Monday, April 29, 2013

Backwards, You Say?

So, I finished the ventilation fan for Candice's glasswork studio.  Turns out the intake and outtake were reversed, so that the large hole I thought was outtake was in fact intake.  The intake is the most important part as it needs to take the toxic fumes away from the torch area and siphon them to the outtake.  So, having it wide open is in effect, bad, since it can pull air from basically all over.  So, I changed the design a little and it now is a better design overall because instead of taking it outside to use, it can be left in and has duct work to go through the doggy door and duct work that goes over to her workbench (though the latter needs to be trimmed down in length and fastened better to the fan.  We also used some spray foam

I used my router for the first time this weekend and used it successfully.  Now I feel confident for building the box shelves to hang in Donna's room, and for that matter, to build bookshelves and a better designed glass rod holder for Candice's art studio.  Once I figured out the direction to use the router and the speed control, the only thing I need to do better is to get a more low profile piece of wood to use as a guide, and to measure more precisely (though the latter was a given since I was only practicing and therefore wasn't concerned with precise measurements.

I set up the invisible dog fence this weekend, though I still have to bury the wire in places.  The dogs became terrified to go out in the back yard, so I lowered the intensity several notches and we put them outside agin.  Eventually they ventured out, and we discovered that the intensity was too low as they crossed over the boundary at some point, so we raised it again.  Now Bailey is terrified to go outside again, even when he really needs/wants to.  He'll be spending a good deal of time outside this week, so hopefully he learns where he can and can't go and becomes more comfortable with it.  One thing's for sure, though, they definietely won't be chewing the trampoline or jumping the fences anytime soon.

One side effect of the invisible fence was that they ran back up the stairs on the deck and forced their way through the gate that keeps them out in the yard and not chewing the deck furniture cushions as well as protecting Megi from falling down the stairs.  The gate had a latch on it that we use to lock it.  But because of the gap between the gate and where the latch was mounted, the latch only had two screws holding it in place so that the latch could connect with the side on the gate.  Their forcing their way through bent (yes bent) the slide latch because there were only two screws holding it.  So, I replaced the latch (and drilled two more holes through so it won't bend again) and also added a chain latch to the bottom part which is were they forced their way through, so the deck gate's functionality is restored again.

Candice and I got some exercise yesterday, only our second long walk of the year together.  Walks in warm weather are sort of a tradition for us, and a nice one.  It also has the added benefit of keeping us healthier than we would otherwise be.  She has a desire to runa 5K this summer, so we'll probably add some sprints into the walk soon.

We initially tried to take the dogs with us because we felt bad for them about the invisible fence thing, but they were absolutely AWFUL, so we turned around and took them home and went on a walk just the two of us.

So, I've knocked a few more items off my ToDo list.  The remaining list (minus those things I never wrote down, and thus promptly forgot) is as follows:

- Build, paint, and mount the box shelves for Donna's room.
- Fix the screen door
- Fix the trampoline screen
- Install sprinklers into the flower beds and make them more efficient in the garden.
- Turn on the sprinklers (once I get a good feel for when cold weather is over - we're forecasted for more snow Wednesday)
- Install bumpers on the walls where the closet doors bump into them so that they don't damage the walls
- Finish painting Megi's bedroom
- Level out the ground where we plan to put the pool
- Put up the pool after we get the ground leveled out
- Install security on our wireless router
- Sift through the sand under the deck to remove yet more goat head stickers
- Build Candice an actual workbench for her glasswork
- Build some bookshelves (because we need more)
- Design/build some corner shelves
- Get new curtain rods for our bedroom and for Megi's bedroom
- Get/install a new ceiling fan for Donna's room.  Hopefully, get it wired better than the old one where we can control the fan with one switch and the lights with another.
- Use the scrollsaw to make nameplates for the kids' bedroom doors.

That's all for this non-writing blog entry.  Thanks for reading.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Enough Already

Just how many words are there in the Eskimo languages for snow?  Regardless of your definition of a "word", the answer is "too much for us in the foothills of Colorado!"  I have no problem with it falling high in the mountains.  In fact, I hope it does, that will help the runoff and consequently the drought conditions.  But enough here in the lower elevations.  Let it just be rain.  And warm.

So this past weekend I didn't play around with my router like I had planned so I can learn how to use it (this becomes important when I start building shelves, etc).  But I did knock off one of the tasks from two blogs ago (I posted one I didn't broadly advertise where I presented knowledge about the word "lalochezia" and talked about the development of my writing projects - spoiler alert if you go read them:  I'm still in the idea phases only)  I raised Gabe's curtain rod so that it isn't in danger of falling down.  I also hung a new medicine cabinet in Grandma's bathroom.  This wasn't on the original list of things to do, but she wanted to go buy a new one, so I also put it up, too.

Hopefully, this weekend will warm up and I can do some more projects, but if it keeps freaking snowing, that isn't very likely.

That's all for this blog, thanks for reading.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Lalochezia

Lalochezia is the use of vulgar or foul language to relieve stress or pain.  What do you utter when you stub your toe or smash a finger?  For me it's S.O.B.  (not just the letters, but the whole phrase).

There's your bit of knowledge for the day.

My vampire story is fleshing itself out in my head.  The protagonist will be Josef Mengele.  The challenge for me will be to make him sympathetic while still making him a deplorable human being.  I think I know how I plan to do it, but I've been playing out the different ideas in my head along with the basics of the plot before I write any more on the issue.  This is also the same story where I break most of the rules of vampire lore, but with a logical explanation as to why/how.

I'm also kicking around a zombie story where the protagonist is a zombie.  Still working through the concept of how that can happen in my mind.  I do know that it will start from the same beginning as the story Darkness that I'm writing where Itzpopalotl attacks a group of cmapers in the jungles of Mexico.  My zombie epidemic will stem from the dead of the attack that opens the other story.  Their bodies aren't found in the other story, and this gives the explanation as to why.  My zombie outbreak will not be a global one quite yet, at least I don't think so.

Anyway, I promised an update to my blog on what is happening in my writing world when I posted the link to my last blog post on Facebook, so here it is.  Thanks for reading.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Objects In Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear

I bought the wood yesterday to complete Candice's ventilation fan and to build some square shelves to hang on the walls of Donna's bedroom.  Once I get the fan assembled, I then need to but the rest of the ducting to connect from her desk to where the fan will sit.  As for the shelves, I guess I'll be learning to use my router one of the next few weekends.

Also on my agenda is raising Gabe's curtain rod.  The current one was placed in-line with where the old one was shabbily put up and the compound to fill the spot didn't hold up too well and it wants to fall off.  So I need to move it higher.  And re-patch the holes.  And paint over the patching.

We also need to get off our arse and tape and paint Megi's room.  I finished the ceilings there over a month ago and taped around the trim, but we haven't done anything since.  We need to finish taping it and then paint the walls.  We've also decided to do the trim in green rather than white, so her room will be purple, teal, and green.

We bought an invisible fence with two collars for stubborn dogs.  I'm not sure if I need that much persuasion, but it's adjustable up to a higher level than most in case I need it.  Hopefully Bailey doesn't completely disregard it.  I plan to put it up on a nice weekend, but I also have to dig in the yard to bury part of it.  but once i get this done, I can start leveling the yard for the swimming pool and start clearing out the garden for this year's crops.

Also on the agenda is to connect some more hose to the sprinkler system to included the flower garden (and garden better than last year).

We bought some nylon screen to replace the metal one in the screen door that we replaced last year.  Not that we necessarily think it'll hold up better, but it'll be less dangerous for kids if it does get holes in it.  We also plan to "sew" some of it onto the trampoline netting where the dogs caused a large hole and we have to sit in front of it to ensure Megi doesn't fall out of it.  The other two are so far smart enough to not run up against it.

I'm sure there are about 6 or 7 other projects I have to do, but I haven't been my usual self and made out a list of them, so they're likely going to be forgotten for a long time.

Anyway, that's all for this week's blog.  Thanks for reading.

Quill Writing

Quill Writing