Technology Trouble...

I seem to be having one of those months where anything electronic goes wrong. Last week, our Wi-Fi just stopped working. I finally tracked it down to the Linksys wireless router. Well, it is over 5 years old, so maybe it was time to replace it...

I ordered a new one from Amazon. Because of having Amazon Prime, it would only take 2 days to get here. In the meantime, I just linked up to Russ' Verizon hotspot and we were back in business...

The router arrives, I go to set it up, and it wants me to plug it into my computer using the ethernet cable. What! Did I really order a non wireless router? Damn it! I did! Arghhhh...

While on one of the many trips upstairs to the router (where the cable modem lives) I realized I had the old power cord. The old router was plugged in with the new power cord, and suddenly, it was working again! All of this for a bad power cord? Back to Amazon the new router goes, order a new power cord for the old one and wait 2 days again.

In the meantime, my computer is running really loud. And, suddenly it just shuts itself off. It did this about 2 years ago, too. The video card was full of dust and was unable to cool itself off. This would heat up the CPU to a dangerous level, and as a safety feature, so as not to fry the motherboard, it shuts itself off.

I spent the next 2 days computer shopping online, only to realize that my computer is still better than anything out there under $1,500. Then I began looking for a replacement video card and finding that mine is still better than most mid-level gaming cards. Time to pop open my tower and see what's what.

20 minutes and 12 screws later I found the problem; a dust ball festival was in full swing in the copper cooling unit of the fan on the video card. I feel kind of bad that I had to destroy a whole colony of dust mites, but my computer is back to quick, quiet bliss!

Then Russ' new iPhone and iPad arrive. Let's just say we've been working on setting it up since last Friday. Wiped the phone clean and started over 3 times. All the information from the old phone is living somewhere on a cloud, but the new phone can't seem to find it. 2 days with tech support, and there are still issues.

But... 2 days ago, I go to print a letter I had written to one of Russ' old school friends (who just happens to reside where you can't get emails ) and I'm out of black ink. Again, Amazon Prime saves me. I can wait 2 days to print.

Finally, today at 2:00 the ink arrives. I pop it in the old HP All In One (that's been a royal pain in the @$$ since I bought it), and immediately it gives me an error code. I get my Google on, find a dozen pages on the issue, and 2 hours later the printer still does not like its own HP ink cartridge. Arghhhh!

1. Return the ink cartridges to Amazon
2. Order highly rated $100 Canon all in one (plus extra ink)
3. Buy the extra 3 year warranty for $8
4. Wait 2 days...

Oh God I hope this ends soon!!! Anyone want to come over and help me Office Space the old printer?

Scattered

 Since my last post I glued down the flooring. Wallpaper Mucilage does not work at all like Grandmother Stover's glue. There were spots that didn't adhere, and you can kind of feel some bumpiness when you run your hand across it. I put weights on the problem areas overnight. It feels like it's adhered pretty well, so I'll leave it and we'll call it "Barn Wood". I'll be staining it along with the doors and windows pretty soon here.

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The wallpaper I have for the bathroom is the kind that is self pasted. The glue is  supposed to activate after sitting for 5 minutes. Mine didn't. I ended up using watered down Grandmother Stover's and that worked really well. At first it wanted to bead up, but I let it sit for several minutes, then sponge brushed it out again and it spread just fine. I'm so glad I made the pattern for the wallpaper when I cut the walls - It worked great!

I have a little tub & shower kit from MBS. They are the ones that make all the clear plastic tile, sinks, toilets etc. The idea is, you paint the underside and the top side ends up looking like porcelain.

These are actually the shower fixtures. Right now, stuck into styrofoam for painting, it kind of looks like a lava rock! Once they are dry I have to drill holes for them and attach them to the tile shower surround.

The bathroom is only going to be as wide as the shower, so I needed to paint the kit and do a dry fit. Working around the dormer window in the bathroom was a real puzzle. I think it's going to look better in there if I just cover the dormer window with wallpaper and tile and pretend it is not there. From the front side of the barn, when I install the window I will just affix a curtain to it.

I'll have to make a shower curtain and rod, and attach the molding for the front of the tub. I also have to make the sconces, paint the towel bar and TP holder etc. I can't wait to get to the decorating part!

I've run most of the tapewire for the loft. I have 4 plugs hidden under the roof pieces that can't easily be seen. These are what I'll use to plug in the lighting fixtures - I still have to make all of them!

The bedroom is going to have a plug on either side of the bed so that lamps can plug into them. I have put marks on the front wall where I need more plugs installed. I still have to figure out the wall covering in the bedroom and kitchen before the front wall can be attached. Then I'll have to tie in the bedroom plugs to the main taperun. There's also going to be a light outside the french doors, so I need to drill a hole for the wires and install another plug in for that.

This is the kitchen space. I haven't cut the stairwell hole out of the wood floor yet. I am worried that the floor will become unadhered. Yikes!

I'll need to paper the three walls and the ceiling in here, too.

I have lots to do and feel very scattered! I guess I need a dry erase board like Russ has in the garage! I used to be so organized! Oh well, old age, I guess!

Challenges Make The Achievements All The Sweeter

Now that all of the openings have been cut I can finally start gluing the structure together! The bottom and the top are designed so that you can take the top off to play with the horses, if that's what you have the barn for. In our case, I need to join the top and bottom so that I can run the electrical tapewire. In this photo, you can see the bottom floor glued, taped and weighted together.

The roof pieces have an interesting barn shape. I took the end pieces and traced them onto some 1/4" plywood (minus the groove) before I glued them to the roof floor. This way, I have a pattern for the interior walls that I need to cut. In this photo I have the two interior walls cut and then used them to make a cardboard pattern for the future wall coverings.

In this photo I have placed the interior walls into their approximate location. I think the adjusted floor plan from left to right will be living room, bathroom then bedroom. My original plan was to also have the kitchen up here, but now I think it will have to go downstairs.

In this photo I have cut out the door openings. I'm seriously considering gluing down the woof floors before the interior walls are installed. It might be sooo much simpler. 

Later, I was able to get a couple coats of primer on the first floor and the main structure of the second floor. I drew all the lines for the shingles on the exterior of the roof pieces, and will hopefully get them primed tomorrow.

Our experiment using the miter saw to cut the unique roof angle on the dormers didn't go as smoothly as we'd have liked. Remember in my previous post the styrofoam jig we made for piece # 2&3? Well piece #1 slipped while Russ was cutting, leaving it a little "different" than 2&3. That left us an opportunity to make lemonade. The whole front roof piece looks a little Frankenstein-ish, but with a little love and a lot of trim I think we can make it look passable.

I think the next step after I primer the roof pieces will be to begin the tapewire process. Russ suggested I leave both floors as separate until absolutely necessary so that it is easier to work on both floors. He also suggested I make it so that the second floor just plugs into the main floor. I think he's on to something! Unless I decide to run power to the 2 interior walls for the upper floor, I can basically attach the small roof sections, run the tapewire, install all the plugs for the ceiling fixtures, install the wood floor, and leave the partition walls and front roof piece for last. That way, I can paint or paper them before installation and that is so much easier!

This is where things start to get both exciting and frustrating! You see your vision coming to life, and you have all sorts of little issues to work out. It makes the achievement so much sweeter, tho, because you have to get creative!

Here are a couple of inspiration photos for those of you who have a hard time visualizing what I have in mind for the end result. Hopefully, it I'll be able to incorporate some of these ideas, even tho the space I thought I was working with has been dramatically reduced.

Wish me luck!