Advances again.

After the debacle of the wrong size of steel sheet, I ordered more. Today I have the message that the steel had been cut and was ready. That meant I had to go out - not something that I really want to do, these days, what with this Covid-19 thing going on. The thought of more steel and getting on with business was too enticing though so I shot out of the house and raced down the road. 

As the steel supply place is on the left going down the road and Lowe's (hiss, spit) was only a little further I went on to Lowe's (hiss, spit). There's a dripping outside tap back at Rancho Covido so I went to the tap shelf and as every time before, found there was a lovely selection of invisible taps. The one in the middle of the top shelf is very fetching! So, getting a tap was yet another bust. I'll have to go to a real plumbing shop another time.

So, not finding what I wanted I went to the drill bits section. As I have a 3/16 rivet that is going to be very hard to push through a 3/16 hole I needed to drill a bigger hole. I'd ordered some drill bits from eBay to help me with this but it must be one of those affairs where the guy orders in bulk and gets it all shipped from China while sitting on my money. The drill bits were ordered on the 19th. Today (the 25th) a shipping label was created. The delivery estimate is July 7 which makes me suspect they're in a shipping container on the way from China. eBay might as well be called cBay (China Bay).

So, in Lowe's (hiss, spit) I bought a pair of 13/64 drill bits. I'm sure a 5mm bit would have been a closer match but as normal, they didn't have anything actually useful. Lowe's (hiss, spit) is like the "cook" at a Soviet Young Pioneer camp I worked for a long time ago. The choice for breakfast was some kind of tasteless, white paste or nothing. If she liked you she would hurl a huge dollop on the plate and the bits that didn't hit the plate, hit you. It's a very surly "if we have it you better buy it" and they just pretend to look things up with no intention nor ability to order anything actually useful. To put it mildly, they're just a box shifter.

Having endured Lowe's (hiss, spit) where most of the staff now seem to be wearing masks, even if almost none of the customers are. I moved on to the steel place where it was very impressive to see a short fellow pick up 60lbs of steel sheet and hold it straight over his head while carrying it to my car. That was another $190 but the other steel will come in handy for something. Not sure what yet but steel is always useful. 

Arriving home, I picked up a couple of the sheets of steel and held them up against the windows. The ones beside the back door were really easy to hold up. Sure - they were heavy but the top could be pressed against the underside of the gutter and the side went against the edge of the door frame. Those are going to be as easy as pie to maneuver into place. The one at the top of the back door will be easy too. The top meets the top of the door and the bottom rests on the hinge and the door handle surround. That one will need a slight bend in the last couple of inches. The one for the bottom window on the back door is the one that needs a template.

Fortunately there was a thin plywood offcut somebody had thrown away and I had rescued from their pile of garbage. It was a mere matter of moments to align the steel sheet with a corner and to mark the two remaining sides. A few minutes later using a hand saw (which reminded me of the time I wrenched my wrist a month or so back) and I had a nice template.

I have to fine tune the template but this time I'll be much more delicate with the template so that I don't just carve out a huge chunk and have to fix it later. Again, this is an easy template to get straight - the edges line up with the edges of the door.

Yesterday I was going to set to and do the roof vent. It was 90F (32.2C) with 50% humidity. I went out for five minutes and it was stifling. No way could I stand that and stand on a bus roof for an hour or so. That was rather fortunate actually because not quite an hour later the wind picked up and the rain came down. It was as though somebody had upturned a swimming pool over me while banging a pair of trashcan lids together.

Yesterday's shower wasn't a brief thing either. It thundered, blew and rained hard all night and half way through the day too. In fact it was only when I had the call about the steel that the weather began to perk up.

In order the windows that will be most involved are the lower door window, the upper door window and then the two side windows. This is why I'm starting with the lower door window. Once that template is right and the steel cut and tried, I can get on and drill all the holes. Now I have real drill bits that should be fairly swift. I'll have to see if I can locate a small oil can though so I can drip chain oil on the drill bit to keep it cutting nicely. The two side window sheets I can just clamp together while I drill.

The bend on the top door window will be interesting. I'll have to make sure the door fits properly - at the moment it's slightly warped. When that's straightened I can rivet that steel on and get it right. Riveting it on when warped will accentuate the warp. Things to ponder!