Live music and DIY plumbing

Pic: Nikolai after his band performance at Bemidji State University on Saturday, January 26. 

By Allan Olson

So once again the weekend arrived with no fun in store for me, but at least this weekend I didn’t have any plans for Mother Nature to ruin. Our latest run-in with in the weather saw temperatures dipping way-low on Friday night and, once again, my trusty green machine wouldn’t start on Saturday when I went to take Nikolai to town and drop off the garbage. I did learn the day prior, thanks to the Rick at R&R Repair, that my battery is not the problem, but rather the starter. The replacement part was ordered, but its arrival date and repair appointment are still to be determined. So I started the other vehicle, after hooking the battery charger up to the green machine.

The main reason to head into the big “B” town was to drop Nikolai off for his day at Bemidji State University for Honors Band. That was also the reason why I had nothing planned in terms of outdoor recreation, because he had a concert that evening. I also had another appointment in town, so to pass some time I did some window shopping for a new washer and dryer, since our washer is about shot and the dryer is not too far behind. I don’t think there’s a mathematical formula that could tabulate how many loads of laundry they’ve handled in the last eight years for a family of six. I tabulated some prices and will do some research on the possibilities and hopefully be better informed when the time comes to select new machines for home.

Back at home I headed out to the garage again with fingers crossed, and this time the old green machine fired right up – thankfully – because I had already loaded it for a garbage run the night before, and it needed to go. Once I took care of the garbage, I headed home again. With all my errands run, I had managed to successfully kill over half the time needed before our return for the concert. But before heading to town for the evening, there were some plumbing needs to address.

The week prior, while my wife was up north fishing and enjoying her time away from the kids (and probably me), Marcus decided to fill up his water bottle in the bathroom sink downstairs, and in the process he somehow managed to break the faucet. I did what I do best when it comes to plumbing; I shut the water off, told the kids to clean up the mess and went back to whatever I was doing at the time, noting that it could wait until mom had time to fix the problem correctly.

That time finally came on Saturday afternoon. She confirmed what I had suspected; the faucet was indeed broken. However, she also decided that it was time to add a “mirror/medicine cabinet” to the basement bathroom and move that fixture out of our bathroom completely. Had I known that’s what it would take, I would have dragged her to the store a long time ago to get what was required to get it done.

So… we headed in to the concert, getting there later than I wanted, but we still (barely) managed to find a seat a full 15 minutes before performance time. It was a great concert, with a large group of students from 9-12 grades. Those parents who are musically talented might have been able to discern their child’s sound from the larger band’s; me, – not so much. I just enjoyed the all-around good performance from all the students.

Once the show was over, we headed to a store to grab what was needed for our plumbing project – a shiny new faucet (which took some discussion about price vs. functionality). In the end we compromised on a decent middle of the road model plus a medicine cabinet that was on clearance.

We unloaded the supplies at home, and I went back to reading while the others did their own thing.

On Sunday morning we got up to seize the day. We had guests coming and projects that needed to get done. Our guests cancelled early, so I went back to reading, my wife went back to bed, and I never did see the kids until they got up about noon.

Finally the DIY project started somewhere around 4 p.m. Of course, the bathroom sink is a counter top with a cabinet, and the tight spaces are not designed for any normal-sized adult. We fought with it for a while and finally, in the best interest of all concerned, we unhooked the waterlines and just pulled the sink off the base. We still fought with it, until the piece we were trying to get loose all of sudden just broke off. Thankfully, it didn’t damage the sink itself, and looking at the piece, it was probably high time that got replaced, too. A little while later, all the pieces were back in place and once again I had to try and wedge myself in the little space under the sink to get the new faucet a little tighter. Finally, between my wife, Nikolai and myself, it was done.

Next up, the medicine cabinet. Nikolai tried holding it in place but wasn’t having much success, so we switched roles and that worked much better. That project didn’t take long and then it was on to supper. 

I would like to say that everything was all sunshine and roses with this DIY plumbing project, but I must admit that there were some foul words uttered on this one and a bit of crankiness exhibited. But it got done.

For the record, supper was excellent – although some crankiness showed up there, too. Perhaps some cabin fever is setting in with everyone, but the fresh fried walleye from Lake of the Woods and the oven fried potatoes were mouth-wateringly delicious. Once post-meal cleanup was over, we all once again went our separate ways. I had finished my book series right before supper, so I did a couple of crosswords before heading off to bed – lame, I know, but social media was boring on Sunday night.

No plans have been made for this week, unfortunately. It looks like there will be up to a 60 degree swing in our temperatures. However, outdoor recreation (i.e., geocaching) is going to be a little tough with two feet of snow to trudge through. I guess it’s a good thing that I have a library order getting filled, and I borrowed a couple of books from teachers.

Please remember to watch out for the buses that are carrying our most precious cargo. Also, snap a photo or two to preserve a lifetime of memories. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! Feel free to drop me a line at cltimes1@arvig.net or stop by the office for a visit.