We Made it!.....kind of......:(

 I know its only grade 8.....but to her it was the bomb, it was the big night. Truth be known it was the biggest "transition ceremony" that she has had as of yet. There will be more, and each one will make the previous seem a little less earth changing, but for now grade 8 'farewell' is the event to remember. I was a little flattered that Anna and her buds wanted to show up to their ceremony in Fillmore. A huge part of me regretted not having Fillmore in his new suit of paint, but on the other hand how could they lovingly call the hippie party bus if he was looking too good!

 Although Jeff is putting on a face of being uncomfortable posing with his arm around his sister,we really have it pretty good the kids are still  siblings, but they are also good friends.

 We all had some time to ooo, and ahh, and laugh and giggle before we set out down the road and delivered our guests of honor.

Not before I stole a kiss or two, with my back I can't quite dip my sweetheart, but Fillmore has many attributes, and the old man had this old man's back with support.

And now for the bad news......
 This may look like a romantic shot of Fillmore cruising down the highway after delivering the ladies to the special event......but no this is Fillmore stomping down his foot and saying "no way, the party has just started, and I'm NOT going home!"
Always looking to the silver lining, at least this didn't happen en route to the party, but Fillmore did once again calve on me. BUT, there is  yet a happy ending. After leaving Fillmore where he threw his temper tantrum, another one of the Dads (Jay) and I towed him back to Jay's house and parked him over night. In the morning I grabbed my tools, my coffee and my coveralls and swapped out the lift pump. I have to say it was a damn good morning, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, I was laying under Fillmore with a coffee and a stupid grin on my face...AND Jay fed me a kick ass breakfast when it was all done. The icing on the cake was that Fillmore works like a charm now(touch wood), the following Day I drove him into Calgary for a few hours getting more paint quotes, seems all is right with Fillmore!

The Push

Recognition is the key, admitting the transgression is step two, acceptance with it is step three. No this isn't part of the 12 step program of AA, or even what to do when someone commits infidelity. This is the scenario when you feel like you've put your proverbial foot in your mouth. We've all been there, you remember years ago in the before kids time in your life when you were in a restaurant and there was "that family" at the next table over? You mumbled to yourself "My kids will never behave like that!"

There are memories I have of feelings, visceral feelings not of my kids but my brother Shawn. I'm pretty sure he's an infrequent reader of this blog so I don't run too big of a risk inflating his ego, but he's a talented artist. His creative mind astounds me, his inability to manage time and projects infuriates me. It's happened more than once where I watch him pull all nighters for days in a row in an attempt to finish an over due project. In one occurrence I distinctly remember watching him cast a tremendously important bronze sculpture at the 11th hour. I said to myself...." I will never allow myself to get behind the eight ball like this and have to push like hell to meet a deadline!"

Anna transitions next year into grade 9 at the high school, so their farewell from Banded Peak is an important event. Anna and her girlfriends want to arrive to the ceremony in style....no not a limo, that is over the top....they want Fillmore and they told me that last year. Now I'm behind the eight ball.
So I conscripted anyone and everyone to help me out. Anna helped me put in the last two ceiling panels.

We cut that one close, this is all we had left in the pop rivets when all was said and done!

Interior windows go back on....

Wall panels go in...

Now I start adding some of the finishing touches. The mounting brackets for the LED interior lights are mounted with a simple screw. Unfortunately a screw that is too long and will perf into the roof panel if I try to ram it in.

Time to pull out the big guns and start to problem solve, and by big guns I mean the red wine and tin snips at my inside work station.

After a glass or two, I had a simple yet effective solution.

Now I can shed some light onto the girls party night, even if I only have hours to spare and lots left to do.
Sorry Shawn, I just didn't get it.....sometimes despite your best intentions life dictates the speed of your creative flow.....I accept it......can I get the size 10.5 out of my mouth now?

When the ostrich technique doesn't work...

Coping techniques. All the self help gurus and 'life coaches' lecture you about how to cope. Cope with stress, cope with loss, cope with love issues....just cope. For some they stress "talk it out and walk it out". Others take a much more militaristic approach and that is more of the "suck it up buttercup" genre. My personal philosophy has developed into more of a " Do no harm, treat others like you want to be treated, be a help not a hindrance (a interpretation of the old: Lead,Follow or get the hell out of the way philosophy). And for the problems that are not catastrophic but I have no idea of how to solve the problem I employ the ol' Sinclair Ostrich technique. I simply stick my head into the proverbial sand and ignore the problem.
 Now some would gussy the explanation of this problem solving method up and say that it is simply a "put away the problem and come back to it with new eyes" or a "Things will look better in the morning". Personally I look at it  like a good pork shoulder roast, just put it away under low heat and just let it simmer away. Soon enough despite yourself the problem breaks down, gets soft and tender and is way easier to chew up and swallow...most of the time.

Earlier this year, I was driving Fillmore and after a short coffee break I hopped in and took off, not 200 meters later he died. Thankfully I was in a place where I was safely tucked away and all was well. I shamefully thought I was out of fuel. Randy came to my rescue with diesel. After a quick stop at a gas bar things seemed fine. Until I was many miles down the road and he quit again, then again, then again. I limped home and put him to bed. Months later it was time to address the problem. I changed the fuel filter, bled the fuel lines and injectors. Still he would drive for a while and then die. So I did what I do best and like an ostrich I stuck my head into something else and hoped for the best.

I tried a variety of things, and thought that Randy and I had flushed the problem away.With Ann's grade 8 Farewell looming around the corner I took him out for a spin. We got 10Kms down the road and boom. Died again!

Thankfully I had upgraded my AMA membership to an RV membership, so a quick call and Big Hill towing came to the rescue.

It makes you wonder why this stuff always happens close enough to home so that the whole neighborhood can see, but far enough away that you still need serious help.

So the saga continues......off to the mechanic, hopefully for some answers.

Raise the Roof!!

A few entries ago we talked about where is your happy place? Well this my friends is my happy place. A beautiful sunny morning, its cool and warm all at the same time, the birds are singing and its as quiet as can be. These mornings are the kind that motivate me to get up early and start working right away...

 

This of course is not necessarily a feeling mutually shared by the rest of the household!

My partner in crime (Randy) came over, so after some kabitzing over coffee we set to work, The ceiling panels were back and it was time to try them in.

First set of panels took a little wiggling to get into the proper alignment, but then things started to move along after that.
The outside edges will be hidden by a valence. and the horizontal seams will have a decorative trim along them

At days end, it really didn't seem like we had accomplished all that much, but based on how my body felt…it seemed like we had just built the empire state building. Although it was a little earlier in the process I looked at Randy with weary eyes and said….how about  a coffee? 

So we finished our day with coffee and treats while taking about something  italian or greek based on the hand gestures of my beautiful wife

Saturday brought more of the same. Randy, eager to see some results to our efforts, came out again and we conscripted the help of little/big Jeff.

Jeff worked valiantly, but due to a late night at a sleep over the night before he tapped out early. By days end we had put in 11/14 panels. I guess the rest will just have to wait, right?.....

Looking ahead.

Again we still wait for the ceiling panels to be ready for install. While I wait I have moved on to some other of the smaller jobs that always need to be done but always get pushed off until 'another day'. On the passenger side, by the end of the couch and right beside the co-pilot chair I want 110 and 12V outlets for 'gadget' charging. so before the next layer of insulation goes up(and the vapor barrier) it's time to lay down tracks.

No sooner than that job was completed, it was time to cut the wall pieces of the aerogel. This time I was smart and set up my work station and cutting jig OUTSIDE!.

Trying to minimize the amount of handling I simply used the already trimmed wall panels as a template.

Worked like a charm!

Being that we are feeling the heat in getting Fillmore occupant friendly, I conscripted the help of the person turning the screws on me. June 20 is Anna's grade 8 farewell, she desperately wants to show up to her big day with her friends in Fillmore

I have to say, the insulation installation in the walls was WAAAAAY easier and less messy than the ceiling. Insulation in.

Vapor barrier on....almost.

Seeing is believing

There are some who are thinkers, they analyze everything. Which is awesome! They tend to be the ones who have forward thought and have come up with a series of scenarios including probable success and failure percentages and the potential effects(positive or negative) for taking the for mentioned course of action. Then there are those of us, who may still be thinkers to some degree, but we tend not to over analyze the task at hand. We pick a course of action, then put our head down and go...and keep going until the job is done....even when the going gets tough, or monotonous we just accept the challenge and go. We are what I call the do-ers, the worker bees, and the others are like the Queen bees!
Both of these traits are great traits, and if you happen to have a team with some of each (like my marriage!) then you can seemingly conquer the world, one flower at a time......wait this is getting metaphorically out of hand.
Now, as you have guessed from my verbiage, for better or worse(in sickness and in health), I am more along the lines of the worker bee, and thus when I have my orders I go. But sometimes I need channel my inner queen a little more...(this is not coming out quite right...) What I mean is I need to stop and re-evaluate my setting, not just accept the working scenario or conditions. My fall back tends to be "don't worry, just move ahead, stop fussing!" But Seeing is believing. An idiom first recorded in this form in 1639 that means "only physical or concrete evidence is convincing"

 So when it was time to tackle the main coach light fixture for Fillmore that runs down the center isle, I was having a hell of a time polishing the fixture. I would toil away thinking I was doing a great job, only to pause lift my face shield and curse at my progress. Finally I gave in, took the time and bettered my working conditions.

 Thankfully I had a spare visor lens in the garage.

 All of a sudden things went a whole lot smoother, faster and WAY more enjoyable.

 Getting this prepped is going to be very important for getting the ceiling panels in place.












If this isn't done ahead of time (forward thinking!...channeling my inner big boy bee) then it will grind everything to a halt while we wait for  it.

Now we are ready for the panels...

Storm before the calm? Or calm before the sorm?

I have always been fascinated with artists ability to see the final product in their minds eye. They toil away at a project seemingly unaware of the utter chaos that surrounds them or that they have created. If you have ever had the opportunity to observe the creative process in motion what we see as an outsider is often confusing. Have you ever watched a painter create a piece of art? At first it is nothing, literal wasteland of canvas, but with time the seemingly random brush strokes of colour seem to come together and forms start to appear. At this point the novice feels a sense of ease, like the weight of uncertainty has been lifted from their mental shoulders, they say " Ahhh yes! I see what is happening....it makes sense to me now!"
This, unfortunately is right before everything is often thrown into the dark hole of despair as the artist in motion starts to layer on top of what we thought was a world making sense. A painter acquaintance of mine said it is the storm before the calm...things seem to look worse before the get better to the untrained eye.

As I was doing  little reading I came across this picture of Salvadore Dali, I really had to laugh.....not just a chuckle but a good belly laugh. It would be no surprise that this guy would create something wild and surreal. I can actually picture him flying about his studio in a crazed mad frenzy creating the masterpieces he did. But the real reason for the belly laugh was this...

....what is it with artists and facial hair. This guy I have actually watched him in action. But unlike the scene with Saladore Dali, he moves exactly as he looks...slow, lumbering and like a bear in a china shop!

But now to the point...

 Last week, we started with our blank canvas...

Randy and I added brush strokes bit by bit, the scene slowly taking shape.

Vapour barrier trimmed , sealant placed, all was well, until we attempted the ceiling panels...

That seemed to be the tipping point. Just like Malcolm Gladwell  seeks to explain and describe the "mysterious" sociological changes that mark everyday life. As Gladwell states, 

"Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread like viruses do"

Well by the time we had to call it quits, we had the aftermath of a real pandemic, what started off as a blank canvas was definitely was a virus run a muck

Our issue was the ceiling panels, a mere 18G aluminum are plenty flexible, but when trying to man hadle into place, they move and shift and squirm. Nothing stays square, and all hell was breaking loose. So I took them to my good friends at  3 Fab, they kindly put a persuasive curve. Now lets see how this will all work out. I am hoping this was the storm before the calm, always wanting to think positive...next time will be a piece of cake.....?

To boldly go where no man has gone before

 How is it possible to be both mystified and terrified by the human races advances in technology? I grew up (and I'm not done according to my wife) in a time of wonder with respect to advances in technology. The introduction of pagers, cell phones, home computers, the internet. Not to mention lap tops, smart homes with smart wiring, and of course the advent of the personal mobile computer...the smart phone. Gene Roddenberry was truly a visionary...back in the 70's the thought of a hand held device that you could communicate on and get information from was out of this world....and now it is in everyone's pocket. Hell I see them in the most rural areas in Guatemala!
The point is the advancement of technology has and is happening at an alarming rate, it almost scares you to think where will we be in another 40 years from now?
When I was researching products for Fillmore one of my concerns was finding a type and method of insulation that would be worthy of our Canadian winters. I need something, light, hydrophobic, and with incredibly low thermo conductive properties. It is then I came across a material that really blew my mind. This stuff is light weight, flexible, non combustible, non toxic, and has a thermo conductivity that I didn't think was possible. I wondered about this stuff and thought "wow this is new age cutting edge stuff!" I mean this is Star Trek type insulation.
As I learned more I had to chuckle at myself. Just as my kids think some of the fashions that are popular now are a sole reflection of the current generation, truth be told, it is a typical cycle of what is old is new. The more I learned about the Aerogel insulation I realized that Aerogel is not new, but rather had been discovered or better put created in 1931 by a mister Samuel Kistler.

what is old in new, indeed.

Randy came out and we spent some time cutting the insulation into pieces

A seemingly simple task, and although this stuff is non toxic and non irritating, they make no claims about it not leaving a fine dust everywhere. So masks and gloves were in order.

at days end we had accomplished a fair bit, next will be vapor barrier, then ceiling panels.

I spent some time 'tucking' in the center edge where the long house light fixture will go.

Speaking of that, i had to lower the fixture from it's hibernation area. It's such a long piece that I've had it suspended from the ceiling rafters in my workshop for the last 4(?) years

Many a times after I have spent time toiling away at something, I find myself sitting in Fillmore and mentally constructing and deconstruction the project in an attempt to mentally plan/envision what will come next. Or at least that's how I see it.....Michelle often thinks I'm just sitting there staring off into space in some sort of trance. Either way, I still find beauty in my surroundings