Wife and I went to see Trans Siberian Orchestra for the first time. Great show!
What I did today -instead- of Rocketry.
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Pink is sewer, blue is rainwater.
Sub-slab prep finished today.
I hope they move that dirt out of my garage.
Pink is sewer, blue is rainwater.
Sub-slab prep finished today.
I hope they move that dirt out of my garage.
I did some more garage cleaning and organizing today and last night. Unless I see something else I'm done. My wife finished with the Christmas stuff. Tonight I went To Home Depot and picked up some plywood for the new cat tree and a couple of 5 gallon buckets and a few other things. When I got to the car I noticed some things in one of the buckets I forgot I had and hadn't paid for. I took it back in and told the overseer at the self check out what had happened and paid for it. She didn't even blink an eye. Then to Walmart for some bird seed and a few groceries. When I was putting it in the car a Nye county Sheriff drove by the front of Walmart quickly with lights and siren. When he got to the end of the strip mall he turned off the siren. Then I saw another cop coming down the road from the Police station with lights and siren. He turned his siren off at the intersection. I started hearing sirens all over. There is a gas station at that intersection. After loading the car I drove over to the gas station and convenience store to see what all the excitement was about. There were five cop cars pointed at the front of the store. While I was watching an ambulance showed up. Cops were going into the store and out. I drove over to the pumps and looked inside. There was somebody lying on the floor with a paramedic leaning over him. It looked like he was talking to him instead of trying to save him. That many cops don't show up for a heart attack. I think somebody either robbed or tried to rob it. If someone tried to rob it and one of the many people who have CCW's was inside he would have been toast. I'll have to wait until our local paper comes out on Wednesday to find out. If it was robbed it would be very unusual. We have almost no crime in town. There have been a few robberies. But that is very rare. I think that in the 18 years we have lived here there has only been 4 or 5 murders. It's a nice quiet place.
boatgeek
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We're giving the kids hammocks for Christmas this year. I finished off one this weekend, and need to get the other one done by the end of next weekend. It's not hard to make, just requires a little fabric management. There's maybe 4 hours of work in each one.
I did some work in my attic to allow access for storing things, including adding a handrail around the folding access stair and adding a couple of pieces of decking. Our yard guy came by and I helped him clean up leaves and acorns from our trees. I think he bagged about 20 big bags of leaves and acorns. That was enough work for me for the day, didn't get to work on rockets.
Went for a swim to try to work out some of the soreness left from yesterday’s run. I appear to have gotten away with no major injuries or serious flareups though. Apart from some tendinitis in my right foot, which is normal after a long run, everything else is just sore muscles. Also, finalized my “delusional old man race schedule” for next year. 7 major events/races with at least 2 of them in the “real chance I may not finish“ category, but that is the kinda challenge that gets me out the door on bad weather and “Not feelin it” days.
Got the temporary-permanent power box connected to underground power.
It is basically in its final position and the house grows up around it.
It is basically in its final position and the house grows up around it.
Cape Byron
Rocket kits from the Land of Oz
Got new tyres on the Jeep today. I love the smell and grip of new tyres. Makes for an expensive day though.
Started sanding the skirting boards and architraves in the powder room. Almost immediately lost interest.
Switched to installing a shower screen in the bathroom. More progress.
Still needs getting into the correct position, then completing the pop-riveting and caulking. Another day.
Started sanding the skirting boards and architraves in the powder room. Almost immediately lost interest.
Switched to installing a shower screen in the bathroom. More progress.
Still needs getting into the correct position, then completing the pop-riveting and caulking. Another day.
I hope you're taking the racing line through that....
101 ways to use a power washer.
I bet he always does whether or not there are any berms!
What type of soil do you have? It looks like some sort of clay.
Class M, moderately reactive clay. There is a layer of topsoil there somewhere too. They have gone a bit over the top with the slab and given it 90 lineal meters of piers. That makes it low risk for the builder but much more expensive for me. Piers should not be needed in the area I live.
My previous house was built as a slab on grade but in an area with highly expansive clay. A previous owner had the foundation system repaired by having the house jacked up on steel piles pushed into the ground. To do that they dug tunnels under the house to access every location to push in a new pile, over 100' of tunnels. We had a plumbing problem so I had the entrance to the tunnels dug up and I went into them to do the repair. In all I made 5 trips into the tunnels, each time coming out almost solid black with mud.
I always thought when I retired my job was going to be wearing out Jeep tires. I've been trying my best but had to miss my trip to the desert this year due to family issues beyond my control. I'm anxious for March to get here so I can go again. The tires I have are good for a couple more trips and I have another set (used) in my storage shed waiting.
But what I did today was.... work. I worked on an addition to a high school kitchen, a renovation to a city auditorium, and a college dormitory. I goofed off all day yesterday so had to work today. I have to finish the dorm tomorrow to meet the project deadline.
Not much today. I woke up with a sore back. Ibuprofen didn't help much until the second dose. In the afternoon I was feeling better. It was strenuous. I replaced a whole 5 sprinkler heads. Last night I did a little shooting. My 10/22 had lost some of it's accuracy so I cleaned it today. Did a little more shooting after dark. It was a little better but not as good as it had been. Started looking at new barrels. Holy smoke have they gotten pricy. Yesterday I was a busy boy. My wife had called a church and asked if they had any needy people to give Christmas stuff to. I loaded the Explorer up top to bottom and front to back with all the Christmas stuff and took it to the church. Came home and loaded up again and took that load to Goodwill. Then I went to Walmart for birdseed and a couple other things. As I was putting the stuff in the car I heard some loud yelling. There was a guy standing at the end of Walmart yelling his head off. At first I thought it was one of our homeless people and he was arguing with his personal demons. Then I realized he was yelling at a girl across the drive. He was having a fit. He went over to the girl and got right in her face and still yelling. I stood watching them. I said to myself if he touches her I was going to intervene. They were about 50 yards away. I was hoping I could still run that far. After a bit he turned around and left all the time yelling at the top of his lungs. The whole time he was yelling the girl didn't say anything I could hear. Came home had dinner and spent the rest of the night on You Tube. Almost forgot. After Walmart I stopped at our storage unit and filled the car with more stuff.
Started sanding the skirting boards and architraves and window reveals in the powder room again. Managed to get to the end this time. Put on a coat of primer on the window reveals and architraves. Will complete the other priming tomorrow, and probably the first coat of enamel. Thought about continuing the shower screen install but it's too hot upstairs and I can't be bothered.
There are a couple of guys working on our block, preparing the ground for a slab pour next week. It is 32degC (90degF) in the shade (at 7:30pm) so I dropped them a couple of very cold cans of Coke which were appreciated.
Now digging up some documentation that my tax accountant wants.
There are a couple of guys working on our block, preparing the ground for a slab pour next week. It is 32degC (90degF) in the shade (at 7:30pm) so I dropped them a couple of very cold cans of Coke which were appreciated.
Now digging up some documentation that my tax accountant wants.
Cape Byron
Rocket kits from the Land of Oz
Cleaning up for Summer (still). It’s 39 C (102.2 F) and I’m a bit over working in this weather. 
Finished priming the skirting boards and architraves in the powder room. Now to find the enthusiasm to do two coats of enamel on them in the next couple of days.
Big load of styrofoam (actually EPP I think) delivered by a massive truck and dog, for insulation under the slab. The excavator that leveled the block yesterday put two breaks in the stormwater pipes. The plumbers came out and repaired one of them .
Slab pour is scheduled for Monday . I guess they will do the reinforcing tomorrow.
Big load of styrofoam (actually EPP I think) delivered by a massive truck and dog, for insulation under the slab. The excavator that leveled the block yesterday put two breaks in the stormwater pipes. The plumbers came out and repaired one of them
.Slab pour is scheduled for Monday
. I guess they will do the reinforcing tomorrow.
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Finished priming the skirting boards and architraves in the powder room. Now to find the enthusiasm to do two coats of enamel on them in the next couple of days.
Big load of styrofoam (actually EPP I think) delivered by a massive truck and dog, for insulation under the slab. The excavator that leveled the block yesterday put two breaks in the stormwater pipes. The plumbers came out and repaired one of them
View attachment 619845
Slab pour is scheduled for Monday
No basements in down under?
Of course there are. If they were up over then they wouldn't be basements, they'd be attics.
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No, not many at all. It's not really a thing here.
I made this small pile of leaves using the hand tools pictured.
Early start this morning, up at 2:30 am and out the door by 3:30. Goodyear to Bisbee, 229 miles in just over 3 hours, breakfast at the Bisbee Breakfast club then on to the Cochise county recorders office. Three hours researching in the vault with books almost as old as I am, then back to Goodyear, which takes quite a bit longer with traffic. Cochise county is one of our hardest trips, I-10 through Tucson is the pits.
I worked a little bit on cleaning the garage. I didn't make much progress and I ran out of steam so I quit. I need to clean off my small general workbench, and clean off my rocket workbench. I may be able to tackle those Saturday. I took the battery out of my wife's car, exchanged it at the store and put the new one back in the car. I did some paint touchup beside the garage door so I can mount the new keypad that opens the door.
Today I went through all my chemicals. They were in tool boxes and ammo cans of different sizes and the chemicals were mixed in them. I got a bunch of big ammo cans that are the same size and then emptied all the old ones and put one chemical in each new can. I was shocked that I had 75 pounds of KNO3. How did that happen. I have 14lbs of aluminum, 12lbs of magnesium and 14lbs of ammonium perchlorate. Plus many pounds of assorted other chemicals. It's nice and tidy now. Yesterday was very depressing. The interdimensional porlal opened again. This time it wasn't two shop towels, which I never found. This time it was a pair of glasses. They are my glasses for things up close. Only good to about three feet. 95% of the time they are on my desk in the garage next to my laptop. The other 5% of the time they are on the kitchen counter, on the counter in one of the bathrooms or on the coffee table in the living room. If I have to look for them I'll find them in five minutes. When I couldn't find them in the usual places I started looking else where. First I looked at all the flat surfaces in the garage and in the house. Then around and under those places. Then under stuff, in boxes. I retraced everywhere I had been. I looked in the trash and recycling. Then I started looking in crazy places. Looked in the refrigerator, the safe, the ammo cabinet. I got a ladder and looked on high up shelves. I looked for more than three hours. I even looked outside. Looked on top of the mail box, a large flat rock outside the garage, in the back yard, on the lawn tractor, the landscape light controller, the irrigation clock. At that point I decided they were gone for good. I looked a little more on and of for another hour. Today I looked in the cat toy box. I've been looking everywhere I go today. Two shop towels don't cost much. The glasses will. And the frosting on the cake is that I need a new pair of my regular glasses. The lenses are crazed. I took them to the eye center where I got them and showed them to the manger who I have known for a dozen years. He said the most likely cause was heat. He said it happens mostly if they sit on the dashboard in a car. Nuts. I didn't know that. So now I need two pairs of glasses. It will be close to $1000 to replace the two pairs. It's been a crappy couple of days.
There's no equivalent of Kansas in Australia. I have a basement because my house is on a slope. So it was naturally there.
Went to take some photos of the Sydney Opera House sails illuminated for 1 night only as part of the State Funeral for Barry Humphries. I'll add some photos when I get home.
Dame Edna, Barry Mckenzie, and Sir Les Patterson. And many others. Fortunately, they only lit up the Opera House in the style of Dame Edna......
Dame Edna, Barry Mckenzie, and Sir Les Patterson. And many others. Fortunately, they only lit up the Opera House in the style of Dame Edna......
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We don't have basements here in Nevada either. Two reasons why. One is because the ground is expansive clay. It expands when it gets wet and shrinks when it dries out. It tears the roads up and we get ridges in the roads similar to frost heaves. The constant expansion and shrinkage of the soil around the basement walls will eventually crack the walls. Two, there is a type of clay/rock called caliche [ca-li-che]. If a pool company or a builder that is putting in a basement hits caliche the price goes up double or triple the original cost.
There's a less expensive solution.
The larger pair of glasses I'm wearing is my prescription pair, so it is accurate to the differences between my eyes, and my astigmatism. The pair behind them is from a drug store, reading glasses that make up the extra power that I want for close work. I call them my booster glasses. I actually have a couple of pair for different distances and magnification. Which costs a lot less than $500 for a second prescription pair.
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