Now go get married

Well, it appears that the stay placed against same-sex weddings in California has been lifted! Is that the peal of wedding bells I hear? Is that the sound of wingnut heads exploding too? Both are such wonderful sounds.


(ht - JMG)

Edit: Rats! The "stay" has not actually been lifted, that will happen in one week (to allow for appeals filings), if nothing gets in the way the stay will be lifted.

Fixing a hole where the rain comes in

Today Jeff took some time off of work to shuttle me to the medical center to have more uncommonly long needles sunk into my back. The procedure was a lot more painful than previous ones, so I am hoping, much the same way the foulest tasting medicine is the most effective, that this time it does the trick.Sadly, having this done makes the pain and stumbling that much worse until a recovery period of time. I scotched my urges to do stuff and took it easy. Unfortunately, when I later walked into the sunroom and found a great big puddle of water on the floor, my relaxing day ground to a halt.

Several years ago I installed a pair of Velux 4-foot square skylights in the roof of the sunroom. Unlike the previous manually opened units which were a source of many headaches, roof leaks and such, these new ones are trouble free and, most importantly, have a set of sensors that automatically close the skylights when it rains (even in the slightest). However, these skylights, like so many things these days, are equipped with safety features to protect the stupid and (more to the point) help protect the manufacturer from lawsuits. Since these skylights can also be used as roof windows such as on Dutch-style houses with mansard roofs and within reach of people (and omg save the children!), the screens must be in place to enable the remote control feature. This keeps stupid people from being stupid with their fingers in the wrong places while stuff is in motion. The feature is a simple one, the frame of the screen presses against a lever, closing a switch. Take the screen out, the switch opens, and the mechanism does not respond to commands. Over time, the screen has shrunk a bit in the frame, pulling the sides inward. This also pulls it away from the switch. While I had taped over the switch in the past to stop this from happening, the tape gets gooey after a while after all the sun and heat exposure, and the switch opens. Unfortunately for me, it picked the time right before a very serious rainstorm this morning to happen. As a result, I have a very wet floor (no biggie, it's ceramic tile), and some seriously soaked drywall below the skylight. I have fans drying everything up, I am hoping that the drywall is not too damaged and can be repainted. If not, a sizable portion has to be replaced.

This is where the tough stuff comes in. I'm in no condition to stand on a ladder, twelve feet up, tearing into the mechanism to once and for all bypass that goddamm switch. But I do, and succeed, but find myself in exquisitely severe pain trying to come down from the ladder, especially trying not to fall. The resulting howling and growling and cussing scattered the various critters inside and outside the house, and leaves me still with a sore throat. It's just as well I did this, because it's raining again. I will reassemble the window on the inside and tackle the same job on the adjacent skylight as soon as I am able.

I will know in a couple days if this latest needle poking was successful. In the meantime, I am going to be ordering two more similar skylights for installation in the living room. Even in a bad condition, I am always trying to do something. It's my (sometimes unfortunate) nature.