Yet another power outage...

 "There is a time and place for diversion and amusements, but you should never allow them to override your true purpose." - Epictetus

Below:  A Ponderosa pine tree fell across a street in Coeur d'Alene, ID as a result of the wind storm on January 13, 2021

Electrician-ing

 I am considering starting each blog post with a quote from a famous Stoic, thanks to the handy app I recently discovered.  Starting right now.

"The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts:  Therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature." - Marcus Aurelius.

 In the previous looooong post, I mentioned at some point that I intended to install a digital timer on the fart fan in the shop bathroom.  The digital timer arrived in the mail today, and I woke up quite a bit earlier than needed for night shift - so I got busy at my other job. 

 

Black and Decker Drill Model 100

I came into a large quantity of tools recently, when a family member with Alzheimer's ended up being placed in a care facility.   I'd much prefer that he had all his tools and mental faculties instead.  However, since I have this enormous stash of stuff that's been neglected and abused, I thought it would be wise to sort through it and determine if any of it was usable.

A few thoughts on Energy Independence

Years and years ago, I lived in the Mojave Desert.  I was stuck buying electricity from one of the most expensive utilities in the United States: Southern California Edison.  The only affordable way to cool your house in the summer months was by using an evaporative cooler.  People who cooled with air conditioners were either wealthy or had old homes, built before electrical prices went sky-high.

Selfie!!!

I'm sure everyone is curious what I look like.

KH500 Refurbishment - Electrical

Long ago, when I was still a teenager, I wanted the KH500 to look like a racebike.  I bought a headlamp-mounted fairing and installed it.  It looked about like the one below, only white and with a clear windscreen.  I never had the money to get it painted to match the copper color of the bike.

Shop Improvement #2: Turning the water back on

The shop has a small bathroom, which I've never been able to use.  The reason I wasn't able to use the bathroom fixtures is because for as long as I've lived here, the shop hasn't had heat.  With the lack of climate control, it would be unwise to turn on the water.  In the winter months it would certainly freeze, bursting a pipe and causing water and plumbing damage.

Busy!

It's July, and definitely time for a new post!  At work we had a two week outage in the first half of June.  That pretty much wiped me out, although on the days I got up early for night shift, we managed to complete the painting in the basement (except for the bathroom and doors).

On my days off after the outage, we had the main floor and upstairs painted professionally.  The ceiling was way too high for me to seriously consider messing with this job.  With a roller it would have taken weeks.  With a spray gun, it would have taken weeks to tape off.  So we had it done.  A neighbor of mine is a painter and he did it for a fraction of the going rate.  I owe him a case of beer.

Anyhow, they painted the main floor first, and so we moved as much of our stuff into the master bedroom as we could.  Then after they were gone, we moved it back.  The following day we moved all our home theater stuff and couches from the upstairs to downstairs while they painted there.  Then we moved it back.

So to a certain extent, it felt like I moved four times on my days off.  I was sore going back to work, that's for certain.

While the painters were doing their thing, I had an electrician at the house installing fluorescent lighting.  Yes, I could have done it myself.  It would have taken me way longer than it took him, and I already spent the first part of June at work.  I'd rather have family time than spend it in the attic running wires.

I had him re-do the garge lighting.  Here is the after photo.  Before it was just 3 socket fixtures, aboput where the right side of each fluorescent fixture ends.  So now I have (12) four-foot fluorescents where I used to have 3 screw-in bulbs.  It's a wonderful difference being able to see inside the garage.  The difference in lighting on the truck is due to the use of a flash on the before picture.

I also had the electrician rewire some lights in the shop that I wasn't happy with.  Again, I could have done it, but it would have meant having NO time for the things that I need to do, and other things that I enjoy.

So:  Here's the shop lighting before: (Note the orange extension-cord, exposed individual wires, and wire nuts)  Also the lights are up in the frame, so the light doesn't cast very far from each fixture.

Below is the shop lighting after.  These fixtures use a new type of bulb that has much higher light output.  The old fixtures are in the trash to the right. 



Forgive the mess. I have had no opportunity to unpack or organize the shop yet. We've had visitors for 6 of the weeks we have been here, outage for 2 weeks, and contractors the rest of the time. It's just been busy... We still need to accomplish a few other things outdoors before the snow flies. During winter I plan to install a rail on the stairway and on the loft. Oh yeah. And a shop heater!