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Feeling Great, Overcoming Hangups, Getting Things Done

I stopped taking all thyroid medicine, and now just use a little bit of hydrocortisone now and then. I think I've always run low on it, and a little bit helps with aches and pains I'm now incurring since I feel 45 again--back when I had the energy I should have had in my 20s. 

I've been working on my garage, which needed so much work I asked a handyman what it would cost to replace it. (Too much--like what they wanted to re-side it). I decided to fix it myself. Work was slow-going at first since I didn't have any energy in the morning and afternoons were too hot to work. But last week I turned a corner. A boarded-up window was rotted and I thought that as long as I had to do repairs, I might as well put in a window. Browsing online, I fell in love with a small, inexpensive vinyl double-hung and had to have it. 

You never know what will inspire you.

Most window installation videos show nice, neat jobs that don't require retrofitting, or unusual situations. I have a very old garage with a non-standard size window opening in a neighborhood that sees a lot of garage break-ins. I don't have the tools or skills to do special millwork. After much research, I decided to convert my window from an "innie" (set into the building) to an "outie" (flush with the exterior). 

Rotten innie. The black part at the bottom left is a hole. 

Innies tend to rot where there's a lot of moisture. Not only is Indiana moist, but the wall faces the prevailing wind. "Outie" it was--which meant everything that wasn't framing (and even the rotted framing) had to go. New framing and trim meant a lot of sawing--so much that I overcame my long-time fear of circular saws and bought one. 

I watched more videos, read the manual, did some practice cuts and still made some mistakes (nothing that resulted in injury)--but I should have bought one of these years ago. I even discovered a little tool that came with it that helps you quickly line up a guide board to make straight cuts. 

After I knocked and pried out the rotted parts of the window, there were nails I couldn't pull--but I needed them out of the way. The wire cutters didn't work, the jigsaw didn't work: this was a job for a sawzall. Could I handle one? I had to try. Everything was torn out and there was no going back. 

The reciprocating saw I bought that morning didn't cut through the nails like butter, but it did cut them and it was oddly empowering. I liked the saw so well that on my next trip to the hardware store, I bought a pruning blade for it to cut off maple limbs that are always growing over the sidewalk.

I replaced one rotted piece of framing and repaired another with wood petrifier and epoxy (the white stuff at the bottom right). I built a frame, put it in the opening, and flashed it (the flashing is the silver tape that keeps out moisture). In went the window.


New frame and old repaired frame.

That was a day's work. 

Today, I made the trim, installed it and caulked everything. It still needs spray-in foam, more rot fixed, and then more caulking. And painted. Obviously, I'm no carpenter, but the window is better than what I started with. 

Even a month ago, I didn't have the physical or mental fortitude to do this. I have to give a lot of credit to Dr. William Davis--I really think his program helped me a lot. This isn't meant to be a plug for him, but I'm very happy I belong to his Inner Circle program. This project wasn't a slog, like other repairs have been--I was pumped up to do it. That's a big difference from the past few years!
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