplace).  After doing that, he went to Lowe's to purchase the 100 lb. tank that he will install underneath the house in the crawl space.  Why does a rocket come to mind???  They always made me nervous when we had one installed next to our house in Sunrise because of the hurricanes.  Now we are going to have one UNDER the house (worse, under the front door area and next to the Master bedroom).  The Beast, however, plans on putting the shutoff valve under the deck.  When I asked him why he didn't put the tank under there too, he looked like he had never considered that. 

    So now, thankfully, that is where it will be going.  It's much easier than him trying to drag or push the tank closer to where the fireplace is located.  Well, duh, I thought that was why the lengths of copper line are so long.  Sheesh.   I won't go into what this all is costing us but it's gone way over his estimation and I doubt he is done yet.
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    When I got up this morning, I found a pot of split peas boiling on the stove.  When I inquired about whether or not he had cut up onions, etc. he hadn't even considered doing that.  So, I cut up some onion very fine, then some celery, added salt and pepper and cut up some ham into small pieces.  I added them and covered the pan after lowering the heat.  It turned out delicious and made me sad that I didn't have any dinner rolls left.  I love nice hot dinner rolls, well-buttered, with a nice bowl of hot split pea and ham soup.  It just seems to hit the spot on a cold winter's day.  The man (aka Beast) had the nerve to try to lay claim to the soup.  I got mad and told him that all he did was throw a bag of split peas into some water.  THAT is NOT making soup.  The COOK seasons the soup and that was ME.  Darn men.

    So far, the Beast has gotten some more parts but nothing more seems to be getting done.  He hasn't taken his nap for the afternoon so I guess I will have to wait until after that to see how much more he gets done today.  It may still take him all week to get this finished. 
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    I found out that the Beast may be making a trip down to Fort Lauderdale some time soon.  One of our old customers (who has been using him as a consultant) asked him to come down for a few days to help out with a  problem they are having.  The AC contractors they use know him well (and recognize that he is one of the best around) and appreciate his help.  No one knows the buildings as well as he does after taking care of them for almost 30 years.  He was the tech that took care of them before we opened our own business.  The people followed him from place to place because he was the only one that kept the systems running consistently.

    I'm excited about his going because he just LOVES to be needed like that AND he likes the money he makes doing it.  Trust me, it's WELL worth his making the trip.  It also allows him to visit old friends while he's there.  We have a couple very good friends that we haven't seen in a while.  We just found out that one of them, who retired about two years ago, is going to build a home in Tennessee, not far from us.  Of course, it means selling their house and they are hoping it won't take a year to do it.  He might also find the time (depending on the problems they are having with the buildings) to visit Cinderella and Bratbaby while he's there.  That would be nice, especially if he gets a picture of them with Frankenstein.  I would love to have one.  I won't hold my breath, however. 
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    Looks like the fireplace installation is done for the day.  The Beast took the tank to one of the propane suppliers here and got it filled.  He then used the dolly to move it into place UNDER THE DECK.    When he came back into the house, he announced that he was done for the day.  Like I said........this really could take all week.

    Love you all and you have a good day, ya hear?  Stay warm.  Have a few laughs: it's good for your health.  See you tomorrow.  **waves**