"French is the language that turns dirt into romance." - Stephen King

I've been up since 1:30. It's 3:15 now, the wood stove is finally warming the place up, the first cup of coffee and a banana are in my belly, and the day is underway!

I finally got the Facebook notification about Cambridge Analytics. I feel like I can sit with the cool kids now.

So I've got this old fridge that I need to get rid of when I pick up the new used one Saturday. On the phone last night Pam said her brother has seen plans for turning an old fridge into a meat smoker.
This sounded like a classic brother-in-law idea but I told her I'd check it out.
I've just spent 30 minutes watching You Tube videos on how to do it. (In the middle of the night we get unlimited internet data.) Yeah, it's a thing, but I'm going to take a pass on this one. The guys in the videos make Red Green look like an MIT engineer, it requires removing a whole lot of stuff  including everything that's plastic, and when you're done it gets set right next to the old Chevy up on cinder blocks. Good grief.
I'm sticking with the filing cabinet plan.

Last night I had a phone conversation with Joe Campos, one of my former students and a missionary in Brazil who's coordinating my trip there. It was very helpful to get answers to questions I've come up with as I do my prep.
There are 5 million people in the city of Recife. That's more people than in the entire state of Alabama and more than in Nevada and New Mexico combined. Or the country of Costa Rica.

Here's a look at my kitchen/fridge dilemma. Yes, orange formica on really cheap cabinets made out of particle board with a woodgrain paper veneer. We're talking vintage 70s cheapo. Those drawers? Don't pull them out more than halfway or they'll probably fall to the floor. The cheap plastic guides have long since broken and the drawers are what we might call free standing in their openings. The new (used) fridge is 32" wide. The space from the wall to the cabinet is 32". That might work IF the jamb side of the door doesn't move out as it opens. Because there's a wall to the left, the door's edge would then hit the wall and keep the door from opening all the way.
But wait! There's more!

Here's a closeup of the right edge of the base cabinet where it meets the stove (another antique). Note the funky piece of metal angle iron that's screwed to the cabinet and bridging the gap. Why???? And there's one just like it on the other side of the stove.
My first thought: pull out the stove, remove that metal piece, and slide the base cabinet to the right 1" so it's tight up against the stove thus gaining more space for the new fridge. Sounds reasonable, right? Except MoHo construction techniques mean that base cabinet is screwed to the subfloor and the wall. Moving it over would be more work than that piece of junk warrants.

So this morning I drove to three places, ending up at Home Depot to buy a cheap unfinished base cabinet just a wee bit narrower than this one and that has drawers that actually work. It won't match the others but in this kitchen that qualifies as an upgrade. So long as it has drawers. The plan is to make a top out of a piece of wood similar to butcher block.

After lunch I took out the old cabinet. That involved a framing hammer (bigger & heavier), a pry bar, and lots of noise. Basically I beat it apart. They assemble vintage MoHos with a screw that has a head popular in the late 50s and early 60s and hasn't been used since then. Forget finding a bit that fits; get the hammer and start swinging.

Note the beautiful wallpaper I uncovered. That was all over the kitchen but at some point was painted the flesh/pink color you can see in the top pic. If you look closely you'll notice that the flooring is different and (here's the fun part) 3/4" lower that the rest of the floor. When they had trouble with the subfloor sheeting they just covered it up with 3/4" plywood and put new (now old) vinyl over the top of that. "Why bother pulling out the cabinets? We'll just run the plywood right up to the front edge. Easy-peasy."
Whatever.

In between downpours I went out to the Kia and brought in the new cabinet from Home Depot. Anybody else notice a problem? I swear it was in a bin labeled 30" wide. Turns out I could have bought the wider fridge.
Now what??
Option 1 - go back and see if they make a 12" wide cabinet I can put in there. It will be a door, but good for cookie sheets, cooling racks, and cutting boards. Then I'll bridge the two with the same butcher block.

OK, back from Home Depot. Problem solved. In fact, it may be the best outcome. She gets another drawer AND a place for sheets, racks, and boards.
Note the extra space to the left of that new(er) cabinet. It's about 2" which should give me plenty of space for the new fridge that has a nominal width the same as the old one seen here.
I have the butcher block in the car but will wait to install it until the fridge is in place and I can cut it to the exact size to bridge the gap and keep raisons or oranges from falling in between cabinet and fridge or cabinet and stove.

I'm starting to feel the effects of starting my day so early, and it's only 3:45, too early for bed even by my standards. I've got to figure out what I'm having for dinner; eggs and BACON is a good possibility. But before I can do even that I have to clean up some of the mess I made in the kitchen. There are busted up cabinet pieces on the floor and tools everywhere. I won't do a real good job of cleaning because I still have to take out (beat apart) the cabinet over the fridge to make room for the new, taller fridge. I'll do vacuuming and mopping tomorrow afternoon. Pam's plane doesn't land until 9 p.m.

One more sleep.