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Forgot to mention, some time last week I started learning contact juggling (see dot com for info and a great intro tutorial, see also dot org for a forum with tons of info I've barely even begun to look at). "But doesn't he have enough to do?" you may ask, and the answer is, "yes, lots, tons, and so on." However, I've been a fan of Michael Moschen for a long time, and it does provide a nice bit of cross-training for the martial arts - some portions of the Butterfly, for instance, are identical to blocks and strikes in various arts, only you have a ball providing a focus point. That, and, starting out, I'm getting a good aerobic and stretching and bending workout chasing after the ball...
There's been two updatia posts over the weekend, the public one in which I don't give a heckuva lot of info, and, in fact, had intended to include the whole bit above, and the locked down one, which talked about some stone work and some other things business related.
Speaking of which, today will be busy: I have to pick up some wood to build a stone working table, pick up a 6" pipe for the truck rack (I have end caps; the pipe will hold long materials), and check out the masonry supply shop for canvas sandbags and other tools. I'm wrestling with the need for a rebar cutter, but first I have to find a supplier of rebar - the Lowes website has rebar, but none of the local stores (30-40 miles) carries it; the Home Despot website search for rebar returned toilets, televisions, stereo systems, lawn tractors, and ATV accessories. For those completely unaware (which would quite obviously include Home Despot staff), rebar is a bit of steel bar used for reinforcing concrete and other masonry projects. You really couldn't find very many projects where a wide screen television or a lawn tractor would make a suitable substitute. See, the steel is there to provide torisonal strength. Concrete does great with the compression strength, but can't handle torsion. So you add the rebar - which contracts and expands in a similar manner to the concrete, so the whole structure doesn't rip itself apart when temperatures change. Now, not only are the other items much more expensive (20 feet of widescreen LCD - that's gotta be more than the $3 I've seen listed for rebar), I think they'd fail if concrete was poured on them. There's too many gaps in them, so that would create pockets of air (or, in the lawn tractor's case, possibly gasoline-filled, which creates an additional set of problems) and would weaken the structure. That, and they all perfectly fail at the one-rod-stuck-through-a-bunch-of-rocks-to-keep-them-together task for which I need them. For one thing, I don't think toilets or stereo systems come in four foot lengths, 3/8" of an inch in diameter.
So, yeah, rebar, a basic building block of the construction trade, can not be found on Home Despot's website, yet they are apparently stretching beyond the appliance angle (which makes a bit more sense for remodelling projects) to become an electronics store as well. I'd think that takes up valuable floor space and changes the requirements for the expertise (if any) you're looking for from the sales staff, but, hey, it's not my business. That, and it might give the local shops (if they haven't already been pressed out of existence by the buying power of the big chain stores) a niche to work in.
Oh, in yet other news, this is Jeet Kune Do week, which includes some light sparring.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aequitaslevitas has decided I'm more dangerous without my glasses - apparently I can land a lot more blows when I can't see. I blame the "I can't see; must flail!" impulse. =)
There's been two updatia posts over the weekend, the public one in which I don't give a heckuva lot of info, and, in fact, had intended to include the whole bit above, and the locked down one, which talked about some stone work and some other things business related.
Speaking of which, today will be busy: I have to pick up some wood to build a stone working table, pick up a 6" pipe for the truck rack (I have end caps; the pipe will hold long materials), and check out the masonry supply shop for canvas sandbags and other tools. I'm wrestling with the need for a rebar cutter, but first I have to find a supplier of rebar - the Lowes website has rebar, but none of the local stores (30-40 miles) carries it; the Home Despot website search for rebar returned toilets, televisions, stereo systems, lawn tractors, and ATV accessories. For those completely unaware (which would quite obviously include Home Despot staff), rebar is a bit of steel bar used for reinforcing concrete and other masonry projects. You really couldn't find very many projects where a wide screen television or a lawn tractor would make a suitable substitute. See, the steel is there to provide torisonal strength. Concrete does great with the compression strength, but can't handle torsion. So you add the rebar - which contracts and expands in a similar manner to the concrete, so the whole structure doesn't rip itself apart when temperatures change. Now, not only are the other items much more expensive (20 feet of widescreen LCD - that's gotta be more than the $3 I've seen listed for rebar), I think they'd fail if concrete was poured on them. There's too many gaps in them, so that would create pockets of air (or, in the lawn tractor's case, possibly gasoline-filled, which creates an additional set of problems) and would weaken the structure. That, and they all perfectly fail at the one-rod-stuck-through-a-bunch-of-rocks-to-keep-them-together task for which I need them. For one thing, I don't think toilets or stereo systems come in four foot lengths, 3/8" of an inch in diameter.
So, yeah, rebar, a basic building block of the construction trade, can not be found on Home Despot's website, yet they are apparently stretching beyond the appliance angle (which makes a bit more sense for remodelling projects) to become an electronics store as well. I'd think that takes up valuable floor space and changes the requirements for the expertise (if any) you're looking for from the sales staff, but, hey, it's not my business. That, and it might give the local shops (if they haven't already been pressed out of existence by the buying power of the big chain stores) a niche to work in.
Oh, in yet other news, this is Jeet Kune Do week, which includes some light sparring.
aequitaslevitas has decided I'm more dangerous without my glasses - apparently I can land a lot more blows when I can't see. I blame the "I can't see; must flail!" impulse. =)
