Labor of love, Jumper junk

I took Monday off to make sure that I had enough time to make sure Mom was all moved in to her new place.  On Saturday I wasn’t planning on doing a whole bunch of physical labor, especially since on Sunday I would have a bunch of it with moving. 

One of the things I wanted to get done before Ali got back from the gym was to open up the air handler and check it out.  A year or two ago the handler froze up as a result of water dripping off the unit collecting in the vent under it, eventually filling it to the point where it blocked airflow.  Jeremy had told me stories of mold problems he was having due to a water leak at his place it made me paranoid about our system.  I was worried that water was again filling up the vent since nothing was really done to address the issue, the symptoms were addressed instead.  So I cut power to the unit and go about disassembling it to the point where I can get access to the vent underneath.  A quick visual was promising but the lighting was not good so I got the flashlight.  I shined it down the hole, anxious about what I would see.  I knew if again there was water collecting I needed to address it somehow, it’s not safe to have a puddle of water in your ac system.  When I looked again with the additional light I still saw no water!  I was relieved but still not 100% convinced I was in the clear.  I stuck the hose of the shop-vac down into the vent to see if it would snag some water that I was somehow not seeing.  It found no liquid, awesome.  As preventative maintenance, I used the shop-vac to suck out the drain line outside the house and also used the brush attachment to vacuum off the coils the best I could.  I also sprayed some clorox in the drain pan to help with some of the algae/scuz that was present.  I buttoned everything back up and fired the ac back up just to make sure it all still worked.  My mind felt at ease.

After Ali got back from the gym Saturday we went outside to do a couple “small” things like transplanting the native grass that we used to have in big pots in front of the house somewhere else.  The grass got too big for the pots and looked straggly and shitty.

As I looked around the property around the house there was really no place I saw where I wanted to plant the grass.  We decided to take them all the way to the back of the property and planted one on either side of the palm tree by the pit.  That area obviously is far beyond the reach of our irrigation system but we didn’t really care.  It’s native grass so hopefully it adapts to the arid conditions of dry season.  If it dies, oh well.  There was another clump of native grass planted off the back corner of the shed that we wanted to relocate as well.  It was in sorry shape anyway and created a good place for snakes to hide in so Ali wanted it gone.

Digging up that clump was a bit of a pain in the ass but not too bad.  Then for some reason I offered up to Ali that I could try to dig up and remove  the areca palm that was badly damaged from the frost.  It was much more dead than alive.  It is the remnant of a failed landscape accent I had in place next to what used to be the compost pile.  The thinking back then was it would hide the compost bin from the road view.  Well the compost bin has been long gone but the areca has remained although it has looked out of place.    Ali was excited by my offer to remove it so there was no turning back now.

I used the shovel and tried to dig out around the clump of palms.  The ground is choked with roots.  Every time I put the shovel in the ground I have to stand on it with all my weight just to get it into the ground.  Ali was trying to assist with the other shovel but could not even make a dent.  It didn’t take me long to realize that this would be a ridiculous chore with a shovel so I decided I would try a brute force direction.  I pulled my truck in, hooked a steel cable around the clump of arecas and attached it to the frame of the truck.  I slowly pulled forward and then came to an abrupt stop when the cable pulled taut.  I hit the gas a bit and the tires just spun.  Ali reported that the palm did not budge one inch.  So I backed up and tried again, this time moving a bit faster.  All this did was make my abrupt stop a little more violent, the areca still did not budge one bit.  So I go into the shed and grab the post bar, the big iron thing I used to tamp down the hundred fence posts.  I used the sharp end of it to go around the perimeter of the palm in an attempt to sever the outer root system, making it easier to break it free.  Each time I jabbed it into the ground I could hear the snap of roots breaking, maybe this would work.  I hop back in the truck, back up and again pull forward, hoping to have the areca finally break free.  Again I am jolted to a stop.  The tree still will not move.

At this point Ali saw my frustration and offered up we could just let it be, it wasn’t that big of a deal.  Well I wasn’t ready to give up quite yet as I ran various plans of action through my head.  I was trying to figure out what power tools could help me out.  I decided to take out my Xmas chainsaw and put it to work.  I cut down the clump of palms to just above ground level, leaving just a clump of stumps and roots.  After that I attacked it with the post bar.  I rammed the bar into the clump again and again, splitting it up.  Then I would lean on the bar with all my weight to slowly work the roots loose.  Ali and I took turns with one working the post bar while the other would chop at the roots with a shovel.  Finally after what was probably an hour and a half battle, I triumphantly pulled out the last clump of roots.  It was exhausting work, made tougher by the high humidity in the air. 

In the spot where the areca stood, we dug a small hole and planted one of the trees that Ali grew from seed that was outgrowing the pot it lived in on the lanai.   Hopefully it does well.  When I checked yesterday it looked a little stressed, probably from receiving full sun all day long as opposed to the filtered sun it got under the protection of the pool cage.

Saturday night Ali made a great homemade lasagna made with lots of vegetables and whole wheat lasagna noodles.  We caught up on several episodes of ER that were piling up on the Tivo.

Sunday was the big mom move day.  I got up early to do all the normal morning routine before we had to leave to pick up the moving truck at 7:30 or so.  The place I rented from was the same one I used when we moved 7 years ago.  It’s no frills.  It also is located close to my work so it wasn’t the most convenient location since the place mom is moving to was in Bonita.  But like I said it was cheap, $54.95 plus .75 per mile for a 15 foot truck.

So we get there right when they open at 8 am.  As I went in the door I was followed by a little guy that was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, no shoes, no socks, no shirt.  He had a rather worried demeanor about him as he waited in line behind me.  As the woman behind the desk was helping me, she asked the guy what he needed.  He said he needed to call a taxi but he didn’t have a number for the taxi place.  He said he lives in Bonita but was “stranded” here in Naples.  He said his wallet was at his place in Bonita.  He didn’t offer up exactly how he came about being stranded in Naples with barely any clothes and no wallet.  The girl behind the desk called the taxi company for the guy and then let him explain his dilemma to the dispatcher, weird shit.

So the girl finishes up with me.  She tells me I am getting H-15.  She reviews the procedures which included returning the truck with a full tank of gas which it supposedly had now. (more on that later)  She hands me the keys, we verify the current mileage and I’m off.  Immediately I notice both mirrors are not adjusted anywhere close to where they should be.  I fix the driver side mirror but don’t bother to mess with the passenger side for now.  I pull out on the road with Ali following behind in the truck.  We had to drive it all the way back to our house to load up the daybed and few other things that were going to mom’s new place.

As I drove along I noticed that the driver side mirror I had just adjusted was already out of whack.  I reach out and move it again and realize that there is not enough tension on the hinge for it to stay in place, that’s annoying.  So during the day I drove around with the window always down so I could push the mirror out whenever I actually needed to see what was behind/beside me.  My annoyance cracked up some more when I saw that the gas gauge was a hash mark below the FULL line, meaning in reality it was probably several gallons below full.  With nearly 4 dollar a gallon gas that pissed me off.

So other than frequent mirror corrections, I arrived back at our house without incident.  I backed the truck into the driveway and got ready to quickly load up our stuff.  I leaned all the bedding along the front of the truck and secured it in place with a combination of wash line and bungee cords.   We headed out to mom’s place.  Before we left Ali had talked to mom on the phone and could tell she was stressed out as I knew she would be.

We got to  mom’s old place and again I backed in to make loading easier.  The truck had a pull out loading ramp which made the process more convenient.  Mom had stuff packed up pretty well.  There were only a few loose things that had to be thrown into boxes last second.  Mom’s co-worker, Annette was nice enough to volunteer to come help with the move and arrived a little after we did.  Mom was very conscious of my blog comments regarding the move where I said I was worried about having nothing but females to help me.  Randall had been nice enough to offer his assistance but he was only available on Saturday, it was a very nice offer none the less.  Anyway, mom had brought various moving dollies from work to make things easier.  It turned out I really didn’t need them.

I sort of worked the house from back to front, emptying out the bedrooms first and moving forward.  I wanted to get most of the large items in the truck first and then back fill with boxes.  My days at Goodwill taught me a thing or two about loading trucks.  My fears about moving the furniture proved to be all for naught.  Removing the drawers from pieces of furniture made them much easier to handle.  Ali and I were able to carry pretty much anything of any size without much issue at all.  Loading up took maybe a couple hours at most.  I had the truck full all the way to the back door although stuff was not piled high, maybe half way.  Mom and Annette had their vehicles stuffed with smaller items as well.  We were ready to pull out to mom’s new place 3 miles away.  As Annette hopped in her SUV and turned the key it made the all too familiar sound of a battery on it’s last legs.  The engine turned weakly a few times and then stopped.  Luckily I had jumper cables in the Tacoma and a quick jump got her up and running.  I was surprised that the rest of the day the SUV started up without issue. She better get that battery replaced asap.

So our small train of vehicles pull out and arrive at mom’s new place in a few minutes.  Her new condo is in a gated community with a guard at the gate 24/7.  Mom stops and lets the guard know the deal and he waves us all through.  The first thing I think as I enter the place is “Damn! This place is nice!”  All the landscape is beautifully manicured and there is a big lake right at the entrance.  All the homes we passed looked very nice as well.  It reminded me a bit of Pelican Marsh, a high end community friends of ours live at.

Mom leads us back to her set of condos and points me to the spot where I was to park.  Backing the truck in was a bit hairy, especially since the passenger side mirror had slipped out of alignment again.  Before we started to unload mom wanted to show us her new place.  It was great, so much better than the aging duplex in Naples Park.  The most striking part of her new place was the lanai and the view outside of it.  It’s beautifully landscaped with several feeders for the birds who were putting it to good use.  It was so quiet and serene.  The rest of the condo was very nice as well, the main living area had laminate wood flooring and the bedrooms have freshly laid carpet.  I was impressed and relieved that mom was moving into a place that made me feel good about where she lived instead of bad. 

After the brief tour it was time to get down to the business of unloading.  We had mom stay inside to be the traffic cop to direct us as we brought various items in.  She was getting a bit frazzled  and uttered the phrase ” I don’t know where to put everything” more than once but we worked through it ok.  It didn’t take too long to get things unloaded.  Shortly after getting it all unloaded, my mom’s other co-worker, Sara Lee whom lives in the same complex was nice enough to bring us down lunch.  Evidently she loves to cook.  She brought down a freshly tossed salad, lemonade, along with cheese and crackers for starters.  Then a bit later she brought down a huge tub of pasta for lunch.  She even addressed Ali’s vegetarian ways by bringing down a small container of cheese ravioli.  It was very nice of her and very appreciated.  We ate out on the lanai.  I can’t tell you how many times I said “This is so nice…”

After lunch the work continued.  I focused more on putting the big pieces where mom wanted them and putting things together like the bed in mom’s room as well as the daybed.  The rest of the girls worked more on stuff like emptying out boxes.  We ran back over to mom’s old place for a bit to pick up some food that was left behind as well as a bunch of potted plants mom didn’t want.  I had ideas of digging up the plumeria that mom had planted and using it on our property but trashed that idea when I saw the thick roots extending way out from the trunk.  It would have been a freaking mess.  So instead I lopped off three branches that we will plant and start new trees with.

After we got back to mom’s new place there wasn’t a whole lot to do.  Mom had come up with a few little odds and ends that needed to be done at the place that I didn’t have the tools for.  We said we would come back Monday to knock them out.  Mom thanked us for all of the hard work and we headed out.  I told mom it was no problem at all and I was very glad to see her in such a nice place.  I think mom was feeling better about things now that she was in. You can see the pictures I took of her place here.

We drove the moving truck back to the rental location and then headed home. I put about 60 miles on the truck but had to put in over 7 gallons of fuel to top it off.  Unless this thing got incredibly horrible mileage, it was not full when I picked it up, jerks.  With all we did we still managed to get home before 5pm, pretty damn good.  We were both tired from the long day.  On Sunday night we finally got around to watching one of the movies I have had for awhile, Jumpers.  It stars the kid that played Darth Vader, Hayden Christiansen and Samuel L. Jackson who seems to be in almost every movie released.  I thought Hayden did a pretty horrible job of acting in the new Star Wars series yet for some reason I wanted to see this film.  The concept of being able to teleport wherever you wanted is just cool!

So the film starts and it doesn’t take long until you get to witness the teleport thing.  As expected it is cool.  Hayden teleports around the globe and even uses his powers to teleport into banks and rob them to supply him with an endless stream of money.  Well it didn’t take very long until I realized that beyond the coolness of teleportation, the film didn’t have a whole lot more to offer.  Sam Jackson’s character was annoying and stupid as he tried to catch and kill Hayden and another “jumper”  I was glad when the film was over, it did nothing for me beyond a statement I made to Ali about how awesome it would be to teleport.  I had seen so much teleportation by the end of the film I was almost sick of the concept.  I’d give it a C.  Certainly don’t pay to see it.

So Monday morning we did a few things around the house in the morning.  One of them was to rearrange the spare bedroom that we have the treadmill in to allow us to get the cross trainer in there as well, making it a legitimate “fitness room”.  It worked out pretty well.  Before we went to mom’s we had a couple pit stops to make at the shipping store, Home Depot, and Bed, Bath & Beyond to pick up a curtain rod and towel bar for my mom’s place.  We wound up grabbing a curtain rod for our bedroom as well while we there as well as hooks to hold back the curtains.  Since moving the cross trainer out of our bedroom we once again had full access to the window as well as opening up all that space.

We got to mom’s place around 12:30.  Ali and I couldn’t believe how much stuff was put away.  It looked like mom had lived there for months.  She said she was up since 4am working on things.  Ali said she wasn’t surprised things were picked up, as I would do the same thing.  I admitted I’m sure she was right.  When I have a project in front of me it’s normally full speed ahead until it is done so I can then relax, briefly, until another project catches my attention. 

We were all hungry so before work began we ate some of the huge amount of left overs from the day before.  Again we ate out on the lanai and again it was very peaceful and quiet.    After lunch we got down to business.  It didn’t take me very long to install the curtain rod, towel bar and hang a big picture.  All I had to do was give mom a brief Roomba how-to (I gave her one of my Roombas to try out) and we were done.  Mom again thanked us for everything and we were off.  When we got back Ali quickly changed and headed to a step class at the gym.

  While she was gone I hung the curtain rod in our bedroom.  Hanging stuff around our windows is a pain in the ass.  It seems like around the windows you always either run into the solid cement that frames it or the metal studs that are used almost everywhere.  Well when I sunk the hole for the middle support it was into a metal stud.  When I popped through it, it buckled a bit which popped out two big chunks of plaster.  Shit. So I rigged it.  I pushed the two pieces back in place and then pressed and fastened the curtain rod bracket on top of the pieces to hold them.  It worked half decent.  If you weren’t looking for it, I don’t think you would notice my faux pas.  Once Ali got back I finished up the job by installing two matching curtain tie backs.

The weekend was full of work but I didn’t mind it.  It was all for a good cause.  🙂