Home Maintenance

The garage too, is an integral part of a home. When I got home from a short, 100-mile ride in the foothills, I parked my bike and proceeded to enter the house. Bang! Uh-oh, something happened in the garage, and I was hoping that it wasn't any of my bikes falling over due to whatever reasons that might cause this. I scanned the garage, but could not see anything out of place. Bikes standing and intact. The roof did not cave in. I pressed the button to the garage door opener, but it would only lift the door a few inches and then drop it back down. I tried to override the opener and lift the rollup door manually, but found that it may require superhuman strength to do so. What the? On closer inspection, I isolated the problem: the tension spring mounted above the garage door opening had snapped in half. So, my bikes were imprisoned in my own garage.

I got on the internet and discovered that there were businesses which offered 24/7 service for garage repairs. I left a voicemail, but since it was late Friday night, I tried again on Saturday morning. They eventually got someone out and had the parts replaced and installed, which wasn't a cheap proposition. But, this spring had a lifetime guarantee (come to think of it, the one that broke came with the house, and I wonder now if it too had a lifetime guarantee?).

Oh the incidental expenses of home ownership... I'm sure there's more to come.

Fog!

The Sacramento Valley was socked in fog all weekend long, making it a bit chilly for me to really want to bundle up and ride. Of course, if I rode up to the foothills and out of the valley, I'm betting I'd be rewarded with sunshine. But then again, it's these types of days that should have me keeping close to home and getting much neglected chores done.

I strung a few colored lights up in my back patio for the holidays (LED is the way to go). Went out and bought a new overhead light fixture for the kitchen from Home Depot. I moved the one in the kitchen to the dining area; the one from the dining area is now relegated to my storage room. The new fluorescent fixture is SO much brighter and reveals many spots where I missed cleaning. I'm slowly trying to thin out the stuff I've squirreled away in my other bedroom, as well as what's stashed here and there throughout the house.

Had to throw a battery charger on my pickup since it's been awhile since I last drove it. Grabbed several bags of grocery, including 10 12-packs of Diet Coke that were on sale. Did I mention that my boys love asparagus and green beans? They also enjoy brussel sprouts, which I haven't yet prepared (but finally bought at 89 cents per pound... it was over $2.00/lb. for the longest time!).

Tonight I heated up some soup, chopped up some garlic and threw it in along with some frozen peas and corn. Mmm, hot soup on a chilly, foggy evening and Christmas carols playing on the radio in the background. 'Tis the season!