There’s a poignant story in the Washington Post today, much like the story that appeared in The Sun. I feel like the reporters in most of the articles I read gave me a chance to know these men a little bit better. The grieving and condoling continues.
Three soldiers in Chris’s platoon were killed Thursday. I feel like I should write a stirring tribute or other memorial, but the fact is I don’t recall meeting these people, and my words would only be the same as the ones everyone else says: “Thank you for your sacrifice. Your family is in my prayers.” And while there is merit in expressing sympathy and empathy, I don’t feel like I can say much more than that. They and their memories are owed so much more than I am able to give as a relative outsider.
Here are some links regarding the incident:
DoD News: DoD Identifies Army Casualties
Baltimore Sun: Families mourn Md. soldiers (registration may be required)
Washington Post: 3 from Md. Die In Iraq Accident (registration may be required)
If you have the time and the words, consider leaving a note at Chris’s memorial page for the three.
I decided to nix the ladder idea for a while, because it’s just too dangerous on the side of the house (where we have two windows to hang). Instead, I hopped out onto the porch roof (or soffit, or whatever you call a small roof) and brought a window with me to hang.
I hung it. It was about 1/8 of an inch too far to the left. It would not close.
Luckily, there is only one other window that size, so I quickly brought that one up too. I placed it in the spot where I initially tried to hang the first window, and it fit.
I also figured out how to lock it in place with some hardware that was already installed into the sill. Only, it’s been removed from the other window sill, so that one has only gravity to hold it in place.
Still. I learned a new lesson: The windows, as uniform as they may look, don’t appear to be interchangeable. Unfortunately, 4 of them are the same size, so I imagine there will be lots of trial and error before i get these things hung properly.
I also found an interesting tool in the basement. When I get my camera back, I will have to take a picture. Maybe a skilled reader can help identify it. It looks more like a weapon than a tool, though.
(I hope I can get the rest of the windows up without using scaffolding.)
After the auction, I mowed the lawn and decided to finally put up the storm windows.
The first step was to inventory the uninsulated windows on the house. There are a bunch of them. They’re of several different sizes.
The next step was to find the storm windows in the basement and see how they compared to my measurements.
The last step was to hang the windows on the outside of the house. I imagine something like this would be very easy on a one-story house. But even with a decent ladder, it is darn tricky to try to hang these windows. They’re heavy, and you have to get very high up. I would prefer the stability of scaffolding.
It doesn’t help that the neighbor installed a fence that will impale me if I fall. So I’m being a little more careful than I would usually.
Anyway, we are still uninsulated. But I did use a caulk gun to seal off a roof (or a soffit?) leak.
You know that scam where they try to sell you a guide to government surplus auctions for $20? And they tell you this boat sold for $300; this car for $50, this house for $800? Well, it’s all true, but you don’t have to pay $20 to find out where the auction is.
I ended up writing a newsbrief about the local auctions at work, and was so inspired that I figured the auction would be a great way to spend my saturday morning.
I ended up getting a Pentium III/600 and monitor for $22. Only, it was the crappiest monitor in the pile. One other person had bought 10 PIII/600s and 10 monitors also for $22, plus a gigantic monitor for $24. I ended up trading him the CPU and monitor for the gigantic monitor. He said he changed his mind because it might have been too big to fit in his truck.
I was thinking of offering $10 for about 2 tons of surplus marble, but someone else ended up starting the bidding at 100, which was too rich for my blood. No marble for our bathrooms, sadly.
I stuck around for the bikes and broke some woman’s heart by getting a 10-speed adult bike for $12. All it needs is a little air in the tires. Its pedals fold in to save space. There were some Mongoose bikes that were selling for more than cars. I didn’t bid on them, though.
So, cheap thrills were had. I don’t know if the monitor works yet, but if it doesn’t work, it just means the $12 bike was really $34, which is still a darn good price.
And all it took was a call to the gas company saying I had a potential gas leak.
OK, I didn’t make it up. There was a valve that I turned the other day. Apparently it’s called the “pilot cock.” (By the way, if you ever need to know what a pilot cock is, don’t look it up on the Internet) At lunch I noticed it was hissing slightly, and I realized that it had been on for an indeterminate period of time. I called the gas company to ask if the natural gas would rise or sink. When they said it would rise, I said it must be safe since I didn’t smell the gas. But they sent someone anyway just to be safe. And now the furnace is on.
We’ll see how much it costs to heat the place with this old thing, and look at maybe replacing it soon.
For our anniversary, Erin and I are in Syracuse, visiting her mom. We may go see a film.
Last night we used our gas fireplace for the first time for heat. It was really cold. Unfortunately, all the heat goes up straight out of the front of the fireplace, so if you stand in front of it, you feel a nice hot updraft. But from the sofa, you barely know it is on.
The reason we used it is because we can’t figure out how to start the furnace. There’s a beginning-of-season procedure that we have to follow in order to light the pilot light. And it could be just as easy as turning a knob and lighting a match. But until I know for sure what the instructions mean, I don’t want to take any risks. This is natural gas we’re talking about.
Anyone with experience with really old furnaces converted from coal to natural gas, please drop me a line.
What’s new with me?
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