Barn: progress report...

Barn: progress report...  The siding crew has completely finished all the siding on the first floor, and have installed the soffits on the first floor roof.  They just left a little while ago, looking mighty cold.  Two of the builders were here today installing sheathing on the ceiling in the garage section, which they have now finished (photo).

The original plan was to sheath the interior walls and ceiling with 1/2" plywood.  Jim J., my builder, rather gently persuaded me to use what I called “chipboard” instead.  He did it by giving me an education on the differences between chipboard and oriented-strand board (OSB), which was an area that I knew absolutely nothing about.  It turns out there's a big difference between the two.  Chipboard is practically obsolete these days.  It was made by pressing wood chips, randomly oriented, together with glue and resin.  It wasn't very strong, and the glues used were inferior.  It's main claim to fame was that it was cheap.  OSB is made in a much different way, with longer, thinner purpose-cut chips that are carefully oriented in the manufacturing process to provide high strength in all directions, and a higher strength in one particular direction.  The glues, resins, and waxes used to bond it all together in a hot press are far superior to what they used for chipboard.  The result is actually stronger than plywood, mainly because OSB contains no interior voids (all but aircraft grade plywood does).  The particular OSB we're using for sheathing has one smooth side (you can see the reflection in the photo) that's smoother than the A side of plywood, ready for paint with no sanding required.  It's really kind of amazing how much better materials are available these days...

So what does a winter wuss do when there's white stuff outside?

So what does a winter wuss do when there's white stuff outside?  He assembles shelves, of course.  At right is one of our storerooms (in the basement), now fully equipped with nice steel wire shelving.  I'm quite happy with my choice of shelving (purchased through Amazon).  It's very sturdy, rated for 800 lbs. per shelving unit, and up to 300 lbs. on any one shelf.  The assembly is easy, though a bit tedious.  No tools are required; basically it all snaps or screws together with just one's hands.

I've got three more units to assemble today, for our second storeroom.  Two more units should arrive here soon, possibly today...

Barn: progress despite the white stuff!

Barn: progress despite the white stuff!  The siding contractors are here, beavering away in their winter garb, hanging siding on the barn.  The last time I looked (a couple hours ago), they had three sides of the first story done.

Jim J. and his partner Ray L. were here this morning, installing sheathing on the ceiling of the first story, where the garage door hardware and opener will be mounted.  The garage door guy is overdue; Jim's trying to track him down.

The Rocky Mountain Power folks sent an inspector out to see if we did ok on the conduit that was installed in the trench yesterday.  We passed, with flying colors.  Now I need to backfill all that trench (that will go much faster than digging it!), get road base in to set the transformer base into, then call them for another inspection.  Only if we pass that one will they put us in queue for the actual work of connecting the power.

Yesterday I decided to make a change in our plans for using the barn.  I've been thinking about this change for several weeks now – especially every time I walk up onto the second floor of the barn.  Our original plan for where to put my office/electronics workshop was in a big room in the house's basement – about 300 sq. ft., though slightly oddly shaped.  There are pros and cons to having an office down there, but the biggest con for me was no view.  The size was ok, though the slightly odd layout would mean things wouldn't be exactly as I'd like them.  The second floor of the barn is way bigger (2,000 sq. ft.) than any conceivable need we have for storage, though it's possible I'll live to regret those words :)  The east end of the barn's second floor has four windows: one looking south, two looking east, and one looking north.  All of them have really nice views.  I could easily partition off 500 or 600 sq. ft. of that space, finish it (walls and insulation), put a little wood stove in there, and have a very nice space for me to work in.  Yesterday I decided to go for it; I talked with my builder and he's perfectly ok with doing it, when the rest of the barn is finished.  He's going to put in a stovepipe right away, though, so that the roofer can properly handle that when he puts down the steel.

Now I can hardly wait for it to be done!

What's that white stuff, part 2...

What's that white stuff, part 2...  Well, it's coming down in large quantities now.  Big, fluffy snowflakes.  There's about a half inch on the driveway, and it looks like it's coming down at the rate of about an inch an hour.  It better not do that between now and Saturday!

Great moments in conduit laying...

Great moments in conduit laying...  I took these two photos late yesterday afternoon, while Jim J. and his son Talon were laying the conduit in the completed trench.  Talon has the perfect physique for working in the narrow (12") trench.  The two of them worked straight through until they finished it all, just before dark.  It's now ready for inspection.

There are many aspects of life up here that are markedly different than what we grew used to in California.  One of them is that it is completely normal (and common) here for kids to work with their parents – as I and my siblings did when we were growing up.  Jim has two sons that work with him often, and several other contractors I've used in the house did the same thing.  The flooring contractor had five family members involved in the business, and their office lady brought her daughter in frequently.  These kids are all learning what it's like to earn a living, instead of watching TV and playing games.  No wonder the Mormons are so successful, collectively!

What's that white stuff?

What's that white stuff?  It's snow, and it's coming down with a completely unreasonable enthusiasm.  Depending on which forecast I choose to believe, we're in for 3 to 5 inches of the stuff.  Looks like I won't be digging trenches today, either.

The radar picture at right shows that I'm in for a lot more snow, too.  The forecast says it is likely to be coming down from now through Saturday evening.  Yikes!

The day of the lights...

The day of the lights...  It was too darned cold out yesterday for me to work outside, so I spent much of the day installing new light fixtures.  The first one – a chandelier for a little room upstairs we're calling the “reading room” – turned out to be a much bigger challenge than I was expecting.  In the first photo below, you can see that the junction box is mounted off-center in the place constructed for it.  I can't imagine why someone would do that, but they did.  Naturally, the chandelier we bought needed every bit of that space; it wouldn't fit if mounted directly to the box.  So I had to fabricate an adapter plate (see second photo) to allow the mounting bolts to be off-center from the junction box – but in the exact center of the mount.  In the third photo you can see that my plate worked.  The next two photos show the chandelier installed – it looks great in that room (Debbie picked these lights, of course).

Then I installed two new lights for our entrance way (the last two photos).  The existing lights were coyote-ugly, and had tiny little 8 watt lamps that were so dim I used a flashlight there at night.  The news ones have 60 watt bulbs and are vastly more attractive...

The wisdom of farmers...

The wisdom of farmers...  Via my mom, who for once is enjoying warmer temperatures than I am...

Farmer John once lived on a quiet rural highway but as time went by, the traffic slowly built up and eventually got so heavy and so fast that his free range chickens were being run over, at a rate of three to six a week.

So Farmer John called the local police station to complain, "You've got to do something about all these people driving so fast and killing all my chickens," he said to the local police officer.

"What do you want me to do?" asked the policeman.

"I don't care, just do something about those crazy drivers!"

So the next day the policeman had the Council erect a sign that said:

   SCHOOL CROSSING

Three days later Farmer John called the policeman and said, "You've still got to do something about these drivers. The ‘school crossing' sign seems to make them go even faster!"

So again, they put up a new sign:

   SLOW: CHILDREN AT PLAY

That really sped them up. So Farmer John called and said, "Your signs are no good. Can I put up my own sign?"

In order to get Farmer John off his back said "Sure. Put up your own sign."

The phone calls to the Police Station stopped, but curiosity got the better of the Officer, so he called Farmer John, “how’s the problem with the speeding drivers? Did you put up your sign?"

"Oh, I sure did and not one chicken has been killed.

The policeman was really curious and thought he'd better go out and take a look at the sign. He also thought the sign might be something the Police could use elsewhere, to slow drivers down..

So he drove out to Farmer John's house.

His jaw dropped the moment he saw the sign.

           --- NUDIST COLONY ---
   Slow down and watch out for chicks!

That would certainly work for me :)

If life gives you nails...

If life gives you nails ... then obviously, you sculpt with them.  Well, that's what John Bisbee says, anyhow!  Many more photos here...

Follow the bouncing Philae...

Follow the bouncing Philae...  The Philae lander made it down to Comet 67P's surface, but not in the way it was designed to do.  The lander actually impacted the comet's surface at exactly the place and time it was supposed to, but all three devices that were intended to attach Philae to the surface failed (auger screws, harpoons, and down-thrusters).  These devices are needed because gravity there is far too weak to do the job; the comet's mass is too small to create a strong gravitational field.  Because these devices all failed, Philae struck the surface as planned – but then bounced back up, at about 1/3 of its initial impact speed.  It traveled up, at an angle, and rotating slowly – and then nearly two hours later, after bouncing as high as a kilometer off the surface, it came back down.  At that point it bounced yet again, it's rotations changed a little, and for a few more minutes it “flew”.  Then it landed a third time, and stayed down.

The image above was taken on the surface, at the place where Philae finally came to rest.  The scientists have only a rough idea where Philae is actually located on the comet, but it's definitely a long way from the intended site, and it's on a much rougher surface than the they aimed for.  It appears that Philae is perched somehow on just two of its three legs, nearly sideways to the ground.  The lighting where it rests is far from optimal, and the team is considering making attempts to flop Philae back over on its feet.  They're also working hard on figuring out exactly where it is.

The fact that Philae came down in an unexpected place isn't necessarily bad news, overall.  The opportunities for science may actually be greater in the more rugged territory where Philae ended up.  On the other hand, the lifetime may be cut short if they can't get more solar power.  It's a fascinating example of a space robot needing engineering and science assistance from earth to make a “save” from the unexpected failures and consequences of them...

The surprising history of sliced bread...

The surprising history of sliced bread...  I was very surprised to learn that the first commercially sliced bread was produced in 1928.  I would have guessed much earlier than that!  I wouldn't have guessed that being sliced was the main claim to Wonder Bread when it first came out, either.  One thing that didn't surprise me: at one point, the government banned sliced bread.  The stupidity of government is eternal...

Our sun...

Our sun ... in a gorgeous time-lapse movie covering the last two weeks of October 2014.  You can see AR 2192 (the largest sunspot in over 20 years) moving around the sun...