Still working on the house.

I honestly don't know why I've felt better for the last several months. It's a blessing. We have worked, for years, to get a blend of pain meds that work without making me drag around. AND they've been injecting a new level of vertebra for the epidurals. It's more effective there.

You've all been here for the last few years. You've seen me doing my best to process the needs of the business and my obligations. There's been little time for the house, and certainly no ability to do the work. I've worked in the shop thru gritted teeth and had enough trouble standing at the machines and bench there. Quite a few things have slipped around the place here, regarding maintenance. Compounded with not being about to secure handyman help or contract the bigger jobs ... some things started to look shabby.

And ... up drives the dude in the clown car. Or ... the clown in the ... whatever. Gee ... I see some things that look a bit like what I was hoping for. We wanted to get rid of your policy anyway ... and ... ah hah!!! Look at THAT!

I'd been sailing around the shop really getting things done. So; of course, that had to stop. But, I guess it was good timing because I've been able to do this work in prep for the new company's inspection. Jumping in and doing all manner of stuff all at once, really takes time. It also invloves so many skills and tools that I feel like I should really have one of those Home Fix-It-Up shows.

Today, I'm painting. Some of all that plastering I've done last week. Man - what a mess that all makes. I have a ton of cleaning to do. Handrail to install, trash to haul off. Plastic flowers to stick in the gardens out front ... a pie to pop in the oven ... oh YEAH! I've been watching all those shows!!! hahahah.

This is all a necessary evil. Some fool bought this place when he was a young man with a young man's naive expectations that what you fixed would STAY fixed. Heck ... raising five kids here went thru the FIRST remodel. The fact that materials and fixtures only last five to ten years accounted for many re-dos. My back was probably ruined just by carrying out dead window A/C units. That's right ... ZONE control is the key. The big old place heats and cools pretty well - especially since the 46 replacement windows went in! in three different groups. We DID find a company to do that. But, you see ... THAT is down to a cartridge plug in formula. It's not stick built ... AND, I had to work with the crews several times to provide the fix and work around when the workers shut down and started rebounding off one another seeking "Input". It was sad to watch. AND ... do you know what "standing seam" metal roofing is? No - neither did they. That is why they stomped down the "standing seams" all over the place and it required to be righted. But - I digress.

So: # feeling improved - check. # catching up looong overdue maintenance - check. # new insurance company - check with a cavet (inspection). # More to do - check, check.

Hey - how about Kent's work on those boats? I just sent him a few O rings and simple instructions to install them ... and, next thing I knew ... he had founded the Mississippi Wooden Boat Institute. You think there is a connection?

Gary

Gary,

The horror stories I could tell about contractors.

Kent's kayak turned out great. I was very impressed.

Lon

Standing seam roofing is quite popular up here in snow country. It's what the snow slides off of when it buries your car...while you're having dinner inside at a local restaurant. Right place but the wrong time, and now I know why that particular parking spot always seems to be open even when it's busy. On the positive side, we only had to dig out a path to the doors and most of the hood before we could back out of the spot.

Gary,
I put a "stone coated steel" roof on my house. It's supposed to resemble a tile roof. No matter how many times I tell guys how to walk on it, they can't seem to understand, or simply don't care. It is very frustrating to deal with handymen and "home improvement" people sometimes.

Hi Scott.

I hired some people to cut back the tree that overhangs my shop. They stomped all over the metal roof and swayed it between the nailer strips.

I suppose that is why everything is on the same page to make the lowily asphalt shingle over OSB plywood the default roof system. It's the most idiot proof for people to stomp around on. AND ... you get the added BENEFIT of replacing it every fifteen or twenty years. Yeah!!

There's a huge trophy house near here. It has roof lines up and down. Dormers. Connecting rooflines. Multiple wings. It goes on and on and on. And ... yep ... asphalt shingles. What do you think the labor will be on taking all that off, and replacing it all again, in about 20-25 years? They used to build a house like that and put slate or tile on it. Perhaps standing seam. All 100 year plus roof systems. Heck - the Great Houses of Europe had lead sheet roof sheating ... it had to be replaced once every 400 years. And ... was the perfect recycle material. But then ... bummer if it fell to you to replace. As it is though now ... the kids sell everything asap, so no worries.

Gary

It's a whole different attitude in Europe when it comes to building houses. Everything there seems like it's built to last, stick frame construction is almost unheard of, it's almost all masonary or concrete for structural walls. We took a trip through Austria, France, and Germany last summer, and the roofs we saw there were practically works of art compared to the "fast and cheap" model that predominates here in the U.S. Not just tile, but tile with vari-colored patterns in the old style. Not just metal, but metal with soldered copper gutters and downspouts. Even the forms they were using for concrete work were concrete based and smooth walled. They were designed to be left in place after construction as the interior wall surface, and had built-in forms for electrical and comm wiring. One of the places we stayed in was about two hundred years old, and had vaulted, arched brick ceilings in the basement.

Perhaps it's because people just don't move around as much as we do here in the U.S. and families tend to stay put in a region for a long, long time. Perhaps it's because practically everwhere you COULD build a house already has a house on it, usually from long ago. Perhaps it's because only the relatively wealthy can afford a house, and most people live in apartments. Perhaps it's just because they value doing things right the first time around instead of doing it over and over again, but they sure build things differently there.

Gary I am also part of the big-bore builder's busted back club. I stuck it out for the first 7 years and for the last 5 years I've been in the system.
I've requested injections many times and have been declined with the weak reason of being too young. So I do my own IM injections which
work for a few hours, to the doctor's great dissatisfaction. It's truly a blessing having reduced-pain times, motivation suddenly increases.

Ah ... the old BBBBB club. Exclusive lot! ;?) What sort of tie do we wear? Maybe one with little targets on it?

Sorry to hear you are a card carrying member. I didn't follow the self injection concept. Does it involve mirrors, trip wires, and a crossbow? Better get a good Simmons scope for that. ;?)

Nothing like pain you can't get away from. Nothing like it subsiding for a season. Be nice to know why, and be able to duplicate it. It's dialed back for me at a critical time of need, but I wish I were applying the relief to the shop instead of the house. Of course, there is no shop without the house.

Hang in there. I wish you good days.

Gary

After seeing the photo of the giant, ancient, cherry tree that your shop is built around, I'm surprised that there is still a shop to have a house nearby.

If that thing gets any bigger, your "hollow tree shop" might become reality. The only way to expand would be to start carving a hole in the trunk to work out of.