cellini's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If I'm ever going to do any porn, this is the time Sweet fuck, I hurt all over. I had my 3 day weekend. It was not relaxing but it was productive. I literally spent the entire time (except late Sunday afternoon I had to be at a party) doing hard manual labor in the blistering August sun. The sheathing is now done. Except for one little panel near the top of the roof that I deliberately left off because I want to have a back-up route to safety in place for as long as possible. Once I get everything under that point covered by roofing felt, I will fill in that gap. It is very scary working up on that roof, being as high and steep as it is. If the ladder fell away for some reason I would be pretty fucked up there. I couldn't even 'hang and drop' since there is nothing at the edge to hold on to. I like the idea of being able to climb over to a gap in the roof and get directly into the attic in an emergency. If it was just straight sheathing, it would have gone faster. But I also had to cut and install the rafter tail extensions on one side of the building (in order to get a nice, wide overhang that matches the other side and keeps rain away from the wall). I'd not been able to do those before because I ran out of even scrap 2 by 4. Then there was fascia to cut and install, various pieces of blocking needed to create nailing surfaces for odd parts where the sheathing 's edge didn't quite fall over the rafter (long story why). So major carpentry is now officially finished. From here on out it's drip edge, roofing felt, shingles and siding. Not that those jobs won't all be grueling and occasionally dangerous as well. The speed at which my body responds to exercise is stunning. It's been only about 8 or 9 days since I got a new load of construction materials and started building again and already I'm in extremely good shape. Seriously, I am totally fucking hot right now. I am a sight to behold. When your deltoids ache nearly every day, that is a good thing. I have nary a speck of visible fat, a working tan and my chest and arms are both now reasonably well toned. If I'm ever going to do any porn, this would be the time. My hands really hurt. A lot. I made a neat little ladder with Ida on Saturday. Trish keeps needing the folding step ladder that I've been using to get in and out of the workshop (until such time as I have the lumber to build the front porch and stairs). Ida wanted to help me build the workshop and I certainly didn't want her up there on the roof with me so we made a ladder for getting up to the front door. Rather than just face-nailing 2x4 scraps onto parallel pieces of wood, we carefully cut angled slots into which the rungs were glued and screwed in place. It looks very nice. After I get the roofing felt on and am no longer racing against potential rain, she and I will build a bigger ladder to get up through the hatch into the attic. It will have the same basic construction method, plus a railing/handle on each side made out of copper pipe. Oh yeah, the party. My brother's wife threw a surprise birthday party for him on Sunday afternoon. Which felt weird to be at, since it was just for him and my birthday is the exact same day. Lots of my friends were there. Apple was a nice surprise. She wants to get together for margaritas or something later this week. I should take her up on that. I was also surprised to see Peter, whom I thought had moved to LA full-time to work for Bono but I guess he's back for some reason. Peter basically bops around the country doing whatever he wants on account of having written a bunch of songs for the D@ve M@tthews Band and getting a steady stream of royalties. He's sort of their 'Pete Best.' It was on the bank of the J@mes River. I took Ida out in a canoe a few times and we did a short tubing trip of about a quarter mile together. She had a lot of fun. 10:24 a.m. - 2008-08-05 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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