Holy cow, there's a hole

I got some great neighbors. I also like my neighbor hood. You could almost throw a rock to downtown Anchorage from my place. I've lived here about 16 years. My street is a dead end so it's fairly quiet. Even though I'm almost surrounded by apartment buildings, my neighbors don't change much. I mean not many move away.

Not many started in Alaska. Most came from other states for what ever reason. They are also of many different occupations. There's building maintenance guys, dentist guy, retired school teacher, a nurse at the state prison, a couple folks in business for themselves, the Chinese lady who helps me with my garden and one loud salesman and his wife who both like birds.

Last week Cindy Palmitier pointed out to me that the floor in one of the indoor mews is rotting away. Someone tried to repair it, but the goo they used didn't work. I saw the job as being over my head (I'm no Tim Allen) so I said "I'll go find help".

Now these mews have been around for a while, at least 15 years. This is where mainly larger birds are kept when they first arrive at Bird TLC. They can move around some, but not a lot. Remember, their in for medical reasons. We don't want them to move around a lot, just yet.

When they are used, they are scrubbed down every day. Some where's over the past 15 years some water made its way through the paint and sealant and ate away at the wood.

Here's where neighbor Don comes in. He had his own building maintenance business at one time and now works for a local assistant living center. I've seen his work and I wish I had that talent.

I bribed Don with lunch last Saturday to come look at our rotting mew. He said, no problem. I have some 3/4 plywood we can use. It'll take about 2 hours. AWESOME. Don said he can do it next Saturday. I went by Home Depot and bought paint, more sealant, brushes, etc. I was excited.


Due to the small work space, I was evicted from the mew. That was fine, there's plenty to be done around the clinic. Don went to drilling, sawing, banging and so on. He was right. Right at 2 hours he was done. He said, let the filler cure for about 24 hours, then sand it smooth. Then you can seal and paint. Did I say AWESOME?

So I'll probably go in Tuesday while Ruthie is at work and seal the bottom. Then Wednesday night I'll paint the mew.

By the way, did I say I had great neighbors? Thanks Don! AWESOME!