Monthly Archives: July 2013

Deck Cable Railing

29 Monday Jul 2013

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Deck railing

We recently completed installation of our deck cable railing, which was designed and fabricated by Keuka Studios, making us street-legal and building-code-compliant. We didn’t like the idea of maintenance headaches for the typical pressure-treated lumber railings. We’ve had experience power-washing and staining them and it’s no picnic. After looking at options, we decided on the nice clean look of stainless steel cable railings with low maintenance and minimal visual obstruction. We provided the measurements to Keuka Studios and they fabricated the powder-coated steel posts, sapele wood top railing (similar to mahogany), and provided all the cables and fittings necessary to install it.

Cable railing detail

I was able to install it myself without any major problems and we really like the final result–it’s just what we were hoping for. Ours is what Keuka Studios calls their Ithaca style, characterized by clean simple lines. They build other styles as well to any custom specifications.

As much as we like the end result, our project was riddled with screw-ups by Keuka Studios. They built and shipped the railing system within the quoted time but there were a couple problems: 2 of the 10 intermediate posts were missing the grommets used to mitigate corrosion between the metal of cable and posts, and they forgot the wood top railing. Within a week they shipped the wood for the top railing but to the wrong address and provided an obsolete phone number to the shipper to contact us. Eventually the trucking company contacted me by email and we discovered the addressing screw-up and they contacted Keuka Studios to authorize shipment to the correct address. After another week I found out they hadn’t done this and we tried again. Eventually Keuka Studios authorized the correct address but still gave the wrong phone number so the dispatcher was never able to contact me. Meanwhile, after a couple requests, Keuka Studios mailed out the missing grommets, but to the wrong address so I never got them. After another attempt, they finally sent them to the correct address and the top railing wood eventually showed up on a tractor trailer one afternoon.

Maybe Keuka Studios packed all their screw-ups for the year into their dealings with me, saving others similar issues. I would hate to think this is a common theme for their customers. They have a very nice product, well-made, and they eventually made everything right but it sure got frustrating getting everything straightened out.

A Walk In The Woods

22 Monday Jul 2013

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On Sunday, Lori and I donated blood in support of wildlife at the Lindsay-Parsons Biodiversity Preserve in West Danby. Specifically, we gave generously to mosquitoes and deer flies at what was apparently Biting Insect Regional Headquarters. Aside from that, it was a nice walk along trails mostly through the woods giving respite from the hot sun.

The woods are particularly attractive hardwoods over hilly terrain shaped by the glaciers with the trickle of Cayuga Inlet meandering through it. The Preserve earns the “Biodiversity” part of its name with a profusion of trees, shrubs, ferns, and wildflowers, including a few we hadn’t come across before. We’ll be exploring this gem, only a few minutes drive from our home, many times as the seasons progress. In future summer visits, we’ll be bringing either transfusions or DEET to contend with the natives.

An Evening On The Deck

15 Monday Jul 2013

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Milky Way seen from our deck

The weather has been so hot and humid since we moved to our Newfield home that we haven’t really experienced a clear dark night sky until just recently. There is much less light pollution here than in our previous locations in Vestal and Owego.

The image above was shot from our deck, looking south toward the constellation of Sagittarius. The bright Milky Way is interesting in that region because that’s where the center of our Galaxy resides. If we wanted to call a friend in that neighborhood, it would take 27,000 years before his phone would ring because that’s how long it would take a signal to reach that distance. We would have to wait another 27,000 years for his reply, “Hello?” The conversation would go slowly and I don’t think I would have the patience. Perhaps a postcard would be better. If the US Postal Service has a ZIP code for each of the stars in our Galaxy (and why not, it’s currently believed that there are at least as many planets as stars), we would need a ZIP+12 to cover the 400 billion stars just in our Galaxy, not even counting the other 170 billion galaxies in the observable universe. By the way, a phone call to the farthest observed galaxy would take 13.4 billion years before the phone would ring. That’s definitely beyond the limits of my patience. Besides, I’m doubtful Verizon covers that far.

Although not easily visible in this compressed Web version of the photo, the trees have little points of light all over them too. They’re fireflies, thousands of which put on an impressive show each evening.

We’re finding the perspective we get enjoying these evenings on our deck are effective antidotes to the daily dose of lunacy around us.

Fine Art

14 Sunday Jul 2013

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Banana is a snack? sculpture

Neighbors recently visited our new home with a welcome basket full of garden goodies, wine, and, the pièce de résistance, a work of fine art. While the sculpture stands on its own, a little context will explain why it has added profound meaning for me. A long time ago, I posted a parody on Flickr which this neighbor stumbled upon and found amusing to the point of wondering if perhaps I wasn’t the purported most boring man in the world after all. At any rate, the banana theme has played out a few times culminating with this extraordinary and thoughtful gift.

Surprisingly, the work has caused some amount of fervid discussion between Lori and me. I, of course, wish to proudly display the art in our living area to share with family, friends, and neighbors. Lori insists that, since the work was intended for me, it should be in my office, not the main living area. I’m touched that she is so considerate that she wants me to have almost sole appreciation for this stunning piece. She seems quite concerned when visitors arrive, fearing they may see the sculpture as we offer tours of our new home. She suggests it be boxed up and in the closet. Clearly Lori is deeply concerned about this valuable piece and fears it may be damaged by admirers. What a considerate wife she is! I try to assure her that we may safely display our art work and she keeps assuring me I should be the exclusive beneficiary of its beauty and inspiration. I’m speechless. Almost.

Normally I would, of course, name the profoundly thoughtful person who has so moved us with this magnificent piece. However, he is an estimable person of high-ranking position in our town and, realizing not everybody in this town shares the sophisticated appreciation of fine art that we do, it is best that we simply say that he is a valued and thoughtful friend.

Irony

06 Saturday Jul 2013

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Lori in her home office

Lori has always worked a lot of extra hours at home to supplement the full work week at the office. With our move to Newfield, she will be working a couple days a week at home that she would otherwise invest at the office: same withering load of hours, different venue mix.

So, what kind of home office facilities does an IBM senior technical software engineer use at home? She’s still ironing out the wrinkles, but spare furniture is being pressed into service for the cause. An unpretentious spine-warping folding chair and an ad hoc adjustable-height desk does the trick nicely. Uncomfortable, perhaps, but board-and-bench style minimalist furniture seems appropriate for difficult and demanding work. Lori doesn’t think she would be any more productive at a mahogany and brass home-office suite; it is, no doubt, that kind of thinking that has kept her out of management. But she presses on relentlessly.

Annual Birthday Hike

04 Thursday Jul 2013

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Lori at Lucifer Falls

In a time-honored tradition, going back two years now, we celebrated Lori’s birthday by hiking in Robert H. Treman park. Once it was an hour’s drive from where we lived; now it’s 8 minutes from our new home.

With the unusually high temperatures and daily dumps of rainfall going back a couple weeks now, nature was operating the waterfalls at full capacity and had packed as much humidity into the hot still air as would fit. I imagined, in my fevered heat prostration, we had been transported to the jungles of Borneo. A machete would have been handy to hack through the viscous humidity. We were greeted by a cheerful older hiker with “Good morning, fellow fools!” In short, it was what Lori calls “comfortable”. I kept my views on the limits of human endurance to myself in order to permit Lori a pleasant hike on her birthday. Other than the risk of heat stroke and dehydration, the morning was pleasant. All the heat and rain had created a dense verdant lushness. We finished early as the crowds started pouring into the park.