May 31, 2005
Weekend of Work
Memorial day weekend. The fabled 3-day weekend! What did I do this weekend?
Work. Hard.
Saturday
But, I DID have help. My father, brother and significant other all showed up, ready and roaring to get down to business. Luckily, I had two projects lined up to wear down all of that entheusiasm. Replace the ceiling in the nursury, re-wire the room and ready it for a ceiling fan. And take down the huge pine tree looming over the house that lost it's top in a storm who knows how long ago.
My plans were to do the nursery first, since that's the job I most want done and figured would take the longest. The current ceiling is stretched CANVAS. Yes, you read that right, CANVAS.. From tears in the canvas in another room I suspected a layer of some kind of paper/plyboard with wooden slats holding it to, possibly, the rafters. So I bought $30 of firring strips (1x3 sticks) to nail up and provide a base to staple the ceiling to. But nope, my Father decided that the tree needs to come down first.
And so, 10am on Saturday morning we begain. Needless to say, I learned a plethora of new things from the ex-lumberjack. First we tied some truck load webbing around my waist. This gave something trustworthy to tie myself to the tree with. Then he tied a light rope to that, just for me to carry it up the tree. Using a ladder I gained access to the lower branches, then up the branches to the top of three, about 30' up and higher than the roof of the house.
First I tied myself to the tree. Then I untied the light rope, looped it around a branch and sent the end back down. My brother then used it to send up an electric chain saw (lighter than the gas model also waiting below) with a heavier rope, a power cord and a short length of rope. The short length was to tie the chainsaw to the tree, dropping stuff is considered a Bad Thing. The Power cord was tied to the chainsaw. And the heavy rope was looped over the top of the tree and sent back down.
There was no need to try and "top" the tree, it had already lost it's top third-to-half in a storm long before I had bought the house. I should do some tree-ring counts and figure out how long ago it was. But I did need to clear out some branches so that I could see what I was doing. A couple of cuts, and it was time to begin in earnest.
The first several branches did as you'd expect them to. I tied the heavy rope to each one so that the ground guys could pull if needed. Then I attempted to cut the branch down, but it would usually split. Then when I succeeded in cutting it free, it would get caught on it's way down. As it's not worth fighting each branch this way, I was sent back down to the lowest branches.
I untied the chainsaw from the tree, and let it dangle on the light rope. My brother tieing that line off down below to keep it airborn. Then I untied myself, and back down I went. I re-tied myself, caught the chainsaw lowered back down to me and started the positioning dance.
Positioning Dance
The Positioning Dance is where I go from branch to branch based on where I can safely reach each branch below me. Add to that coaching from my Father as to where it ACTUALLY is safe to cut said branch. Note that this is more subtle than simply "Don't cut the branch you are standing on, dummy!".
- Cut each branch leaving 2-3 feet still attached to the tree. This will give you a ladder to climb up and down.
- Think about WHAT the branch is going to do when it is cut. Is the branch under stress? Will it spring back on you? Are any of the lines attached to YOU going to get pull down by the brach... including YOU?
- Splitting. Most branches will split the piece you want to leave on the trunk. Stay away from where it is going to split. Don't get pinched or caught by the split.
- Personal stability. If possible, lean over another safe branch so that you can use both arms. This also keeps you away from the branch you are cutting.
- Don't lose track of the chainsaw. PLAN your followthrough. Branch goes here, stump twangs there, let chainsaw go way over HERE. Away from body parts, not catching in falling branch or other branches.
Basically, then just work your way up the tree, taking out all of the branches. I did this, while taking care of any branches that got stuck on the ladder-pieces I left below me.
Finally, we make it to the top again. Now are some really tricky branches, ones that are hanging OVER the house. Now it's time to use the heavy rope again. Tie the rope to the branch, and cut it slowly, waiting for it to start to drop. Stop then, and let the branch lower away from the house, so that you can finish the job, having it drop right where you want it.
This is where the tree tried to get me. One big branch landed on the roof after getting cut, and is threatening a couple of exhaust pipes. I grab it and start pulling it straight off of roof towards me. The branch is heavier than it looks. Much heavier. I have it lifted up from below me when the end slips off the roof. The end I am holding, up over my head, then falls, pivoting off of the truck and attempts a sizzor action on my head and arm as it falls. This produces an immediate *WHAM!* and *SCRRRRRRAPE!*. I am literally stunned for a couple of seconds, but I am OK. Damage is a whale of a bruise on one arm and some light scrapeage behind one ear and some ugly swelling that went away overnight. Branch is down, get back to work.
A couple more branches and it is time to come down! Lower everything down, and position the heavy rope at the top of the tree for pulling. Then come on down.
it is now time for the actual cut-down. Dad gets to do the honors, while the rest of us position ourselves for pulling. You don't actually pull the tree down. The guy on the chainsaw makes a notch in the direction you want the tree to fall, then makes the real cut on the opposite side. He also has the job of letting the pullers know when the tree is starting to think about moving. This is the Critical Moment. There is now way you can hope to direct something that huge when it is falling. BUT there are a few short moments when the tree is starting to break free when you can DIRECT it's fall. Once the tree actually starts to fall just drop the rope, your job is done. When the man at the chainsaw hears the tree start to snap, he nods to the rest of us, that's the signal to start pulling. The tree will teeter for a tiny moment, that's the only chance you have to direct it. We pull, Dad continues cutting, the tree actually starts to move. It's all over except for the *thud*. Watching my father take that tree down was like watching an artist. EXACTLY where we wanted it.
All that was left to do is clear the brush away and cut enough of the trunk away so that we could get the vehicles out of the driveway. This is also the point at which I discovered that the chain in the chainsaw needs to be replaced. Oh well.
Now to the ceiling!
First step: Tear down the cloth. And what do we find above it??? Lath! As in "Plaster and lath", but without the plaster. Apparently there was a leak in the roof that destroyed the prior plaster. So they took down the plaster and covered it with the fabric.
This is a Good Thing. It means that we won't have to do anything special to attach the new ceiling. But the electrical... that's a different story, indeed.
I was hoping that the electrical was simple, just pull the old stuff out while taping the new wire to the old. No way. There was a knassty/scarey bundle of wires in the tiny little light box. Apparently the entire second story is on the same circuit as the basement and the drier. And the entire second floor routes THROUGH that same, said tiny little box. Other than starting the GREAT 2nd Story Wire-out earlier than planned, we scrapped that idea. Instead we put in a nice, LARGE ceiling box. It is big enought to hold all of that ugly wiring, is notched into a joist AND is held in with 4 screws. That box literally held up my father (He laughed when I was concerned with hanging off of a box attached to that ugly ball of wiring.) Bottom line, there is a nice and STRONG ceiling box with a new pair of wires ready to attach a ceiling fan to. It is currently occupied with a $2 bare bulb fixture. The two wall sconces have been removed persuant to having the walls redone.
As for the ceiling proper... there's nothing to say. It went up as slick as could be. Joe was worried about any possible bubbling or such by the old ceiling. But my father has us do a stepped blocking of the tiles, thus giving it more strength and fewer straight lines for critical eyes to find flaws in.
Sunday.
With everything done that I wanted done we went to Mass, had lunch, and I sent the whole gang home. Thanks for the help! Enjoy the holiday! I did the same, namely NOTHING, the rest of the day.
Monday.
Time to WORK again. I spent the entire day cleaning up the pine tree and friends. The small branches and brush made a pile 8' high and 15' wide by the street. Luckily my high city taxes includes brush and leave pickups once a month. The next pickup is in a week. They had better empty the truck before hitting my street. :>
I also sawed down all of the branches into fireplace-sized logs and stacked everything into a couple of woodpiles behind the garage/workshop. I even moved the tiny bundle of wood I had stacked elsewhere to the larger piles. And to top it off I split 3 logs, again into fireplace-sized chunks. Just 12 more of those suckers to do... and almost every one has knots in them. That and the 15' section of tree that's still lying there.
I basically worked until I collapsed. After resting for a couple of hours I did a little server maintenance. Put in the tape drive, closed up the case, applied any new patches that've come out. And I also mostly finished getting the old 1600 server ready to sell at a local Ham Fest.
All told, a busy weekend. No, the nursery isn't finished yet. I still have to replace a broken window, remove wallpaper and prep the room for paint. My father also put a bug in my ear about the plaster... Knock out all of the plaster, THEN I could run new electric AND insulate the outside wall... Hurm... maybe JUST that one wall...
Explicit.
Posted by moochie at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)
May 27, 2005
What did it mean to be a Roman?
Most people, when they hear about a "Roman" probably think of a guy in a toga living in the city of Rome proper. But as I'm reading David Drake's An Oblique Approach a different picture comes to mind.
A roman living in Rome itself definately wasn't everyone. There were plenty of different states and nations that had the authority to consider and call themselves "Romans". I came up with a better simile.
Rome was like America is today. There's nearly 300 Million people that can say they are Americans. But instead of saying you're from Rome, or Tracia, or Greece... we would say we're from Pennsylvania, or Pittsburgh. It really starts to fit, once you assign American states to the various countries that were a part of Rome.
Then the "Eternal City" itself, Rome. You can't really just say that's like Washington D.C., because D.C. isn't big enough. Rome would be more of a combination of New York City with D.C. smushed into the center of it. That would be a better fit, because I just don't see D.C. as being as CROWDED as ancient Rome should be. (We're still in a simile to modern times, remember? Don't fret about the actual numbers of people living then to now.) And just to make it match a little more... lets call this new capital city "America".
"I hear you are an American. Do you live far from the Capital building or the Statue of Liberty?" Um... no, I don't actually live within the city of America itself. I'm actually from Arizona, but I've visited a couple of times.
Posted by moochie at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)
May 26, 2005
Incipit blog.
And so it begins.
I'll follow the lead of Melissa in naming my blog and use "POnderings". I'd first asked permission, but she then deferred. She considered the idea mine in the first place. But to go all the way back in the beginning the TRUE creater of the pun was a stupid machine. The Cleveland FreeNet service, as a matter of fact.
I signed up for an account with the Cleveland FreeNet. Their standard was: First letter of given name followed by the first five letters of your surname. The result was 'ponder'. Now you no longer have to ponder upon it.
My first entry title? Incipit? "Is that really a word?" you may say? Why yes, it is. I used it, didn't I? :> "Incipit" is latin, and it can be translated as "begin". Ancient books would start with the word "Incipit", and end with "Explicit". The media may change, but the standards will always be there.
Now that I've explained the title of by blog AND the title of my first post I feel that I may even need to explain my first sentance... No, that'll reveal too much too soon. I will just close with strangers thinking I am simply an oddball scholar.
Explicit.
Posted by moochie at 11:11 AM | Comments (0)