Falling Apart?
Thursday, June 22nd, 2023 11:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudio84F and sunny this morning, going up to 88F. For the first time in weeks, I was up and around by 10:30AM.
after two weeks and two days, I think my body & brain are finally adjusted to this new, earlier, part-time work schedule. Yvette, Snoop & Prowly also seem to have finally adjusted.
And now I'm trying to adjust our cooling strategy for days in the 90sF.
A couple nights ago, I noticed the dehumidifyer in the basement kept short cycling on and off... because it was set to maintain 55% humidity.
So I set that back to 45% and it's running longer, which is better for the longevity of the unit.
And last night, I implemented a night cooling strategy.
After 10PM I set the termostat to 70F, and turned on the window AC units both here in the back room, and upstairs, to run all night.
I also closed all the blinds completely... the idea being to cool the house overnight, and keep the sun from reheating it through the windows... so that it will take a lot longer for the midday heat to bring indoor temperatures back up.
The longer it takes... the lower the sun is... and the easier it is to cool back down.
--<>--
That strategy would work better in a modern house, but it still works okay in this drafty old cracker box... just takes a lot of electricity.
Someday, when I'm a millionaire, I'll replace all the windows, and get a heat pump here in the back room for heating and cooling... and everything will be great!
But for this summer... we'll do what we can to get by.
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My eight clamps come today, so... if they're here before dark, I can get started with the firepit form... leveling and clamping the boards in place to let them slowly bend and conform to the walls of the structure.
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8:06PM
Okay!.. turns out that playing around with wooden boards and clamps was enough to pop one of the corner bricks off!
All the rest are still holding, but this feels like it SHOULD NOT have happened!
Sooo... I'm gonna have to go ahead and have a test fire in that firepit tomorrow night!
Because if it's not sound, then a good hot fire should start it cracking apart... in which case... I've gotta tear it down and start over with modern firebricks!
--<>--
It's possible that this was just a fluke?.. one weak brick, which could only have been popped loose by the exact forces of leverage brought to bear... yadda yadda.
OR... I mixed the mortar too dry!
The only way to know is to heat that bitch up as hot as I can get it, on Friday, and then take a good look at it on Saturday.
------------{=0=}------------
This now goes on the list of other recent issues that, together, could suggest my whole life is about to fall apart!
Or... it could be just a bunch of little problems that will sort themselves out.
------------{=0=}------------
All of this could just be part of the... year half over, thing, where you just get a whole new set of problems to deal with, because you were just about to have your year under control.
Alternately... it could be a curse has fallen upon me, because I was so mean to Brian last Sunday... and the ghosts of Dad & Mom really DO want him to put on a show in the back yard!
OR... it could be that I'm just a huge, floundering idiot, who had a short lucky streak with things, in the first half of the year... but actually I never knew what I was doing, and was always destined to fail, and lose the house.
Or, like I said, maybe it's just small problems that'll work themselves out, and everything will be fine.
We'll have to see!
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
after two weeks and two days, I think my body & brain are finally adjusted to this new, earlier, part-time work schedule. Yvette, Snoop & Prowly also seem to have finally adjusted.
And now I'm trying to adjust our cooling strategy for days in the 90sF.
A couple nights ago, I noticed the dehumidifyer in the basement kept short cycling on and off... because it was set to maintain 55% humidity.
So I set that back to 45% and it's running longer, which is better for the longevity of the unit.
And last night, I implemented a night cooling strategy.
After 10PM I set the termostat to 70F, and turned on the window AC units both here in the back room, and upstairs, to run all night.
I also closed all the blinds completely... the idea being to cool the house overnight, and keep the sun from reheating it through the windows... so that it will take a lot longer for the midday heat to bring indoor temperatures back up.
The longer it takes... the lower the sun is... and the easier it is to cool back down.
That strategy would work better in a modern house, but it still works okay in this drafty old cracker box... just takes a lot of electricity.
Someday, when I'm a millionaire, I'll replace all the windows, and get a heat pump here in the back room for heating and cooling... and everything will be great!
But for this summer... we'll do what we can to get by.
My eight clamps come today, so... if they're here before dark, I can get started with the firepit form... leveling and clamping the boards in place to let them slowly bend and conform to the walls of the structure.
Okay!.. turns out that playing around with wooden boards and clamps was enough to pop one of the corner bricks off!
All the rest are still holding, but this feels like it SHOULD NOT have happened!
Sooo... I'm gonna have to go ahead and have a test fire in that firepit tomorrow night!
Because if it's not sound, then a good hot fire should start it cracking apart... in which case... I've gotta tear it down and start over with modern firebricks!
It's possible that this was just a fluke?.. one weak brick, which could only have been popped loose by the exact forces of leverage brought to bear... yadda yadda.
OR... I mixed the mortar too dry!
The only way to know is to heat that bitch up as hot as I can get it, on Friday, and then take a good look at it on Saturday.
This now goes on the list of other recent issues that, together, could suggest my whole life is about to fall apart!
Or... it could be just a bunch of little problems that will sort themselves out.
- HELOC PROBLEM:
I tried again today, but BMO still says this months payment is 13K (rather than $100.00), and it's more than what's actually owed!
It's already past due, so my current plan is to wait for a letter in the mail, which should tell me what I actually owe.
If I truly do owe the entire remainder of the balance... then that's big trouble!
But if it just says I'm behind by a normal $100.00 payment, that's... still a problem, but they might catch the website glitch before I need to call. - CHECK ENGINE LIGHT:
Check Engine light came on in the RAV4 yesterday. I called the dealership today. The guy seemed to think it was probably just due for an oil change.
I attempted to schedule one, but the earliest day is July 5th, and they won't give me a loaner car for an oil change (and trans fluid, because it's near 100K miles).
But I'm taking off on the 3rd, so I can't call in or take off on the 5th... which means I'm just gonna need to CHANCE IT... or maybe take it somewhere closer on the 3rd. - FRUITY EDITION:
I keep getting emails and phone calls from Sweetwater assuring me there's a way for me to get what I paid for... and I haven't read those instructions or followed up on it yet, because I found out that Fruity Edition does not allow you to record vocals.
Basically, what I should have bought, was, Producer Edition.
But I just keep wasting money on shit... and apparently can't build a firepit, and wasted money on that... and my car might explode... and BMO Harris might want me to pony up 13K immediately... or not!
So... I'm feeling like it's probably wise to just get the Fruity edition I paid for, installed on the machine, and fucking make do!
I mean, I can still produce the drums and music, I just can't put on vocals.
But all I'd have to do is export a final mix as a FLAC, and open it up in Audacity... then sing along through the microphone on a second track, while listening in headphones... and I'd have the vocals.
I could even do backing vocals, and add sound effects in Audacity.
So... yeah! - BROKEN STORM WINDOW
This happened back on June 6th, but I didn't mention it. A living room storm window fell off the house and busted on the ground.
The other of the two broke many years ago, so... now the living room has no storms!
I've been ignoring it for the moment, but it's a potentially serious problem, and any fix will be expensive!
It's just a question of whether I want to try and make my own custom storms... have them made custom... buy some kind of storm/screen thingy to tack on the outside... or replace the entire goddam windows.
But why did it fall out?
Is the house shifting?
Is the foundation failing?
All of this could just be part of the... year half over, thing, where you just get a whole new set of problems to deal with, because you were just about to have your year under control.
Alternately... it could be a curse has fallen upon me, because I was so mean to Brian last Sunday... and the ghosts of Dad & Mom really DO want him to put on a show in the back yard!
OR... it could be that I'm just a huge, floundering idiot, who had a short lucky streak with things, in the first half of the year... but actually I never knew what I was doing, and was always destined to fail, and lose the house.
Or, like I said, maybe it's just small problems that'll work themselves out, and everything will be fine.
We'll have to see!
°¦}
