Journal Entry
And this was a really good day, in most respects.
I woke up relatively early as Karen was getting ready to go to work... she was planning on taking the truck, and I talked her out of it, since I need to go places today. She had forgotten about my interview at the hospital...
So Kim came by and picked Karen up, and I got ready for my interview. Shaved and showered... I keep forgetting how much face I have to shave now. Time to forego the goatee and grow the beard back, I guess. Or maybe not... I kinda like the look.
So, I went for the interview, and when I got there I was asked to stay and work some... so I wound up working until about noon.
When I got home, Tyler was up, and we piddled around a little bit, then decided to go to the store, since there was nothing in the house to eat. Well, I decided that, before going to the store, I wanted to see if Wards had cooktops, so we went to the mall, thinking we'd go to the store on the way back.
And I'd been planning on eating before we went to the store, after all... I'm pretty dangerous when I go to the store hungry.
So, as usual, we couldn't find anyone to wait on us at Wards. So Tyler said, "Let's go to Sears!" and we went to the other end of the mall.
And we found someone in the appliance section at Sears... and they had their Jenn-Aire units on sale... and an extra ten percent off, for some reason or another. And they had the units in stock...
I've had an account at Sears for years and years... but I ripped up my credit cards several years ago, so I didn't know if I had an active account or not. The lady plugged the numbers in from my drivers licence and by golly, there it was! So I got the basic unit with the grill, but I had to order the cooktop and the griddle, they'll be in early next week.
After that was written up, I started looking at the built-in ovens... and they had a Jenn-Aire convection oven at about half-price... plus another ten percent off. Well, what the hell. Onto the Sears bill it went.
So... we got the oven and the cooktop for just about what the cooktop would've cost at Lowes, and we got them (mostly) today.
And my enthusiasm for the kitchen project has returned!
We decided to skip the grocery store, so we stopped at McDs on the way home. Unloaded the cooktop and the oven and sat them in place after we ate our hamburgers.
I set about trying to figger out how to do the wiring and Tyler got ready to go to Lawrence for the evening. He's getting his first paycheck tonight, and he and his buddy Chris are getting an apartment together, so he's got a lot of stuff to get done.
Meanwhile, I had to go pick up Karen. She was delighted with the cooktop and oven, but she had to go out and get a birthday present for Brian, who is having a birthday party tomorrow... nine years old. He was born at the other hospital while I was in the hospital with my first coronary.
I told Karen to get a coupla steaks while she was out, because I was going to have the cooktop ready to go when she got home.
And I did, of course. Had it wired, anyway. All kindsa problems with the wiring, naturally. Shortly after she got home, I was ready to trip the breaker.
I told her to watch just in case it blew up and I went downstairs. Hit the breaker and BLAM! It immediately tripped, and Karen was yelling at me... there had been sparks coming from the cooktop.
It didn't take long to figger out what had happened... there was ample evidence. The clamp was melted where the wiring went into the cooktop... I'd tightened the clamp too hard and mashed the insulation off of the hot wire.
Luckily, I'd bought way too much 10 gauge wire, so I just shortened it up a little and tried again. Worked really well... except for the lights were flickering when it was on. Hell with it, I grilled my steak anyway... and it was wonderful.
I still don't have it vented, though... something to do tomorrow.
Later, while Karen was taking a shower... the lights started flickering... flickering... extinguished. Damndamndamn. I went downstairs, armed with a flashlight and a screwdriver.
Nothing appeared to be wrong, but I still couldn't get the main breaker to act right.
Over the past several years, the electrical central box has been getting corroded, and that corrosion finally took its toll. I finally loosened and tightened every connection, and everything is now working well. Eventually, like pretty damned soon, I've got to replace that thing.
And it's really really late, I'm about to go to sleep on the keyboard...
More tomorrow.