Count the digits

Yes - you read that correctly... 138F (55C) inside my bus today. No wonder I was sweating streams!

This weekend has not gone quite as planned. The front partition is almost completed behind the drivers seat. Its mildly skewy but not enough that anybody will really notice. Its off 90 degrees from the side of the bus but only by a fraction of a degree.

I looked at the seat back that the handrail for the stairs was attached to. It took up an awful lot of space that didn't seem to achieve much. Looking at it showed it was bolted down by 4 bolts. The handrail was attached by 2 bolts at the bottom with Allen screws. The top was screwed to the back by 4 self tapping crosshead screws. Typical Carpenter workmanship! Not even the bolts securing the seat to the floor were the same.

The seat back was very heavy and extremely solid. The handrail by contrast was very light and flimsy. I was a little astounded by the contrast. The seat back was overbuilt. The handrail was bordering on flimsy.

Having removed the seat back, I spent quite a while fashioning an upright that would fit snugly between the floor and ceiling onto which I could fasten the handrail. Eventually, having got the upright vertical in both axis, I realized that there just wouldn't be enough space between that upright and the latest partition. In fact, I spent so much time measuring and fitting the upright that I just ran out of time on the curved section of the partition I built.

The upshot was that the space gained by removing the seat will be used for a small closet. It'll be big enough for tools and rain gear. With luck I might be able to slide a spare tire behind the drivers seat but I tend to doubt it. That might end up going under the bus behind the rear wheels, space willing!

Thus far I am pleased with what has been done but not by the speed of progress. On the other hand, with temperatures like 138F, progress will be slow!