4-22-10 somewhere in Tennesseeeee

Check the archives at the bottom of the list just above what you're reading. There's lots of stuff that doesn't appear on the page because so much went up here at once, and some of it gets bumped immediately to the archives.




So it's Thursday, I think. We thought we'd make it home tonight, but uh, it looks like it isn't gonna happen. We were rounding a turn getting back on the expressway, and we heard a funny noise. Not like Bill Cosby talking about delicious Jell-O pudding either. So we pulled over, and there's brake fluid running out on the ground. That's bad, right? So we crept along the shoulder a 1/4 mile to the Red Roof Inn. They take dogs, so here we are. Tryin' to get the truck looked at tomorrow. That should be Friday or something. Hopefully, we'll be back in a few days...

Please be cognizant of the last time you saw this blog, and notice that not everything that's new on here is showing. Like, everything I've been writing since March was piling up when I couldn't get to town ended up getting posted on April 17 and 18 when I got back, but only half of the posts of the 18th are showing here. So if you want to see what the building looks like inside, you have to go back a bit to the archives on the very bottom of the page (newest stuff at the bottom of the archives)... okay. Nuff said.

Please be cognizant of the last time you saw this blog, and notice that not everything that's new on here is showing. Like, everything I've been writing since March was piling up when I couldn't get to town ended up getting posted on April 17 and 18 when I got back, but only half of the posts of the 18th are showing here. So if you want to see what the building looks like inside, you have to go back a bit to the 17th... okay. Nuff said.

okay, let me show ya around 4-18-10

Last video from the plizace

Saying goodbye to the Island, view from the top of the hill of the roughed in building.

this is Big Dus yellin at Ton over the dominoes. Dus is as close to a pirate as you'll ever see in modern day. He sculls his boat (rows out in the ocean to fish with one oar, it takes a lot of skill). He's got hands like vice grips and talks like a Jamaican. Should be a character in a book.

Should be called "Same tour of the place for the fourth time: So Very Tired."

Boring video. Making progress, getting ready to wire the place.

Doing sheathing, framing the roof. Yawn. I think I'm putting this up here for my mother only. I can't imagine anyone else wants to see this stuff...

View from the roof. Blah blah blah.

Yep. 400 bucks. I've said this like 50 times. Just can't believe it though...

I'm trying to get a few movies up here. the site is acting up...

I'll put up some movies for you all tomorrow...

4-17 last photos for now.

I've drawn your bath, madam. Outdoor shower on the back side for your back side.



track lights, an old work boot, and a pretty strong triangulating brace lag bolted into the rafters from corner to corner. I could have cut it into the rafters, and it would have looked nicer, but this is much stronger.



Ton's self portrait. Great fisherman.



The sun rises also


Bahamian Taxi. Theres about 7 guys back there. This after they just dropped a couple in J.C. (James Cistern)

sunrises, 4-17

Yikes. Some creep outside my window.



Shop around for hardware on Eleuthera. 9 in one store, 3.50 in another. 3.50 was at Lord Byron's, where the Liquid Nails is 9 bucks. It's 6 elsewhere. There's no rhyme or reason to what's expensive where, you just have to get to know where to go for what.



Securing the boat to the columns. Think they'll hold? About 6000 pounds of concrete in the biggest of the posts down 4 feet into the rock. I think this one's about 4000.



unretouched photos of the sunrise. The difference is a few minutes, and a the aperture setting only.

Construction stuff, 4-17-10

recognize that chain, Laura? That's the old chain from across the driveway on what is now Coates' place up north. Runnin' across our Bahamian driveway. Couldn't budget a new galvanized chain, nor drive an hour to get one, so we'll see how long this one lasts in the salt air.




pullin' the boat up the hill.



Posts on either side of the driveway.



Paint the rebar, and the concrete lasts twice as long.



Shingling with a hammer, the old fashioned way. My first time, I went way quicker than I thought.

4-17 mixer repairs, etc.

night shot of tha compound



this ipod player is perfect for those quiet nights. Cooler in it too. Thanks, Mother in Law!



The new winders.



the concrete mixer sheared the set pin off under load, and this is what qualifies these days as an improvised field repair.



And this one. Neither one failed for the rest of the time.

4-17 Max the Brave, missing the missus

more decoration. Picked this painting up for 10 bucks. On driftwood of course.



missing ruth's cooking



check out this mess of fittings. Starting with the blue water meter on the right side, I lose count of how many adaptors we had to use till we could get it to attach to pex fittings. This includes a Quest fitting, Pvc, male pipe thread, reducers, couplings, and finally, a piece of tubing I took from a beer bong funnel that was in the shed in New Orleans when we got the house. It was called the "beer blaster." I brought it cuz I figured it might be useful for funneling gasoline or water into containers. I cut a piece of the clear tubing off, and it goes between the Quest fitting and the pvc, where it's held on with a stainless hose clamp. Now, try to tell me it doesn't pay to be Scottish! By the way, you heard how the Scots invented copper wire? Two Scotsmen fighting over a penny.



Max Brave. his last name. I guess when you kill a fifteen foot shark with a knife and your hands while he's trying to kill you, you've lived up to a name like this.




Man, I miss my wife.

4-17 La mas from Flock of Beagulls

found this photo sensor in the garage up north, and I snagged it and put it on the light outside the guest house. I hope you don't mind, Mom.



the last post for the basis of the retaining wall. Max built this one the day before I flew out, 2 days ago. Nice accomplishment. I made the old boy a nice vodka tonic for that one.




Lenny Kravits lives up the road from us there, and apparently Lamal from Flock of Seagulls is on the island too. Goats in governor's Harbour.



This is my improvised ladder system to get those shingles on the roof without falling on our asses. It worked great, though it instilled fear in those climbing it. Come on, buck up, guys.

4-17-10 dominos, hurricane straps

kickin' ass on dominoes... for a moment.



Domino!Get up, Big Dus!


Pullin the boat up the hill, I forgot about what happened to me with another trailer one time, when I banged up my knee. We were pulling the boat up the hill on an angle, trying to maneuver the thing while the front wheel was on a hung of plywood with a 2x4 on the side to guide it. It slipped off the 2x4 and slid down the hill sideways really fast, and I just had time to jump in the air when the tongue slid several feet sideways under me, clipping my feet, and I landed on my ass on the uphill side. If I had my foot planted when it got to me, my knee would have been on two pieces on the ground. Whew. Yikes.


Hurricane straps on every rafter, every joist. I know these could be put on in a stronger way if they ran through the air on a diagonal instead of following the wood contour, but there's about 9 of them on this one joist. i think that'll do it. There are still "weakest links" to the building, like the where the rim joist is attached to the posts (only on there with 2 1/2 carriage bolts every 12 feet) or if the top plate separated from the bottom half of the top plate, etc., but that would take an awesome amount of force. I think I built it pretty strong. All plywood is glued and nailed to the framing it touches, I used 3 boxes of framing nails on this small building, the posts are set in upside down mushroom shaped concrete in the rock 2 feet across, etc. Next hurricane comes, and I 'll let you know how everything worked out. I don't expect the shingles to stick around, but otherwise we should be in fairly good shape.