I recently have had to bite the bullet and hit the books for my big professional engineering exam. It has been rough to not get to visit the mountains, but this time of year has been ideal for studying with alot of cold, snowy days. My life until recently has revolved around engineering with a full day at work and an abundance of practice problems performed at home desk with trusty, suitcased engineering resources nearby.
While normally a pain in the rear end, but given any excuse not to study, I gladly took on some pressing house projects. The first was when I noticed a leak in the downstairs bathroom. The culprit was a leaking toilet seal at the attachment to the floor. I was forced to dismount the throne and place some grout and wax ring around the iron pipe flange and reattach the toilet.
"Not sure if I can aim that good. Better put the toilet back on."
Project number two was planting grass where the former owner's pool and trampoline were at. So far the stupid grass hasn't done much growing, so I am considering just making it a small infield.
Project number three was the infiltration of water into my basement after 10 inches of snow started melting while being rained on. I discovered it as I walked in from my garage and noticed a pool a water at the base of the basement steps. First I thought it was the toilet again, but after finding 0.25" of water in the corner room in the basement, I realized it was a bigger problem. The water was seeping in between the slab and the walls. BTW, no sump pump.
Alot of the junky carpet got wet and will need to be hauled off. Cleanup was performed with a squeegee and a mop. It was a fun activity three days before my big test. The basement still smells musty.
That same week I noticed I had a new roommate. As I was carrying out the trash, I noticed a female duck was sitting in my front flower bed. I didn't think too much of it until the next day I noticed she was sitting on some eggs.
Currently, she has 6-7 eggs in my flower bed. I am not that big of a fan of omelettes so I decided to just leave them be. Mrs. Quackers, as I call her, was a wonderful guard duck as I drove back to Kansas for my PE test.
The day of the big test finally arrived. I felt adequately prepared and was exhausted from studying. The morning session, which includes all civil engineering subjects, went very well. The afternoon session, which for me was only structural engineering questions, was much tougher. I got through it though and feel mildly confident I passed. I won't find out until June or so.
After enjoying the pleasant springtime weather of Missouri at my parents, I drove back to Colorado through 3 separate rainstorms. The next day I awoke to 4 inches of snow on the ground. Springtime in Colorado is an adventure. So is owning a house!
While normally a pain in the rear end, but given any excuse not to study, I gladly took on some pressing house projects. The first was when I noticed a leak in the downstairs bathroom. The culprit was a leaking toilet seal at the attachment to the floor. I was forced to dismount the throne and place some grout and wax ring around the iron pipe flange and reattach the toilet.
"Not sure if I can aim that good. Better put the toilet back on."
Project number two was planting grass where the former owner's pool and trampoline were at. So far the stupid grass hasn't done much growing, so I am considering just making it a small infield. 
Project number three was the infiltration of water into my basement after 10 inches of snow started melting while being rained on. I discovered it as I walked in from my garage and noticed a pool a water at the base of the basement steps. First I thought it was the toilet again, but after finding 0.25" of water in the corner room in the basement, I realized it was a bigger problem. The water was seeping in between the slab and the walls. BTW, no sump pump.
Alot of the junky carpet got wet and will need to be hauled off. Cleanup was performed with a squeegee and a mop. It was a fun activity three days before my big test. The basement still smells musty.
That same week I noticed I had a new roommate. As I was carrying out the trash, I noticed a female duck was sitting in my front flower bed. I didn't think too much of it until the next day I noticed she was sitting on some eggs.
Currently, she has 6-7 eggs in my flower bed. I am not that big of a fan of omelettes so I decided to just leave them be. Mrs. Quackers, as I call her, was a wonderful guard duck as I drove back to Kansas for my PE test.
The day of the big test finally arrived. I felt adequately prepared and was exhausted from studying. The morning session, which includes all civil engineering subjects, went very well. The afternoon session, which for me was only structural engineering questions, was much tougher. I got through it though and feel mildly confident I passed. I won't find out until June or so.
After enjoying the pleasant springtime weather of Missouri at my parents, I drove back to Colorado through 3 separate rainstorms. The next day I awoke to 4 inches of snow on the ground. Springtime in Colorado is an adventure. So is owning a house!
