Look!  ALL my tools are hanging up in the garage.

Quick Look!  The garage cabinets are clean and organized.

Word of the Day

Similar - Alternate spelling of similar. Having like characteristics. Also, being strangely similar.

Woodtick Count - 8

Having spent most of four hours in the garage this morning, I was a bit mystified to find a woodtick stuck in that I barely had enough flexibility to remove on my back, near my shoulder. And then, I remembered that I'd gone out to the garden to install the sprinkler. That's all it took to add to my woodtick count and feel like I've got woodticks crawling all over me.

My Monkey Bars arrived yesterday! Yeah! Monkey Bars are a garage organization system that actually works....or claimed to work so I decided to give them a try. It's a heavy-duty rack on which you're supposed to be able to hang all your garden tools...even something as heavy as a wheelbarrow. First, before I could install the two racks, I needed to pull all the tools away from where they were sitting and lying underneath the other racks that HTP installed several years ago. Every time anyone would try to secure a tool to the racks, it would fall off. Finally, people just gave up and leaned the tools against the wall and mostly, the tools would end up falling over. So, first, before installing the new racks, I had to remove ALL the tools from against the wall and remove the old racks. Then, I had to drill new holes into the studs to hold the brackets for the bar. Actually, aside from a few logistic problems (sometimes I wish I had three hands), and making sure that I had ALL the tools I needed for the job, the installation process was fairly easy. Tools needed? My drill with the proper bit, a hammer and a nail to make sure that I was actually drilling into a stud, a level, a heavy-duty Phillips screwdriver, a pencil for marking and a measuring tape. And, of course, the first bit for my drill that I tried to use was too dull so I had to go back inside to search out the new bits that we purchased a few years ago, and the first Phillips screwdriver that I grabbed wasn't heavy duty enough to do the job. Oh, and I really needed my small ladder so I could bring myself to eye level to my project. But, eventually, I managed juggling my pencil, my measuring tape and my level.

After installation, my next task was to decide what to hang where. I've got LOTS of tools but I was easily able to hang ALL my tools from my Monkey Bars. I even hung up the electric chainsaw, the electric leaf-blower, and the electric grass trimmer. I hung up the axes that we use to split logs, the shovels, the rakes, the snow shovels, the roof rake, the hoes, the lawn-edger, the spading fork, the lawn aerator, and some tools that I'm not sure what they are. I've inherited a few tools from my Grandparents that look really neat but...what the heck are they? I think they may be items that people use for fishing. One looks like a trident and another looks like a fishing gaff. Heck if I know what that other tool is. Regardless, all the tools are hung and that part of the garage has been swept.

Then, as long as I was out in the garage, I decided to continue with cleaning and organizing. I cleared out both of the garage cabinets, sorting and organizing before returning most of the items to the cabinets. Some things just needed to be thrown away. I now see that we have lots of bungee cords which are all put away in the same place in the same cabinet. We have lots of various lengths of rope and cord which is also stored in the same place and in the same cabinet. I found one glove. What's with that? I found a trowel that I hate because it always bends when I use it. Why keep it? I found lots of painting supplies that I didn't know we owned. There's a huge quantity of screw and nails that I probably should sort out but for right now, they're all big ice cream tub, stored in one cabinet. We've got lots of automotive stuff (oil, anti-freeze, windshield washer fluid, car-cleaning stuff, etc.) which now is all stored neatly in one of the cabinets instead of helter-skelter in two cabinets and off to the side. Apparently, every time someone needed to refill their windshield washer fluid, they bought a new gallon of the stuff. We've got LOTS of windshield washer fluid. LOTS. Then, we have all this stuff that we may need or not that I don't dare throw away because they're replacement parts for this and that here in the house....mystery stuff. I dedicated one whole shelf to that stuff. But, after all, I was able to stow away lots of stuff and the doors of the cabinets, once again, actually close.

I wish I could say that I have a fully clean garage but...can't. I still need to do more organizing out there. However, I made a good start and there's just some things that I can't make decisions on by myself. At least I'm leaving the garage looking pretty darn good.

I'm packed...mostly, for my trip. I needed to weigh my suitcase to make sure that I can indeed bring all the items that I want/need to bring along. It's a bit heavy (47.8 pounds) but I think I'm within the margin of error and therefore safe. My suitcase can weigh up to 50 pounds. I'm going to have to pack my Kindle and miscellaneous electronics in my laptop bag....unless, I need to check to see if they consider my laptop as my one and only carry-on or if I can bring another.

Random Quote of the Day

When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.

Clifton Fadiman (1904 - 1999)