Refinishing the tub surround ; Trip prep and departure to Florida

(posted from Panera Bread company, Fleming Island, FL on 2/4/11)

(This post covers 24 – 31 January, 2011)

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Monday, 31 January -

This morning we had our tax-preparation appointment and that went very quickly. That left me free to depart for Florida!
I finished the packing and departed by 1330. I had been planning to depart tomorrow but we're supposed to have freezing rain and sleet, so I took off today.
I drove until 2200, which took me to Smithfield, North Carolina. The only problem I had was about an hour of slow traffic heading down I-95 out of Washington, DC.

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Sunday, 30 January-

I began packing the van today with bedding, clothing, tools, fishing gear, maps, guidebooks, electronics, etc. I printed off the latest info on wi-fi hotspots (from wififreespot.com) and the latest listings from OvernightRVParking.com.
That evening we watched PBS' 'Pioneers of Television' episodes on late-night tv, science fiction, and westerns plus two episodes of 'The Wild Within' (our first)

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Saturday, 29 January -

I installed the Miata battery today and vacuumed out Mocha Joe and cleaned the windows and dash in preparation for my trip next week.
That evening we watched the last disk of 'Entourage- Season 4'.

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Friday, 28 January -

Today I took Mocha Joe over to Giant on a grocery shopping trip. I took the van to take advantage of the 50-cents-off per gallon deal from our card. I also ran to the bank to deposit some checks and also finally found 'dum-dum' at the nearby hardware store. 'Dum-dum' is more officially known (I learned) as Duct Sealer. It's a small 'brick' of a non-hardening clay-like putty. I've seen it used by electricians to seal around electrical cables entering a house and found it still pliable after many years.
I spent the afternoon cleaning up and storing away tools and then looking for new music for the iPod.

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Thursday, 27 January-

We had six inches of snow overnight so we spent a few hours clearing the driveway and the vehicles. We then drove into town (on the new tires) to pick up a new shower-control stem kit. I had noticed a small leak if you leaned against the control handle so thought I'd better fix that before I go.
We also shopped at Lowe's and Home Depot for a new shower control but found nothing even close to acceptable to Labashi.
We returned home but then I remembered my Miata problem and I drove in and bought a new battery ($100).

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Wednesday, 26 January -

This morning we embarked on the next step with the tub surround-- the polishing phase. This time I was using a 3M foam pad with Presta Ultra 1500 polishing compound. This went much faster than the compounding phase.
I spent much of the afternoon working with an after-market shower-handle kit. The idea was to replace the dated crystal-sphere handle with a nicely-sculpted metal handle. Unfortunately, it took me quite a while to realize it wasn't going to work. In the end I had the handle mounted well but could not do anything about where the handle ended up. We wanted it pointing straight down (south, on a compass) and it pointed east-south-east. The instructions also said it should point south. But after reviewing the parts diagrams of all the Delta shower controls, I found we had a 1600-series control while the kit was designed for the 600-series. I removed it and repacked it for return to Lowe's. We decided we'd live with the current control while Labashi researches a new design.
We picked up Labashi's car mid-afternoon and after only a few minutes of driving in the new snow we realized the new tires have MUCH better traction. Good call.
That evening we watched 'The Secrets of Their Eyes', an excellent film from Argentina.

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Tuesday, 25 January -

I spent much of the day compounding the tub surround. We had done some testing of this previously so today was dedicated to applying the technique to the entire surface of the surround. I was using the 7” polisher I bought from Harbor Freight with a wool polishing bonnet and Presta Ultra Cutting crème as the compounding agent. I first sanded the surface of the fiberglass with 1000-grit sandpaper, then used the compounding material to eliminate the scratches and start bringing out a shine.
During a break I remembered I had wanted to order tires for Labashi's car so dug out the info I had researched earlier and called my local garage guy. I hit him at just the right time-- he had a tire guy coming up today and just had to make a call to add on my order for today's delivery. Late in the day we took her car up for tire installation tomorrow, hopefully ahead of the snow predicted for tomorrow.
That evening I watched two '30 Rock' episodes and then Labashi joined me for two 'Lost 6' episodes.
Also that evening I decided I'd put the charger on the Miata battery to get it topped off while I'm away. But when I opened the trunk to put the charger leads on the battery, I found the battery was frozen. I've not seen that before. A quick look on the web revealed that fact that a frozen battery can't be revived.

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Monday, 24 January -

Today was the coldest day of the year thus far. I saw zero degrees and wouldn't be surprised if it was lower at some point.
Given the extra-cold weather Labashi asked how to turn off the water (given my upcoming trip) so I wrote up detailed instructions and verified them.
I updated and posted the blog today and worked with a family member on security on his PC. I soon learned to dislike McAfee security. In the end, I had to refer him to McAfee which, fortunately, has a priority hotline for assistance for the first 30 days of ownership so he should be able to get the problem resolved. The McAfee software objected to a previous security product.
That evening we watched two episodes of Lost 6 on Netflix Instant.

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