ps, I'm in a very tough part of my winter chores right now...watching paint dry. Can't resume until the dew dries off in the morning sun.

I've been trying to assemble my 3D printer now for days, but life conspires against me. First it was sick kids. I get home and the wife looks at me with desperation in her eyes, pregnant, holding the crying toddler that she's been holding all day, about to cry herself; the look on her face says it all, "this isn't the time to do some self-satisfying hobby - this is the time to help me with the kids before I have a meltdown."

The day the kids got over their little bug, I start getting overtime. I spent Friday night in a wire drawing plant until 5AM. Then slept most of Saturday. I thought Sunday would finally be the day.

I wake up on Sunday and before I pull out the box of parts, the wife asks me to put up the Christmas tree. "Sure," I said; "Where do you want it?" She replies "In the den." Well, the problem is that the den has been converted to a bedroom, which we painted pink and purple walls last year for the girls. So, in order to put the tree in the "den" I need to turn it back into a den, not a pink/purple bedroom. I had my brother come over and help me for beer. We tore down the wall, and got the paint out. The wife asks if while we are at it, if we can paint the guest bedroom too. So I chilled another case of beer and called my brother-in-law. We had a fulfilling Sunday, but the work is not done.

Every day this week I get home, do some painting (which I despise), vacuum more sheetrock dust, paint, vacuum, etc. The den is starting to look like a den again, and by tomorrow night there should finally be a Christmas tree in there.

I told the wife the guest bedroom can wait, and after the den and the tree, the 3D printer is next. No Christmas lights, no regrouting the bathroom, no hauling junk off the to dump. I want to put that thing together before I forget why I bought it.

 

Sounds exactly like my life, I start designing a project, get a huge pile of domestic duties build up and then by the time I get round to the project I have forgotten what I started doing. I also find trying to bits after work is really slow because I am not firing on all cylinders after a day coding...

I'm beginning to think that putting up some sort of blog would be a good way of just marking where am I and what progress I am making...

 

Similar issues for me as well now that I am married.

Apparently my jobs of taking care of everything outside plus maintaining everything is just my work.

Her jobs are mostly based around pecking and whining until I am so sick of hearing her I do her stuff as well. Which to be honest I do not see how fussing whining and worse for hours on end to force me do one of her jobs in 10 minutes that she could do herself in 15 - 20 is any sort of time saver.

 

Personally, I only just returned from a year long assignment out of state. The honey-do projects have piled up since then. I am eager to get my lab out of the mothballs, but have leaves to rake, gutters to clean, .....

 

I just got suckered into buying a quart of Rustoleum brand paint because the label on the can said it was especially for doors.

First, it isn't paint, it's plasti-cote. It is a plastic dissolved in toluol, the preferred ingredient in glue sniffing. The odor is incredible and the solvent evaporates so fast that you have about 35 seconds to try to work with a wet edge. The pigment content is so low that it is difficult to get it on thick enough to cover white with white in one coat. Between trying to work a 6 inch by 12 inch section in 35 seconds, getting high on the fumes, and trying to get it on thick enough, you end up with drips, runs, sags, and hundreds of brush marks. In some of the places where you paint over old alkyd paint, the solvent strikes through and blisters the old paint under the new coating. That means you end up with clumps of painted blisters. Finally, you can't clean it up with mineral spirits. That just makes the pigment clump like cottage cheese. You have to go buy toluol to clean the paint brush.

This has been a public service announcement.
Thank you for your patience.
Tomorrow I'll be fixing the roof...if I'm not hungover from the fumes.

 

I just got suckered into buying a quart of Rustoleum brand paint because the label on the can said it was especially for doors.

First, it isn't paint, it's plasti-cote. It is a plastic dissolved in toluol, the preferred ingredient in glue sniffing. The odor is incredible and the solvent evaporates so fast that you have about 35 seconds to try to work with a wet edge. The pigment content is so low that it is difficult to get it on thick enough to cover white with white in one coat. Between trying to work a 6 inch by 12 inch section in 35 seconds, getting high on the fumes, and trying to get it on thick enough, you end up with drips, runs, sags, and hundreds of brush marks. In some of the places where you paint over old alkyd paint, the solvent strikes through and blisters the old paint under the new coating. That means you end up with clumps of painted blisters. Finally, you can't clean it up with mineral spirits. That just makes the pigment clump like cottage cheese. You have to go buy toluol to clean the paint brush.

This has been a public service announcement.
Thank you for your patience.
Tomorrow I'll be fixing the roof...if I'm not hungover from the fumes.

Note to self: don't buy Rustoleum Door Paint.

The paint I'm using is "NOVOC" paint, from a local shop called "The Green Painter," downtown in the "New age & LGBT" district. We got that because it's advertised as safe for pregnant women to use. Not known to the state of California to cause goiters, rectal hemorrhaging, or birth defects. My wife used it already to paint the kids' bedrooms and I am pretty impressed. It works great IMO, but I don't paint much so I wouldn't be able to give it a fair compare/contrast with other paints. 2 coats of primer to make a black wall white again. no fumes.

She's too preggo to paint now, or so she claims, so I'm doing it. I absolutely hate painting.

 

Similar issues for me as well now that I am married.

Apparently my jobs of taking care of everything outside plus maintaining everything is just my work.

Her jobs are mostly based around pecking and whining until I am so sick of hearing her I do her stuff as well. Which to be honest I do not see how fussing whining and worse for hours on end to force me do one of her jobs in 10 minutes that she could do herself in 15 - 20 is any sort of time saver.

And my gals tactic is start a job, then runs out of know how. Shower door strip leaks, no problem, pull out the Lino, baseboards, and a couple of tiles, and now it's my job. Somewhere I miss out on the planning part.

 

Heck. The toilet has been sitting in the hallway for three weeks now.
Just finished laying the tiles and grout. Now the drain for the new sink doesn't line up with the old plumbing. Have to redo the whole drain and trap. The guy at the hardware store says to remove the baseboard that I just finished and painted so that the new cabinet and sink will sit flush against the wall. The Christmas tree will have to wait until the following week. I have three music practices and one gig this weekend.

Christmas shopping? That will have to wait 'till next year.

 

And my gals tactic is start a job, then runs out of know how. Shower door strip leaks, no problem, pull out the Lino, baseboards, and a couple of tiles, and now it's my job. Somewhere I miss out on the planning part.

My wife loves telling all our family and friends about how she loves learning to do new things. Every single time I call her out on it and ask her right then why I never ever see her try and do or learn anything new at home.

Last summer the hydrostatic drive started acting up on her lawn mower so I told her to use mine.
half a day of massive whining and fits ensued over having to learn how to drive my 5 speed manual transmission lawn mower followed by about 15 minutes of actual hands on work to learn to drive it for her to only find out that my mower starts easier, runs better, mows nicer and is actually easier to use than hers. (Just as I told her so right before the half a day of nonsense and fits started)

That's her way of loving to do learn and do new things that I go through every day.

 

Forgot to mention. I'm kicking myself in the rear end for this.

Wife wanted a new sink and faucet installed. That was an easy enough job. Got that done in the summer. Except that there was a slow leak that slipped past inspection. All summer long it must have leaked about ten drops a day, enough to soak into the cheap particleboard cabinet. Guess what? You can't dry out water logged particleboard. It is moldy and stinks. Had to rip the whole thing out.

May as well lay new tile on the floor while I'm at it. Wife buys a new Martha Stewart vanity with sink. Found out yesterday that the nice new fixtures we bought in the summer don't fit the 8" spaced holes on the new sink. Out to buy new faucet today.

That slow leak has now cost me $1000 to remedy.

 

Having a simple life is a complex process.

 

Today I wait for the roofer to show up. Less than one year old roof and the squirrels have eaten the lead boots off the sewer vents. Things that make you go, "Hmmm..."

What? Squirrels eat lead? Lead isn't even a type of food! What's the deal? Lead has a special, chewy, wonderfulness that squirrels find satisfying and delicious?

Never mind that. How do you persuade a squirrel that YOUR lead is not special, chewy, and wonderful? After we get done with that, we'll work on why I thought a roofing company would know the answer to that and why that made a teenage girl start crying. I don't get it. Whom else would I ask? A bunch of electronics nerds?

 

Today I wait for the roofer to show up. Less than one year old roof and the squirrels have eaten the lead boots off the sewer vents. Things that make you go, "Hmmm..."

What? Squirrels eat lead? Lead isn't even a type of food! What's the deal? Lead has a special, chewy, wonderfulness that squirrels find satisfying and delicious?

Never mind that. How do you persuade a squirrel that YOUR lead is not special, chewy, and wonderful? After we get done with that, we'll work on why I thought a roofing company would know the answer to that and why that made a teenage girl start crying. I don't get it. Whom else would I ask? A bunch of electronics nerds?

You should put one of these on you new lead seals.

 

How do you persuade a squirrel that YOUR lead is not special, chewy, and wonderful? After we get done with that, we'll work on why I thought a roofing company would know the answer to that and why that made a teenage girl start crying. I don't get it. Whom else would I ask? A bunch of electronics nerds?

Are you sure this is the right bunch to ask those questions?

I think a lot of people here could make a teenage girl cry without knowing why and as far as eating lead goes, well I have suspicions the squirrels aren't the only ones who eat lead for a snack.

 

This is Florida ,so my chores are different. I am charging my jump box . Zepping

motorcycle ,you know what zep is I hope.

 

I think a lot of people here could make a teenage girl cry without knowing why and as far as eating lead goes, well I have suspicions the squirrels aren't the only ones who eat lead for a snack.

That's a pretty hasty conclusion. Care to give some examples?

 

I think we all know that ingesting lead impairs one's cognitive abilities.
There are many examples encountered right here on AAC.

 

I have looked on the internet and found several ways to fix this. The damage is small right now, so it is not a leak problem. It is the persuasion that needs help. Galvanized steel as solid pipe or sheet metal seems a good way. Galvanized iron pipe placed over the vent with set screws, sheet metal rolled into a tube with a sort of cap on top. These are within my ability to make from scratch. Less than $100 for two pre-fab devices (including shipping).

I came up with the idea of adding a J-vent (alias goose neck) over the sewer vents because they are available, cheap, made of steel, and look like they belong there. Installing them scares me because I suck at roofing and hate the idea of lifting a shingle then trying to layer everything back correctly.

Likely to fail: coating the lead with tar, making a hardware cloth cage, plastic pipe placed over the vent pipes.

 

Take a piece of wire mesh ,the stiff type with small squares that will keep rats out

also.The coiled wire will wrap around the stack ,then with wire ties you make a good

top. Take a piece of string and measure the amount of wire you need , allow for

enough wire to make your top. You can be as neat as you as you want. Measure

correctly for a neat job. While you are at it ,protect all your vents ,don't fall off the

roof.

 

This is Florida ,so my chores are different. I am charging my jump box . Zepping

motorcycle ,you know what zep is I hope.

Zep is a company that makes many industrial cleaners and other chemicals. Do you know what Zep is? It's not one product but many.

http://www.zepinc.com/