May 25th, 2009
In my previous post I said I was pretty sure nothing really surprising was going to happen this week. Well, I’m glad to say something unexpected did happen: I fixed my upright acoustic piano.
The piano had been “broken” for almost four years, after it had fallen into disuse when I stopped taking formal lessons and pretty much abandoned it for my keyboard. That didn’t stop me from banging away on it from time to time, until I managed to “break” one of the keys during a really spirited impromptu session.
This had happened once before when I was dusting the inside of the instrument: normally the hammers stay rigidly in their courses (i.e. they don’t move very far back and forth, so as not to miss the strings). The G3 hammer, however, ended up loose when I glided the cloth too harshly across the fronts of the hammers. The result was that the hammer would go too far to the left and would only partially strike the G3 strings; further, it would also nick the adjacent F#3 strings. Since when you play a note on a piano the damper lifts only from the strings that correspond to the key you’re holding down, the damper still held fast on the F#3 strings, meaning that in addition to every G3 I played, I also got a tuned thump from the still-dampened F#3.
The last time I had the piano tuned the tuner said he “fixed” this problem by “setting the pin.” I had no idea what the hell that was supposed to mean, but it took a while for it to evidently “unset” itself. I had taken the front panel off the instrument on numerous occasions since this happened, but I couldn’t figure out why that particular hammer was loose while the others were tight. About an hour ago I decided to give it another go, figuring the instrument was basically unplayable and that, therefore, I had little to lose. I held a flashlight over the rogue hammer mechanism for almost half an hour at first but noticed nothing. Glancing around inside the rest of the case I made a fascinating discovery: on a small ledge on the left side of the instrument—covered in a thick layer of dust—was what appeared to be a coin!
I dredged it up, blew the dust off it, and read the date: 1932. I noticed that the coin was Canadian, which makes sense as the instrument would have been in Canada right around that time. It’s certainly old enough for the coin to have been dropped there around that time (the piano was made in 1917). I set it aside, feeling that perhaps it was good luck. And, sure enough, ten minutes later I noticed something: each hammer appeared to be held in a sort of hinge by a thin, shiny metal rod—a pin, I realized! The pins were situated horizontally and parallel to the front of the instrument. While on all the other hammers barely the tip of the pin was showing, on the G3 it was sticking out so far it touched the adjacent F#3′s mechanism.
I realized this had to be the problem! I quickly fetched several long, thin objects, including several knives and a file. Working carefully, I managed to leverage the pin just enough to where I could fit these objects between it and the adjacent wooden piece. The more I worked, the tighter the hammer became. Unfortunately, everything I had kept bending. I rifled through a drawer and produced a Popsicle stick, which I used to drive the pin home.
Success! Now I understood what the tuner had meant by “setting the pin.” I knew, however, that this fix would require some testing. So I commenced pounding away on that one key, and I’ll be damned if I didn’t watch the pin unseat itself right before my eyes. G-G-G-G-G-clunk! Ugh! Back to square one. After setting the pin several more times, it occurred to me that if I wedged the Popsicle stick in the gap, not only would it keep the pin in place, but if I taped it to the damper bar just above it, everything around the stick would still clear it. A minute and some masking tape later, it was done.
I’ve been playing the piano off and on now for twenty minutes solid, and so far everything has held up perfectly. Checking on the jury rig, I find it hasn’t moved at all, and the neighboring keys still don’t come anywhere near it. I am under no delusions that this is a permanent fix (suppose the pin drills its way into the soft wood of the stick), but it’s an easily repeatable process and it seems reasonably solid. It’s really great to be able to play the acoustic piano again—I love my keyboard and all, but nothing is quite the same as playing the real thing. Now if I could just get it tuned again, then it would be perfect.
May 24th, 2009
I know this feeling. It’s very annoying. It’s Sunday evening, I’m alone in my house, and I have absolutely nothing interesting to do. It’s not so much the lack of things to do as it is the waste of the opportunity to do them. I know that in time I’ll think back on days like this one and wish I had spent them doing [fill-in-the-blank].
For the past few days I’ve been watching the house, which usually involves doing a few hours worth of work each day and then trying to keep myself occupied for the remainder. I’ve still got some stuff to do today and the house left to clean. Evidently the business trip went well, as we made over $4,000 in two days. Further, ours was the only business that did well, as the turnout was lousy. Lately we’ve been making over $5,000 per trip, so this was a bit of a step back, but it’s still better than most people in the business, so I can’t complain.
There’s not really much more to report, other than the latest in the ongoing war against the paper wasp queens, which has produced another casualty. That makes it five queens so far that have bit the dust, and this was the first one I actually tried to kill on my own (not counting the one trapped between the pop cans). They refuse to die! I must have swatted her a dozen times before she finally fell, buzzing, to the windowsill. I still don’t know if the strike actually killed her, but as she didn’t fly back up again I know she can’t have survived long. What’s astounding is that I haven’t seen a single non-queen wasp in the house; I would have thought that the entire nest would have been buzzing around by now. I still have no idea where they’re coming from, though the gutter just above the patio is a likely candidate. I saw several wasps going in and out, so I know there’s at least one nest in there. From there, I think they’re getting in through the chimney, which is only about ten feet away from that nest.
This coming week is kind of a mystery to me. I’ve reached the lazy days of summer doldrums, which is another annoying state. I always end up regretting not doing more with the time, but when actually presented with an entire summer ahead of me, I can’t fathom in the slightest what I’m going to do with it. I suppose taking it one week at a time will help, so I’m honing in on this coming one to begin. I might visit my friend across the street and see what’s up with him. It’s been a while since I last talked to him, and if he’s got another trip up north planned, I’m definitely game. Last year was so much fun! Hopefully I’ll be able to pay back anybody I owe money, and they won’t be too upset that I’m about a year late in that regard.
I might also take a walk around the neighborhood. I remember when I was very young the subdivision at the end of our house didn’t exist. In fact, the complex consists of two separate communities, the boundary between which is sort of nebulous. The first started up over a decade ago, on land that was previously wilderness and scrub. The first thing to be constructed was the roads, which were laid down in asphalt that had lost its color long before even a quarter of the houses were built. It was like a ghost town, and where it abruptly ended the scrub land began. Over the years the neighborhood filled in, and now it’s sometimes difficult to imagine that there was once a time when those houses weren’t there at all.
The second part was built on the plot of a horse farm that shuttered its doors about a decade ago. It’s the ritzier of the two subdivisions, and in honor of the former occupants of the plot, it’s called Sugarbush Farms (the other half is called Brycewood). During the summer both halves are a paradise of perfectly-manicured lawns, vibrant flowers, and well-chosen greenery. Overall it’s a gorgeous community, and with sidewalks everywhere, it’s a wonderful place to walk and listen to music. The people are very friendly, usually tipping a hat or nodding a head in your direction when you’re walking.
That’s about all I can think of at the moment. Maybe something amazing will happen in the coming week, though I doubt it. At any rate, I’ve got work to do, so I’ll have to leave it here. Until next time.
May 22nd, 2009
…which is an affectionate name for the room in which I’m going to be spending most of the summer. My own room is uninhabitable during the summer months, as it is poorly vented and the heat rises up and seems to collect there. This is strange because the room has no insulation to speak of. None. It’s a converted attic and is the legacy of the corner-cutting former owners, the Carlys, who at one time owned most of the block. This explains the lack of insulation, for why would we trifle in something like that?
But why the Robin’s Egg? Well, the color of the walls and ceiling is a disgusting robin’s egg blue, which I did not pick out. I sometimes joke that now I know what it’s like to live inside a robin’s egg, hence the nickname. This room, too, is converted storage space. However, it has R-30 insulation, which is ridiculous overkill—we had some left over from insulating our climate-controlled business, so we used it up here. Overall, it’s a much more pleasant place to be during the summer, and until I get a new window air conditioner to replace the one which conked out three years ago, this room will do nicely.
In other around-the-house news, I discovered that I had been mislabeling the local variety of nasty wasp. We don’t have bald-faced hornets, but paper wasps—an invasive species from Europe. Bald-faced hornets are white and black, whereas paper wasps are brilliant gold and black. The main difference is in behavior, though—baldies are not particularly aggressive unless you physically disturb the nest. Paper wasps are highly aggressive, as evidenced by the half a dozen times in my life in which I’ve been stung by the bastards. At no time was I aware there was a nest anywhere near. Every time, however, I’m proud to say I managed to “disturb” the nest with poison in repayment.
A queen found her way into the Robin’s Egg earlier this week, and it took me several days to finally corner her. She would escape back into the wall whenever I finally got a book with which to swat her. I finally caught her on the rim of a pop can, over which I placed another can in order to trap her. She’s been there several days, so I know she’s dead. Three more queens wandered into the rest of the house, so evidently there’s a thriving brood of paper wasps somewhere, launching its queens.
I also built a swing several days ago. It was at this point that I got bit by the first mosquitoes of the season, which quashed any hopes I had of it being a light year for the obnoxious little biting insects. The obvious solution would be for the county to spray the ditches with insecticide, but there’s probably some endangered moth larva or something they’re protecting, so we can’t do that.
The swing is actually very nice and is much sturdier than the one it replaces. The mosquitoes make it quite useless, however, so most evenings I’m still holed up in the Egg. One of these days I’m going to paint it. Unfortunately, there’s so much stuff up here now that it would be difficult. Speaking of eggs, there are five active robin nests around the yard. One of these is above the patio in the back, right on top of a halogen light just beneath a gable. The robin seemed rather irritated while I was building the swing, flying frequently to and from the nest and peeping at me the whole time.
There is also a cardinal nest, which is a little better hidden than the robin ones. The chicks are not really well developed yet, so there’s no color. Mostly they just look dark and fuzzy. The neighbor’s cat Buddy has been coming around quite frequently, and sometimes I wonder if it’s only a matter of time before he ransacks one of the nests. Honestly, I wish he would do the one that happens to be inside the ceiling of my room—every year grackles get in and put a nest up there. They squawk bloody murder all day and all night, which is yet another reason I can’t sleep in my own room. They usually clear out by the official start of summer, but it’s still annoying. Both my cats (Lorelei and Maizy) have been spending most of their day in my room, and I wonder if the sound of the birds might not be drawing them. On the other hand, they’re Ragdolls, which are some of the least cat-like felines around—they’re terrible at hunting, and they’re incredibly oblivious to prey. To be sure, they could just be going up there for the heat, which is something they both inexplicably love.
So here I am in the Egg, getting pelted by these obnoxious mosquito-like bugs that are mesmerized by the light just above my head. They beat away at it until they perish, falling into my lap or onto my keyboard. They’re not mosquitoes—none has tried to bite me so far—and they’re pale and translucent. I have no clue what they are, but they’re usually everywhere this time of year. They irritate me by their sheer presence, but it’s impossible to stop up all the gaps in this room in order to keep them out. Something tells me I’ll be hosting a few more royal paper wasps before the spring ends, too—I’ve got a nice tall stack of solid gardening paperbacks all set for the occasion.
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May 9th, 2009
Summer officially begins on the solstice, which is June 21st. However, for us college students, our break begins much sooner. I finished classes this past Monday, and I’ve been pretty much glued to my computer ever since then. The draw? Web development. I’ve been getting back into HTML/CSS again, having pretty much quit after making the first iteration of the Words Of Wisdom page. Since then I have taken a web design course, which taught everybody how to make a web page from 1997. Seriously, the project we had to do was one of the most amateurish and ugly things I’ve ever seen. The evening before the final exam I decided to practice by making a new homepage, which I think kicks the hell out of the previous one. It works on the same concept (and uses a lot of the same CSS, just copied over), but pretty much everything else about it is better-executed. The beveled glass edge, which took a little thought to accomplish, sets it apart from the previous design—it’s a gorgeous effect I have not seen anywhere else.
Speaking of uniqueness, the next evening I created the ultimate example thereof: the Stained Glass Mosaic Page. This thing is ridiculous. It contains 24 individual JPEGs cropped from a picture of stained glass, each of which I hue-shifted into vibrant Lisa Frank shades. I then constructed a complex table structure to hold them—they form a square with 4px black borders around each piece. I then applied transparency to all the glass pieces, so when you scroll the page you can see the background (fixed) behind the “glass.” The area inside the border is also a formatted table which, for the example, consists of a single cell. Two- and three-column layouts are possible, of course (just add cells to the row) but are probably impractical with a small and fixed-width layout like Stained Glass.
The original version was extremely complicated—I totally rewrote the code a few days later and ended up with about 75% less markup. I also employed some hacks and got it working well in all major browsers (Internet Explorer being the black sheep, of course). On Wednesday I upgraded its status from alpha to beta and invited visitors to view and download the source code and to use it as a template if they wish. I may still change some stuff, but overall it works great. It might not be very practical (it loads slowly and, being fixed-height, is kind of limiting), but damnit it’s unique—of all the layouts I’ve come across, nobody had done anything even remotely like Stained Glass.
My other web development for the week consisted of retooling Words Of Wisdom (I rewrote the page but kept it largely the same), adding some items to the list on that page, and coding a nifty JavaScript containing the site links and placing it on both the Wisdom and Home pages. The idea is that, as I add pages, I won’t need to update the navigation lists on each one; updating the single JS file updates them all.
I also made a start on revamping the company website. I did eventually migrate it over to a WordPress blog (I mentioned this a while ago), but nobody ever made even the merest mention of the site, so a dynamic, updatable format was pretty much wasted. Now that I’m loads better at web design, I’ve decided to go back to the traditional HTML format, except that I will be coding everything from scratch. I used to use FrontPage, which was a godawful and frustrating program. Plus, my layouts weren’t really that great, and the code output was riddled with standards-breaking errors. As a result, pages looked all right in IE but not very good in other browsers. I can run rings around anything made with FrontPage (or any other WYSIWYG editor, for that matter) with Notepad++ and a few HTML/CSS reference guides.
Anyway, here it is if you’d like to see it. It’s not complete, of course—the style is a little bland still, and the two most intensive pages are blank. It’s not really “live” yet because everything is stuck in a subdomain; I’ll promote it to the main domain once all the kinks are ironed out. So far it’s all valid HTML 4.01—XHTML has some weird effect on the margins, though I think it’s just the Doctype telling Firefox not to add default padding values. I need to have a new stocklist made for me, and I likewise need to get some consensus on which pictures to include in the gallery. These two pages are going to be a nightmare. But, in the end I actually enjoy doing this stuff. Problems come up, and it’s always a challenge to work through them. But I do it—I have never once failed to eventually get a page to look how and do exactly what I intended.