10-14-2024 Shop up dates

 

Regular readers will know I have had an on again off again project with my shop.  Now in my defense the shop project is both overwhelming and daunting–I am aware the definitions of these words are similar, but to me the nuance of them stands here.  If you are unaware, the shop is an odd building having started as a 16 ft/4.9m wide by 28 ft/8.5m shed with 8 ft/2.4m tall walls. Later the building had what I refer to as the North and South wings added, each being 12 ft/3.7m wide.  When the additions were added the building was modified to be a guest house for the original owner/builder’s mother in law.

As a guest house it had an odd floor plan.  The South wing was three sections, the front being a living room about 10 ft/3m deep, a middle section that may have been a dining area, and a small kitchen at the rear.  Off the kitchen to the North you entered the original building where a full bath was added.  Out the bath to the East was a bedroom, and through another door to the East was a bare board room with an upright grand piano–sadly too water damaged to salvage.

The North wing when I bought the place had a front door, a front window, and a back door, but was otherwise unfinished.  This section also contained 20 cubic yards/ 18 cubic meters of hoarded junk.  How do I know precisely how much junk you ask?  Because I just filled a 20 yard roll off dumpster with that junk.

So in essence I have a three section building 40 ft/12m by 28 ft/8.5m or 1,120 sq ft/102 sqm.  The North wing is the first section to be redone, the junk is gone, and the remaining walls are gone.  The foundation is currently in the process of being exposed.

This is where I have to deal with construction errors.  The builder stopped the foundation at grade level and my yard is as flat as Kansas.  The building was built prior to treated lumber being a thing–yes treated lumber is really a new thing.  There were no gutters on the building.  So every-time it rains, or snows, water percolates through the connection where the boards meet the concrete block foundation.  Water is the Universal Solvent and lumber does not age well when wet, but it does rot well which is why when I bought the place the North wall was collapsed.

My first intention was to just add a layer of concrete blocks to the existing blocks.  Seems simple except that the slab floor had been poured so it overlaps the foundation by approximately 3 in/8 cm.  So the plan shifts, to forming it up and pouring concrete on top of the foundation to raise it several inches above grade.  To that end I have a concrete mixer on order as I could buy a new one from Temu (#NotSponsored) cheaper than a used one…unless I wanted to drive 100 miles/161 km one way for one that looks a bit beat to…heck.  For the concrete I am now racing the calendar to get it done before it starts freezing outside.  The concrete will be the first use of the funds several friends from twitter gave me before Once Wife left.  Using that money for the foundation just seems fitting.

At this point I have already started parking Devastator (the tractor, and yes that is an old cartoon reference) there.  Devastator is about the same size as my Ranger pick up so you get an idea of the space I’ll have.  The North wing will be the only one left separated and that is so I have a place to keep all of the yard equipment.  That will leave a 28 ft by 28 ft area for the actual shop in the end.

The last big obstacle I have on the shop is a mimosa tree that has to come out because it is actually growing into the existing shop.  The mimosa can wait though until the concrete is done.

Speaking of the truck, I now have the passenger’s door able to be opened and closed again.  Most of the dents are now mostly popped out.  I popped them out via the flat basketball methode you can see the video of this on my Insta here.

So that is where it all stands.  I do have some video from cleaning out the North wing that will go on YouTube this week and I’ll give y’all a poke about it via twitter.

Maura Out

The Aftermath of Helen

From what I am seeing from people on the ground via social media Western North Carolina, and parts of Tennessee, and Georgia took a massive hit from hurricane Helen. Roads are gone, bridges gone, entire towns washed away. News from there is that emergency management agencies won’t go in because the roads aren’t clear. Private pilots in places are being threatened with arrest if they fly helicopters in. Food, water, shelter, and fuel are all desperately needed. So two big things come to mind:

First we have some of the largest corporations in the world, why can’t they step up? Walmart has logistics nailed down. Coke-a-cola, Pepsico, and Conagra, pretty much control the food and beverage industry, can they not shave some profit while doing “I’m not an evil corporation” public relations?

The United States can drop a Burger King in a shipping container in a war zone, can’t these corporations drop some generic commercial kitchens in these cut off areas? I mean food trucks are a thing so I know we could fit a kitchen sponsored by Kimberly Clark in a 20 foot container and I bet if they reached out to John Deere, Caterpillar, Lockheed Martin or Northrup Grumin, one of them could get them just about anywhere even without a road. Heck partner up with Blue Bird, a school bus will go just about anywhere with the right tires!

Can Elon Musk not afford to drop Starlink set ups to survivors? Space-X can launch a rocket and land it on a small pad in the ocean, don’t tell me they can’t deliver supplies to a parking lot. Can Jeff Bezos not use Amazon drones to get food in? Bonus PR if they wave the charges for these folks. Can REI that is so quick to outfit protestors for Occupy Wall Street suddenly not be able to sponsor families with camping gear?

Second, why hasn’t the Army Corp of Engineers been deployed? Or maybe the Seabees? Can we not dispatch a few dozen Chinooks into ferrying supplies and people? Can we not establish MASH units for the injured? The United States Military can deploy anywhere on Earth in 24 hours. Why not Appalachia? I’m not one for martial law but right now too many people in charge are too big for their britches and I think it’s time we assign a general to the job. Why does emergency relief have to come from the Cajun Navy and not the U.S. Navy? Why do the owners of monster trucks get in and out in dangerous times but relief agencies can’t or won’t?

I know some will say the president has to authorize deployment, but so can Congress. We should have learned from Katrina, but obviously we haven’t. Katrina was totally FUBAR and now we are doing it all over again nineteen years later. Is it because our people in power look down on mountain folk? Just as they did the poor people of New Orleans?

There is no way I can make this make sense especially in a time where our leaders send billions to other nations. It is past time for our government and corporations to shift inward, help our people, and do the right thing.