Phase Two - Almost Done

So I started Phase Two yesterday, and almost completed it. That was moving all my stuff from the house to the shed. I got some help this evening with the big stuff, so I am going to call it nearly complete. I still have several computers, (meaning 11), to go through, make sure there is not anything I need from them, and then throw them out.

So here is the beginning of Phase Three:


That is the rear of my house that I am pulling siding off of. Thanks to Josh, Tristan, Bashard, and David, almost all that siding is off now, as well as the bad fencing on the side torn down.

Unfortunately this is the only part of the job I am good at - tearing stuff down. It is the building back up that is the hard part.

One interesting thing that I have been learning through this process of downsizing, packing, moving, and storing stuff is a simple lesson on maintenance. I read a couple of weeks ago about library archiving - how digital archiving just doesn't last as long as we think it should. I have had it in my mind that once I get all my old photos copied on to the computer, make a couple of backup CD's, and put them in different areas of the country I would be safe. The house could burn down, and I would still have them.

But this handout said that in the BEST of conditions digital media would only survive about 50 years. Between media decaying and the progression of software, that digital information would have to be maintained and migrated from software to software throughout the years in order to maintain its quality.

That hit me hard for some reason, because I love the idea of doing something all out for a short period of time, and then having that skill, ability, money, or income come in with very little to no effort after that. Kind of like writing a book, or fixing up a piece of real estate for rental.

But it appears that important things always need to be maintained. It is fact of our fallen world. Sin entered into the world, and we now have to follow the law of entropy - everything wears down.

So I have been noticing different things that must be maintained...
my house - obviously.
relationships.
money & investments.
even spiritually we need to be maintaining and growing. I have been noticing in the Bible lately how many times it mentions the present and continuing tense when I am expecting a one time past tense. Such things as sanctification, justification, hope, grace, action.

And I guess I should qualify the term maintenance for me. I see it as more than just keeping to the status quo, but improving and growing what is being maintained.

Anyway, that has gone through my head quite a bit as I go through the pack ratted stuff I have collected and carried through several houses over the past many years, and asked the question "Do I REALLY need this?" And along with those: "Why the heck did I carry those books all the way here?" "How much gas and energy have I wasted doing this?" "This is ridiculous."

Thank goodness our hope is not in this world. This world is falling apart in so many more ways than one. Our hope is in its creator, and redeemer of our fallen world, Jesus Christ.

Phase One... Done!

Thanks to Justin, I was able to complete Phase One. Phase One was getting my dilapidated shed turned into a storage unit.

Just to show you how optimistic I am, I was started the day expecting to start on the shed by myself at 1:00, and finish it by 5:30, after packing up all my stuff inside the house.

Thank goodness, Justin showed up early, and we just focused on the shed all day. I know without a doubt it would have taken me three days to do what we did in one.

So now, I have a place to take all my boxes of stuff, my tools, and furniture. That is on the docket for tomorrow, along with starting on my house. There are several places I can start, and am unsure just where the best place would be.

So here are a few pictures showing progress...

Here we have raised the walls and roof, put in the 4X4's, and set them down on blocks. The original builder of the shed had the walls on the ground, with a flooring base of pallets and thin wafer board stuff. Great place for mice and roaches. (I fogged it a couple of days ago.)


Here we have the floor joists in, and half the plywood.

The finished floor.

And I couldn't stop smiling. It is so nice when you see something in your head and it actually comes together.

And Back Again...

So an update on the "addition." I have gone full circle with the addition. First I did not want to live in the house while leveling it, so I thought I would build another dwelling here on the back of my property.

Well, the city didn't like that idea, so I had to get a little creative and attach it to the house somehow.

Taking a look at the finances, both Bill's, (older, wiser men than myself) thought I overestimated my cost for the addition I was hoping to build, and offered words of caution.

So I cautioned into planning just one room on to the house.

Then as I thought about it more, and having less money to work with than I thought I did, having not been to work in almost two months, I decided against the addition altogether. There were several factors, not just the money. Time is also a factor, and the fact that the small addition really would not add that much value to the house, aesthetically, or monetarily.

So I put in the application for the leveling permit yesterday, and received it today. So now the real work begins. And I get to live right in the midst of it for at least the third time in my life. Let's hope this project goes quicker than the first two.

So for anyone wanting to get some house leveling experience, just drop me a line. Nail guns will be used, jacks, and lots of climbing under the house. This will be fun. Then once the house is (semi) level, indoor sheet rock, some plumbing, and exterior siding will be the focus. Come join the fun!

I plan on working all this week on it and will greatly appreciate any help.

Love Letters from the Past

This week has been slow. Or I have been slow. One or the other. I have not gotten much done, but I have read a lot, worked on my yard, and worked on my genealogy. Yesterday, I went through a stack of letters I had. I thought I knew they what they were, but had no idea at the pleasant surprise I found. Being something of a romantic, (and I emphasize the word "something") I was quite excited to find two different sets of love letters from two different generations. Here is some of what I found:

The oldest was from my great-great grandfather Jim Lane to my soon-to-be great-great grandmother Olough Means.

The first scan is hard to read so I will transcribe it:

June 15, 1893
Mifs Olough Means Ollie, Mifs Ella Brown gives a party to-night at the residence of (I forgot) and I would like to escort you there if you can to go. Sincerely, JHL
Tell Florence to break that engagement and go too. I don't think she has an engagement do you?

Yes, that is his "I forgot." I thought that was hilarious.

The next one is from Jim on a trip to Minnesota. He is writing from Chicago, Sept. 10, 1893.

Here are some excerpts:

Mifs Olough Means Jonesboro, Ark Dearest Ollie: I will now try and write a few lines, so that you may know we are still alive and kicking.
... some details about the trip, including a boat ride that "made a lot of girls sea sick. They were heaving up Jonah all over the deck, it looked real funny."
How many beaus have you had since I left. I have seen a thousand pretty girls, but none of them can compare in ???? with my girl. (don't tell her though)
Please answer this right away and divert to Coldwater, Mich. so that I will get it on my arrival there. Now write soon and relieve suffering humanity.
Lovingly, James Lane
P.S. I will write more next time. Will is over the other side of the office waiting for me to smoke with him before we go to bed. Good night, JHL

This just trips me out. How he can go from writing such romantic things to such common things as throwing up and smoking, and back again. This is so fascinating in that I now have an idea of his sense of humor, that I can put with those old black and white photos.


The last letter I came across from him was in Feb of the following year, 1894. Just a short note:


Dear Olough
Are you mad at me yet? I will never write another card to Florence or any one else if it is going to cause trouble! I got two seats at the Opera for tonight. If you are still mad I will send another fellow in my place.
Lovingly, Jim

I believe the Florence he sent the card to, and mentioned in his first invitation, was Olough's sister, one year older. I can only imagine the family dynamics there.
It is a nice reminder to know that these people had the same relationship issues we have. I guess some things don't change through time.
They obviously worked things out, since they got married a couple months later in May of 1894, and I am now here. Working in Arkansas, I got the opportunity to visit Jonesboro, and look up there marriage license. Very cool to actually touch the same paper they signed 115 years ago.

So this is what I have been doing for the last couple of days. I did work on my taxes in the morning, but was encouraged by Josh's end table project to pursue my own woodworking project. This is a cedar out at Barney's that I have been working on milling. I still haven't finished it yet, but it is coming along.

This is Josh's table, made from mesquite. It has turned out very good. The picture does not do it justice.

And this is my small project I was working on while being a sounding board for Josh. It is not from the cedar tree I have been milling, but it was from a scrap piece of cedar I recycled. It was the lid to an old cedar chests toy box. It has turned out very well. I was very pleased. I am making two of them. There were a few details I did not think through while building the first. But this is not half bad for my first wood working project. Not half bad at all.

Many, many thanks to Barney, his expertise, patience, and tools.