I had originally planned to visit my family in Ocean Pines this weekend, but I figured I will make an overnight trip late next week just before the 4th of July holiday.  Besides, I slept in and woke up later than I would have liked to make the drive down and avoid weekend traffic.

Thus, I decided to do what every person does on the weekend, a la Frank the Tank in Old School.  My path was slightly different–a trip to Costco, Target, and Lowe’s The first two were for the usual things that I needed around the house, but I had big plans for my visit to Lowe’s.  I had some small repairs and upgrades that I have procrastinated on around the house, so I decided it was time to get them done.

I also decided to get a more comprehensive ratcheting screwdriver set.  Thus, a 56 piece ratchet set with all kinds of scew bits.  Let the man grunting commence!

• Repair Closet Door Handle
  Since I moved in, one of the closet doors in my second bedroom had a screw missing from one of the handles.  Since it’s my second bedroom, I was in no hurry to fix it, but it was starting to bother me a bit.  While at Lowe’s, I looked around for an appropriate screw that matched the set and couldn’t find one.  I paid for an inexpensive handle, though, and used one of the screws that came with that.  Not the perfect solution, but it works.  Repair done!
• Replace Thermostat
  I have procrastinated on replacing my old school thermostat with a more advanced digital programmable thermostat.  With energy costs where they are, I figured replacing my inefficient thermostat was a good idea.  Today was the day I did so.  I purchased the Honeywell 5+2 Programmable Thermostat.  Installation was pretty easy, and it is now running in one of its programs quite nicely.  The one thing I need to pick up and forgot to is a simple drywall patch kit to repair the old screw holes that held the old thermostat in place.  Nonetheless, another successful home repair!
• Replace Door Sweep
  The door sweep that came with my front exterior door has had the weather stripping coming away from it.  I decided to pick up a new sweep.  Installation seems pretty easy, and I am going to see what it takes to remove the old sweep tomorrow.  Repair pending, but it should be pretty easy.
• Terminate Cable Wires
  My house came with structured wiring for my telecommunications and cable or satellite television.  In other words, all of the phone and cable outlets are wired and terminate at one place in my basement.  Back when I had the bastards at Verizon install my phone line, the technician kindly terminated my phone lines into the 66 block I had mounted.  So, my phone wiring has been done for some time.
  When I had my cable installed, the Comcast technician did not terminate all the wires.  He terminated only three of the six connections, and he mounted a 3-way-splitter.  Thus, I have three more wires to terminate.
  I purchased a crimping tool similar to this with the appropriate connectors, but I don’t have a cable stripper.  I will pick a stripping tool up tomorrow, and complete this project.  Once that is done, I will pick up a splitter to install so that all of the outlets in my house are active.

There are still two other outstanding projects I need to get done.  I have a couple of leaky pipes in the bathroom to fix.  The leaks are not major, but they are a nuisance.  The other project I need to fix is to repair some caulking around the house–mainly the kitchen sink and the bathroom backsplash.  The problem with both of those is that both places used colored caulk, and I need to do some more research to find out where to get that.  Your typical home repair store does not stock anything other than clear, white, or almond.

The joys of home ownership!  Now, to celebrate my home repair conquests with beer, again a la Frank the Tank!