Maple Slabs

Just wanted to mention that we have these beautiful maple slabs and they should make for nice counter tops. Thanks again to CT, what a great guy. The slabs are 2 inches thick and about 10 feet long. With 9 boards, that's about 90 linear feet of wood that would cost an arm and a leg at a mill.

Hard to imagine.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Milling Logs

As luck would have it, the one day that CT and I decided to mill the logs, we finally got some snow, which of course turned into freezing rain and sleet. I wasn’t sure if CT was up for doing it, but like all real men, he wasn’t going to let bad weather stop him from running a saw mill. To add to the joy, he said he had a splitting headache and because of it couldn’t sleep the previous night. Who cares about a little pain?

Well, I was still (and still am, for that matter), sick as a dog, but I couldn’t be too much of a wimp in front of CT, he wouldn’t stand for that. Besides, with Winter practically here, at some point he has to put the mill and the excavator into storage. BTW, CT has a virtual treasure trove of grown-up male toys. He’s got an excavator, a 10-ton dump truck, a one ton, a saw mill, a tractor and a splitter. The guy is stocked, and what is truly amazing is that he actually built the mill, which is a band saw, and the splitter with his dad. Crazy. I was thinking PR would appreciate the work that went into that.

The first thing was to determine which logs were going to work. Our initial assessment, which was confirmation of what the logger DS said, was that only one of the maple logs was going to be useful, and the other two were rotting too much. However, to his credit, CT was willing to cut the others and at least have a look. The cutting took awhile because the maple is so incredibly hard, but eventually we worked our way through them and ended up with nearly ten beauiful slabs of 2 inch thick maple board. They are all about 16-20 inches wide, so if I rip them into 12 inch boards, we have some pretty nice pieces of wood, perfect for counter tops in the kitchen of the barn. I can’t even imagine how much all that would cost if you bought it through a lumber yard, I’m grateful to CT.

Also, in typical real man fashion, CT was not willing to call it a day until the job was completely finished. Usually, when I start doing something, as time ticks away, I just want it to be done, and start cutting corners and getting sloppy as the end is in sight. I”ve noticed with working with guys like my Mentor, PR, and JH and his magic bag of tools, when you begin a job, you work through it until it’s done. Wow, talk about inspiration.

I figured that we would cut the slabs and leave them on the ground and at some point I’d come over and haul them to our house, but CT started loading them into his 3/4 ton truck and brought them over. Even at that point, to make it easier on him, I said to just leave them on the ground in front of the barn, but he insisted on carrying them into the barn to protect them from the elements. This way, they would properly dry, and won’t freeze together in one massive block. He even showed me the proper way to space them so that they’ll breathe. What a guy, I’m grateful.

Now we have the wood. The pine logs are still uncut, but they’ll have to wait until Spring, but I’m not complaining.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Fluorescent Mania

I don’t know if this is a Vermont phenomenon, because this state is very eco-friendly and has all sorts of tax incentives to embrace green energy, but fluorescent bulbs are dirt cheap over here. $0.99 a pop, and they are making all sorts of alternatives to the incandescent bulbs. I got a flood bulb and they are making them look like regular bulbs, kind of.

Sure, in certain instances only an incandescent will do, but the more lights you can replace, the better. Right? Plus, you can put higher output bulbs which actually use less juice, which is a beautiful thing.

Thanks for reading.

Electrical Madman

Now that I’ve been inspired by PR and JH and his magic bag of tools, I decided to get crazy and do some electrical work myself. I’m so into it that I even have a bag devoted exclusively electrical tools and supplies, it’s the smaller one next to my real-man tool bag. I’m like a walking version of LaValley’s Building and Supply.

Anyway, I had a problem with the switch to the outside patio light. We were doing some painting and I removed the face plate, and left it off for a couple of years. I’m not sure why, but people asked if there was a problem with the electrical system and why I hadn't put it back on. I finally decided the time had come to put the plate back on, but of course I screwed it up and used the wrong screw, which was way too long. I ended up screwing it in too hard to the point where I couldn’t get it out. The rivet that held it in came loose and suddenly the screw wouldn’t come out.

I was going to have to remove the entire switch, which would entail killing the breaker, which in turn would require figuring out which breaker controlled the light. So many hurdles to overcome.

I found the breaker, and figured I could keep track of the wires by replacing them one at time. In other words, I would loosen on connection and immediately connect it to the new switch. Now this is the part you’re going to love. I got the new switch all hooked up and realized I put it on backwards.

My first thought was (after deciding I couldn’t wait for JH to save the day or for the next visit from in in-laws) that it might not matter. I thought I'd heard RR say (why don't I pay better attention?) that hooking wires backwards in certain instance didn’t matter as long as a circuit was completed. However, I wasn’t sure if this applied to switches, and it was easy enough to unhook the switch, flip it over and reattach the wires.

I did that, but this time around did not keep track of what wires went where, and I was suddenly faced with a switch in one hand three wires that all look the same. For the record, there were two blacks (the switch turns on two lights) and no white wires, it was gray. I sat for a few minutes before I finally deduced which wires were which, and I went for it.

I hooked it up, turned on the breaker, and voila. Let there be light. I couldn’t believe it, I did an electrical job, and neither PR or JH was there to hold my hand, which I would have preferred, but it wasn’t an option.

Now we have a new switch. I just have to put a plate on this loose wire (it was for speakers) and then the wall will once again look normal, sort of.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

I Can Run, But I Can’t Hide

I was so thrilled to have those darn logs off the property, that I almost didn’t care what happened to them. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, the guy whose property I unloaded them on does care. In fact, I saw him the other day at the library and he said, “Hey, you big loser, what’s up with those logs you left in my front yard?” I tried to play dumb and say, “What logs?” That, however was not going to fly.

He mentioned that it was best to mill them before it snows, so the sooner, the better. I’m thinking next weekend I’ll go over there and we’ll cut some boards. I have no idea what I’m doing or what I’m getting myself into, but what the heck else is new in my life? Besides, when life is familiar and predictable, where’s the adventure?

Until then, thanks for reading.

Suffering From My Ignorance

Between PR and JH and his magic bag of tools, I was primed and ready to jump in head first and install the porch lights. I had the trim squares cut and ready, and I even cut out the holes in the sheathing and had the electrical boxes installed.

It was the wiring, however, that threw me for a loop. I figured that each light would correspond with one wire, each with a hot, cold and ground wire. Well, when I went to check it out, one of the lights had two sets of wires. I immediately broke out into a cold sweat and my brain ceased to function. Why the heck were there two wires? I should have asked PR when he was here.

Naturally, I went into default mode and ignored it, hoping it would go away, or at least until JH and his magic bag of tools showed up. Fortunately, the moment arrived only a couple of days later. I helped facilitate the process by getting everything set up, and JH came in and cleaned up.

He actually explained to me why there were two wires going into one light, and suddenly it all made perfect sense when you think of electricity as a circuit. In fact, JH was really nice about explaining it, but in the back of his mind he was probably thinking, “Man, were you born stupid, or did your parents beat you with a stupid stick?” If I could have overcome that one barrier, I could have done it, I could have been a contender, but alas, it was not meant to be.

Fortunately, there are people like my Mentor or PR, and of course, JH and his magic bag of tools to come in and save the day. Next time, however, I’ll be ready.

Until then, thanks for reading.

Front Door Insulation

I finally managed to glue in the foam insulation on the front door, and like everything else in life, it wasn’t that bad, and I wondered what took me so long to do it. Part of the problem is my neurosis. The tube of glue says, “WARNING: contains polyethylene glycol, use in well-ventilated space.” The vestibule is not well ventilated, and I can’t really work with the door open, so I worried about exposing everyone to toxic fumes.

At some point, however, I decided to heck with it, this has got to be done.

It turns out that the glue wasn’t that bad, at all, and it doesn’t take much. I glued the foam, and even used some fireproof spray foam to seal the electrical boxed for the patio lights. My original plan was to spray expandable foam in the gaps and then insulate with fiberglass, but I have some serious issues with that foam. The spray nozzles always clog, or in my case, it breaks. I was so bummed. Every time I work with the stuff, it’s a pain in the neck, and this time was no different. I ended up caulking the gap, instead, and didn’t deal with the foam.

Hopefully my Mentor, PR, or JH won’t disapprove, but if they do, it wouldn’t be the first time, nor would it be the last.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.