catsittingstill (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
catsittingstill) wrote2018-06-23 07:01 am
catsittingstill) wrote2018-06-23 07:01 am
Productive week
Well, the contractor may or may not be coming today to put the new roof up. Last Saturday he said he would if the weather was good enough during the week that he wasn’t behind. I texted him at 1 pm yesterday to ask if he was coming... and again at 7 and again at 8:30 and finally called him about 9 and got shunted to voice mail. So we’ll see. His own fault if he comes and I’m not ready, I guess.
The rest of the week has gone pretty well. The patio got rained on once before I got the tarps up, but considering the forecast had been for fair weather I don’t blame myself for that. I did discover there’s a crack in it now where the water pours right down if I try to just sweep it off the edge of the patio, so I won’t be doing that again. The tarps I had bought to tarp the original hole and to tarp the cardboard boxes of roof parts were together sufficient to tarp the patio, just. I drove screws with washer collars into the fascia under the eaves at points that matched the grommets on the tarps (which have uneven grommets what the hell) to tie off to on the house side and used some tent stakes from one of my tents on the yard side. It took me 3 hours but has kept the porch dry through a couple of storms. I bought cheap nylon line for it, though and the knots aren’t holding as well as I’d like. Which shouldn’t be an issue much longer if the contractor comes today.
The scaffolding I rented for the contractors needed to go back first thing in the morning Monday so I used it Sunday morning to trim the top of the holly bush and to prune the plum tree and it was worth the rental for that alone. So much more stable than a ladder and also easier to move. When it got hot I went inside and made all the invitation letters for the July League of Women Voters forum and printed them out and also printed out all the envelopes. The more I use my new printer the happier I am with it.
Monday was a real running-around day; I returned the scaffolding and mailed the letters before going to the clinic to volunteer that morning, then drove down to rehearse with the band for the 2 concerts we were doing at the library on Tuesday and Thursday. The Tuesday concert was for kids so we had a bunch of new repertoire, because most of our songs, while not filthy or anything, are not really kids’ songs. I ended up cutting Juneteenth from the set because I thought it was just a bit too sophisticated for younger kids—which was a good call because the audience at the kids concert was mostly seven and under I’d guess. Juneteenth went in the adult concert on Thursday instead.
Tuesday we had our usual practice at the library, then in the afternoon did our concert for the kids. Joyce has a portable sound system that is fairly clever—a board that handles up to 5 mics, 2 largish speakers, space for mic cords and padded space for mics, and the whole thing latches together into one package with wheels and a handle that can be rolled into the venue. I want one of my own, though I’d like mine to have a headphone out or monitor speaker out if possible.
I also got the results back from my check up and my thyroid is normal yay but I need to cut back on cholesterol and saturated fat it seems. Well eating in a healthier way has been on my list for some time.
I got an exterminator in to get rid of the carpenter bees. There was only one, who promptly drowned in insecticide; none of her eggs had hatched and now they aren’t going to. The shed was thoroughly sprayed and has a guarantee for the rest of the season. I don’t have anything against carpenter bees doing their bee thing in the woods; I’m sure they have an important place in the ecosystem and their lack of aggression is a big point in their favor but still—not in my shed.
That done I was looking at a whole half a day with nothing immediately necessary to do and I felt like I was kind of on a roll with the nasty house chores so I got paint stripping stuff from the hardware store and began stripping the paint off one of the rusty scrollwork columns holding up the carport.
Paint stripper is seriously nasty stuff. I had read the directions carefully and even though I was working with small quantities I was wearing long sleeves and long pants and heavy chemical resistant gloves and eye protection when the wind changed—just a little puff of wind—and blew the spray back at me. A couple of droplets landed on my face. That stuff stings on bare skin. I set everything down and went inside and washed my face at the sink for five minutes before going any further. I tried to continue when the wind died down and it happened again. I had plenty of time to think at the sink, and once I got past the “Fuck it could I just pay to have the columns replaced” stage I thought—I have all these disposable brushes. What if I pour some of this caustic crap in an empty can from the recycling (because the directions say to scrape the stripped paint into a can and warn of damage to plastic) and use a disposable brush to paint it onto the column? I don’t care if it eats the brush; I bought six of them for a reason and I can get more if I need to.
That worked fine at keeping it under control. It also didn’t eat the brush—or at least not measurably so in the 2 days I used it. I pass this on to you; if you ever have to use paint stripper outside don’t spray it unless the air is perfectly still. Paint it on with a disposable brush instead; you’ll be glad you did.
All those curlicues and crevices where they joined the uprights were a royal pain, and it’s freaking hot in my BDUs and I had to stop every so often and take my gloves off and go in and wipe my face and drink something, so I only worked 2-3 hours at a time and it took me a couple of days to do a decent job stripping the old paint off, but I got it done. When I went to open the Rustoleum primer yesterday morning I was taken aback to find it was brown, but decided the color didn’t matter since I am going to paint over it. Painting that column took me hours, but I was being careful to get every spot and crevice and also avoid drips and runs and I’m pretty happy with the job I did. And now that column is protected against rusting while I work on stripping the next one. Which is smaller, but even more curly.
Thursday we gave the adults concert which was only lightly attended but we had fun anyway, and the librarian appreciated it very much, and it’s practice for future concerts. Next year we really need to make sure we talk up this concert series at the Jam; I think it’s mostly that people just don’t know it is happening. Then we took the afternoon off and met up at the Creek for the Jam, where I showed off the new chords that Mark taught me last week, and sang “She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain” and “This Land Is Your Land” and everyone seemed to enjoy it and was happy for me about the new chords. We had a great crowd at the Jam this time and several performers for whom it was their second time, which is even better than first-timers because they are first timers who liked it enough to come back.
The mandolin is going really well, by the way. Amid all the other things this week I found time to practice the major chords and the transitions between them and work out the corresponding minor chords and I have learned three songs with them and also learned the new tune I got from him, King of the Fairies. I’m very impressed with myself and hope to impress Mark too. I HAVE EATEN THIS LESSON I HAVE DRUNK THE LAST DROP GIVE ME MOAR!
The rest of the week has gone pretty well. The patio got rained on once before I got the tarps up, but considering the forecast had been for fair weather I don’t blame myself for that. I did discover there’s a crack in it now where the water pours right down if I try to just sweep it off the edge of the patio, so I won’t be doing that again. The tarps I had bought to tarp the original hole and to tarp the cardboard boxes of roof parts were together sufficient to tarp the patio, just. I drove screws with washer collars into the fascia under the eaves at points that matched the grommets on the tarps (which have uneven grommets what the hell) to tie off to on the house side and used some tent stakes from one of my tents on the yard side. It took me 3 hours but has kept the porch dry through a couple of storms. I bought cheap nylon line for it, though and the knots aren’t holding as well as I’d like. Which shouldn’t be an issue much longer if the contractor comes today.
The scaffolding I rented for the contractors needed to go back first thing in the morning Monday so I used it Sunday morning to trim the top of the holly bush and to prune the plum tree and it was worth the rental for that alone. So much more stable than a ladder and also easier to move. When it got hot I went inside and made all the invitation letters for the July League of Women Voters forum and printed them out and also printed out all the envelopes. The more I use my new printer the happier I am with it.
Monday was a real running-around day; I returned the scaffolding and mailed the letters before going to the clinic to volunteer that morning, then drove down to rehearse with the band for the 2 concerts we were doing at the library on Tuesday and Thursday. The Tuesday concert was for kids so we had a bunch of new repertoire, because most of our songs, while not filthy or anything, are not really kids’ songs. I ended up cutting Juneteenth from the set because I thought it was just a bit too sophisticated for younger kids—which was a good call because the audience at the kids concert was mostly seven and under I’d guess. Juneteenth went in the adult concert on Thursday instead.
Tuesday we had our usual practice at the library, then in the afternoon did our concert for the kids. Joyce has a portable sound system that is fairly clever—a board that handles up to 5 mics, 2 largish speakers, space for mic cords and padded space for mics, and the whole thing latches together into one package with wheels and a handle that can be rolled into the venue. I want one of my own, though I’d like mine to have a headphone out or monitor speaker out if possible.
I also got the results back from my check up and my thyroid is normal yay but I need to cut back on cholesterol and saturated fat it seems. Well eating in a healthier way has been on my list for some time.
I got an exterminator in to get rid of the carpenter bees. There was only one, who promptly drowned in insecticide; none of her eggs had hatched and now they aren’t going to. The shed was thoroughly sprayed and has a guarantee for the rest of the season. I don’t have anything against carpenter bees doing their bee thing in the woods; I’m sure they have an important place in the ecosystem and their lack of aggression is a big point in their favor but still—not in my shed.
That done I was looking at a whole half a day with nothing immediately necessary to do and I felt like I was kind of on a roll with the nasty house chores so I got paint stripping stuff from the hardware store and began stripping the paint off one of the rusty scrollwork columns holding up the carport.
Paint stripper is seriously nasty stuff. I had read the directions carefully and even though I was working with small quantities I was wearing long sleeves and long pants and heavy chemical resistant gloves and eye protection when the wind changed—just a little puff of wind—and blew the spray back at me. A couple of droplets landed on my face. That stuff stings on bare skin. I set everything down and went inside and washed my face at the sink for five minutes before going any further. I tried to continue when the wind died down and it happened again. I had plenty of time to think at the sink, and once I got past the “Fuck it could I just pay to have the columns replaced” stage I thought—I have all these disposable brushes. What if I pour some of this caustic crap in an empty can from the recycling (because the directions say to scrape the stripped paint into a can and warn of damage to plastic) and use a disposable brush to paint it onto the column? I don’t care if it eats the brush; I bought six of them for a reason and I can get more if I need to.
That worked fine at keeping it under control. It also didn’t eat the brush—or at least not measurably so in the 2 days I used it. I pass this on to you; if you ever have to use paint stripper outside don’t spray it unless the air is perfectly still. Paint it on with a disposable brush instead; you’ll be glad you did.
All those curlicues and crevices where they joined the uprights were a royal pain, and it’s freaking hot in my BDUs and I had to stop every so often and take my gloves off and go in and wipe my face and drink something, so I only worked 2-3 hours at a time and it took me a couple of days to do a decent job stripping the old paint off, but I got it done. When I went to open the Rustoleum primer yesterday morning I was taken aback to find it was brown, but decided the color didn’t matter since I am going to paint over it. Painting that column took me hours, but I was being careful to get every spot and crevice and also avoid drips and runs and I’m pretty happy with the job I did. And now that column is protected against rusting while I work on stripping the next one. Which is smaller, but even more curly.
Thursday we gave the adults concert which was only lightly attended but we had fun anyway, and the librarian appreciated it very much, and it’s practice for future concerts. Next year we really need to make sure we talk up this concert series at the Jam; I think it’s mostly that people just don’t know it is happening. Then we took the afternoon off and met up at the Creek for the Jam, where I showed off the new chords that Mark taught me last week, and sang “She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain” and “This Land Is Your Land” and everyone seemed to enjoy it and was happy for me about the new chords. We had a great crowd at the Jam this time and several performers for whom it was their second time, which is even better than first-timers because they are first timers who liked it enough to come back.
The mandolin is going really well, by the way. Amid all the other things this week I found time to practice the major chords and the transitions between them and work out the corresponding minor chords and I have learned three songs with them and also learned the new tune I got from him, King of the Fairies. I’m very impressed with myself and hope to impress Mark too. I HAVE EATEN THIS LESSON I HAVE DRUNK THE LAST DROP GIVE ME MOAR!