Spinning my wheels..........

I was very excited about shelves I had planned to put up in the garage. I found these things at Lowes that you use with 2x4s cut to the length you want the shelves to be. I liked this idea because I could make the shelves to fit the areas on either sides of the door from the garage to the playroom, and they could be higher than normal because they would be behind the garage door runner, so they wouldn't be likely to fall over. That way, I could use space in the garage that was previously wasted, and I could also put seasonal stuff and/or items that I didn't want the kids getting into up high. I bought some 2/4s, brought them home, measured the first board, and as I was making the first cut, I saw a bright flash of light and cut straight through the cord to my new circular saw! I went to Lowes, bought some electrical tape, and attempted to repair the cord. And blew a fuse. That was in October. The boards are still in the garage, the shelf items are all over the garage, and today I bought a replacement cord for the saw. I must now tell you that what spurred me on to finally replace the cord was that last weekend I decided to rearrange and rehang the shelves on the playroom/family room walls. These shelves were there when we moved in, and used to hold the previous owner's beer steins. We have books on them, and I thought it would be less visually cluttered if the shelves were all at the same height on the same wall. One shelf needs about 8 inches cut off of one end to make it fit. There are books piled high on the love seat in the family room. It is very much visually cluttered! Since last weekend (8 days ago). Sigh.

While I was at Lowes, I also purchased a new programmable thermostat, after reading and hearing how easy they are to install, and how much we can save on our heating bill. I took the old thermostat off, labeling the 7 wires that came out of the wall, as suggested. I removed the new thermostat from its packaging, put batteries in the faceplate, set the time and date, and put the new base plate on the wall, after drilling new holes, since it was a different size than the previous one. When I started wiring it, I realized that there were receptacles for 5 wires, and that not all of the letters corresponded to the old thermostat. Argghhh! It was about then that I decided to take a break and attempt to fix the saw cord. I got four out of five of the screws out of the handle. I stripped the fifth screw. I went to the computer and googled "programmable thermostat replacement", and the most helpful thing I found was this:

Control wiring on hvac equipment while harmless looking and 24 volts ac wont shock you (it will bite) can cause very bad things to happen if connected incorrectly. You could destroy your equipment at best or burn down your home or business at worst. Among the control wiring can be high voltages from 120/240 volts in a residential furnace to 480 or 600 volts in commercial equipment that can kill you instantly or burn you in a flash.
So if you are unsure of what you are doing or your abilities please leave it to someone who understands control wiring and electricity. If you need to ask for a wiring diagram then it is a good bet that you should seek extra help because the knowlege required to do the job safely far exceeds the knowlege required to read and follow a diagram.

So, now I have a new, lovely thermostat on my desktop, reflecting the time and date, and the old one is back on the wall. I have a new circular saw that I can't use. I made cookies, since that is something I can do. And, can I just say that I don't think it is at all fair that you can gain 7 lbs in one week, when it takes so much longer to lose it?!!!!!

Merry Christmas! My perfect Santa will look like Bob Villa...........