The Last Day of July in Sluggyland

So here is how I ended July yesterday.

Besides buying my test prep supplies.....

I was reading the Miralax instructions on the bottle and it's 2 WEEKS worth of preparation.
And they want me to take the ENTIRE BOTTLE over the course of 13.5 hours?
No Wonder I'll be in the bathroom all night tonight....geez!

I bought my prep supplies at Dollar General because they had the lowest prices.....and I used $1 Q on both the Miralax and the Dulcolax.
But even so, that Miralax stuff was $9 for a big bottle!!!

Being majorly constipated is expensive it seems......

I hit the Bread Outlet since my last trip was nearly a month ago and we were on the last dregs of the last loaf of bread.  I also got donuts for $1 a box for a treat for Hubs.

I also bought this stuff.....

A new shower curtain for the main bathroom's tub(because company is coming!) and a couple of dvds and a coffee mug.
Yes, on July 31st I began my Christmas Shopping!

These are stocking stuffers for family.  Since 2 of my kids are now living away from home and I don't know if they will make it here for Christmas, I am trying to keep anything I buy them small, just in case it has to be mailed out.  I "heart" flat rate Priority mail boxes..... ;-)

And at least still having my Christmas/Winter tablecloth on the kitchen table where I photograph stuff(hey! Don't judge me) works for this bunch of things I bought. lol

Then I went over to Ollie's Bargain Outlet(Good Things Cheap!)to just look around.
And you know I can't go in there without finding something that has to come home with me......
That is where I picked up the dvds and coffee mug above.

I ended up buying some food items....mostly junk foods for #2 Son, as he requested a quantity of crap and we've been out for ages.
I've been real good about staying away from foods I shouldn't eat the last few months but I had a moment of weakness and bought a bag of hot dog flavored potato chips.

I went home later and made myself a big hamburger and ate some of those chips.
After about 3 chips I had to stop though as they were sooooo salty to me.
Good but so salty I couldn't STAND it!

The dreaded low salt diet strikes again....it has ruined salty snacks for me.....sigh.
But that's a good thing so maybe I won't crave them so much anymore when I remember this unpleasant experience.
Or I'll just start craving unsalted or lightly salted chips and crap....lol

I also just wandered around in Ollie's Bargain Outlet(Good Stuff Cheap!)and looked at the toys.

Ollie's use to be a great source for me for old toys to sell on eBay, back when I did that.  They get in their Christmas toy stock in August/September for the Holiday season and toys are everywhere in their stores come Fall.
I use to write down information on toys and go home and check eBay if they were at a price worth buying and reselling.
But I had my new camera with me so I just took some pictures of toys on the down low instead.

Model kits of historical guns.
Of course this is in the store, after all, this is Pennsylvania where we cling to our guns and religion. ;-)

Some cool jigsaw puzzles featuring the art of Don Roth.

Something I found that my Daughter would have loved.....if they had made it oh, 18 years ago.....
I use to have to read that book to her multiple times a day/night when she was little.   The words are still locked into my long term memory banks....
"....Goodnight comb, and goodnight brush, goodnight nobody, goodnight mush....."

 Hey!
How about more guns?!

I thought this trivia game was cool.  It's for adults and went for $50 suggested retail.  But it's not worth selling on eBay....
I might buy one though and bring it on my road trip in a couple of weeks anyway.

 

 More stuff not worth bothering with to resell.....

Yes, the last thing I need to do is get into buying stuff to resell on eBay again and I resisted.
Go me!

I did pick up a Birthday card for my Aunt.
I reconnected with her this week, when she returned my phone call I made to her last week.
My brother had gotten a call from her at Christmas time last and he gave me her phone number and address.  I had an address for her but turns out she hasn't lived at that place for years now, so whoever lives there now was not having my cards returned and just throwing them away, so I never knew my mail was NOT reaching her! ugh.

Well that's all in the past now and hopefully we can have some sort of relationship going forward, and I can get back in touch with my only cousins, whom I haven't seen since I was about 10 years old.
My Aunt will be 80 in just over a week from now.
I am thinking about putting a small package together to send to her for her birthday but I have no clue what she likes.  I don't know what foods she can eat and I don't know if she likes flowers either.

So if you had an 80 yr. old relative who you didn't know anything about to gift, what would you send?

Sluggy

 

Guess What I Am Doing Today?

I'll give you a big hint.
I ran some errands yesterday.

Look at what I bought......

If you are a woman or man "of a certain age" you KNOW what I am doing today!
It's become a "rite of passage" as it where at my age. lol

To all the rest of you out there who can't figure this out.....just wait until you turn 50 and get to join this exclusive club.......you'll find out.......

So besides that I'll probably be posting a lot today/tonight since I have to be near a bathroom and can't GO anywhere else...so to speak.  ;-)

Sluggy-not having a fun day

The Estimate Redux & Bamboo Floors

After thinking of these estimates and looking at everyone's comments.....thanks for those everyone, it's nice to get some other perspectives on this!......I have decided to just have the Handyman do Jobs 1, 3 & 5.

The sheetrock repair and spackle, install crown molding, fix/rehang the closet door, replace the garage trim, shutters and attic vents.

We'll get either Lowe's or the old handyman guy(if I can wait until Jan.)to do the living/dining room flooring and we'll do the painting of the living/dining room ourselves.

At some point, maybe during the winter, we'll contract to have the hallway upstairs and the stairwell/ceiling done then.  This is the painting I can't do because of location.  (This part of the painting isn't urgent and can wait until contractors are begging for the work in the bad weather, so we might get a break on the price then too.)


This brings out Grand Total estimate to $3,145 + however much of that $300 disposal of materials fee he is charging us for the debris generated by those 3 jobs.

The painting job will cost us whatever the paint/supplies will be.
And the flooring will run us approx. $700 because we already have 3 boxes from the last floor we had done....of course it won't "cost" $700 because I have about $300 in Home Improvement Store Gift Cards to redeem.  8-)

So after forking over $3,145(+$300)and $400 for the flooring, we'll owe Lowe's $1,650 OR the other Handyman approx. $ 800-$1K(I am guesstimating)for installing the flooring.
High end estimate now is under $7K for all with us doing most of the painting.

Almost $7K is MUCH BETTER than almost $10K.....
I'm liking that number a lot better! lol


Some of you commented/asked about bamboo flooring.
We had our master bedroom done in bamboo back in 2007 or so and then they did the upstairs hallway and stairs in the same materials.

Here's a photo from back in 2007.....

and here's a shot from Feb. 2012....pardon my junk....lol......

It still looks great.
Of course, we don't wear shoes upstairs in our house and the bedroom is not a high traffic room.

The bamboo stairs on the other hand have taken a beating.  Between getting marked up when they hauled the washing machine and dryer up the stairs and the pounding the stairs took from the kids over the last 4 years, they aren't looking very good.  I think if we replace the sections(mostly the edge pieces)on the stairs that have taken the brunt of the wear, the rest of the flooring on it should be ok.
The upstairs hallway, which is large enough to put a computer desk and chair in, is also done in the bamboo, but there is a large area rug over the central parts of it which has protected it from wear.

Once we get ready to sell the house, I'll probably have to replace that hallway area rug so the hallway looks better.

We are putting the same flooring materials down in the living/dining combo room.  I'm not worried about wear, even though it's a more high traffic area because I already have an area rug to put down in the living room part and will get a rug for under the dining table set later.

We have 2 dogs but they are not allowed in the dining/living room since the little one likes to use it as her bathroom. 8-(  So we put up baby gates when we first got dogs at this house back in 2003(I think)so they didn't get the run of the house.  The baby gates also keep the dogs from roaming upstairs.

In the downstairs hallway and kitchen we have porcelain tile on the floor, the den off the kitchen has a Pergo laminate and the powder room has a vinyl floor.  These are the rooms the dogs are allowed to wander through.

The idiots who installed that laminate did a half-assed job so we'll be replacing that floor right before the house goes on the market.

Bamboo seems to show blemishes more than traditional hardwoods if you get the lighter colored stuff.

Sluggy
 

The Estimate or Selling Our Firstborn

We finally got the estimate for the work on the house last Saturday.

The handyman guy called here about Thursday wondering why we hadn't gotten in touch with him.
HUH?

Come to find out..... at least he says this is the issue....he had a problem with his email.....he's send out emails with estimates to prospective clients but the emails never got sent.  He's had this issue with a number of clients.

Don't know if it was an issue with his mail program, his employee or "him".  But that was the story why we hadn't heard from him for 3 weeks or so after coming here to look over the jobs.

So I open up the attachment/estimate and the floor about fell outta my ass.

Seriously?
The total was over $9,600 for the work we need/want done.

In my mind I had a figure of around $6K for all this.  That is what we were willing to spend to get this stuff done.
Not anything near almost $10K!

Here are a list of the jobs, broken down into 5 projects, we wanted priced out.

1.
 Repair and patch ceilings and walls-One spot in kitchen, 3 spots in dining room, a few seams in living room.
Skim coat of spackle 1 ft. wide section of walls around living/dining rooms.
Redo 4 corner beads over exposed metal edging.
Labor and materials.
Estimate-$1,140.00

2.
Paint downstairs walls and ceilings, approx. 1000 sq. ft. plus stairwell and upstairs hallway walls plus 2 interior doors.
Customer supplies the paint, handyman supplies the primer.
Estimate-$3,185.00

3.
Cut and install bifold door on front closet.  Customer will supply door and hardware.

Install crown molding in living room and dining room matching existing.
Labor and cost of crown molding.
Estimate-$675.00

4.
Remove carpeting in dining/living room.
Install approx. 400 sq. ft. of bamboo flooring(to be nailed down).
Customer supplies flooring and underlayment(if needed).
Estimate-$3,010.00

5.
Wrap garage trim in aluminum, 6" on jamb and brick molding.
Replace 3 sets of shutters on front of house.
Replace 2-23" hexagon gable vents on front of house.

Estimate-$1,330.00
 

An additional fee of $300.00 to cover material disposal.

 

Total Estimate-$9,640.00

 

The ones I thought  that came in high were Jobs 2 & 4.

Job 2 we are supplying all the paint(except the primer)so I really thought this one was high as it's basically just labor.  Painting isn't necessarily difficult work but it is time consuming.

 

So we decided to modify the painting job and make it smaller.  We will only have them paint the living/dining rooms and the stairwell and upstairs hallway and ceilings instead of the whole downstairs and upstairs hallway.

We can live with the kitchen/den as it is and when/if it needs painting, we can do that because we did it the last time.  We would also do the living/dining room ourselves but with the timing element of spackle repair, painting before the flooring gets done, it's easier to just let them paint those rooms.

The one place I can't paint is the stairway/hallway upstairs as I can't reach some of the stairwell walls and the ceiling.

Would like to get this down to $2K.

 

But I am also thinking I can paint the living/dining rooms so just have them do the stairwell and upstairs hallway.  I will go back and see what they would charge just for this paint job.  I think if I have a day or two between the time he spackles/repairs the living/dining room and throws up the moldings, I can do the painting in there, especially since we have the a/c now. ;-)

 

and Job 4.....Laying the bamboo flooring.  I really though this one was high!

We had our old handyman/contractor guy replace our master bedroom with bamboo in 2007.  He charged $550 and we furnished/bought the flooring, plus we removed the old carpeting.

Now I know the living/dining room is a tad larger than the master bedroom was(by only 10' x8') and prices have risen since 2007 but to go from $550 to $3,010??

 

So we went up to Lowe's, since that is where we bought/buy our flooring, and got a cost estimate for having the crew from Lowe's install that floor.

The Lowe's guy gave us a quote of $2,800 including the cost of the flooring and the cost of carpet removal, or $2,500 if we take up the carpet ourselves.

And the price of the flooring would be $850 of that cost.....so labor of $1950 or $1,650 to install.

So we have a difference of $1,060 for a complete labor only install(w/carpet removal)between Lowe's and the Handyman guy estimate.

Wow.....

 

Me thinks the handyman guy will NOT be laying our bamboo flooring......

 

I'd love to call up the old handyman and get put on his schedule for him to put in that floor because I know he'd be even less than the Lowe's quote but I don't really want to wait until JANUARY 2014 to be able to buy furniture and use the living/dining rooms.

Sigh.

 

So if we decrease the painting job and remove the flooring job, the handyman will cost us $5,630.00 plus another $2,500 to Lowe's for the floor job, for a grand total spent of $8,130.

We already have 3 boxes of bamboo flooring leftover from our bedroom floor we can use but we need to buy paint, so that basically evens out, so we need to spend $8,130 for these projects....or  if he'll accept $1K to just down the stairwell and upstairs hallway we can get all this done for $4,445.00(handyman) + $2,500(Lowe's)=$6,945.00

 

Still more than I planned on spending but it looks like the least we can get away with paying and still have a good outcome.

 

 

Sluggy

 

 

 

 

Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway.....Week 3 Enter Now!

It's time for another of Sluggy's BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY!

 

Here's how it works if you are new here.......

 

I put things in the box(mostly what I have gotten for free or almost free)each week and when the box is filled we draw a winner from all the entries received.

 

This time the Box of Goodies is ALL ABOUT THE LADIES with things for your Girly side.

No shaving cream or manly stuff in this box folks!

Here is what went into the Box today......

 

 

 

1. Cover Girl Mascara

2. Jesse's Girl Eye shadow Palette

3. Jesse's Girl Keychain Nail File(shaped like a surfboard!)

4. Jesse's Girl Blush Brush

5. Jesse's Girl Eye Liner Pencil(grape something)

6. Jesse's Girl  Lip Gloss(peach)

7. NYC liquid Face Makeup

8. Cover Girl Nail Polish(purple something)

 

 

If this is your first time, please go read all the rules for these Giveaways HERE.  *As always, if you are located outside the US, you CAN enter and win but weight restrictions/shipping costs may mean your prize box will contain less items.*

***Time to enter.....You can enter on this Giveaway post until I close this post to entries.

1 entry per person per day on THIS POST.
Leave your name/email address and a COMMENT on this post.  

This week I want to hear about whether you have ever met in person someone who have known online? 

Was that person(s) anything like you thought they'd be?

Did it change your relationship and for the worse or for the better?

If you haven't met an online friend yet, would you want to?

 

You can come directly to this blog post or find it through the link on the right side bar to leave 1 comment per day.  The current Giveaway Post will be linked right at the top of the side bar.

Please NOTE--You MUST be a follower to enter the Giveaway.  If you aren't one, just click on the "Follow" button on the right hand side of my blog to become a follower.

There are 2 ways to get 2 EXTRA entries on this and each new Giveaway Post.......

1. Put my blog on your blog's Blogroll.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST with the URL of your blog so I can go check it out. **If I'm already on your Blogroll, say so in an extra entry comment once each week of this giveaway.

2.  Blog about this Giveaway on your blog with a link to this post.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST with a link to your blog post so I can go view it.  You can do this extra entry once each week of this giveaway.

 

These giveaways run about 4 weeks, depending on how often I get a blog post done.  The winner will be drawn from all valid entries received before the closing date of the giveaway.


 Any questions?  Just email me.

Happy Entering!! 

Sluggy