September 5, 2016

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 5, 2015, on birdbaths.
Five years ago today: September 5, 2011, codfish muffins, yeah!
Nine years ago today: September 5, 2007, an invitation to Kissimmee.
Random years ago today: September 5, 2012, another Rhodes scholar.
MORNING
           Welcome to Smallville, USA. The library, my primary source of Internet access, has been closed since Friday noon for Labor Day. You can forget about getting anything done in central Florida for that stretch. Here’s the high point of the morning, the lawn cover. Consisting totally of that plant shown y’day, you see how it covers the yard with a nice even green that so far does not need mowing. Enjoy, it’s too good to last.

           It was kind of quiet around here, I even found one of the missing Roy Rogers DVD missing from my set. I’m beginning to suspect Trigger, the smartest horse in the movies, was marginally smarter than old Roy himself. I never saw a full episode as a kid, though I often heard others sing the ditty. What I saw I considered trite by the time I was ten.
           Times have changed. If this was today, the number of times old Roy was arrested and broke out of jail, he’d have a hard time getting a job at the car wash. This time, he half electrocuted the sheriff to get out. Luckily, the sheriff was a very forgiving fellow, or possibly learning that Roy is always being framed for something or other.
More hay, Trigger? No thanks Roy, I’m stuffed.

Picture of the day.
Signpost.
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NOON
           That floor. All the work I did over the past few days is coming out. Despite the most careful measurements and the laser level, I’ve concluded the floor must be shifting on its own. If they can’t be fixed, they must be replaced. I’ve drawn up the plans. Rather than remove the old joists, I will start at the opposite edge and put new joists 16 inches on center. Once in place, I’ll chain saw the old joists to somewhat too shallow and just leave them there as extras.
           Since the work will be interior, I’ll use deck joist hangars. Then use cedar shingles to level the new joists down the floor center. I seriously tried to preserve the original flooring and lumber but I’m done screwing around with it. This is the third try and about all that can be expected out of me. I got JZ on the horn but he is partial to further work with the old joists. But he can’t be here until Friday and I’m not waiting.

           The good news is the northern Cardinal is back and has found the birdfeeder. He’s right outside my window now. No pictures until the whole family is comfortable with movement inside the window. Something may be spooking him, as he is too skittish. Possibly the feeder needs to be raised higher off the ground.
           This photo is part of the new generation of Arduino ready-made circuits. You can read this one is a gyro, a separate subject I am looking into. I see the XYZ axes are diagrammatically depicted right on the substrate. I’m curious how this works without moving parts. Or are the parts just too small to see? Arduino did not take the world by storm and there has still not been your billion-dollar invention as I predicted.

           But I also predicted that as the Arduino became more or less the standard microcontroller, you’d see an increasing number of the mini-boards. The Arduino is not a computer, it is only a microcontroller, but I recently saw plans for somebody who got it to work as a four-bit computer. I’d like to see that, if only because I once mapped out how to do the same using only discrete components. I long for things to get settled enough that I can hobby some more.

           Here’s something else ahead of Miami. An electric vehicle charging station up at the Dunkin Donuts. Kudos to the people that came up with the gas pump styling. I have not checked how it works. There seem to be two hoses, depending I suppose whether you like your juice regular or unleaded. Like service stops out west, you just don’t see such things in multicultural south Florida, or you’ll find somebody squatting there. I’ll look up the instructions, it is called EVgo.

AFTERNOON
           Ha, you think you’ve had enough of that floor? What about me? But hey, you like this blog because it discusses the failures as well as the successes. After reflecting on three botched attempts to level the existing joists, this compound photo (below) is Plan 4. No, the lumber did not get all that nice and clean by itself. I sat down and stared at the framing. Then, I noticed that 2x6” plate laid flat across the concrete pylons. You don’t get that on modern housing.
           In panel one, you can see my measuring tape along the 2x4” wall plate, showing that distinct lip that extends into the house on the bottom. Next panel shows a 2x6” (marked SEPT 2016) end plate fit between the existing warped joists. Ah, new technology to the rescue. The third panel shows a sample of a deck joist hanger in place. It ain’t moving, and that is the new part—these hangers were not available in 1946. They are, I understand designed so that you can build a deck without nail heads protruding to the exterior.

           Which brings us to panel four, the sample joist in place, not quite twelve feet long. It is not apparent in this view, but it rests too high on the center girder, that plate along the bottom of the photo. I will notch the joist and shim it to level, for these joists support nothing but the floor. The joist lying flat is for me to sit on—I’m not a construction worker. These joists are otherwise non-bearing. Now, it no longer matters if the house is level.
           Yeah, I know. Why didn’t I just do it this way this from the start? That’s easy—the same reason you didn’t. What, you want to know about the old tire? JZ found it. That’s where it was when we ripped up the oak. The new joists will be 16” on center as shown here. Tomorrow I rip up all the work that’s been done so far and start over.

NIGHT
           Thinking what a lovely night for a bike ride, I went out a couple of miles. The “gentle rainstorm” found me so I parked at the only open business and scribbled in my notebook for a few hours. This is not letting up so I biked until I got soaked, then walked the last twenty blocks. It was cool, not cold, and brought back memories. When I was a kid, there was a church bell tower next door. Many a time in the rain I used to crawl up in there and wait until the lights went out at home. Anything was better than going in there to “face the music”, they called it.
           For no reason, these memories returned. I was always out late back then, staring at the stars, spying on Russians, counting frogs, but then you had to go back into that door with seven people who had been sitting there doing nothing since school let out. And the gossip machine awaited. Better to wait there in the rain in the bell tower. One quickly learned gossip is idle, it will not wait up. It would return tomorrow but for night it will be quiet.
           But getting in from the rain with an appetite, ah, that’s the time to feast. Fried rice with veggies and slices of kielbasa. Think of it as jambalaskaya or something along those lines. No photos. Use your imagination. This cowboy is going to sleep tonight.

ADDENDUM
           Once again, I warn that while you cannot remain anonymous in America, you can lessen your chances of being a natural first target. Remember, when things go wrong, it is the people with nothing to hide who get picked off first. Just because the press has spent a half century giving “conspiracy” a bad name doesn’t mean there is no such thing. The fact is, when the FEMA roundups begin, you are better off if your name is Zimmerman. It is simply wise to avoid being any lists unless you agree. And I just found another sneaky list.
           Coupons that arrive in your mailbox. I got two, one addressed to the former owner and one to current occupant. In a moment, I noticed the bar code was different for each addressee, so I asked the neighbor to see his coupon. Sure enough, they are coded. Once again, I remind any simple-minded types who got here by mistake that it is not the coupon that is devious, it is the attempt to gather the information covertly. Database admin is expensive, so much so that they are not collecting the information to “serve you better”. I study history, most people do not.


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