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GRAFFITI -- January 07, 2008 thru January 13, 2008>> Link to the Current Week <<Last Week << Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun >> Next Week Welcome to Orb Graffiti, a place for me to write daily about life and computers. Contrary to popular belief, the two are not interchangeable. About eMail - I publish email sometimes. If you send me an email and you want privacy or anonymity, please say so clearly at the beginning of your message. |
 
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January 7, 2008
0654 - Good morning. Back into the routine of five day work weeks, after the long broken field run that is the holidays. I do better in routine, myself. I took care of a lot of loose ends over the weekend, and made a good start on a couple of new projects, so I'm in good shape for the coming year, I think. It'll be busy, but that's good — far, far better than the alternative.
We saw one of two Netflix flicks yesterday: World Trade Center (with the always busy Nick Cage) was pretty good, in a distressing way. The other film, Home of the Brave, was unwatchable, as the scratching kept it from being playable. We've reported that and will get another copy in soonish.
Today is the official start of an orientation class in online learning at UMUC. It's only a week-long endeavor, and covers the most common features of online classes at UMUC. I don't anticipate deep challenges here, but there's always special features that are handy things to know about in any given interface. Some of the options are, of course, limited to actually enrolled students. That, I'm not, yet, though my application is submitted. More when I know more (gosh, I hope that I always have an opportunity to learn more). Happy Monday!
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January 8, 2008
0655 - Good morning. Another manic Monday consigned to the dustbin of history. Good riddance, say I. Actually it was remarkably productive. I did all my normal stuff, plus got enrolled and registered for an actual class - something in Computer Networking. It's a bit of a stretch for me (grin), but I'll need something like it before graduation. When most of my credit hours were accumulated, Netware and Banyan VINES were still in the future. ARPANET was around, but I wasn't on it. I don't think that the DCA even wanted to admit that Santa Cruz was on the same planet as their agency. The extra-fun timing is that my class startup coincides with four days of intensive certification-driven Check Point training. Heh, ironic, isn't it.
WebTycho is the name of the online learning environment. I did more of that last night before my eyes started pointing in different directions. I had a bit more time on my hands than I expected, because the first column segment didn't land last night before I retired. So I'll be formatting that tonight, with luck.
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January 9, 2008
0648 - Good morning. Nothing but a cracked-on-arrival DVD to report. Move along.
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January 10, 2008
0637 - Good morning. Well, good if you're one of the Global Warming snake oil salesmen. We're having an unusually warm patch for January: three days of highs in the mid-to-high 60's, and lows only down to 50 or so. It's going to be chilling down shortly, but only to 40's and 30's, not 30's and 20's. If I'm unlucky, my tulips will start coming up, then it'll snow by the bucket load. Now, off to work.
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January 11, 2008
0632 Jerry's page pointed me at Dalton Minimum Returns, a sub-blog of Russ Steele's NC Media Watch. Among other interesting data and linkages, I found this: David Archibald's paper on The Past and Future of Climate. Interesting, indeed. If all that data is correct, it's gonna get cold. And at what point does colder tip into the next period of overdue glaciation. Whoops! I *still* believe that Al Gore hitched his wagon to a failing star. I wonder how warm a burning Nobel Prize will keep one, and for how long? Go read Fallen Angels.
As I was headed down to have supper, I heard the sump pump running. Not all that odd, since it was raining. But it didn't stop. Sigh. So I went downstairs, and dismantled things. I mucked out the sump bucket (long arms are a good thing), and hosed off/out the pump with hot water. I reassembled everything, and we can hope that the right thing has been happening. Then I showered, and finally had dinner at about 2130. There's no water on the slab down there this morning, so that's a good sign.
Nothing else of interest at the moment. I guess I'll go to work.
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January 12, 2008
Before Demolition |
2057 - Good evening. It's been a busy day. I tried to be up (for a Saturday) at the ass crack of dawn, but instead it was 0705, when my phone went off with a text message. I don't have the duty, but I was awake, finally. So I got rolling. I made the coffee for Marcia, and headed out the door to get her car serviced - just an oil change. Then I tanked it for her, and dropped by Home Depot to pick up a couple of items that would come in handy on today's project: Demolishing the second floor bathroom. Well, not the whole thing, but the vanity and surroundings. You can see what it looked like to start, at left.
After Demolition |
Three hours later, the demo proper was done. I managed to preserve all the wall-hanging stuff: Towel bars, mirror, lighting, in-wall medicine cabinet. But the old vanity, rotting chipboard with built-up tiles all round: well, the word demolish is too strong, but it's no longer in shape to do anything but be spare parts (at least for the actual oak face frame). The rest is junk. With all that down and out of the way, I measured the spacing so that I can build up the non-tiled area to bear the new vanity. I also took measurements overhead.
Prep for skylight trim |
The skylight was a no-rush issue. It was reframed when we had it replaced when the roof was done. The reframing wasn't ... pretty, but it did the job and it's weather tight. So now that everything was out of the bathroom that was going to go, rebuilding could start. Where possible, I always work from the top, down. That way if I drop something, I'm not going to damage new work below. I measured up the varying distances from the off-angle 2X4 framing to flush with the sheet rock that tunnels up from ceiling to windowpane. Using those measurements, I made up furring strips and attached them to the frame. The blue tape on the pane tells me where I can nail, when the trim is up and in place. Then, using poplar, I started trimming out the skylight. Pix of that tomorrow, when it's done. I used poplar instead of pine because it has some nice attributes: it takes paint really well, but more importantly, it's more dimensionally stable over variations of temperature and humidity. Bathroom. Skylight. 'nuff said. I did three of four sides, and stopped when the light went.
Tomorrow, while shopping, we'll pick out the paint color to be the accent color on the wall behind the mirror. I need some high gloss for the trim. I'll also get a gallon of white semigloss. Some areas will just need touch up. Others will be easier to just paint out the wall. But I don't want to do a whole color change, because then I'd have to dismantle the toilet, too. And I'm not in that mood.
More tomorrow, later in the day. Happy weekend.
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January 13, 2008
The lack of a medicine cabinet |
Skylight trimmed out and caulked |
1656 - Good evening. Not an early start this morning. But we stopped at Lowes during our travels and found most of the rest of the stuff for the bathroom remodel. I'll still need to get base material for the countertop, thinset, and grout, plus the tools needed to actually do that work. But progress is.
Once back home, I finished trimming out the skylight. That was a PITA, since I'm working at full stretch from a six foot ladder. I was stable, but since the caulk was a bit stiff, I had less fun than I anticipated, at about twice the duration. With that done, I put some backer strips around the edge of the space where the medicine cabinet was. I screwed in the right sized piece of wallboard, and started patching all of the holes and dings and all round that ex-medicine cabinet. I finished up for the day by cleaning up a bit, and vacuuming, since it's much easier to keep the whole house cleaner if the jobsite is cleaner.
Our fine young men and women hold the line in foreign parts, making sacrifices in the name of Honor, Duty, and Country. They fight and die on our behalf, in our name. Forsake them not, but remember each with gratitude and not a little awe. My hat's off to all our serving forces. My condolences to the families and units of the fallen.
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Visit the rest of the DAYNOTES GANG, a collection of bright minds and sharp wits. Really, I don't know why they tolerate me <grin>. My personal inspiration for these pages is Dr. Jerry Pournelle. I am also indebted to Bob Thompson and Tom Syroid for their patience, guidance and feedback. Of course, I am sustained by and beholden to my lovely wife, Marcia. You can find her online too, at http://www.dutchgirl.net/. Thanks for dropping by.
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