Your leaking thatched hut during the restoration of a pre-Enlightenment state.

 

Hello, my name is Judas Gutenberg and this is my blaag (pronounced as you would the vomit noise "hyroop-bleuach").



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   diagonal cutters and epoxy
Sunday, March 28 2021
Colder air had moved in and it rained most of the day, which probably contributed to a touch of malaise I experienced in the early afternoon. A nice nap seemed to fix that, and after that I felt good enough to take my usual Sunday recreational dose of pseudoephedrine.
I ate very little today except for matzo and bananas. The rain didn't let up until about 4:00pm, when I finally could take the dogs for the walk that they normally expect in the morning.
In the laboratory, my shape painting focused mostly on the blue patches near the central axis of the room, where the patches get the most wear. The wear was especially bad in the path of the right big wheel of the wheelchair that I use as an office chair. In some places the dark blue paint had been worn away completely, exposing bare wood on OSB chips that should have eight or nine layers of paint on them. To reconstitute the surface for another painting, this evening I used some five minute epoxy from Devcon that came in a dual syringe. But unlike most epoxy dispensers of this type, this one had a nozzle designed to mix the two epoxy fluids together. I'll try anything once, but in the case of this particular product, I'll never be using it again. For starters, the syringes only contained 0.47 fluid ounces between them. And then when I went to cut off the plastic stopper at the bottom of the shared nozzle attachment, it was impossible to determine where to cut. Once I had the mixing nozzle attached, only a tiny amount came out before the plungers refused to push out any further liquid. Perhaps that was the idea; I was supposed to be satisfied with that tiny amount. But there was no way I was going to leave all that visible epoxy in the syringe unused. So I tore into it with diagonal cutters and scooped out what I could with a barbecue skewer, and then used a putty knife to spread it out on the part of the floor needing it. This all worked okay, and I was satisfied with the application. But now I had a messy cleanup operation. What do you do when you've got epoxy all over your putty knife or, worse still, your diagonal cutters? I rubbed them down with vinegar, which I'd read is one of the better solvents for not-completely-set epoxy. This was followed by soap and water and then WD-40 to prevent rust. What a fucking mess! Never again! From now on, the only tools I ever want to use for applying epoxy will be entirely disposable (such as sticks or barbecue skewers, which is what I normally use).


Neville on the Farm Road today in the fog after the rain, heading south not far from the house. Click to enlarge.


The laboratory as it looked today, viewed from the north. Click to enlarge.


The laboratory as it looked today, viewed from the south. Click to enlarge.


The big rack in the laboratory as it looked today, viewed from the west. Click to enlarge.


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http://asecular.com/blog.php?210328

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