Guess it's time for an update...NorthernDaddy hasn't been slacking; he's just been busy enough to let this blog slip to the bottom of the to-do list. NorthernToddler was considerate enough to serve himself up some conjuntivitis (pink eye) and make NorthernDaddy stay home with him on Friday. That let us catch up on all of the little chores that needed to be done.
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After tending to the sick toddler (actually, NorthernDaddy spent the first half of Friday treating NorthernToddler like a leper: "Dude, don't touch me! Get away from me with that snotty nose! Go cough on something else!" The second half of Friday was a little more fun - NorthernDaddy figured that if he was going to get sick, it was gonna happen no matter what he did to keep the germ carrier away from him, so we played Broom Hockey in the kitchen! It was a fast-paced game, with NorthernToddler gaining the lead for a few minutes until NorthernDaddy caught up and showed the little hockey dude how things are done! After that, NorthernMommy caught us tossing a ball back and forth in the living room....oops!), NorthernDaddy needed a break from the constant questions from Toddler. And we do mean constant. It starts in the morning and goes non-stop until naptime. As soon as naptime is over, it's back to the questions. A lot of the time, it is the same series of questions over and over and over again until it starts to DRIVE YOU CRAZY! So, to escape the Toddler for a bit, NorthernDaddy spent an afternoon doing projects around the house.
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First up was the garage door opener. The door froze to the garage floor and stripped out a plastic gear in the opener. That was about, oh, two years ago. NorthernDaddy has been opening the door by hand through two winters....why? Maybe because it never seemed like there was money to spend on "frivolous" things like garage door opener parts (the part only cost thirty-five dollars, so it's not like it would break the bank...), or maybe laziness (but it's more lazy to fix it and push a button to open the door...). Regardless of why it took two years to repair, NorthernDaddy got tired of getting out in the cold and snow to open the door and fixed it this weekend. (And then spent the rest of the weekend coming up with excuses to run errands in his car - just so that he could open the door with a simple push of a button!) {edit: NorthernDaddy is still trying to figure out how his garage door breaks down in a little bit of cold when NorthernMommy's garage door has kept working through all four seasons, broken springs, and a SUV backing into it...how is that fair?!}
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FIXED!
The second project was a little faucet replacement. This segment could also be named 'The Tale of the Twenty-Dollar Faucet That Really Cost $275.' While NorthernDaddy and NorthernToddler were at Lowes (both closer and nicer than HD), they passed a faucet that was only twenty dollars. The faucet that was in the bathroom at home was pitted and leaky and really bothered NorthernMommy. NorthernDaddy thought,"It looks cheap and is probably plastic, but it's no worse than the cheap plastic one we have now....let's get it and see if it makes it until we renovate the bathroom!" NorthernToddler didn't think much - he was busy trying to jumble up the display of copper pipe fittings. (Sorry to the next shopper - NorthernDaddy didn't get them all back into the correct bins....) Get the faucet home and start the job - find that the previous owner/previous plumber had soldered hard lines in place instead of using threaded supply lines (that would make it a simple "unscrew/tighten" job). Son-of-a-gun! Time to head back to the store! NorthernDaddy didn't have any plumbing tools. Didn't...note the past tense. NorthernDaddy now has some plumbing tools! Pipe cutter, wire brushes for cleaning joints, propane torch, etc. (As a side note, NorthernDaddy had never in his life soldered copper pipe. He was slightly nervous about waving a lit torch around in the tight confines of an under-sink environment. It turns out that sweating pipes is remarkably easy and the house didn't catch fire this time....)
The second project was a little faucet replacement. This segment could also be named 'The Tale of the Twenty-Dollar Faucet That Really Cost $275.' While NorthernDaddy and NorthernToddler were at Lowes (both closer and nicer than HD), they passed a faucet that was only twenty dollars. The faucet that was in the bathroom at home was pitted and leaky and really bothered NorthernMommy. NorthernDaddy thought,"It looks cheap and is probably plastic, but it's no worse than the cheap plastic one we have now....let's get it and see if it makes it until we renovate the bathroom!" NorthernToddler didn't think much - he was busy trying to jumble up the display of copper pipe fittings. (Sorry to the next shopper - NorthernDaddy didn't get them all back into the correct bins....) Get the faucet home and start the job - find that the previous owner/previous plumber had soldered hard lines in place instead of using threaded supply lines (that would make it a simple "unscrew/tighten" job). Son-of-a-gun! Time to head back to the store! NorthernDaddy didn't have any plumbing tools. Didn't...note the past tense. NorthernDaddy now has some plumbing tools! Pipe cutter, wire brushes for cleaning joints, propane torch, etc. (As a side note, NorthernDaddy had never in his life soldered copper pipe. He was slightly nervous about waving a lit torch around in the tight confines of an under-sink environment. It turns out that sweating pipes is remarkably easy and the house didn't catch fire this time....)
Let's do the basic math on this little project:
-$20 for the faucet
-$75 for tools and supplies to do the job right
-$180 for labor - assuming that NorthernDaddy would work the plumbing trade for the low rate of $30/hour (and with some reflection on the nasty gunk that he has pulled out of our sink traps, shower drains, and soil stacks....um, no - he absolutely wouldn't do it for that pay rate!)
Total for the Northern's $20 replacement faucet? $275.00
(Hey - at least the plastic is shiny!)--
Sure, NorthernToddler is cute, but he can drive you insane in thirty seconds!
