today was a temporary reprieve from bathroom work as i had to work at the cafe. inspecting the work i did yesterday, i noticed one section of drywall was a bit short and created too much of a gap on the outer corner. since i still had enough spare drywall, i decided i'd replace this piece when i got back home.

when i got to the cafe around 10:30am, i was still in a daze from all the construction work i did last night. i even had a slight cough from the amount of drywall and sawdust i inhaled in my OSHA-unsanctioned work kitchen. i made myself some hot tea to curb the coughing and sucked on some unwanted durian candy. my mother kept insisting i should take a covid test.

my sister was making pearl meatballs (珍珠丸子) and baked vegetable buns for her catered meal plan. or more like my parents were making them because they seemed just as busy as my sister, if not more so. we had the electric baking pan and the steaming cauldron cooking from the induction cooker. we should write a book titled, "how to run a food business with small electric appliances." in the afternoon catering customers started arriving to pick up their orders. after one customer left, we had a huge shouting argument because my sister had miscounted and charged the customer less even though my mother caught the error and told my sister about it. at first my sister didn't believe it, but when my mother showed her proof, she got really angry.

that was my cue to leave, as it wasn't busy anymore, and i still had a lot of bathroom work to do. i left by 4:30pm, bicycled back home. i really need to adjust the brakes, currently i have to stop with my feet because the brakes don't work.

i started working on the bathroom immediately. i replaced that thin piece of drywall that i spotted this morning. it took a while because i double checking the measurements, since i only had one spare piece of right-size drywall left. even if did botch the replacement piece, the original drywall was just as good, i just needed to readjust how it's screwed onto the wall.

once that was done (5:30pm) i took a break. next step was papering the inner corners and applying the corner bead on the out corner. but before i could do that, there was a large gouge in the drywall near an inside corner that needed to be patched before i could do any papering. so i decided to do that (6:50pm) first, as well as patch any screw holes.

for a split second i thought i needed to take another supply run. i was reading the instructions on my USG all-purpose ready-mixed joint compound ("mud" as they say in the parlance), and it said the drywall required 24 hours to dry. i don't have 24 hours to let something dry, not especially if i need to get this done within the next 5 days, or need to apply several coats of joint compound. USG also sells setting-type joint compound, which sets as fast as 5 minutes, but even those require the necessary 24 hours to dry. i did more research, and that 24 hours dry time is just a formality, depending on what you're doing, most compound dry in just a few hours, if not sooner. so i ended up using the joint compound i got.

in the past when i worked with joint compound i scooped it directly from the container. that's bad because i end up with dried pieces of compound while i'm working. learning from the pros, i got myself a 12" long stainless steel mud pan. it's a little scary because the edges are so sharp, like holding a box with knife-edges on every single side. having never used one before, i found it kind of intuitive. i used the edge of the pan to scrape off excess compound, or to shape the compound when i need to apply it thicker or thinner. i really should be wearing gloves, i'll remember to do that next time.

while i was at it, i also patched the back wall with the partially torn drywall paper. it was kind of a mess, i'll need to sand afterwards to make sure it's all smoothed out. i noticed while i was patching that earlier spots were already starting to dry, turning from a wet grey to a dry white. i finished by 6:50pm, washed the 4" putty knife and mud pan.

jeff sent me a text, said he left some more hard cider for me on the back porch. "to help take the edge off as you build your WMD or wahtever you're constructing." so apparently they did hear all the construction sounds i was making last night! i apologized to him (i made noises, he gifts my hard cider), and said i'd get him some beers as a thank you. he told me they return to san francisco a week after friday. that means i have about a little over a week to clean up portion of the basement before steve and paul comes back. i haven't heard from them at all this whole summer, it's been pretty blissful.

i checked out some more how-to online videos. one of the video talked about prefilling the butt joints (the spaces between drywall pieces) before papering, that it was a vital step to prevent future cracking. so around 7:30pm i went ahead and did that. i watched another youtube video. inner corners also need to be coated with drywall compound before papering. so i did that, finishing by 9pm.

my mother called me, asking if i had dinner yet. she said the customer who underpaid checked his receipt and found the error and sent us an e-mail about it. most likely he'll come back and pay the difference on friday.

for dinner i ate the last piece of leftover steak. this one had bones and a lot more fat, but i ate it anyway, beggars can't be choosers. i ate it cold, along with an asian pear my aunt brought to the cafe today (when she came to pick up her catered order) when she and matthew went to a nearly empty lookout farmer earlier.

i downloaded the episode of andor but still haven't had time to watch it yet. maybe i'll do that tonight from bed before i go to sleep.

tomorrow: sanding and more patching. in between drying time i may also go to the paint store and get some paints. i need wall, ceiling, and baseboard. painting's the easy part! plus it's relaxing, like mowing the lawn.