Poject progress

I am most pleased with this project. It has been challenging nearly to the point of overwhelming, but I have been able to meet and succeed at each turn. It is a good feeling.

A month ago, this is the sun room that was in place. Notice how the stone steps lead up to a platform that is actually built up over the cedar clapboards (that's bad).



A week ago, this is what the project looked like:


Things have been moving along at a steady pace. The old sun room was torn down, and the new one is beginning to take shape. The rafters have been reinforced, the subfloor is down, the walls are up and yesterday the rafters and roof planks went on.

I am especially proud of the rafters. For the record, I HATE rafters. I hate finding that correct angle, and all of that pitch stuff (so many inches per foot) just makes my head spin. Because of the confines of this project, there really wasn't a lot of calculating to be done. I only had so much room to go up, and I only had so far to go out. Essentially, I held up the two-by-six, scribed a couple of lines, made a cut and trimmed it until it fit like I wanted. Then I made the notch where the stringer meets the outside wall, and it all went together pretty much without incident.

The client wants to look at the rafters and the pine boards of the roof, so we had to be extra fussy with how they looked. I had my helper sand each of the rafters to get rid of blemishes and ink and such, and then she sanded some of the planks as well to get rid of scuff marks and boot prints. That's my helper, Anne. Her daughter is getting married this week. She is remarkably calm, considering.



In this case, we are going to put up drywall inside and it will run right up to the roof planks on the two end walls. So I had to build out the end rafters to give me something to screw the drywall to inside. Here is how I did that with some scrap two-by-sixes, a two-by-four, and some half-inch plywood. Now that portion of the roof area is the same thickness as the two-by-four wall beneath it. I will put uprights in 16 inches on center next week.



Here is a picture of the roof edge of the carriage house associated with the property. Note the curved cut and beveled edge below the end plate.



The client really liked that style and asked me to duplicate it on this project. The curved cut was especially tricky. I had to dig out my sheet metal dividers and scribe several variations of an arc on a piece of thin plywood until I got the right length of the cut and the right depth of the arc. I didn't want it to look like someone took a bite out of it, nor did I want it to be too shallow to serve as an accent. Here is what the rafter ends look like before we put any roof planks up.



Here is the roof edge with planks and a tarp to cover them for the two days of rain we are expecting. I think they are going to look really good. The roof planks will go all the way to the end of the rafters, but that will require ripping boards on the table saw and I was short on help and time by the time I got that far, so the last course will have to wait until after the rain.



And here is the inside of the room with rafters and planks in place. It is a little darker than the old way, but with large windows, it will still be very light and airy.



And here is a look at the ceiling view that the client will see inside:



The stone steps that went up to a landing where the sliding glass door was on the old sun porch proved to be a bit of a problem. Left as they were, there was no room to put up clapboards, and they would allow snow and ice to build up against the wood, which would cause it to rot. We're doing this with an eye toward not repeating the process any time soon, so the steps had to come down a notch. One level of stones, actually, is what came off. Here is the pile of rocks. They will have to be moved next week when I have a suitably burly helper, but for now, they are out of my way.



Buried within the top layer of stones on that platform was an old metal safe box. It was topped with a wood cover that had been double-wrapped in plastic to prevent rot (it did not work) and the top had once been sealed, but years of neglect had taken a harsh toll. It was filled with nothing but very rusty water. Here is the empty box. We were much disappointed.



This is what the stone steps look like now.



Here's what it looks like when you step back a little. Notice how the steps only go up to about six inches below the sill. This will help prevent rot in the future.

The next right thing

So I was burned out. Perhaps I still am. I am less inclined today to post something clever and sarcastic and snarky about what the Republithugs are doing/planning/saying/fucking up and more inclined to see what difference I can make in my own world.

When I am jammed up and feeling blocked and paralyzed by fear/anger/frustration/etc., my recovery community tells me that the thing to do is the next right thing. I do not need to win the war today. I just need to do the next right thing in the long list of things that need to get done.

So this is it for me for today. I seem to be out of coherent words with which to rail against the powers that be, so tonight after work, I report myself to the local Democratic party office to volunteer. I'll do what needs doing, be it stuffing envelopes, assembling yard signs, data entry, whatever. They need bodies willing to help, and as far as I can see, that is the next right thing to do.

Volunteering tonight also brings me into better alignment with my own oft-repeated ideas about "put up or shut up." Often I complain that this campaign or that effort is not being run to my satisfaction. I don't help those campaigns, of course, which makes it easy to sit back and criticize. I don't like the person who is in charge of that group, so I don't join, no matter that 99 percent of what happens is of benefit to me or in support of things I support. No, I prefer to fancy myself superior and sit back and judge and be an ass. This year, in this election, there is no room for my ego or my judgment. The people running these things might not be doing it as I would, but so what? They're out there, working their asses off, doing the best they can. I'd say it was a safe bet to think that they do not lie awake nights thinking of new ways to piss me off. They've got far bigger and better things to do. So I suck up my ego and my attitude and offer to help. Even if that means cleaning the office coffeepot. Whatever needs doing. The next right thing.

Blogging is good, talking and making points and speaking the truth are good. But truly, up to this point, what have I done besides run my mouth? Not much. I made a donation once. It wasn't really very big. And I wasn't terribly gracious about it. I have been working lately with a woman who cannot vote (she is a French national, not a US citizen) but who has volunteered more at the local Democratic party office during this one election cycle than I have in years. My lack of effort is not something I am particularly proud of. She seems to care more about the politics of my country than I do. That puts me somewhere in the company of those losers who don't even vote. Ouch. That is not comfortable for me.

So now it is put up or shut up time in my world. It is time for me to do the next right thing, to show up and volunteer, and to put my body where my mouth has been these long months. Time to do the next right thing. Join me?

Burnout

OK, so it finally happened. I'm toast.

I have had all I can stand of Sarah Palin, John McCain, that Ayers guy, Reverend Wright, the Keating Five and everything else. I am utterly disgusted and fed up. I do not believe that the press is independently investigating a damned thing. I am convinced that they are nearly a mindless herd, dashing from one shiny, sparkly thing to the next, easily distracted until there is something really good, like sex, on which to focus incessantly.

I am disgusted with the American electorate. For the most part, I think people are sheep who believe whatever they are fed so long as it does not require thinking. Thinking is viewed with suspicion and distrust. People who think are called "elite" and "uppity." Politics has been reduced to chants in high school gymnasiums. "Drill, baby drill" has usurped "yes we can" in the American psyche. It both scares and saddens me.

We are a nation founded by very smart men. Washington, Jefferson, Adams (I and II) and that whole crowd had a keen sense of history, of what kind of monumental thing they were undertaking, and they understood, or at least read and studied, the philosophers of old. The Greeks, the Romans, the ancients. They understood that the masses were led by the smart ones, and that it was their grave and solemn duty to lead responsibly. They understood that theirs was not a position from which to garner personal gain, but a position of stewardship. It was their responsibility, and that of the government they created, to provide safety and security to those whom they sought to govern.

I don't see that kind of stewardship today. I see the mob taking over. It is as though the elites have wrung every last drop of profit to be had from the system and are now boarding the last plane out of Dodge. It strikes me that they are behind the scenes on the sinking ship, packing up the last of their belongings while occasionally appearing for long enough to whip the crowd into a renewed frenzy before ducking back behind the curtain to pack some more.

I get the feeling that on November 5, many of the people pulling the strings will quietly disappear to the safety of offshore holdings and leave America, raped, burned and barren, to the rest of us. The two candidates now fighting for the top spot will be two levels of loser. The young guy will be loser number one, the guy with the empty prize - a nation with pillaged coffers, looted resources and crumbling infrastructure. The old guy will be the lower grade of loser, having been sold the dream that his wealthy friends were going to stick with him when it was over. He'll be the guy stood up by his prom date only to find his wallet stolen and not enough in his pocket for cab fare home. He'll retire to one of his estates with his anger and his frigid wife for company and slowly (or not so slowly) drink himself into oblivion. He may try to rally his forces in the Senate, but will be the one whispered about by the others, ridiculed for believing he still holds some kind of power. Having sold out all of his principles in pursuit of the brass ring, he will be an empty shell of a man. A few kindly, senior members may still invite him to lunch occasionally, but it will be for the sad ritualistic recital of how it was "in the old days."

I have voted already, and that is good. I do not know if I had to endure three more weeks of this shit if I could still find the energy at the end to mark a box on a piece of paper. I am frazzled. I have heard it all, read it all, gotten angry about it all, railed against the injustice and finally collapsed. I wonder if that is the opposition's strategy - to wear the thinking ones among us down with their relentless onslaught of crap. It could be.

For me, for today, I will enjoy the sunshine and the foliage. I will go outdoors and look around and find beauty where I am. I may take my little dog for a walk. I may watch some football. I'll go to the grocery store and I'll make some lunch. But for today, I will not engage about politics. There is nothing more for me to offer. I am spent.

miscellaneous

So, I am faced with a rainy morning, when I had grand and exciting plans for the day. Time to slow down, I guess.

I have been thinking about McCain's "that one" comment in Tuesday night's debate, but have decided that everyone has written and blogged and shouted about that really enough for my tastes. I do not think I could possibly offer anything new or constructive to that chorus. It was nasty and petty and abusive and indicative of a style that demeans opponents instead of treating them with respect. No more to say after that.

I think rainy days must be made for doing errands and paperwork. That and technical drawings. I think that is what I will end up doing today. With work tomorrow, I expect some great and dramatic pictures of progress.

Today's highlight: CSI Vegas tonight. Woo hoo!

bleah

got some kind of flu-bug.

Feeling utterly masticated.

Got up yesterday, had breakfast and then laid on the couch all day. Let the football games watch me instead of the other way around.

Got a big job to do, but not today. Today I will spend making sketches and drawings and figuring out how many 2 by 4s and how many 2 by 6s I will need for this thing.

Money comes tomorrow, will order the lumber then. For now, I stay in my flannels and snuggle up with the puppy.

Your regular program will return shortly.

A near miss

OK, so we sat up and watched the vice-presidential debate last night. And I have to say I was mildly disappointed.

Sarah Palin had the world's expectations so low that the fact that she did not vomit onto her own podium (or anyone else's) OR dissolve into tears OR go completely off the deep end and attack Biden and the liberal media and, and, and for her woes, counts as a victory.

She made a few gaffes, but nobody seems upset by that. She thinks that the general who led troops in the Civil War is currently running operations in Afghanistan, but nobody blinked. Our expectations were really, really low for her.

That speaks volumes about America and what we are willing to accept from our leaders. We are willing to accept a leader who does not know more than one Supreme Court Decision EVER, we are willing to accept a leader who cannot name a single new source that she reads. We are willing to accept a leader who cannot pronounce nuclear but would be willing to drop one on someone.

That is terrifying enough.

But you know what?

I wanted a train wreck last night. I wanted to see her crash and burn in a spectacular fashion. And in a way I did. We just don't get to hear it through that filter.

Sarah Palin showed herself to be a blithering idiot capable only of parroting the talking points she had been fed. If she had been another candidate for vice president and came out onto the stage and offered that performance, the pundits would be wringing their hands and calling it a disaster. But the fact that she is perceived as just a small step above a protozoa in intelligence, her folksy non-answers are being held up as sparkling examples of wit and debate skills.

Dear god, she's still dumber than a hake. We've just been told to expect so little that when she gives up five cents instead of four, we call it a 25 percent over-achievement. Never mind that we deserve leaders with a full dollar's worth of brains and are getting someone who can barely spell her name and who, I would hazard a guess, could not name all the states on a map of the US, never mind the nations of the globe. She spelled U.S.A. right last night and is being heralded as the rebirth of the party of Lincoln.

How utterly pathetic.

Hospital stuff again

This is getting old.

My friend who was treated so badly at the hospital ER back when? Remember her? Well, she went to the ER again this week - she got her hand caught between a bucket loader and a log at the wood yard where she works - and the doctor who was such an ass before completely ignored her. Walked past her a dozen times and never made eye contact. When it was her turn to be seen, he went and got a PA to do the exam and write the scrip.

What is so damned difficult about giving medical care with a certain degree of dignity? Why is that such an issue?

Oh, and she still hasn't received an apology for the first incident.

The annual meeting of the hospital just happened. Maybe everyone was busy doing stuff for that. I don't know. What I do know is that my friend is getting fed up with what she sees as bureaucrats and she is getting disgusted with the whole thing.

I can't say I blame her. It's been something like two or three months since the first bad experience with that doctor, she's received no apology and now she gets snubbed and ignored in the ER. That sounds like retaliatory behavior to me. What place does that shit have in the ER? The doctors who saved Ronald Reagan's life were democrats. Get over whatever personal issues you've got if you're going to serve the public. Can't get over them? Then go into research so you won't have the opportunity to be rude to vulnerable people when they come to you for help.

What bullshit.