I'm holed up in my office at the computer while Home Depot's vendor replaces my 2 back doors. I did stay down there and watch for a while and he said he didn't mind, but I figured my questions and comments would only slow him down, and that back patio will really heat up by noon.

Luckily this is a very pleasant day with low humidity and not too high temps. He is working alone.  His company has 6 installers like him, and they do much of the door and window install business for 4 or 5 different Home Depots in my area. Super nice guy. I set up a big box fan facing the doorway, knowing he will spend much time with the doors off or open, so I'm hoping the fan will keep flies and other insects from entering the house. And yesterday I literally put away or moved pretty much everything that was on my kitchen counters, plus dish towels and so on, because I knew there would be a layer of dust coating everything. I also cleared a path for him to access the patio via my back outside stairs. It was all a lot of work.

I just went down to get some water and see how he's doing. He's already got the new door up. It's a different brand than the front door; I would have liked to stick with the same brand, but that company did not offer a door in the style I had in mind, so I just tried to match the color (chestnut brown) for purposes of continuity. They are both pre-hung doors, so I was able to get rid of the ugly door frames I had in this old house, including the wood threshold which was actually exposed to the outdoor weather on its side, which I thought was really wierd. (

(Because of the wierd design of it, I had to get some clear varnish they use on boats and remember to paint it on the threshold every few years so the rain and sometimes sitting snow wouldn't rot it. Many years ago I had chosen a wood threshold because I like the look of wood, despite my contractor's pleas to go with a stainless steel threshold. Now I'm much more practical and think about the long-term.)

I can see the back door, at least to my mind, is not as attractive as the front door, but it will do. It will have identical lock set and the storm door will also be identical, with same lockset. And they sprayfoam insulation between the jam and the rough opening, which I didn't have before in this circa 1930 house. Both doors are fiberglass, which offers some R value; my old wood doors offered none. I can tell you my front door fooled 2 people who thought it was a beautiful wood door; I'm not sure the same will happen with the back door but I think it will be ok.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do about curtains on the door since I don't want to drill any holes in the fiberglass and magnets won't stick to it. My only other option, really, is those curtain rods you can attach with a self-adhesive curtain rod setup.  But curtains or a shade will definitely be needed as I get strong afternoon sun in the kitchen from around noon to 5 pm.

I am nursing my checkbook through month's end, meaning, trying to spend as little as possible due to a low balance. I'd rather not make impromptu withdrawals from my brokerage account that are not scheduled, as having a fixed monthly amount auto-deposited to my checking account makes it easier to calculate certain things around tax time. This has happened before, where a few major one-time expenses (like my home improvements) dried up my cash on hand, and at this point, If I hadn't scheduled the last 5 credit card bill payments for later dates in August instead of immediately, my checking balance right now would be about $300. 

In early August my checking account will be replenished with an auto transfer from traditional IRAs plus my annuity.

There is one more small home improvement I'd love to do this year, but it may still cost a few thousand and it could put at risk my plan to keep my federal AGI under $75,000 again this year; then this year's IRA distributions and annuity payments will be 100% CT tax-free. With all my deductions, I should be able to also enjoy a 0% long-term cap gains tax rate on my taxable investments by ensuring that my taxable income is less than $49,450. As it is, I still plan to have some trees taken down this fall so will err on the side of caution by delaying the next little inside project til next year.

Once the door is done today, the day will be mine! Looking forward to the next 4 days of great summertime weather.