ShopTalk Sunday: Bye-Bye Deck, Hello Dry Rot, Weather Woo

USER HINT:  Right click with your mouse and – if you have Windows 10, select “Read Aloud” so you can watch the sun come up while drinking your coffee and having today’s column read to you.  (I have taken to this tool many times to help proof read this column.  Hasn’t helped, but I can drink coffee…)


Weather woo-woo?  Yeah, oddly.  And all swirling around my deck project.  Odd story with many moving parts, so let’s start with the weather angle.

You see, this is a rather circuitous ramble consisting of two parts.  The first of which is weather.  Which is divided and taken in two pieces.

No!  We are not talking about runaway climate hysteria.  Though we caught a whiff of it in  AccuWeather’s “Summer 2021 edges ‘Dust Bowl’ summer as hottest ever contiguous US.”

Clear Thinking pointer: Around here, a comparison where the “hottest ever” was by a miniscule one one-hundredth of ONE degree – whether it comes from NOAA or not – is likely disingenuous hypology at best or (more likely) crooked hysteria-whipping toward a political end, at worst.

Our measurement consciousness requires that any time a “science claim” is made data is inspected.  Stories using terms like “margin of error” (existent during the Dust Bowl), let alone no mention of 10-degree (and more) heat islanding changes, can only be viewed with suspicions normally reserved for Prince Andrew and Hunter Biden.  That said…

The second weather player is the weather just west of Cancun.  Where the remaining high functioning parts of NOAA have their eyes on the weather system which could turn into a tropical storm and which help power a very wet week ahead here in East Texas.  And inch – or more – is in the cards.

Part Two of the Shop Woo

15-years back, thereabouts, I built a really nice deck on the front of the house.  If you’ve been a long-term reader, you may remember Mr. Prideful’s picture of it:

Since that glorious beginning, Southern Weather (can’t bring myself to say “climate” without gagging) worked its magic.  Since we run a tree farm, renewables like wood do matter.

Out with the Old!

I am the “demon of demising.”

If you’re not familiar with the term, it pops out of commercial real estate when a Lessee is getting T.I. (tenant improvements) done.  One of the contractor line items is “demising the space” – which means getting it back to the original “as built” from which the new construction will begin.  (more demising details here).

Taking off the old deck this week began with the bare basics:

Not shown:  The pry and crow bars.

Once the tools had gotten the deck and building separated, it was time to bring in the real power tool to haul off the resulting mess:

OH that?  Mean the electric chainsaw in the bucket and the half-ladder?  You don’t seriously think I’m going to hand-carry (schlep)  things when I can drive all tools and materials around, do you?

A couple of cool mornings and it was done.  All but a few large pieces like this one…

(Blue Arrow in picture:  Recycled joists in good shape.)

The others were easily picked up by the “Iron Horse” and taken down to the burn pile.  Well away from the house.

Then came the inspections…how big would the dry rot problem be?

Actually, there was surprisingly little.  BUT there was SOME.

If you look carefully at the picture above, you’ll see this particular mobile home was sheathed with a 1980’s popular siding product which over time turns into a cardboard-like surface.  Keeps the weather out, sure.  BUT (Tip #1) if you ever purchase a mobile home (as in new) don’t buy anything that doesn’t have HardieBoard or HardiePlank.

(Tip #2)  The other thing is once you find dry rot, keep peeling things off until you get to good wood.

The white lines are where I will be cutting back to when the sun gets up a little more.

The name of the game here is to get everything open so you can see the problems, make good measurements and do a craftsman-like repair.

What had speeded up the premature aging of the deck was the run-off from the screen porch roof.  Unaddressed, it was simply a few thousand cycles of wet-the-dry.  Here’s another “work in progress shot…”

Circled area:  See how the top of the treated 2 by 8 joist was eaten by dry rot?

Good news is that none of the dry rot had gotten to anything structural.  As a result, I’ll be able to simply block-up a series of “nailers” and install new sheet goods.  Between some Bondo for the seams and caulking where needed, patching is a breeze.

(Tip #3)  Come back next Sunday and I’ll show you how to do a credible job of patching.  This is one of those skills picked up when young that has been one of the most useful of all…never fear an accidental hole in plasterboard (or plywood, or cheap mobile home siding or even sheet metal when doing body work) again!

Thoughts on Mobile Home Construction

To our thinking, mobile home, versus site-built, is a LOT like the differences in opinions between ultra-light sailing boats (*and catamarans) on the one hand, and deep displacement boats.

Theory of the catamaran crowd is that if you have a sailboat which can reliably make 20 knots, you can get safely out of the way when major weather systems come up.  Cut and Run.   The Deep Displacement crowd can’t do that – what being limited to hull speed (1.34 times the square root of the waterline length).  Instead of Cut an Run – because they’re too slow – the heavy displacement boat crowd just heaves-to and slugs it out.

How does this relate?

The Ure family – when comes to home construction – has been in both camps.

Pappy was a “hell-built for stout” fellow.  His idea of “decking” was quarter-inch spaced 2-by-4’s vertically.  He figures they would span 5-feet safely and that’s how the ramp into my childhood hillside home was constructed.

On the other side, I really LIKE mobile home construction.  Done right (which ours was sort of) they will carry the snow loads and such.  Remember, we had almost 10-inches of snow on our roof here last winter.

But the real attraction is less material.  Which means a little more engineering but a LOT better cost per square foot.

The two biggest improvements in mobile homes in the last 30-years have been the increased popularity of “Northern Insulation” packages (using a 5 1/2-inch sidewall.  The other has been the advent of “full height” interiors.  Mobile homes can feel “small” but that’s because (again, saving money and energy) the early ones had 6-foot 10-inch sidewalls.  Some even lower.

What’s Coming

Want to mention that there are some great technologies coming which could be applied in mobile homes, but even in site-built have a huge payoff in reduced energy costs while at the same time being much more resource efficient.

Take a look at the T-Stud website over here and prepare to have your mind opened.

I argued long ago (in a Peoplenomics report) that with the advent of monster-sized UHD TVs there’s no longer a need for windows, either

What comes in view is the windowless R30 sidewall home  (Even the studs from T-Stud can be R-19 and that’s with a thermal barrier so whole wall figures of 30 may be doable especially with spray-on foam in addition to fiberglass batting.  R50 in the Ceiling is just a matter of how much insulation you want to buy.

Learning from Disney

The reason I like mobile homes is they do just one thing very well.  They keep the weather out.

First time I made the mental leap from “hell built for stout” was when I studied a close-in aerial view of Disneyworld long ago.

What you’ll discover is that a lot of my favorite rides like Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion (escapes or Elaine calls it “transporting interiors”) look on the (unseen from the park) outside like industrial warehouse buildings.  Spoiler: They are.

Reading nearly a dozen books on Imagineering that has gone into it all is the realization that yep!  The main function of a building shell is to keep the weather out and contain hot and cold on the inside.

Which is why my friend Clayton had such a cool Barndominium, too.  Huge building. 60-year steel building, right?    Big enough for three SUVs and a good-sized tractor.  But also inside it was 3,000 square feet of living space with nearly that much storage overhead.  With 6 and 8-inch walls with meticulous craftsmanship, it was economical to cool and heat.

Clayton’s barndo  – like the rides at Disneyworld – was all about interior design.  His place went for a huge amount of money when sold. Because the interior was totally tricked-out and upscale. Just like Pirates or the Mansion are location scenes, that’s what Clayton’s place was.  Terrifically neat.  And fun to design and build.

Which circles back to the lesson.  I got so sick of people telling me “If you’re successful, how come you live in a trailer?

Pirates lives in a warehouse.  Your point?

People don’t understand as much as they think they do.  Elaine and I love being able to smash out walls and remodel a lot.  Because we don’t live in a box.  We live in a cross between linked dioramas and movie sets.

Now the Woo-Woo Part

I was thoroughly pissed Saturday morning.  The Scottish-surnamed lumber yard in Palestine, Texas screwed up and failed to get my $1,300 lumber order out Saturday.  So I called them up and being pissed, had them put the whole thing on hold.

We can have it out to you first thing Monday – that’s when it’s scheduled for…

“No.  It was scheduled for today.  Put the whole thing on hold. May have to cancel the whole project now…”

I was furious:  They were going to bring out my new siding in the rain?  Dump it onto what will be a muddy spot by then?  Nope.

Then it hit me.  This was a message from (Universe, God, the Dude):  “Slow down, George.  Not so fast.  I’m going to pace things for you.  You can work on your deck and siding next weekend…”

I’ve been accused by many of being hyperactive.  Almost drip energy at times.  Never been a “Stop and smell the roses” kind of guy.

Now, seems I don’t have a choice.  The trade-off is my grudging admission that all things are connected in the Universe.

But instead of stopping to smell roses, can I just stop and smell the sawdust, instead?


Of course he can!

Yeah, perhaps we’re all ruled by Zeus the Construction Supervising Cat.  He asked me to help him set up a SubStack site…say, you don’t think he’s going to go into competition with us, do you?

We just don’t know it.

Write when you get rich,

George@Ure.net

46 thoughts on “ShopTalk Sunday: Bye-Bye Deck, Hello Dry Rot, Weather Woo”

  1. Later this morning, go to space city weather – they will have some reliable data on the coming depression/storm.

    Yep – universe is looking out for you, so just smile and accept it with gratitude. I’ve got a torn quadriceps and it sucks – fell down the stairs in my house when the leg collapsed on me. I feel like I got a prison beatdown with a bag of soap. And now lots of PT coming to fix the thing too.

    I can’t get a tractor in my back yard here in the burbs – so my huge deck is coming out a bit at s time. Yesterday neighbor backed into and busted my mailbox – so bolted and stubbed another section to the broken off post, and then painted it all fresh. The 4×4 was scrap from the old deck, and the paint was leftover from the farm. So I did not buy another $30-40 mailbox gizmo.

    We are going to get drenched here either way the depression/storm goes – it’s just a matter of magnitude. OTOH, being out in the storm lets me retrench and revise my yard drainage while water is flowing – ends guessing.

    God is handy to have over your shoulder…

    • Glad I’m not the only nut that stands out in the rain and directs the runoff with whatever tool is at hand. Of course sometimes I’m a 60 year old child who likes to play in the mud…Washing the cars for a spot-free (we have awfully hard water) finish is a winner too.

      • Many years ago when mailbox bashing was the favorite Friday/Saturday night pastime, our mailbox was stolen, post and all. Found it two days later in a creek a mile from the house. That set me on a mission. I had an old mailbox in the barn that was the largest one available at the time, so I bought a slightly smaller one (2″ gap on all sides when the new was placed into the old), drilled through the bottom of both and put 5/16″ bolts through from the inside with nuts in between to act as standoffs. Then I cut a piece of 2 3/16″ oil well stem 4′ long and welded rebar triangles at the bottom of it and a 1/4″ steel plate to the top drilled to fit the mailbox bolts. The fun part was mixing and pouring the Sak Crete into the gap in the mailbox and tapping to be sure it went all the way around the bottom and end. I set the whole thing in a #3 wash tub and filled that with Sak Crete, letting it all cure for a couple of days. Then I dug out a slot in the embankment beside the road and slid the tub into place, covering the tub with dirt. The final touch was cutting a 3″ groove in a landscape timber to fit around the post so the steel pipe was not visible.
        Funny thing about that, my box is still there and undamaged after a good 15 years of service. No damage other than a little chipped paint occasionally. I can’t help wondering how many folks have nursed sore wrists after swinging a baseball bat at that box.

      • Olefart that reminds me of the county highway boys..
        They were horrible and mean.. while plowing the road they would clip this old farmers mailbox and bet on who could flip that thing the furthest.. the farmer would bitch and complain to all the authorities and they would claim that they couldn’t see it… so he got this long huge well pipe mounted his box on it and had a big red ball on top with streamers even..had the whole thing painted up like a barbers pole..
        One day one of the pole drivers went to clip and shoot the box into the field and hit that thing.. bent the plow and the frame of the truck..lol lol lol…it was hilarious and the driver got fired.. the mailbox wasn’t ever clipped again..lol lol lol
        I thought the whole lot should have been fired but hey.. he got the message across.. that thing would give me a chuckle every time I drove by..

    • Pappy taught me a valuable lesson in life once.
      “Never buy so much life insurance that it will be worth more than you are…alive!”

      Our thinking about Trex is based loosely on Pappy’s Parables like this.

      If I was 50? No problem. Trex is jim-fine-dandy stuff. Be an easy choice.

      That said, this is a deck going around a MOBILE HOME that just turned 30. Occupied by a couple almost 73 AND already 78.

      Putting on a 30-year roof only works because they only really last 20.

      Trex> It’ll outlive me.

      My Ego wants to outlive one more deck.

      Even using treated lumber was a tough call with you know who in office…

      • “Never buy so much life insurance that it will be worth more than you are…alive!”

        So true.. what I find funny is.. for the average wage earner.. insurance sales people push to sell a huge policy with the sales pitch that you can help those you love with expenses etc…. but for an average wage earner.. the money will go to hospitals and doctors..( around here every doctor in a hospital system sends a bill for consultation.. they drain any funds there are.. the gent living with us.. his wife got sick.. worked for the hospital as a nurse.. they dropped her from the insurance as soon as she got sick.. in the end.. they took his quarter section of land his rental house and his company assets.. he lost everything. when he came to live with us all he had was two changes of clothing and a small box of things to remind him of the life he had..)
        Our life insurance policies are just enough to bury you..( funeral homes also sell these prepaid policies) when we go the funeral home cashes them in.. takes out their funeral expenses and the rest the lawyers, doctors and hospitals can fight over..
        If you have money in the bank and intend to pass some of it off.. start now.. I think you can give ten grand a year.. but it has to be what is it seven years before you die.. that is why I will sell my home to the grandchild that needs it the most for a little bit.. they will own it and hopefully I will live seven years beyond that..) Its all a business model.. none of it set up for the little guy and the big guys loose it to… If you do make it to a nursing home if one isn’t gone then you will pay a quarter mil per person for care not counting laundry and doctors medicine etc.. one tylenol a day was twenty years ago ten dollars a tablet.. go figure..

      • So you are in favor of the 100-year toaster and yet advocate planned obsolescence of your deck? Cognitive dissonance?

  2. That is one beautiful hammock. Being in my 70’s, getting on & off of a hammock can be quite a chore. I was never really any good at getting on & off when I was younger either, but it didn’t hurt as much to land on the ground. But the comfort is worth the tussle.

    I’ll be looking forward to tip #3 next week. Patching has always been one of my trouble areas. I start out fine & then it continually goes to hell as the spackle hits the air.

    • When I would try to get out of a hammock we had a few years back everyone seemed to enjoy watching me fall on my ass. I was reminded I resembled a descriptive phrase my dad often used about a monkey having relations with a rolling do-nut.

  3. Seems ALL services are becoming more NONservices. The family-run lumber yard closest used to be 20 miles to the nearest little town and was a great place to go. Just like when we were kids and tagged along with dad or grandpa to buy hardware, paint and lumber but sadly they fell to so-called progress and old age I presume.

    I had a big project last fall for an extension to the machine barn and ended up going 30 miles to the big box store that I will forever have an extremely Lowes opinion of. The same issue as yours, showed up 2 days late and was in the process of just dumping the load in my drive lane a couple of hundred feet from the site before I stopped them. The driver gets an attitude when I told him where to put it so he was given the choice of placing it there or where the sun don’t shine. Once it was off the truck and I got some of the bands cut off I discovered that half of the lumber was unusable due to cracks and twists. Several calls later I was credited back for 1/2 the cost of the lumber and the pile of kindling sat there for 3 weeks until I finally got tired of waiting and piled it by the woodpile. I doubt they plan to come back to get it since it’s been nearly a year. Ended up buying the rest of what I needed from the Mennonite fellows who delivered the steel roofing. Fine fellows by the way.

    Given the way the world is going I suspect this will only get to be worse.

  4. I’ve never understood decks! They are all under the hot sun and rain, and at night there are bugs. You generally can’t walk on them barefoot without the chance of splinters.

    Personally, I’d put the effort into overhead protection from sun, rain, and snow. closing three sides generally keeps the worst of the weather where you can watch it without being in it. Leaving the north side open might be counterintuitive, but you avoid the heat from the low angled sun – the western sun is the worst! A metal roof structure gets my vote.

    Once that’s done, a concrete patio under the roof makes sense. Then you can stuff all your extras under it.

    I have to agree on windows. They’re fenestrations(holes) in your house and are both expensive and a security risk. Monitors work just as well. Unfortunately, every woman I’ve ever known loves windows, and most building codes insist on big ones. Of course, ventilation is a must, but it can be powered or convective without windows. I’ve not opened a window here in decades nor opened a curtain, so their only reason to exist is to make the house look “normal”.

    Good luck next weekend. If the weather seems right for you, I’d order the delivery for Thursday or Friday, not Saturday.

  5. George, I am very thankful you regularly post your projects because, one I can see your pride in your work and two I am constantly learning from a “do-er”.

    I appreciate the saga of the Ure Country Club, Tree Farm and Zeus-landia deck because you build well and are not afraid to show and tell the failure points. So little dry rot… so (relatively) little secondary damages to fix…

  6. Lookey hear Tex, you are in a perfect position – Ure set up is complete, nice work.

    Now is the time to recheck the Ure homeowners policy for all things Storm/Weather/Water Damage/Wind Damage related.
    Not only is the pending tropical storm going to wipeout Ure exterior structures, the lightening strikes are most assuredly going to fry Ure older electronics..

    Will need to make sure You have photos of everything in pre storm condition, make sure photos do not show any pre-cuts in the trees/timber around house.
    Thinking you should claim roof damage = new roof, decks damaged/torn off = new decks,new computer, routers, antenna’s and some old radio gear will need to be replaced due storm damage

    Remember the golden rule of insurance claims -P6
    ..prior proper planing prevents pisspoor performance –

    “Plan” that storm damage, like RKM planed covert19.(rothchildkazrianmafia)

    Also want to make sure of Quick and easy conversion of Ure newly minted FIAT(insurance settlement from storm damage) into a real currency you can actually use in the near future.

    Now dont forget the Bitcoinz, bbbbbullish, very bullish, as I watch the churning consolidation – fed taper on the horizon/ Nov.
    ..No relief 4 stackers, as keep buying phyz SILBER..’no pain, no gain trade” – this Silber Knight trades the worthless paper for super valuable Silber.

    REAL Currency in the REAL Wolrd behind the “curtains” – Platin, Gold, Silber, Blood/Fluids, “Loosh” = nrg

    We R ! “their” business model.

    Anyone know positron anti matta nukes ? size of a matchbook ? crickets ..
    surely someone has read-in black laser anti aircraft weapon systems ? crickets..

    knowledge is power, gonna need share knowledge to get thru whats coming – the hateful marduk returned..

    • “Now is the time to recheck the Ure homeowners policy for all things Storm/Weather/Water Damage/Wind Damage related.”

      Absolutely.. do that once a year..

  7. I just saw this & have to pass it on:

    United 93. So Brave!!
    Todd: Hello… Operator…listen to me…I can’t speak very loud. – This is an emergency. I’m a passenger on a United flight to San Francisco.. We have a situation here….Our plane has been hijacked…..can you understand me?
    Lisa: (exhaling a deep breath to herself) I understand… Can the hijackers see you talking on the phone?
    Todd: No
    Lisa: Can you tell me how many hijackers are on the plane?
    Todd: There are three that we know of.
    Lisa: Can you see any weapons? What kind of weapons do they have?
    Todd: Yes…. they don’t have guns….they have knives – they took over the plane with knives.
    Lisa: Do you mean…like steak knives?
    Todd: No, these are razor knives…like box cutters.
    Lisa: Can you tell what country these people are from?
    Todd: No…..I don’t know. They sound like they’re from the mid-east.
    Lisa: Have they said what they want?
    Todd: Someone announced from the cockpit that there was a bomb on board. He said he was the captain and to stay in our seats and stay quiet.
    He said that they were meeting these men’s demands and returning to the airport… It was very broken English, and… I’m telling you…it sounded fake!
    Lisa: Ok sir, please give me your name.
    Todd: My name is Todd Beamer.
    Lisa: Ok Todd….my name is Lisa…Do you know your flight number? If you can’t remember, it’s on your ticket.
    Todd: It’s United Flight 93.
    Lisa: Now Todd, can you try to tell me exactly what happened?
    Todd: Two of the hijackers were sitting in first class near the cockpit. A third one was sitting near the back of the coach section. The two up. front got into the cockpit somehow; there was shouting. The third hijacker said he had a bomb. It looks like a bomb. He’s got it tied to his waist with a red belt of some kind.
    Lisa: So is the door to the cockpit open?
    Todd: No, the hijackers shut it behind them.
    Lisa: Has anyone been injured?
    Todd: Yes, ..they…they killed one passenger sitting in first class. There’s been lots of shouting. We don’t know if the pilots are dead or alive. A flight attendant told me that the pilot and copilot had been forced from the cockpit and may have been wounded.
    Lisa: Where is the 3rd hijacker now Todd?
    Todd: He’s near the back of the plane. They forced most of the passengers into first class. There are fourteen of us here in the back. Five are flight attendants. He hasn’t noticed that I slipped into this pantry to get the phone. The guy with the bomb ordered us to sit on the floor in the rear of the plane……….oh Jesus.. Help!
    Lisa: Todd….are you ok? Tell me what’s happening!
    Todd: Hello…..We’re going down….I think we’re going to crash……Wait – wait a minute. No, we’re leveling off….we’re ok. I think we may be turning around…..That’s it – we changed directions. Do you hear me….we’re flying east again.
    Lisa: Ok Todd…. What’s going on with the other passengers?
    Todd: Everyone is… really scared. A few passengers with cell phones have made calls to relatives. A guy, Jeremy, was talking to his wife just before the hijacking started. She told him that hijackers had crashed two planes into the World Trade Center……Lisa is that true??
    Lisa: Todd…..I have to tell you the truth…..it’s very bad. The World Trade Center is gone. Both of the towers have been destroyed.
    Todd: Oh God —help us!
    Lisa: A third plane was taken over by terrorists. It crashed into the Pentagon in Washington DC. Our country is under attack….and I’m afraid that your plane may be part of their plan.
    Todd: Oh dear God. Dear God…….Lisa, will you do something for me?
    Lisa: I’ll try….if I can….Yes.
    Todd: I want you to call my wife and my kids for me and tell them what’s happened. Promise me you’ll call..
    Lisa: I promise – I’ll call.
    Todd: Our home number is 201 353-1073…….You have the same name as my wife…Lisa….We’ve been married for 10 years. She’s pregnant with our 3rd child. Tell her that I love her…….(choking up)..I’ll always love her..(clearing throat) We have two boys.. David, he’s 3 and Andrew, he’s 1…..Tell them……(choking) tell them that their daddy loves them and that he is so proud of them. (clearing throat again) Our baby is due January 12th…..I saw an ultra sound…..it was great….we still don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy………Lisa?
    Lisa: (barely able to speak) I’ll tell them, I promise Todd.
    Todd: I’m going back to the group—if I can get back I will…
    Lisa: Todd, leave this line open…are you still there?……
    Lisa: (dials the phone..) Hello, FBI, my name is Lisa Jefferson, I’m a telephone supervisor for GTE. I need to report a terrorist hijacking of a United Airlines Flight 93….Yes I’ll hold.
    Goodwin: Hello, this is Agent Goodwin.. I understand you have a hijacking situation?
    Lisa: Yes sir, I’ve been talking with a passenger, a Todd Beamer, on Flight 93 who managed to get to an air phone unnoticed.
    Goodwin: Where did this flight originate, and what was its destination?
    Lisa: The flight left Newark New Jersey at 8 A.M. departing for San Francisco. The hijackers took over the plane shortly after takeoff, and several minutes later the plane changed course – it is now flying east.
    Goodwin: Ms. Jefferson…I need to talk to someone aboard that plane. Can you get me thru to the planes phone?
    Lisa: I still have that line open sir, I can patch you through on a conference call…hold a mo…..
    Todd: Hello Lisa, Lisa are you there?
    Lisa: Yes, I’m here. Todd, I made a call to the FBI, Agent Goodwin is on the line and will be talking to you as well.
    Todd: The others all know that this isn’t your normal hijacking. Jeremy called his wife again on his cell phone. She told him more about the World Trade Center and all.
    Goodwin: Hello Todd. This is Agent Goodwin with the FBI. We have been monitoring your flight. Your plane is on a course for Washington, DC. These terrorists sent two planes into the World Trade Center and one plane into the Pentagon. Our best guess is that they plan to fly your plane into either the White House or the United States Capital Building.
    Todd: I understand…hold on……I’ll…….I’ll be back..
    Lisa: Mr. Goodwin, how much time do they have before they get to Washington?
    Goodwin: Not long ma’am. They changed course over Cleveland; they’re approaching Pittsburgh now. Washington may be twenty minutes away.
    Todd: (breathing a little heavier) The plane seems to be changing directions just a little. It’s getting pretty rough up here. The plane is flying real erratic….We’re not going to make it out of here. Listen to me….I want you to hear this….I have talked with the others….we have decided we would not be pawns in these hijackers suicidal plot.
    Lisa: Todd, what are you going to do?
    Todd: We’ve hatched a plan. Four of us are going to rush the hijacker with the bomb. After we take him out, we’ll break into the cockpit. A stewardess is getting some boiling water to throw on the hijackers at the controls. We’ll get them….and we’ll take them out. Lisa, …..will you do one last thing for me?
    Lisa: Yes…What is it?
    Todd: Would you pray with me?
    They pray: Our father which art in Heaven
    Hallowed be thy name,
    Thy kingdom come, thy will be done
    on earth as it is in heaven.
    Give us this day our daily bread,
    And forgive us our trespasses
    As we forgive our trespassers,
    And lead us not into temptation
    But deliver us from evil
    For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory
    Forever…..Amen
    The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…
    He makes me to lie down in green pastures
    He leads me beside the still waters
    He restores my soul
    He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for His name’s sake
    Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
    I will fear no evil, for thou art with me…..
    Todd: (softer) God help me…Jesus help me….(clears throat and louder)
    Are you guys ready?……..
    Let’s Roll……

    • The high-jackers pray to God also — who does (HE/SHE/IT) favor? Similar, during the world wars both parties in the game prayed to the same God.

      It’s all too complex to think about. Jesus said that the Father (i.e. God) and I are one; Ought to apply
      to each and every one of us humans, IMHO.

    • The “high”-jackers pray to God also — who does (HE/SHE/IT) favor? Similar, during the world wars both parties in the game prayed to the same God.
      It’s all too complex to think about. Jesus said that the Father (i.e. God) and I are one; Ought to apply
      to each and every one of us humans, IMHO.

    • Having worked Film/TV and Theatre for almost 15 years and being mostly on-set or rehearsals I read many scripts.
      I call B.S. on veracity of story. Can you verify?

      • If I remember back 20 years correctly, after his mother heard what was said on the call, she said, “Sounds just like something Todd would do”. He was a hero. Veracity is 100%.

      • Well, I thought the transponders were turned off on all flights but it seems like the FBI knew exactly where this flight was. The excuse that day is the Airforce couldn’t scramble cause they didn’t know where this flight was.

        Lots of arguments whether any cell phone calls could be made from that flight.

    • I don’t know about the veracity of this “Let’s Roll” story. Possibly a ‘feel good’ story to cover the facts. There was a fighter jet in the area spotted by people on the ground. The tail of flight 93 was found in a lake several miles from the crash site. It is apparent that flight 93 was shot down and lost it’s tail… hence the arrow-dive straight down into the ground.

  8. DJ George you got cat class and you got cat style (Stray Cat strut)!:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEtbfzMLVWU

    Personally, I would be switching to weather proof composite decking, but some of us like to learn the hard way lol..

    For GA Stewart, on Century III-59, scroll down to III-59:
    https://books.google.com/books?id=bjtOIDwepeUC&pg=PT233&lpg=PT233&dq=barbare+empire+par+le+tiers+usurpe&source=bl&ots=pTUVD-4138&sig=ACfU3U08sKuObn1awv9P7cFT1-uTDn1RrQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiHpPveh_ryAhVWIDQIHUZQDCsQ6AF6BAgQEAM#v=onepage&q=barbare%20empire%20par%20le%20tiers%20usurpe&f=false

  9. You’ve heard people whine about NBC, or CNN, or NewsCorp, or the “fact we get our news from only 5 sources,” or whatever.

    Lemmee ‘splain here, exactly how this works:

    The CIA has assets in over 150 local and national newsrooms.

    George Soros, whose agencies often work with the USG, especially USAID and the CIA, has assets in over 400 local and national newsrooms.

    These “assets” are (for wont of a better term) “compliance officers.” They get paid a couple hundred bucks a month, simply to “tattle” to their handlers, when the daily “talking points” and “newsworthy information” don’t make it into the newscasters’ scripts. Because they only report when “something is not there,” the CIA finks are technically not “spying…”

    A majority of news directors/editors/writers in the United States get their daily briefing & talking points from a website:

    They receive an E-Mail containing a website URL.

    The website only exists for a few hours. It is never cached, and once gone, can never be reproduced or revisited (or used as evidence…)

    It includes “suggested verbiage,” and “daily catchphrases.” “Suggested verbiage” is a copy-able / paste-able “capsule” of each slice of the daily “news” (this is why you can hit ABC, CNN, the WaPo, and a hundred “locals,” and grep a transcript of an event which is word-for-word identical. “Daily catchphrases” is why you can hit Maddow, Cuomo, any anchor on nearly any cable news service, and your local “5 o’clock-er” and they will be using the exact same descriptive words or catchphrases, which you didn’t hear yesterday, and won’t hear again after next week.) It is also why some “news” originates at a place like CNN, THEN hits the AP or Reuters Wire Services.

    I do not know who writes the stories, creates the talking points, and invents the catchphrases, then builds the daily news distro portal.

    What I DO know is he/she/they are higher up the food chain than George Soros, and much higher up than any of the wankers in D.C.

      • I can’t, and if I could, I would have long-since been suicided.

        The above should be considered “only my best guess.”

      • During the Reagan era, the R’s employed teams of clinical psychologists to try figure out what made their marks tick. Doing simple tests to determine reactions to keywords and phrases, the R’s head shrinks took two popular words, family & values, and came up with the most popular political catch-phrase ever. The R’s then rebuilt their failing gang around a catch phrase – family values.
        A lot of the current talking points and phrases of the day sound very similar to what the R’s were doing in the day, only now the news media is more heavily and closely integrated into the propaganda machine. You hear the talking head lawyer gang front men say the words, and the newsroom whores confirm that it is all real. Apparently, good old clinical psychology for the masses still reels ’em in at the polls.
        Taking a walk on the paranoid delusion side, we must address who is running the show. The DNC ? Unlikely- they aren’t all that bright or disciplined. The C_A? They certainly have the financial network in place. But the coordination of this effort down to the local level requires so much data gathering and analysis. Can humans really do something like this? Not without assistance.
        When you go back to the Snowden episode, you are reminded of the now defunct TV series, Person of Interest, which featured warring AI’s moving pawns about the landscape like a realtime game board. The scenario Ray is describing sounds like season of Person of Interest episodes. So which inhuman intelligence is running the show? The C_A bested the N_A in the Snowden episode.
        I want to remind the readers (or at least two readers) that this scenario is Ray’s creation, and he is probably a greater threat to world domination than myself. I meant that as compliment, Ray. Really.

      • “I want to remind the readers (or at least two readers) that this scenario is Ray’s creation, and he is probably a greater threat to world domination than myself. I meant that as compliment, Ray. Really.”

        I know…

        BTW, have never seen an episode of PoI…

    • You know.. that is what I was told this last weekend from someone that would know about the WASP van’s that are being taken from community to community across the nation..
      they become the first connection point in a tower communications.. to log and record all information transmission.. then report any key phrases heard.. if there are enough then they send in the manned listening stations..

      https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/confused-federal-agents-unable-to-determine-which-unmarked-van-in-dhs-garage-is-theirs

      https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0927/technology-x-rays-homeland-security-aclu-drive-by-snooping.html?sh=3f159b26768e

      We actually didn’t know it was a snooper van.. we thought it might be criminals trying to locate future victims.. and it wasn’t just here it was all our neighboring communities..

    • Nice summary Ray, most won’t believe a word of it but it’s 100% accurate. The lies are big and the evil is bigger. Had a marine work for me in 2003, told me he was part of detail providing security for some air force personnel that were carrying laser targeting equipment. They were air dropped into agstan a couple days before 9/11. Didn’t really understand what he was telling me at the time. THINGS ARE NOT WHAT WE THINK

  10. yep fark biden and everyone around him. in 2012 i was in washington. i was taken for a week by a professor of archeology , ezekel someone , great man , tough story around one of my favourite cities . in the smithsonian museum of american history., i walked into the exhibition of the american flag from fort mckinley , the one the guy wrote the anthem over . i was amazed , i called my wife , there were people sitting reverently and singing the anthem over and over . i said to her those people are real americans they really love that flag . i have always said patriotism is the last bastion of tyranny . but when genuine it is impressive and life changeing . america will survive

  11. Hi, George,

    I have an outdoor patio off the kitchen that has a pitched roof with a ceiling fan over a brick flooring. It is lovely. I only wish that it could be enclosed on the north side and the east side, but, maybe some day. A hammock hangs at the north side, a grill rests on the east side, and table with eight chairs sit in the middle. I have a lovely eastern view of a mountain and a ridge. Nearby is a fire pit; not under the patio. The autumn nights are fabulous for star gazing.

    • A few 2 by 4’s, some framing angles, and sheets of 7/16ths siding and it could all be enclosed.
      Shjop the local craigslist for used windows, or update some in the house and use those for the new “room…”

  12. “I’ve been accused by many of being hyperactive. …”

    ROFL – Yes, George, you’re a Carrera. Your speedometer starts at 100. We wouldn’t have this website to learn from each other if you were in any way different.

  13. George;
    CATS rule the universe. Always have,always will. They keep us around for comedy and a bit of Drama..
    Yes universe talks to us, but few actually Listen.
    Good For You.
    Jesse

  14. “USER HINT: Right click with your mouse and – if you have Windows 10, select “Read Aloud” ”

    I have Windows 10 but see NO option for it ;-(

  15. “Take a look at the T-Stud website over here and prepare to have your mind opened.”
    I for one didn’t know they made them commercially.. but when I built our home years ago
    I actually did that through out the house when I built it years ago.. every four feet..at the time when I was laying up the wall panels I thought it would make a sturdier panel and since all my panels were approximately eight and ten feet I didn’t want any flex when being placed.. and I put up cross bracing as well.. (cross bracing made the walls heavier than hell though almost to much for one person to place.. for the one in the dining room it was so heavy that I had to help a couple guys take down a tree so they would help lift it into place) the same with the garage.. the panel for the door opening was so heavy.. luckily the guy witha front end loader seen me struggling and came with his tractor to help get it up into place..

Comments are closed.