# Meh - Just a little clean up



## Foozer (Jul 4, 2019)

When the 'Bride' gives the you the side eye as to the chips and debris that track into the house, it becomes time appease. My hide-away is just a little 8 X 16 room off the garage, raw concrete just doesn't take to a sweeping too well. Emptied it to do something with the floor [Might as well paint the walls while I'm at it]
Now the mind goes - Diamond grind the floor and hard epoxy coat it - Nope, not going there - Hit the floor with a ceramic belt on the belt sander just enough to knock down the proud points and scuff up the remains of the previous surface coat. Didn't take long to conclude that a little water to cut the dust down just make mud pies, so to get it done went for the no water dust cloud route. The old carpet cleaner worked fine to suck up the residue from the floor. 
Nothing fancy - Paint the walls, scuff the floor and apply a couple coats of 50 buck garage floor paint. Least now should sweep better, reduce the 'Brides' side eye and now that it's empty can organize it to include my coffee pot .

Dust - That stuff gets everywhere . . .


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## Foozer (Jul 6, 2019)

After a few days to let the paint setup, time to put stuff back. Course 'bout half the stuff yarded out went into the back of the truck for a dump run. You collect stuff thinking you'll need it only to crowd yourself out of what used to be a comfortable environment.

Floor sweeps up much nicer now - -

 Naturally in the rearrangement the 'Tool Wall' of necessary emergency supplies is 'Proudly' visible . . .


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## Foozer (Jan 31, 2021)

A year and some months later - Not as shinny, stains here and there, still easy to sweep and most of all still doing the job of reducing the amount of chips carried into the house. Course the 'Bride' can still find other faults to point finger at me to which I always say- Thanks for pointing that out dear - and then as reward I get her another box of Oreos  - No Honey, those pants don't make your rear look bigger . . .


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## Charles Lamont (Jan 31, 2021)

I recommend putting down those interlocking sheets of flooring grade chipboard (aka particle board) on concrete shop floors. They provide a surface that is easier to sweep, provides some thermal insulation, is better under foot, and a softer landing for the things you drop, specially edge tools.


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## Tug40 (Jan 31, 2021)

My standard reply is “anything you say, dear.
Then as soon as she is gone I (kinda) keep doing what I was doing.
Seems to work for us.


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## bmac2 (Jan 31, 2021)

Foozer I feel your pain. I think it’s why I have a love / hate relationship with the Christmas season. I love getting together with friends and family (well back in the _old days_ when you could get together) but I find myself panicking whenever I see something shiny in the carpet only to find it’s a piece of tinsel off the tree of that sparkly stuff they put on cards. If the boss finds any chips or shavings making their way up from the shop I could be sleeping in the shed for a couple of nights. And these days we’re hitting close to -30 for the overnight temps so I have to be extra careful.


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## Richard Hed (Feb 1, 2021)

Foozer said:


> A year and some months later - Not as shinny, stains here and there, still easy to sweep and most of all still doing the job of reducing the amount of chips carried into the house. Course the 'Bride' can still find other faults to point finger at me to which I always say- Thanks for pointing that out dear - and then as reward I get her another box of Oreos  - No Honey, those pants don't make your rear look bigger . . .
> 
> View attachment 122642
> View attachment 122643


ANOTHER?  Another member of the Soviet of Washington?  Incredible!  I live in Moses Lake.


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## Richard Hed (Feb 1, 2021)

bmac2 said:


> Foozer I feel your pain. I think it’s why I have a love / hate relationship with the Christmas season. I love getting together with friends and family (well back in the _old days_ when you could get together) but I find myself panicking whenever I see something shiny in the carpet only to find it’s a piece of tinsel off the tree of that sparkly stuff they put on cards. If the boss finds any chips or shavings making their way up from the shop I could be sleeping in the shed for a couple of nights. And these days we’re hitting close to -30 for the overnight temps so I have to be extra careful.


We MAKE our tinsel out of chips!


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## Foozer (Feb 1, 2021)

Yet it always works out, the bride got a new kitchen and I got a couple gallons of floor paint. She has her floor and I have mine - Just so long as I remember those special words
"Yes Dear"


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## 10K Pete (Feb 1, 2021)

Nordland, Wa. here! There are a few of us around.

Pete


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## Richard Hed (Feb 1, 2021)

10K Pete said:


> Nordland, Wa. here! There are a few of us around.
> 
> Pete


A few?  Dozens!-  We have an HMEM brother who lives in Belfair, just a few miles from you.  As the Raven glides anyway.  I'll bet there are tons of eagles where you live.  Do you get to dive the Hood Canal?  Any other good places around there to dive?  I dove Hood Canal when I was younger, the drop off was only a few feet out.  It is the only place I ever saw a stingray also.  Get any good photos of the Eagles?  Another HMEM brother got a GREAT photo of a wildcat in Mossyrock.  I bet if I tried I could get a GREAT photo of a dry corn stalk!

Tell us about your projects.


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## tornitore45 (Feb 1, 2021)

My standard answer is a simple "Yes dear" or "Yes darling".  But I have my limits and when the nagging runs on the warning is "You are exhausting my equanimity".   If you remember the movie "Naked Gun"  Vittorio Gasmann says that to someone who ask "What does that mean" and he respond "You are pissing me off".


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## SailplaneDriver (Feb 2, 2021)

Out by Redmond, WA for me. We should have a PNW get together - well, when things calm down.


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## Richard Hed (Feb 2, 2021)

SailplaneDriver said:


> Out by Redmond, WA for me. We should have a PNW get together - well, when things calm down.


Oh my godz, Thor and Wotan, Woodinville, it's only a short way to the Seattle area but during peak traffic takes longer to commute than from Cle Elem!  Yes that wood be fun!


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## Master (Feb 2, 2021)

For 10k pete. Port Townsend here.  Any other hobby machinists in our area?


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## Apprentice707 (Feb 2, 2021)

The business of "Domestic Management" and the male need to cut materials and make things is always a balancing game. My workshop is in the basement with access from indoors and outside, I also have a series of coir mats that get my working shoe soles reasonably clean before changing into my domestic footwear. My domestic goddess is oriental and so the practice of removing one's outdoor footwear on entering the house is strictly observed. These practices do cut down the treading in of debris, alas this doesn't stop disputes. 

In the 20 years that we have lived in this house, my wife has visited the basement once, she declared it an unsanitary area and discourages the visiting of it by house guests or visitors. Incidentally, those that do visit generally report how interesting things are and wish they had such a facility. I think I have cracked it.

The management of "Domestic Management" is a matter that has concerned me for 52 years, but now at 75, I think my approach is working.  After breakfast, I always ask if she has any small jobs/chores for me to do and if asked to do something I do it without hesitation. When finished I then vanish to my "Refuge" until Lunchtime/ Dinnertime as appropriate. In the past, I have tried the yes dear/no dear approach but to no avail. The best reaction I got was when she had finished a rant I proffered  "So I suppose sex is out of the question then?" reaction; a week of cold shoulder and tongue pie. Perfect!! got to be me for a while. Heh Heh.

Don't take life too seriously and be yourself.

x

B


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## Foozer (Feb 2, 2021)

The business of "Domestic Management"  I like that.. 


> In an expanding universe, time is on the side of the outcast. Those who once inhabited the suburbs of human contempt find that without changing their address they eventually live in the metropolis. – Quentin Crisp


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## Richard Hed (Feb 2, 2021)

Apprentice707 said:


> The business of "Domestic Management" and the male need to cut materials and make things is always a balancing game. My workshop is in the basement with access from indoors and outside, I also have a series of coir mats that get my working shoe soles reasonably clean before changing into my domestic footwear. My domestic goddess is oriental and so the practice of removing one's outdoor footwear on entering the house is strictly observed. These practices do cut down the treading in of debris, alas this doesn't stop disputes.
> 
> In the 20 years that we have lived in this house, my wife has visited the basement once, she declared it an unsanitary area and discourages the visiting of it by house guests or visitors. Incidentally, those that do visit generally report how interesting things are and wish they had such a facility. I think I have cracked it.
> 
> ...


Been there, still doing that.


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## Richard Hed (Feb 2, 2021)

Master said:


> For 10k pete. Port Townsend here.  Any other hobby machinists in our area?


I found 
*mfrick*
who is also in Port Townsend.  You should be able to find him.


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## Master (Feb 2, 2021)

Thank you.  Looks like he lives in Port Angeles.  Nordland is pretty close.  Not sure how I contact someone here.  Be fun to talk in person.  Miss the hobby machinist shows.


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## Richard Hed (Feb 2, 2021)

Master said:


> Thank you.  Looks like he lives in Port Angeles.  Nordland is pretty close.  Not sure how I contact someone here.  Be fun to talk in person.  Miss the hobby machinist shows.


click on his name and do a "start conversation".  am not sure if that is what they call a "PM" (private message) or what, but it seems to work


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## dnalot (Feb 2, 2021)

Richard Hed said:


> Another HMEM brother got a GREAT photo of a wildcat in Mossyrock



That would be me, here is my Bobcat


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## Tug40 (Feb 2, 2021)

That Bobcat has some serious paws.
Wow, this thread has morphed from floor paint to Bobcats.  ;D


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## Richard Hed (Feb 2, 2021)

dnalot said:


> That would be me, here is my Bobcat
> 
> View attachment 122706


This is so good you might be able to enter it in a contest.


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## Foozer (Feb 3, 2021)

dnalot said:
That would be me, here is my Bobcat


That's a bit bigger than my 22 pound puddy tat


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## Richard Hed (Feb 3, 2021)

Foozer said:


> dnalot said:
> That would be me, here is my Bobcat
> 
> 
> That's a bit bigger than my 22 pound puddy tat


Nice kitty.  I like kitties.  Have several myself.


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## dnalot (Feb 3, 2021)

Foozer said:


> That's a bit bigger than my 22 pound puddy tat



Not by much. A male Bobcat tops out at around 30 Pounds. 

My house cat Big Bob tipped the scales at 20 Pounds, but he was a gentle giant. 






Mark T


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## Richard Hed (Feb 3, 2021)

dnalot said:


> Not by much. A male Bobcat tops out at around 30 Pounds.
> 
> My house cat Big Bob tipped the scales at 20 Pounds, but he was a gentle giant.
> 
> ...


Hey Mark, the Chinese might like to buy him.


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## ALEX1952 (Feb 4, 2021)

To come back to floors, our factory was criticized in a customer audit for its stained floors. So it was coated in  a nice grey epoxy, which looked marvelous, one problem you could not walk on it if contaminated with oil water anything, so you had to develop a very strange way of walking. After much research it was decided to use the stuff London Undergrouned used which left a finish like emery paper very non slip great err no! if paper was dropped and trod on it would not shift unless you attacked it with a floor cleaner with wire wheels floor now looks really c**p. On the third go and many pounds later a compromise was found still hard to walk on but if you did slip it was not as far. I adopted what we used to use which until sombody decided they looked untidy, and that is duck boards, c**p falls through and depending on the height of the board the sweeping period can be greatly extended. We are never going to please her indoors unless we learn to hover, mine swears I walk around with my eyes shut. Just develop the contrite look and carry on as normal. I see it as keeping them gainfully occupied until the next soap is on. The last line is in jest please don't take offence. I'm not brave enough to say it out load even if you can avoid retribution during daylight you have to sleep sometime. I must be doing something right as we have been married for 49 years, or I did something wrong in passed life and this is punishment.


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## dnalot (Feb 4, 2021)

ALEX1952 said:


> So it was coated in a nice grey epoxy, which looked marvelous, one problem you could not walk on it if contaminated with oil water anything, so you had to develop a very strange way of walking.



When I was in the Navy we had the opposite problem. We had a brand new shop for rebuilding jet engines. The floor had been coated with a two part sealer that looked great and was very easy to sweep at first. Unfortunately the synthetic oil the engines used turned the sealer into a sticky contact glue. If you didn't keep your feet moving they would stick hard to the floor. The floor was like flypaper and we were the flies.  

Mark T


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## chrsbrbnk (Feb 5, 2021)

I remember when I first started in this tool and die shop in Minn.  I thought " Hey a black top floor , you don't see those real often "    Then for a while they had the janitor clean it off once a year about Christmas time  with a 55 gal drum of Stoddard solvent  and a floor buffer with a brush on it. It was kinda awesome he'd stand there with waves of solvent vapor in the air looking kinda like a heat mirage and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth!!


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## Richard Hed (Feb 5, 2021)

chrsbrbnk said:


> I remember when I first started in this tool and die shop in Minn.  I thought " Hey a black top floor , you don't see those real often "    Then for a while they had the janitor clean it off once a year about Christmas time  with a 55 gal drum of Stoddard solvent  and a floor buffer with a brush on it. It was kinda awesome he'd stand there with waves of solvent vapor in the air looking kinda like a heat mirage and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth!!


Oh Thor and Wotan!  Wen I was a youngster (last week) I had an experience that raised the hair on my hackles straighter than at any other time in my dangerous life!  I went to get a propane tank filled and the guy filling it from a huge storage tank, blew some propane, A LOT of propane out then proceeded to smoke a cigarette in the blow-out.  I never went back to that dealer.  Also, he didn't have a lot of customers.


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## Tug40 (Feb 5, 2021)

In the Fire dept. we learned to have great respect for propane tanks.


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## Mousetrap (Feb 6, 2021)

On a very hot shimmering mid summer day I stopped to get petrol in a small country town in South Australia. It was long ago when the pump attendant would fill your car as you waited, you could see the petrol vapor as the tank was being filled, the pump attendant had a cigarette in his mouth and used his spare hand to hold the cigarette as he had a draw on the cigarette. By the time the tank was filled I has walked quite some distance away.


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## Richard Hed (Feb 6, 2021)

Mousetrap said:


> On a very hot shimmering mid summer day I stopped to get petrol in a small country town in South Australia. It was long ago when the pump attendant would fill your car as you waited, you could see the petrol vapor as the tank was being filled, the pump attendant had a cigarette in his mouth and used his spare hand to hold the cigarette as he had a draw on the cigarette. By the time the tank was filled I has walked quite some distance away.


Some people never learn maybe because they get kilt by stupidity


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## Henry K (Feb 6, 2021)

I live in New Jersey. It is Illegal for a motorist to fill his own car or anything else like a 1 gallon portable container for gasoline powered equipment. Once or twice in the last 55 years or so someone proposed to change this rule. The proposal got dumped real fast.
Safety is one reason plus who want to stand out in the cold (-7 * C tonight) or a rain or snow storm filling their gas tank.


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