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like it was in a 14 foot bending break
Monday, May 28 2018
Gretchen was off with our friend Cathy, the falafel queen, for much of the afternoon and evening. Since it was Memorial Day and I had the day off, at some point I began drinking Tecate beers, though this didn't prevent me from making progress on the screened-in porch project. I'd learned a little too late that aluminum flashing should never contact the coppery chemicals in Rust-oleum Coppercoat, so this sent me scrambling to cover all Coppercoated-coated surfaces that would be in contact with the flashing with tar, plastic sheeting, or a combination of the two. Some of this had to be done with hard-to-reach surfaces already on the house, though the biggest thing needing treatment was the back and sides of plank of exterior trim I'd removed from the bottom of the window unit. With that covered with so much tar, I covered parts of the tar with kitchen wrapping plastic just so I could handle the plank without making a mess of myself. In so doing, I was able to reinstall that trim plank under the window (over the installed piece of flashing) and then proceed with getting the rafter mounting plate positioned. That was a big 14 foot long two-by-ten that I had to work with while up on sketchy scaffolding set up on top of the collar ties, so to make the process easier, I pre-positioned a half dozen blocks of wood (many of then chunks of four-by-fours) and an automotive bottle jack. With those in position, I could gradually jack the plate up under the flashing, gradually bending it ninety degrees like it was in a 14 foot bending break.
Before she'd set off for her day with Cathy, Gretchen and I had been watching the beginning of the goofy comedy Step Brothers, and that put me in the mood for watching other passive entertainment (though while sitting at my computer). I watched a mediocre (though interesting) British dramatization of the origins the British microcomputer business entitled Micro Men. It rather reminded me of Halt & Catch Fire, though the acting wasn't as good (somewhat surprising for a BBC production). I then watched the first half of A Quiet Place, a post-apocalyptic horror movie about a family living in an America depopulated by fast-acting aliens that snatch away and kill anything that makes a noise. I'd read good things about its sound-design, so I wanted to see for myself. It was a little better than I expected given its limited premise.
When Gretchen returned home, she had two day-old falafel sandwiches she and Cathy had found languishing at the falafel store in Rhinebeck. She was skeptical that they would be any good, but I had no problem eating one. It tasted a bit old (and not in a good way) but it didn't make me sick.
Later this evening, I sat at my computer watching YouTube clips of a woman named Fran who has a tech videolog (vlog) which she records from her "FranLab." She appears to be about my age and very knowledgeable and skilled. Though obviously a huge nerd, she's got a great calm energy about her. And the things she nerds out about are exactly the sorts of things I nerd out about, and not all the annoying nerd subjects like superhoes, Star Trek, or videogames. She's really into retro (often forgotten) technologies, such as the spin welders (which was so interesting that I immediately ordered a Harbor Freight rotary tool to fashion into my own spin welder).
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