Waiting for the estimate

I had someone come look at the steps yesterday. I am now waiting for the estimate. It has to be done, so I am hoping it will be reasonable. No plywood, no lattice, and pressure treated lumber to discourage termites and other buggies.

The original plan has been revised so that I won't loose much patio space. I will loose a few inches on either side of the steps for the framework, but won't loose much in the way of depth. The top deck part will be the depth of the current steps, but the whole width of the steps, about 2.5 ft by 8 ft, and then the steps will follow the existing steps down. Basically a squared off shell over the round steps, railings on both sides of the full width stairs.

I have been thinking about the leaves on the patio situation. I put a little piece of 2x4 on the floor going into the cool tub area and it keeps out most of the leaves most of the time. Only when they are airborne do they make it into the back. I am now wondering if the same thing will help prevent leaves on the rest of the patio. Most of them blow in at ground level, so I think it is worth a try. I will have to measure the width of the opening and see how big a 2x4 I will need. If it doesn't work, I will have the lumber for another project. I hate having to sweep leaves off the patio daily. Plus, no leaves, no bugs...

I had a quiet day yesterday, slept a couple of times. Vacuumed, cleaned the bathroom, changed the muddy water in the cool tub. I filled the tub with the hose and yesterday's water temp was once again 98 degrees, too warm for cooling off so I didn't get to use it until late in the day when the water dropped about four degrees. It is amazing the difference four degrees will make.

I may actually do the dusting today, we'll see how ambitious I get.

I have no plans for today except more R&R. The temps have been a bit lower the last couple of days, but the humidity is up considerably making it more uncomfortable than the dry heat. We are running between 105 and 112 degrees with 30 to 50% humidity. It is more of a sauna than an oven right now. Only six more weeks until it cools off some. Made it through July, now just have to survive August.

There has to be more to life than work, waiting to go to work, and recovering from work.