High Wiring Act

Taking a bit of a break from wiring today, though I'll be up at the house in the last hour or so of daylight to get a little done for the day, mostly things not involving drilling or sawing, which require the laying out of 150 feet of extension cord, too time-consuming for a mere hour's work. Yesterday I was up on the high ladder hanging the boxes for ceiling fans. On the top story, they are about 14 feet off the ground, which is a bit high for my tastes, but I managed to get through it, only to find out I had done it wrong. I won't go into the details, not because they are technical and boring, but because they are extrememely embarrassing.

So tomorrow morning, when Karen is around to hear me scream if I should fall off the ladder, I have to go up and redo those two ceiling fan boxes. Fortunately, I figured out my mistake in the middle of doing the second box, and did the remaining three the right way. Of course, none of those was on a cathedral ceiling. That's what I get for trying to do the hardest part first and get it over with.

Today I decided to spend more time with the boys. We went in to town so they could play at the park while we waited for Tom to get off work, then we made a short visit to the local craft fair for some fried dough and water

I also decided to get a little groundwork done on the new version of the Web site. It will look different, though at Karen's request Thomas will still be on the banner. If he doesn't send me pictures each month I'll grab them from video chat sessions or (if there have been none of those) I will doctor another photo with thick glasses and a handlebar moustache as a reminder to him that he is being remiss.

Today I started moving the galleries to the Google service Picasa, which I've chosen for the time being as my online picture album site. Videos will go to the ubiquitos YouTube, although I will keep copies of the best of them on my server so that you may view them in a higher-quality format. I will also be setting up a "podcast" area where you can listen to us talking about our adventures at the click of a mouse.

Since we will be on the road for a couple of weeks, we will be providing some different ways to contact us as well. And Thomas will get a page that he can update as he sees fit.

We went to see the fireworks in town, which was something of an adventure. Since we live so far north, darkness does not fall early this time of year, and the fireworks start an hour and a half past the young ones' bedtime. And we had to give a couple of people rides home, so everybody got to bed late.

And today was not a day for sleeping in! Thomas started a new jub yesterday, as the dishwasher in one of our better local restaurants, with the chance to train in the kitchen if he does a good job. The job starts at 7:30 am, and Thomas still has no license and no car, so guess who gets to take him to work. That will change by the end of the month, though.

The boys are swimming in the pond at the moment; when they are done (or I am) I'll find them something quiet to do while I help prepare for a birthday party here tonight (don't panic, family, you didn't miss someone; it's for Tom's friend Jeremy), and then head up for some minor buttoning-up work at the house.

Fortunately, Tom's workday starts a bit later tomorrow, and Karen has a later shift, so we both get to sleep in a little in the morning.

Sleep? What a concept!

Learnin'

Another first in my electrical experiences: I hung an outlet on a concrete wall. Not a big deal, but I had never done it before and I wasn't entirely sure what I was doing. But I never let that stop me. I also built a small wall to encase the drain plumbing that runs through a corner of the basement bedroom. I made another wall in the upstairs bathroom, but I made some mistakes that I have to find a workaround for before anyone tries to hang drywall on it. Oops!

You might have noticed that the pictures have started cycling back again. No one seems to have time to take pictures! I've asked Tom and Karen to take pictures of work on the house and boys at the beach, but everything now is rush, rush, rush! But that will ease off a little very soon. Once I get my rough electrical inspection, I have to wait for insulation and drywall before I can do any more work myself. So lots of phone calls, supervision, and decisions, but a little more time with camera in hand. And more time at the computer for updating the Web site--and getting it ready for its next incarnation for our cross-country journey.

I'm not saying exactly how the site will change when we start the trip, because I have no idea! Well, a couple of ideas maybe, but no definite plans, except that there will be more pictures (perhaps made easier for all by using a site like Flickr or Webshots) and movies (again maybe through YouTube, though I think I would like to make higher-quality versions available for download on this site).

Thomas will no longer be on the banner, just because I'll have no end of trouble getting pictures of him! But I will set up ways that he can keep us all up to date on his doings and link to them from here. And if Thomas is too busy to post anything online (or just too interested in other things), I'll pass along messages from him on my blog.

One of our goals this year is to increase our involvement in the arts. My hope is that the Web site will be a place where you can find some of the fruits of our efforts, and read about how pursuing this goal is affecting (hopefully enriching) our lives.