A Hard Day

It's been a long, hard day.

I got up at 6 o'clock so I could work on the deck stairs while they were in the shade. The handrails had needed sanding (which I'd done yesterday), and I wanted to give them and the balusters a coat of sealer. I got both rails and the balusters on one side sealed before it got too sunny.

Next I moved inside and cleaned the dishwasher filter and drain. Yuck! I've never understood how black sludge can accumulate in an appliance that washes dishes with torrents of hot sudsy water.

Moving on, I got ready to clean the living room sliding door track, but first I wanted to remove the screen. I've tried to do it several times in the nine years we've lived here and never succeeded. Today I was feeling stubborn. After using a pry bar and more force that should have been necessary, I got the $#@%$ thing out. I'm going to have the screen shortened by a quarter of an inch before I try to replace it.

Cleaning the track was very tedious, as you might deduce on seeing the toothbrush, Q-tips, and other items in the photo. It's the kind of mindless job that a soldier would be assigned as punishment for a misdemeanor when there's not enough important work to do.

About twelve hours after I started working, I enjoyed a Mirror Pond Pale Ale followed by a delicious lamb stew C dug out of the freezer and embellished tastily.

Tomorrow I need to finish sealing the stair balusters and clean the basement door track. I can hardly wait to get started.