winter has hit, Dio is in gear
and the Brainium is working like an over-clocked AMD processor right now,,,,
Looking at that ‘hole’ in the Kapp (gonna revert to that short form of her model type as a name for now, mostly for clarity to you and focus for me,,,)
Gotta do it right, NO MATTER WHAT. No shortcuts and half assin’ it.
And looking at the weather liars pages, looks like the high for the next two weeks will freeze water in its tracks.
Not good for resin/epoxy work,,,, Fine for clamping on foam boards to shape into the temporary mold I intend. (gonna do this ‘backwards’, lay the glass first, gelcoat last,,,)
is what it is,,, don’t like the weather, stick around a bit; it’ll change
NOT
FAST
ENOUGH
in my opinion.
LOL…. As if it will hold me back,,, If need be, I figure out a way to enclose the porch temporarily,,, or something. No takin’ it to Da’s,,, he can’t stand the smell of resins and epoxies. The only reason he allowed me to use his garage for coating Serena was I proved to him that the two part Polyurethane I used was completely odorless.
Can’t say that with these chems,,,,
Besides, if the weather was warmer, I’d rather be OUT playin’. (but, I am playing, aren’t I? just a different form of play,,,)
What can I say,,, Doesn’t matter what time of year I do this, its gonna be off a little bit: too hot, too cold, too damp, too dry, something. I really need an enclosed, climate controlled space to be playing with these things the way I do. At least with Skin on Frames, they aren’t nearly as picky about temperature or humidity (though,,,, Frames do shrink over time if left ‘high and dry’,,, that makes the skin saggy and slows them down on water until the frame swells back up.)
yeah, enclosed climate controlled space. Shit in one hand, wish in the other,,,,
That’s what makes me sorta unique in this world. I don’t ‘need‘ all the bells and whistles to ‘get-r-dun’,,, As one of my vicarious mentors once wrote “I figure out how to do a $50 job for fifty cents, and the rest of the time scraping up that fifty cents.”
Honestly, the most creative points in my life were when i was borderline flat broke, eyeball deep in debt and struggling between jobs. Needing to accomplish things when you are not able to ‘Zon purchase at whim,,,, Ya get real creative when things are that close to the bone. (in more ways than one)
And never resort to theft or chicanery to do so. Thats the BIG difference between me and many in my locale,,, I’ll ‘make do’ with what I have, make or can re-purpose, where many around me will start looking at ways to ‘get what they are owed’, whatever the fuck that means and however they come to that justification,,,, World doesn’t owe ME shit,,,, if anything, I OWE THE WORLD for all of its resources and the fact that I am even upright and breathing. Doesn’t mean I owe ‘people’ perse, ( I do, not just financially, but in ‘Paying it forward’ to the human race,,,) And yet so many are so self-centered (they don’t see it that way of course) and ‘scarcity minded’ that they will never EVER find that break in the rut they have self created. Nope, they don’t see that the rut is of their making: they see it as the fault of birth, skincolor, or some other obscure whim of fate,,, I pity them, but that means nothing and is a chink that could be exploited by some of the smarter ones,,,
And sadly, I have one living right next door to me. Sad bastard was out yesterday cutting ‘dry wood’ from felled trees (felled in late spring, but not cut or split or stacked) because he was out of wood for his woodburner, AND!!!! has been cut off by everyone in the ‘hood, because he is a leech “that is owed something”.
God helps those that help themselves. Something that didn’t seem to stick in that 66YO boys teaching,,,, So now he is freezing, trying to get enough wood together to get through the night and no one is offering any help: he’s already burned those bridges by manipulation and outright theft in a case or two.
And his anger at the rest of us “have’s” grows because he can’t see his own failures,,,,
Him? I don’t pity in the least. He’s been a POS since I was kid or longer, and his reputation precedes him.
And there are far more such as him than I wanna think about.
AH, but Dio, be positive,,,,
Oh, I am, especially when I see things like this on the feeds,,,, Young girl, 22YO, born and bred Far Lefty, and she had an epiphany not that long ago and is now Center/Right and ‘spreading the word!!!!
That’s just one sample of her work.
She isn’t the only one either. Seeing more and more of the Millenial Gen stepping back and going “Wait just a stinkin’ moment, this is wrong!!!!”
And I think its gonna ‘go viral’ as we get closer and closer to November and the Stoopid goes full tilt boogie,,,,
I can only hope those young’uns will start to look for those of us GenX types that have been ‘Red Pilled’ for a long time and not lump us in the same catagory as the Stoopid, or The Fraud,,,, We may not see the world through the same filters (age does that to you), but we DO see the Stoopid and the Fraud, and the PharmaCon,
Gonna be hard slog through History, but it always is,,,, Maybe we have had it too good for too long and now need that crucible to melt out the dross and create a new alloy, one thats tougher and yet more resilient over time.
Character over ALL, thats what I look for. The Characters that are in my immediate vicinity need not apply IMO. You can be rock stoopid, but if your character is solid, and not self absorbed, You’ll probably get my up-thumb
(note, some will read this and say I live my life by my whims, and fancies. Playing all the time: that I am being a hypocrit by saying the above. Yes, and resoundingly NO. I do try to teach those I can, some of the things I know. MOST, don’t want to learn. I write this blog, hoping that someone will see something of value in it, and don’t ask for much, if anything in most cases,,, Yes, there is a tip jar, and yes, I have had two instances where I was in dire straits and asked for financial help. Going on 16 years now and the funds I have recieved are less than what I bring in for two months at my Day J.O.B.. This isn’t a bleg either,,, just pointing out, that no, I am not doing this as some self centerd bastard looking for glory,,, Hell, If this blog started seeing daily hits in the 10s of thousands,,, I’d probably panic and fold, total introvert breakdown,,, Just like when I tried to be on stage as a bassplayer,,, NOPE!, but put me on a console behind the scenes and I was golden,,,)(and why I won’t ever do a vlog like those on Utoob,, Camera shy in more than one sense,,,, Audio, I can do, but not Vids . If you knew how much mental angst I have just posting a pic of myself here, you’d ‘get it’,,,, don’t like cameras, don’t like the spotlights,,, Just the way I am,,,)
Committed, or need to be,,,
Thats one BIG hole in Lizzy-yak,,, who is now no longer Lizzy-yak: kinda sorta in limbo at this stage as she is not a viable kayak yet and will get a new name (thinking “Patches”, maybe,,,, something else may come to me between now and then) (at this point, she is more related to Canoe, than Kayak,,,)
And I can now see a possible reason I have had one hell of a time getting to know this boat. That deck is THICK with Resin and Glass,,, with a thick coating of Gelcoat on top of that. The hull bottom is thinner by quite a bit and not glass but the Brit equivalent Kevlar, so its lighter, and no where near as much Gelcoat (and white gelcoat so even lighter)(yes, the colors have different densities.)
The Girl is TOP HEAVY.
And the amount of Resin that was put around the coaming,,, Shit was half inch thick in places,,, Just the coaming wieghs around five pounds.
There is a reason she scaled out at near 70#,,,, I can imagine that there are a couple pounds of resin in each tip, bow and stern. The place that is near impossible to ‘glue together’ when bonding deck to hull, so they do a pour of straight resin in those ends and let it cure (with the boat standing on it head or tail as appropo)
Well, I have cut a lot of that away now, and what I am putting back in IS kevlar and I will be using a mold, one built in place so the only resin build up will be the “Lapped weld” where the old and new meet. And I plan to use epoxy instead of polystyrene resins. Lighter, easier to control cure with longer working times, and a whole lot less prone to moisture contamination. A little pricier but I am not building the whole boat with it. Just that cockpit coaming.
As for the seat,,, I could reuse the seat I just cut out,,, OR,,, Spend a wee bit and get one of those injection molded foam seats from Duckworks. ( I used one in Serena and re-used it in Selkie. They are quite comfortable and much easier to ‘fit’ in a boat than form-fitting one in place.
and nothing is happening fast at this point. Epoxy ain’t gonna cure on that porch right now (it will, but the working time would be MONTH, not hours) ‘Sides, I have a lot of prep work to do yet. And I’m considering how to lighten that deck a bit,,, Its flippin’ heavy,,,, Probably gonna have to live with it though. Short of grinding off all that gelcoat and ‘painting’ a new layer, not as thick, I have no idea. As a comparison, the new Nordkapps are 1-20# lighter with same materials. Processes have evolved and they are no longer doing FULL hand layups, but vacuum bagging the hulls and decks. TONS less resin wasted, which only adds weight, not strength. (thick resin is actually more prone to crackiing as it has less ‘give’. Same with thick Gelcoat.)
Yeah, Thinking a New white jacket with matching room with really soft walls may be in my future,,,, (good thing the Demoncraps put all those to the curb back in the nineties, eh? )
A Satyrday at the lake
kinda sorta,,,
I did GO to the lake, more out of curiousity than to paddle (Fact: I didn’t even take any gear other than Lyssa; whom is ALWAYS strapped to Buffalo, unless some other kayak is in her place) No PFD, no Paddle, No Skirt, No nuthin’s,,,, Just me, boat and Buff.
Water tables are rising,,, Thank the small gods for that. Winds were hellish out of the west and that made for some fine chop and swells, but I saw no ‘order’ to such, no timing to speak of, but I was only there for a few minutes (wind chill drove me back into Buffalo with a quickness: definitely was not dressed for exposure,,, ) But it looked like it would be fun times if not for those 10+mph breezes and occasional gust to 25,,, Force 6 winds,,, lots of chop, some whitecaps, no foam, but some spray. Easier to see that on oceans, not fresh water.
Really wish this drysuit would get here so I CAN get out and play more. I still could, but I have to bundle up far more; wetsuits don’t help as much as dry fleece liners under a drysuit do.
Knew I wasn’t even going to make the attempt, hence why no gear. Tis witches teat cold out there and the wind is making things down right uncomfortable to ANY exposed skin. (like EYEBALLS!!! Gotta be able to see!!!) Naw,,, I can be patient, sort kinda like, maybe,,,
Ok, maybe not, but I ain’t suicidal either, nor stoopid,,, A leetle krazee, yes, but not the others.
Sigh,,,, Come on Mama Spring and the lilies,,,, Come on warm weather (even rainy fer criminy’s sake,) When I see the lilies raising their heads while I am out walkin’ Voo, I know the last gasp of winter is right around the corner and we get to warm up again. impatiently waiting for those little signs of green and yellow,,,,
more laters as I get bored and cabin fever kicks in,,,
Keep on livin’
the “I ditched it all” post
today was ‘different’. Had all the klowns and monkies of the circus I call J.O.B. in the shop today. They were stretching those panels for dog kennels I have been building since they are already sold and the promise date was, you guessed it, TODAY.
To say I was burnt out on peeps by the end of, HUGE understatement.
Left the shop, Blessedly alone, went out to eat because I was feeling downright lazy to boot. Sit down dinner at my fave Chinese place; $14+tip, can’t beat that for all you can eat chinese and seafood.
Then I came home and something wasn’t feeling right.
So I turned the phone off. Not just put to sleep, SHUT OFF, and left it sitting on the porch in the growing cold. If anyone needs to get ahold of me, they can come up here dammit,,, I want a break, and one I know I can’t be interupted in.
5 hours later,,,, MUCH BETTER,,, go ahead and turn the bloody thing back on, but I am not playing on it tonight. Its gonna sit for a spell, me with a dead tree edition sumpin’r’nudder, and glass of bourbon on ice. (well, no more than posting this, then it sits, dammit!)
F! the world tonight,,,,
Ok, ok, so I didn’t go full bore and ditch it for long or permanent like,,, That day may be coming though. I know I have said that if I KNEW they, whoever ‘they’ is, were coming for me, I would trap a possum and duct tape my live phone to the poor beastie, then head in the opposite direction… Let them chase down poor little Opossum. I would love to be a fly on the wall in the HQ of that scenario,,,
Weather is looking flat nasty this weekend. The winds were damned fierce most all today, Blew my shop door off its hinges (fixed now) and when I was headed to the Chinese restaurant, saw the little lake at the golf course had white caps. This is a 3 acre lake,,, Whitecapping,,, wow,,,, Would imagine Laurel lake was prime chaos in wave action today. No way I would paddle in these winds though,, to unpredictable. High winds with Gusts reaching over 50,,,, To far out of my league of paddling experience.(Eventually, I will build up to near that, but Force 9-10 is a bit much,,,)
And with all of that tapped out, I am tapping out of Technology for the evening,
Y’all stay warm and dry if you are in this storm area, and if not, stay safe anyways.
Keep on livin’
Friday, polar vortex, and fiberglass
Supposed to be warm out today with like 100% chance of a rainy nooner,,,
THEN, the bottom drops out and we head into this polar vortex dialed up to eleven for what the Weather Liars are saying will be for two weeks. I know I saw temps down in single digits overnight, prophesized for at least two nights.
Old Man Winter is gonna make a showing,,,
Right on time, mid to late January, into February, followed by all the melt off rain and froze grounds,,
Flooding, and Dio gets a week off work because his shop is 5′ underwater,,,,
Not happened yet, but that the river has been fingering the edges of her bed the last few days; its coming,,,,
Always happens in February,,, ALWAYS. (if it happens at all that is. I’m betting that way this year for certain.)
Todays slotted temps in mid 50’s but wet and I will be at work.
Satyrdays temps will make icecubes on the porch,,, If I see snow, I’m goin’ kayaking. If I don’t, I’m working on kayaks.
Specifically, I will start cutting on Lizzy and make her a keyhole cockpit. Cutting is where it will be at this weekend since it will be WAY too cold for any resin/epoxy work. (besides, lots of prep work to do before I get to that point, cutting and shaping, setting up a foam board mold, making sure everything will hold together while curing, etc etc etc.) I went ahead and listed the cover and skirt and Bilge pump on marketplace (thanks B for helping spread that around there.) Dunno that they will sell: seems like nothing much ‘frivolous’ is moving right now. Lots of tools and vehicles flat dissappearing, but toys are sitting flat,,, Signs of the times? I think so. Better to spend money on useful over enjoyment, or collectables.
Interesting note yesterday. Once I had made peace with cutting a burnout out of ‘my loop’, things started easing up. One project that I had been struggling with went smooth as silk and was completed before noon. Customer was quite satisfied and even open to suggestions on improving it. Dunno if they will take my advice (gonna cost em some) but they definitely showed interest. Hell, the lack of improvement I discussed is why I was there fixing it. Simple fill in,,, They lacked one sensor on an automatic gate and that gate caught the edge of a trailer and got bent to shit. I fixed the gate, and got everything moving again but it cost them quite a bit more than that one sensor will. Call it insurance that I don’t have to pull a repeat performance later down the road.)
Looking around the webs at the Fraud and other shenanigans. Lots of kabuki theater going on IMO. Lots of Bellowing going on about HunterBrandon and his thumbing his nose at Congress, His pappy the puppet and impeachment, Kamalalaladingdong being hidden from the lights (has anyone heard a peep of nonsense from that bird in since Christmas?) Lots of manuvers being made and its all distraction, ALL DISTRACTION,,,
Something bubbling under the surface and I keep watching markets and external sites for what the world is getting ready to do. Our Government is still ambulant, but is NOT COGNIZANT any longer.
Hell, not even legitimate so far as the world and a goodly portion of the populace is concerned. More and more I see people sayin’ “NOPE” when it comes to anything Federal coming down, and I can see that quickly become more State/local as trickle down gains speed. The Governors need to start cutting that umbilical if they want to hold position and not be dragged into the quagmire of the future. Better to be an independent State than some satellite on the dole of worhtless,,,, I’d start by reaching to certain external Countries that have their shit wired tight and show them some semblance of brains at the helm instead of a strung puppet to a dying Government.
America is going no where, that I can say, and that gives me hope. It’s the Government that is dying, and for good reasons,,, If you hold allegience to this government, you deserve to get it, right along with them, IMO. BUT, the country, the ideals that built this country, THOSE are rock solid foundations that have been buried under mountains of shit and paperwork and corruption. THOSE need to be cleared off, maybe patched with some small parts to ‘fix’ the errors that allowed this mess to happen, but for the most part, stand alone. They just need brought back online.
As for the Immavasion,,, Not too worried about that either as I don’t live anywhere that any Hamas or CCP cludge would ever want to consider invading,,, Appalachiastan,,, and there is a whole lot of out-migration from this area that took similar mindset with them. Saw it in Texas when I was there. See it in SC when I go visit my Sis. There are literal ‘barrels behind every blade of grass’ spread all over this country and there are people that don’t wanna play with ‘headchopper Assad’.
No, that immivasion, if it ever goes kinetic, is gonna get a smack down like
yeah,,,
might be we need that one rock chip breaking loose to avalanche into putting the spine back in the sane side of America.
Till then,
Gaslight,,,
Apologies for no return post last night. I was in a seriously black hearted mood last night on return from the J.O.B.
Burnout came flying at me early this morning, damning my name for ‘ratting on him over a dawg,,,’
wait,,,, what?!?!
He’s now swearing that he was leaving his puppy alone at this crib, ‘not leaving a baby, I AIN’T that much of a retard,,,”
And I went over that conversation in my head three ways to Sunday, and there is NO WAY I confused “puppy” with ‘Baby’,,,, I asked him twice ‘You left that baby alone?!?!?!’ and the answer was yes,,, I asked “Wheres her mama? and when is she due to return?” and he said he didn’t know,,,(to both!!!)
There wasn’t any confustion,,,, He is trying to ‘cover his ass’ in front of his freinds (fellow burnouts)
AND
Bossman told me that there was a visitation by Family Services yesterday, and I have a big feeling that had something to do with it,,, (I didn’t rat him on that note,,, I forced him to go home and do the right thing,,,, BUT, I do have a good suspician of who DID call them. BUT, I ain’t talkin’,,,,)
NOW, I am in a black hearted mood because some young ass punk is gaslighting me, or at least making a lame attempt at it. Sorry Burnout, you’re talking to an editic memory,,, that AIN’T Burnt out,,,,
Seems to me that the charitable things I have been doing to give the boy a hand-up are coming to an end,,,, I won’t be used or manipulated, despise liars,,,,,
You can’t fix people, they have to want to fix themselves,,,, I was seeing a guy trying to make that effort, but when dumb choices crept in, I saw his old self return with whiplash speed,,,,
You can’t help that sort.
and I won’t waste my time,,, Life is too short to tolerate idiots, and time is too precious to throw away,
blank page, silent muse
that sorta mornin’
waiting
the world seems to be holding its breath on what comes next, and seems everyone KNOWS its gonna be that proverbial roller-coaster ride.
Self-fulfilling prophecy?
I think we are beyond that now and just waiting for the chain reactions to start.
And I am waiting for a drysuit. still hasn’t shipped yet, even though I had a text message saying ‘watch for it’,,, suddenly the site shows ‘delayed shipping- 30-45 days from invoice’
At this rate, winter will be nearly over by the time I get it.
c’est la vie I’ll have it for next year.
My brain is in full kayak mode right now, looking at Lizzy, a cockpit template I laid out, and that saw,,,, not gonna happen today; has the J.O.B. to contend with first. But I am stepping closer to that precipice of no turning back. Thinking about the repair I need to do on Brudder B’s Selkie-yak as well. Busted stringer on the upper deck, needs some different design floorboards installed as well to stop her from stealing shoes. (why the hang up with stealing shoes? Cuz that means you could get bound up in a wet exit and not be able to escape,,,)
Kayak mode,,, not really FULL on kayak mode, more designer/tech mode. Wanna go kayaking, but the cold dampens the drive quite a bit. Working on them fills the need to be in them. Not the same, no, but good enough. And gets the brainium thinking about when it CAN get out and do fun stuff.
hi-ho, hi-ho,,, its off to,,,,
Keep on livin’
Dio's Workshop 