upsidedown house

A Metal Moment

Now this is great. And when I was 15, 16 or 17-going out to this bar called Blondies near 6 or 7 Mile,I forget, to catch live metal and punk shows, I’d probably have said “fuckin’ sweet.” Listening to Merciful Fate, Slayer, Exodus, Metallica, Kreator, even Negative Approach, then and right now tonight on a mostly cold and fantastic October evening 2006, nearly 20 years later. On this Autumn night a plate of dark clouds with phantom ribs cut threw the cold and makes me stare up and appreciate how unheavenly the clouds can seem. In the house a CJAM metal show plays songs from my youth while a very “metal” pewter plate of candles burns. I wasn’t trying to match the music, I just don’t have electricity.

It’s all too metal a moment for me to deny I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the really classic records like “Reign in Blood”, “Killing is my Business and Business is Good” and quite a few others.

This thrash, speed, dark, death or whatever metal label at the time suited it, actually was often quite thought provoking on serious subjects, like the Holocaust or war profiteers for example, and no doubt was crucial to my current anti-authoritarian, deviant world view. Of course my view is not limited to such a singular position, nor is my music now either… I grew some, found Sonic Youth, and Miles, then ole’ time “country” music which included prison work songs and the Delta blues and soon after that the flood gates opened and I was interested in all of it. It was likely in the very early years Hendrix and sound of waves that primed me for embracing all creative music. From Peruvian flutes, Stevie Wonder, the Moog synth., COIL, Segovia, and of course lots of punk. Music Is Best. And I still wear a leather jacket too with the traditional hand drawn skull on the back, this one from the band D.I.R.T.

Anyway, did you hear the price of copper is significantly down?

I know this because the 250 ’ (that stands for feet and “ can be the symbol of inches) of 12-2 Romex (wire) I purchased yesterday was nearly $20 cheaper than the last time. With the savings I threw down another $25 and got a role of R-19 6 ½” x 23 insulation, because the 2x4 joists in my house are 24” on center, which means that from the center of one piece of wood nailed into place to the center of the next corresponding piece is 2 foot, so I need a wider insulation and have to settle for the R-19. That stands for the rating of how much insulation it provides. Oh boy is this Saturday gonna be a party. Did you hear that, 250 feet! Just kidding. But actually, yes, insulating, reglazing windows and running 3 new circuits to the upstairs, while replacing the old nob and tube wiring, mostly because it’s accessible and hopefully I’ll not always have the floor and ceilings open like they are, are all on the agenda. Yea it’s going to be a party, a work party.

I should have my power on this next week, now that I finally got that damn meter installed, oh and there will be a separate post to come on that matter. Plus 80% of my windows are repaired for now, so no more boarding and unboarding windows for a few weeks now, and I found a bunch of interesting things at the Architectural Salvage Warehouse yesterday also, and maybe at the Habitat for Humanity restore too.

I’m broke now, but another week (hopefully) and I should have about $500 to blow on salvaged lumber, new insulation and stove pipe, or maybe I’ll, gasp, fix my exhaust on my car. Oh my, I know. It’s hard to believe since it’s so charming roaring down the road sounding like a SUV beast, but my little Honda buddy is not really very pleased with the way I’m neglecting it, so I think it might be time to give it a little attention. Either way, that time off I was hoping to take to work on my chimney and other stuff-forget about it. That $500 is practically already gone. Onto the next job and I’ll just squeeze time in to work on the house in the evenings, since I should have electricity soon. I’m lucky that I have work, but when I had 3 jobs or so overlapping , like in August, that I did not like.

I’m most excited about my new plan for converting my attic into loft space, and I’m not talking lofts like that bullshit gentrification that keeps eating up good land and buildings for tired old ideas of economics and “helping the city comeback”, please. I’ll be opening up (already did) parts of my 2nd Fl. ceiling, add a header to catch and secure the dormer and then remove a bunch of ceiling joists, so that the attic is opened up to the roof of the house and I’ll have a 16ft high ceiling in at least one room. I’m looking forward to one day sitting and reading a book from in there and looking up out onto my huge garden. It’ll be a good place to sit and is perhaps inspired by my old place on Hubbard.

PS
Since I am not going to try and break down what any of the above means, if you are at all not sure, for a bonus, just in case you didn’t know 2x4’s are not actually that, but something like 1 ¾ x 3 ½ -just in case you need to take a measurement soon.
See ya

PSS
Kakistocracy-look it up.

posted by the upsidedown house @ 6:27 PM