In case the frustrations around installing the refrigerator weren't enough, in case I didn't have quite enough to do to keep myself busy, I apparently decided to make a mess outside so big that it literally has taken days to clean up.
Recall, if you will, that while we were swapping refrigerators, it was raining/sleeting buckets outside. Also recall, that both the storm and main door had to be removed from their hinges to get the new fridge inside. Ah...the moment of issue...
When I removed the storm door, I legitimately tried to tuck it away for safety from fridges, movers, even rain. Little did I know that shortly after we were inside the house, the rain and sleet stopped coming straight down but more from a 45-degree angle. Do you know what makes rain and sleet do that? Wind!
While I probably had the storm door stowed away safely enough for the things I was looking out for, it was not enough, apparently, to shield it from the gusts of wind that attacked it while we were oblivious inside. Fortunately, one of the movers re-mounted my main door...so, we didn't hear the wind, get wet, etc...
Anyway... just after the movers left, I collected my tools to perform the operation to re-attach the door. Just as I prepared to open the main door, I heard a very loud POP! My heart sunk. Sure enough, I opened the door to see my door on the ground (sidewalk, actually) and about 18,273,739,344 pieces of glass. Of course, the glass shattered exactly down the path of my sidewalk...my family would be coming home soon. Obviously, I have to clean this us before they get home...
So, driving rain, sleet, wind beating down, I dragged out the trusty Shop-Vac, donned my oil-skin duster and proceeded to vacuum up the mess.
I learned some things during this process:
- My oil-skin is NOT waterproof as I had thought. It is water RESISTANT. BIG difference, let me tell you.
- When you're in that weather, “wet“ is not how you want to be. I had parts that were cold that stayed that way for a LONG time.
- Glass reproduces like rabbits. I KNOW that I had that stuff cleaned up 3 or 4 times over. But it still showed up. I even had to go back yesterday and clean it up again.
So, add “Replace Storm Door“ to “Dad's Fix-it List“ too. :)
Next up: ...but we're not done yet... You too can hit 2 deer at the same time!