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June 05, 2006
Walls
At long last we have something to show for our weeks of industry. Having reached the end of our expertise (which extended no further than throwing things away, apparently), we called in the services of Michael VanSant and his faithful friend and fellow carpenter Chris. We don't know Chris's last name. But he sure does like to drink coffee.
Our trusty duo fuels up before beholding the task at hand.
Our first task was bringing the lumber up the stairs. Considering the sheer brute strength of those assembled, this step took mere moments.
Next, we had to install the footer and the header, the boards at the bottom and the top of the walls to which the studs attach. By "studs" I am referring not to Michael, Chris, and me, but to the vertical boards that span the space between the floor and the ceiling. It is the studs to which we attach the sheet rock. But I am getting ahead of myself. The sheet rock will not be hung for weeks.
Once the header and footer were in place, we added the studs. This was made somewhat tricky by the fact that the ceiling is at a slight slope. At one point the four of us were using our high school math skills to compute the exact "slope" of the ceiling (rise over run and whatnot). We approximated and Michael set his saw to cut at an angle. It worked pretty well. In the midst of the activity Iggy insisted on posing for her official portrait.
When his first coffee was gone (and this was a very large coffee, mind you), Chris stopped working, threw down his hammer, and demanded another. Naturally, we obliged.
Behold the largest coffee Dunkin Donuts sells. They call it "The Great One." Robbi volunteered to get Chris his second coffee and by the time she got to the Dunkin Donuts, had forgotten the name of "The Great One." She walked up to the counter and asked for "The Big Guy," or something like that. The clerk was puzzled at first, but eventually they figured it out.
The work was made much speedier by Michael's powerful, manly hydraulic/pneumatic nail gun thing. It has a battery pack AND a tube of compressed air inside. It is heavy and hums. According to Robbi, I was not allowed to touch it. She knows me well. Michael and Chris felt that Robbi's attitude was oppressive and limited my potential. They kept encouraging me to try it. Eventually, though, I did use it. In fact I used it a number of times. I did not injure myself or any others.
Eventually there were walls.
Someday there will be a front door.
We pulled the plug on construction around 2:30. Michael had to go to his granddaughter's birthday party. (Can you believe that this manly carpenter is a grandfather?) Robbi, Seiko, Maiko (who was visiting from Vancouver en route to Australia) and I piled in the car and drove to the Dover Lowes in search of ceiling fans and windows. There was some debate over which kind and color of ceiling fan to get. My vote was for fans with lights and brown blades. We ended up with fans without lights and white blades. Can you say "outvoted?"
I maintained my usual cheerful attitude in spite.
We are planning on installing a window between our tiny bedroom and the much larger studio space. Our plan had been to use an old window that we found at the top of the barn. Single pane with flaking lead paint! But felt that we owed it to Lowes and to ourselves to see what the modern world had to offer by way of windows. We were unsatisfied with what we found at Lowes and moved on to Home Depot.
In Home Depot we stumbled upon a display for glass blocks, which we have both always liked. Some research revealed that the glass blocks in question would not be as expensive as we feared. We have since ordered our window from our trusty Towson Home Depot and are eagerly awaiting its arrival. (If you click the link above, note that our glass block window will not have a vent in the center.) Robbi's mom is enthusiastic about the glass block plan. We speculate that Robbi's dad will not be. But remember what happened with me and the ceiling fans above? Outvoted, Bob. Outvoted.
Leaving Home Depot we became keenly aware of its being in the shadow of the Dover Downs NASCAR track. And of its being race day. It took us 15 minutes to get out of the Home Depot parking lot. When we finally managed to squeeze in between two trucks and escape, we learned from the insistent waving of a police officer that we would not be permitted to turn right onto the main road (the direction we had to go to get home).
We cut our losses and went to the Red Lobster, where we thoroughly disgusted ourselves eating too much butter.
Michael and Chris are game for more construction next weekend. And so there will be another progress report this time next week. Stay tuned.
Posted by bogenamp at June 5, 2006 10:43 PM
Comments
We also became entagled in the post-nascar traffic snafu on the way back from Ocean City. We were aware of the race, having marveled at the great camper metropolis surrounding the raceway and route 1 on our way to the beach Friday night. We discussed taking 50 to 213 (longer usually, but in this case a better scenario) but opted to stay later at the beach. Even with leaving OC @ 7:30pm we still hit a rough patch of barely moving traffic right after the raceway that added about an hour to the drive. We did not opt to stop at Red Lobster (mostly because hubby is allergic to seafood), so you definitely made out better. Small world, or I suppose in this case, it a small peninsula.
Posted by: ming at June 7, 2006 01:48 AM
The problem with HTML tags and style is that I have neither. Well, maybe a little style. If I consulted my great work friend, Bryan, I probably could have HTML tags. He could help me.
OK. So you have these studs. Or stud, Robbi, as you like to see it. The construction guys, well, they definitely have merit--the coffee, oh my god, we live with a varitable barrister. Is that one r or two? No spell check. Rats. I think a barrister is some kind of person that has a law affiliation, not to be confused with our own houseguest, Rebecca, who has NOTHING to do with the law, but works at Starbucks. She goes on and on about the Cafe Americanos, which is merely espresso and hot water, oh...but to hear her...it's a thing of beauty.
Down to the construction. After all, I'm supposed to be commenting about this wall thing. Anyway, how do you see these comments? And do you really care? And if you see them, does the whole world see them? And, by the way, what IS the meaning of life?
OK, a little carried away there. This was my problem, even as a child, too many questions. Do you find yourself spelling words wrong? Suddenly I've forgotten the basics of english class. The easy stuff. Two vs. to vs. too. The stuff you would snicker to yourself when someone else used the wrong spelling. Is it old age? After all I'm 51(!!!!!) now. Maybe just a little alzheimers. I think I got that right. Whew!
OK, back to the walls. They are WONDERFUL. Walls. Too many, awful. Too few, well, you know. The nail gun and Matthew? It reminds me of when John and I were first married and John was revving up the chain saw outside. Courtney said "Are you really going to let him use that?" It's one of those perfect moments in life that just make you laugh whenever you think about it.
OK enough drivvel for tonight. Signing Off. Love you both.
Judy
Posted by: Judy Swanson at June 8, 2006 10:31 PM
Now THAT, my friends, was a comment. Judy wins the price for length--and style!
In my own defense, I was steady with the nail gun, though I would not yet trust myself with a chainsaw.
Meaning of life? I cannot say. Perhaps it will be found in tomorrow's "The Great One." Michael and Chris are back in action tomorrow.
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