828 Monday

Monday, July 31, 2006

I drove the minivan today. It stalled four times before I got through the village, but after that it was fine. I've noticed that when it stalls is always when I slow down, as for a traffic light or a turn, and when I shift into reverse. Reverse? Is there something different about reverse that will help to diagnose this problem?

I went to the hardware store about 1 pm to exchange some bathroom caulk strips. Back when I got the key copied, I saw this stuff, and it looked like a good idea.

When the house was built, 20-some years ago, the builder never finished the trim in the bathrooms. Alongside the tub and the shower stall, the flooring just butts up against the fixtures. Jay said we had to put a silicon caulk line down in the seam, cut some quarter-round to fit precisely against the quarter-round along the baseboards, set it into the caulk, nail it, and then paint it to match the baseboard. He never got around to doing it. Neither did I. It seemed like an awkward and tool-intensive low priority task. On the other hand, even though water rarely gets out of the tub or shower, over time we could rot the floor.

So I happened to see something simpler. It's an L-shaped vinyl strip with stickum on the back. You just clean the surfaces, peel the paper off the back, and stick it on. Cutting it to abut the baseboards is easy, with scissors. I initially bought white, but when I got it home, it was obvious the beige would have been better.

I also bought two small fans at the hardware store. It's supposed to be very hot tomorrow, so it won't hurt to be better prepared.

Then I went to the fitness center, and put in 35 minutes on the treadmill. I couldn't do the full 45 because my right foot was dropping. Of course I can't feel it when it does that, but I could hear it scraping the surface of the treadmill on each step, and I couldn't seem to keep the toes up. Walking on ground it's not too dangerous, but with the (slight) slope on the treadmill I'd be more likely to trip, so I quit.

Then I went to the diner for the salad buffet. I had finished eating, had my check, and was packing up my book to leave when I heard a very loud "S-I-I-I-I-L-L-L-L-K!!" and looked up to find Piper and Vinnie arriving. I've never known Piper to suggest the diner, but there he was. He'd been in a charity golf tournament all morning and early afternoon, and ... he's going to be hurting tonight. He was badly sunburned. He looked like a happy tomato.

The two slid into my booth, and I had another cup of tea while they had soup and sandwiches.

I got home a little after 6. I ran out of day again.