The end of a productive spring break

Spring break for teachers takes many forms. Some travel, some relax and try to rest up for the home stretch of the school year. Some get caught up on lesson planning and grading papers. For me, it was none of the above. Most of my spring break was spent cleaning up the exterior of the house (and yard), trying to reverse the damage Mother Nature inflicted during the winter and early spring. Leaves, sticks and other debris everywhere. Gutters a mess. Downspouts coming loose. The deck and pool really looked neglected. Weeds growing everywhere... including places I didn't know weeds could grow. Mulching flower beds that took a definite beating since last fall. After a week of hard work things outside are looking good. I have a good start on having everything in ship shape. A few things didn't get done, but will be completed as time allows. I need to paint my shed and some other exterior trim on the house. I need to do some digging in the side yard to level it out a bit. There's always something to do, but overall I'm happy with the progress I made.

Today, to finish up my productive week, I fixed Tami's garage door opener. The button was sticking and was giving her fits every time she wanted to open or close the garage door. That will no longer be an annoyance to her.

And speaking of garage door openers... Mine finally bit the dust. When I pushed the button the motor would hum, but nothing else would happen. An inspection revealed a plastic gear inside the housing of the opener that was chewed up beyond belief. I even had my father-in-law, Frank look at it (he's the guy who can fix anything and everything). He said, "You need a new opener". He never says that. He always seems to think something can be fixed. Not this time. When Frank says something is toast, it's toast!

I'm not going to buy a new opener immediately. I rigged my old one so it can be opened and closed manually. It's not the best case scenario, but it does beat parking outside in the driveway. And hey, people did fine back in the day with manual garage doors. I have gotten quite spoiled with my automatic garage door opener.