We pick up the story of Ure’s mini deck build today. Total time on task so far in about 4.5 hours. A buck and a half of which was screwing in the five-quarter decking. 20-minutes of that was slapping on a coat o Penofin – which is sort of like a penetrating oil finish. Goes off to a reddish color.
One thing (duh) which I under-allocated brain cells for (in the planning, dreaming, blue-sky) part of the project was what do to for a railing. For some inspiration, I cruised YouTube and found “Ron the DYI Guy” showing a nice railing that would look good in my application.
By the way, if your spouse ever has a couple of hip replacements, being a little shorter now (going from 5-foot 7-inches down to 5-foot 3-1/2), it’s actually easier for Elaine to get under things like a low-clearance deck to put on the Penofin…
The balusters didn’t show up in time to get them installed and cherry-out the deck, but it’s coming along. Patience and a cold drink will be well-earned at the end of this one. Love ground screws instead of the conventional concrete pads for deck building. So much faster!
Now What?
LATER today, when the USPS brings the next Santa load from Jeff’s Joint, I’ll be putting in some “bird strips” to keep the (damn) feral cats out of the stairwell from the house down to the carport.
Let me explain the arrows here: Red is where they have torn open the screen that Divelle just put up. Blue is where they jump from the railing (claws out, these are Cirque d Cats ) to the screen on the porch side. Yellow is where the “solution” goes.
And that solution is??? “REMIAWY Bird Spikes for Pigeons Small Birds, Bird Deterrent Spikes for Outside to Keep Birds Squirrel Cat Away, Stainless Steel Anti Bird Repellent Spikes 5 Strips 4 Feet.” Nine bucks a pop so we have two sets coming.
Elaine, bless her soul, wondered “Won’t this hurt their paws?” “Why hell yes, dear – that IS the whole point…” The cats will learn, and the screen repair facilities can be mothballed shortly after. Though with a nod to the hammered and screwed crew, this is a reason that they call it a “cat infestation” when dealing with flying, jumping, and for-all-we-know rabid cats…
Warm Up Project of the Morning
My decision to leave the “come-along” to lift the riding grass clippers off the ground is paying off – again. Because while doing mow (with less?) this week, one of the wrong-sized blades popped off.
The come-along is circled (in case you live in a Dweller Coop and have no manual dexterity or neurons connected). That funny-looking basket thing is where the cord and wire-winder lives. You put the wire (ham radio antenna or extension cord) in there and this will wind it into a nice, even roll suitable for overloading the shop even more.
OSPHO Follow-up 1
A couple of weeks back, I put Ospho anti-rust on the welding table which is undercover but far enough from flammables that I grind, plasma and arc to my heart’s content.
Still now sign of rush and looking OK;
We won’t do these follow-ups now, except every six months, or so – and then only if the old-man brain memory button still works.
A Side of Disney?
As you may recall, I am a HUGE fan of Disney Imagineering. Read a ton of books on their approach to things. Most of it’s on my Kindle (among some 800 titles) including “Magic Journey: My Fantastical Walt Disney Imagineering Career” by Kevin Rafferty, Marty Sklar, Glen Keane, and Richard Sherman’s “One Little Spark!: Mickey’s Ten Commandments and The Road to Imagineering.” And then there’s Louis Prosperi’s “The Imagineering Pyramid: Using Disney Theme Park Design Principles to Develop and Promote Your Creative Ideas,,,” Don’t know if it’s on Kindle, anymore… but it was… And the concept shopping list goes on.
Now we come to the part which an analyst would call a “Tone Box”. A discussion when is interesting and highly related to the story/report which follows, but is not the main point. So fasten seat belts…
Design Tone Box
One of the key aspects that set Disney parks in a class of their own compared to other “amusement parks” is the whole notion of “story.” Walt used to say that “At the end of every hallway, “…there has to be a weenie…” In other words, a visually OBVIOUS attractant that will draw people in a direction.
Now, at the core of drawing people along (whether it’s “shaggy dog story” told after too many drinks in a bar, or some themed part of the inside of your home) is the Implied story. In other word, hanging a picture of a ship on the wall of your office is NOT a nautical theme down at the visceral, experiential levels. It may be “pretty” but among people who’ve been through Disney’s Haunted Mansion or the Pirates of the Caribbean ride a dozen times each, a simple “picture on a wall” is a rip.
One of the reasons – the main reason – that I am overwhelmed with Disney in design is that they have codified design of adult life-sized dioramas. They are not alone, of course. There’s a life-sized walk-though at the local Oil Museum in Kilgore, Texas. Or, if you happen to be in Canuckia, the Victoria B.C. Royal Provincial Musem has a kick-ass, totally engulfing turn of the previous century display.
To the Ure’s, the whole point of having a home is so you can hack-on-it. Bust it up and put it back together into something that makes sense to you. Which is how we got to the South Seas, grass covered walls in the dining room in our home and the rough wood-covered Northwest room with a big San Francisco Gate mural that dominates.
And that’s how a Tone Box works, says my writing coach.
Application Note
Elaine expresses design very well. “Just let me make a room (or space, or whatever) that TRANSPORTS ME to another place in space-time.”
Me – being the staff Simpleton – reduces even more. “I need a story.”
So along come those two Vevor outdoor wood benches that I think I mentioned picking up for $55 bucks each. With me, kicked back and feet up on an outdoor end table, here’s the George Eye View of the other bench.
(I see someone has been feeding cats on the bench to keep the kitty kibbles way from the ants…hmm…)
“What’s the story?”
“We don’t have one.”
Bench, bench, down by tamarind trees along the driveway. Hmm… where have I seen benches before?
“AHA! They used to be all over the city when I was growing up – they were Bus Stops!!!!”
With that, a 4-by-4 post will be installed along the driveway. On it will be a sign…
So – by this time a week or two from now, when someone comes to visit, set just back from the (250-foot long) driveway will be a bench – facing the drive as all bus stops are – a bus stop from the non-descript [period of time].
And that’s who “whole house” design works.
Another Sign?
As long as the brain was on “driveway stories” I came up with another one. As people leave – again once installed – will be another sign with a slice of wry to it: this one says “STOP Contact tower for clearance to cross runway…” It’s red, will mount on the post on the left side leaving, and for $11-bucks ought to bring a smile.
And so, ends this morning’s report from the Asylum with Power Tools.
Now I need to get the ham radio set ready in case my pal Michael from out in SF calls and wants to hook up on 20-meters today. That gets into a whole big-long discussion about my “antenna modeling secrets to Zepp antennas – which will maybe make it into next week, or the week after’s column. Found something really remarkable in antenna modeling, though, applicable to 1/2-wave end fed antennas… (EFHW’s).
Write when you get rich,
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