Wednesday, October 29, 2008

It's PINK! It's FLUFFY! It does not FIGHT BREAST CANCER!

DISCLAIMER: No disrespect intended to either breast cancer survivors or those who have lost loved ones to the disease.

This blog is NOT my rant about causes (most of which are good ones that I support) that have nevertheless abducted and still hold hostage -- as their trademark -- otherwise perfectly good motifs and colors that used to either be neutral or have other well known meanings.

What is is about is my work today, after having listened to -- and taken to heart -- the Words of Wisdom for the day. Normally I receive this message (which I share on other forums including my hex web site) as part of my morning meditations, but the Gods got a head start today, as it was in my mind as I awakened. To wit: Look well to the protection of your hearth from the coming winter storms. The word of the day is foresight.

K was not up to helping to complete the insulation on the pressure tank and I was not willing to attempt to de-skirt the trailer to work on that, so I decided that I would attack the issue of the missing and sagging insulation under the Craft room. That I could (and actually should) do solo, as it involved -- you got it -- the pink fluffy stuff of the title. Unfortunately when I got the rolls of fiberglas I neglected to measure and misjudged the distance between joists, so I had two rolls of 16" wide when I needed 24". Since the most cost effective product was the 3.5" stuff, I needed two layers anyway, so I set about cutting 24" strips and making two, offset layers along the one section that contained no insulation at all. Took longer, but it's done.

Then there were sections where insulation existed but was either on the ground or hanging from one side. Unfortunately it was all a bit damp, so re-stapleing was done with care and in some places could not be done at all. I had figured to reinforce the backing with our old friend, duct tape, but the backing was too dirty and/or damp... but never the less duct tape to the rescue, as I stapled it up from joist to joist, every 6-8 inches, as a strap to support the old insulation.

Got one entire roll used up, but there are still 2 sections to go... but when the stapler jammed and I knew it was after sundown, I took that as a good time to quit, strip in the laundry room, throw the contaminated clothes in the wash (fiberglas and mud, loverly combination!) and me in the bath.

Earlier in the day I had done an around-town run, taking the redeemables, the trash and the recycles to their respective depositories, visiting the post office to mail a document and check on the rules for mailbox posts, and getting eggs. With the "...Season of the Hex" event coming day after tomorrow, I wanted to get my old "hex signs for sale" signs up, and our mailbox post was looking like an appropriate place. However, the current post is split and rocking and we wanted to recycle our old Vision drop box (with the addition of a flag) as it is BIG. We havd had a post laying around for a while, so having learned the post box rules I decided I would start digging the hole. Surprisingly I got it done in jig time, despite having to dig out a huge flat rock at the very end, when I discovered that what I thought was just the right height was 1/2" too tall. I wil add the signs tomorrow and the mailbox as soon as we have cleaned off the "Vision drop box only, no postal mail" sign and added the flag.


Whew! Late supper, of course... but it will be simple fare tonight and tomorrow we will be off to the hospital for a good part of the day, I suspect, as it is the first day of K's stress test.

2 comments:

oldcrow61 said...

I like your words of wisdom on your "hex web site". I made a hex sign exactly like the one you have posted a few years ago, without the wording of course.

Jj Starwalker said...

Thank you. I used it for the sign as it is a most commonly recognized sign for "good fortune" (and not so complex as to make it too hard to read the words! LOL)

the Words of Wisdom are a spiritual walk I have been doing for .. well over a year. I am into the second year now, preparing the first year's worth into a book.

Readers...