Thursday, September 16, 2010

Finally, a New Approach

Despite what some may believe, the need for a storage building was dreamt up back in the days of the initial Lodge groundbreaking. The reason was two-fold- I had lots of things that needed shelter that you wouldn't want to be tripping over everyday, AND, you wouldn't want to pull your daily driver in and out of what's essentially your living room on a daily basis. The name "Cold Storage" came along and stuck, even though the actual storage may well see some heat. Cold Storage 2 was actually the first iteration, and if you snoop through my folders you'll find many variations on the idea, each time, a different approach, because frankly, the designs never really clicked. Whatever the design, the specs were rigorous, needing to both house vehicles, power tools and equipment, interim washers/dryers, and a good portion of basement glut. It also needed to complement the lay of the land, harmonize with the lodge and pumphouse, and not attempt to take center stage. Third, it must be cost and time sensitive and make use of the Lodge "lessons learned". Not exactly easy benchmarks to hit.


Finally, a new approach that breaks from previous designs so significantly that it's fair to dub it "Cold Storage 3". The present design is workable, flexible even. With potential for full insulation and heating, an upstairs bathroom (yes, two floors), and some novel, integrated solutions to storage and movement. Where difficulty lies, is in spanning both floor and ceiling distances with conventional techniques. This is where the real engineering comes in.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

That's how you pass the time….

I made the mistake Thursday after work of firing up the SubZero freezer and going about ironing, cookie baking (was that Thursday?) and other post-work activities. After an hour or two I transferred over ALL the items in our packed fridge to the freezer unit and set about defrosting the Coldspot. Several hours of attention (and hacking) later, the thing was finally frost-free. By now it was 10 and I knew Friday was going to be a long one. I crossed my fingers, checked the thermometer every few minutes, and transferred everything back over. Outside the side door, a big pile of frozen ice chunks. Now she runs great at even the warmest setting and we've regained our freezer space.

Friday…super long day of wearing multiple hats at work…simultaneously. Playing boss wasn't so bad, the minute-by-minute demands made the day fly by, and I held my own against rowdy union boys that tried their best to get one over on me, while still managing to keep lines flowing and the business unit manager happy. I was ready for that drink after work.

It seemed no matter how much sleep I got the following days, I was always exhausted, even if I was moving about. We slept in Saturday, then took advantage of the cool, but sunny, afternoon and got all the mowing done around the place. I even washed down the tractor and was reminded that yes, it needs a tractor shed. With chores finished, we rolled up Waverly way in the wagon to see the sights. I got sucked into the authentic Fareway for some oddball cuisine…after all, with a GIANT Fareway going up behind this one, it's not long for this world. That's unfortunate, because the existing one does everything it needs to, it's just cramped. The new one has ceilings that'll be too high, aisles too wide, and in the process, pick up that cold, unfriendly feel. It also looks like a giant Walgreens.

The vintage gas station-turned auto museum next door had a '56 Pontiac out front and a glimpse through the service bay windows revealed how much fun a true enthusiast can have when they've got some money and imagination.

The evening was low key, with some reading, Lawrence Welk, and a bad movie from Red Box.

Sunday, another shot to sleep in and we did. Followed it up with eggs, hash browns, sausage, OJ, and toast out on the lawn. More reading about the trials and tribulations of Control Data Corporation, THE supercomputer pioneers based right out of Minnesota. We got after the next chore before heading in to CF, namely house-washing the back of the lodge. Cara manned the hose and detergent and I scrubbed like hell with the acid brush. Didn't get too…wet, but worked up a sweat. Hung the clothes out and headed in.


Spent the rest of the day at the Pruisner's for Lydia's first bday party. It was a good time with good food and chit chat. My eyelids were dropping later in the eve but we somehow managed to make it past 10. Back at the lodge, I set up my R2R machine I grabbed from the parents on the way in, and played around with some tapes I had picked up the weekend prior. This vacuum tube machine hadn't seen any kind of use in over a decade; just sat silently in the basement corner, and yet it sprang right to life without prodding or coaxing.

The last day of vac and the writing was on the wall. The winds blew like crazy all day long, forcing my eventualy closing of the last open clerestory early in the AM due to the scream of wind cutting across the screen. It was too windy to clean up and paint the lawn furniture for the winter, but I did manage to roll a few coats of red on my pre-cut plywood panel destined to be the pumphouse door, and spent some time in the PM shellac'ing and sanding panels for the upstairs vanity. The rest of the afternoon was frittered away on an all-new design for Cold Storage 2. It's rare to get a block of time anymore to dedicate to this kind of free thinking and so far I'm enthused about the initial results.

The last free evening? Bad TV in parallel with reading, music, and internet putzing while waiting out the storm that hammered us. Note to self: buy an anemometer.