So Much News!
Gobs is going on at the moment. It’s really quite a change.
First, if you aren’t paying attention to the January 6th hearings, you really should be. Well, at least if you are an American. Canadians, you are welcome to watch too if you want. Important things are happening there.
Next — and critically — the Whisky War is over! This is how nations should settle disputes. I’ve mentioned this in the past, so I am sure you will be thrilled to know about this important turn of events! (I admit to some sarcasm here, but this really is a good thing, and it sets a good example.)
As the article says, now Canada and Denmark will share a land border. Imagine that. If only we could get other “disagreeing parties” (take your pick) to behave similarly. Food for thought.
In other news, I finally published a comparison of the Canadian and American medical systems. You’ll find the link below if you’re interested, but be warned that it’s a bit longer than my usual drivel.
I don’t think I ever shared this picture of the rain filter I put on the upper roof after it had been doing its job for a while:
Not all that exciting I know, but it seems to be working and the downspout is flowing well. You can see it has filtered a bunch of gunk, at least. That’s good news.
I continue to heal up from the surgery just fine. That said, I seem to have caught a round of stomach flu or something similar. It hit me hard last Sunday, giving me a fever that disappeared after about 36 hours. “Other symptoms less suitable for public discussion” arrived a few days before and seem to be gone now, but I am being cautious. I took an at-home COVID test while feverish and got a negative result, but that’s probably meaningless given that COVID doesn’t always register when you use those tests.
In any case, whatever that bug was (or is), I am reassured it was (or is) not a surgical infection.
And finally, the contractor was here. He replaced one window — the one in the garage — as a test, and so we could work out the specifics of the desired trim and the like. He turned this:
Into this:
We had to talk through a few oddities to best figure out how to install these things. The test case didn’t require any metal flashing because it’s under an overhang, but we’ll use such flashing above each window that needs it.
We think the new windows can be installed without having to do much work inside the house. While the new windows extend 1/4" deeper into the house than the old ones, if we use furring strips all the way around to shim them out (which he did in this case) we should get to the exact same depth, which means all the work is on the exterior except a final caulking around each window to provide an air seal.
He hopes to get his crew over here in the next couple of weeks to get moving on this in a big way. For now we have a plan and we better know the materials and installation issues.
A thing you can’t tell from the photos above: the old window opened by tilting out at the bottom. And what did it open into? Just the sidewalk going around the house. In other words, if you opened that window someone could walk into it, and there are at least three other places around the house where the same thing is possible, one of which is exceptionally likely. The new windows are all single or double hung, and so don’t open out, and thus won’t get into anyone’s way.
This will be a huge upgrade!
That’s the news this time around.
Please keep safe!