Tuesday, March 31, 2009

geometry

i wasn't very good in math when i was a kid. what good would it do, i thought, how could math help me? blech.

in high school i used to ask my dad for help with geometry. he always got the answers but couldn't show me how he got them. it turned out i was the same way. i nearly flunked geometry, not being able to show my work even if i had the answers right.

over the years i found out that, yes, math can be a useful skill. and i also found that i'm not so bad at math - well, some math. being a picture framer helped, so did exhibits construction and then general construction. which brings me to this post.

help/info for framing up a doorway/wall in an odd shape is not easily found. books, brother's advice, most info online were all pretty much geared toward conventional construction. so i turned to the few dome yahoo groups in which i lurk and was able to glean some how-to from photos of other domeheads' projects. thanks eric and sal among others.

because of the odd shape and because of a few problems we ran into and had to fix with the supporting pieces we had already installed, the wall had to be built piecemeal rather than all on the floor and then hoist it up in place like you're "supposed" to do. which meant i had to figure some things out as we went. it actually went smoother than i feared - i just figured it out. don't ask me how. unfortunately, i don't photo document very well so i don't have any shots of the process, just the nearly-finished product.

hmmm . . . there again, got the answer right but can't show my work.

Monday, March 30, 2009

time does fly

wow - it's been awhile. work does continue but slowly. if anyone out there is still reading, i will be posting photos and more real dome stuff soon. really.