BMN One Wall

 

Good Morning
I woke up to a sound I hadn't heard in so long I didn't recognize it for what it was. I vaguely thought we were camped on the beach. Nell was awake before me. She had let Buddy in the back door, she also said the front door was standing open.

Nell and I went to church yesterday, there was a guest preacher though, a little yawny. We had a nice time, visiting with everyone. Everyone has gotten old, many aren't with us now; another full swing of emotions from happy to sad. I think we will make a habit of going to church. 

August-5th2012Nell-Rachel We dropped by Jona's and Sara's after church.

(August-5th2012Nell-Rachel-Swing) I shot a little video of Rachel on the trapeze. Perhaps tomorrow I'll post that.

In the meantime, I'll show you what Nell and I have been working on. "One Wall." To the tune of Bob Marley's song, One Love. Yeah, I don't know. I just let my mind wander free. The BMN is the result. What are ya gunna do?

(TheShell_August6th2012) I hope you clicked on the One Love link so you're hearing what I am hearing while I write. Nell and I had elaborate plans for this wall. I thought I would make a cubbyhole for the Blueray/streaming video player as well as a nice mantle for the LCD TV up high on the wall, the way we like to view movies.

I was all ready to go and was designing the electrical circuit to be sunk in the cubbyhole, when Nell mentions, "Won't we still want to be able to use the wind power?"

Tape measure still extended, I froze in place. Crap. An hour's worth of figuring just went out the window. Currently, we're simply moving the plug which leads to the entertainment area power strip from grid power to wind power. If I were to conceal the power receptacle in the cubbyhole or behind the television it would make it damn inconvenient to switch the plug.

The alternative is build or worse and less likely, buy an automatic power switching device. We've got more than enough projects going on concurrently. Never mind the whole built-in entertainment center. 

(TheShell_August6th2012-NEXT) After church and  visiting with family, Nell and I went to the hardware store. I gotta say, if you don't already know, "The hardware stores in Las Vegas aren't worth a crap." Insane pricing, with a terrible selection. Sometimes I wish we lived in the city. It seems like we're going to be going to the city to get what we need.

We like our one little wall so much we decided to continue it on across the room behind the washing machine, pictured above. Okay, while we're at the hardware store I want to look at the new-fangled plumbing gear called PEX. Nell said, "Hmmm? What?" PEX pipe. Humbly, I don't know anything about it either. I can say that Hacienda Home Center wants $3 to $4 for just about any little fitting, so we decided to bail out with the few little goo-gaas we had, and headed home. Still that little trip cost ~$70.

Luckily we know how to look stuff up on the Internet.  We found this PEX Design Guide. There is a little history on PEX in the beginning, then they get to the point pretty quick. I've got a lot more reading and research to do. I read that a major difference between PEX and old school plumbing is the former is manifold delivered through separate lines to each device, whereas the old way is through trunk and branch design.

Now that I am reading further I see PEX can be used either way. However since we don't know diddly about PEX we started thinking about our leaking hot water line which supplies the washing machine. If we're going to design the hot and cold water supply to our new kitchen and bath with this cool new PEX pipe why not move the hot water heater over to near the new room?

In clearly a whole new can of worms train of thought it dawned on me that the how water heater will need a new gas line as will the kitchen stove.

Perhaps I was jumping the gun thinking we were anywhere near ready to pour concrete. So this is what Nell and I spent a good part of the afternoon discussing. Can I do the gas line plumbing? Sure, but there is zero room for error. In particular, I'm not stressing about the gas line, it does add up though.

So, where we're at now is, we like that one wall is up before the old wall comes down. Makes sense doesn't it? We're trying to live here while we build this kitchen and bath. Having a gaping hole to the outside won't do. The best part is these processes are falling into place for us in a time-frame which we believe is still on track.

What's it going to take to get this next wall built so we can tear down the trailer wall behind the washing machine? The shower stall. We've got to design the shower. The shower stall will be built into this next wall. Nell and I went online looking at what was available and what the rough-in specs will need to be.

Rough-in is the space where the appliance fits with a particular tolerance for error. I can do this, indeed I've done it before for the remodel job Nell and I did for our friend in Albuquerque. I do need to have the shower stall kit though. we can use the specs from a kit online, but they change things often, and we don't want to learn later that the kit is slightly different than what they told us. 

(TheShell_outside-August6th2012) Alrighty the dogs are losing patience.

(TheGarden_August6th2012) Thanks to all the Gods for this rain.
I've go more to tell you. I'll have to save it for another day
Got to go before the dogs tear the doors off scratching for me to get my boots on

Brian Rodgers

Related posts:

1. BMN Anti-Wall Street & Cyber Monday (8.4) Brian's Morning Newsletter Monday, November 28 2011, 06:26:31 AM Good…
2. BMN Nell’s Recovery (6.3) Brian's Morning Newsletter Friday, April 27 2012 Good Morning Life…
3. BMN More Glorious Rain (5.9) Brian's Morning Newsletter Monday, May 14 2012 ATV-Brian-Rachel-May2012 Rachel-Brian's hat-May2012…
4. BMN 2012 Cometh (5.7) Brian's Morning Newsletter Monday, December 26 2011 Good Morning 2012…
5. BMN Rachel-January-2012-Pink-Hat (5.7) Brian's Morning Newsletter Monday, January 09 2012 Rachel-January-2012-Pink-Hat Good Morning…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.