Tool talk
Steve is spending a great deal of time talking about tools and his acquisition therof; it’s amusing and nice to see him learning what tools to use for what jobs and how to use them.
Growing up around people who used tools for a living, it never occurs to me that people don’t instinctively understand tool use.
It also doesn’t occur to me not to do stuff myself. Sure, there are diminishing returns, but for most jobs, I rent or buy or DIY.
Example: I have a Michigan ledge in my basement. A michigan ledge is what you get when you dig out a crawlspace to form a basement. Usually they stay back from the house foundation about 4′ and pour a new wall and footing. FOr reasons unknown to me, they didn’t do that here, they dug flush to the foundation and poured a wall. I’m concerned about the way they did it, so in order to make sure the walls don’t move around, I bolted them together. I did this by drilling a series of holes along the wall, and anchoring the michigan ledge walls to the original footings. A lot of work. Work I think should have been done by the folks who poured the ledge walls, but wasn’t.
This wasn’t brain surgery. I calculated that I wasn’t going to induce any unwarranted stresses, so I knew the plan was sound. I knew how many bolts per wall I needed so I was secure there. And I just did it. At the sdame time there was a segment of wall that had shifted, and the blocks cracked. I supported the beam over it, removed the blocks, relaid the blocks with sharp sand mortar.
it doesn’t dawn on me that other people are mystified by this stuff. It doesn’t dawn on me that I am doing anything unusual. I just do the stuff, and am done with it.
Are there times when i might be better served to let someone else do the work? Maybe. Maybe I might even be better served to move to an apartment that doesn’t require any maintenance. It’s just not me.
Yeah Og.
I don’t understand it sometimes, when (what would appear to be) ordinary humans can’t figure out life’s little problems. Your foundation example is but one.
I’ve spent (seems like) my whole life in a garage, figgerin’ out things. Folks are amazed at what comes out of there.
Ya’think we’re in the wrong line of work?
I bought a 55 year piece of crap house that was held together with duct tape, Kleenex, and spit.
It’s long, slow, and sometimes very painful process, but that little jewel is finally coming around to being a home.
You have a GREAT house, Dick. Look forward to seeing it whe it’s done. Also hope you STAY in it for more than a few minutes before you sell it and start shredding another.
What amuses me is that people treat artifacts as though they were products of nature.
“A man made it,” I thinks, thinks I. “Are you so thick you can’t figure it out?”
M
I was reminded of your point during our Alfa discussion over at Kim’s. Most people do not recognize the make of my car and usually will ask about it. when I tell them it’s an Alfa Romeo, they say with a hoorified look “That must be expensive!” When I tell them that I brought it back to life myself and that I also do all the maintenance on the car, I get various reactions that range from disbelief to worship.
It is a machine! As Mark said, it was conceived and made by men! It comes apart, it goes together – no big deal. Give me a manual (I already have the tools) and we’ll put it back on the road and keep it there!
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