"You gonna get another job?"...
- Thread starter Volpone
- Start date
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
The concrete truck shows up at 10am tomorrow. I'm about as prepared as I can be. That said, I'd have gladly payed an extra $1,000--even if his work turned out to not be as good as mine (hypothetically) for someone else to do this if my guy hadn't flaked out. But not an extra $2,100. Or an extra $4,600 for the guy everyone recommended.
I owe thanks to the Major I worked for at my first duty station. I'm smart. But it wasn't until my late 30s that I started to realize I was smart. Other people knew I was smart. My Mom. My school guidance counselor. The kids in my class. Hell, college recruiters. WHY THE FUCK DID NO ONE TELL ME I WAS SMART WHEN THERE WAS TIME FOR ME TO DO SOMETHING WITH IT?! I mean, shit. Someone could've said "you know, you're the smartest kid in your class. Why are you getting Cs when other kids are getting As?" Or "You can be anything you want to be if you put your mind to it and try hard enough." But I digress. The point is, one of my first jobs was to replace the aging videoconferencing* system the biggest Marine 3 star general on the West coast had. And I told my boss "Sir, we didn't cover videoconferencing at comm school. I don't know that I'm qualified for this" The Major put his arm on my shoulder, looked me in the eye and said "You're a Lieutenant of Marines. Figure it out." He was the closest anyone ever came to telling me I was smart up until I needed some help with some paperwork so I showed it to an admin Gunner friend of mine who, as he paged through my file said "Dang, Sir, You're smart!"
And I see maybe I haven't tied everything together, but I'll just say that if that major back in 2000 hadn't forced me to figure out encrypted videoconferencing I wouldn't be painting vans and pouring concrete floors today. And some minor details about the 2003 Gulf war would've been different than they were**.
*In 2000, when Windows NT and a 1.54 MB connection FOR THE ENTIRE ORGANIZATION was state of the art--and there was a requirement to be able to encrypt to TOP SECRET levels--videoconferencing was a lot harder than it is in this age of Facetime and Zoom.
**Without saying too much, as we were putting in the system, the General asked me "could we take these out, box them up, and connect them to a tactical network?" And I said something along the lines of "theoretically yes, but the bandwidth would be so much smaller than what we have here that there would be serious limitations."
I owe thanks to the Major I worked for at my first duty station. I'm smart. But it wasn't until my late 30s that I started to realize I was smart. Other people knew I was smart. My Mom. My school guidance counselor. The kids in my class. Hell, college recruiters. WHY THE FUCK DID NO ONE TELL ME I WAS SMART WHEN THERE WAS TIME FOR ME TO DO SOMETHING WITH IT?! I mean, shit. Someone could've said "you know, you're the smartest kid in your class. Why are you getting Cs when other kids are getting As?" Or "You can be anything you want to be if you put your mind to it and try hard enough." But I digress. The point is, one of my first jobs was to replace the aging videoconferencing* system the biggest Marine 3 star general on the West coast had. And I told my boss "Sir, we didn't cover videoconferencing at comm school. I don't know that I'm qualified for this" The Major put his arm on my shoulder, looked me in the eye and said "You're a Lieutenant of Marines. Figure it out." He was the closest anyone ever came to telling me I was smart up until I needed some help with some paperwork so I showed it to an admin Gunner friend of mine who, as he paged through my file said "Dang, Sir, You're smart!"
And I see maybe I haven't tied everything together, but I'll just say that if that major back in 2000 hadn't forced me to figure out encrypted videoconferencing I wouldn't be painting vans and pouring concrete floors today. And some minor details about the 2003 Gulf war would've been different than they were**.
*In 2000, when Windows NT and a 1.54 MB connection FOR THE ENTIRE ORGANIZATION was state of the art--and there was a requirement to be able to encrypt to TOP SECRET levels--videoconferencing was a lot harder than it is in this age of Facetime and Zoom.
**Without saying too much, as we were putting in the system, the General asked me "could we take these out, box them up, and connect them to a tactical network?" And I said something along the lines of "theoretically yes, but the bandwidth would be so much smaller than what we have here that there would be serious limitations."
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
...and tying in with the "Inner Monologue" thread, my mind was wandering as I was fixing another drink--and thinking about the above post--and painting a van.
There's like a little automotive strip-mall near me: Muffler shop, upholstery, paint and body, hot rods--all in a little cul de sac. When I was doing the A-Team van, someone recommended I go to a hot rod place for paint. They turned me away because a van wasn't a hot rod. Then the paint and body place wanted about 3x what I had budgeted--and wanted to do a lot of body work I didn't think was necessary. But the muffler shop did a very nice job cutting out the rusted out factory exhaust and putting in sexy dual cat side pipes that split into dual pipes that further split into dual tips (a pipe from each manifold that split out before getting to the side and then a dual tip on each pipe for 4 side pipes on each side, just in front of the back tire). Work was great, price was good, very happy with it. The only problem was, the van was badly grounded and the old shitty exhaust was serving as an important ground so once they put on the new pipes with proper rubber hangers it wreaked havoc with the electrics until I could add some grounding straps.
But the point is, after I did paint, I brought her back to show to the muffler guys and they happily took pictures of her to put on their wall and at least once I caught the paint guys who were telling me about all the bodywork that needed to be done before they could paint, looking at me with...resent? Envy?
And now I'm wondering it I could take her back to the hot rod people and convince them to paint her and put a nice 350 in her.
Which all got me to thinking about the 50th anniversary "Detective Comics" storyline, "Blind Justice." In it a parapalegic genius swaps his brain into a hobo. And the bum goes to, like, Sears to buy a suit off the rack before he goes to an actual tailor to get a bespoke suit made. The author got that if a bum just showed up at a fancy tailor, he'd get turned away so he had to take the baby step to help people understand what he was going for. Well, I'm rambling and I should be sleeping. Big day tomorrow. Early day, because I need to walk the dog before the cement truck shows up. And I'm still not 100% certain a cement truck will fit under the powerline. But neither of the guys that showed up to do the estimate seemed to be worried about it. I just don't know if that's because I'm smarter than them or because they actually knew what they were doing. It could very well go either way. When my microwave died after...17(!) years of loyal service, I dutifully wrote down how big it was off the original box which I dutifully saved all these years. And then when I got to the store and saw how small that one was, I was like "that can't be right. I'll get the next size up--even though that looks small too." And, yes, it was right. Luckily the larger microwave fit in the space for it just fine.
There's like a little automotive strip-mall near me: Muffler shop, upholstery, paint and body, hot rods--all in a little cul de sac. When I was doing the A-Team van, someone recommended I go to a hot rod place for paint. They turned me away because a van wasn't a hot rod. Then the paint and body place wanted about 3x what I had budgeted--and wanted to do a lot of body work I didn't think was necessary. But the muffler shop did a very nice job cutting out the rusted out factory exhaust and putting in sexy dual cat side pipes that split into dual pipes that further split into dual tips (a pipe from each manifold that split out before getting to the side and then a dual tip on each pipe for 4 side pipes on each side, just in front of the back tire). Work was great, price was good, very happy with it. The only problem was, the van was badly grounded and the old shitty exhaust was serving as an important ground so once they put on the new pipes with proper rubber hangers it wreaked havoc with the electrics until I could add some grounding straps.
But the point is, after I did paint, I brought her back to show to the muffler guys and they happily took pictures of her to put on their wall and at least once I caught the paint guys who were telling me about all the bodywork that needed to be done before they could paint, looking at me with...resent? Envy?
And now I'm wondering it I could take her back to the hot rod people and convince them to paint her and put a nice 350 in her.
Which all got me to thinking about the 50th anniversary "Detective Comics" storyline, "Blind Justice." In it a parapalegic genius swaps his brain into a hobo. And the bum goes to, like, Sears to buy a suit off the rack before he goes to an actual tailor to get a bespoke suit made. The author got that if a bum just showed up at a fancy tailor, he'd get turned away so he had to take the baby step to help people understand what he was going for. Well, I'm rambling and I should be sleeping. Big day tomorrow. Early day, because I need to walk the dog before the cement truck shows up. And I'm still not 100% certain a cement truck will fit under the powerline. But neither of the guys that showed up to do the estimate seemed to be worried about it. I just don't know if that's because I'm smarter than them or because they actually knew what they were doing. It could very well go either way. When my microwave died after...17(!) years of loyal service, I dutifully wrote down how big it was off the original box which I dutifully saved all these years. And then when I got to the store and saw how small that one was, I was like "that can't be right. I'll get the next size up--even though that looks small too." And, yes, it was right. Luckily the larger microwave fit in the space for it just fine.
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
So I've got a few irons in the fire right now. OK. I've got 1. But it has a number of aspects. I want to rent out storage space. So I'm getting ready for that.
I want to make my place look secure and reputable, so I decided to slap a coat of gloss black Rustoleum on the chain link fence. (Done, and it looks as good as I thought it would.) I'm putting a concrete floor into my 1 car/carriage house. That happens tomorrow. I'm cleaning out my tin shed. This happens as fast as I can fit crap in my trash can. And I'm cleaning my tin shed. Already washed the front facade. Didn't look that dirty. Until I cleaned it. And now it looks so much better (although it could still look a lot better). Oh, and I did some structural/waterproofing that may still need some tweaking, but it's much better than it was a month ago. Now I've moved to cleaning the interior.
You think you're getting rid of decades of cobwebs (ordinarily I leave spiders alone because I like them, but daddy needs to make some money)...until you realize the box you put in the shed this spring has as many cobwebs on it as anything else. But I'm making progress. Still have 1 bay to sweep. Then it's time for scrubbing. Ideally I'd fill a bucket up with TSP, bleach, Mr. Clean, and hot water, go over everything with a stiff bristle brush and then again with a mop, but I'm getting tired and lazy and may skip a step or two.
I thought I had some other things to say, but I guess not. Oh, yeah, except that I messed things up a bit in the shed, getting ready for the concrete pour in the garage. I needed an 11' screed board. Wound up having to cut a precious 15' 2x6 because I didn't have anything else that long. Then I needed to make a bull float. Ideally it would have a 1x8x 4 foot base on a handle long enough to get to the back of the garage--15'+. Got something close to that, but I had to settle. But I had to move lumber and pipes around to find the materials and now the tin shed is a mess. Oh, and I had to drag the power miter out of the basement. But we'll get there.
I want to make my place look secure and reputable, so I decided to slap a coat of gloss black Rustoleum on the chain link fence. (Done, and it looks as good as I thought it would.) I'm putting a concrete floor into my 1 car/carriage house. That happens tomorrow. I'm cleaning out my tin shed. This happens as fast as I can fit crap in my trash can. And I'm cleaning my tin shed. Already washed the front facade. Didn't look that dirty. Until I cleaned it. And now it looks so much better (although it could still look a lot better). Oh, and I did some structural/waterproofing that may still need some tweaking, but it's much better than it was a month ago. Now I've moved to cleaning the interior.
You think you're getting rid of decades of cobwebs (ordinarily I leave spiders alone because I like them, but daddy needs to make some money)...until you realize the box you put in the shed this spring has as many cobwebs on it as anything else. But I'm making progress. Still have 1 bay to sweep. Then it's time for scrubbing. Ideally I'd fill a bucket up with TSP, bleach, Mr. Clean, and hot water, go over everything with a stiff bristle brush and then again with a mop, but I'm getting tired and lazy and may skip a step or two.
I thought I had some other things to say, but I guess not. Oh, yeah, except that I messed things up a bit in the shed, getting ready for the concrete pour in the garage. I needed an 11' screed board. Wound up having to cut a precious 15' 2x6 because I didn't have anything else that long. Then I needed to make a bull float. Ideally it would have a 1x8x 4 foot base on a handle long enough to get to the back of the garage--15'+. Got something close to that, but I had to settle. But I had to move lumber and pipes around to find the materials and now the tin shed is a mess. Oh, and I had to drag the power miter out of the basement. But we'll get there.
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
...of course now that I've done it, I wish he hadn't put THAT MUCH water in it. It was practically soup. And adding water apparently weakens concrete. Made it easier to dump into the hole, but made it harder to work (in some ways, maybe if he'd poured it the way it was mixed I'd be bitching about how hard that was to work).
The big challenge was with 3 walls you pretty much have to walk in the pour to smooth it. The nice fancy long handled bull-float they use in the video is upwards of $150--and that's for just the float, not the handle--so I made one that worked well enough for starters, but not as well as the one in the video. And as much as I had to use it, it eventually started to fall apart, which made it work less well, which made me need to use it more...
Eventually I gave up and just ran the screed board over everything one more time and did some touch-up with a trowel. It isn't going to win any beauty awards, but it looks OK and should be functional.
I guess time will tell.
The big challenge was with 3 walls you pretty much have to walk in the pour to smooth it. The nice fancy long handled bull-float they use in the video is upwards of $150--and that's for just the float, not the handle--so I made one that worked well enough for starters, but not as well as the one in the video. And as much as I had to use it, it eventually started to fall apart, which made it work less well, which made me need to use it more...
Eventually I gave up and just ran the screed board over everything one more time and did some touch-up with a trowel. It isn't going to win any beauty awards, but it looks OK and should be functional.
I guess time will tell.
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
I'm about at my body's limits today. I read somewhere that DaVinci's "The Last Supper" had aged badly because he tried an experimental new fresco method. There are some parallels to that and my concrete pour. Only mine was a mix of concessions and attempts to deal with concessions. I didn't think I was doing an new, better method of concrete. Today it was dry enough to walk on without leaving footprints. As I think I mentioned above, I couldn't get the surface as smooth as I wanted it, due to my skill level, my equipment, and the fact that you had to walk in the pour to work on the back of the pour. So today I took a metal floor scraper and did my best to knock off some of the surface imperfections. My DiY book says an important final step is to let concrete "cure" by keeping it damp (and above 50 degrees) for 5-7 days. So I decided to do that. Or at least keep it damp. It's supposed to get down into the high 30s the next few days and I don't know if the structure will retain enough heat to keep it warm inside or not. But a day of working concrete and then an hour or two of scraping it and mopping it and even after my afternoon nap, my body is like "nope, not going to be doing anything that requires strength at this point." Even carrying a load of laundry into the basement was slightly painful. "It's not the years, it's the mileage."
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
Too boring for Facebook. I am currently retired. Because they changed the hours around on my job and I decided it was a bridge too far. Not sure I have the cash flow to be retired yet, but I've got some money socked away for a rainy day that I can use for a bit. And the goal is to get the 4 indoor parking spots on my property fixed up and rented out, making me up to $600 a month with basically no work.
At least once they're rented out. A lot of work on the front end. I had to pour concrete in one garage. That's curing right now. The work didn't turn out as slick as I hoped, but it was adequate for the building it is in. The other thing is cleaning and getting rid of junk. I've said it before--when you buy houses and have renters move out, you accumulate junk. Some of it is just junk. Some of it, you're able to repurpose. Some of it, you have ideas of things you can do with but you haven't used it yet. Well at this point I've got enough junk that I'm just throwing it all out. Copper wire? Bums steal it from abandoned houses. But it's junk to me. In the trash it goes. Or will go. Because I forgot to put out the trash last week, so I'm having to wait on this for now. Which means, since I've got 1 garage that has concrete curing in it and a shed with junk in it, I probably get to move a bunch of it to the basement. Until I have space in the trash can. It was previously in the garage with the concrete floor. So hurray for moving shit all over.
OK. Time for a shower another cocktail, and Unconscious Time--which now features a dog and cat, who have both decided to spend most of the night on the bed with me. The Dog is a bed hog and by morning she'll have me almost crowded off the bed while The Cat lays on my feet so I can't roll over during the night--even if there was space to roll over with Bed Hog taking up most of the space.
At least once they're rented out. A lot of work on the front end. I had to pour concrete in one garage. That's curing right now. The work didn't turn out as slick as I hoped, but it was adequate for the building it is in. The other thing is cleaning and getting rid of junk. I've said it before--when you buy houses and have renters move out, you accumulate junk. Some of it is just junk. Some of it, you're able to repurpose. Some of it, you have ideas of things you can do with but you haven't used it yet. Well at this point I've got enough junk that I'm just throwing it all out. Copper wire? Bums steal it from abandoned houses. But it's junk to me. In the trash it goes. Or will go. Because I forgot to put out the trash last week, so I'm having to wait on this for now. Which means, since I've got 1 garage that has concrete curing in it and a shed with junk in it, I probably get to move a bunch of it to the basement. Until I have space in the trash can. It was previously in the garage with the concrete floor. So hurray for moving shit all over.
OK. Time for a shower another cocktail, and Unconscious Time--which now features a dog and cat, who have both decided to spend most of the night on the bed with me. The Dog is a bed hog and by morning she'll have me almost crowded off the bed while The Cat lays on my feet so I can't roll over during the night--even if there was space to roll over with Bed Hog taking up most of the space.
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
I am not clinically OCD. But I have some definite OCD tendencies. Two aspects of this in one subject:
I'm getting my garage space ready to rent out as storage. This entails clearing out junk (an ongoing task as trash can space is available), cleaning, sealing untreated wood, and putting a concrete floor into 1 bay. The cleaning is easier said than done, because we're talking about a shed that can hold 5+ cars. And has probably never been cleaned. You fill a bucket up with soapy water, wipe down a section, rinse out your rag, and the water turns black. Now, you could change your water every 25 square feet, but I don't want to even think about what that would entail, or just clean with dirty water. So since I've got soap residue and dirty water, I'm doing a second go-through with vinegar water. It's still all filthy, but so much less filthy than it was. Then the plan is to rub linseed oil on all the untreated wood (at least for as much linseed oil as I have). As I'm doing all this, my rational brain is going "you've got to get this stuff listed so you can rent it out and start making money" and my OCD brain is going "but if I rent it out I won't be able to clean it properly" and my rational brain is going "IF YOU RENT IT OUT YOU DON'T *NEED* TO CLEAN IT, DUMBASS." And my OCD brain goes "nevertheless..."
The other thing is the parking configuration. So. You drive onto my property. The 5 car shed is on your left. Double door, double door, single door. One car garage at the end of the driveway. Bit of space on both ends to open car doors and pile crap. About a car's worth of space between the double doors for crap. As it happens, the turning radius on a Ford Mustang is such that, if you drive it right up to the 1 car garage, crank the wheel all the way, and put it in reverse, it perfectly goes into the furthest down side of the last double door. And the turning radius of an A-Team Van is such that, if you drive right up to the garage, crank the wheel all the way, and put it in reverse, it will perfectly pull in next to the Mustang. But The Van is longer than the Mustang. So it's easier to park the motorcycle next to the Mustang, between the 2 car door and the 1 car door. Practical. Easy. Makes a lot of sense. BUT...
From an OCD standpoint it is Bad. I've got 2 bays for rentals. Then I've got my vehicles. Then I've got another bay and finally the little garage. I could put my vehicles in the first 2 car door. But then I'd need to put a brick in the driveway or something to tell me when to start backing up. I could nose the Mustang into the last bay (instead of backing in). But then there'd be a gap between it and The Van--unless I do a bunch of farting around to get The Van in position every time I park (it's turning radius is too long to go in the last bay of the last 2 car door). And it HAS to back in so the spoiler will fit under the garage door (the shed is downhill from the driveway, so backing in, the spoiler ducks under the door and then comes up above the door once she levels out). The Van is too tall and long to fit in the 1 car garage. So practically, the best way to park my vehicles is the way I'm doing it right now. But it bothers my OCD brain because it breaks up the line of parking spots. :/
And if you're going "What the fuck did I just read? That's the most boring insane thing I've ever heard," yes. You're absolutely right. Welcome to my brain.
I'm getting my garage space ready to rent out as storage. This entails clearing out junk (an ongoing task as trash can space is available), cleaning, sealing untreated wood, and putting a concrete floor into 1 bay. The cleaning is easier said than done, because we're talking about a shed that can hold 5+ cars. And has probably never been cleaned. You fill a bucket up with soapy water, wipe down a section, rinse out your rag, and the water turns black. Now, you could change your water every 25 square feet, but I don't want to even think about what that would entail, or just clean with dirty water. So since I've got soap residue and dirty water, I'm doing a second go-through with vinegar water. It's still all filthy, but so much less filthy than it was. Then the plan is to rub linseed oil on all the untreated wood (at least for as much linseed oil as I have). As I'm doing all this, my rational brain is going "you've got to get this stuff listed so you can rent it out and start making money" and my OCD brain is going "but if I rent it out I won't be able to clean it properly" and my rational brain is going "IF YOU RENT IT OUT YOU DON'T *NEED* TO CLEAN IT, DUMBASS." And my OCD brain goes "nevertheless..."
The other thing is the parking configuration. So. You drive onto my property. The 5 car shed is on your left. Double door, double door, single door. One car garage at the end of the driveway. Bit of space on both ends to open car doors and pile crap. About a car's worth of space between the double doors for crap. As it happens, the turning radius on a Ford Mustang is such that, if you drive it right up to the 1 car garage, crank the wheel all the way, and put it in reverse, it perfectly goes into the furthest down side of the last double door. And the turning radius of an A-Team Van is such that, if you drive right up to the garage, crank the wheel all the way, and put it in reverse, it will perfectly pull in next to the Mustang. But The Van is longer than the Mustang. So it's easier to park the motorcycle next to the Mustang, between the 2 car door and the 1 car door. Practical. Easy. Makes a lot of sense. BUT...
From an OCD standpoint it is Bad. I've got 2 bays for rentals. Then I've got my vehicles. Then I've got another bay and finally the little garage. I could put my vehicles in the first 2 car door. But then I'd need to put a brick in the driveway or something to tell me when to start backing up. I could nose the Mustang into the last bay (instead of backing in). But then there'd be a gap between it and The Van--unless I do a bunch of farting around to get The Van in position every time I park (it's turning radius is too long to go in the last bay of the last 2 car door). And it HAS to back in so the spoiler will fit under the garage door (the shed is downhill from the driveway, so backing in, the spoiler ducks under the door and then comes up above the door once she levels out). The Van is too tall and long to fit in the 1 car garage. So practically, the best way to park my vehicles is the way I'm doing it right now. But it bothers my OCD brain because it breaks up the line of parking spots. :/
And if you're going "What the fuck did I just read? That's the most boring insane thing I've ever heard," yes. You're absolutely right. Welcome to my brain.
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
When I got a house with a basement, I was excited by the idea of finally having space to do a TARDIS control room. Or a sex dungeon. Probably TARDIS, because the sex dungeon is awkward to explain when your friend from college visits with his teenage daughter. Thing is--and this is something more suited to the TARDIS BBS than here--not only are TARDISes bigger than you realize on the outside (we older Americans think of a phone booth, but the buggers are around 10' tall and over 4' square) and bigger on the inside, the inside is even bigger than you realize. The original 1963 control room is the gold standard, with furniture and computer rooms and all kinds of stuff, but even the pared down rooms of the 1980s...the actual console is solidly 8' across (the time rotor/column thingie is 2' or so) so you really need at least 12x12 of open space to execute a console room. More would be better because you'll be putting in false walls that will shrink the space. The basement ceilings are a little low for a TARDIS too.
Another problem with a TARDIS room is, I generally don't do something silly and expensive unless there's a practical aspect to it. I originally built a TARDIS because I was renovating a garage and needed a place to store the stuff from the garage. I built an A-Team van because I needed something that plywood and drywall would fit in (and as an added bonus, I could use for in-town moves, hauling my motorcycle, and local camping trips). There really isn't a practical justification for a TARDIS control room. (Maybe a sex dungeon, but that's another story.)
But here's the problem: My first house was less than 800 square feet. And I have a lot of books. And there aren't any video stores anymore. So I pretty quickly got to a point where I had no more shelf space and I still had movies I'd like to watch. (Yeah, I know, get a library card. Do streaming. Shut up, I'm rolling here.) Newer houses have been larger, but still not to anywhere near the movies I need--"The Matrix", "Casablanca," "The Muppet Movie." "Blazing Saddles" before it gets cancelled. The list goes on and on. So I hit on an idea. I had it awhile back and it recently moved forward again and, learning that BSG is no longer free on Peacock, moves it a step further: A kind of Colonial Williamsburg museum reenactment of a late 20th century Mom & Pop video store. The little basement windows become an asset, not a liability, as video shelves can to all the way up to them without blocking light/view. Shelves can hide unfinished cement walls. And the furnace chimney. The washer and dryer are down there, but I can hang a shower curtain in front of them with an "ADULTS ONLY" sign. I've even got this weird basement under the porch that forms an alcove that can be the checkout area. It could be perfect. I mean, I should have tacky low knap carpet floors and that's probably not a good icea with the moisture down there, but I could make the concrete work. Or stick down institutional looking 1x1' asphalt tile.
Of course then part of me wants to make it a legit functioning video rental place. But I'm almost certain I'm not zoned for that. And there'd need to be an emergency exit if I were legit. But then I think about them 1980s video stores, where you had to be a member. A speakeasy video rental store would be awesome. People get little membership cards with stamp blocs on the back for free rentals. I may have to do it.
Another problem with a TARDIS room is, I generally don't do something silly and expensive unless there's a practical aspect to it. I originally built a TARDIS because I was renovating a garage and needed a place to store the stuff from the garage. I built an A-Team van because I needed something that plywood and drywall would fit in (and as an added bonus, I could use for in-town moves, hauling my motorcycle, and local camping trips). There really isn't a practical justification for a TARDIS control room. (Maybe a sex dungeon, but that's another story.)
But here's the problem: My first house was less than 800 square feet. And I have a lot of books. And there aren't any video stores anymore. So I pretty quickly got to a point where I had no more shelf space and I still had movies I'd like to watch. (Yeah, I know, get a library card. Do streaming. Shut up, I'm rolling here.) Newer houses have been larger, but still not to anywhere near the movies I need--"The Matrix", "Casablanca," "The Muppet Movie." "Blazing Saddles" before it gets cancelled. The list goes on and on. So I hit on an idea. I had it awhile back and it recently moved forward again and, learning that BSG is no longer free on Peacock, moves it a step further: A kind of Colonial Williamsburg museum reenactment of a late 20th century Mom & Pop video store. The little basement windows become an asset, not a liability, as video shelves can to all the way up to them without blocking light/view. Shelves can hide unfinished cement walls. And the furnace chimney. The washer and dryer are down there, but I can hang a shower curtain in front of them with an "ADULTS ONLY" sign. I've even got this weird basement under the porch that forms an alcove that can be the checkout area. It could be perfect. I mean, I should have tacky low knap carpet floors and that's probably not a good icea with the moisture down there, but I could make the concrete work. Or stick down institutional looking 1x1' asphalt tile.
Of course then part of me wants to make it a legit functioning video rental place. But I'm almost certain I'm not zoned for that. And there'd need to be an emergency exit if I were legit. But then I think about them 1980s video stores, where you had to be a member. A speakeasy video rental store would be awesome. People get little membership cards with stamp blocs on the back for free rentals. I may have to do it.
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
Just about Unconscious Time, but a random thought: I watch a lot of "Sell This House" reruns. Love 'em. I would really never need the "Sell This House" team to sell a house. I keep things simple and tell a story. (Storytelling is essential in so many things. People need to understand what is going on to be comfortable. And they need to be comfortable to open their pocketbooks.) I've got a handful of personal photos on walls and tabletops and more books on the bookshelf than is optimal, but other than that, my places are pretty ready to go.
My friend, with the artificial hip, on the other hand.... The room I was in while taking care of him had a mechanical typewriter and 4--no, 5, mechanical adding machines. It had Budweiser beer stein collections, jars of seashells, an overwhelming assortment of bewildering nick-nacks. His kitchen...cookbooks on top of all the cabinets (you needed a stepstool to get to them), cookbooks along 1/3 of the countertops. All manner of devices, utensils, and supplies, to the point that it was hard to do anything in his kitchen without breaking something.
My kitchen...I've got a cookbook and a Yellow Pages and...there's something keeping these from falling over. I forget what. Oh, a ceramic fish my friend gave me, I think. Then there's a bowl of fruit, a wood cutting board, a toaster, a coffee machine, my Miskatonic University coffee mug, and a second mug for pens and knives and other things. That's it.
So. I'm thinking I need some more cookbooks. Not a lot--just a few. Maybe some canisters for things like flour and sugar and pasta. Just to add a bit of boho to the room.
My friend, with the artificial hip, on the other hand.... The room I was in while taking care of him had a mechanical typewriter and 4--no, 5, mechanical adding machines. It had Budweiser beer stein collections, jars of seashells, an overwhelming assortment of bewildering nick-nacks. His kitchen...cookbooks on top of all the cabinets (you needed a stepstool to get to them), cookbooks along 1/3 of the countertops. All manner of devices, utensils, and supplies, to the point that it was hard to do anything in his kitchen without breaking something.
My kitchen...I've got a cookbook and a Yellow Pages and...there's something keeping these from falling over. I forget what. Oh, a ceramic fish my friend gave me, I think. Then there's a bowl of fruit, a wood cutting board, a toaster, a coffee machine, my Miskatonic University coffee mug, and a second mug for pens and knives and other things. That's it.
So. I'm thinking I need some more cookbooks. Not a lot--just a few. Maybe some canisters for things like flour and sugar and pasta. Just to add a bit of boho to the room.
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
Ugh. Getting this garage cleaned up. There's a phenomenon where I go to buy something in a store and, because the inside of a store is so much larger than my house, I wind up buying something larger (microwave) or stronger (scented candles) than I need. I wonder if this is going on a bit with getting this shed ready--or if it is just the "last mile" phenomenon, where getting almost done is relatively easy, but getting the last bit done is nigh impossible.
First is the garage with the new concrete floor. I focused on getting prepped for the concrete pour and didn't put any effort into cleaning anything else up in the building. So once I had a nice neat clean floor in, I decided I should sweep all the dust and cobwebs off the walls and the remaining dirt and gravel off the...soleplate?...bottom board of the framing. This, along with residual concrete dust, created a huge mess to sweep up. Did it yesterday. Did it again today, because it was just so dirty--and the sweeping created a cloud of dust that resettled back on surfaces. There's a temptation to tread interior wood and woodlike surfaces (I think the siding is made out of some kind of papier mache. But there's only so much I can do because maybe half the pile of bamboo that was here when I got the place is stuffed up into the rafters and onto a shelf in the back, on top of old shitty ceiling fans, floor vents, sump pumps, ducting, and other crap that I was like "I'll save this for later reuse!
" when I should've just thrown it all away. There is NO time I'm going to use an ugly white ceiling fan anywhere.
Today I worked on the 5 car shed. But instead of working like a normal, sane person and doing the things it needed most to be able to be rented out for storage, I've been working like an insane OCD person. Today I cleaned EVERYTHING out of the single car bay and the 2 bays I have my vehicles parked in so that I can put everything back to make most effective use of space. But since there's only so much shit I can throw out every week without getting a dumpster, I'm going to have to move a bunch of shit into the basement--even though it will eventually be thrown away, but I can only fit so much shit in a trash can.
Speaking of which, I've got to see if someone wants the old electric range from my house. I put it in the shed for in case I needed it for a rental, but with a strategy of only renting places that I'd want to live in, the reality is that I wouldn't want this range. And a year and a half or so of sitting in a shed hasn't made it any more desirable. Most of the cobwebs and dust will clean of, but there's been a little rust, and paint flaking along the bottom of the oven door. I gotta just see if someone wants it to get it out of my shed. Because it will just rot away, waiting for me to use it.
First is the garage with the new concrete floor. I focused on getting prepped for the concrete pour and didn't put any effort into cleaning anything else up in the building. So once I had a nice neat clean floor in, I decided I should sweep all the dust and cobwebs off the walls and the remaining dirt and gravel off the...soleplate?...bottom board of the framing. This, along with residual concrete dust, created a huge mess to sweep up. Did it yesterday. Did it again today, because it was just so dirty--and the sweeping created a cloud of dust that resettled back on surfaces. There's a temptation to tread interior wood and woodlike surfaces (I think the siding is made out of some kind of papier mache. But there's only so much I can do because maybe half the pile of bamboo that was here when I got the place is stuffed up into the rafters and onto a shelf in the back, on top of old shitty ceiling fans, floor vents, sump pumps, ducting, and other crap that I was like "I'll save this for later reuse!
" when I should've just thrown it all away. There is NO time I'm going to use an ugly white ceiling fan anywhere. Today I worked on the 5 car shed. But instead of working like a normal, sane person and doing the things it needed most to be able to be rented out for storage, I've been working like an insane OCD person. Today I cleaned EVERYTHING out of the single car bay and the 2 bays I have my vehicles parked in so that I can put everything back to make most effective use of space. But since there's only so much shit I can throw out every week without getting a dumpster, I'm going to have to move a bunch of shit into the basement--even though it will eventually be thrown away, but I can only fit so much shit in a trash can.
Speaking of which, I've got to see if someone wants the old electric range from my house. I put it in the shed for in case I needed it for a rental, but with a strategy of only renting places that I'd want to live in, the reality is that I wouldn't want this range. And a year and a half or so of sitting in a shed hasn't made it any more desirable. Most of the cobwebs and dust will clean of, but there's been a little rust, and paint flaking along the bottom of the oven door. I gotta just see if someone wants it to get it out of my shed. Because it will just rot away, waiting for me to use it.
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
I'm amused that Nike's Phil Knight has finally had enough and is dumping money into trying to get a Republican elected Governor. It's almost enough to let me buy Nike again after they went and hired Colon Kapernick.
Lanzman
No-one of consequence
Sill plate. Like a windowsill, only the whole wall sits on it.
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
...although Webster says I am also correct: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/soleplate . But Wiki says you are too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sill_plate
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
I'm too lazy to do any research right now, but I also suspect it is a temporal thing; "sole" may be a more archaic version.
On an unrelated note, I'm so tired of passive-aggressive flakiness. For now I'll spare the previous stories (although I suspect they're mentioned upthread) and stick to the latest: I replaced the white electric range and hood that came with the house for a stainless gas version. Stuck the old one in the shed for "just in case" over a year ago. Realizing I'm never going to use it and, even though it is under a roof, it isn't climate controlled or anything so it's starting to show some surface rust etc. So I put it up on a FB real estate group. Got a guy who wanted it. Did the coordination and got a text from his henchman asking if he could come by around 4pm to get it. I said "that's perfect, just send me a text when you're on the way because I usually walk my dog around 4:30." Got a confirmation back. ...
...and that's the last I heard from him. WHY DO THIS!? And if you can't make it, why not take 15 seconds to text and let someone know?! I hate humans.
On an unrelated note, I'm so tired of passive-aggressive flakiness. For now I'll spare the previous stories (although I suspect they're mentioned upthread) and stick to the latest: I replaced the white electric range and hood that came with the house for a stainless gas version. Stuck the old one in the shed for "just in case" over a year ago. Realizing I'm never going to use it and, even though it is under a roof, it isn't climate controlled or anything so it's starting to show some surface rust etc. So I put it up on a FB real estate group. Got a guy who wanted it. Did the coordination and got a text from his henchman asking if he could come by around 4pm to get it. I said "that's perfect, just send me a text when you're on the way because I usually walk my dog around 4:30." Got a confirmation back. ...
...and that's the last I heard from him. WHY DO THIS!? And if you can't make it, why not take 15 seconds to text and let someone know?! I hate humans.
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
When I'm not dealing with water, I'm dealing with electricity. All my vehicles have shorts. The '90 motorcycle doesn't charge as fast as it expends energy. I think it's just an old wiring harness that needs rebuilding, although some would argue that a new stator would fix it. The Mustang, that is the newest in the herd, the power seat keeps blowing a fuse. And I haven't had the time/energy to tackle that. Recently the '88 GMC Vandura Awesome Van has showed some worrisome symptoms on the charger. The leads for the charger got knocked about and when I "fixed" them, I fear I introduced a short into the system, because now it seems to burn juice even if it sits for just a few seconds. I have ideas what is happening, but dang, I hate dealing with these things. (I suspect I've wired positives to negatives or just wired negatives to negative instead of to a ground as I should. Or maybe the hood brace is cutting into the wiring cladding and creating a short.)