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July 27, 2022 – What Does Mind the Details Mean?

July 27, 2022 /

Fortunately, I had a good weekend for project work. I will say that I strongly believe that details are almost never executed properly. It costs too much money to do so. So, that is what I am going to explore today.

1. Painting all six sides. This is the one that is the most frequently skipped and the one that takes the most time. I like to get two coats on the exposed face of the parts before installation. Then I come back and fill holes and do a final touch up. To put more simply, I prime all six sides. Then I paint the exposed faces twice.

2. Caulk is not a building material, it is more like gap insurance. It is there to prevent water from getting to a properly detailed assembly and for aesthetic uniformity. In theory, caulk should be unnecessary. From my informal observation, I have only seen one caulk remain flexible and intact after five years of exposure. That is OSI Quad. Be aware, this product is not easy to tool as it is solvent based which is why I rarely use it. This caulk joint shown below has failed. I know for a fact that it is not flashed behind the trim.

3. Flashing has a proper order and should be used more frequently. Flashing is what mitigates caulk failures. Today’s installation guidelines for Hardi plank or LP call for a 3/16″ gap between adjacent edges. Those gaps must be flashed for proper water protection. Caulk if you choose, but expect failure and consistent maintenance. Notice that the z flash is on top of the trim flashing.

4. Fix your mistakes a you go. Here, I miscalculated my board length because of the offset from the corner trim. The truth is the board wasn’t even a true 12 feet, it was actually 12′ 1 3/8″, so it would have never lined up properly. What is the harm? Not having joints line up on studs leaves them susceptible to eventual warping because there is not enough structure to nail the trim and secure them adequately.

5. Building materials are expensive, do the best job you can with the best possible materials. As the saying goes, 80% the work in painting is in the prep. Sure, good paint is $90 a gallon but after you have spent hundreds of hours getting ready, don’t cheap out on something less than adequate. It just shows that you don’t actually value your time.

6. There is a time and place for shortcuts. That place is not while the project is happening. Think about this, you probably don’t need to rebuild your car’s engine because the air conditioning stopped working. However, if you do want to rebuild the engine replace all of the wear parts whether they need it or not. I am talking about things like bearings and seals. Shortcuts are for eliminating or delaying the need for the project.

7. Finally, I want to say that we all make mistakes. The difference between a professional and an amateur is how to recover and not get derailed.

End Your Programming Routine: I have been thinking about making some Tik-Tok length videos with one tip per video. With everything that is going on outside of my project, I have a difficult time actually scheduling something extra. It’s weird but my YouTube subscribers keep growing despite the fact I am hardly active. It might be worth putting a little more effort into it.

July 26, 2022 – The Lost Kitchen

July 26, 2022 /

This is the July selection of the Left Coast Culinary book club. I have skimmed through the book and read the text portions that support all of the recipes. I actually was not going to review this book because I found it unremarkable but I will explain more below.

I will diverge for a quick moment, Emily French’s story is a very familiar one. This is another lost soul that finds redemption through cooking ala Gabrielle Hamilton or Anthony Bourdain. Because her entire enterprise is based in Maine, the content is highly New England centric.

In what seems to be a smart trend, this book is organized first by season. The intent is to guide the reader to source seasonal ingredients and therefore cook with them. My first problem is that I don’t live in New England, so ingredients such as lobster are as foreign to me as stew in the summer time. Secondly, as with best practices the recipes and techniques are simple allowing the primary ingredients to be the stars (as it should be, but see issue one).

I can forgive, substitute and cook out of season, no problem but my real issue is that nothing in particular speaks to me. I have tried the New England baked beans and the cod with citrus shallot vinaigrette and I am going to make corned beef this week so it is not that I haven’t given the book a chance. I will tell you what did however. I have never seen so many recipes that use parsnips or editable flowers. I found the photography and food styling visually appealing.

Far be it for me to criticize someone else’s work. All I am really saying is that this does not resonate with me. Others in the book club felt that this was one of the best selections in the last five years. Here is where I will end, if you are looking for New England dishes, seasonal suggestions or frequent use of flowers, then this may appeal to you.

End Your Programming Routine: I have an affinity for southern cooking, some might say soul food. I also live in the pacific northwest and enjoy cooking Mexican food, I hold regional recipes in high regard. All three of those places I hold a degree of emotional and cultural connection. I suppose you could say that I have no connection to New England, maybe that is to blame for how I feel.

July 25, 2022 – Reconciling Boundaries and Christianity

July 25, 2022 /

As I eluded, last week was a tough week. I am not going to air my dirty laundry however I will provide some details in this podcast for context. For that reason, you will have to take my information at face value. As nasty as some people have been, I have nothing to gain by naming names or releasing the full details.

I made serious consideration before doing what I did. I spoke with my pastor and I spoke with another devout friend. I did not give them options but provided my facts and asked for advice on how to proceed. Both essentially gave me the same suggestion, I needed to make a tough and firm stance on boundaries.

I am not holier than though or a devout pray-er. The fact that I sought pastoral and Christian oriented advice followed by serious prayer, I got an answer. Both of those are new for me. I was never one to ask for anything in prayer, only to offer thanks. It has definitely strengthened my resolve that this is a moment. Not only do I need the support but also the validation that this was the best course of action.

End Your Programming Routine: I have heard this phrase before “It is not up to us to wonder why”. I don’t know why this was the circumstances had to come to this. I don’t know why I had to be the ‘bad guy’. But it is the first step in moving on. For that, I am grateful.

July 22, 2022 – Atlas Shrugged 1:3

July 22, 2022 /

Back again this week with another chapter review of Atlas Shrugged. I am actually way ahead, so I have slowed down a little this week so we can read along together.

This chapter starts with a business meeting about a cabal of industrialist talking about forming a new trade group so that no monopoly occurs. Another way of looking at things is that they are really dividing up regions to conserve the strength and revenue where it already is. Not only will there be no monopolies but there will also be no new competitors.

Speaking of monopolies, I think we subject to the same set of propaganda when we were in school: Monopolies are bad, Teddy Roosevelt and the ‘trust busters’ and all that. In my personal opinion, there was possibly a time and place for that kind of thinking but today, unlikely. My line of thinking is that any product or service will eventually fail unless they maintain being the best (as long as acting legal/ethical).

Another point that come to mind around monopolies is guess where the true, legal monopolies exist? Why the government of course. Who permits the one garbage company or the one electrical choice? I remember distinctly a teacher espousing how this was a modern miracle all of this order and control. I don’t have a lot to say about my particular providers but without competition there is a high risk the service is what the service is. Hopefully good.

Also in this chapter, I think that we have gotten to the first theme that people in the freedom/survival/conspiracy genre peak interest. “The only justification of private property is public service” – Orren Boyle Railroad Industrialist. The elitist are expressing their true colors. That sounds pretty temporal doesn’t it?

This chapter is broken into two sections. The second half describes Dabny Taggert, the vice president of operations for the Taggert Transcontinental Railroad. From what I gather she is a woman in a man’s world. It appears that she is pretty competent as Rand contrast to her brother James. The truth is I don’t know where this story line is going yet but it certainly there is a strong sentiment for women’s equality and/or some statement about the best person for the job.

End Your Programming Routine: I am getting into the book now. Sometimes when books are so long, I sort of dread getting started because of the commitment. Since I am trying to keep my reading pace with my writing, it makes it a little less intimidating to start (as long as I stay ahead). From the looks of things, this book is going to fit onto the reading list as it is hitting the right themes and targets.

July 21, 2022 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

July 21, 2022 /

We are back to math again. I am today we are going to talk about percent difference. Percent difference is comparing two measurements and quantifying the difference as a percentage. I have the measurements of the velocity at the target.

Taking what we have learned so far, I am not going to go over the calculations again, but I will present the data.

  1. 849
  2. 853
  3. 866
  4. 859
  5. 855
  6. 870
  7. 852
  8. 853
  9. 868
  10. 858

That leaves me with an average velocity of 857.3 +/- 22.2 fps at 30′. You might ask yourself why you would want to know this information? Well, first of you rarely shoot something that is at muzzle length so you want to judge the amount of energy at some distance (effectiveness). I can also calculate the estimated amount of bullet drop over distance (performance). There is also some some consideration to gravity and the effect of friction. I would call that percent difference.

End Your Programming Routine: At some point in the future, I may decide to look out farther in distance for another data point. But I shot up all of those particular pellets which makes a true (scientific) comparison not possible. So, my next look is going to be the data that I have collected versus a new shaped pellet of the same weight. With that I am going to talk about statistical significance next week.

July 20, 2022 – Project Slowing Down

July 20, 2022 /

This has been a tough week. I am going to get into it with my podcast on Monday. Needless to say I have not made near the progress I had hoped to. From my work so far, I don’t think this is going to take that long to do, it is just that I can’t make the opportunity to work.

So, I did decide that I would repurpose the old siding instead of replacing with 5/8″ drywall. T1-11 is 5/8 inch thick and it saves it from the landfill (and money). So, Win/Win in my opinion.

With the tips and tricks portion of the show, I am sure everyone is probably aware of this gotcha but nevertheless I will mention it. When taking something apart, be able to put it back together. Take a picture or make a drawing or note or something so that it is easy to reassemble.

I needed to disconnect the sprinkler wire from the controller because I want a nice penetration for the new siding. Anticipating that it will be some time before I turn it back on, I took a picture of the wiring for ease of hooking back up properly.

There are a few small things I can still do but the reality is that I need to go purchase the remainder of the siding and trim. This is what is preventing me moving forward as much as time.

End Your Programming Routine: Life doesn’t always go the way that you anticipate. I think that is pretty well known. It is difficult to build project plans with catastrophic contingency or said a better way anticipate the unimaginable. Fortunately, if this is the only project I get done this summer, it is the most important and there is still plenty of time.

July 19, 2022 – Covid Activities Finally Completed

July 19, 2022 /

Back in March 2020, I ordered a root beer extract bottle. I was thinking as a family we would make root beer for something to do while we were in quarantine. It was one of those things that we never quite got around to. I think it came shortly before Sergio was to leave, after that my work on the apartment was going to get hot and heavy.

At some point, I do have some interest in making real root beer, not out of an extract bottle. I have done some investigation into this but I thought this was a good starting point. The way this works is that you add dry ice to the liquid for carbonation. That has been the long lag on actually doing this project.

My son that is half vegan and half vegetarian orders food from Thrive. They send dry ice with the frozen or liquids requiring refrigeration. So, I seized the opportunity when the order came yesterday. My son and I quickly mixed up the root beer.

You need to have some volume available in the pitcher because this gets violent when the dry ice hits the liquid. After the dry ice was gone, it was ready. It tasted good, a little too sweet for me, so maybe back off on the sugar next time. It was also a little flat unless you took a big gulp.

Finally, if you are not going to drink this all in one setting, you may want to add more dry ice when you pour again (like the next day). But, the good news of dry ice is that it doesn’t dilute or effect the volume because the temperature is too warm to keep it liquid.

Recipe:

  1. 2 1/2 cups Sugar
  2. 2 tbs root beer extract
  3. 3 qts water
  4. 3/4 pound dry ice

End Your Programming Routine: After sampling, we made root beer floats for desert. It was kind a fun thing to do and we will probably do this once a month until the extract is gone. It is something really easy to do with young kids and it is definitely unique.

July 18, 2022 – Tradition, Does It Matter

July 18, 2022 /

I suppose that I am a sentimental type. With that, I even participate in traditions that I really don’t care for. Find out about that and more in today’s podcast. Fair warning that this is mostly about sports. It is not a subject that I talk a lot about, but I am interested in.

I have some other stuff in the pipe right now. This seemed so topical at the time that I decided to this that I bumped other things to get this out. Doing podcast is more work than writing so I tend to do more prep ahead of time and the situation may change by the time I actually publish. Nevertheless, I am going to keep moving.

End Your Programming Routine: Tradition builds culture and culture is integral to our human fabric. Whether the tradition revolves around sports or holidays or families we need these practices to continue or advance our culture. It is possible to build new traditions as well but that takes time. Pick your battles closely, maybe there is a reason for the tradition.

July 15, 2022 – Atlas Shrugged 1:2

July 15, 2022 /

I just finished reading the second chapter in Atlas Shrugged. This one features and industrialist and his conflict between the pull of his work and the obligation of the family.

Rand does a pretty good job of linking the chapter name to the theme of the chapter I have noticed. For that reason, I have started to include them in the tag names for future reference. This chapter is titled “The Chain” – the industrialist holding his family (and the world for that matter) in bondage. It is the industrialist’s wife that actually uses this symbolism in the last paragraph of the chapter.

For a little more context, this industrialist named Reardon has spent the last ten years of his career trying to invent/perfect a new alloy called Reardon Metal. As most successful people are, he is completely immersed in his work which makes him aloof to his family and friends. This day is the day where Reardon is working on fulfilling his first ever order. So he is happy, maybe even vindicated that this was worth the effort.

I can recognize the struggle to a bit. When you are so immersed in a problem and the solution that everything else is secondary. Even when you do experience success, the problem is too complicated or has gone on so long you have alienated or isolated others to the point that the victory is hollow. Is there anything to be happy about if it is not shared or have others to celebrate with?

I suppose the industrialist wife feels like this day is nothing to celebrate because it will just be a new problem or project. So, in some ways success is actually bondage because a business failure would ultimately end the problem, not perpetuate the situation.

End Your Programming Routine: This is something that I actually suffer from. It is part of my anti-social, entrepreneurial, moral character. I saw some Tik-Tok videos for the first time the other night. What a collection of mindless nonsense. I had to control my reaction to something that I thought was vain, petty and narcissistic because it makes my wife mad when I comment. Yet here I am trying to do something similar in my own way.

July 14, 2022 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

July 14, 2022 /

More math today, hurray! I hope that I am bringing this in an approachable fashion because I find it interesting. It’s one of the ways to sort of geek out in the area without spending a whole bunch of money. Math is essentially free after the experiment is done.

Today I want to talk about Standard Deviation (often represented by SD). You can get super in the weeds with the extra places you can take the math, but that we will not do. So what is it? Standard deviation is statistical modelling to predict the probability of values following within a calculated range. Or said another way, what can I expect my velocities to be based on the measurements that I have taken.

Let’s not get scared but there are a couple mathematical terms to discuss. The first is that this simple calculation is going to only look between the the first two divisions (called the Greek letter sigma). One sigma (or deviation) are values representing 68% of all the measurements (or the majority).

We will assume that the data is normal and distributed like the graph. In that case, we can just multiply the standard deviation we calculate by 2 to get 95%. Same with getting 3 sigma. The mathematical description of sigma is variance. The variance is the average distance between the calculated mean value. This is why we can simply multiply the variance by a factor.

One reason to do this is that you can create expected behavior. Another one is that you can validate that your equipment is working properly (using the higher level math). I will leave it at that since I feel like if you are not convinced already, me keeping on probably won’t help. Using my data from last Thursday, let’s get into the calculation.

To really get to what I am saying here is that 68% of the time, the velocity is going to fall between 945.7 and 965.9 feet per second. That translates to the mean minus the standard deviation (955.8 – 10.1 = 945.7) and the mean plus the standard deviation (955.8 + 10.1 = 965.9). And finally, 99.7% of the pellets will be 925.5 – 986.1 fps.

Of course, like the supreme court this is a very myopic look at things. This is a 7.56 grain pellet, velocity measured at the muzzle with no wind, 65 degree ambient temperature and 50% relative humidity. I am going to look at some of the other variables as time moves on.

End Your Programming Routine: Hopefully, that made some sense. You can also use excel to do this without understanding the formula if you can figure out how to make formulas work. My points today are 1) this is possible to do relatively simply 2) my rifle is pretty consistent 3) and now I have some data to compare other experiments against. Next week, I am going to look at velocity at the target.