One year ago today: January 21, 2017, still playing carpenter.
Five years ago today: January 21, 2013, no common interests.
Nine years ago today: January 21, 2009, remember Cash Cab?
Random years ago today: January 21, 2003, early pictures.
Today happened in segments, so if things are out of order, fill in the blanks yourself. This photo, as an example, was taken late in the day. It looks like tangled wiring, but it is actually the opposite. The wire arrives in a coil and it has to be untwirled or it will kink when drawn through the studs. This is how the wires bunch up after that treatment. These lengths are measured to reach the breaker box. Right now they are connected temporary. That’s the metal box on the wall.
As for the next few hours, there is nothing new to see. I’m laying down the floor and insulating for the second time. Any pictures will seem familiar, but here is what I’ve been at a few hours. The electrical took the majority of the day with all the work taking place in a few feet. A lot of back and forth, which most people find tedious. I had to remove and pull the wire three separate times due to inexperience. Let me check, yep, that part took 5-1/2 hours of the 8-hour work day. If this was a day job, I’d have been fired on the spot.
Here’s a picture anyway. Visible are the new joists and the bolt heads. The [floor] insulation was completely removed and is now being replaced. The A/C cutout is shown high up on the wall. Otherwise, you would have seen most of this room the first time around. As I went to fasten the sub-floor panels, I discovered the house itself is a little out of square. That was an unexpected snag, so I called it a day.
Remind me to pick up more strain reliefs. That’s the little assembly at the electric boxes that pinches the wire so it doesn’t tug inside on the connections. I could not find them in the catalog for the longest time. That’s because they are called knockouts. I thought the hole they fit into was the knockout, but I would not be surprised since engineers are not known for coming up with descriptive terms. To me, the word ‘knockout’ is used to describe your new girlfriend, not construction materials. You say what? That’s the answer? Oh, I get you. Being engineers, they would not normally associate such a word with the women they know. Ha-ha. I’m a little slow today but I got it.
Fremont, Colorado.
(US most maximum security prison.)
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Cancel the planned museum today. It warmed up enough to work on the electric wiring. I’ve been up since 5:18AM, but at that hour I was planning and sketching. I may have to run one extra long 20 Amp circuit through all the bathroom, hallway, and miscellaneous lighting. The wiring, though more expensive, remains more economical of the alternatives. If this turns out to be a day of wiring and Bushnell adultery radio, I’ll let you know by tomorrow. I didn’t want to gamble there won’t be another cold front. Did you know during the last one, my entertainment budget ran $94 over? Yep, finding things to do when I can’t work costs money. A third of that was gas, using the car for recreation. No, Lucy, not that kind of recreation. I meant trips to Parrish.
One thing that keeps expenses down is the amount of reading I get done. I have an avid reader who is supplying me with freelance writing contact information that is better than the annual booklet I was using before. He produces a writer’s booklet that covers the practical side of getting paid for articles. That’s the common sense approach if, like myself, you have no intention of tackling the big publishers for a break. Since I know he may read this, the options that attract my interest are:
23) The Big Roundtable. True stories that are paid by donations to the writer’s account.
47) Sun Magazine. It just seems interesting.
55) The Penny Hoarder. A natural for budget-driven folks like myself, methinks.
128) Adventure Motorcycle. Sounds good to me.
180) The SFWA Blog. Non-fiction, they say.
478) The Conspiracy Club. What are they up to?
I have not previously looked at any of these publications. There were others on the list, such as the science writing and travel blogs, but I’ve seen them before. I want new incoming material and the above list will do just fine for now.
Next, spent a half hour in the shower. One of the privileges of rank. I found some old movies, a set called World War II in the movies or something. Lots of footage that would be politically incorrect nowadays. “I just like to kill Japs, sir.” The low budget battle scenes with the Japanese flying Brewster Buffalos and dropping three bombs that turn into 36 depth charges. The movie was based on the actual raid on Makin Island, which went from nowhere to becoming one of America’s ‘vital interests’ faster than you can say “Rothschild”.
ADDENDUM
Who remembers the tale from the trailer court where my brothers identify with the little fat lego man instead of the truck he’s driving? Well, just before I went to archive my pictures from the model railroad, I found the character my siblings would most associate with. Here he is, the Gomer Pyle of the locomotive set, wearing his hardhat to the outhouse. Glancing up to see for the fifth time this hour if it is quitting time yet.
With the amount of digital data involved with each user transaction, I contend only a blithering idiot would think that electronic payment is more secure than carrying cash. Idiots would not grasp that even bigger thieves are simply stealing something more important than the money.
It began with my dislike of people who pay for minor purchases with cards. You know who you are, buying bubblegum with a debit card in the express lane. The consensus is that such people are losers who can’t come up with the cash. What’s more, I don’t know about the newness of these payment technologies. Not when I see the extent to which these cashless payments still rely on credit card backing and all that entails. Nope, I say. When the tornado hits, when the power is out, and when your battery dies, even the worst features of cash suddenly become frantic necessities.
Amazingly, I hear people say that paying electronically saves them money. That’s another myth, because they are a form of credit transaction. Prices are always higher when credit is involved. I say they are not factoring in the interest and fees they are being zapped with behind the scenes. Alternatively, and I can confirm this, it takes up a small fortune to keep bank accounts at a minimum balance to avoid those nasty $7.95 - $12.00 monthly charges. And I recently just had another friend find out the hard way how badly those fees and the equally tiny “late charges” can spell real hardships once they pile up.
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