I could be talking about the underpinnings of society, but that seems to be going no where at the moment. So, I’ll just talk about a recent deck repair that I did.
Two of the posts had significant bows due to warping at a knot or knots. The first one pictured is the worst since a crack goes almost all the way through the two knots on either side. Gravity is persistent and will overcome any imbalance eventually. For that reason I hand pick all lumber when I am building a deck and take back boards that are not looking like they will go the distance. Nothing is permanent and decks can be expected to last 20 to 30 years depending on how often you stain it, the quality of the original boards, maintenance, and how it was designed.
Here is it close up. I should have shown the other side so you could see how serious the problem was to the structure of the post.
The other one looked as follows. If the grain at the top of the knot split to combine the two cracks, the post would not be far from gone.
The first step was to install a temporary support. A few posts from a previous job and my trusty persuasional tool (sledgehammer) served the purpose well. I hammered the temporary up to plumb, allowing you to see just how bowed the post was.
The next step was cutting the post off and rigging a way to pulled it out of the concrete slab. The slab was added after the house and deck were built, so they poured it around the posts. My car and truck jacks worked slowly but surely.
I was surprised how shallow the post was set. The aluminum plate, badly corroded, was sitting on gravel in the hole whereas these plates were usually used to set posts on concrete. There was not too much cracking of the concrete.
I filled the hole with concrete and inserted a “J” bolt that would later secure the bottom plate.
Two days later I installed the new posts. You can see in the background that I had not yet installed the second post.
A post whose bottom can dry out will last much longer.
Next I went around and clamped together joists which had warped and separated and screwed or bolted them together as needed. Some just looked ugly and others presented possible structural problems.
That does not look good from a structural standpoint. I had to jack up the left joist a bit to clamp and screw it together.
This one looks bad but is well supported so I don’t believe it caused a real problem.
However, real or perceived, I was tasked with fixing it.
My father would always say that there was nothing better than a nut and lock washer. I have a son and son-in-law, who are Materials Joining Engineers, who would likely differ. At any rate, I must not have quite learned the lesson. However, in my defense, I find that a flat washer crushed slightly into wood works quite well.
Decks And Such (https://facebook/decksandsuch), be the job small or large, fixes the prob lem (prob-><-lem -> problem) and gets the results.
I am pleased to thank God for the strength and experience to work in this way and the flow of work that has begun in 2021. When work slacked up in December, I became concerned, but it was all part of the plan. I had back problems soon afterwards that prevented me from working. As soon as that subsided, the work started coming again. We can depend on God to provide; we need to trust Him even when things get lean.
CreatorWorship 
Red, …, and Blue
Posted in America, Civil Debate, Cultural commentary, Freedom, General, Government, Repentance, Society, tagged Acknowledging God, America, Dr. Seuss, Political Metaphor, Politics, Repentance, Society on January 20, 2021| 1 Comment »
The transition of power has occurred. We look forward with hope or dread or some ambiguous go between.
With all of the wrangling and division that has gone on, politics is about the last thing you want to read about right about now. But I kept having a thought run through my head during all of the insanity: This reminds me of the Dr. Seuss book, “One fish Two fish Red fish Blue fish”.
“One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue fish,
Black fish, Blue fish, Old fish, New fish.
This one has a little car.
This one has a little star.
Say! What a lot of fish there are.
Yes. Some are red, and some are blue.
Some are old and some are new.
Some are sad, and some are glad,
And some are very, very bad.
Why are they sad and glad and bad?”
Was Dr. Seuss only talking about differences in people or was he also making a political statement?
Well, “One fish…” was published in 1960, the year I was born. The present color scheme for Elephants and Donkeys solidified in the 2000 presidential election. So, no, Dr. Seuss was not being prophetic about politics.
But “why are they sad and glad and bad?” Politics is broken in America. Many, not all, are “very, very bad”. Contrary and contradictory worldviews have separated us into camps so that we don’t even know how to understand each other, let alone want to. There is very little talk about what God would have us to do that would work. And since He knows best, this lack of acknowledgement and seeking of His counsel will spell disaster, even if ever so slowly. There is non-stop wrangling about how the other side is stupid or trying to cheat or lie into power (see my blog called “The Basis of Civil Debate”). The words “public servant” are used but the idea and the sacrifice are missing.
So we have red fish and blue fish all living in the same pond trying to eliminate the other population in a feeding frenzy brought on by the very, very bad blood in the water and fear mongering croakers and immoral snappers dragging us down. The only hope for clearing the waters so that various stripes of fish can live in this habitat is a return to the ecologically sound living of repentance and acknowledging the Caretaker, Creator God.
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