13 January 2013
Snowballs and Dricore
13/01/13 08:39
When I moved to Minnesota I discovered snow. Oh we had snow where I grew up in Oregon but it was few and far between and didn’t stick around long. In Minnesota I discovered there were dozens of kinds of snow, from blizzards, to large flakes, to sleet, to delicate single flakes that come out of a clear sky to set on a gloved hand like a tiny jewel until a puff of breath makes them dissolve into nothingness. Snow comes in many varieties and during my stay in Minnesota I thought I’d seen them all. This week though, right here in Nanaimo I got hit by something new.
I knew it was snowing when I packed up to head home from work. I didn’t expect what hit me as soon as I walked through the door. The snow had grown into complex interlocked dendritic crystal masses roughly the size of golf balls. Not only that, the spaces between the ice were filled with water so each one was like getting hit with a wet snowball. I was soaked before I made it across the lot to my car where I then had to push four or five inches of accumulated heavy wet snow off so I could try to drive home. It was a mess. I will give credit to the little Honda I’m driving. It clawed its way through the piles of snow, the spray, the splashes from other vehicles, and the compressed ice ridges on the road like a trooper. Never skidded, never slid, never had any trouble. I was exceedingly impressed especially as I had the same all-season tires it came with. No special snow tires. No heavily lugged winter tires. Just the same black rubber donuts I was driving on last summer. The weirdest part though was that the snow was a local thing. The whole region was getting heavy rain. There was just some kind of weird downburst over Nanaimo that turned it into snow. At work we got four to five inches. At the house in Lantzville we got a little slush that was gone by dark.
Marsha’s birthday was this week. I surprised her by stopping on the way home and picking up dinner and roses. The biggest surprise though was when she was tutoring. When she got to the school all the kids jumped up and yelled “surprise” and sang Happy Birthday. They’d made cards for her and had a little celebration. The best part though, was when one of them asked “How old are you?” much to the teacher's embarrassment. Marsha answered “I’m older than you” which made them laugh. Then she added “I’m actually fifty-six,” which surprised them. The they didn’t think she was nearly that old. “My dad’s only twenty six,” said one of the kids in amazement. “Yes,” said Marsha, “I’m thirty years older than your dad.”
But really Marsha you don’t seem a day over thirty nine.
The new space is coming together. This week they put in the insulation. They are using a product called Roxul that I’d never heard of before. It’s made by melting basaltic rock and then spinning threads. Imagine a cotton candy machine that uses lava instead of sugar water. It’s a better insulator than Fiberglas. It has none of the harmful fibres like Fiberglas. It can’t mould or burn like cellulose. It won’t soak up water like other insulations. It also has fantastic sound deadening properties. I’m very impressed with the stuff.
After the place was insulated, and inspected, they put up the drywall. By Friday they had all of the board up and taped. The first coat of compound is in place. They asked us to keep the heat on to dry it out. Next week they can sand and do the finish coat. We have the flooring ordered, it should be in Wednesday and yesterday we picked up the Dricore sub-flooring, another product I’d never worked with before. We just have to paint, install the flooring, and move stuff in. I figure by the end of January we’ll have the place done.
Except that my play is starting rehearsals this week. Oh, and Marsha starts working at H&R Block pretty soon. And my work is keeping my pretty busy. And Marsha is still volunteering in the schools and at Cat Nap. Oh well, I guess the cats, and the room, won’t be seeing much of us for a few months.
Doug & Marsha
PIX: SEALS! OK not really. We actually have not been able to get any decent shots of the seals that have congregated near Lantzvile's beaches. They frolic and play and are noisy and wonderful but the second we pick up a camera they vanish. So instead, here's some shots of winter storm clouds over the mainland from our deck.
I knew it was snowing when I packed up to head home from work. I didn’t expect what hit me as soon as I walked through the door. The snow had grown into complex interlocked dendritic crystal masses roughly the size of golf balls. Not only that, the spaces between the ice were filled with water so each one was like getting hit with a wet snowball. I was soaked before I made it across the lot to my car where I then had to push four or five inches of accumulated heavy wet snow off so I could try to drive home. It was a mess. I will give credit to the little Honda I’m driving. It clawed its way through the piles of snow, the spray, the splashes from other vehicles, and the compressed ice ridges on the road like a trooper. Never skidded, never slid, never had any trouble. I was exceedingly impressed especially as I had the same all-season tires it came with. No special snow tires. No heavily lugged winter tires. Just the same black rubber donuts I was driving on last summer. The weirdest part though was that the snow was a local thing. The whole region was getting heavy rain. There was just some kind of weird downburst over Nanaimo that turned it into snow. At work we got four to five inches. At the house in Lantzville we got a little slush that was gone by dark.
Marsha’s birthday was this week. I surprised her by stopping on the way home and picking up dinner and roses. The biggest surprise though was when she was tutoring. When she got to the school all the kids jumped up and yelled “surprise” and sang Happy Birthday. They’d made cards for her and had a little celebration. The best part though, was when one of them asked “How old are you?” much to the teacher's embarrassment. Marsha answered “I’m older than you” which made them laugh. Then she added “I’m actually fifty-six,” which surprised them. The they didn’t think she was nearly that old. “My dad’s only twenty six,” said one of the kids in amazement. “Yes,” said Marsha, “I’m thirty years older than your dad.”
But really Marsha you don’t seem a day over thirty nine.
The new space is coming together. This week they put in the insulation. They are using a product called Roxul that I’d never heard of before. It’s made by melting basaltic rock and then spinning threads. Imagine a cotton candy machine that uses lava instead of sugar water. It’s a better insulator than Fiberglas. It has none of the harmful fibres like Fiberglas. It can’t mould or burn like cellulose. It won’t soak up water like other insulations. It also has fantastic sound deadening properties. I’m very impressed with the stuff.
After the place was insulated, and inspected, they put up the drywall. By Friday they had all of the board up and taped. The first coat of compound is in place. They asked us to keep the heat on to dry it out. Next week they can sand and do the finish coat. We have the flooring ordered, it should be in Wednesday and yesterday we picked up the Dricore sub-flooring, another product I’d never worked with before. We just have to paint, install the flooring, and move stuff in. I figure by the end of January we’ll have the place done.
Except that my play is starting rehearsals this week. Oh, and Marsha starts working at H&R Block pretty soon. And my work is keeping my pretty busy. And Marsha is still volunteering in the schools and at Cat Nap. Oh well, I guess the cats, and the room, won’t be seeing much of us for a few months.
Doug & Marsha
PIX: SEALS! OK not really. We actually have not been able to get any decent shots of the seals that have congregated near Lantzvile's beaches. They frolic and play and are noisy and wonderful but the second we pick up a camera they vanish. So instead, here's some shots of winter storm clouds over the mainland from our deck.