The Grim Fabricator

Freedom from PG&E

In situ. Note Famous Green Jacket

We’ve had a few Scare the Air days (though in our hearts, every day is Scare the Air day…we apologize every time –roughly once a week–that we turn the key in the Bluebaru).

Friday, Charlie said: Let’s fix everything for once and for all on the wood stove.

We could survive a day of 46 degrees (F) in the house.

Plan: improve the flue-pipe with double walled stainless steel in the roof portion (thereby eliminating the problem of condensation), replace beat-up rotten galvanized coupler and reducer (the thing that marries 6″ pipe to 5″ pipe) with stainless steel double-walled.

“You find the coupler and reducer, I’ll work on the motor”.

Given my constitutional aversion to all kinds of profitable labor, it’s healthy if I do something , anything…I call this “mixed marital arts”. Hey, since I’m allergic to work, I can google about people who work. Call it my little contribution.

Called around in search of stainless goodies…got nowhere.

Eight stores had only galvanized pipe…and couldn’t say where I could find stainless…

The motorized vacuum assist (guarantees negative pressure to suck smoke up and out when you’re stoking the fire) needed be double insulation. But the pipe was nowhere to be purchased (except, perhaps, online=a week’s wait).

The next day when it became obvious that NO stores had what we needed, and the flu pipe lay in pieces on the floor, Charlie clicked into the big ring .

Dung beetle mode. If you can’t find what you need when you need it, just make it yourself.

How many people can say this?
This is precisedly the flip side of my tactic: hunker down and make do.

Forever, if necessary (see dumpster diving for food).
Some Marinites go to a restaurant when the power is out (this happens at least five times a year here).

When I got back from a fun two hour ride with a couple of ladis, he stalked past, muttering about being “the grim fabricator”. When he’s in full-on work mode his face is soft and pleasant. His movements purposeful. All is right with the world because he’s touching metal.

It gets uglywhen he has plenty of other work he’d rather be doing.
Its just that you can’t get any work done in a 40 degree shop without a warm inner hovel with extra shoes and socks warming on the stove. Grim indeed.