August 27, 2017

Yesteryear
One year ago today: August 27, 2016, just reshuffling the deck.
Five years ago today: August 27, 2012,missing the sexy part.
Nine years ago today: August 27, 2008, my IQ is 100. Exactly.
Random years ago today: August 27, 2011, on corporate sex.

           Sunday. Good morning, or let me consult my handy nautical almanac, here we go, it will be morning in another one hour and one minute, as determined by sunrise. Today is slated for a motorcycle trip just to see what’s there. There’s nothing there, nothing new under the American sun. It’s still fun only because of the motorcycle, y’know. It’s that or measure out some plumbing pipe, which I’ll get to in a moment anyway. I’ve already sent JZ the letter to see if he wants to rough it in. You want the joke on me? That set of blocking I put along the wall was unnecessary. See photo. That is only required for wall-mounted sinks, and I plan to have a counter. With real storage cabinets underneath.

           Accentuate the positive. Okay, man, that is one solid wall. And next time I read the manual twice before proceeding, although, I had quite an enjoyable afternoon building that wall. Listening to that loonie liberal Jeff Beck, who I’ve probably heard before but didn’t know it. What? Don’t laugh, it’s a good thing there are still people like me who have not been force-fed on his brand of rubbish.

           He was all about the usual, mostly misinformed ranting. He suggests all hatred is taught to people who don’t know the facts. So he was supplying facts like the Volkswagen was designed by Hitler. Nonsense, it was designed by Ferdinand Porsch. But we get it Jeff, you don’t like Donald Trump. And I’ll be he doesn’t care for you. Yep, I was plenty entertained with that wall. However, it is the other wall that is the next task. I have to level the floor first.
           And who remembers that package of muffins for singles. Where you made one muffin in a cup. Well, it was okay but after the first one, the rest of the box sits in the cupboard. I’m used to making a batch at a time. Can’t change my lifestyle over muffin mix, which brings me to the next point. I was again asked why I don’t finish the second bedroom and rent it out. The answer is that was never my plan for the room, it was a plan for survival and I’m not anywhere near that mode. Around the only situation I would consider for that would be a FWB situation but that involves finding a compatible woman. And if I could find that, why separate bedrooms? There, does that answer the question?

           Here’s a picture of the park in Mulberry. Once more, no swimming due to the possibility of alligators. I was in a coffee shop of unknown but recent ancestry. I was up early for reasons and had to pull off the road when the rain came. Being prepared, I used the time to sketch out the laundry shed. Now careful here, it is only referred to as the laundry shed, the area will be used for storage until the happy day I throw in the appliances.
           You see, although everything I have used to be crammed into a trailer, it doesn’t fit in my new house. Why? Because the house has something different than the trailer—room to move around. There are still a large number of boxes and suitcases inside the house which I would like to move out to a shed as I’m completing the renovation. They get in the way, you know how it is. This will throw a $400 wrench in my plans to have the floor ripped up, but then, I won’t have to move things back and forth like in the bedroom, provided, that is, I have a shed. This is the old situation where I’ll need three sheds in existence at some point just to have two in the end. You can figure that one out on your own.

Picture of the day.
Rich food.
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           The things we find in that back yard. And one of them was this pulpit. We know it was some sort of bookstand, but this one has history. Take a look at the carved inscription ‘neath the lid. That’s not branded in there, it is expertly carved. Any translators out there? Nope. Here, let me have a stab at it. Let’s see, D.M.C. That’s Deacon Mark Chalmers. Because they all had names like that in 1926, didn’t they now? d.d. is the phone company code for Due Date, but churches didn’t have phones in 1926. So it means some Latiny thing for dedicated to J.M.C. That would be Jesus Methodicalist Church. How’m I doing so far? Okay, your turn with the 1926.

           A break in the rain and I suited up for another run into town. We need some money to start framing that laundry shed. After much pondering, I’ve decided the best thing to do is build it even if it is not used for laundry right away. New information tells me that the red shed is over 40 years old. If you get repeat photos at stages like this, it just means I’ve gone over the same material again. This photo shows a few things, including the old red shed the concrete pylons on the side, where the laundry is intended.

           What is not apparent is that shed is resting on a concrete pad that is in excellent condition. Rather than rip it up, I intend to position the new shed so that it faces the pad and use it for parking. It would then be minor effort to place a car port over the pad and get at least one of my beautiful motorcycles out of the weather. This photo must have been taken in the spring, during the drought. Today it is completely overgrown with vines and clover. Note the nine-foot tree stump, the one that grew around the water pipe that will feed the laundry.
           Rather than try to level the pylons, I’ve decided to put small 4x4 uprights, say a foot high, onto the pylons. The level the joists, not the concrete. Mind you, I will shoot for as level as I can with the footings, but I’m not going to mess with them. Once the joists are laid down and level, I can trim the uprights flush. See, I’m catching on. I’m undecided on how to deal with the tree, but it is staying put. It has become too much of a landmark in the yard. The best I can say for now is the shed will be twelve feet long, at least. The shed will also isolate the lizgarden (back yard fenced area) from direct view from the street, which I kind of like. Ain’t nobody’s business what goes on back there even if it is nothing.

           Another concession to quality is I’m framing the shed 16” on center. The difference in cost against 24” on center is less than $18, so go for the sturdy design. As for the roof, I’m going for the lean-to shape instead of the peaked style. Easier to build and easier on the pocketbook, but I’m careful to make sure the format is exactly half a full-size shed should that become feasible a little later.
           Do I start now, or do I wait for JZ, who may or may not show up next month? How about I compromise? I put down the joists and plywood, see how it goes. Am I overconfident because building the 2x6” wall didn’t kill me? Isn’t this extra shed more of luxury right now that a necessity? It’s a pity opportunities always look smaller coming than going. Why can’t I see this shed ads real value to the property while that old shed, well, it has to go sometime. Why is there never anybody around when I need this kind of advice? Or is it only me?

Quote of the Day:
“Her face was her chaperone.”
~ Robert Hughes
           A while later we have some progress in the back yard. It is going along easy enough with getting the concrete pads level that I may dispense with the 4x4 idea. Shown here is the 12 foot 2x6 I’m using to mark out the dimensions. These puppies cost $9 apiece these days. I’m old enough to remember when they were 90 cents. Due to the tree and the way I’ve made the design, the shed will be 6’x12’, or 72 square feet. If you refer to the above picture, you can see the pylons resting on the ground and the entire shed has to fit in that space between the tree on the left and the red building on the right. Oh, and I checked the concrete pad under the old shed and it is 5” thick, at least on the edges. There’s my carport, methinks.

           I remember reading that short joists are stronger than long joists, so I’m going to price out running the members opposite to my plan. Moments later, nope, that would mean the joists the long way would be 12 feet between supports. And the more you look at this laundry shed, the more it appears to be a spare bedroom. I dug up the piers, deepened the hole by 6”, and added 2 more piers. The extra six inches is for a gravel base. I still don’t know where around here to get any gravel. Except maybe the riverbed.

           The sky is darkening by 7:00PM for the season. It was raining but I worked as long as I could. Yes, in the rain, which was more of a sprinkle. But compared to working in the sun, hey. I dug four of the foundation holes before quitting time. I ran the prices for this shed and just for the foundation, floor, walls, and roof, and I easily racked up an $800 tab before I got to the shingles and siding. Tell you what, I know floor size, so I will go price what they have at the yard. Seems to me, though, the cheapest wood frame shed was something like $1,400. That shed requires a foundation, and the one I’m building is close to $300 just in materials. Go that route and soon that bargain store-bought shed is soon going to look like $2,000.
           The rationale? Easy, a shed adds value. Maybe not as much as new shingles on the roof, but still a lot of value. I talked to Agt. R, he says the best thing to do in this area is buy gravel in 50 lb bags. Buy gravel? I’m from out west where some places pay you to haul it away. Okay, I’ll look. He’s working Mondays but I can haul a ton in the wagon with the batbike. I need him here Wednesday or so if I’m ready to stand up the walls. I’ve allocated four hours that day which includes the time to go buy, load, and offload the lumber. That’s cutting the budget mighty close this month. There’s something like $7.38 left on the books.

ADDENDUM
           Millennial-think. I’ve discovered if my phone battery goes completely dead, guess what? When you charge up, the ringer volume sets itself to zero. I ask you, if these millennials are working at programming jobs, who is running Hell? Turn the ringers off by default, have you ever heard of anything so stupid? Yep, this is the generation that will nail the lid on America’s coffin. If we don’t get to Mars before 2030, it won’t happen and this planet will go to the dogs. The 1% didn’t get that way by feeding the homeless and they had better make plans to get off this planet. Let the libtards have it and see how far they get when there’s no money left to steal.

           Here’s a cheery picture of the vines blooming in the back yard. I didn’t know vines did that. This is the crop that grew along the chain link fence that encompasses the lizgarden. Oh, did I mention I saw another house that has the African spike plants so it isn’t a weed of some sort. That could easily fool me, since what do I know about horticulture? Wallace likes that word, horticulture.

           More rain, but that means it will start cooling down early this year—usually. The reason for the rain is the air is already cooler than usual. So was my office which means I was there with pencil and paper, a vastly superior doodling method that available with the Android apps. It’s great, you can put the wall where you want it instead of where some hipster thinks it should be. Here’s the thing, you don’t usually get a character like me digging holes in the back yard unless he is thinking, “Why, at my age, am I still digging holes in the back yard. Then it hit me.
           I’m going inside to make some comparisons. You come back tomorrow and I’ll tell you what that’s all about. The hint I will give you is that budgets are not simply a way of writing down your expenses. It is a plan for the future and it only works if you modify what you are doing now to reach that goal. I realized the motive for this shed was to get all the extra unpacked boxes out of the house and run in a washer and dryer.


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