How Not To Install A Subfloor PT. 2

Continuing from Part 1 of the kitchen remodel/repair/rebuilding of the subfloor...the missing and loose pieces all replaced and properly screwed down, I set upon fixing the really bad areas...the actual HOLES in the floor, itself. It was my realtor that pointed pout the "soft" area in front of the dishwasher. What I found when I took up the vinyl flooring was, well, a big...gaping...HOLE! I mean, there were scraps of wood just "balanced" on the main beam with nothing to attach it to anything! What...the...fuck? I checked for any further damage, found none and got creative at repairing this...

After wedging in a few extra pieces of scrap wood, I sealed up everything with sa thick layer of silicon, smoothed it out and let it dry. Now I was ready for the next cave...er...hole repair. Why anyone would knock a hole in the floor and the base-board to create a vent opening for a dyer, is beyond me. I mean, a standard dryer vent hose wouldn't even fit in this thing! I had purchased a proper vent assembly about a month after I moved in, for later installation (which I will get to, eventually). The repair trick here (since there was nothing to build upon), was for me to insert a few screws into the original floor and attach a piece of wood over them...sort of balancing act, if you will. This piece was then screwed down and the rest of the hole sealed up with more silicon. I was now ready to install the new flooring, once everything was nice and dry.

And there you have it. With the main floor now in place, I can concentrate on installing new sub-flooring in the hall and pantry areas (where there currently is no subfloor at all).

A Murder Mystery

As a Facebook Oxford, MA. group member and former resident of Oxford,MA., I like to contribute what I have or can find that relates to the town and citizens, both past and present, not just from my own photos and experiences in the short time I lived there. I culled the story below from an on-line copy of Startling Detective Adventures, vol.5 no.26, July, 1930. It was published a year after the events of this particular crime. I've tried in vain to find more references but have only been able to find a (not so convincing) follow-up article from the Orlando Sentinel, from 1996. Mind you, I'll rely on the magazine's article from 1929. Asking other group members: does anyone have any other infomation about this or know where to find any? Does the Allen Farm still exist, to-day? The building in the picture does look familiar but I can't place it, geographically. At any rate, have a read. And to note: the photo on the second page was staged for the article. All other photos are believed to be authentic.

How Not To Install A Subfloor PT.1

I bought my current house a little over 2-1/2 years ago. I knew it was a "cheap flip" from the get-go but...I had no idea of exactly how bad. The housing market here in Knoxville, TN. (at the time) was insane for inventory...meaning that there wasn't enough to go around. Case in point: I sold my old house downtown in only 6 days, after a massive bid-war. Unfortunately, I had a 30 day closing and had not yet found a new home. Seems eveeything in my established price-range was either too far gone (repair-wise), or had been snapped up before I got a chance to even see the property! I spent 3 weeks in a hotel as I waited for the VA loan to go through on my accepted (full offer) of my current home. 

 Since then, I've managed to get a lot of needed updating done, like an entire new heat-duct system and getting a garage built. More on those in later posts. Since I work full-time and have many other projects, I kinda pick around and get thigs done a little at a time. I started the kitchen remodel in late 2019 but it got put on hold until this past November (2020). When I started taking up "test sections" of the floor, I noticed that this was going to be...bad. 

 Even when I was initially touring the home before the sale, my realtor pointed out the "soft spots" she'd found, particularily by the dishwasher. I let it pass as I knew I could repair it later, if need be. HOO-BOY! I'd like to talk to the mooks that installed the subfloor. I think they made need a class or twelve in how to do it properly. Where to start? 

 First off...the floor failed within the first month of me moving in; that is to say, where the vinyl flooring was seamed together, failed. It separated and curled so bad, I had to employ Mr. Duct Tape. Two years later and I finally get round to taking up the heavy vinyl. In this case it had the weight and feel of a 10mil floor. Good for a bathroom but not so good for kitchen use. Plus...it was "loose-laid" when it should have been a "full glue". At any rate, it made it easy to take up. The subfloor, itself (or lack of it in a few spots), was another matter. Are you fucking kidding me? I wasn't fully prepard for what I found (or didn't find, as in this case). There were pieces just randomly tossed down; gaps everywhere. And the majority of the luan underlayment wasn't even screwed or nailed down. This floor was doomed to failure from "Day 1".

Other parts of the floor were either missing or rigged so bad that they didn't need any help to fail...they did that before the house was even on the market! Below is one of the bad areas; this one is in front of the dishwasher. Note that the screws that were installed, are between the seams! Also note that there is absolutely no flashing...anywhere! What...the...fuck...? I learned from a certified installer for Armstrong Floors way back in '91-'93. The guy was a Master Installer and took great pride in his work. He taught me well and I've never forgotten how to do this. Proper preparation is the key to a floor that can out-last the house, itself.

Besides all the missing pieces and voids, there was the additional problem of scraping up all the seam glue (which, to me, looked similar to rubber cement). In this respect, I got lucky and was able to remove 99% of it without further damage to the substrate. The only good new I had, is that the substrate that was installed, was in pretty good shape. All I now had to do, was to finish screwing down the main body and install "fill pieces" where needed. In the case of the area in front of the dishwasher, that needed extra attention, which I'll get to in Part 2 of this re-install.

TM DIV REUNION 2019

It'd been nearly 30 years since I'd left the USS SKIPJACK (SSN-585), and nearly as long since I'd last seen TM1/SS A.J. Sabol III. Even longer since I'd seen the rest of the old TM DIV crew; around 32 years ago. The idea of a real-time reunion appealed to me and, was originally the brainstorm of former TM3/SS Matt Anderson. Matt had contacted me over a decade ago to hash out a plan for a reunion of just our division, which, while still quite a logistical nightmare, was a bit easier to accomplish than say...a full-blown, full-crew reunion! Of course, there were some tech issues along the way. Like the fact that I had left Facebook early in 2009 and the Skipjack group hadn't been formed yet. And I also do not (currently) possess a "smart-phone". But I did have e-mail. Unfortunately, Matt had lost my old one and literally had to start all over again, just to find me, let alone everybody else on the list. So...early last year (2018), I get a call from Matt and we are able to re-connect and share info. I was still on-board for a reunion and finally gave in and re-joined FB. To make a looooooong story short, Matt was able to get five of us to agree on a time and date. We did manage to re-connect with one other mate and are still looking for a couple more. Maybe next year we'll have more luck in finding them.

That's us, up above. The pic here is one of many and we had Andy's son, AJ, take; a couple pics with each camera. This is one I cropped from mine. From left to right: Rick Luger, Scott Moody, Matt Anderson, Tom Bordenkecher, myself (Todd Slater) and Andy Sabol. Note that this isn't the whole division but we did all serve under Andy, who was aboard from 1985-90.

We all met up at an Outback Steakhouse in the Virginia Beach area. Mind you, this was after Matt and Scott had road-tripped all the way from Southwest Texas! Tom came down from Indiana to my house (which is about 24 miles east of Knoxville, TN.), and we all met the next day (Friday). We then drove over to Hillsborough, NC. to pick up Rick, before making the final leg up to Virginia Beach. Despite the foul weather (it rained most of the way there), we made good time. We all met up Saturday afternoon for an early supper and to rehash old stories. It was a great experience and the first time I'd been to any sort of a reunion (I've never even been to a high school reunion so, for me, this was a "golden moment" in time). I'd like to thank Matt for making this possible but...I'd also like to thank Andy's wife, Robin, for getting him to the restaurant and to AJ for added support  and picture-taking. The fact that any of us were able to keep this under our caps was, in itself, a minor miracle, heh, heh. Thanks you guys and hope to see ya'll next year!

Author's note: I told Matt that I write poetry and am working on three books. Some of the poetry I write is based on the Japanese "Tanka" style of poetry. Below is a nine verse Tanka I wrote over the course our trip. This poem is dedicated to everyone who participated along the way and sums up just about everything we did. Only those that were there will get all the references.

ROADTRIP REUNION:

 AND SO IT BEGINS
 AGING VETS ON A MISSION
 A LOST LEADER SOUGHT
 FIVE BUBBLEHEADS TRACK HIM DOWN
 AND REUNITE THROUGH LOST YEARS

 AN EPIC VOYAGE
 SPANNING THOUSANDS OF MILES
 EACH OF US IN TURN
 ADDING TO THE CARAVAN
 AS WE TRY TO STAY ON COURSE

 A PORT OF CALL WAITS
 AS WE BATTLE THE WEATHER
 DESTINATION REACHED
 EXHAUSTED WE DISEMBARK
 OUR VOYAGE NEAR AN END

 TALES BOTH SHORT AND TALL
 RELIVING OLD MEMORIES
 ONLY WE CAN TELL
 JOGGING ONE ANOTHER’S MINDS
 AS THOUGH IT WERE YESTERDAY

 SLEEP COMES TO US LATE
 WE UNWIND FROM THE VOYAGE
 FOOD AND DRINK CONSUMED
 RE-IGNITING OUR BOND
 THAT KING NEPTUNE CANNOT BREAK

 AWAKENING LATE
 THE RAIN FINALLY LETS UP
 CLEANSING A NEW DAY
 BUT IT REMAINS OVER-CAST
 AS THE F-18s FLY BY

 DRIVING AROUND TOWN
 KILLIN’ TIME BEFORE WE MEET
 AS THE RAIN RETURNS
 WE GO BACK TO FRESHEN UP
 AS THE MEETING TIME LOOMS NEAR

 GETTIN’ TO OUTBACK
 WE WAIT FOR OUR LEADER
 HIS SON ARRIVES FIRST
 THE ANTICIPATION GROWS
 ANDY FINALLY ENTERS

 THE LOOK ON HIS FACE
 SEEING US ALL SITTING THERE
 SPOKE UNTOLD VOLUMES
 OF RETURNING MEMORIES
 OUR MISSION ACCOMPLISHED


Todd Slater (TM3/SS)~TANKA #772-780 13-14 April, 2019

Dawnfire

Most folks hate Mondays. I do only if the weather goes bad. I mean, scenes like this, one doesn't get to see every day, y'ken? I love sky shots, especially if they involve clouds. Getting in some colorful sunrises with those clouds is an added bonus, of sorts. September 24, 2018 was a Monday. And because I didn't have to work Sunday night into Monday morning, I was able to get up in time to witness this incredible spectacle of Mother Nature! Ya just gotta love her for creating things like this...

...right in my own front yard. Cuppa coffee in one hand and camera in the other, I sat on the rear of my SUV and patiently waited for the show to start. Who the hell needs to be glued to the Weather Channel, when you could be watching it live, right? And Mother Nature did not disappoint. The sky was set ablaze with a gorgeous hue of orange. My late Mother's favourite colour. I'm sure she saw this, though.

07.32 and my trigger-finger starts snapping away at the wonder that was unfolding before my eyes! I never get tired of seeing these wondrous events. 07.33 I end the sequence as the colours start to fade off. The show never lasts for long but, I can be glad I was able to view and record it.

At one point, I zoom in to catch a full-view shot. Fire fills the view-screen as Sol attempts to penetrate the clouds!

Reaching toward the heavens, the clouds expand...taking some of the colour with them, it would appear.

I hesitate ere I get in one final shot...then..."click" goes the shutter and I sit back, take a huge gulp of my, now luke-warm, coffee and watch the rest of the show. Now then, if you ever have a bad Monday, you can reflect on this for a positive note.

Author's note: the photos taken here are raw and un-edited. No reuse is permitted without express authorisation of the author. But, since these pics will probably get reblogged, anyway, it'd be nice if  I was credited. "Dawnfire" and the "df" file names are (c) 2018.