Global Colding

In your best Scooby Doo voice: Ruh Roh.  The year started with a freeze, heated to an epic hurricane, and looks like its gonna end with snow.  Crazy! 

All of this beautiful winter wonderland and we were not at Plan473 to experience it.  Boo-hoo.

We were in Big City #2 visiting family for the purchase the new business.  Plan473 had almost 3" inches of snow. Three glorious fluffy inches of snow.

Big City #2 barely had enough to have a snowball fight.

But don't worry, we are Texans.  Whenever there is snow, no matter how little or for how long it lasts, two things are guaranteed.  School will be canceled and children all across snow-filled yards will be building snowmen. Texas style.

Here We Go Again

Oh yeah, more work.  There is no shortage of work right now.  Plans for the next two weeks are detailed down to the last minute of each day.  Hoping the weather does not change, the Planner has rounded up family and friends to expedite work.  It all started with this simple delivery on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.  Have you figured out what was delivered?

Yup, you've guessed it.  Sheptubing.  Do you know what that means?  More connex boxes.  I know what you are thinking.  HOME boxes. Yeah finally, so exciting!  I wish I could say you were right.  But alas, these boxes are not home boxes.  These are Work boxes.

Since I no longer have a job (thank you Harvey) I was graciously offered to buy the family business. In order to work from home, we need workspace. Workspace means Work boxes.  So yup, here we go again.  More connex boxes.

By now I would think you know the drill.  Plots were plotted, lines were drawn, and the foundation was outlined.  Unlike the last time, these lines were giving the Planner grief.  Thinking the elevation machine was not working correctly, The Sailor brought over his trusty elevation reader. It was retro fantastic.  So simple. Unfortunately, even with both of the readers, the lines were not lining up.

Starting over fresh the next day, all the stars were in the correct posting and the string lines aligned.  What changed?  What did we do differently?  Nothing. It was the stars, I'm sure of it.

Moving on.  Rebar was measured,

cut, and

bundled.  Half for rebar cages, half for rebar feet.

To build the rebar cages the Planner built a rebar former.  Made tying so much easier.  Not necessarily faster, but oh so much easier.  Not once was there the temptation to hurl the rebar cage across the shop box like last time. Okay, maybe once.

 

Sometimes physical weight outweighs physical strength.  To bend the rebar feet, the Planner needed a cheater tube.  You know, leverage.  For me to bend the rebar feet, I just needed me.  Who knew my compacted weight would come in handy.

Not believing I could get the bars straight without assistance, the Planner checked against the tractor forks.  Passing inspection, I quickly made work of the rebar feet.

With no time to waste, the Planner started working on the rebar chairs.  Working so well the first time,  the recycled plastic decking was used again.

The Planner cut, I measured for center, and the Kid stacked them.  Never without a dull moment with that one.  Everything he sees is a building opportunity.  Kinda went overboard on the amount.  One less thing to make for the next set of footings.

The two week window was closed out with base plates.  In case you don't remember these plates are stuck into the conrete allowing a base to weld the metal forms.

For what ever reason, the humidty, the lack of wind, the time of day, the welding of the bast plates created the most fantastic blue light and arc sparks.

With the majority of the prep work completed, now comes the real work.  Holes.  Lots and lots of holes.

Double Digit Kid

 Like father, like son.  Like, mother, like daughter.  Well, this kid may look like a mini-me, but he is father's child.  From his mannerisms, to his quirky remarks, his taste in music to his artistic abilities, this kid is more like his dad than me.  I have never been seen carrying around notebooks to meet the sudden urge to doodle.  That is a Planner trait.  The Planner and his excessive amounts of notebooks.

He never ceases to amaze me. He is confident in his self.  Tall skinny pasty white boy with long white blond hair who proudly sails his little white bathtub.  Strange kid who is not ashamed to admit to his love of reading and math.  HE who creates things he sees in his head.  Now, of course, I had to help with the Halloween costumer but he created it.

This his sailboat from scrap wood, fishing line, and trash bags.  He drew it, made it, and sailed it.

Or this knights weapon.  He designed it and then widdled it out of scrap wood lying around.  Can't remember this late in the game if it was from a 1"x2" board or a piece of broken tree from Harvey. All the same, he sat there on the porch for hours widdling away.

And finally, these knights shielding pants. This creation did not take long nor did it require hours worth of drawings but they are his all the same.  Smart kid, he left the back open so he could walk normally.  Hard to walk when the knees don't bend.

In fact, the only characteristic he gained from me is his need to control.  He was given a brand new set of coloring pencils and he immediately came home and organized them to his likeness.  The colors had to make sense in his head before he could even color.  This is not a trait the Planner shares.  The Planner's shop box is a disaster in the making.  He claims he would be organized if he had more time.  Sure sure.

But as I was saying, this kid is his father's son right down to his choice dinner selection for his birthday.

Sushi.  He had his own container/bowl/dish of sushi. No thank you.  May you enjoy your birthday meal.

Happy Birthday Stinky Feet.  Can't believe your double digits already.

Watered Up

 

Here today, gone tomorrow. Truer words have not been spoken about Texas weather.  Two days ago it it was 33℉ and snowing.  Today, it is sunny and upper 60's. Crazy.

The last two weeks were busy, busy.  The next coming weeks are busy.  Not busy, busy.  Just busy.  With the prep work done, now the real work begins.  Holes for conrete footings were dug and the following morning they were more than half way filled with water.  Don't have any drinking water but dig a hole and bam, brackish water.

Waiting for the water to drain out of the holes, a much needed break from work was taken and odd ends and bits were completed.  Having started a grass cage for the chickens weeks ago, I finally got around to planting the grains.  The ground in their run was turned over and the seeds were scattered on top.  It drove the chickens absolutely crazy that they could not reach the tasty grains.

Patience is not a word in their vocabulary.  Once a light layer of dirt was spread across the grains, the grass box was placed above it to protect against the grain vultures.

Amazingly in five short days the peppers had fresh green winter rye.  Since the storm, they have had very little roughage in their diet.  Guess there was not enough time for the grass to reestablish itself before fall.  What grows over night thru the mesh netting is mowed down by day break in the morning.  We conclude they sit on their roosting bars impatiently waiting for dawn to rise and then it is a fight down the ramp.  First come, first serve.  Or in this case, she who rules the roost wins.  These two (the black sussex and the barred rock) are the two queen bees.

The Planner took time to redesign the frame work as the Work boxes will hold more weight than the Shop boxes.  He also spent time researching the best way to easily remove the water from the holes as it looks like the water may never drain away.  As soon as the holiday season is over, we plan to pour footings. It is amazing how much work was done in just under a month.  Can't believe the end of the year is already gonna be here.

A Connex Half Box

The Kid has been staying in our teeny tiny Airstream again and let me tell you, NOBODY has patience for that anymore.  It was one thing when he was three, four, and five.  It's a whole other story when he is almost 10.  Poor thing he doesn't fit on the couch without scrunching into a ball. Just look how tall he is!  He is taller than my co-worker, sorry Brit had to throw you under that. When did he get to be so big?  No, not old because that implies I too am older and I am not.  I am still just in my ...... Hmm, don't even know what age to say. Ok then, moving on...

The Kid's box is unlike any of other boxes.  In fact, the only two things the same are 1) it's a connex and 2) its a high cube. This, the fifth connex at Plan473, is a 20' Single Use.  What does that mean?  Connex 5 has only crossed the great big blue one time and is as new as it's going to get.  No dents, dings, or replaced panels.  No multi-mixed-matched shades of paint, only the original coating of light gray.  Best of all, no rust.

As with all the other boxes, window and door frames and hatches were made.  I was in charge of the window prop supports.  It was told to me to make the pipe flush before starting on my cuts.  Apparently, one is supposed to cut off more than a hairs width.

Waste not, want not. Bragging is rude and all, but I have to say I was impressed with the thinness at which the bandsaw cut this pipe.  I have mad skills.

Seriously, mad skills.  Just look at how even these cuts are.  These are professional level.  Think I'm gonna have to ask for a raise.

To be fair, making cuts straight is a lot easier than ensuring window, door, and hatch frames are square.  Of course, if the Planner would ease up on the tolerances a smidgen, being a 1/32" of an inch off wouldn't matter. I'm just saying...

"May you be stricken mute," he says.  "Those words will not be spoken here," he says.  Jesh, I was only saying loosen up the tolerances to alleviate such strains. I mean, come on, look at all those C-clamps. Six to be exact. Six clamps in a little over a three-foot span.

This is a hatch, not art.  Even artwork has fallacies.  Guess not, as the second hatch had even more clamps.  It did make for a really good picture.  The photography teacher from high school would be impressed with this.  Black and while development. Maybe some overexposure.  Yeah, that sounds perfect.

And I while may give grief that windows are work and not art, I really do know and understand metal work is a true art form and people pay a pretty penny for metal art and metal artwork.  Should give this more thought as they say the best job is the job you love doing.  I call this art piece Hatched.  These are the major components for the window hatches.  The only component missing is the hatch prop themselves.  Unfortunately, I could not take an art picture of those.  It just looked like blurry images.  Maybe next time.

On a side note, do you have any idea how hot welding is?  I'm talking thermal heat not physical heat.  Well let me tell you, it is hot as lava.  545° F hot, give or take a few hundred degrees or so.  Some readings were as high as 720°, others were as low as 495°.  Guess it depends on the moment in welding time.  That's hot, hot, hot.

You know what else is hot?  Standing at the local big box home store debating lighting.  The lights are so bright one must wear sunglasses to debate the choices. Then the longer you stand there debating choices and reviewing on your phone, it starts to get hot.  As in physically hot. Sure we have all wandered down this aisle and looked at lighting, but standing there for more than 30 minutes.  I think not.  The shop box and storage boxes do not have lights but this is not really an option for the Kids' box as he has school work and LEGOS to build.  Needs lots of lighting for that.  The simple desk light is not going cut it.

Lighting purchase is a big deal as these lights may be temporary in location and will need to be movable when the insulation and drywall are installed later.  We are treating the Kids' box as trial and error lesson for the home boxes.  It is easier to outfit a 20' box and not like it than two 40' boxes.  There are going to be lots of trial and error risks taken on this box and the lighting is just an easy example.

This specially designed panel plasma cutter is another of the many trail and error risks.  For the shop box, the Planner made a magnetic fence to run the plasma cutter alongside for guidance. It did work well for the cuts down the panel, but there is always room for modifications.  The magnetic fence was not strong enough to support pushing against when cutting across the panels.  Extrusion aluminum rods with free-floating plasma gun holder was the new model.  Kinda of a big jump from an aluminum strip to an extruded rod, but hey, this is the Planner we are discussing.  Have to say it was pretty fantastic to watch.

The initial test cut went better than expected, I can already see the Planner making modifications.  Of course, he has plenty of time to prepare for the home boxes.  One cannot rush modifications, they must be planned out.

Yes, you read correctly. This statement for the same man who made rash decisions during the Connex Shuffle.  Yet here he is planning for this cutter.  Weeks he spent working on this design.  Weeks!

And when using any new tools sometimes it helps to write down notes for future usage.  Normally, these would go in a handy-dandy notebook.  What's the fun in that?  The book could be lost, ruined, or become illegible.  That is why notes should be taken on the shop wall.  Never to be lost or ruined.

Window and door frames and hatches were installed.  Eyebrows were installed using another specially made tool.  See the aluminum angle?  It holds the brow in place at directly the correct angle.  Makes for easy installation.

Frames and hatches were painted primer red.  Some were rolled (the left one), some were spray painted (the right one).  Some were both.  The texture created from rolling was awesome but laid down to thick to ever dry in this humid environment.

Every spot that was welded or tacked or scrapped, primer was installed.  Not having done this procedure immediately on the shop box lead to this life lesson.  When the day does comes to paint the shop box, the prep work will be most excruciating.  Rust from before and after Harvey is catching up to our lack of diligence.

A saving grace is having a family member with a sand blaster unit, we can make quick work of the larger areas.  Unfortunately, blasting cannot happen until there is ABSOLUTELY no rain in the forecast and would be nice if the humidity was low.  That is hard to accomplish here.  Fortunately, the use of a spray painter eases the tedious work of painting and makes for great artwork?  If I could cut out this piece of the panel out I would frame it in old wood and hang it on the wall.  It is fantastic.

Also unlike the shop box, this connex half box had all of its prep work done on the trailer making it both easier and more difficult.  It was nice to be out of the sand and windblown sand dust, but always having to use the tractor was challenging. Especially for the hatches. Yes, the hatches for the shop box were installed in the air but for some reason, these three were patience trying.  The Kid Box has two 36"x36" windows, a little bathroom window, and a door.

Window props were installed once the box was set on the ground.  The Airstream was moved across the way to where it was more or less before Harvey and the Kid box was placed in its location.  Why here I cannot tell you but I am sure there was a reason for this.  It has just been too long with too much going on to remember.  Hatches on the ground are so much easier to install.

To test for wind uplift as these window hatches will remain open year round, the Planner tested by hanging and bouncing on them like a monkey. I can already foresee the future..... One day I am going to look outside and the Kid will have figured out how to climb the hatch and will be standing on the roof.  You mark my words, it is coming.

From the front side, the box looks like a prison.  Really, it's not as there is gobs and gobs of light when the hatches are open.  It has a nice open feel with the amount of window light and door light. Oh wait, I forgot to tell you.  The connex half is getting REAL windows.  Real double hung windows.  I am so excited I cannot even begin to describe.  REAL WINDOWS.  It makes me feels almost normal.  Almost.

In efforts to maintain our diligence on rust prevention, the box was immediately repainted in the original light gray.  Being October and all, the paint should dry in a few days and will take a few weeks to completely set.

Not having time to wait for the paint to completely set due to a sudden cold front coming, the REAL windows were installed. Having REAL windows makes it look less like a prison or metal cube and more like a home.  Oh, how I cannot wait for our home.

The REAL door was installed and viola one completed sealed, painted, and livable connex box.  A connex half box.  It was such a nice change to the last few months.  Now to find a bed, desk, and cabinet.