My new bathroom

Ever since my shower wall fell out yesterday, I've been thinking of little else. I called my Dad, who has "a guy" for just about everything. Not one for tile work, apparently. He suggested I call my brother, who gave me a name and number. I arranged to be home this afternoon for a consultation. At the same time, I put out an all-points on my Facebook page, to see if anyone else knew anyone. I planned to get a few estimates, price out materials, and decide if I would pay for the work or do it myself.

An hour after my consultation was supposed to happen today, my brother's guy called to say the sore throat he started the morning with had developed into a full blown cold. He didn't want to come out today and maybe get me sick, but was more than willing to come out tomorrow. He already knew it was just a 24-hour bug? Because colds are always 24-hour bugs? Otherwise, he was just offering to get me sick tomorrow. He didn't sound sick and I can't stand being lied to, so I told him never mind.

My next door neighbor has a son who does beautiful tile work. He did her bathroom, and at the time I suggested maybe he could do mine once I had the funds to pay him. She contacted him, and left me a voicemail saying he'd asked for my phone number. I never heard from him.

A friend responded to my Facebook post, suggesting I contact her handy person (who is also her Facebook friend). I wrote that person a message, which got no response. A later phone call also got no response.

It seems my decision was made for me.

My new bathroom

Monkey Boy, Ninja and I picked up almost everything I'll need to replace all the tile in the room. I already have the spreaders from when I tiled the window sill. The shelves will match that tile, which is white like the walls. I know someone with a tile cutter. All I need now are 2 towel racks, a soap dish, and a toilet paper holder.

I got enough tile to do the floor as well. The linoleum is worn through in places. Like the walls, I knew it would eventually have to be replaced. Since I have to take the sink cabinet off the wall to do the wall, now is a good time to do the floor as well. That job presents a few additional challenges, as I might have to do some leveling under the toilet, and the tub is curved. I'm considering breaking the tile and doing it mosaic style. Either that or lay the tile in a diamond pattern, as opposed to square.

Speaking of now is the time, taking the tile off also means it's a good time to replace faucet stems and a leaky shower diverter. I replaced the faucet handles several years ago, learning at that time that 1951 stems are smaller than today's. Mine are somewhat stripped. The diverter has been tightened and packed several times. Both projects require the plumber go into the wall to fix. Why not now, when the wall will be open?

Tomorrow I will be at my parents, sanding and mudding more of the hallway. My Dad is letting me take a few contractor strength garbage bags for my project. Either tomorrow night or Thursday morning I'll start dismantling the rest of the tile walls. Luckily, I can take showers at the Y, or my next door neighbor's, or my parent's, or at Superman's.

I expect to start tiling Saturday, though I have several other things planned that day as well. A 4-mile run and a deep-tissue massage, to start. Saturday is also game night, a monthly party our group of friends has been passing around from house to house. Luckily it's not at my house this month.
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Today's run did not go quite as planned. My legs were heavy, and I apparently didn't have enough confidence in myself to run the speeds I wanted. After a short warm-up, I started at 5.1mph for a quarter mile, stopped to stretch, then bumped it to 5.2mph for the next quarter mile. I made it all the way up to 6mph, stopping to walk and let my heart rate go down between each quarter mile. At 6mph, I faltered. I probably could have made it, but stopped halfway through. I got back on and finished the quarter mile at the same speed, then ran the last 2 quarter miles at 5.5mph and 5.3mph, respectively. End result? I did actually run at a 10-minute-mile pace. Just not for as long as I'd planned. There's always next week. I plan to run these same speed quarter-mile intervals every Tuesday, as that is my low mileage day and it breaks up the exercises (along with trying to convince my legs I really do have some fast twitch muscles).