davidd's A DOLL A DAY 2024

[Alliecat]

Looking forward to seeing what this "dollhouse" turns into!
Maybe Janie would be more enthused if it was a house for her.  I assume it's 1/6 though?

D'you think anyone on that site would want to house sit a couple of cats for three weeks, or six weeks, or nine weeks in mid-winter? I've been looking at "discount cruises" online, and it turns out that one of my "life goals," an around the world cruise, might be more affordable than I ex-pected. Well... not exactly "affordable," but "less hideously ex-pensive."

Holy jumpin.  AROUND THE WORLD?? 

No, sitters aren't paid.  I'm surprised that isn't clear, but I haven't looked at the homeowner info pages.  We are ex-pected to do our own grocery shopping but often HO's will say "eat anything" in the fridge or cupboards; I haven't yet had someone tell me food is off limits.  If you eat the HO's food it is ex-pected -- and common courtesy -- to re-stock what you ate.

Leaving a car is up to the HO.  Depends on one's insurance and level of comfort in letting a stranger use their car.  The second TX couple offered, but only days before I was set to come, so of course I'd already rented one.  I have insurance for non-owned vehicles but generally prefer to rent because if something happened to the car I'd rather it was a rental and just on my side of things and not the HO's car because then that's a potential blot on my sitter record.  That would be something to work out individually with the sitter.
FOUR HOURS from an airport?  Yikes.  Worse than here.  I take it no connecting flights to your lil local airstrip 
Well, but look at the fabulous countryside and all the parks & canyons for people to ex-plore.  Someone interested in seeing the area might well be happy to have a base to sightsee from.  As for "lower-middle-class", well, as long as the place is clean, not bug-infested or stinky or freezing or full of trash... seriously, sitters just want a clean comfortable place to stay.  Posh McMansions are nice, but, there are lots of definitely-not-posh places listed.  I saw one in NS that was an off-grid tiny house where you had to haul water and it might've had an outhouse!  I don't know if she got a sitter!!

Also a lot of people prefer to sit cats because they're less demanding and don't need three 2-hour walks every day starting at 6 a.m. and be let in & out 15 times a day to pee, and sitters could go off and ex-plore that fabulous landscape and the cats would be OK for a few hours alone.

You could always try.  I think they have some sort of refund/guarantee if a HO doesn't get any applications (?).
This "should be" the discount link:  https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/refe...=copy-link&utm_medium=refer-a-friend&utm_campaign=refer-a-friend

On the subject of housesitting, I had a s**tshow of a sit on the weekend.  The cat & dog for the folks up the road again.  While I ex-pected the traffic noise, I did not ex-pect the absolutely thunderous stereo right next door, from the trashpile "house" some guys are trying to fix up.  It ran for about 15 hours out of the 27 that I was there.  I cannot seem to escape ridiculous noise no matter where I go 
And THEN, the dog got attacked by a couple of off-leash monsters and I spent the rest of the time doing first-aid duty.  Thank goodness it was just one night and now the owners are back to keep an eye on whether the hole in her leg gets infected.  [Insert Very Long Rant about idiots who let their large dogs run off-leash in public places, don't make an effort to grab them when they first show interest in other dogs/people, and then basically run away after it happens.  ]

One example of a "sitter" that I read said she only accepts pet-sits that are beachfront in tropical locations.

Hahaha, wut.  I wanna read that profile!

If When I get to a point where I don't have to use any house-sits for house-hunting, maybe I'll get pickier and only apply for beachfront McMansions 

[davidd]

Maybe Janie would be more enthused if it was a house for her.  I assume it's 1/6 though?

The Smart Dolls actually have a room box, complete with furniture... but as tends to happen with such spaces, it is currently filled with unrelated random rubbish.

---

27 August - A Doll A Day 2024:

.

Assembling Window Frames in 1/6-scale

[Alliecat]

To be covered with curtains?

[davidd]

To be covered with curtains?

Probably roll-up blinds.

And window screens.

Thus...

---

28 August - A Doll A Day 2024:

.

Tulle: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone

.

Tulle isn't usually a guy thing, but it has its uses.

[Alliecat]

As someone with a sleep disorder and currently completely f***ed up schedule, my first thought was that the photo looked appropriate for the "forbidden zone".

[davidd]

As someone with a sleep disorder and currently completely f***ed up schedule, my first thought was that the photo looked appropriate for the "forbidden zone".

Perhaps you should invest in a canopy bed draped in privacy netting to create the proper mood for restful slumber.  

I've read various articles about sleep over the years. I found the approach attributed to Thomas Edison to be interesting. Some sources say Edison slept only 4 hours per night on average, and sprinkled a few "cat naps" of 20 to 40 minutes throughout the day, and as a result he was highly productive and endlessly energetic. I recall an article (I cannot find it now) in which an author claimed to have followed Edison's formula and it worked; it worked so well that he ended up going back to a regular sleep schedule because he claimed he "ran out of things to do."

I've also read articles about "the wee hours of the morning," and how in earlier eras it was common to go to sleep relatively early, but then to wake up in the hours between midnight and 3am or 4am and use that time in productive ways: creating, painting, reading, studying, whatever one does that is creative or productive. Then one would go back to sleep for another two or three hours.

When I do not get enough sleep I am cranky, grumpy, and unproductive.

So... I dunno.

---

29 August - A Doll A Day 2024:
.

Trivia affixes new date tags to a license plate.
.

---

30 August - A Doll A Day 2024:

.

Preliminary Prep Work

.

Janie and Triv take preliminary measurements for a potentially ginormous task; the first and least ginormous of several possible tasks Janie is optimistically intending to accomplish before the snow flies.

[Alliecat]

Perhaps you should invest in a canopy bed draped in privacy netting to create the proper mood for restful slumber. 

Oh yeah, that would solve ALLLL my problems

Those girls really do it all. Are you building another cabin?

[davidd]

Are you building another cabin?

It's time to replace a deck... before somebody (probably me) falls through it.

Then... the roof needs attention.

Then... siding... maybe?

And then... ... ... 

---

31 August - A Doll A Day 2024:

.

"Where is all this water coming from?"

Janie notices a leak in a grey-water drain line. That's one more task to add to the endless list of maintenance tasks.

[Alliecat]

Oh no! Ever think of getting a condo with a HOA where someone else does all the work??
I’m glad I don’t have any more decks to replace. BT,DT, twice, including one with the “almost ready to fall through it”.

[davidd]

Oh no! Ever think of getting a condo with a HOA where someone else does all the work??  
I’m glad I don’t have any more decks to replace. BT,DT, twice, including one with the “almost ready to fall through it”.

Association fees that can increase without notice. Mandatory assessments for building repairs that exceed the HOA account balance. Nit-picky neighbors whose primary joy in life is calling out others for HOA violations. Everything painted a neutral beige or grey color. Yeah, uhhh... no thanks!

Then again... clubhouse, swimming pool, proximity to shopping – I'm probably dismissive only because I can't afford the HOA community lifestyle!  

You've replaced decks twice? The same deck? Or different sections? 

I was pricing out synthetic deck planks, the ones made from "recycled" plastic or whatever, that supposedly "last forever and never need painting." I thought they used to cost about twice what regular lumber planks cost. Now that synthetic stuff costs five times what plain ol' boards cost. Needless to say, even factoring in the absurd price of paint and stain, I'll be going with plain ol' boards.

If I actually decide to do it. Or if I can convince Janie and Triv to do it.

---

1 September - A Doll A Day 2024:

.

It's a Lead Pipe Cinch

.

Janie cuts out a broken section of greywater drain pipe.

It's a plastic pipe, not a lead pipe.

The greywater pipe drains the clothes washer and irrigates some poplar trees. The previous owner set up the schlocky system, but the trees are thriving.

[Alliecat]

Ha ha ha, HOA is a no for me as well. I’m not buying a place if I then have to pay rent on it!   Just thought I’d contribute to the body of bad property suggestions.
Front and back decks. And yeah, composite is ridiculously ex.pensive. Regular building materials are ridiculously ex.pensive. I’ve also heard that composite is very slippery when wet.
My dishwasher, clothes washer, and kitchen sink go to gray water. I kind of doubt that was even code, although that might have been different at the time… But the builder was a doofus.

[davidd]

I’ve also heard that composite is very slippery when wet.

My dishwasher, clothes washer, and kitchen sink go to gray water. I kind of doubt that was even code, although that might have been different at the time… But the builder was a doofus.

Good point about the composite being slippery! My brother is a professional roofer. Six or so months ago a ladder he had set up on a composite deck slipped out from under him and he fell, breaking his wrist and his ankle. So yeah, thanks for the reminder. Things are slick enough around here in the winter with ice and snow. There's no point in spending extra money to make it worse.

Sounds like my house. Random drains are channeled to greywater. Supposedly everything was built "to code" but if that were the case, a lot of it was "rebuilt" much more "creatively" over time.

---

2 September - A Doll A Day 2024:

.

Life in the Trenches

.

Janie decided that having the greywater drain ex-posed on the top of the ground probably wasn't such a good idea, so as part of the repair process she roped Triv in to helping her extend and bury the drain lines in shallow trenches.

[Alliecat]

Great perspective. Everything looks in scale with them.
I would think you’d need a fairly deep trench to keep things from freezing up in those miserable winters?
Curious what the white thing is.

[davidd]

I would think you’d need a fairly deep trench to keep things from freezing up in those miserable winters?
Curious what the white thing is.

The drain pipe has been on top of the ground. I guess because it drains rather than holding standing water the freezing weather isn't a problem. It's buried now, but not very deep.

The white object is a 500 gallon propane gas tank.

---

3 September - A Doll A Day 2024:

.

"Plans? What plans?"

.

The blueprints Frank discovered cannot possibly be for the surf shop diorama build... can they? Doesn't matter, it's too late now!

[Alliecat]

Too late?  Did you abandon that project?

The drain pipe has been on top of the ground. I guess because it drains rather than holding standing water the freezing weather isn't a problem. It's buried now, but not very deep.

The white object is a 500 gallon propane gas tank.

Huh.  Yes, I suppose if there's enough of a slope for it to drain before it starts to gel, then you wouldn't have a problem.  No idea what happens to mine. 

Ah, of course.  I thought it might be a spaceship. 
I guess you could still launch it into orbit if you did the right wrong [?] thing