Wednesday Rooftop

I rose early on Wednesday again, around 6, woke at 4 and 5, and finally gave in at 6. I am keeping the house colder at night by air conditioning to help with the new orchids. The house retains heat, and so the AC quickly cools the place down. This will not be required in the winter as the house cools then. I find my slippers, the work table, and the kitchen (they have not moved). I make liberal, Equal Exchange, coffee, and yogurt for breakfast. I find the last two peach halves in a jar and finish those.

I wrote Tuesday’s blog for a couple of hours. I have an SMS Derfflinger 1916 model next to me and plan to work on it this morning. I have to assemble the air venting for the original ship’s engine room from three etched brass pieces—not easy. I finished the blog mid-morning and then cleaned up and dressed.

I returned to the model, and after some failed dry-fitting (putting in the model pieces but not gluing them in), I used a very sharp scalpel to cut the deck overlay a millimeter at a time. It took a few tries as I did not want to damage the overlay or remove too much. The directions on the brass parts are unclear, and I decided not to add the doors and window covers until later, leaving this just using jewelry cement to attach the metal to the plastic. This bit overlaps the superstructure and will be in the viewer’s eye, so it needs to be near perfect. I must put cement inside the open section and replace a large plastic part to get the brass to cleanly reach the deck and cover the superstructure. The above deck plate is something I planned for later, and I am attaching it now (using the cement as I have it readily available) to complete the fit. All the big gun placements are now on the model, and it is beginning to look more like a warship. I decided I was done for the day as all the cement was 24-hour glue (allowing for last-minute fixes).

My trays and mist sprayer arrived from Amazon. I looked at local stores and even big-box stores—no luck. I had to get them from Amazon (or other online offers). The orchid dendrobium scared me by popping out of its orchid mix and throwing stuff everywhere. I was able to catch it before it crashed and broke off its roots. I re-potted it and re-watered it slightly deeper in the material. I watered the vandas the day before, and they still looked damp. I sprayed the plants with the mist sprayer, and it worked well. I discovered I had misted some board games and moved them away from the plants!

Regarding the ship model, I might want to do some rigging on the WW1 Battlecruiser, but the thread looks wrong and does not have the correct scale. I have seen examples of melting left-over plastic pulled into a thin line. This is cut to size and glued in for rigging. I looked today for an alcohol lamp at hobby stores, but nobody sells them (few people would trust them now, and certainly not with children). I ordered one from Amazon, though I found one on a site that sells educational material (with lots of add-on shipping).

I had lunch with Scott and made it on time at Elephants Delicatessen at Cedar Mills Crossing at noon (I had to return to the house to get my phone). Scott and I discussed various topics, including politics and the human fallacy of ignoring evidence that conflicts with our worldview—we want to live in an echo chamber, to use my words. This is why, dear readers, I welcome all readers with different political beliefs, and Trump supporters are most welcome. I actually understand.

For both sides:

One always picks
The easy fight
One praises fools
One smothers light
one shifts left to right
It’s part of the art of the possible

“The Art of the Possible,” Evita. Here is a live version I found from a playhouse: Here. It is usually done as rocking chairs with one chair lost each time, but I like this betting version in this recording, which seems more fitting.

We chatted nicely, and Scott and I tried different sandwiches today. The Hot Italian (so many jokes) was too large to fit in my mouth (don’t go there), but I managed to enjoy it. My tastes are still off, and I think I will stick to tuna or soup. We will continue to chat every week, often on Thursdays, though this one was on Wednesday.

I stopped by Tammy’s Hobby Store and was invited to next week’s RC Ship Modeller club meeting. I bought some replacement CA glue, as it ages poorly. I got the fast and slow versions and some CA instant-cure spray; it, too, ages. As I said earlier, there is no alcohol lamp for sale.

Air Volvo returned me home. I forgot my phone on the last walk, so yesterday’s steps were reported short. I decided to head to Hillsboro, see the antiques, and find dinner there. Parking is difficult—a surprise on Wednesday late afternoon—and I must walk back to Old Town, a few blocks away. I am soon doing my usual spin through the town and hitting the local place for their locally roasted and ground coffee, pasta sauces, and artisan pasta. I find no antiques except for a standing old 1930-40s radio for only $25, which I resist (I have two that I have not finished). I have always wanted to replace the insides with blue-tooth speakers and self-charging batteries, but I have enough projects and need to finish SMS Derfflinger 1916 (with the glue still drying). Resist!

I returned all my goodies to Air Volvo (resisting baking goods) and discovered I had not taken that many steps. I have also not done the Sequoia redwoods at the courthouse, so I returned to walking. I managed to find the redwoods; they have not moved. They are still fabulous. There, I noticed a rooftop bar and headed there.

The rooftop bar was excellent. I had chips and guac and then a burger with a beer while connected to the Internet. The wind died, and the temperature was mid-70s. I did some finance things and checked flights to Chicago. It was a pleasant evening. I managed 4,600+ steps on Thursday and saw that the app had caught up, and Tuesday was now rated over 5,000 steps. I walked back to Air Volvo and returned home.

There, I decided, again, to leave the model alone and let all the glue become solid. Next, I checked the cheap cost for a week in Chicago at a nice hotel and learned that the air cost was a thousand dollars more for first class and went cheap. I kept the Palmer House, which is comfortable two blocks from the art museum. I booked a red-eye to Chicago, arriving early on Friday the 13th (which seems an excellent day) with a night flight back on Wednesday, 18 Sept. Just a short week to try out my balance and staying power in Chicago. I then could not help but surf for an hour for things to do in Chicago, and there were many things, including an opera and oldie rock concert (for lots of $$$).

I sent a copy to Linda, my sister, to see if she wanted to overlap my visit and sent notes to others who might want to join in. More on that later. I looked at a second trip to Vegas and to see The Sphere. So far, the price point is amazing, and there is little to do in Vegas that interests me. I am waiting for the U2 tickets to be available. The Eagles tickets were available at the price of a car or house.

I headed to bed and read The Orchid Thief (which covered more of Florida’s madcap history) as the house quickly cooled to orchid-loving night temperatures. Soon, I was nodding off, climbing into the covers, and sleeping.

Thanks for reading!