12.31.2018

New Year's Eve - hard to believe!   Unfortunately, there is a winter weather advisory out for some nasty weather moving in tonight - a mix of rain, sleet and ice.  We decided to go to Mass tonight in town so we are now safely tucked inside.  But just in case of any power outages, Jim got some buckets of water ready to go.

Jim spent more time in the metal shop today - he ran wire through the matrix...

Continuing to run wire...

Wire run to the receptacle box for the garage door opener...

A close up of the wiring for the receptacle and conduit/wire path by the man door.

This circuit is all complete - the treadmill is plugged in with no extension cords!

Jim also dealt with the Craigslist sale of our old small refrigerator - another thing out of the way and into a new home!

Hope everyone has a safe New Year's Eve!

High 36/Low 33 - winter weather advisory

12.30.2019

Jim spent most of his day in the metal shop today, continuing to work on the wiring.  He got the Romex run connecting the two receptacle boxes...

Using the conduit we picked up yesterday, Jim extended the matrix...

This was a complicated run - lots of bends to make the conduit work from the matrix down to the receptacle box.

The receptacle box is in place and fastened to the concrete.  Then Jim was able to complete the conduit run, eventually bringing power to this box.  The Romex comes out of the receptacle box using the little detour around the side, going behind the conduit.

This receptacle is all wired into the box, face plate is on and it's ready for power!

Jim was thrilled to have this run done - things are really coming to life in the metal shop!

He also had to spend a little time today getting a Craigslist sale item ready - someone is supposed to come tomorrow to look at our old small refrigerator.  It was stored in the back of the box truck so he had to use the two-wheeler and bring that up and get it ready.  You never know with Craigslist whether people will actually show up - our pallets are still down by the end of the road.

High 30/Low 23

12.29.2018

 Jim worked this morning back in the metal shop.  He got more conduit and boxes in place to extend the matrix for the next bay...  He's out of conduit and other miscellaneous parts - after church tonight, we are heading into Lowe's to pick up an order so he can keep on working!

Here he's using his hot knife to carve out space for a receptacle box in the foam.  He'll be able to plug in the vacuum right next to it.  He's on a mission to get rid of extension cords!

 Continuing that mission - he's going to put another receptacle box on the other side of the door - we'll be able to use that for the treadmill.

Taking the wire path above the doorway was tricky - there's already wire and conduit going down to the switch box by the door.  Jim had to go close and then kind of carve underneath the wire by hand to make sure he didn't cause any damage.

Even though the weather wasn't great, Jim spent some time working outside.  He got brackets put up in the pole barn so he can hang various tools.

He also spent time cleaning up the pallet situation - someone is coming in the morning to take all the pallets and use them for a New Year's Eve bonfire!  We had stuck them out of the way earlier and they were full of gravel and ice.  This picture is mid-clean up - they are now nicely stacked and ready to be hauled away.  Jim did take a couple of the nicer pallets up to the pole barn to put on the floor temporarily until we get gravel and concrete in the spring.

Picking up more conduit and wire at Lowe's...

High 39/Low 15

12.28.2018

We were under a winter weather advisory this morning with ice and sleet so we had no plans to venture outside much.  Jim did more work in the metal shop this morning, finishing up the circuit to the lights and wiring in the switches.

Then...let there be light!  Very exciting!  Plus, Jim got the wiring done into the breaker box so he could get rid of some extension cords.  He needs to get some more wire before continuing on so meanwhile he extended the conduit matrix along the beam in the next area.

Later on, he did head outside to do a little work on the pole barn.  It wasn't great weather for it - very foggy and a bit drizzly but he was determined.  He got the last piece of siding done next to the door.  This was difficult - he had J-channel on both sides and had to figure out how to get the siding in between.  It obviously doesn't bend so he ended up having to bend the J-channel enough to get the siding in and then bend it back into place.  But everything lines up perfectly and looks so finished.

He also got all the small siding pieces that go over the garage door installed.

After that, he made and installed some blocking pieces to go in between the ceiling joists in certain areas.

Since we got the treadmill all cleaned up, I decided to try it out today.  Jim even ended the day with a run.  That was one of the first times he's run since he had his knee surgery so he took it slow, but we are both excited to get back to a little cardio work when time allows!

High 42/Low 35 - drizzly

12.27.2018

So in yesterday's blog, I was musing about how Christmas comes and goes so quickly.  But today, I had to run and pick up some parts at Lowe's for Jim and stopped to get a few groceries.  Are you ready for Easter candy?  Crazy - two days after Christmas and Easter is 4 months away!

Jim went back to work on the conduit runs in the metal shop for wiring.  He had to make a jig and bend some conduit to make the run to the garage door opener receptacle box...

The completed run...

And mounted in place!

Jim continued his conduit matrix system on the other side of the beam to bring wiring to where it needs to be...

He mounted some clips on his tool cart and put a piece of copper pipe through it with his spools of wire to make the process of wiring a bit easier.

Starting to put wire through...  Putting 3 wires through these conduit runs isn't easy; wire has a tendency to get caught.  Jim had to use his fish tape to get it through.

The wire is through the conduit into the other bay...

Bringing the wiring into the light - this is a complicated procedure.  Wire has to come into the light and then down across to the switch box, before coming back into the light.

The light is all wired up and ready for bulbs!  Jim also ran the wire through the conduit to the next box where it will lead to the other light in this bay (whenever it comes in).

This is obviously temporary because Jim will have to open up the wall in this area to bring the wire to the breaker box permanently, but for now the wire is into the breaker box and will function normally!

High 26/Low 20

12.26.2018

The holidays come and go so quickly - it was a nice, relaxing morning with Kyle but then he headed back to the city around noon.  He apparently ran into a lot of traffic on the way home but he got there safe.  

So then Jim was back to working in the metal shop.  He started working on the conduit run going from the junction box to the main distribution line for this bay.

This required lots of bends as you can see but it's all done and looks great!

Next he started working on the conduit run from the car bay across the next bay.  Here he's taking a measurement - nice that the steel table is right there for him to work from!

Attaching conduit fasteners to the deck....

Once he got the conduit cut to the right size, time to glue it in place...

Holding everything in place while the glue sets up...

This conduit run is all in place...

His next job was to use the hammer drill to drill holes through the concrete for the garage door opener receptacle box...

Box is all attached...

Now that Jim and Kyle got a lot of clean-up work done in the metal shop and things moved to the barn, we're excited to bring the treadmill back alive.  It was stored in the barn and the track was totally disgusting!  But I started cleaning it - here's a clean/dirty section - quite a difference!

The Hudson River was full of ice floats today when I went to the post office!

High 32/Low 15