Paradise ponders, spring walk, oxide, and oven edition...

Paradise ponders, spring walk, oxide, and oven edition...  I took Race and Miki (right) for our usual non-winter two mile walk this morning, first time since last fall.  The road was still a bit muddy, but it was walkable nonetheless.  The fields are just starting to green up, but those fields that are going to be replanted have already been plowed and harrowed by the busy farmers.  Right now the fields are so muddy that a tractor would sink right in, I think. :)  But the next few days are supposed to be fair weather, and they'll probably get dry enough for the farmers to plant – and I suspect they'll do exactly that.  This coming Saturday we're due for another big rainstorm, just the right thing for a freshly planted field...

This morning I set up sawhorses and drop cloth, and got all my hazardous substance gear (face shield, rubber gloves, etc.).  Then I got to work on something new to me: bleaching the redwood stairs.  I was a bit hesitant to even try this stuff, as the chemicals involved are nasty: concentrated hydrogen peroxide and sodium hydroxide.  The first photo below shows the surface of the big landing after the bleach had been on for about 10 hours.  It will remain there until tomorrow morning, when I'll rinse it off (which will get rid of the splotches visible in that photo) and let it air dry.  At that point it will be ready for final sanding, gluing, and then finishing.  Progress!  The second photo shows both bleached areas and unbleached areas (I didn't bother bleaching areas that would be invisible in glue joints).  The color difference is pretty dramatic, no?  That stuff actually works!  It wasn't very hard to apply, either: just a 3" synthetic brush to slop it on with.  The chemicals have the viscosity of water, so brushing it in was a cinch.

A technician showed up today to fix our oven.  This made his third visit for the purpose, and the second part being replaced.  The new part (a control board) made no difference at all, unfortunately.  The poor guy has spent 10 hours or so at our house at this point, futilely working on this damned oven.  His company is taking a bath on this job, as they charge a fixed price for their labor.  Today we pulled the plug on the effort (our decision, after four months with a non-functional oven).  We're going to trash this oven and get a new one.  One that, as Debbie says, actually works.  What a concept!  Almost certainly it will be a Bosch oven, as we have several of their appliances at this point and we absolutely love them...