Making it through another year, '23-'24

[Nebraska]

Good luck and great sales to you...

[gspren]

Either an enclosed trailer or a step van is in your future if you do many shows. In the distant past I had an old bread truck (step van) and it was very manuverable but without 4WD it required thought off the road. I now have a 6x12 enclosed trailer and it's really handy to own.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I agree - loading on that rack is going to be too much work and risk to you and your crafts. Have a great sale.

    We have an event this weekend at a State Park I'd loved to have gone to but it is 50 miles away and weather is a concern but mostly I committed to help my son cook catfish at their annual church fish fry.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well midway through the day and I will just say it's not a good weather day, nor a good sales day, but it has been ok for my ego. :D of I could put compliments in the bank I would be on good shape. ;D

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, I will keep this short. It was not a great day, but not a terrible one either. I sold just short of a hundred bucks in stuff, which would make it a fail. But I did make a lot of contacts and had a lot fo 'those conversations' that will lead to meaningful stuff down the road. This is, of course, part of the goal of doing these shows and this one was smack in the middle of my target demographic. So that part was good. I'll write a bit more about it later, right now I am so tired I can hardly hold my head up.
 Packed up the show just as a driving rain started and hung in there for over an hour. Pretty much everything got soaked except any paperwork I had, which went right in the back seat of the truck. I have moving blankets that weigh about 30 pounds right now. My jacket and hoodie soaked right through past my shirts. I did manage to pack in 48 minutes, which I am thinking is pretty good for being alone and not being sloppy. Working through a driving rain and not getting in the panic mode and taking the time to do it right once is a learned skill, but it is always hard when you are uncomfortable. I drove home and half the trip was more driving rain, the other half it slacked a bit but I had a citidiot in front of me who could not decide on a speed to drive between 45 and 60.
 Got home and got the whole truck in the shop right away and emptied the bed, but had no more room for stuff with the truck in the way. I was shot. I went in the house, gave the wife 'my report' and was going to put on dry shirts and get back to work. Realized I would just get the dry stuff wet, so I stuck with what I had and got back at it. I was too tired to eat dinner anyway. She ate without me and I got the truck emptied, and out of the shop. The I started pulling each piece and drying the water off it. Every piece had to be wiped down and I went through a half dozen towels.
 I have everything spread out on the shop floor, but lots of soaking wet moving blankets piled everywhere. I don't think there is any water damage, but I lost a lot of price tags I will have to re-do.
 Was it worth it for the $95 (well, $65 after the show fee)? HECK NO! Was it worth it for the contacts I made? Well, time will tell on that.
 I've been up since 5, going all day, and right now (at 8:45 local) I feel like it's 3am. I am sitting here in wet jeans and damp shirts and need to move on. Tomorrow is another day. (And yes, that is my version of keeping it short. :D)

[WV Sawmiller]

   Sorry for the weather and extra work it created but glad you had a good time and positive outlook. I consider my shows such as these as advertising and list them on my tax accounting as such. I often barely make the lot rent/fees but I'll get a profitable job from such a contact months to even years later.

[Resonator]

I think the best word for a day like that is "persevered". 
Defined as: "To have continued in a course of action, even in the face of difficulty or with little or no prospect of success." 

[Old Greenhorn]

Res, your definition could pretty much be my business plan. :D
 Agreed Howard, I am hopeful the public contact will turn into something, but that takes time. I did pick up a commission at the last show and had in depth conversations about a second one (waiting for her to call me and set up an appointment). This show I had one in depth conversation about details and we will see if she calls me back. I gave out a lot of cards. Time will tell.
 There was also some networking on this one. There was a wood turner down at the other end and we hit it off. We took turns visiting each other during the day. He had an enclosed trailer like I am looking for and gave me some insight as to how much it helped him as well as inviting me to look it over well. We talked a lot about woods and such. I may be making some bowl blanks for him down the road. He was over at my booth when a fella came by to invite me to participate in their show in a few weeks and this fella piped in and said "If we both come, you have to put us next to each other." I do no turning, he does very crude rustic signs and such as well as fine turning so it would be a good fit. But that show was $75 for an outside booth and came with a lot of hassle. I will pass on it this year.
 I also met another fella looking at booths and inviting a few folks to come and do his show, which is about and hour and a half from me. I have yet to check that one out.
 The woman who is the main organizer for the show came by to thank me for coming and invited me back for next year. They had a few cancel but it still covered a 20 acre field nicely. I know the history of this show and would not let a bead day change my opinion. My wife was doing this one 15 years ago. I have been many times myself and it is usually packed. This year we only had a few that drove from out of state because of the weather. Usually its quite a few.
 I was surprised by the number of people that made a point of telling me what nice work I did. It was not just the usual "nice stuff" comment, but more like "wow, this work is really beautiful!". I think that may be because I had little competition.
 As far as it not being a 'winner', I attribute that more to the weather than the show itself. As I said, been at this one many times and the crowd was greatly reduced as it drizzled and rained off and on all day. That takes a slightly more hardly person to attend and consequently they were mostly long time locals who didn't let the weather interfere with their daily plans.

 Lessons learned: I need to make a sign that says "I'll be back in 3 minutes" to put up when I go to take a leak. Being alone, I have nobody to cover for me. Better to see the sign, than see nobody. I should also think about having larger photos of other work I have done in the past, perhaps an album of 8x10's for folks asking about commission work. I also need a larger sign that says I prefer to do custom work to order. I answered that question a dozen times even though I have signage. I also need to lower my signs, nobody looks UP to where I have them around the inside perimeter of the canopy. I could use a larger booth and a larger canopy to spread things out and fit more, but I think that has to wait until I have a trailer.
 Here's a short clip of the field and setup:

- YouTube

 Now I have to start a smudge fire in the shop to help dry stuff. The moving blankets will have to wait until it stops raining (tomorrow?) to get dried on the line. I'll also look into the upcoming shows and try to figure out what I am bringing and what I am leaving in the shop.
 But first, breakfast!  It's another (rainy) day.

[Resonator]

Res, your definition could pretty much be my business plan.

Tom, I speak from experience. I quit my day job to build a business starting with nothing... (and that's pretty much what I've still got). :D

[Old Greenhorn]

.......
But first, breakfast! It's another (rainy) day.

Well, no sooner did I hit "post" on that one and the wife comes down and says "got no water pressure, can't take a shower", 'hmmm' says I (that's not what I said) and I go in the utility room to check things. I have water everywhere, running out the door, the carpets are under 2" of water and it's spreading fast. I hear it coming down and can find the source, all my pipes are dripping. The boiler is running full tilt but I see no pressure on the aquastat. I search for a source and finally find the pressure/temp relief on the boiler is running like a garden hose. I shut off the well pump, then the boiler. Yeah, that valve won't close. I have 3 rooms flooded. Put in a service call and start sucking up water. The tech calls back, I give him the details, he asked if I can shut of the well pump. 'Already done'. Can I shut off the boiler? "already done, pressure valve won't close". He says he'll be here in 20 minutes. I start sucking water, lots of water.
 He arrives, looks it over, yep the pressure switch is part of the problem, also the expansion tank is waterlogged. New Tank, new valve, tested, good to go. He is done in twenty minutes and he tanked me for knowing something about my system and shutting off the right stuff, as well as giving him a heads up on what to bring.
 Finally around 10:30 my back needed a short rest, so I made that breakfast. I probably have about 60+ trips in and out emptying the vacuum of about 4 gallons at a time. I am starting to gain on it, but I needed another break and the water needs time to spread to where I can reach it. This will take 2 days at least to get fairly good. My wife's sewing machine foot switches were on the floor and they shorted which made the motors 'try' to run, I pulled those out and got a few 'wake ups' along the way from voltage leaks. I hope they are not damaged, that will be expensive.
 Time to get back to it. Gonna spend my day sucking. >:(

[doc henderson]

my shop vacs allow for a garden hose attachment.  might save time and back if it can drain to a drain or outside.  I assume you know this since your doctoral thesis was on vacuum vs pressure hoses.     

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

  I thought about you at our local flea market while shopping today. I saw someone selling Beer caddies similar to yours (I am sure they copied your design :D) only these must have been for bottles as they had added an old fashioned bottle opener on one end like you used to see on Coke or Pepsi machines. It might be something to consider adding if you ever make any caddies for bottles instead of cans. ;)

[thecfarm]

At least you were home for the problem!!!

[SawyerTed]

Hate you had a water disaster!  It at least not sewage or flood waters.  

We've had three near misses over the years.   Thankfully they were caught soon.  
One was the pressure relief valve on our water stove, I happened to be sitting in my recliner on our first floor and heard it in the basement. 

I'm hopeful that there is minimal damage.  

[Old Greenhorn]

Well Ted, last time it was this bad was when the boiler split open. I figure I carted out close to 100 gallons on this one. Ray is right, good thing we were home. I think we stressed the well pretty good and I may have to do some work on that pump relay because of the heat.
 Doc, I don't have a way to gravity drain a shop vac but I do have the fitting on mine. I am using a carpet cleaner to suck the water up, it really pulls right through the carpet. Dumping is a lot faster than waiting for gravity. I think I made between 60 and 90 trips back an forth, probably close to 100 gallons of water.
 Bill dropped off a dehumidifier and I have pretty much vacuumed up everything I can now. I will give the whole thing another good pass in the morning. For now I am pretty pooped out and have to go out to dinner tonight, which I didn't know about until 15 minutes ago. >:( 

 Howard, if I added an opener, I would have to double the price. ;D

[rusticretreater]

I just had some fun with my water system recently too.  I kept hearing the pump relay cycling so of course I was fearing all sorts of stuff like a waterlogged tank, etc.  We have a yard faucet that comes from the well line before it enters the house.  It had been left on. Even though the attached hose with sprayer was closed, it apparently dropped the pressure just enough to cause the cycle.

Then we had a bad thunderstorm and a close lightening strike that shook the house and reset my computer.  My wife informed me at 8 am we had no water and of course she had a doctor's appointment and couldn't shower.  After a few minutes of checking, even in my sleep impaired state, I discovered the capacitor in the well pump relay box blown.  Her appointment was near the hardware store, so I got her to get a new relay controller.  $100.  Back in business a few minutes after I got it in my hands.

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

   Our last flood was a leaking hot water heater. Lots of towels. moved several rugs and carpet sections in the closet, shop vacs, all the fans blowing and dehumidifiers going. The only thing we did not do was fire up the wood heater and we probably should have done that too.

   On the beer caddy maybe you could make an old redneck opener with a carpet tack or nail driven in at an angle. ;)

[thecfarm]

I had a water heater go here too.    
We do have some rugs in the basement.
But I was lucky!!
No water got to the rugs.  ???
I ran a couple box fans and dried it out that way.

[beenthere]

If I didn't have a floor drain in the basement, then I would have a sump pump to take out any unwanted water. 

I have heard that sump pumps and perimeter drains around homes with basements are now code. I think outside of the footings. 

[rusticretreater]

I have heard that sump pumps and perimeter drains around homes with basements are now code. I think outside of the footings.

Been that way in Virginia for years.  Drain tile around the house footers and running 30 feet away from it.  But the sump pump drops the water just outside the house.  I put in a buried line of about 15 feet.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I have a floor drain in the back corner in the utility room of our basement. It is a trip hazard as it sticks up about 2" above the cement floor. : : :

[Old Greenhorn]

Location, location, location. If we required floor drains around here we would have even more flooded basements and they provide an easy entry point for ground water with our higher water table and most everything is rock here, not soil. Yes, french drains are popular and useful, but expensive in some place to create. Being the veteran of hundreds of cellar pumps in my town with the fire dept. I got to see all sorts of construction covering 200 years of technology and pumped 'em all out. During hurricanes some homes would see 4-5' of water depending on the specifics of the storm. I did one or two very old (100 year+) homes with dry laid stone foundations where they allowed a trickle stream to pass in one end and out the other, normally, with a cistern as part of the system. The water channel was chiseled into sold rock with planks to cover so you didn't step into it in the dark. But when a hurricane hit, the outflow could not match the inflow and there was 4' of water in the basement. One house we actually got a truck close enough to drop a 6" suction line in the bilco doors and at 750 gallons a minute we could barely keep up with the water that was coming in. Some things you can't fix. >:( Hydraulic pressure is tough to overcome once it gets the upper hand.

 My house (as I keep reminding the tax assessor) does NOT have a basement (because of the rock shelf), it is built on grade and the front of the house is backfilled about 2' high to make it look and feel like a basement. (houses with actual basements around here sell for more money and are only in certain areas where you can actually dig.) The back of the house ground level and the 'basement floor' are at the exact same level, give or take 4". A floor drain in my house would just be a constant problem and make life miserable. If I had a sump for a pump for incidents like this, it would have to be absolutely bullet proof with ZERO chance of allowing water to come IN and just provide a low drain point. Many sumps around here were built with the idea that they would be a collection point for water under and around the basement and pump the water out as it collected. During storms, these were quickly overwhelmed and allowed the basement to take on water. I pumped a lot of homes with fully finished basements, carpets, bars, pool tables, entertainment centers, etc. and 5' of water that came up through the sump or low windows below grade. 
 Geography and construction methods varies all over the world because of geologic, weather, and other conditions. We have our challenges here too. ;D
 I now have two dehumidifiers and a 20" box fan running. I have to empty them every 7-8 hours so we are making progress. They really blew the forecast for evening/overnight and the light sprinkles we were supposed to get turned into an inch or rain through the night. Now the wind is picking up again and temps in the mid 50's, so not a cheerful day at all.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well they continued with a messed up forecast today and it drizzled all day. We are up to 1.1 inches of rain today and it is just fading out now. Was supposed to be done by 10am this morning.
 I started a fire in the shop to burn bark and dry things out. Looks like all my wares dried fine, but I have two nice little oak bookshelves that seem to have picked up a little twist. >:(
 I did some cleaning in the shop and replaced some of the price tags on my stuff that went missing when they got wet. As long as I had stuff yanked all over the shop I pulled out the woodmaster planer and put the old woodstove in it's place against the wall. I stopped usiong that planer last year when it popped the roller drive belt every few minutes. A quick look told me it was worn bushings, but it was a bit of a deal to take it apart, so I let it sit and used the other one. So today was a good day for that. I rolled it over by the woodstove and pulled it apart. Yeah, those 5/8 ID bronze bushings were worn out to about .650" and were wobbling like mad. No way for the belt to track right. Simple to order from Mcmaster ($2.40/ea) and as long as I was placing an order and paying the shipping, I also ordered a box of 5/16-18 threaded wood inserts for projects I haven't thought of yet. ;D I do recall wanting to use them on other projects in the past and McMaster sells the exact kind I want, just like the 1/4-20 that LogRite sells. These say they are for softwood, but I use them in hardwood just fine. It will be good to have them on the shelf. It will be a bit of a bear to get the planer back together if I can remember the belt tracking and get the bushings pressed in OK, but it will be good to go then, I hope. ;D

 I have been emptying the dehumidifiers about every 5 hours (correction of the above post) and things are coming along, some spots are even beginning to look dry-like. ;D

 The attic kiln only hit 62 today and the humidity was at 80%, so not a lot of help there. >:(

 Tomorrow will be whatever it might be. :D

[Nebraska]

Glad your water issues are progressing towards better. I have 3 floor drains in my basement and am thankful for being on top of the hill with the water table being 120 ish feet below my feet, it's a trade, we sure don't have much for nice trees.  

[doc henderson]

I have two sumps in my shop basement.  drain around the inside and outside of the footing.  the dimple board on the outside wall to allow water to go to the drain without creating any water pressure on the wall.  I folded some on the inside where the wall meets the footing and created a 1/2-inch gap air gap along the perimeter of the 32 x 50-foot slab.  It creates a French drain that goes to the drain tile and two whichever sump bucket and pump.  It goes up and out and underground 20 feet downhill from the shop.