Sunday, June 18, 2006
global cooling
(written 16 June, 2006)
It's the middle of June in Florida. Dead calm, full sun, lots of wet being boiled outa the woodlands today. That sucking sound was your pits when you raised yer arms! Aren't you glad you use Dial? Don't you wish everyone did? sheesh.
* * *
..nuff of that outside stuff, I'm too old to play in that soup! There's been a job I've put off for a few years. Something like 6 or 7. I've got this 22 cubic foot Sears Coldspot chest freezer, circa 1963 (complete with original manual!) that got it's last defrosting 7 or 8 (9?) years ago. Yes Virginia, there ARE glaciers in Florida. Seemed like a plan for a sweaty afternoon, should be able to find a few "treasures". Actually I'd unplugged the beast a few days ago hoping I could get the glacier to calve so the total chore wouldn't require me to find long term alternate storage for the eatable contents. All of this brought back high school memories of one of my part-time & weekend jobs at a appliance shop and having to replace the evaporators on these things. Although this one is porcelain over steel, most were just plain aluminum and when the gals went to defrost them, they'd bring out the ice picks and butcher knives. Yup, they'd pierce the evaporator coils and the only fix back then was to replace the entire liner. Insulated with fiberglass. Wet fiberglass. Guess who always got the job of crawing into those things and stripping all that muck out? Summertime in Mobile Alabama, no air conditioning in the shop, fiberglass in every pore of my sweaty body.
Should have brought in the wheelbarrow to haul the iceburgs from the utility room to the bathtub. By the time they were all hauled, the tub was 3/4ths filled and my hands were no longer functional. However, all that ice coupled with a floor fan made one fine A/C! Sorting through the contents of the freezer was much like going through the middens of an ancient civilization; could have used a research lab's help carbon-dating some of the contents though. The compost pile will be a while digesting the load it took on yesterday!
* * * * * *
Did the same with the 20 cubic foot fridge/freezer yesterday. 7 months rather than 7 years. Worse. Had to clean out the wetvac with Clorox after I finished. Entirely new forms of life had evolved under the drawers on the bottom and the freezer contents, wellll...
The poor washer got a workout. Lots of nasty towels. Had to put another jug of bleach on the shopping list. At least the deed is dood for a while.
* * * * * *
Isn't she sweet?! The New Nobility. She's kinda like that wonderful Dollar Bill Jefferson what keeps bribe money in his freezer. The whole farging bunch in DC seems to think a meticulously acquired search warrant was "unconstitutional", then went on to pass a "no-knock" for us peons. Don't know about you but I have, even at my advanced age and degree of crippledness, rather awesome reflexes when presented with a threat. I sleep like a rock. Used to bother my second ex-wife so much she borrowed the BP measuring stuff and checked me out. 100/60 and 38. She was just handling my arm. One of the long ones. However, a sound she couldn't detect would have me out of the bed, armed and out the door before she could get past "wha?". Back then we had a small goat herd, a hatful of rabbits, a few dozen chickens, and local wildlife that thought they were being raised for THEIR dinner table!
'mo stuff, unfortunately I'm not sure about the statute of limitations. Best shut up!
* * * * * *
It's the end of a long and decent day. Amongst other "stuff" I had the drying rack out with another dozen books that hopefully can be rescued. I'm really hoping that the 1899 New England etiquette book and the autographed (Mark Twain) Joan of Arc will not wind up dust. Got a whole bunch more that I've enjoyed far more than any worth they would have had even prior to their present deplorable condition. Anyway, the one below was a hoot. It's still too delicate to re-read and since it's in pieces, I decided to scan in a couple of images.
I AM saving the scans at 300 dpi just in case the old paper crumbles. The Twain is in even sorrier shape than the 1899 and there are so many more that need someone what knows what they are doin' to preserve.
I hate it when a good book goes bad.
* * * * * *
I forgot to mention that the Hitler book is copyright 1943. First issue in 1941. The last chapter before the conclusion is titled "Insanity Fair". His shrink had a lot to say in the 322 pages. Hopefully I can repair the book enough to be handled again.
It's the middle of June in Florida. Dead calm, full sun, lots of wet being boiled outa the woodlands today. That sucking sound was your pits when you raised yer arms! Aren't you glad you use Dial? Don't you wish everyone did? sheesh.
* * *
..nuff of that outside stuff, I'm too old to play in that soup! There's been a job I've put off for a few years. Something like 6 or 7. I've got this 22 cubic foot Sears Coldspot chest freezer, circa 1963 (complete with original manual!) that got it's last defrosting 7 or 8 (9?) years ago. Yes Virginia, there ARE glaciers in Florida. Seemed like a plan for a sweaty afternoon, should be able to find a few "treasures". Actually I'd unplugged the beast a few days ago hoping I could get the glacier to calve so the total chore wouldn't require me to find long term alternate storage for the eatable contents. All of this brought back high school memories of one of my part-time & weekend jobs at a appliance shop and having to replace the evaporators on these things. Although this one is porcelain over steel, most were just plain aluminum and when the gals went to defrost them, they'd bring out the ice picks and butcher knives. Yup, they'd pierce the evaporator coils and the only fix back then was to replace the entire liner. Insulated with fiberglass. Wet fiberglass. Guess who always got the job of crawing into those things and stripping all that muck out? Summertime in Mobile Alabama, no air conditioning in the shop, fiberglass in every pore of my sweaty body.
Should have brought in the wheelbarrow to haul the iceburgs from the utility room to the bathtub. By the time they were all hauled, the tub was 3/4ths filled and my hands were no longer functional. However, all that ice coupled with a floor fan made one fine A/C! Sorting through the contents of the freezer was much like going through the middens of an ancient civilization; could have used a research lab's help carbon-dating some of the contents though. The compost pile will be a while digesting the load it took on yesterday!
* * * * * *
Did the same with the 20 cubic foot fridge/freezer yesterday. 7 months rather than 7 years. Worse. Had to clean out the wetvac with Clorox after I finished. Entirely new forms of life had evolved under the drawers on the bottom and the freezer contents, wellll...
The poor washer got a workout. Lots of nasty towels. Had to put another jug of bleach on the shopping list. At least the deed is dood for a while.
* * * * * *
Isn't she sweet?! The New Nobility. She's kinda like that wonderful Dollar Bill Jefferson what keeps bribe money in his freezer. The whole farging bunch in DC seems to think a meticulously acquired search warrant was "unconstitutional", then went on to pass a "no-knock" for us peons. Don't know about you but I have, even at my advanced age and degree of crippledness, rather awesome reflexes when presented with a threat. I sleep like a rock. Used to bother my second ex-wife so much she borrowed the BP measuring stuff and checked me out. 100/60 and 38. She was just handling my arm. One of the long ones. However, a sound she couldn't detect would have me out of the bed, armed and out the door before she could get past "wha?". Back then we had a small goat herd, a hatful of rabbits, a few dozen chickens, and local wildlife that thought they were being raised for THEIR dinner table!
'mo stuff, unfortunately I'm not sure about the statute of limitations. Best shut up!
* * * * * *
It's the end of a long and decent day. Amongst other "stuff" I had the drying rack out with another dozen books that hopefully can be rescued. I'm really hoping that the 1899 New England etiquette book and the autographed (Mark Twain) Joan of Arc will not wind up dust. Got a whole bunch more that I've enjoyed far more than any worth they would have had even prior to their present deplorable condition. Anyway, the one below was a hoot. It's still too delicate to re-read and since it's in pieces, I decided to scan in a couple of images.
I AM saving the scans at 300 dpi just in case the old paper crumbles. The Twain is in even sorrier shape than the 1899 and there are so many more that need someone what knows what they are doin' to preserve.
I hate it when a good book goes bad.
* * * * * *
I forgot to mention that the Hitler book is copyright 1943. First issue in 1941. The last chapter before the conclusion is titled "Insanity Fair". His shrink had a lot to say in the 322 pages. Hopefully I can repair the book enough to be handled again.
