Fighting Ebola: "DON'T SPIT ON SIDEWALK"

It looks to be another gray rainy Sunday. At least the temperatures are warmer. Katie stopped over Saturday morning and we walked along the river to the new University Boat house. They were having an open house for alumni rowers and guests. Katie rowed for the crew, and I know many of the coaches. What a facility. I wish I had taken my camera. It was still cool enough I did not wear my new camo Utilikilt. I was still “beat up” from Fridays “public service project”.

After getting my halogen wall light fixed up I decided to tackle another project that had been on the back burner for a long time. I’d been joking about installing my “Don’t Spit on Sidewalk” brick into the sidewalk in front of my house for a while. I reasoned it would be my effort to help stop Ebola! The sun was brilliant and the temperatures were warm on Friday. It was time to get the show on the road.

I owe it to my friend Ed for getting me addicted to my angle grinder! He taught me the “in’s and out’s” of how “big boy power tools” can make miserable jobs so much easier. I have to say the brick saw and angle grinder have had such an impact upon my life as to be scary!

I knew this was going to be a real pain in the butt job. The old sidewalk I was cutting into has a lot of gravel mixed it which makes it nearly impossible to drill into, and slow cutting with the diamond wheel. I think bullets will be the best way to outline this project.

• The brick was laid out and the new location was marked upon the sidewalk.
• Using the diamond carbide drill bit each of the four corners was drilled out a bit. The bit would not go too deep because of all the gravel.
• The outline was first cut into the sidewalk. Starting on the north side of this cut out, the inside was scored into small sections and chiseled out with a steel chisel and sledge hammer. This starting area was the worst as there was so little area to work in. Ever so slowly the first half of the opening got cleaned out.
• With more room to work with the second half was cut out much easier and faster. All the while I was working in a cloud of dust and playing John Henry with the chisel and sledge hammer, the game day party was being set up across the street. I could just imagine what the people were thinking of the commotion going on!
• My poor 4”diamond wheel was toast by the time I was doing the final fitting. This entailed making a duct tape sling to hold the brick to lower and raise it from the opening for the process of cleaning out the corners. With the initial space cleaned out this went amazingly quick.

Cleaning up the edges before the final installation:

A small batch of mortar was mixed up and the brick was tapped into place with the rubber mallet. Ed’s dad was an expert bricklayer. Ed gave me bunch of his dad’s mason tools. These “jointers” have been invaluable to me these past few brick projects. What difference having the right tools makes. I used these jointer tools to pack and clean the side mortar joints.

Jointer tools: 

Finished installation:

I was asked to post a picture of my “granny square”. I documented the origin and progress of this 10 years ago at Open Diary. This poor “granny square” started out as a joke in the skill center at work which eventually took on a life of its own. Coworkers would bring me leftover yarn from their projects. When it would be time to start another round a vote would be taken of whoever was in the skill center as to what the colour should be! It can make you dizzy to look at it too long! There are 86 rounds on this. I crochet very tight so this works out to a lot of yarn. The thing weighs a ton! I still add to it when the fancy hits.

Stumpy just came in from outside. He made the rounds around my house and Michele’s house next door so he is ready for a break. He is now on my lap getting pets and rubs. He is purring his heart out. Things are good…..

Back After A Long Absence

The Internet and computer software are so transient. Time is flying by so. My good friend Graham asked if I would copy an old LP to CD for him. It has been quite a while since doing this. It was in April 2010 my old desk top tower died after seven years of service. The information and files on old hard drive was salvaged/saved. A new tower was purchased which was an upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7.

The last few copies made from my turntable I’m certain were through Realplayer. Well, the free Realplayer program has changed to where I don’t have that option anymore. The “Pyro” software to translate the analog LP to digital I downloaded when hooking up the turntable, was not in my programmes file anymore.

I pulled out the disc and reinstalled it. It would not run. Using Google search I learned this old programme is not compatible with Windows 7. The turntable I have from Audio Technica is no longer supported by anything because it does not use a UBC port like the current models. I think I found a work around but it involves a lot of downloads and consolidating programme files and locations. It looks to be hours of work to accomplish. ARRRRG!!!!

This morning I was curled up snug and warm under the wool blankets floating between being asleep and awake. For whatever reason I was thinking of the old house restoration blog I started years ago. It has been dormant for years. My last entry was in April 2011.

http://bungalowinalabama.blogspot.com/

I started this blog back in 2006 in the days when a lot of “old house action” was happening on the Internet. There was a thriving old house site with an informative discussion forum. An off-shoot of that site was a separate site for old house blogs. It was sort of a “web ring”. Just typing that out has it sounding like ancient history. That collection of blogs was very disjointed and eventually faded away.

The old house site and forum deteriorated as the years passed. I posted less and less. The owners of the site pretty much ignored it and it was over run with spam. Things got to be so bad I did not want to have any postings to tie me to that site. Last year I went through and deleted all my posts. Mercifully only a few were “locked” to editing so there is hardly any footprint of me ever being there.

It seems to be an “on line” pattern as the forum on that old house site ended up being controlled by a few “experts” doling out misinformation. I have witnessed this happen on various antique phonograph boards. I don’t like being involved in conflict if I can avoid it. I’ll read these forums, but refuse to join or participate. I really try and hold my tongue on Facebook. That site could have me crazy if I took it seriously.

I’m thinking this might be how the Internet is evolving. I was on an old archived site recently that spelled out the rules and etiquette on how to navigate and behave in chat rooms. Looking back now on AOL Chat Rooms makes them seem primitive and quaint. Do chat rooms even exist anymore? Facebook and Twitter seem to have pretty much killed them off.

To return to my old house blog: I’m going to start posting to it again. Instead of doing chronological entries of projects in progress, I plan on pulling out and consolidating entries going back to my earliest “Open Diary” years so I can have a document of the progress and work done here. I could almost write a book on the stories and adventures behind the bricks I salvaged from the burned out train station 30+ years ago.

It is supposed to warm up today.

Arrh!!! I did the entry up on the laptop in the kitchen. I attach the word file to a Google mail draft which I then open on the desk top to do the fine tuning and posting. The bedroom has been pretty dark as the halogen wall light was out again. I was expecting that to happen the last time I worked on it. I did not want to work in the dark so I took the damn thing off the wall and tore into it.

Just as I expected one of the wires burned through. The halogen bulb emits such heat the inside the casing the wiring must be special high temperature stuff like what is used in ovens.

I was planning on going to the appliance repair store to see if I could get wire from them. I found a source on E-bay for small lengths, but I’d rather get it locally if possible.

This light is first generation and naturally not in production anymore. When this style lighting first hit the market it was VERY expensive and only sold in designer shops. This was purchased in the late 1980’s from a specialty light store on 8th Ave in NYC. I know I have this all documented in my paper journals, but it would take all day to find the information. Ron and I would shop there on our frequent trips to the city. Having this wall fixture up-lighting 300 watts, I can comfortably light half the room without table or floor lights.

Once I tore into the thing I discovered the wire burned off right at the porcelain. There was no easy way to repair it. To condense a lot of aggravation, I remembered I had an old halogen torchiere lamp from when I lived in Bowling Green.

I bought as a close out from K-Mart Labor Day 2004. I can understand why they stopped making this style light. There were more parts tacked onto this lamp. It had a glass cover for the bulb, and a wire cage over the entire top of the light. I now realize there was also a thermostat to break the current if there was excessive heat build up.

It worked fine the time I lived in Bowling Green, KY. Here in Tuscaloosa I used it for a work light under the carport. It quit working years ago. It was cheap enough I never attempted to fix it, but hung on to it for parts. I was able to take the bulb holder out and switch it out with the holder of my old fixture. It had more than enough of the high temperature wire to do the job.

Once again in my life it was, “NEVER BUY NEW, MEND AND MAKE DO!!!

Wednesday Missing in Action

Things have been so crazy as of late. Some great stuff has been turning up in E-Bay land. This phenomena resulted in my latest road trip was to Decatur, IL to pick up a cast iron whistle sign. This heavy thing was originally positioned along the railroad roadbed. It signaled the engineer to sound the whistle code for “approaching a grade crossing” which is two long - one short - one long blasts on the whistle or horn of the locomotive. I remember seeing these along the roadbed of the New York Central Railroad which was across the street from where I grew up. These old cast iron signs are quite collectible. The seller had this as a local pick up only. There was a New York collector who was hot for it, but the seller did not want to deal with shipping companies and the like. He held it for me to pick up.

Monday morning I did up the last of my packing and straightening up the house. Stumpy delayed my departure by some twenty minutes hiding out! That bad boy!! The house was locked up and I was on the road at 5:30 a.m.

My first stop was Trader Joe’s in Nashville. Here I stocked up on Trader Joe’s Pound Plus dark and bittersweet chocolate, New Mexico Pinion Nut Coffee, Maple syrup, and a case of their Bavarian Wheat Beer.

Back on the road I took I-24 into Kentucky. Kentucky and Indiana were the worst states driving. Not so much for the roads but for the weather. I knew I’d be in for some rain, but I never expected tornadoes to be part of the equation. I finally gave up on trying to listen to the radio as it was just one storm alert after another. The tornado warnings did me no good, as they go by counties. How could I know what county I was driving in?

There were times the rain was so intense I was down to 45 mph with the four ways flashing. I knew conditions were bad when the trucks did not fly by me. When the tornado sirens sounded I got scared. Ever so slowly I drove out of the rain and the sky stayed a lead gray with low hanging clouds. The only clue this was not a chill November day was the faint hint of green in the trees.

I’m truly spoiled with my Garman now. It is such a convenience to not have to drive and look at a map at the same time. That little screen shows what the speed limit is and how fast you are driving so keeping to the limit is so easy. I no longer fret about missing a turn or street sign.

Driving to Warrensburg, IL I had to take a lot of secondary roads. These can be so dangerous: being able to give full attention to traffic and road signs can be a lifesaver.

I arrived to pick up the sign right at 4:45 p.m. some 620 miles from home. This hunk of cast iron is better in person: I’m very pleased. I settled up with Tony and we loaded the beast into the bed of the truck. My next stop was Decatur, IL some eight miles distant.

Cities of this size and location usually lack a Motel Six. I went for the big time and booked a room on-line at the Comfort Inn. I liked the fact a Texas Steak House was just across the road. Outback is my favourite restaurant chain, but Texas Steak is a pretty much in the same league.

Got cleaned up some, put a couple Trader Joe’s wheat beers on ice and headed to supper. Things were not too terribly busy. I settled in at the bar and had a tall Shock Top beer and some hot rolls and butter in no time. My meal tonight was Caesar Salad, small New York strip steak, and fries covered with cheese and bacon. I ordered my steak rare and smothered in onions.

When the steak came out it was totally covered in onions and a small additional bowl of onions was on the side! I was in onion heaven!! It was all so good! When I’m on the road like this it is always more fun to sit at the bar and interact with the bartenders and others. People are a lot more open and relaxed at the bar.

Back at the hotel I was able to shift the sign into the cab of the truck. I really doubt anyone would take the thing from the truck bed, but with the investment I have in it I’m not going to tempt fate! That drive did me in. One beer in the room and I was dead to the world. This boy slept good…..

Today, Thursday April the 7^th the phone rang at 5:20 a.m. The conversation went as follows:

Phone: RING RING!!!!!

Jamie: Hey Debbie, I’ll be all set to walk when you get here.

Other end: This isn’t Debbie…..

Jamie: Who is this????

Other end: Let me put Hunter on…..

Hunter: Jamie, are you going to cox today?

Jamie: I’m coxing Thursday. Today is Wednesday…

Hunter: No Jamie; today is THURSDAY…..

Jamie: Oh ***k!!! I’ll be right there!!!

I don’t know what happened to Wednesday. The last thing I remember is this bright green light that enveloped my truck and a little man with pale skin and large elongated eyes who poked needles all over my body…….. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!!!!

Mend and Make Do

It was the early fall of 1972 I signed on to the midnight sort at United Parcel Service in Lancaster, PA. Working nights loading the delivery trucks on the line and “hogging” in the trailers necessitated having warm rugged clothes. Champion Apparel had a “real” outlet store in Perry, NY. The clothing they sold was true factory rejects. My favourite basketball jersey from that store had a big 16 on the front and a 17 on the back! That shirt drove people crazy when I used to wear it!

It so happened I was home in Lockport, NY before I started that job assignment. My mom, dad, good friend Toni, and I made the 55 mile trip to Perry, NY so I could stock up work clothes. We left early on a bright Saturday morning, driving through the Alabama swamps, the city of Batavia, and the rolling farmland till we reached Perry, NY.

Whenever we made this excursion we would have breakfast at “The Hole in the Wall” restaurant located in the heart of the village. This place was famous in they would always give a serviceman or woman their meal for free if they were in uniform. That tradition began during WWII. My metabolism was off the charts back then. I can still remember the look from my dad when I ordered bacon, eggs, homefries, and a side stack of hotcakes for my meal. I ate every bite!

Going to an outlet store was a big deal back then; I made the best of this opportunity stocking up with lots of heavy sweat pants and heavy sweatshirts. I have two of those sweatshirts remaining from that trip I can still wear. They are so battered and worn I only use them for the really messy jobs I don’t want to risk my better clothes on.

Working on the Graphophone mainsprings this past weekend was one such job where I was wearing the Temple University Football shirt. The cuffs were so ragged even I had to admit they made the sweatshirt unwearable. I did a laundry of my nastiest work clothes Monday. The grease washed out really well from that old sweatshirt; I could not bear to rip it into rags.

Google searches for “sweatshirt knit cuffs” led me to a discussion board. It was suggested that the elastic tops of socks can make perfect cuffs. What a great idea! It was easy to find a pair of socks with the bottoms pretty much worn through to use.

It was easy work to sew the sock-tops to the sweatshirt sleeves. I should be able to get at least another ten years wear out of that garment!

the shreds of the original cuffs and the new "sock cuffs"

This aspect of my life I can’t make sense of. I’ve made playing the “miser” into an art form. But, truth be told, I can get a comparable sweatshirt at the thrift store for a few dollars any time I want. Hell, I can even go to the “yuppie stores” and pay top dollar if I were so inclined. It is not the money aspect. Whenever I wear those old sweats I think back to when they and I were young. The memorable trip with those I cared about that early fall morning to Perry, NY: Working on the loading docks at UPS, doing chores around my first house in Lockport and now my home in Alabama. I always have happy memories wearing those worn out clothes. It is also a good way to annoy people… I’ve got ammo for years now harping on how to make use of worn out socks!!!

More Aggravation

Thursday, July 03, 2008

One step forward, two steps back. It is times like this I wonder why I put myself into the situations I do. Yesterday morning the double mainspring assembly arrived along with the needed fixings that will allow me to install it to my machine. I think the easiest comparison would be to think of the main platform that supports the motor assembly as to a basic automobile body that can take many forms. By switching out a mounting bracket and some gearing, a single spring motor can be improved to a double spring.

After I unwrapped the parcel I did a quick switch out to see if the springs were intact. It appeared the hooks on the arbor were disengaged from the spring. Opening the spring barrels I discovered the ends of the springs were all mangled. SHIT!! I had to say it.

The mainsprings had to be removed anyway, only now I’ll have to install new holes and reshape the inner spring coils. This loss of material will also shorten the running time a bit: This was aggravation I did not need. There was not much choice in the matter. Once removed from the spring barrel, the mainspring was uncoiled and clamped to a board. The end with the damaged section was heated with a torch to take the temper out of the steel that will allow the shears to cut the now “soft steel”. This end section was again annealed. Lay out blue was painted onto the end and the outline of the pear shaped hole was scribed. This was drilled and filed out. I can’t make any further progress until the graphite arrives and I can install and grease up the springs.

The new grill cloth has been glued into place and looks wonderful. One aspect of this job at least progressed without trauma!

A fast road trip looks to be in my future next week. The guys who have been salvaging the bricks from the Dixie Highway down in Florida are closing up shop. I contacted them and it looks like I’ll make one last brick run. I need a brick project after all this phonograph aggravation. I’ve missed my “brick road trips”. As much as I like travelling with Billy, he is not a Dairy Queen fan. When I’m on the road I need to have my “Blizzard Fix”. I know where all the Dairy Queens are on my route!

I’m not that far from Billy’s new home getting these bricks…but…. he and Linda will be in Ft Meyers for the next two weeks! It looks to be just a fast trip down and back.

It looks to be a lazy 4^th of July tomorrow. If all goes as planned I’ll bicycle over to Debbie’s and the crew will spend the day lounging around her pool. It is so hard for me to think back and realize it will be 12 years ago this week I put in the purchase offer for my house. I know I’ve mentioned before how I’m judging things by decades now!! I want to keep it at that!

Pot Metal Headaches

The dirty gearing and oil tubes. The pot metal yoke it the gray part on the right.

Friday, July 04, 2008

To Hell with high gas prices! I need bricks. The way things now look I’ll be on the road to Jacksonville, FL for a fast “brick run” next Wednesday. I want to get away from the fussy never-ending headache mechanical work I’ve been doing. It is crazy for me to bitch so. I mean this crap I’m working on was never meant to be still in use some 80 years after it was marketed. The fact this stuff is still serviceable is testament to how commonplace quality used to be in everyday lives years ago.

Until the flake graphite is delivered for the spring barrels I have to do other servicing to the motor. Thursday involved cleaning the old dried oil from the gearing. My ultrasonic cleaner does a good job on this nasty chore. Edison equipped this style motor with “oil tubes”. These were easily accessible where-by oil was fed into these tubes and it was delivered to important lubrication points. The end of these tubes had a felt type material that regulated the flow of oil. After 80 years this material is hard as a brick hardened from old oil. This material had to be drilled out of the tubes, a real pain in the butt job.

While cleaning the gears I realized the “yoke” holding the felt pads that regulate the motor speed was frozen. Again I have to say “SHIT!” Out of the entire motor assembly this one integral piece was cast of pot metal. It shows all the classic signs of “exploding”: cracks and fissures over the entire assembly. Any force to free this up will cause this cheap casting to crumble. The post this rotates on is riveted in place. Using a small escapement file I’m able to file the top of the rivet off. Then ever so carefully I tap on the center of this post with a punch to remove it from the housing. Just the tapping set up enough of a force to let loosen up each side of the yoke. One side flew onto the workbench, the other landed on the floor. SHIT!

There was good to come out of this. I moved that shaft just enough to free up the frozen yoke. The broken pieces were large and easy to work with. Thank God for JB Weld. The pieces were epoxied back into place yesterday. This morning I cut out supports out of copper that were scabbed onto the back of this yoke with the miraculous JB Weld. Tomorrow I’ll add more supports to the front of the yoke just to be sure. That will hold for my lifetime!

Soon as I post this it is time to head over to Debbie’s. The entire crew is supposed to meet there and lounge around the pool. I need a day off from the aggravation I’ve been putting myself through. Being “Green” now I going over on the bicycle. It is getting to be a habit now of riding everywhere….

A Happy 4^th to everyone!!

The Mushroom Effect

The Mushroom Effect

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

There is a term in house restoration called “the mushroom effect”. I think I’ve touched on this subject before. It is when a minor project evolves into a huge undertaking. That is what I’m in the middle of. UGH!!

This current phonograph restoration project was SUPPOSED to be just a cleaning up of the case and installing a new grill cloth. WRONG! The reproducer rebuild required a new diamond stylus. This was easy enough to order. But, to fit onto this late style head I needed to install a hook underneath the needle that attaches to a small tension spring. Again that is no impossible task.

Before electronics entered the sound reproduction scene, the sound waves recorded into the record groove were recreated mechanically. The Edison system utilized a “hill and dale” method where-by the record groove went “up and down” as opposed to the “lateral” method where the sound waves were recorded going "side to side" used by Victor and the other major record producers. A parallel comparison to this would be the battle between Beta and VHS video tape systems in the 1980’s. Technically Beta was the better system (as was "hill and dale), but because of poor marketing and business decisions by Sony it eventually lost out.

*I have to interject here… my good friend Donald was one of the first people I knew to have a tape system. He used to say..”Oh, I have a Betamax!” Talk about dated. Today, that sounds almost as obscure as me saying, “I have a Victrola!”

The needle in the groove transfers the information to a diaphragm which vibrates and is then amplified through a horn. That is the reason for the old records rotating at 78 rpm. That surface speed generated enough energy to the needle to properly recreate what had been recorded. In the Edison system for his disc players a woven silk link is used to connect the needle to the diaphragm.

After nearly 80 years these linkages are getting pretty worn and frazzled. (Hey that sounds like me!!) On this particular reproducer I’m working on, the link was almost broken through. A little bit of super glue is just what the doctor ordered. That repair worked fine until I happened to twist the damn thing installing the needle, where by it just snapped off.

Pretty much my Sunday was spent dismantling the diaphragm assembly and making up another linkage. It was pretty much one frustration after another. This aggravation is a reminder to me why I refuse to take work in from other people!

I worked out a system to where I first drilled out the fabric from the old linkage. From there I was able to open up the crimped housings and fish a new piece of woven material through. Through researching various message threads on a restoration site I learned the perfect replacement “string” can be obtained from “decorator tassels”. I have only one of those annoying things that came with a novelty music box I purchased a long time ago. Crazy as it sounds, it worked perfectly!

That was pretty much my Sunday.

Monday morning was spent at the bench making up the connector linkage for the diaphragm. A tiny threaded rod is screwed into an ivory button and then shellacked into place. I had one snap in half when I attempted to remove it. Nothing left to do but make up another one. It is not like you can go to a hardware store and buy any of this crap! Working under such tiny close tolerances is very draining. Figuring out the techniques with nothing to go by can be very frustrating. The next one I have to make will be much easier! Once it was done, I walked away from the bench. You have to know when to quit!

The double mainspring assembly should be here soon. It will be so nice to work with big things again! Everything is going to get torn apart, then cleaned and regreased/oiled. The best mainspring grease is 40% flake graphite and 60% Vaseline. I stopped at an auto parts store figuring if any place would even know what graphite was they would. They had never heard of flake graphite.

Once again I was saved by the internet. I have two pounds of #2 Flake graphite en route to me. I figure it is cheaper to pay the shipping over driving untold miles and getting aggravated. I get so tired of the pained looks I get trying to track down things nobody has ever heard of!

This morning I’ll apply a coat of oil finish to the phonograph case to see if I can breathe some shine into that alligatored finish. It all cleaned up pretty nice, but it was a junky/cheap cabinet to begin with, so I’m not expecting miracles!

Then I have to be in Greensboro for a memorial service at 11:00 a.m. My good friend Buck lost his son Edward last week. Edward was only 36, but let’s just say he had problems that cut his life short. Buck had told friends he had written him off years ago and been expecting his death for some time. That is so sad, but people have to take responsibility of their lives.

Enough of this sad and depressing stuff… time to feed the birds, fix my last cup of coffee, and then work on that cabinet…..

Another Restoration Project

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

We are getting into the full heat of summer here in Alabama. The days are clear and hot. There has not a drop of rain for the past few weeks. It appears we will have a continuation of the drought that has plagued this area for the past few years.

Tuesday I started to dismantle the Edison “Schubert” phonograph to start on the cabinet restoration. It is such a cheaply made piece of furniture when compared to the machines Edison produced just some 15 years earlier. The finish is “brown mahogany”. Typical of the finish and color of the 1927 era, this translates to a muddy brown that pretty much obscures any wood grain showing through. The grain of the wood is boring, so there is not really much of a loss. About the only interesting aspect of the finish is the two tone effect on the doors. Still with all these faults I’m against stripping off the original finish. The interior finish is in good condition with decals and markings that should never be removed. A refinish job would result in a smooth finish and shine, but the wood would still be ugly. I will keep the original crackled varnish finish: once it is cleaned and rubbed out it should have a bit of gloss.

Perhaps the best gauge as to the grimy condition of this machine is the paper label that attaches to the record slots. A cursory cleaning with an art gum eraser removed most of the grime. The paper is pretty fragile so the cleaned portion is about as far is I’m willing to go.

Looking at the inside of the cabinet: The felt on the turntable cleaned up to where it looks pretty presentable. Again you are always ahead to keep things original. The paper record guide goes on the left side where it holds down dividers that separate the stored records.

View of the machine with the left door “rubbed out”.

Saved Again By the Internet!

Monday, June 23, 2008

Before I close out the last day of the road trip to Chicago, I need to catch up on the current happenings. Anybody who knows me is not surprised when I become all obsessed in a restoration project. The latest has been the preliminary work on the Edison Schubert phonograph. I’ve been able to track down a needle which should be on it’s way.

The cabinet needs a good rubbing out. The exterior varnish is highly alligatored, but I’m hoping to be able to bring it back. The past few days have been trying to track down a suitable cloth for the front grill. The cloth original to the machine was ripped out long ago. There were some remnants of that fabric still glued to the sides. It was a patterned purple lightweight cloth. I made a preliminary visit to some fabric stores. Naturally I was treated like I was from outer space! I could not find anything even close.

Then I made my first forays to fabric sites on the internet. I looked at thousands of patterns with no luck. This morning I was running errands and I made the mistake of going to Michael’s craft store. They do not carry fabric, but I was totally grossed out regardless. Upon entering the store the color scheme for all the fake flowers was orange, brown, and yellow. Yup… they have the Fall collections up already! My God we just had the longest day of the year and they are three months ahead already. In a way this shows my ignorance in shopping in that I still register shock at this kind of thing.

I am on a mission to find a suitable cloth to fit behind the wooden grill. It has to be right, maybe not a perfect match, but close as possible. I have seen too many fine restorations marred by the wrong grill cloth.

If anything I’ve learned how to narrow down my searches. After a couple hundred views I realized I had to use the word “Jacquard” in my search as that would bring up material with patterns woven in. Using Google as an initial search engine I somehow got onto a site where I discovered the perfect material.

The color is an almost identical match to the remaining bits I have of the original. The pattern is not a perfect match, but it is in the same genre.

I ordered two yards in case someone needs some, I can save them the aggravation I went through. Also, it was only $4.00 a yard!

What a great way to round out the evening! Time to pull up Amos and Andy on the internet and relax with a cold glass of my box wine!

Time is Fleeting

If I remember correctly the song “Time Warp” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show starts….. “It’s astounding, Time is fleeting…Madness takes it’s toll”. How true: time has just been flying by for this boy, and as far as being mad goes…. I think I’ll plead the 5^th on that one!

People who really know me have seen me become consumed by a project. This latest patio mess is no exception. Monday found me making plans for a fast road trip to Dallas, TX for a mess of paving brick. I know it sounds crazy but as my sister aptly said: “Once Brick makes his mind up to do something he does it. Case closed.”

I got on the road Tuesday morning at 3:50 a.m. It is a straight shot west on I-20 to Dallas. I’m in luck whereby I miss the thunderstorms that are plaguing Mississippi. All through Louisiana and Texas the skies clouded up and get threatening only to later clear to brilliant sunshine. The brickyard is located on South Lamar St in Dallas. Once again the computer helped out greatly by using Google maps. Being able to enlarge the map to the most minute detail I can plot my route through the tangled mess of exit ramps. Traffic was light and I arrived a bit early from my projected time at 1:00 p.m. The guys at the yard were expecting me. As is normally the case in something like this cash payment is great appreciated. The pavers are only .60 ea so 200 only put me back $120. There was the nicest handyman on the yard who helped me load the things. This was the most weight I’ve ever had in the truck. The back is down as far as it can go. There were even 25 pavers packed in the cab with me! I had almost 600 miles under my belt; I wanted to get to Shreveport, LA for my night stop.

It was about 185 miles later I pulled off the road at exit 8 off I-20 at the Motel Six. The nicest woman checked me in. she had so much personality. I had her laughing so telling of this latest brick run. I made arrangements for a 4:30 wake up call the next morning. I really had her going when I told her I can’t wait to get my wake up call from Tom Bodett telling me I won the one million dollars! (That is the usual recording on the motel Six wake up call!!)

A “Catfish House” is just down the road. A take out catfish dinner and some cold Buds made for a great dinner to this road weary boy.

My wake up call is right on schedule…A woman’s voice tells me this is my wake up call.

Brick: Wait a minute, where’s Tom Bodett telling me I got a million dollars?

Woman: Hearty laughter…Oh baby I don’t have one million for you!

Brick: Laughing back…thanks, I’ll drop the key off on my way out….

What a nice way to wake up with laughing! I just love it when I get called “baby and Hun” in these situations.

I’m fine driving till I get to Jackson, MS. There were horrible thunderstorms I drove through. Even with all that weight I can feel the truck hydroplane on occasion. This is white knuckle driving. Mercifully the traffic is going slow in the right hand lane so I stay to the right.

I finally drive out of the worst of it and don’t have rain again till I get to the Alabama line. It is 75 miles from here to my little home. I don’t mind taking it slow now.

It was 11:15 when I walked in the door to be greeted by Daggy and Stumpy.

By 1:30 p.m I had the truck unloaded and the bricks piled up.

Thursday: The morning is delightfully cool: The perfect weather to get the ground ready for the new bricks. The hard clay is scraped and leveled. In one spot the ground is spongy. I dig down and discover the decaying remains of the tree that was destroyed back in 2000. The remains of the trunk and heavy side roots have to be dug up. UGH! This really heats me up and puts be behind time wise. Better to do the work now and have a good foundation than to skip the job and then have the patio “sinkhole” in a few years.

Time to load the truck up again: a short drive to Scotties for a load of crushed limestone. His business must be dong well. The yard is immaculate. I notice the bin containing the crushed limestone I need is nearly empty. He loads up a half yard into my little truck and the back end is back down to the ground!

That is unloaded and I need another ¼ yard to finish up: Another trip, another load of limestone. By the time I finish cleaning that mess off the truck I’m all done in.

Tamping down the crushed limestone.

But now I need to get the yard all detailed for the dinner party Saturday: I forgot to mention that one! I think everyone has a dish they know will always turn out and people love. That meal for me is bar-b-que lamb shanks. It was a standard dinner that my friends always looked forward to having. It has been some ten years since I cooked up that dish. The biggest problem is finding the lamb shanks to begin with. Publix markets has been carrying them. In the past few months I had acquired enough in my freezer to justify a dinner.

It makes no sense to just cook up a few, so I waited till I had even dozen shanks. I call the gang and everything is set for Saturday night. I told them to arrive around 5 and we will eat at 6:30 or so. The stove heats up the kitchen so; summertime is not the time to cook up a dinner like this. But I need to use these shanks up. I’m hoping cocktails and munchies can be out on the patio or front porch so the heated up house won’t make that much of a difference…

After the walk this morning I began the preparation of the shanks. They are first seasoned with salt, pepper, and paprika. Then they are browned in bacon grease using a cast iron frying pan. A sauce is made up using catsup, water, dry mustard, brown sugar, vinegar, and sliced onion. The shanks are arranged in a turkey roaster, the sauce is dumped over and the entire mess is slow cooked at 300 for a couple hours.

The secret is to have the shanks “rest overnight” to really soak up the flavor of the sauce. That also gives time to “defat” the sauce. Now the shanks and sauce just have to be warmed through for the dinner. When I have company over I hate to have to spend all my time in the kitchen!

Here are the shanks. Time to get them taken care of and get started on making the cheesecake for desert….

Moving Iron 7-03-2007

It is 6:30 a.m. as I type this out. I went to bed last night to the wonderful sound of RAIN! The threatening sky finally let loose after 10:00 p.m. Not a torrential downpour but a steady constant rain. It is so amazing the plants will “green up” after a good soaking. It must have rained most of the night, things are still very wet. Daggy and Stump returned into the house after the first check of the back yard with wet fur. That does not bother them much!

I still have to turn the central air-conditioner on. To annoy everyone I gave myself the deadline of July 4^th to activate the thing. My fans and cooling strategies have been working so well, I might see if I can go the entire summer without using it! People got by in the past without AC. It cooled off enough last night to where I had to get under the wool blanket. Stump insisted on going under the covers for a bit, curling up in the crook behind my knees.

Monday was another steamy hot day. Working on the patio extension I smell the foulest odor. I’m blaming one of the neighborhood cats that frequent the back yard on spraying. Then my little Daggy trots over digs a bit in the pile of dirt excavated for the storm sewer cover. She delicately “does her business.” This loose dirt is her new litter box! Now everything makes sense! That pile of dirt is in full sun so it really heats and ferments. I know what the next project will be!!!

The pad for the sewer cover has cured for a few days; it is ready for the cover to be installed. It is not hard to transfer the iron housing onto the four wheeled moving dolly. The ancient 2x6’s are set up as ramps. Using a scrap of iron pipe, this heavy housing is rolled into place! I used to help friends move upright pianos this way using large wooden “rollers”.

There is a little wobble in the housing. Using crowbars and some wood blocks for support the low side is raised up. Mortar is mixed up and applied in the gap. Ever so carefully the housing is raised, the supporting blocks taken out and then lowered onto the wet mortar. Once cured this will be solid as a rock!

I’m toying with how to tie this patio all together. I think using the Belgian Block around the sewer will give a “city feel” to the installation!

It is still gray and cool as I wrap this entry up. Maybe we will have more rain during the day. I have the door to the driveway open giving me a full view to the street. This so improves the air flow. The inside landing is Daggy’s favourite spot to stretch out. She is safe in her house, but has a full view and access to the outside.

Hot weather and Cement 6-30-2007

Hot Weather and Cement

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Debbie and I did our morning walk in Northport so we could splurge and get breakfast at City Café. It was a beautiful sunrise as we walked on the new levee along the Black Warrior River. I’m going to have to bring the camera the next time we do this walk. There are some excellent “picture possibilities” along here. City Café is not crowded at all. It takes a bit longer to get a breakfast order because everything is cooked to order. We are in no hurry. I get eggs over easy, grits, biscuits, and ham. This is the REAL ham with the bone in it. No processed stuff that is cut from a loaf. I savor each salty mouthful, even relishing the fat!

After breakfast I head to the new Lowe’s to get five 80 pound bags of Quickrete Concrete Mix. I’m hoping to have the forms all put up and hopefully the cement poured for the manhole cover project by tonight.

Before doing anything I have to remove the old forms from border bricks. All looks good. The cement is firm and set well. The new excavation for the “manhole pad” is staked out. The top of the pad must be seven inches below the top edge of where the face of the pavers will be. This entails a lot of digging. As the day wears on the heat builds. The temps stayed at 97 pretty much the entire afternoon. There were a lot of water breaks. Daggy had to come out to help too. Seeing the dusty hole, she had to try it out!

The completed brick edging. Note my iced coffee in the pub mug!

Daggy rolling in the dirt.

I realized I forgot to get cheap lumber for the forms. I take a much needed break to Lowe’s again for the wood. It is amazing the looks I get in my working outfit! Today I’m decked out in a pair of cut off sweat pants, a mesh wife beater, my logger boots, and cammo do-rag. My clothes are wringing wet and splotched with the red brown Alabama clay so prevalent here.

By the time I get home the sky is turning dark. This is wonderful. I will make up the forms in the morning. In all honesty I’m too tore up to do much more tonight.

I just get the tools get put away when the first raindrops start to fall. This is how the summer days are supposed to be. Hot with an afternoon thunderstorm to cool things off. My parched yard enjoys a soft steady rain for nearly an hour.

This morning (Saturday) I’m outside digging and fine tuning the concrete forms at 5:30 a.m.: the morning is so cool. As always, installing the forms is the buggiest part of the job. It is the unseen parts of the project like this that take up the most time.

I mix up seven 80 pound bags of concrete mix. I’m just 1 ½ bags short! Damn! Make a quick trip to Lowe’s. It is about 9:00 now and the store is packed. Naturally there are no cashiers open. One poor woman is trying to handle the entire building materials side. I feel so sorry for her.

The concrete gets mixed and the form topped off. I have to hunt up a coin with the date 2007 to put in the top. By doing that I will never ever be broke! I scratch my name in the top and have Stumpy walk across the top so his pawprints will be forever preserved!

The finished pad with the 2007 dime!

I have enough cement left over I can repair the corner of my driveway. That curbing has been missing forever. The dirt I’m excavating from the back is being transferred to the low area here. I won’t even attempt to grow grass here till the fall. Where this break is, the dirt will just wash into the street during heavy rains. Not now! I found a 2007 penny for this project!

From here on it is clean up time. The tools are cleaned of cement and put in the sun to dry. I’ve got all kinds of excavated plants to transplant. There are lilies that I brought down from my house in Lockport, daffodil bulbs, mum plants, and even a few peonies.

After all that I need a break. The soaking wet clothes are peeled off and clean dry things are put on. As I was typing this entry out Debbie called. At 5:30 we are going to meet for Mexican. I need a taco salad and a couple cold beers.

Hot weather and Cement 6-30-2007

Hot Weather and Cement

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Debbie and I did our morning walk in Northport so we could splurge and get breakfast at City Café. It was a beautiful sunrise as we walked on the new levee along the Black Warrior River. I’m going to have to bring the camera the next time we do this walk. There are some excellent “picture possibilities” along here. City Café is not crowded at all. It takes a bit longer to get a breakfast order because everything is cooked to order. We are in no hurry. I get eggs over easy, grits, biscuits, and ham. This is the REAL ham with the bone in it. No processed stuff that is cut from a loaf. I savor each salty mouthful, even relishing the fat!

After breakfast I head to the new Lowe’s to get five 80 pound bags of Quickrete Concrete Mix. I’m hoping to have the forms all put up and hopefully the cement poured for the manhole cover project by tonight.

Before doing anything I have to remove the old forms from border bricks. All looks good. The cement is firm and set well. The new excavation for the “manhole pad” is staked out. The top of the pad must be seven inches below the top edge of where the face of the pavers will be. This entails a lot of digging. As the day wears on the heat builds. The temps stayed at 97 pretty much the entire afternoon. There were a lot of water breaks. Daggy had to come out to help too. Seeing the dusty hole, she had to try it out!

The completed brick edging. Note my iced coffee in the pub mug!

Daggy rolling in the dirt.

I realized I forgot to get cheap lumber for the forms. I take a much needed break to Lowe’s again for the wood. It is amazing the looks I get in my working outfit! Today I’m decked out in a pair of cut off sweat pants, a mesh wife beater, my logger boots, and cammo do-rag. My clothes are wringing wet and splotched with the red brown Alabama clay so prevalent here.

By the time I get home the sky is turning dark. This is wonderful. I will make up the forms in the morning. In all honesty I’m too tore up to do much more tonight.

I just get the tools get put away when the first raindrops start to fall. This is how the summer days are supposed to be. Hot with an afternoon thunderstorm to cool things off. My parched yard enjoys a soft steady rain for nearly an hour.

This morning (Saturday) I’m outside digging and fine tuning the concrete forms at 5:30 a.m.: the morning is so cool. As always, installing the forms is the buggiest part of the job. It is the unseen parts of the project like this that take up the most time.

I mix up seven 80 pound bags of concrete mix. I’m just 1 ½ bags short! Damn! Make a quick trip to Lowe’s. It is about 9:00 now and the store is packed. Naturally there are no cashiers open. One poor woman is trying to handle the entire building materials side. I feel so sorry for her.

The concrete gets mixed and the form topped off. I have to hunt up a coin with the date 2007 to put in the top. By doing that I will never ever be broke! I scratch my name in the top and have Stumpy walk across the top so his pawprints will be forever preserved!

The finished pad with the 2007 dime!

I have enough cement left over I can repair the corner of my driveway. That curbing has been missing forever. The dirt I’m excavating from the back is being transferred to the low area here. I won’t even attempt to grow grass here till the fall. Where this break is, the dirt will just wash into the street during heavy rains. Not now! I found a 2007 penny for this project!

From here on it is clean up time. The tools are cleaned of cement and put in the sun to dry. I’ve got all kinds of excavated plants to transplant. There are lilies that I brought down from my house in Lockport, daffodil bulbs, mum plants, and even a few peonies.

After all that I need a break. The soaking wet clothes are peeled off and clean dry things are put on. As I was typing this entry out Debbie called. At 5:30 we are going to meet for Mexican. I need a taco salad and a couple cold beers.

Cement, Bricks, and Manhole Covers

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

It is 6:30 a.m. as I type this out. The mornings truly are the favourite time of the day for me. The watering has been done. I know I sound like a broken record on the drought here. Today I hooked up the soaker hose the front holly hedge. I’ve lost one mature plant. It had been sickly for awhile so I’m not sure I can blame it on the drought or not. I will not attempt to plant a replacement till the fall. The annuals seem to be holding their own. The two rubber plants on the front porch are flourishing. They must be a real masochist type of plant. The abuse they have received over the years, they have no reason to be here now! They are in cement planters that drain onto the concrete porch. The water that drains out is Daggy’s favourite drinking water. It drives me crazy! I give those cats fresh water every day! I guess the “dirt filtered” water has a better taste to her!

I am worn out. I had forgotten what a pain in the butt is to mix up concrete. Yesterday afternoon I made a trip to the brickyard to get 50 bricks to line this new patio addition. On the way there I stopped at the wastewater plant. It was recommended I check here for a manhole cover. I heard voices as I entered the building. Three guys were in a “break room” kind of place. I asked them who I should talk to see about getting a cover. They directed me to the head guy upstairs. I’m not sure if it is professional courtesy or not I was not treated as if I were totally mad in requesting this. The city can’t sell me a cover. He referred me to the supplier they use. This supplier is just around the corner. As I was leaving one of the guys was laughing, “You gonna get one?” he asked. “Things are looking good!” I answered. He gave me the high sign as I left!

In the street in front of my house:

First I have to get my bricks. It kills me to actually buy NEW bricks! But this has to be so the top edge of the patio addition is uniform. I found a great old looking style brick with “Old Virginia” stamped into the face.

On the way home is when I check supplier for the manhole cover. Once again the people I talk to don’t think I’m crazy at all! I’m taken into the “yard” after donning a safety vest and hard hat to see the covers. Yup, there is the familiar cast iron cover with “City of Tuscaloosa” all embossed with a great art deco cityscape. The cover with the ring is only $199.00 plus tax. This guy I’m dealing with is laughing as I tell him my patio plans. He has really made my day. I’m sure he told his family about the guy who was in his office to buy a manhole cover that evening at dinner!

I finished up the afternoon mixing the five bags of cement left over from last years projects. There was nearly enough to fill the forms. The bricks are soaked in water and then placed on top and leveled. They get soaked first so they don’t soak the moisture prematurely from the cement. This slow cure makes for a much stronger bond.

Today I’ll dig the other half of the trench. The cement will be set up enough to where I can remove the forms and reuse them on the other half.

I also need to ship stuff off to Louis via Fed Ex. The terminal is right in the area where the manhole supplier is; I might just pick the thing up today.

It is a muggy morning as I type this out. What does a “Damn Yankee” do in this type of weather? For this boy, the answer is: “Work with bricks!”

Originally I had hoped to fill a small grassy area using my rocks gathered from the shores of Lake Ontario. As fate would have it, I’m just a few rocks shy of a full load of being able to complete this. I had planned on getting more rocks my last trip home but the weather and Joe being sick changed those plans.

Instead I decided to extend the patio I built last summer.

Saturday was the start of laying out the new addition of the patio. My first plans were of a small addition using the cobblestones brought back from Pennsylvania last spring. Not now. This patio will be almost doubled in size when the addition is completed.

The center point is found on the patio side. A pipe is driven into place. A string is measured to the side of the patio. This will measure out the outside perimeter of the addition. My shovel is tied off on this and the first cut is made.

The pick axe is used to dig the trench where the cement foundation will be poured. Daggy was helping me at this point. She started out in the cool shade of the ivy and wisteria. Once she saw all that dirt piling up she had to roll around in the dry soil.

Stumpy chose the more sensible route and camped out on the cool stone bench. I did not want to leave the house, but I had to make a quick trip to Lowe’s to get some treated 1x4x12’s. These I’ll use to make the cement forms. I really need to do a shopping trip. There is very little in the house for food. More important; I need another “cardboard Kegger”. I learned that is the current college term for box wine! There is a nasty place not far from me that sells beer and wine near the University I stop at on the way home.

While all this is going on, I’m thinking on how to make this patio project unique. Sure I’m using all this reclaimed brick, but I need something to really make the finished product stand out. Then the light bulb goes off in my twisted little mind. If I can install a manhole cover in the middle of all this I can rant on how the city is so messed up they had to put a sewer access in my back yard! That is to be the mission for this week, see if I can wrangle a manhole cover somewhere!

Sunday I start work on the forms. These need to be notched so they can be formed into a curve. Wooden stakes are made to secure the forms into the trench. This is the real pain in the neck part of the job. I went through most of the lumber at Lowe’s to get the straightest stuff I could. This is pretty cheap wood so there are tons of knots, which do not bend and flex well.

The forms have to be installed so there will be a slight dip. This facilitates the run off of water when it rains. (That is a funny one! Rain!!!)The outside form is the first to be installed. This is leveled off using a section of pipe. The string is brought out again and measured against the inside edge of the form. Once everything is as it should be, the inside board is installed. Scrap bricks are used as spacers between the two boards. The inside board is leveled and staked in. This is fussy work taking up most of the afternoon. I’m just about finished when it actually rains a bit!

There is not much I can do till I get new bricks. I detest buying new bricks for this project. But, I need bricks with a constant thickness for this part of the patio. I don’t have anything in any quantity in my horde for this part of the job.

I call it a day when the rain arrives. I wish it were a steady hard rain, but it turns out to be just a sprinkling for about half an hour or so. It was just enough to dampen everything; not much more.

I’m sweaty, hot and dirty. A wonderful prolonged hot shower has me feeling like a million bucks. After enjoying the last of my steak I take a break walking around in my back yard. I study the ancient power pole my phone and electric lines run off. It is so archaic I think it could be considered for landmark status. Something is not right….the power lines to my house are draped over my security light. The supporting “guy wire” is loose from the pole. My God that is all I need is to have those lines short out!

Going again through “voice mail hell” only this time with the power company, I’m able to talk to a real person. I try to explain the situation with the incoming power lines. This is not a dire emergency yet, but it needs to be taken care of soon. Hopefully this was fixed up on the work order to make sense to the lineman when they come out….

If those lines shorted out on that light standard it would fry my house wiring for sure. It is always something here…….

Window Wonderland

My High Electric Bill

Thursday, June 14, 2007

If there is one thing I delight in, it is annoying my friends with my frugality. Sunday I announced how upset I was going through all my bills. I found my electric bill was higher for May 2007, than it was for May 2006. “I’m going to have to cut back even more.” I announced in a solemn voice. “My last bill was $44.29: that is 14 cents over last years bill.” This naturally brings out the predictable moans and cheap comments.

One reason I can keep this bill low is by rarely using my air conditioner. I have yet to turn it on this year. I have tested it out to make sure all is working properly. According to Google, it is currently 93 degrees outside. In my center hallway where the thermostat is located, the temperature is a comfortable 80 degrees. Having a constant air flow helps a great deal in cooling things off. The two ancient oak trees on the west/front of the house do a great deal in keeping the hot afternoon sun from heating things up in the house. The front door is open: the screen door keeps out the bugs while allowing the air to circulate. All the double hung wooden windows are open allowing a cross flow of airin every direction.

A job I have been putting off for years is installing new sash cord on the set of three windows in my dining room. Since moving here, when I opened these windows they had to be propped open with a section of lumber. Normally with double hung windows using cords and weights, there is an access panel on the side of the window frame. Not here… truth be told: this house of mine is not of the best construction when compared to my old house in New York. In all my other windows I had to remove the outside casing to replace the rotted out sash cords. That way I did not disturb the interior finished woodwork.

Outside casing removed showing compartment for the weights.

The problem in the dining room is; I can’t remove the outside casings without destroying the sill of the center window. In order to replace the cords I’ll have to install my own access panels. This will be an all day job, but it needs to be done.

The first step is to take down the wooden blinds, burglar bars, parting strip and the inside molding. Two holes are drilled in the channel of the parting strip. These are done at a 45 degree angle. Then a saber saw with a new, sharp, fine blade cuts across through the board. Once the two cuts are made, duct tape is put over the top cut to prevent the board from falling into the casing when the long cut is made to connect the two holes.

A piece of a paint stirring stick is glued to the back of the bottom cut to support the newly cut panel when it is reinstalled. A shim is glued to the top of the cut out panel. This is sanded down to make a nice flush fit when all is put back in place. A pilot hole is drilled at the top cut. This hole is enlarged on the panel and recessed. When this is screwed back in place it is barely discernable.

I’m able to remove the outer casings on the outside frames making for an easier replacement of the cords. Looking at this picture reminds me another job to be done. I realized after stripping and redoing these windows(many years ago) that Marine/spar varnish holds up beautifully for interior window sills over the normal varnish I use for the woodwork.

That was my Wednesday. I was a happy camper being able to raise and lower the windows as they were originally meant to be. I’m not a fan of burglar bars; they were on the house when I bought the place. They stop the upper window sash from opening. However, I feel a lot safer from a random burglary having them there.

Final Water Heater Entry

Back from hiking on the Appalachian Trail and had to finally post this last water heater entry. Catch-Up

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Where to start? Last Thursday night was the initial operation of the new water heater. I held my breath as I opened the water and gas valves. The electric power to the unit was turned on, and I opened the hot water control to the outside shower. I heard the inner workings of the heater start up and in no time I had hot water streaming out of the showerhead! Success!!! I took a long, HOT shower to celebrate!

On Monday the 19^th I finished up the “tweaking” of the installation. The cold water line was not level, and I wanted to be certain all the connections were tight. That cold water line was fully functional, but just knowing that it was out of level drove me crazy. I could not look at it without wanting to remedy the situation. It only took ½ an hour to cut a section out of the line and re-sweat the thing. Now I can rest easy! So many times the threaded copper fittings and unions will develop small leaks after a day or two. This job was no exception; there were a couple drips that I had to contend with. All seems well now.

The exposed pipes were insulated and attached to a support yesterday. Today I will insulate the pipes in the crawl space and install permanent pipe hangers. The plastic coated wire I used for the installation could suffice, but after all this work, I want the job to be finished up right.

With this plumbing project out of the way, it was time to get back to my workshop roof. The shingles I had special ordered arrived at Lowe’s on Thursday. Saturday afternoon I went to pick them up. Customer service checked everything out and told me to go see George in the building dept. I can tell George is the comic relief of the dept. He is having a great time interacting with his friends and customers. George and his working partner are loading lumber when I arrive. Long boards of pressure treated wood were being transferred into the bed of an ancient truck: an old short bed Ford from the 1960’s. None of the door colors match the body and primer covers much of the trucks surface. A chromed tool box takes up half the truck bed. (It would not surprise me that this tool box cost more than the truck!) The proud owners of this vehicle stand by as this wood gets piled into the back and make no attempt to help. There is long overhang of wood over the tailgate; this is a very unsteady load. You can tell these are trailer people. The man opens the tool box, takes out a hammer and nails a red flag to the longest piece of wood hanging out. Then they drive off. That load was never tied down or secured in any way. Turning the corner to exit the parking lot, the spare tire rolls off the truck bed, bouncing onto the parking lot. Fortunately it did not hit anything. I see this type of thing every day here in the Deep South. People wonder why I hate to drive in the mist of all this?

I get the shingles home and try to get them transferred to the workshop roof. There is a Mimosa tree that grew up in Michelle’s back yard that makes this almost impossible. She told me I was free to take it down, in fact she was very happy at the idea when I suggested it to her. This tree is only a few years old, but things grow so fast here. I get out my axe and try to play Paul Bunyan. The trunk of this tree is very springy; I’m losing all the power of the axe as the trunk moves upon impact. Checking the growth of this nasty tree, I see how it originally started on my property, grew sideways under the chain link fence, and then up into Michelle’s yard. I transfer the chopping to my side of the fence. Once I get some notches cut into the trunk, I take my chains, cables and “come-along” back to Michelle’s yard. One of the chains is wrapped around the huge Pecan tree, the other chain around the Mimosa tree. The come-along is fastened between the two and ratcheted up tight. It does not take much to snap the trunk where the notches are cut.

Gary is cooking dinner tonight. It is getting late, I will just have enough time to shower and shave now. The mess will have to get cleaned up Sunday.

With Sunday being Father’s Day, Debbie calls to invite me to lunch with her, Sherri, and Jammer. This sounds wonderful. I need a day to take it easy. At the restaurant I am bad and get chicken alfredo on spinach pasta. It was so good. This dish is a treat that I ration myself to just a couple times a year!

The Home Builders Association is hosting the “Parade of Homes” this weekend. This is an event where the best of the new homes are showcased. Usually all the appliances are upgraded and things are finished off nicer than a usual “spec” home. We decide to check out a couple of $500K homes to see how the other half lives. I am so amazed at what people will buy. The new trend I guess is to have everything open. The entire kitchen is all in plain view from all the common house areas. Now any dirty dishes or kitchen clutter is part of the décor! These show homes are all in these new developments that are named after the wildlife that used to reside there: Quail Hollow for example. What was once a meadow is now a cul-de-sac of ugly houses.

I was always under the impression that people moved into these places so they could have privacy and space around them. It just boggles my mind that these McMansions are built right on top of each other. In one of these places the view from the yupped out dining room is the poorly laid brick wall of the neighbors’ house some 10 feet away. Looking out the other direction is the view out the French doors: the back yard, a bare grassy area surrounded by a stockade fence surrounded by more poorly designed houses.

I will take my old place in the city with all its flaws and character any day over the overpriced, shoddily made houses being promoted and hyped today.

My nerves were so shattered by all this: I had to take a nap before attempting to clean up the Mimosa tree mess over at Michelle’s. Michelle is out so I can easily get the wheelbarrow into her back yard and not worry about scratching her BMW.

I end the day moving the last four bundles of shingles onto the roof.

It looks like my next project will again involve bricks and Belgian Blocks...anything heavy and frustrating!!!