i didn't go running this morning, had too many other things i needed to do. i woke up and started watching youtube home renovation videos, learning how to do things like repairing corners, patching dry walls, and choosing the proper joint compound. with my head full of knowledge, i left for the cafe a bit after 11am, to borrow the car so i could go get materials from home depot.

i first pilfered the cafe basement for any kind of painting and patching equipment. i had way more than i needed, enough rollers and sand paper and other tools for a whole team of contractors to paint the whole house, not just to patch the bathroom wall.

it started to rain a little bit by the time i left for watertown (the forecast wasn't until 3-4pm before we were supposed to start getting rain). i got one of the panel carts from the parking lot, so i could load the sheetrock and lumber. i then spent the next 1-1/2 hours scouring home depot for supplies. first thing on my list was for a 2x4 with the dimensions 1-1/2x2-1/2". i looked everywhere and finally it, they're called 2x3. unfortunately it was only 8ft long (which seems to be the standard length for construction lumber) and i needed a piece closer to 9ft. i grabbed one anyway ($2.98), hoping that i make a mistake measuring my bathroom, and that 8ft will fit. next i found the baseboard cap/moulding. they're sold by the foot ($2.34/ft), and there were cutting stations for customers to trim how long they wanted. i cut one 19" when i just needed 18". it was in that same aisle that i found baseboard wood, this one from poplar, the cheapest they had ($4.86/ft). i cut this to 20".

i needed to get a piece of sheetrock ($15.98 for 1/2"x4x8"). for some reason they were bundled together in pairs. i found a lumber associate to help me, the guy kind of looked like a stoner, he warned me he was new at the job but would try to help. apparently the sheets can be sold individually. my next problem was i couldn't fit the entire piece in the car and needed it to be cut to size. so this guy said he could score the middle with a boxcutter and folded the sheetrock in half. it was still large, but not so heavy i couldn't lift it on my own, and would now better fit inside the honda element.

i also bought: a 14" stainless steel mud pan ($16.98, they also had a 12", but the 14" was just a $1 more so i went with the larger size), 6" joint knife ($10.48), 75ft joint tape ($2.78), 1-5/8" length fine drywall screws (1lb. $7.98), alex plus white acrylic caulk ($3.58 roll), kwik seal plus white caulk ($6.78 tube), scotch blue tape (0.94" $7.48), USG all purpose joint compound (3.5qt $5.20, i wanted the USG plus 3 which i heard is better, but they only sold it in multi-gallon buckets), and zinsser BIN shellac-base primer ($23.48). the grand total was $122. i kept the receipt in a safe place, figuring i might return a few things when it's all over and done.

i left home depot by 1:30pm. thankfully it'd stopped raining, because i was worried about my sheetrock getting soaked. the folded sheetrock just barely fit inside the car. i then went to my parents' place to collect some more patching and painting equipment and materials. mostly importantly, i got the power tools: circular saw, jigsaw, and cordless drill. i also found a brand new can of zinsser 123, their water-based primer. i may end up using that instead of the BIN primer because i don't want to deal with cleaning shellac off my brush/roller.

i would've loved to do some gardening (plant those chinese celery and daikon seeds), but i was pressed for time, and still needed to drop everything off at my house then return the car. i did however go down to the basement to check on my hydroponic mustard greens (i didn't even go down this past weekend). my father had been watering them (with just tap water, no more nutrient solution) so they were in good shape. i did notice one of the plants was starting to flower.

so i did just that, went home, dropped off the equipment and materials. my neighbor renee saw me lifting the huge sheet of drywall into my house, she didn't say anything, like it wasn't anything out of the ordinary (like a leafcutter ant lifting up an absurdly large piece of leaf). out of curiosity i placed the 2"x3"x8' inside the bathroom wall: it was short by 8 inches!

i then went to the cafe to drop off the car. when i told my father about the short 2x3, he said there was some leftover 2x4 in the basement. we went to check, there were some long pieces (12ft), i could use one of them instead. my mother made me some lunch (lion's head meatballs), i ate before leaving by 3pm.

back at home, i walked down to the community garden to work on my plot. i got an e-mail from anne marie yesterday saying my garden was getting a little wild and suggested i trim it back from the paths. the last time i was there was 3 weeks ago. yes, my garden was a little crazy, but it wasn't that bad. i brought my 3D fuji camera to take some photos before starting to trim back the garlic chives and goldenrods, the main culprits. once that was done, i collected a few tomatoes and peppers (serrano and habaneros). there were tons of hyacinth beans but i wasn't in the mood to pick them, i'll do that some other time. besides, i felt some rain drops, and decided to head home before i got soaked.

i finally started with my bathroom work around 7:30pm. the only thing i could do today was prime the torn drywall paper. this was something i should've done a long time ago, before the drywall managed to soak up a year's worth of bathroom moisture. originally it was going to be a quick and easy task, but while i was cleaning the wall, i noticed chunks of it was already peeling, so i ended up ripping off more painted surfaces from the wall. i used the zinsser 123 primer with a nylon brush, decided to return the BIN primer (specially since it costs nearly $24 for a little can). i finally finished priming the exposed areas an hour later.

i'm excited to be finally working on my bathroom. it's ironic to be spending so much repairing a section of the bathroom that most people don't see anyway, since it'd be behind the toilet tank and the tall tiny bathroom shelving that's normally balanced on the tank. i think the hard part is the repair; once that's done, the painting will be quick.

i made dinner, reheated the pasta meat sauce, boiled a cup of cellentani noodles, and filled up a bowl with salad. it's crazy just how filling pasta can be. normally i'm still snacking after dinner, but i was zero cravings tonight. i did however bust open that carton of trader joe's ube ice cream i got last week. it didn't tasted particularly yam-like, but the flavor reminded me of a cookie ice cream cone. it's nice, if genuine ube really tastes like this, then i'm all in. it was so good i quickly finished half the carton before finally stopping myself.

tomorrow (after it stopped raining, hopefully by noontime) i need to return to home depot to return a few things: 2x3 lumber, zinsser BIN primer, drywall screws (getting coarse instead of fine). i also need to cut that long piece of 2x4 to length. once i have that, i need to use the jigsaw to make the cutout for the exposed piping fitting in my bathroom, before i can start nailing on the drywall pieces. oh, and i may also visit haymarket chinatown in the process, so another busy day.