Ready... set....

It used to be that designing a house and getting a building permit was a fairly simple and inexpensive proceedure. Not any more it seems. Now, we require many highly paid professionals to make it happen. We've enlisted the help (as required by law) of a planner, a surveyor, an engineer to design the septic field, a soils engineer, a structural engineer and a heating systems/HVAC engineer - so far. I have no doubt there will be more. We've had to register to become a building contractor - or rather pay the same fee to become exempt from the process. We'll sign up for worker's compensation and pay all of those required fees as well. I've done many weeks of research, finding the best materials and the most qualified professionals to do the work. We've had numerous meetings with all the interested parties. The fact that our house is not 'normal' has certainly added to the complexity. The process of course has taken much longer and has been much costlier than anticipated. Sadly, the convoluted process has added little to the project except for a very large pile of paperwork. But thankfully all that is now largely behind us.

Now at last we are almost ready to apply for our building permit.

Then perhaps the real fun can begin. Here's a concept of the house in it's current configuration...

We are getting pretty excited about building the house. We've removed two trees that were in the way. The fence has been relocated. Test holes have been dug, everything is almost ready...

-grampa dan

Drawing with invisible ink

It wasn't until 1998 that I discovered that by using a digital drawing pad I could interface with a computer in a meaningful and useful fashion. That is when I first entered the world of working with a computer to help me do some of my work. Since then we have seen vast improvements in computing speeds, and plenty of pretty amazing programs. I would never want to go back to doing everything by hand. But the key to it all - as it was back in 1998 is the digital drawing pad. It allows me to use a virtual pen instead of a mouse - which I would compare to trying to draw with a bar of soap. It sure isn't ideal for any kind of detail work.

There are a number of sizes available and I've tried them all.  My favorite (so far) is the Wacom Intuos 5 Medium as shown below.

Today I picked up the latest and best digital drawing pad I've owned to date ... a Wacom Intuos 5 - medium size. There is one better - a Cintique that allows you to draw on the screen but with the amazing graphics currently available with my Mac moniters I'll stick with the separate drawing pad. There is a learning curve of course as with just about everything. The tricky part is to learn to draw with your hand in one place while you look elsewhere - the computer screen. I tell those I talk to the secret is to give your mouse to someone you trust and then tell them that NO MATTER WHAT they are not to give it back to you for five or six days. It's my bet that you will never go back.

I also purchased some screen capture software today, meaning I could do a quick demo for you showing just how simple drawing with a digital tablet can be. Here's the video...

-grampa dan

Spring?

With construction of our new house due to start in a few weeks one of our concerns is the soggy weather. Winters in this part of the country aren't particularly cold but they can be damp. This spring seems to be much wetter than what I remember as normal. This far it hasn't been a problem for there is lots to do in the shop but the ground is pretty wet and once we get to digging we need to see a whole lot more sun or some heavy duty gumboots to get around.

Today is the last day of March. The trees are budding, the cherry blossoms are out, and the daffoldils are poking their heads above the ground. All this is happening despite the grey skies and cool, damp weather. Even more amazing is the snow just above us on the mountain, far too frequent for this time of year. On the way out to the shop this afternoon I snapped this picture as the sun dipped below the horizon to the west lighting only the top of the mountain - right at the snowline.

I reassure myself that the poor spring weather is perfectly OK for perhaps it means a glorious summer - when we need it to build our dream house. That thought makes me feel a whole lot better.

-grampa dan