08.04.04 - It was bound to happen - two "back burner" projects caught up with me this week, the result of a secretly formulated and just-announced re-prioritization program.

All the closets in our home now sport brand new, three-step baseboards that match, more or less, the color and profile of the door and window casings. If memory serves, the original baseboards, plus door and window casings, were removed for new wood floor and window installation last summer. I had installed the new door and window casings as soon as the crews were done, and had even managed to install new baseboard in every room of the house - except the closets. I think I remember saying that I would "save" the closets for a winter project, when things slowed down. That would have been last winter. This really was a back-burner project! Also, the bi-fold doors on Suzy's bedroom closet are now planed and re-fitted to clear the new carpet that was also installed last summer.

Because I installed the baseboard first and repaired the doors last, I was struck by the irony that since she can now close the bedroom closet doors, it sort of makes all that pretty baseboard unnecessary. Irony notwithstanding, I kept the thought to myself.

Between trips out to the garage to cut (or re-cut) those 15 pieces of maple-stained and polyurethaned casing stock, I was able to steal a few minutes here and there to perform a couple of "follow-up" inspections on two of my boat projects, also located conveniently in that same garage. I had removed the Handihead from "MoonTan II" and brought it home to clean it, inspect it, and give it a dry run - well, a wet run, really - by filling it with water and seeing if and how it worked. I had also brought home the boat's old battery and put it on a trickle-charger.

Oddly enough, the battery held a charge, but the head didn't.

A serious leak from a hairline crack that ran from one of the discharge hose bracket mounting screws across the bottom of the holding tank convinced me that I was fortunate to have discovered it in my driveway and not aboard "MoonTan II". Rather than worry about the bonding properties of two-part epoxy and an aged, out-of-production waste container, I've decided to replace the unit with one of Thetford's Porta-Potti^® portable marine heads. At $106 with shipping and handling, the peace of mind alone is worth twice the price.

As for the battery, it's a ProStart marine, and I'm absolutely thrilled to have a new-found respect for Manny, Moe and Jack! Plus, not having to purchase a new battery more than covers the cost of the Porta-Potti! I'm tempted here to apply a method of cost calculation that I've seen my wife use while shopping. Although not thoroughly versed in the technique, I believe it's based on the principle of applying a "deferred expense factor" to the total cost figure. In this instance, I would properly add in the $106 for the Porta-Potti, but because I won't be buying a similarly-priced battery, I can deduct that amount from the bottom line. As a matter of fact, taking this method to it's logical conclusion, if I don't buy the most expensive marine battery out there, I might be able to actually make money at this stage of the project! But, having learned not to dabble in such black arts unsupervised, I'll simply add in the $106 and swallow hard at the realization that I have spent a thousand dollars on "MoonTan II"... and I still don't know if she floats. Someone somewhere is saying, "That's only your first thousand dollars..."