Monday, July 20, 2009

Under the Kitchen Sink....

Well as some of you know this week my Garbage disposal after i don't know how many years of suffering in its sickly way decided to commit Disposal Suicide, it broke its neck and plummeted to the the stack of Paper towels I had stored under the sink...

I found this out oddly not by the sound of its suicidal fall but from the fact that when I went to dump Puddi's day old water down the sink and hear a splashing sound.

Alas it was suffering and it needed to be at peace...

Well Saturday I started to clean out the stuff under the sink.

Sunday I took out my tools and began the process of disconnecting any life support it may have had... the first thing I noticed was when i removed the dishwasher connection the rubber hose broke off due to the amount of corrossion in the fitting area... was the plug still there?

Then when I disconnected the power cord and the Drain pipe and pulled it out what a wonderous smell I discovered.. and upon looking into the now silent mouth I saw more corrosive goo all over and quickly deposited in a Cardboard box to take to Home depot to get its replacement.

My younger brother Joe came over as I was heading to HD for the garbage disposal to help install the new one.

When I got home and he got under the sink, this is basically the jist of the conversation we had:
[Angel]can we get rid of the non-functioning filtered tap that is just sitting there doing absolutely nothing? [Joe] sure
[Angel] what do you think should we replace the faucet now while we can get to it easy?
[Joe] yea that would make sense to do it now, let me disconnect the old one and you can take to to make sure the connectors match up.

So We pulled out the junk and I jumped in my Car for a second trip to Home Depot

Come back home to find Joe using the Plumbers tape to get ready to hook up the new faucet and plumbers puddy to seal the new sink insert for the Garbage disposal.
I had removed the Original connection to the sink so I had to explain the way it all hooked up again and told him I had found it on the internet and asked if he wanted to watch it.. He of course declined. He had also already wired the plug onto the new unit as well.

So he got under the sink and we set up my new faucet with the spray extension which I really like :)

then when we were getting ready to put the Garbage Disposal on I noticed the drain pipe from the new one was half the length of the original one and said that is not going to fit, he said it should be ok till he got under and then said nope you are going to need to see if they have a longer one or get an extension.

So off again in my car to Home depot for trip #3....

Now Joe and I have done many things as well as my Friend Tyler and Tom to fix up my condo... and it seems that through out this process I can never replace one thing or a section of things without 3 trips to Home Depot... whether its a toilet poorly setup requiring a new ring for the floor mount or 3 wax circles due to the bad floor mounts or a new connection for the leaky sink connectors in the guest bathroom its always a 3 trip home fix up!

Well finally it was all connected and we turned the water on to find a quiet disposal and a nice new faucet to make the kitchen just a bit better.

Next on the List of Fix up for the Kitchen:
Stove replacement
Trash Compactor removal/replace??? not sure yet
Dishwasher replacement.

The air conditioner condensor needs to be replaced and someone to check the vent leading to the 2nd room where no COOL air ever really gets.

incase you want to see how to replace a Garbage Disposal here is the handy dandy site I watched!
How to replace a Garbage Disposal

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Saturday or the Day Puddi decided to go home

Well after a long night of little sleep, I got up with Puddi early Saturday to go to the Dog park with Dad and Eti.
I drove over to dad's with chuck so he could go for a run, Dad and I spent a good hour at the park.

We drove back to their trailer and relaxed while waiting for Chuck to head back to the hotel, shower and grab Debbie and Juanita so we could all go to breakfast.

Headed over to Ihop after they got there, Puddi and Eti left alone at mom and dad's with some treats to keep them busy.

I always make sure to get some bacon for puddi with my breakfast so he can have a nice breakfast too. After breakfast we went back to mom and dads and just relaxed for abit. I took Juanita for a bit to the Mall near their house to get help for her G1 phone. On the way back I saw a Pollo Loco and called dad to see if everyone would be ok with chicken for lunch. So I brought back sodas and Chicken.

I ate on the deck wiht the dogs giving both Eti and Puddi some good old Chicken and a couple chicken bones.

After Lunch we kids headed back to the hotel so mom and dad could rest, and just hung out having fun, Debbie and Chuck went to the pool to get some tanning and relax while I laid on the bed and played with Puddi in the room.

We decided to go to Mongolian BB1 for dinner and so I put puddi in his crate in the hotel hoping it would make him feel a bit better at being left behind. I also left him a good treat :)

Dinner was delicious and on the way back to the hotel we all stopped at various places for a soda.

Back at the hotel we tried to watch Transformers II but it was obvious to me that it was too confusing for mom and dad, besides Mom was tired and I knew she needed to lay down for some rest. We decided to watch some Star Wars specials after they left "family guy" and "Robot Chicken episode II" About the time we started to get a bit sleepy the fire works started outside.

So I took puddi out so he could see what was going on, of course he loves fireworks he lives with a drummer.

Went in after a good fireworks show from two locations and fell asleep.

Sunday morning same old thing up to park with Eti, but before I left I packed up all my stuff and put it in the car. I then headed over to mom and dad's with Puddi so he could hang in peace while I ate. Then we all met at ihop for breakfast and enjoyed each other's company. We went back to mom and dad's and after a bit Puddi was going to the door ready to head home and so I left.

I had a great time even if it was hot and enjoyed hanging with mom and dad and chuck and Debbie and Juanita My Technically challenged Family!

Monday, July 6, 2009

4th of July weekend... or Puddi's terrible trip day 1!

Chuck and Debbie decided it would be fun for us all to go down to St. George on the 4th of July weekend... Juanita was coming and so I said yep sounds fun.
And well it did for the most part except the thought HOTTER than HELL kept going through my head lol.

I packed up early Friday morning and started grabbing Puddi's things he was a bit anxious so I took him to the dog park for about a half hour, then we stopped and got gas, checked my Oil and grabbed our favorite breakfast Bagles. Hopped in the car and headed out.

This trip was different in that Chuck and Debbi and Juanita all drove down together and kept calling me about the stops and the journey! for me its about getting there and fast lol.

I stopped 2 times once in Filmore I think to see them eating frozen yogurt or something in a cone and puddi got to walk around with chuck for a bit, (his alpha male!) then I jumped back on the road and proceeded to head on down the road, they called me from Beaver and I said I wouldn't be stopping there but at a rest stop just north of the TA Truck stop where a dog run was for puddi.

I did stop at the rest stop and Puddi ran about for a bit and did his thing and then I loaded up and headed out again, behind me I though I had seen Chuck's car and I was right however as they existed the truck stop they got a flat and I didn't which I thank god for since having puddi in the car would have made changing the flat a bit tricky since he normally rides on top of the donut and tools in the back. His barrier that keeps him back there is a b..tch to get out as well.

They changed the tire and then headed on to Cedar city to get it repaired I told them have fun with their journey and I would see them at Mom and Dad's.

I got to Mom and Dad's and puddi and eti had a blast, they are good together and I know dad and I enjoy their crazy antics. Dad needed to take mom to her hair appointment so I climbed in the van with puddi and after dropping mom off we all went to the new dog park in St. George area.
I have been there many times but still keep forgetting to pay attention so I know how to drive there myself lol.

the heat was hot and all but not bad there, however they have a hose to water the dogs and I gave puddi a good spray so he could stay cool.

I tried to so some karate in the shade and went for an extended Iron horse stance and again pulled my hamstring abit. OWWWW!

after hanging for an hour and yes puddi dried off in that time we grabbed mom and headed back to the Trailer. Finally Chuck and Debbi and Juanita got there and We decided puddi would stay at Mom and Dad's trailer with Mom and Dad, Eti and Juanita while I went with Chuck and Debbie to the hotel to drop off all the stuff and check in. I paid for Puddi and an Extra Cot so that we would be comfortable and all.

It was decided that Chuck and Debbi and I would meet Mom and Dad and Juanita at Chuck O Rama's for Dinner after we were all settled in. Mind you it didn't take long for me to get out all the electronics I have and started to hook up my Western Digital HD Media Player to the TV. (http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?DriveID=572)

This is where the story gets insanely funny... well at least for me since I was there...
This electronic device acts as a conduit to a TV so I can access Movies (.iso) and other shows (avi, divx, wma etc) Photos, and MP3's from an external Hard drive thus NO CD/DVD to carry around just the Media Player and a few cables and My Hard drive. I love it as I use it at home in the living room to watch any TV show I like with no Commercials at all!

Well upon hooking it all up I realized I had forgotten the remote control and there is no way to control it without a remote. Well Debbie could see the Device on the TV since we had changed the TV to input and there it was the UI and all ready to use except no remote. Well she said it had to have a way to work without the remote and proceeded to touch the tv screen on the icons and then type on the hard drive and on the actual device, and since it didn't work for her Chuck felt if he did the exact same thing it would work for him! I was just laughing so hard because even though yes it would be nice that the device had the ability to change a regular CRT TV to a touch screen device alas it didn't have that technology. Oh my gosh we decided then that yes I was a member of Technology Illiterate Family who loved the technology I brought to there lives but had no idea what to do with it most the time.

Any way I decided to go to Best Buy site to see if they had the WD Media Player and they did so I dropped by after dinner with juanita on the way back to the Hotel and grabbed one and bought it to return after the trip was over, just so I could use the remote control!

Mom and Dad then hung out at the hotel which was a bit humid with so many peeps after going to their house to grab puddi with Debbi and Chuck. Puddi was upset at me and yes I needed to give him all my attention in the hotel that night, he never left my side ever!

Seems I didn't have a good choice of Movies on the hard drive this time since they were things I enjoyed but Mom and Dad didn't find any of the titles good we tried a bit of Last Chance Harvey but the sound on the tv was horrible or the Rip of the ISO and it was hard to follow. We then tried InkHeart which wasn't too bad for me. During this time however Puddi started to Fart, because he had a sour stomach and was so upset about being left at Mom and Dad's while I went to the hotel. And they were so potent made your eyes water a bit. Very very sad night for puddi... I felt bad for him. Mom and Dad finally left for home (around 9 pm) and we didn't finish the movie because really it was very hard to hear. After mom and dad left We all got ready for sleep and watched "So you think you can Dance" that I had downloaded prior to heading to St. George. They were all amazed at the picture and the fact there was 0 Commercials lol.

I slept on a sliver of the cot with Puddi and Chuck and Debbi in the bed next to my cot and juanita on the bed closest to the Bathroom I slept horribly since Puddi was taking all the cot and all the blankets but we all survived our first day of the weekend. Thinking back on it I probably should have slept at Mom and Dad's since puddi might have been a bit more relaxed since he is familiar with the floor and my Blow up mattress I keep there for Christmas. But it was so funny in the hotel that I would have missed that part of the JOURNEY!