Short and Sweet

Morning off, and what a break so far! Amazing how the mind has a way of forgetting that thick slab of responsibility that weighs down upon you during the work week. Hell, all the days just run together now! 

Fantastic gifts and time with the fam, hitting up the regular joints with the guys, a taste of Narey's 19th Hole too. Progress at the lodge and some decent temps to boot. Saturday morning, a pretty decent ice storm came through but I didn't let it interfere with our Cedar Rapids plans. Hit up a 1/2 price tag sale (bust) and stocked up on supplies for the week at Menards, then headed down to the ReStore and a couple carpet outlets for blood red commercial stuff with Cara. Got pretty darn close to the right hue and totally cashed in at the restore. Limped our way home on the icy interstate in time to get ready to meet Ben down at the PL, and a drop-in by Bergman. Shot some semi-decent pool but loused up the final shot on singles and handed the game over to last week's chump by sinking his second to last ball. Sunday, a full day at the lodge. Cara and I drug 150lbs of sand in on a sled, then broke up the frozen slabs over the kero heater on a galvanized garbage can lid while moving this, that and the other around inside. By the end of the day we had the swale leveled, plastic barrier in place, underlayment down and the dining area floor installed complete. Suffice it to say, we were beat come nightfall. This afternoon? A little downstairs drywall and some garage door work.

Cincinnati WKRP (Dec 22nd Update)

Maybe it's just me, but it seems a helluva lot colder this winter than last. It was an honest -10F on my drive in this morning. Cold enough that the car never quite warmed up. Toes falling off and all that. Same deal yesterday. Driving all over the valley and you'd let the car run in the parking lot hoping the interior would rise above the Tepid mark. But that's Iowa in the winter.

 

Knowing that Sunday's forecast was going to be wicked cold (high of 4 below) I resigned to taking Friday afternoon off to pick up my list of supplies and get a jump at the lodge to counter losing Sunday. Things went well enough in that department. By the time I got home and changed I had a stack of 4x8 foam, a dozen 10' beveled cedar boards, 2 pairs of garage door track and other necessities all sticking out the back end of the rig. Keep in mind, we took on 10-12 inches of snow by that morning and making it across the field to the lodge seemed like a fool's mission. At least it hadn't drifted yet, but out there without any windbreaks the stuff really layers. With weak tires and 4-Hi I kept on it and somehow carved my way in. Unloaded the goods and worked until dark on building the west garage door. Escaped with a little light on the horizon and high-tailed it in to meet up with Ben. With the PL packed beyond reason we had a drink and took off for The Hydrant for decent fries and overpriced beer (yes, I was charged $3 for a can of Old Style, this after the bartendress swore she heard me say "Busch Light" and opened a bottle). And who should be warming up the karoake crowd? The infamous Fernando. Despite my prodding I couldn't get Ben to sing Out of Touch. We parted ways shortly after 11; I had a big day ahead.

 

While Sunday was sleep-in/run-around day due to the temps, we were up bright and early Saturday for a sale over in Waterloo. Got our numbers, grabbed some breakfast, stopped at a tag sale where I scored a Philco tombstone for 5 bucks. Then the action! Unassuming little 50's ranch. The boomerang formica was kicka$$, the blonde table and chairs were probably worth the 2-bills. Cara found much to like, as did I. I walked off with some beautiful kitchen smalls, including a Cory Jubilee percolator- practically NOS, and a Futuramic electric skillet (the one that looks like a flying saucer). A 50+ year old galvanized trash can (heavy gauge steel, thick plating) that had never been used and still had the purchase tag (date and price) from Black's Dept Store tied up to the handle. Other stuff ran the gamut from vintage bbq skewers to an MCM table lamp. Some walnut dishes with original hanging tag, pink strippled drinking glasses, etc. etc. You know you're biased to Iowa prices when you pass up an Oster Galaxy blender in mint condition because it's priced at 8 bucks. By this time the snow was coming down and we were loading up our finds when I decided to investigate the little brass leg I spotted earlier sticking through a snowbank out front. Supposedly a heap of "trash" underthere, I was pretty sure I was looking at the end of a pole lamp, and sure enough, after a lot of pounding and digging I came up with a beauty. Brass with wood accents but the pole portion needs a good refinishing. Definitely not "trash". Cara scored a very nice ladies hat in the old-skool hatbox, a silk scarf and some interesting books.

 

From there to the parents for the next adventure. I knew the weather was headed our way and pretty much figured  this would be the last pass of the season. Once the winds would come that night the field lane would be gone. So….with some assistance, we loaded the Blazer with a mighty ton of laminate flooring that I had stockpiled. Plus a 5gal can of fuel for the gen, and anything else that would be impractical to carry on foot the next few months. It was starting to snow and the roads were getting stupid-slick. Cara held down the apt while I headed out. Finding my tracks in was tricky when everything was white. But I made it again, unloaded the hefty flooring and got the truck out as soon as it was empty. Parked it at the Rotary and started walking in as the winds were coming up. I should've figured that was a bad idea, what with encountering an undisturbed blanket of snow a foot deep all the way in. Each slow and deliberate step sank me all the way to gravel. I could find the rails with my feet but they were too slick to walk on. But stuff needed to get done.

 

Once inside I had a blast. I had the radio on, the gen running, the kero heater to warm my hands. Tackled more garage door construction (adhering the skins to the frame) and wired in the under-loft bullet lights. With blizard warnings coming more frequently on the radio and temps starting to drop pretty good, I closed up shop at 7PM. The walk back out in the darkness seemed like miles. The wind had set up a number of drifts and was whipping across the fields in a way you only see outside the city limits. Slugging through the thick snow was not any easier the second time around. I questioned turning back but knew I needed to get to some sort of heat source quickly, the wind chill starting to take a toll on my extremities. A little overdramatic? Maybe. But it sure had the makings of a Jon Voight flick.

 

Monday? A high of 5F means no venturing out there for me, and more snow to come, too. Looks like I get to shovel the roof Tuesday after work. Rock on!

 

Corpulent Cloisters

Odd weekend. But aren't they all. The weekdays seemed to crawl by; days of mixed enthusiasm and...trying. I had spent the week nights at the lodge, as usual, trying to finish up the west fascias. Because of the importance of getting them installed razor-straight, the actual "putting up" and adjusting was reserved for the weekend when there was plenty of light. Though I decided to head into work an hour or more early on Thursday so I could capture a little afternoon sun to get part of the lower boards installed. Not all-together a bad thing; I find getting up unreasonably early every once in a while helps reset my ever-creeping internal clock. Friday afternoon couldn't come soon enough and I met up with Ben after work at The Library for a really great Cuban with coleslaw. From there, usual antics with him and Cam down at the PL. Not sure if it was our robust "discussions" or the pool playing chumps but something felt a bit off kilter by the end of the night.

 

Gorgeous temps and sun on Saturday. Of course the downside was melting snow and water getting blown in my face off the roof by the high winds. Perils of the bucket. Managed to get everything straightened out, routered and fastened. Metal flashing will complete the top. That leaves the front fascias (and soffits) which don't need to be finished _right now_. One of the greatest things you can take away from all of the soffit/fascia/roofing experiences on the lodge is that flat roof structures require great planning and/or great strength. Gabled roofs only reveal the bottom edge of their structure. Everything else hides under coarse shingles. With a flat roof with great overhangs, droop sticks out like a sore thumb. It's tough to venture around town now without noticing the tell-tale sags of time. Of course, this is a common phenomenon above double garage doors in the pre-LVL/truss days.

 

Continued with interior indecision and finished up some metal work with aligning (and installing) the intersecting railing upright upstairs as the sun went down. Thanks chop saw! Home for a warm shower and some design work. Calculated the needed VCT for the washer area and put the finishing touches on Cold Storage 2 concept. Oh, and a nice pizza and Goodfellas, which for some reason I thought was better than it was. Note: It's not.

 

Sunday, the standard bag of goodness- laundry and all that. And shopping. Hit the mall, spent some money, continued my pursuit of Leupold binoculars, shopped for mattresses, etc. etc. Cara about jumped out of her shoes when she saw Old Chicago was coming to fill the Texas Roadhouse void. By this time temps had dropped to some unreasonable number and we fought to get back to the car. Agreed on a mattress that wasn't offered in the showrooms (and much less than the overpriced junk they all seem to peddle).

 

Monday then, ordered the mattress. Picked up a mid 50's GE combination fridge, a Frigidaire flair wall oven, 200lbs of vinyl tile in the front seat, took care of some banking, dropped in on a UNI auction west of town at the old dairy, forgot to stop by an overhead door provider for track, unloaded the goods and made it home to change and head up to Waverly for a work xmas party. Not a bad time at that.

 

Update: Tuesday post work. Snow was really piling up and the plows couldn't keep the streets clean. All the idiots found their car keys. And the snow kept on coming. Probably the worst I've seen this year. Inspected fabrics at Hancock, worked out a deal at the local lighting store, went through all the grasscloth samples at the local wall-sheather and made a couple notes, then stopped in at Christie Door co and bewildered the staff. 

I'm ready for a break where I can actually spend some time at the lodge and tackle the big stuff.

A Week of Sundays

Mother nature's cruel axe has finally fallen. We've got the kind of snow that'll be sticking around a while and the single-digit temps that turn hands into frozen ham-hocks in no time flat. But it's not all a bleak and dreary outlook. In fact, we took the opportunity to go out for a long awaited dinner Friday night to the Hickory House. The ribs had never tasted so good. Baked potato smothered in melted butter. The bread basket and relish tray. Ice tea and a Manhattan. Dark and warm inside with the wind and snow blowing madly outdoors. Life is good.

 

Saturday was put to excellent use. Lodge-work all day long. Thawed the paint out over the kero heater. Alternated between final-coating fascia boards upstairs, electrical wiring in the kitchen and installing the west-side soffits. Without a pair of work gloves I would've been sunk out there. The wind up in that bucket was something else. Called it a night an hour or two after dark and came in for a hot shower, cold beer and made myself some dinner. I had the place to myself so decided to make the best of it. Figured I'd watch 2001. 25th Anniversary release with trailer and archive features spread out over 6 sides of CAV laserdiscs. The quality was stunning.

 

Never seen the movie before, never even delved into what it was about so I was seeing this totally fresh.

1. The special effects blew me away. Viewing this film on anything but the big screen is a huge disservice.  While not shot in true 3x35mm Cinerama, the original Super Panavision-70 comes about as close as you can get to wide-aspect (as Cinerama) when it was shot.*

 

2. 40 years provides a lot of time for cliches and ideas to be stolen from this film and repurposed into other movies and tv shows, in part or whole. I can only figure that my dissapointment with expecting "something more" from many of the sub plots is a direct result of others taking said ideas individually and exhausting them. Then again, running time is already pushing the limits for a general release.

 

3. The film ages very well. Sure, there's a lot of "mod" which I can tell you was still years away from being a pop culture novelty, but for the most part what you see is what you get. How much was luck (at how "extreme" the future would turn out to be) and how much was careful planning, I have no idea.

 

4. I would not put this film in the top-10 of all time. Yes, the special effects are top-notch (rivaling a lot of today's "so perfect it's fakey" CGI) and the film was radically different from the mainstream at release), but I can't help but think Kubrick is pulling one over on me. In fact, I was slightly pissed off at the ending. This is it? "Wrap up at least one sub-plot…please!" The simplist in me would ask "Did he run out of film or did he run out of funding?" Yes, I realize this is a thinking-man's movie and when all is said and done, we are left to our own conclusions. But I still am left with the impression that even if I were to navigate the maze to completion, I'd find nothing but cobwebs.

 

*My mom (who was in jr. high at the time) and her parents saw this film in 70mm Cinerama when it was originally released. When I mentioned it in passing this weekend she recalled how she's still bothered by the astronaut floating off into space, yet neither her nor my grandma recalled much else. I was more troubled by the life support systems of the 3 scientists on board, failing. Note- unlike typical 70mm presentations we're familiar with these days, a "70mm Cinerema" showing would wrap around you on a louvered screen to really draw you into the action.   More on the 2001 formats: http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/brown1.html

Delaying the Inevitable

Well, the temps are really taking a dive now and the snow accumulation in the country ensures that 4WD is the only way in. Or rather, out. Going in, gravity is your friend. Going out, you're reminded you need new tires. East soffits and fascias are done. Can I live with it? Dunno.

 

Things would be much easier with dedicated power. Yes, I do run a gen and a kerosene heater, but no temp regulation during the hours I'm not there means the water lines must remain drained, the downstairs hovers in the 30's and you still drag cords all over. Certainly much better than last winter, however. (post script- as of Saturday, the lines have froze)

 

BUT, the single digit lows are not helping. So, last night was movie night. The Deer Hunter. Knew nothing about the movie, never even heard of the film before. Let me tell you, only in the 70's. Modern eyes view the first third differently than in '78. Every brick building has smokestacks billowing thick black clouds. And you just know, 30 years later, odds are good every one of those buildings is gone. Everytime a car door opens, beer cans come rolling out. Worn out, rusted vehicles roam dirty, neglected streets. But that's the setup. That was normalcy. Steel plants and manufacturing in Anytown, USA. Acting and characters are top notch while at the same time coming off completely unpolished. Today's movies, even gritty pics, come off as crisp and clinical compared to a lot of this 70's stuff. I'm not just talking about the muted color and soft audio (and conservative use of music), but character development and frankly, direction, make it so. The middle starts to wander but you can't help but notice how the scene selection, angles and editing might as well be from someone's wedding reception video. Deliberate or not, hard to say. You get to the end of this story and you know things are not going to go well. 177 minutes. 3 full LD sides. Emotionally draining is right. Then again, could've been the vodka.

 

Cara came home with 10 minutes left. She's not a big fan of movies with bleak outcomes; her standard comparison is The Great Escape. "Worse than the great escape?" "Much, much worse." But only because I was drawn in. If you don't give it the opportunity or attention it needs, you might walk away with a big ol' shrug.

 

Either way, top notch film. Love DeNiro, love Walken. Currently putting it in my top 10. Whatever that means. 

 

 

Note:

It appears the time-stamp on my entries is running a couple hours early. Home at 2:47PM? Yeah right!

A Lengthy Entry

Since I promised a good rundown on nuclear near-misses a while back, figured it was time to get things together. Something to think about, it's not always 3-Mile-Island type incidents. AND, whether you buy it or not, we came damn close far too often to something resembling the big one. While the list below is more mainstream and not specific cold-war incidents (I'll save that for another time), all it takes is one plane to have engine trouble over enemy territory or a technical malfunction giving the impression "we" or "they" are initiating attack, prompting retaliation. An animal setting off a perimeter fence alarm at a base that was cross-wired to the attack alarm system of other bases comes to mind. That one sent planes rushing down the runways. Another is an equipment failure at a distant phone relay station that all 3 "backup" communication systems happened to run through. For all intents, the base had been wiped off the face of the earth, taking all communication links with it.

 

Early on, both the USSR and the US realized that the only disuasion from nuclear war was the understanding of mutually assured destruction (MAD). While the arms race was taking off, assuring both sides had ample and advanced weaponry to take out the largest population centers possible, the real advancements were being made on the warning and detection systems, allowing adequate time for a full scale retaliation. Both Dr. Strangelove and even Wargames use many factual incidents in a seemingly "that can't happen" storyline. So many little things are over the top you think they're fiction. The "weapons" section below gives you a taste of actual events. And consider this…the hotline to Moscow wasn't established until a year after the Bay of Pigs Invasion- 1963! That said, there are much better lists out there for cold war bafoonery and mishaps, I'll get around to those sometime.

 

People forget there are a lot of "research reactors" out there too. I've done my best to whittle down a few choice incidents from a listing that would impress and bewilder. Some accidental, some pure negligence. How do you "lose" 234 pounds of enriched uranium?? Special thanks to lutins.org for the info. Here's a taste:

 

Research Facilities:

2 September 1944
Peter Bragg and Douglas Paul Meigs, two Manhattan Project chemists, were killed when their attempt to unclog a tube in a uranium enrichment device led to an explosion of radioactive uranium hexafluoride gas at the Naval Research Laboratory in Philadelphia, PA. The explosion ruptured nearby steam pipes, leading to a gas and steam combination that bathed the men in a scalding, radioactive, acidic cloud of gas which killed them a short while later.

26 July 1959
A clogged coolant channel resulted in a 30% reactor core meltdown at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (now known as the Boeing-Rocketdyne Nuclear Facility) in the Simi Hills area of Ventura County, California. Most of the radioactive fission products were trapped, but gasses were vented which resulted in the release of the third greatest amount of radioactive iodine-131 in nuclear history. The incident was largely covered up until a class-action suit was filed by local residents, who successfully sued for $30 million over cancer and thyroid abnormalities contracted due to their proximity to the facility.

1957
A radiation release at the the Keleket company resulted in a decontamination at a cost of $250,000. A capsule of radium salt (used for calibrating the radiation-measuring devices produced there) burst, contaminating the building for a full five months.

1986
The NRC revoked the license of a Radiation Technology, Inc. (RTI) plant in New Jersey for repeated worker safety violations. RTI was cited 32 times for various violations, including throwing radioactive garbage out with the regular trash. The most serious violation was bypassing a safety device to prevent people from entering the irradiation chamber during operation, resulting in a worker receiving a near-lethal dose of radiation.

 

 

Power Generation:

3 January 1961
A reactor explosion (attributed by a NRC source to sabotage) at the National Reactor Testing Station in Arco, Idaho, killed one navy technician and two army technicians, and released radioactivity "largely confined" (words of John A. McCone, Director of the Atomic Energy Commission) to the reactor building. The three men were killed as they moved fuel rods in a "routine" preparation for the reactor start-up. One technician was blown to the ceiling of the containment dome and impaled on a control rod. His body remained there until it was taken down six days later. The men were so heavily exposed to radiation that their hands had to be buried separately with other radioactive waste, and their bodies were interred in lead coffins.

Comment: I've seen pictures of this gruesome incident. When the vessel was blown apart, the control rod literally pinned the tech to the ceiling where he hung for days. Radiation is a relatively slow killer. Scalding, pressurized radioactive steam, not so much. If I recall, a team of men working in rotating shifts to limit exposure, were sent in to try to save the others and secure the station.

19 November 1971
The water storage space at the Northern States Power Company's reactor in Monticello, Minnesota filled to capacity and spilled over, dumping about 50,000 gallons of radioactive waste water into the Mississippi River. Some was taken into the St. Paul water system.

March 1972
Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska submitted to the Congressional Record facts surrounding a routine check in a nuclear power plant which indicated abnormal radioactivity in the building's water system. Radioactivity was confirmed in the plant drinking fountain. Apparently there was an inappropriate cross-connection between a 3,000 gallon radioactive tank.

1981
The Critical Mass Energy Project of Public Citizen, Inc. reported that there were 4,060 mishaps and 140 serious events at nuclear power plants in 1981, up from 3,804 mishaps and 104 serious events the previous year.

Comment: FOUR THOUSAND!

11 February 1981
An Auxiliary Unit Operator, working his first day on the new job without proper training, inadvertently opened a valve which led to the contamination of eight men by 110,000 gallons of radioactive coolant sprayed into the containment building of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Sequoyah I plant in Tennessee.

15-16 January 1983
Nearly 208,000 gallons of water with low-level radioactive contamination was accidentally dumped into the Tennesee River at the Browns Ferry power plant.

Comment: People are idiots.

 

Weapons:

Comment1: There's a lot here, I know. Trust me, I whittled this down!!
Comment2: This section blows my mind. The number of aircraft carrying nuclear weapons (armed or fail-safe) that crashed, had to jettison their payload, or outright disappeared is staggering! As of this date there are still nuclear "bombs" lost in the depths of the oceans and it's only a matter of time before their casings are compromised.

13 February 1950
A B-36 en route from Alaska to Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas, developed serious mechanical difficulties, complicated by severe icing conditions, leading to the world's first nuclear accident. The crew headed out over the Pacific Ocean and dropped the nuclear weapons from 8,000 feet off the coast of British Columbia. The weapons' high-explosive material detonated on impact, but the crew parachuted to safety.

Comment: As I mentioned in a previous post, it is possible for the explosive material to fire and not trigger a nuclear reaction if the payload is isolated, or if safety systems do their job. It IS possible to release low-levels of radiation if the core does catch fire.

10 November 1950
A B-50 en route to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, was forced to jettison a nuclear weapon over the St. Lawrence River near St. Alexandre-de-Kamouraska, Canada.

10 March 1956
A B-47 with two nuclear weapons aboard disappeared over the Mediterranean Sea after flying out of MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. An exhaustive search failed to locate the aircraft, its weapons, nor its crew.

27 July 1956
A U.S. B-47 practicing a touch-and-go landing at Lakenheath Royal Air Force Station near Cambridge, England went out of control and smashed into a storage igloo housing three Mark 6 nuclear bombs, each of which had about 8,000 pounds of TNT in its trigger mechanism. No crewmen were killed, and fire fighters were able to extinguish the blazing jet fuel before it ignited the TNT.

22 May 1957
A 10 megaton hydrogen bomb was accidentally dropped from a bomber in an uninhabited area near Albuquerque, New Mexico owned by the University of New Mexico. The conventional explosives detonated, creating a 12 foot deep crater 25 feet across in which some radiation was detected.

28 July 1957
A C-124 Globemaster transporting three nuclear weapons and a nuclear capsule from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to Europe experienced loss of power in two engines. The crew jettisoned two of the weapons somewhere east of Rehobeth, Del., and Cape May/Wildwood, New Jersey. A search for the weapons was unsuccessful and it is a fair assumption that they still lie at the bottom of the ocean.

31 January 1958
Unbeknownst to Moroccan officials, a B-47 loaded with a fully-armed nuclear weapon collapsed and caught fire on the runway at a U.S. Strategic Air Command base 90 miles northeast of Rabat. The Air Force considered evacuating the base, but instead allowed the bomber to continue to burn for seven hours. During cleanup operations a large number of vehicles and aircraft were contaminated.

5 February 1958
A B-47 carrying a Mark 15, Mod 0, nuclear bomb on a simulated combat mission from Homestead Air Force Base in Florida collided with an F-86. After three unsuccessful attempts to land at Hunter Air Force Base in Georgia, the B-47 crew jettisoned the nuclear bomb into the Atlantic Ocean off Savannah. The Air Force conducted a nine-week search of a 3-square-mile area in Wassaw Sound where the bomb was dropped, but declared on April 16 that the bomb was irretrievably lost. The bomb was rediscovered in September 2004.

11 March 1958
A B-47 on its way from Hunter Air Force Base in Georgia to an overseas base accidentally dropped an unarmed nuclear weapon into the garden of Walter Gregg and his family in Mars Bluff, South Carolina. The conventional explosives detonated, destroying Gregg's house and injuring six family members. The blast resulted in the formation of a crater 50-70 feet wide and 25-30 feet deep. Five other houses and a church were also damaged; five months later the Air Force paid the Greggs $54,000 in compensation.

15 October 1959
A B-52 with two nuclear bombs collided in mid-air with a KC-135 jet tanker and crashed near Hardinsberg, Kentucky. Both bombs were recovered intact, but eight crewmembers lost their lives.

7 June 1960
A BOMARC-A nuclear missile burst into flames after its fuel tank was ruptured by the explosion of a high pressure helium tank at McGuire Air Force Base in New Egypt, New Jersey. The missile melted, causing plutonium contamination at the facility and in the ground water below.

21 January 1961
A B-52 bomber carrying one or more nuclear weapons disintegrated in midair following an engine fire and explosion approximately 10 miles north of Monticello, Utah, killing all five crewmembers.

24 January 1961
A B-52 bomber suffered structural failure and disintegrated in mid-air 12 miles north of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, NC, releasing two hydrogen bombs. Five crewmen parachuted to safety, while three others died when the aircraft exploded in mid-air. The bombs jettisoned as the plane descended, one parachuting to earth intact, the other plunging deep into waterlogged farmland. To this day, parts of the nuclear bomb remain embedded deep in the muck. The area is off-limits, and is tested regularly for radiation releases. 

8 December 1964
A B-58 slid off a runway at Bunker Hill (now Grissom) Air Force Base in Peru, Indiana. The resulting fire consumed portions of five onboard nuclear weapons, leading to radioactive contamination of the surrounding area.

5 December 1965
An A-4E aircraft accidentally fell overboard off the USS Toconderoga, with the loss of pilot LTJG D.M. Webster and a nuclear weapon. The incident, which occurred in the Pacific Ocean approximately 200 miles east of Okinawa, was not reported by the Department of Defense until 1981.

17 January 1966
A B-52 collided with an Air Force KC-135 jet tanker while refueling over the coast of Spain, killing eight of the eleven crew members and igniting the KC-135's 40,000 gallons of jet fuel. Two hydrogen bombs ruptured, scattering radioactive particles over the fields of Palomares; a third landed intact near the village of Palomares; the fourth was lost at sea 12 miles off the coast of Palomares and required a search by thousands of men working for three months to recover it. Approximately 1,500 tons of radioactive soil and tomato plants were removed to the U.S. for burial at a nuclear waste dump in Aiken, S.C. The U.S. eventually settled claims by 522 Palomares residents at a cost of $600,000, and gave the town the gift of a $200,000 desalinizing plant.

22 January 1968
A B-52 crashed 7 miles south of Thule Air Force Base in Greenland, scattering the radioactive fragments of three hydrogen bombs over the terrain and dropping one bomb into the sea after a fire broke out in the navigator's compartment. Contaminated ice and airplane debris were sent back to the U.S., with the bomb fragments going back to the manufacturer in Amarillo, Texas. The incident outraged the people of Denmark (which owned Greenland at the time, and which prohibits nuclear weapons over its territory) and led to massive anti-U.S. demonstrations. One of the warheads was reportedly recovered by Navy Seals and Seabees in 1979, but a recent (August 2000) report suggests that in fact it may still be lying at the bottom of Baffin Bay.

2 November 1981
A fully-armed Poseidon missile was accidentally dropped 17 feet from a crane in Scotland during a transfer operation between a U.S. submarine and its mother ship.

 

Storage/Disposal:

1971
After experimenting with disposal of radioactive waste in salt, the Atomic Energy Commission announced that "Project Salt Vault" would solve the waste problem. But when 180,000 gallons of contaminated water was pumped into a borehole; it promptly and unexpectedly disappeared. The project was abandoned two years later.

1972
The West Valley, NY fuel reprocessing plant was closed after 6 years in operation, leaving 600,000 gallons of high-level wastes buried in leaking tanks. The site caused measurable contamination of Lakes Ontario and Erie.

16 July 1979
A dam holding radioactive uranium mill tailings broke, sending an estimated 100 million gallons of radioactive liquids and 1,100 tons of solid wastes downstream at Church Rock, New Mexico.

August 1979
Highly enriched uranium was released from a top-secret nuclear fuel plant near Erwin, Tennessee. About 1,000 people were contaminated with up to 5 times as much radiation as would normally be received in a year. Between 1968 and 1983 the plant "lost" 234 pounds of highly enriched uranium, forcing the plant to be closed six times during that period.

19 September 1980
An Air Force repairman doing routine maintenance in a Titan II ICBM silo in Damascus, Arkansas dropped a wrench socket, which rolled off a work platform and fell to the bottom of the silo. The socket struck the missile, causing a leak from a pressurized fuel tank. The missile complex and surrounding areas were evacuated. Eight and a half hours later, the fuel vapors ignited, causing an explosion which killed an Air Force specialist and injured 21 others. The explosion also blew off the 740-ton reinforced concrete-and-steel silo door and catapulted the warhead 600 feet into the air. The silo has since been filled in with gravel, and operations have been transferred to a similar installation at Rock, Kansas.

21 September 1980
Two canisters containing radioactive materials fell off a truck on New Jersey's Route 17. The driver, en route from Pennsylvania to Toronto, did not notice the missing cargo until he reached Albany, New York.

December 1984
The Fernald Uranium Plant, a 1,050-acre uranium fuel production complex 20 miles northwest of Cincinnati, Ohio, was temporarily shut down after the Department of Energy disclosed that excessive amounts of radioactive materials had been released through ventilating systems. Subsequent reports revealed that 230 tons of radioactive material had leaked into the Greater Miami River valley during the previous thirty years, 39 tons of uranium dust had been released into the atmosphere, 83 tons had been discharged into surface water, and 5,500 tons of radioactive and other hazardous substances had been released into pits and swamps where they seeped into the groundwater. In addition, 337 tons of uranium hexafluoride was found to be missing, its whereabouts completely unknown. In 1988 nearby residents sued and were granted a $73 million settlement by the government. The plant was not permanently shut down until 1989.

Comment: THIRTY NINE TONS of uranium dust. That is A LOT of DUST! And 337 tons of hexafluoride up and gone? Whereabouts "completely unknown". Criminey.

 

 

A Full Head of Steam

December 1st. So it begins.

 

What a flurry last week was…. Dubuque visit Monday, the token work day Tuesday with rushed Rod Library visit and drinks with Ben and Cam in the evening. Wednesday was a break from the desk job and a day of progress at the lodge where planing and painting in the side yard were the day's anchors. Wednesday night, however, found Cam and I at the Panther but the atmosphere was, well, odd. Packed house; loud, bad, music on the juke. I think we shot a game of pool and got out as quickly as we came. From there to Pepper's to meet up with Blake and company (and Hannah). The +$3 High Life did not hit the spot. A few more games of pool and we moved on.  *I should note while taking a phone call there I noticed one of the waitresses replacing the access door on one of the tables after confirming the previous players were through. Free pool? Not so much. As one guy mentioned to Cam while we were putting in quarters, Table 1: withholds sunk cueballs. Table 2: not exactly level. His words rang true on the last game as I went to place the 8 in the corner pocket. The cue ball arced ever so gently across the table, glancing off the 8 and sending the cue ball directly into the pocket for an instant loss. I was not pleased.*

 

Downtown was really hopping, so we took a seat at the Blue Room to soak up the ever younger crowd's vibe. From what I can tell, the Blue Room, which was always the old-timer's hangout, has slowly evolved the last couple years. I can only attribute this to a lot of the patrons passing on, and the smoking ban surely didn't help. Every time we'd visit it was tough to find someone without a cig hanging from their mouth. Where did those guys go? Anyhow, both the beer and the discussions were grade A. Even caught an atypical CCR song on the juke. Wandered over to the Olive around midnight for awkward greetings with Andrea and co who were just getting ready to take off when Alex and Ben S. happened by, fresh from Madison. Renewed vigor and some breathing room at the Cypress formed the perfect setting for a round of Schlitz's and some VW woes. Needless to say, we closed the place down.

 

Thursday, Turkey Day at the parent's. A fantastic spread and lots of cheer. Helped with some xmas lights in the yard and getting the wireless control system up and running. Completed the evening with 8mm movies in the living room. I spent the whole time perched next to the machine trying to keep the film on the take up reel and helping stay ahead of the top sprocket's lethargic pull. Even so, I ended up with a handful of splices to make at the end of the night.

 

Friday was beautiful and I was out the door and running early. First stop- Menards for sales you can't pass up. Only problem….every_single_parking spot was taken. No joke. Parked on an aisle-end up on the rocks and ventured in. Others were parking in the grass along the frontage road. Got everything I needed and found an available line. Despite 12 or 13 registers running full-bore, shoppers were lined up from the front of the store all the way to millwork in the back! Got out, grabbed bkfast and headed for the land. Made it by 10. Warm temps, light wind and all-day sun made painting (as well as picker work) a breeze. I ended up with all the major power equipment on the lawn. Even with the all-day workathon, it was obvious this was an uphill climb. After a long day I was ready for some socializing. Bowling at Maple was the order of the evening. Things were going great until Lunar Bowl fired up. Could have been the deafening metal-rap mixes blaring directly behind us, or the black lights and strobes obscuring all my typical lane references, but my game took a hit. Things got a little better on the left lane. Overall, not too horrible for being out of practice. From there, all 7 of us met up with Alex at the PL, then directly to Cypress for some entertaining pool. Got pretty close to closing the place down and headed to Happy Chef where 7 or 8 bucks still gets you eggs, hash browns, pancakes and sausage. And of course, incandescent lighting.

 

Saturday was colder and I put in another long day out there, still fighting. One tiring bleak day it was. Figured others must've been in the same boat as nothing was scheduled for the evening. Cara and I braved the sleet to get to the Library to find their kitchen closed for remodeling. Hungry, we went a couple doors down to the OP for unremarkable pizza. FYI- Schlitz had arrived there at 2 bucks a bottle. No fantastic table ads like the Cypress, however.

 

Sunday was just plain awful, with several inches of thick wet snow covering everything. 4 wheel drive got me in and out, but the wet falling snow meant everytime I needed to do an operation outside, I'd have to drag the equipment out there, work fast, then bring it in and try to wipe everything down.  With the winds it also meant it was near impossible to work at roof-level from the picker, especially the operations I had in mind. If I had a camera I would have got a shot of me trying to push a 14' board through the router table in the blowing snow. In the end I was able to do the first coat of painting inside after all the woodworking operations outdoors. But beyond that, I'd need cooperating weather.

 

Finished the evening off with bill paying, pizza and The Guns of Navarone on LD; Gregory Peck and Niven put in a good performance.

 

 

 

Different.

I am not an opera fan, but I do occasionally catch the ovation network while doing something else. I managed to see this clip not once, but twice the other day 12-odd hours apart. Frankly, I find Russell Oberlin's vocals haunting. The first time I watched this I thought WTF? But subsequent viewings spun me right round. And yes. America's foremost countertenor without employing the falsetto technique. This from a 1962 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. 'I know a bank where the wild thyme grows'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnbgpIDzQEU

Bailout?

I was doing some doddling about the nets the last day or so, looking at my favorite '58-'60 Detroit iron, basically to remind myself of the car(s) I could have had if I had decided to go all-Amish at the lodge. This reminded me that aside from my occasional fixation with the Sky and new Challenger, the only reason I'd ever buy a brand new car was if I hit the Powerball. Even then, I'd have to really, really like the thing. The newness would likely wear-off pretty fast anyway so it's a non-issue. 

This realization dovetailed into a discussion, and later, online forum about the big 3's woes. Taking three corporate jets to beg for money wasn't a smart PR move, but if we're talking about wasting cash, the damn things were likely burning an equal amount of green sitting there on standby. Still, bonehead stupid. Anyway....the thing is, non-car people, the ones buying the new machines every few years, should really be paying attention here. If you think GM and Chrysler just build and sell cars and employ lots of folks then you're not seeing the big picture. Forget about auto-specific details for a moment and consider the conveniences and advancements that trickle down the chain to everyday life. It's like saying Ma Bell was just a phone carrier and ignoring the fact their R&D launched satellites, developed the transistor and brought us microwave communication. 

Having a job that occasionally reminds me the lengths these manufacturers must go to to qualify a simple part really drives these facts home. If these things weren't qualified and developed for mass use by the big guys you and I would likely not be able to afford the technology. Advancements in plastics, improved lighting (not just on cars), communication equipment, lightweight metals, and things as innocuous as glass and rubber. I'm not saying the slack wouldn't be taken up by the other automakers, I'm just saying there's a lot more for the average joe to consider than domestic vehicles.

Here's the other fly in the ointment. The guys that bleed the red, white and blue and who should really be up in arms about this stuff are the ones watching from the sidelines and not on the field. Why? Because these guys are more interested in what Detroit USE TO MAKE. They want chrome and V8's and big station wagons with glass packs, the kind of stuff that's hardly PC and, despite what these guys occasionally claim, would kill the big 3 faster than they're doing to themselves Why? Because even if such "retro" stuff were offered, the same guy crowing about how GM is blowing it by not offering a retro-finned car is always going to want the real thing. And he'll typically make up his mind about the time the new car hits the showroom. Such a buy might also question blowing 35 grand on a new car with old-skool style when they can get a low miles original for 20k. No matter how hard the manufacturers try, big blocks, rim blow horns and chrome bumpers will never be made again. Whether it be safety, cost, or what have you. 

Back to the thread, the question was, What Domestic Cars are you Going to Miss the Most?

Excellent question, btw. Answers included the new stuff that actually has passion and identity, like the Corvette, Mustang, CTS, Solstice, and Jeep. But by far it was stuff that hasn't been made in 30 years. Ask a gearhead this question 30 years ago and they'd likely throw out an answer another 30 years back. Let's face it. The guys with gasoline in their veins aren't hot and bothered by new cars from anyone, anywhere. If something catches their fancy, like the new Camaro, they're not first-in-line with cash in hand.

I enjoyed this response:

Since I don't personally care for Japanese cars, can't afford German cars, don't really want Korean cars, and Swedish cars are just weird - it probably means that I won't be buying any more new cars ever and my yard will start to look like a street in Cuba. Hell my whole town will look like Cuba. Without the health care.

Someone else turned the tables and hypothetically posed the question what if Toyota were shuttering their doors, what cars of theirs would you miss? Ummm. Well......

Politics and back stabbing aside, it's a helluvadeal. It's easy to point fingers and ask how such companies can make big gas-guzzling SUVs and then ask for a handout, and the answer is simple. Americans wanted them and were willing to pay for them, until gas got pricey. Is this really your best question? For Chrissakes. Pre-Iacocca Chrysler screwed the pooch by building cars the public didn't want and didn't order. Post-Iacocca Chrysler screws the pooch by giving the public what it wants and continuing to deliver on orders. Sounds like there might be more to this. Hmmm?

The real question to these guys should be what have you been doing in parallel development this whole time? Dual-mode hybrids are a good start, but let's be serious. One thing's for sure, everybody's got an opinion. 

Real Gusto!

I reported earlier this summer that original recipe Schlitz had debuted in Minnesota (and Milwaukee), now rollout #2 has begun...in the CF/W'loo area! A national rollout may be in the cards, but for now, they're eyeing markets where Schiltz was the number 1 brew back in the day. How I missed this event is anyone's guess. Read further for an article from the Courier.

Milwaukee's old school 

By JOHN MOLSEED, Courier Staff Writer

WATERLOO --- The newest beer in the Cedar Valley has an old name. Schlitz returned Wednesday with classic rock fanfare, a caravan of vintage cars and gussied up "gusto girls."

United Beverage Inc., delivered the first cases of the old-school brew to the Pump Haus Pub and Grill, 311 Main St., in Cedar Falls, AMVETS Post 19, 32 Lafayette St., Steamboat Garden, 1740 Falls Ave., Smitty's Bar, 709 Jefferson St., and the Screaming Eagle Bar and Grill, 228 E. Fourth St., Wednesday. Dozens of people packed the downtown Waterloo bar to sample the new-old beer.

Once the best-selling beer in the country, today Schlitz has faded into obscurity. The Woodridge, Ill.-based Pabst Brewing Co. is reviving the beer with its original 1960s-era formula and brown, glass bottle.

Those who remember the taste said brewers got it right.

"The first sip I drank of it, brought back a ton of memories," said Stan Poe. When Schlitz dominated the domestic beer market, Poe, who ran Standard Distributing, supplied it to area bars. He was at the Screaming Eagle Wednesday night for a celebration on the return of the retro beverage.

"If you're out of Schlitz," Arlan Schellhorn said.

"You're out of beer," Poe finished.

Schellhorn worked for Standard Distributing and works for United Beverage which will distribute Schlitz.

Schellhorn and Poe said Schlitz was the number one selling beer in Waterloo and Cedar Falls.

"It was normal to see a bar lined with Schlitz bottles," Poe said.

Checker and the Bluetones played classic rock music. Clad in red dresses, "Gusto girls" --- named for another Schlitz slogan, "go for the gusto" --- offered patrons a chance to win Schlitz merchandise via a friendly game of bar dice.

Raldo Schnieder, of Cedar Falls, had front a row seat to see the band at the Screaming Eagle. He said he came from a family of beer drinkers.

"About all we drank was Schlitz," he said.

He remembered working to bale hay and having a Schlitz when the job was finished.

"It just washed all that dust right down your throat," he said.

Dennis Kohls said the Schlitz brought back memories.

"It was about all I drank back then," he said.

A member of the Black Hawk County Street Machines, Kohls brought his 1963 Chevrolet Chevy II to the party to add some retro flavor to the event.

Waterloo is one of a handful of Midwestern markets where Schlitz is making a return.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul and Milwaukee markets were first last year. Many Milwaukee locations ran out of Schlitz shortly after its reintroduction, Kyle Wortham, marketing director for the Schlitz brewing company said.

This spring, Schlitz was reintroduced to Chicago locations and is now in Waterloo grocery stores. The company is vetting markets where Schlitz historically sold well, Wortham said.

"We're not looking for a national rollout yet, but that is on the radar," Wortham said.

Returning to the 1960s-era formula means the beer has more body and flavor, he added. In marketing it, Wortham said he's letting history do most of the work.

"We wanted to give the beer back to the guys who made it number one back in the day," he said.

"It's not like they're reinventing the wheel," Poe said.

The retro appeal may also attract younger beer drinkers. Pabst enjoyed a boost in Pabst Blue Ribbon sales when that beer became an underground hit with young urban and college drinkers.

"They're thinking the old-school beers are the cool thing," said Ivan Wieland, Screaming Eagle owner. "I hope it goes like crazy."

Half-Assing It

The week went something like this:

 

In the office Monday, getting things done. Follow that up with 3 (long) consecutive days of training and some very poor weather. Turn it all around with a half day Friday chock full o' productivity on the business side. Step outside and "enjoy" the cold, gray rain at lunchtime. I let things blow over since all my intended work was to be outside. How to pass the time? I flitted with the idea of cleaning up and heading to the Rod, but was afraid I'd lose the entire afternoon. How about a quick flick then….Kevin Bacon in Footloose? Excellent.

 

Ventured out after the rain subsided. Ended up performing surgery on the OSB sheathing under the rear windows behind the housewrap. Why? This is the wall that took a swim shortly after construction. Regular siding over these areas wouldn't have required attention but I needed my aggregate panel install to be perfectly flat. Well, flat as possible anyway. And managed to install three of said panels before darkness fell.

 

Friday night? Saturday morning was kind enough to remind me of the PL fun. In a very rare move, Cam and I closed the place down. But, work to do and all that. Grubbed out the brush where the PoCo and I agreed to put the 25kVA transformer. Trimmed and installed the remaining 3 rear panels (involved process, actually). Towed the Brougham to a spot that wasn't directly over where the primary electrical feed will run. And planed, ripped, routered and notched the 16' east beltline board as darkness fell. Then hitched up the picker and brought it to the parents for Sunday. Saturday night's movie? Blue Hawaii. Yes, I'm serious.

 

Sunday..no lodge work! I bet you didn't see that coming. First was a run to the parts store, then the real fun began. And I'm not talking about the guy behind the counter asking me, in all seriousness, if I had the 15-bolt pan or the 16-bolt pan. Sorry pal, I haven't been wallowing on my back under the truck yet. Ended up buying both kits then. Bottom line- transmission filter and fluid change, oil filter and change, air up the tires in the truck and picker, whole lotta oil-dri and broom time. And, the famous Merry Christmas sign raising. I recall at least one year where this operation was a piece of cake. Of course, that was before the re-shingling and removal of pulleys. And to my surprise, Cara had never seen the sign first hand. One would've thought the picker would make quick work of raising that thing, or at least help to hold it off the shakes, but oh-no.  It was late afternoon before we had that thing squared away. Only a couple minor injuries, both to the shingles and a couple folks involved. Too dark to dive into Cara's glow-plug harness fault then. The temps had really dropped by this time so we finished up our laundry and had pizza with the parents before heading back to the apt.

 

Okay, so all of this is the superficial stuff. Lately, the indecision continues. One of the projects slated for next summer is a shelter east of the lodge. As with the lodge, this is yet another opportunity to sharpen my design skills. OK, more than that, design AND engineering skills, because this thing also has a heavy emphasis on rapid assembly and low-cost. My initial design from months ago really fit the bill, unfortunately, a triangle is a very poor form to maximize usable square footage. You end up with sides exceeding common length lumber (now you need butt-joints and have to consider deliver and costs skyrocket once you exceed "common" lengths) to get decent interior space. A keystone shape may be considered. But there are other issues here. I'm eager to put some googie flair into this thing, but that presents more problems because a) the style and materials of the shelter need to harmonize with the lodge next door. B) Googie costs bucks. C) Googie and free-form should be reserved for the drive-in. C+1) The Drive-in needs to be labor, time and cash-concious as well and I already have a design on the table for it. C+2) Scuttle the current design and allocate googie-required funds?

 

On the drive-in front, I had planned earlier this summer to kick-off construction on it this next spring. I pulled the parcel out of ag production so it wouldn't be planted with corn this year (leaving inevitable stalk and stubble to fight next season). There are even preliminary flags placed for support piers. BUT, I'm thinking the drive-in should get its due. If it means pushing the thing out 12 months for a much better design and more cash to throw at it, perhaps it should wait. Funds are now tied up with the inflated costs of bringing power back there. The current design meets the critera set forth, but it's lacking…..something.

 

And that's interesting to think about, too. What's the difference between a hamburger stand and a steakhouse? Pretty much everything aside from charging money for prepared food. Besides a parking lot, a building able to seat patrons (booths, tables, décor), hiring wait-staff, a full-fledged kitchen, menus, restrooms, etc.  What's the difference between a small drive-in and a large drive-in? A screen but bigger. A projector but bigger. A parcel of land but bigger. The minimum requirements are pretty much the same whether the DI is large or small (still need a ticket-taker and booth, a concession stand with offerings, restrooms, yard lighting and pole-top lights, fencing, etc.) It doesn't cost twice as much to build a concession stand twice as large. Nor does it cost 200% to build a screen twice as big. At some point you break out of this comparison (I'm not talking about hanging a bed sheet from a clothesline here, or my 16mm projectors). Both screens require guy wires and a minimum number of poles. Labor to dig holes and erect the the bracing, and so forth. So, at what point do the lines intersect and you know what to build? And what about intangibles? How is your experience affected if I built a DI with a) a cool ticket booth that no one ever mans, b) a hokey ticket booth the run-down DI's have now, or c) no booth at all (and throw the $$ at something else). What if that "something else" were a greater variety of films. Then what's your answer? These are the things I need to continue to weigh. Low cost. Easy to build. Maximum Impact. Semi-permanent.

'Check's in the Mail

Well, it's official. To borrow a word from work that I loathe, the "electrification" project is ON. Now for the permits, the easement agreements, getting the crop out, and so forth. Ideally, the process should be transparent (especially for this costly sum) but if you don't take an active roll in it you'll end up with a transformer cabinet where you want to put your shuffleboard court. Or something like that. So, a meeting to walk the fences with the PoCo is slated for tonight. I'm not going to hold my breath on this one; there's always a catch.

 

Cold weekend, by the way. In fact this past week was a long gray smear punctuated with flurries and icy winds. Now that I've been doing this a couple years it's getting more and more apparent how my perception of workload lags the seasonal change. Getting even the simplest stuff done is a daunting challenge when it's 23F outside. That said, I'm looking forward to shifting to interior work here in December. If the electrical service does pull through, having both light and heat should really have a psychological impact for the better. Next season, should time and funds allow, should be an explosion of "details". When the big stuff is no longer being drug behind you by a rope, it's easier to spring forth.

 

Obligations

Wrote a pretty length blog entry the other day while doing some reminiscing since it will have been 36 months this November that I cut the check for the land and kicked off the lodge project. But, the thing got pretty wordy so I decided to scuttle it. 

Not a bad weekend so far. Cold, rainy, damp, and dark far too early. But, progress nonetheless. Spent the day in the bucket working on the rear exterior. More tomorrow as well, I'm afraid. Since it's been getting dark practically after work all week I've really gotta make the most of this time. Last night I said the hell with it. It was cold and blustery and I had already met up with the utilities after a long day, so I stayed in and fired up the Betamax. Lit things off with an unopened copy of Australia Now, featuring the top acts of the day (1983), including Angel City, Icehouse, No fixed Address and Split Enz doing songs you've never heard of! Followed it up with Hitchcock's "Suspicion" with Cary Grant. It didn't take long to realize I had caught this one on TCM a while back. Not awful, but not a personal top-10 either.

Thursday night I had the place to myself and put on Casino. FANTASTIC. 98% of the acting, the cinematography, the acting, Joe Pesci, it never gets old. Tonight was BTTF 3, one I hadn't fired up in a while. The things you can watch when you're home by 8! (after Lawrence Welk and defrosting the ice box) No, I'm serious.

Something is (finally) afoot around here. Yesterday night I noticed a new SCHLITZ neon sign in the window at the OP. "Odd", I thought. Now Cara shows me a couple pics she shot tonight at Spicoli's. One is a different interior Schlitz actual-neon sign that says Go for the Gusto. And a banner on the door proclaiming "We're Bringing Back the Gusto, ask for it Nov 10th". Very reminiscent of the northern MN handbills (in 60's style) I spotted earlier this summer where original recipe Schlitz was offered. How.....surreal.

If I could sum up the weekend: Fantastic weather coupled with fantastic lethargy!

 

Actually, Sunday really kicked us in the hindquarters. One of those gloomy but temperate days that somehow steals your soul. But let me back up for a moment. The great race started Thursday I suppose. I had been trying to finish up some lodge tasks all week that just weren't coming together before nightfall. Ended up taking off Wednesday afternoon and getting lots done. Thursday after work I discovered I had left the powertool batteries back at the apt. This was pretty infuriating so I made do till dark installing insulation, then decided this would be a good night to air up, hitch up and take the trailer over to the box stores to return some lumber that had crooked and pick up the uber-expensive aggregate panels that would not fit in the Blazer (ask how I know). I found out the C-57 bridge was closed so the detour took me to the north bridge now open after several YEARS of construction. Basically to head to Lowes I had to drive to Janesville first. Swell. Things did go better from there though and I made it to the apt a little after 9 after a slow and deliberate drive back from Waterloo trying to keep the aggregate in place. Unhitched things and collapsed!

 

I should also mention the day job has been in full swing this week, compounding the exhaustion. But how can a guy sit on his laurels knowing snow will be flying very soon? So, I had been looking forward to blowing off a little steam Friday night. I ended up with a fix for my two soffit planes not wanting to meet perpendicularly and worked with that after work till dusk then a swing by the parents and some cleanup at the apartment. I forgot to mention I've still been dealing with the utilities' shenanigans which is cause for much gray hair as well; should know more today.

 

Anyway, met up with Cam and Ben at the PL with a visit from Cara and her friend. Saw some pretty good costumes. Some pretty bad costumes too. Me? No one could tell if I was in costume or not! My dracula-like incisors gets 'em everytime! No pool antics, unremarkable swill and a penchant for early Macintosh discussion with Ben inevitably lead us to any place that could serve up some pineapple pizza. Lucklily, the OP's kitchen was still open. I had brought along my rotary cell phone which came in handy for calling a couple local eateries (and bewildering fellow patrons). Pretty sure Cam had had a rough day as well so he left Ben and I to our own devices; we ventured to the hill. Full house! (yes, Bob Sagget). Actually, the crowd was packed in the front of the OP leaving open tables at the rear. And I do mean packed. Ben and I were the last two allowed in per capacity rating. After realizing service might be a little…slow, I hatched a plan. Mojo's walk-up-window for slices of sausage pizza and further discussion at a not-so-packed Library. This begs the question..at what point will they get something decent on tap?

 

Saturday, a day full of shopping: Construction clothes, mattresses, eons sorting through 1-by lumber. Replacing the two Dewalt batteries that have served me so well, to the tune of a C-note and change.

 

Then Sunday, time for brass tacks. Cara spent the bulk of the afternoon staining the west upper side of the lodge with the picker. I was working on the red beltline on the side door overhang and later pulled out the masonry blade to cut up the first aggregate panel. Neither of us were making much progress and really would have preferred to be any other place but there, but knowing darkness would fall at 5PM once the week started and having such great temps to work in, we made due. After giving a tour to the grandparents shortly before sundown we all headed in for pizza (with pineapple!) and I finally saw a chance to pull out the SE/30. It sprang to life without any tweaking and reminded me just how "crisp" using the Mac once was. This was system 7.5.5 of all things, not even 6.0.8. I found the original Cosmic Osmo disks upstairs and successfully loaded them along with HyperCard and Cara and I entertained ourselves until sleep called.

 

 

Smitten Kitten

A fine weekend it was, despite the cold and wind. You can always tell when winter arrives in Iowa. Not by the ice or snow though. Two words: Static Cling.

 

Last week was one long gray smear punctuated with insulting rain. I ventured out to work at the lodge anyhow, thumbing my nose at the 6:30 sundowns we're having these days. The gen kept up marvelously though it's that time of year to switch over to a 10w30 before the snow really starts flying. East shed roof soffit work is complete; I've been working on the west now the past few days. Things should be easy enough but there are dependencies that make such a task a non-trivial matter (compared with throwing some aluminum soffit up there). First you need solid blocking at the end joints and down the centers of the soffits to prevent the plywood from sagging over time. A trip up in the bucket yields all but the last block measurement (it depends on the others). Some have angled ends but the others are mostly 90's. Invariably all but one will fit OK, that one will require trying to carefully shave a 1/16" off without breaking out the miter saw and dragging it 100' in the dark, spitting rain, for one cut. The less appealing alternative is to shut everything down and try to pull the generator 100' through the wet grass and mud, make a cut, then drag it all back. With strings and straight edges the blocks can be put in. I designed the shed roof soffit overhangs so that only 1 sheet of plywood, split down the middle, would yield the necessary 16' run. When you're in the bucket you try to do as much as you can to minimize the trips up and down, not only because it takes some time but because the batteries get exhauasted pretty quickly. So, you measure for the exact soffit widths and head back down.

 

They also take paint on the face and edges, so you need to make sure you've planned on when you're cutting and rollering them to take advantage of the week's forecast. It makes no sense to work chronologically if tomorrow is gray and overcast yet today is beautiful and the plywood still needs paint. Figure a night inside to dry and they're ready to put up. Back to the prep work; J-trim along the building is next. After establishing a straight line under the lookout joists, some clamping creates a "shelf" to rest the far end of the aluminum j-trim on. Alternating drill bits and square-drive bits through the inside of the trim allows fastening to the siding with small screws without distoring the aluminum or binding it so tight it won't cooperate with the plywood. After the first section is set up, measurement and tin snips are required for the next piece. With vertical grooved siding insects could still come up behind the trim following the grooves, so some dark colored caulk does the trick, filling the groove behind the trim, but being careful so that none of it is easily visible from the ground.  Cut a double-J piece for the leading edge and you're ready for the (already cut width and length) plywood. Some pilot holes before you take it up in the bucket helps things along once you're up there wrestling with it.

 

Assuming the first sheet went in and lined up OK, only a couple screws can be put in (you'll need to play with it once the other sheet is up). Now though, things get tricky. The side soffit transitions "into" the rear, meaning you'll need angle and length for the second sheet of plywood. And don't forget the last block you didn't put in from earlier. You can put it in now using a straight edge and the previous blocks installed as your reference. Assuming you've got good numbers for your cuts based off the first plywood sheet, and that you've already removed the rear-most sheet of plywood already in place that was the rear roof-soffit, and that you've painted the cut edges in the plywood you're about to put up, you can now try…putting it up. Assume it fits on the first try, you go ahead and put in a couple screws. Now you need to know the angle of transition into the rear sheet; the circ saw and table saw can cut a piece of solid blocking with the angle you need. Put that in. Now, the trickiest part. Cutting out the relief area of the rearmost soffit plywood you took down so that the side soffit you just put in "transitions" into it. After the trimming and finessing and panels roughly installed, you can now drill and place the remainder of the fasteners. You'll still need to paint everything again to cover the screws, nails, and hand prints (you did readjust the first sheet of plywood to butt squarely now, didn't you?) But that can wait for the total-soffit-paint in spring. Congratulations. It' just taken you several evenings to put up some stinkin' plywood.

 

Now that you know the secret, would you finish the west soffit for me? I painted the last cut sheet Friday night after work and managed the j-trim and caulking. Got everything put away just as the rain was starting again. Met up with Cam and Ben at the Panther and witnessed the strange goings-ons. Save for one or two people, maybe, by 11PM there was no one over 40 in the place. We shot several games of pool against team Bocephus Jangles, with me proving just how bad I've gotten the past two years. On the upside, they've got Clap for the Wolfman in the juke.

 

Sat AM we were up, at 'em and on the road with the parents, Bandit and an enclosed trailer. Managed to knock out a prelim design for another outdoor construction project on the way. We moved Brittni out of her Minneapolis abode and had too much fun (at least me anyway) with the neighbor dog, Tripper, that bares a striking resemblence to a young Bandit. 

With everything moved out, Cara, Britt and I did some shopping, including Swank Interiors where we spent too much time and money. I came away with a set of NOS aluminum tiki-torches, a 50's clock-radio and a pyrex kitchen graduated-cylinder. Both of them restrained me from buying yet another set of colorful juice glasses. Another notable was trying to find Macy's Home, pinpointing the couch I've had my eye on to see color swatches, and then befuddling the gentleman in the basement with odd carpet requests. Back in CF by midnight.

 

Saturday was a fun departure and sleeping in Sunday was a welcome change. But I did want to at least accomplish my list of tasks at the lodge before heading to the parents for dinner and a going-away/bday party for Brittni. One little problem. The western wind was blowing almost everything sideways. People. Powerpoles. Cars. Trees. You name it! 30-50mph would not have been unrealistic numbers, especially out in the country. I resigned that it would be pretty stupid to pilot a sheet of plywood from the bucket in that weather. So I planed and ripped cedar for corners, put away the 150' garden hoses, blew out the hydrant line, loaded up the latex paints, etc. Then hefted the 4 large lead-acid batteries out of the picker to bring home for a proper charging, doing my best to keep the acid off my hands. Sunday night: Pizza, laundry and squirrels with cameras.