Pergola Day 5 - Post Painting

Today we started applying the final paint to the posts we already have on site. The color matches the trim of our house.

Tomorrow we'll apply one more coat before doing the install of the main post on Friday. We also plan to go to the paint store to buy buy a second color that is slightly darker and will be used to accent the horizontal beams on the pergola.

Pergola Day 4 - Post Prep

 Michelle and I started off the day by visiting J&W Lumber in El Cajon. The staff at J&W helped us with a lot of questions during our front porch project so we decided to work with them again on the pergola. 

I had a quick conversation with the sales manager about my design. I confirmed I could get the beams in the lengths I need and we had a really good discussion about how much overhang I could have on one corner without running into issues. I think we will use a couple of knee braces to help support the overhang. I'll post an image from Sketch Up showing our latest design.

My next steps is to create a materials list for the items we will buy from J&W. They have a flat delivery fee so I might as well order everything at once. I plan on putting together an order tomorrow.

Once we returned home, I finished some sanding and painting. Our pergola design uses the existing four posts, and requires one more. Yesterday I cut the new post to the length we need. Today I drilled the holes required to mount the post in the bracket, wire a light on the face of it, and bolt the beam to it once we get to that point in the project. I put two coats of primer paint on the wood. The primer paint is extra thick and will fill in all the little holes that were the result of the pressure treating. 

I'll probably put one or two more coats on tomorrow. 

The next step involved sanding and prepping the existing posts. I removed the remaining screws and bolts and patched the holes with wood putty.

One of the posts had a cosmetic crack in the wood on top. I used some wood glue and clamps to put it back together.

Everything was going well until I examined the two existing posts on the east side of the patio. After some poking around with a screwdriver, I determined the tops were rotted out.

My neighbors say the old pergola was installed back in the late 80's or early 90's. I want the new pergola to last at least that long. There is no point in cutting corners so I'm putting the project on hold until I can purchase two new posts. I'll just add the posts to the J&W Lumber order.

Every project always has unexpected additions. This is the first :)

Pergola Day 3 - Installing A Post

 Today I prepped for installing a third post along the east side of the patio. The third post will help support the expanded size of the pergola. The original pergola was designed to cover the jacuzzi. The new pergola will cover the entire patio.

I removed the plants along the fence, dug a hole, and used a concrete form to shape the footing prior to pouring in the concrete and installing the bracket that will hold the post. The pipe next to the footing is the existing wiring conduit that powers the lights and electrical outlet on the patio.

This photo shows the hole in relation to the existing post to the right of it.

The new post will line up with the two original posts along the fenceline. The next step is to visit Home Depot to buy some lumber.

Pergola Day 2 - Clearing Things Out

 Yesterday was pretty raining but I snuck out between storms to do a little tree trimming. There were some old branches that overhung the patio needed to be removed before we installed the pergola.  I tied a rope to each branch and used a sawzall to make the cut. Michelle held the rope and lowered the branch to the ground. See below for a before/after of the branches.

I saved the wood to chop up for firewood.

Later that day Michelle and I attended a presentation by the CEO of a group called Braver Angels. They are promoting healthy civic dialog. See below for a few slides from the presentation.

I'm interested in learning more about what they have in mind and will keep you posted if anything becomes of it.

Pergola Day 1 - Starting The 5th Project

My first retirement project was the construction of a deck on the front of the house. 

You can view the development of the deck through a series of blog posts found here. 

My second project was building a bench out of some remaining deckwood.

My third project involved installing and upgrading the outdoor lighting in the backyard.

My fourth project was to upgrade our "smart home". This project included installing security cameras, and implementing a Home Assistant server. A lot of work went into this project without any photos to share.

Yesterday I started my fifth project, a complete redesign of our backyard pergola. Our backyard had a pergola when we purchased the home in 2003.

After a while we removed the jacuzzi and expanded the patio area where it was previously located.

But after 25+ years, the original pergola was worn from the weather and termites. So it was time for it to go.

Our first step was to relocate the couches and plants from the patio area  to other areas in our backyard. You never really know how much of anything you have until you need to move it and this axiom applied for our patio. I underestimated how many potted plants we had.

I also had to move the decorative "window" we had on the patio. This window is the original dining room window from our house that was removed during the remodel 10 years ago.

The next step involved removing the existing light fixtures and outdoor speakers. By the way, the Infinity speakers in the wooden boxes still sound great after 25+ years so if you are looking for some outdoor speakers, you might want to check out this brand.

The next step involved removing the existing lattice and beams. I used a sawzall and impact driver to remove the screws and wood.

The posts are in great shape so I plan to re-use them.

I used the miter saw to saw up the wood into smaller pieces. I chopped up the boards that had less termite damage into cubes for use when we burn small fires in the solo stove on the front porch.

We burned some of the remaining wood in the larger backyard fire pit that night. 

We have enough scrap wood for at least 7 more fires. As always, Jack supervised the work taking place.

The next step is to lay some foundations for a couple of posts I need to install. More information to follow.

Flashback #1

It took 134 days since my retirement from San Diego Unified before I had my first work-related dream, and it was bizarre. Last night my brain decided to flash back a compilation of dozens of students I tried to help over 30 years. The dream made me feel an odd mixture of sadness and pride.

In my dream, I was a middle school administrator attempting to have a one-on-one conversation with a boy named Luis (Luis was his name in the dream, not in real life). I can remember his face and demeanor. He was like dozens of students I worked with: a little shy at times, wanting attention, loyal to his friends, mischievous, and in the school office because he was in trouble.

I was concerned with Luis' safety. I knew he had moved out of his parents' house and was living in a dilapidated apartment with yellow shingles and white trim. Earlier in the dream, I had made a home visit where I watched from a window as Luis sat on his bed surrounded by dirty clothes. He was huffing something out of a paper bag. We didn't speak, and I left the building. Now, I wanted to tell him what I saw, make sure he knew that I cared, and remind him I was willing to help if he wanted.

Luis and I were trying to have a one-on-one conversation, but we kept getting interrupted. For some reason, I didn't have my own office, so we were walking around the building looking for a space to borrow. Behind every door I opened was a different former student. In the dream, each student was a friend of Luis. In reality, the students never knew each other because they were from different years and decades. My relationship with them was the common denominator.

I used a strategy with Luis that I made up and utilized with dozens of students over the years. It basically involved inviting Luis into a conversation with agreed-upon ground rules. Each person would get to make a statement, and the other would respond with "yes," "no," or "pass." We would agree our conversation would stay in the space. I told him that I saw him in his apartment, that I thought I saw him getting high, and that I was worried about him. Luis said, "pass."

The crazy part was that the conversation took place in multiple pieces because as soon as we would start, we would get interrupted by another former student, and Luis and I would need to move to another space. At one point, I was interrupted by a teacher. The face of this teacher was a compilation of over a dozen old white male teachers that I have worked with over 30 years. The teacher was mad at Luis and insistent he be invited into the conversation. The teacher felt he deserved the right to know what Luis and I were talking about simply because he was an adult. I ended up arguing with the teacher and eventually directing him to leave, which he did in a huff.

Luis only made one statement to me. He said, "I think you are spending time with me because you care about me." I said, "yes."

In reality, no student ever said this to me, but I would like to believe they could have. Over the years, students I worked with would return to say hello. I'd like to think they came back to visit me because they valued and appreciated my commitment to them. Some of these same students were in my dream.

Every student in the dream had at one point in time been sent to my office for a problem they were experiencing. Every student in the dream was one who I felt connected to in real life and wanted to help. I can't remember the number of times I've asked students the following questions:

• What happened?
• How were you feeling at that time?
• What impact did your actions have on others?
• Knowing this, how do you feel now?
• How are you going to make things right?

Different years, different students, different scenarios, same questions, same order. At first, I carried a card in my pocket to remind me of the questions. Eventually, they became imprinted in my mind.

It's been 134 days since I retired from San Diego Unified. I began my career as a history teacher because I loved the content but soon realized I had a stronger connection to the students themselves. I became a middle school administrator so I could find students in difficult situations, listen to their thoughts, help them believe in themselves, hold them accountable, and advocate for their best interests when other adults would not.

Luis' statement to me in my dream was a bit of closure that my mind needed.

What's a deck for?

Wonder what Michelle and I do with our new deck? Check this out...

Deck Day 30 - Project Complete

Today we finished the final touches on the deck. Michelle removed the excess wood from the remaining plugs on the picture frame boards, sanded them down, and applied the penofin oil. I patched up a few holes on the leaky rain gutter and installed the low voltage wiring on the walkway.

After that, we sat on the deck by a small fire in our portable firepit and enjoyed the sunset. The exterior lighting lights up our walkway at night and creates a very relaxing scene. This is a view of the front yard through the front window of our home.

The deck took 30 days to construct... a little more than that if you include the extra time spent on the front end planning and researching. This was my first major construction project. It took longer than I thought and it required more learning than I imagined. There are parts of the deck that are not perfect but that is true for every construction project. For every error I created, I discovered a solution that would allow me to avoid the problem next time. In other words, this deck project was a "learning project".

Here are a couple of photos of us relaxing on the deck the day we finished it.

I enjoyed partnering with Michelle on the construction of the deck and I am very thankful for the friends who helped! I am very happy with the outcome. It's something Michelle and I will be able to enjoy for a lifetime.

Deck Day 29

A lot of work got done today and now we are 99.9% finished with the deck.

 this morning we laid down the long board that was going along the side of the house by the fence with our neighbor. I put a 45 on one end and screwed the corner down. I then had Michelle pulled the other end of the board and pull it towards the deck while I screwed additional screws in. This is the only way we knew to straighten it out. Once installed, it looked pretty nice! 

 The next step was to start cutting 45° angles in the remaining picture frame boards. Michelle treated each cat with a coating of wax to protect the boards.

I always get nervous making these cuts and even though I try my best but there's still room for growth. But in the end we were happy with what we ended up with! 

 we used our remaining piece of red mangarus to put a fascia on the back side of the step in the rear of the deck. No one will ever see it, but I will when I go to get something out of the storage area and it's a nice finishing touch the rim of the deck.

 we screwed every picture frame board in one at a time. This is a photo of me inserting the last screw into the deck.

The rest of the day was spent gluing plugs and pounding them into the screw holes. This is very monotonous work but Michelle helped me out by picking out the plugs prior to installation. All I had to do was pound them in with a hammer and a block of wood. 

 this is a photo of me pounding the plug into the last hole on the surface of the deck.

We are very excited with the results and can't wait for the furniture we've ordered. By the way, I can confirm we are starting to go crazy with this project because I lost my tape measure three times today. Not sure how that's even possible since I'm only in the front yard or the backyard but it happened.

 I took a few photos of the deck before the sunset.

 and then sat down for a drink and Michelle took a picture of me staring off into the horizon, relaxing while enjoying the fruits of our labor.

 Tomorrow we will Sand the plugs we installed and apply the final touches of oil to protect the wood. After that, I just need to install a couple of lights and this project is officially done!