Shelli is in her element...

Shelli came in last week to work some of her paint magic. It’s looking really good.

Putting up the siding, however, is dragging along like a gut-shot parakeet. As we reach the windows, we have to pull them out and re-frame them too. Phil dropped off 3 of the windows in Uvalde to have the glass replaced, re-glazed and cleaned up a little. They were supposed to be ready on Friday, not ready yet.

That reminds me. I think I’ve discovered a new time zone. We’re all familiar with Central time, Eastern time, Mountain time, Left Coast time, Standard, Daylight Savings…etc. Then there’s Camp Wood time. It extends through most of Mexico and across the border into the southern Texas Hill Country, and also covers portions of Alabama, Mississippi and New Mexico. Things run a little slower in the Camp Wood time zone and I can prove it. I have one clock in the house that runs a little fast. I reset it, but eventually it runs fast again. It is the only clock in the house that has not been sucked into the grips of the Camp Wood time zone.

That’s why our windows aren’t ready…Camp Wood time.

You may remember the story of Crazy Nail Guy. Phil was pulling some old siding from the N. side of the building and discovered someone had pounded their initials into the wood with nails. It must have been the work of Crazy Nail Guy. He’s still taunting us and I’m going to find a special place for that piece of wood. There is also an APB for someone with the initials E.H.
At least we have a reliable painter!

How Dry I am…

We had a few small leaks in the roof after the big storm, but nothing a little cold seal can’t fix. Cold seal is a latex adhesive, popular for fixing leaks on tin roofs. It comes in silver or white, and it helps cut down on the heat. We now have a white roof.

All of the sheet rock has been installed in the kitchen, stage and front entry. Most of it has been taped, bedded and textured. The main dining area and kitchen are much cooler now with sheet rock and insulation. We’re moving right along in that area.

Phil, Trey and I started installing the Hardie Board on the back of the building. We’re leaving the wood on the front, but the wood on the sides and back was just in too poor shape to keep. It’s going a little slower than I anticipated. You see, most buildings are framed with the studs on 16” center. That way, when you install a standard size (4x8) sheet of plywood, foam board, sheetrock or whatever, you have something to nail to on each side as well as 2 more studs in the middle. This building wasn’t built that way. I’m not familiar with building codes in the 1940’s in Camp Wood, but evidently they said some thing like;

Stud Installation
Section 16a 24b
“Studs shall be placed willy-nilly or wherever you want. However a measuring tape must be used to insure that they are unevenly spaced. If you don’t have a measuring tape, use a rock, a boot and a goat to space the studs. If a goat is not available, use another rock of different size.”

What’s slowing us down is that we have to install studs and nailer boards to give us something to nail to. Aside from that, it would go fairly quickly. We should be through with that next week.

Come Hail or High Water…

The thunder turned into rain, and then came the hail. I was about to leave the restaurant building Friday evening when Shelli called and said, “Greg is watching the radar and you better get home.” So, I stopped off at the deer processor guy on the way home to look at his walk in cooler he has for sale. The wind really picked up and the sky was looking greenish. The phone rang again and Shelli said, “Where are you now? Get home.” I stopped off at the Harmon’s before going home and the hail started. It wasn’t too bad. I helped Greg secure some blankets and comforters on their new truck and I headed home. As soon as I pulled under the carport, all ‘hail’ broke loose. I stayed under the carport.

I was very impressed with the golf ball size hail we were getting. Reminded me of Spring back home. Then came the tangerine to baseball size hail. That lasted for 15 minutes, and then back to golf ball/ marble size. Shelli would come out from the house and yell something at me and then go back in. I couldn’t hear a word she was saying because large hail on a tin roof is deafening. Then she came out and yelled some more and threw a golf ball in the yard. Err? I retreated back in the carport and took some pictures of the storm. All in all, I was stuck under the carport for nearly an hour.

When the hail slowed, I put a Tupperware container on my head and ran to the house. I asked Shelli what she was trying to tell me on the carport and she said she thought it would be fun if we played a little ‘find the golf ball in the hail storm’ game. That’s what I love about her! Finding a game.

After the storm receded, I headed back over to the Harmons and Greg and I went on damage assessment. It was fun to see a lot of the creeks that are normally dry flowing like a river. We headed to some places that we have always thought, “I wonder what this looks like after a big storm?” It was impressive. On the way back we met Shelli and she advised us we had no water and Trey needed help. We met Trey and Phil at the water pump, fixed a pipe and then I helped Trey put plastic on his windows.

Everyone suffered some sort of hail damage. Broken windows (Trey had 5), roof damage, dimpled cars and psychologically impaired pets. The claims adjuster will be out this week, but I don’t think he can help Trey’s dog. She’s okay physically, but she looks up a lot now.
I’ll have some restaurant related material on here later this week.