backwards and forwards

First up, a correction and final report...last week's reported bees were actually hornets (I did see a couple of bees in the area leading to the misidentification, but the nest I dealt with was hornets (they are also now dead...))

We go directly from the dead bugs to the project that's been "dead on" bugging me! I actually got the doorway removed and that part of the wall fixed this week, and that bought me to this weeks philosophical moment... the inverse iceberg principle! We've already talked about the iceberg principle, basically for any project there is more to do than what you see... Well, the inverse iceberg principle is that sometimes there is less under the surface than you think... in this case the studs between the foundation wall and the door frame were less solid than the door frame (literally only one nail was left not rusted through and the bottom of the post had rotted). Once I got the door frame out, I removed the post with one hand. The old door frame looked like an early pre-hung door, unfortunately the bottom edge was actually under the cement of the floor and the frame didn't survive removal. So, I'm either building a new frame of buying a new pre-hung door (since I could use this door to replace one on  the outside workshop I'm leaning toward buy a new one). speaking of the door frame here's what I found under the door frame and post...

The little room has a separate slab floor that was poured at a different time from the rest of the basement. That bottom layer is actually dirt...

Here's the thing about the inverse iceberg principle, when it comes to projects the inverse principle proves the iceberg principle (there's more work than you see because there is less structure than you see!).

So, I got the doorway out of the way and did the cement work. The floor is now solid there and, if I drew a nose on it, the repair looks like the outline of Grue from Despicable Me (which is OK, because certain people (Lisa) have called me Grue...)

Speaking of Lisa, she has safely arrived in Baltimore and will be doing two conference presentations this week. Next week I'm planning on having her report on the conference and why it is better to order blue crab in Baltimore than in Pocatello.

Ok, so nothing uber exciting this time, but that was this week... maybe I'll do a mid week report with something cooler... in the mean time, for those of you  who haven't met Grue (or those who think he's funny)



Have a great week