Somebody used a non-flexible caulk on this window. It cracked. We went after the caulk. The windowpane cracked. We get another pane. It cracked when we put in the glazer’s points (nasty little diamond thingies that hold the window while you caulk it.)
We get another window. Then decide, heck, we’ll do it tomorrow. So we have no window. That’s cool. Have another wine cooler…
If we get a burglar, I’ve got a broadsword.
Today we”ve got to fix it. At 12.00 a window this has got to go in right, this time!
How pesty is that? I’m weighing the idea of paying the guys from Home Despot to install the new windows on the W side of the house; literally, in that case, as the new windows are likely to be a. unwieldy, and b. weigh enough to make unwieldy a real problem. The existing jalousies let in WAY too much west-facing sun, and the neighbor’s BBQ smoke, which they love with an unholy passion, to the tune of several times weekly. How big is the pane you’re trying to replace?
Darnit! Kindly replace ‘west-facing’ with ‘afternoon’. Mahalo.
Perhaps using masking tape first to hold up the pane, but there’s no reason why a pane should have broken while you were putting it in unless there was something already wrong with the pane. Were there any small pieces of caulk or other material that might have been between the pane and the frame? Perhaps a glasiers point you missed? Other factors, such as frame might not be straight any longer and a warp won’t let the glass set in it correctly. Oh I don’t know. I’ve got such crazy windows in this house, I’ve tried 3 times to replace the glass on one basement window. The frame is so old and rotted, it won’t hold the points, and caulk won’t stick to it, either. Well, I didn’t break the window, Tropical Storm Ike did that 3 years ago when he blew over my pear tree. The windows in the garage are broken, I’ve tried fixing them, too. I’m lousy at trying to rebuild window frames.
Lol! It’s only 14″x32″. Thank goodness. These are 1956-vintage wood-framed windows, with storm windows over them. It took us since 2007 to figure how to remove the storm windows for cleaning. It took us being locked out in the dark to figure that, yes, the screen can be replaced (we cut it so Jane could climb in…alas, no photographer recorded this event. But she got us into the house. Now we’ve replaced the screen, are trying to repaint the window, (because it needed it already) and did not intend to have to replace the glass—but the old cracked caulk had the tool slip, and there we were, final 2″ of the caulk removal, and there it goes. We think the original installer put the glazier’s point too tight, and it was just ready to go. The *second* one—there’s a learning curve with those little points, and we should have used the old holes!
It’s easier with uPVC double glazing. A couple of years ago mine seemed to ‘come of age’ and I had to replace three in two months. I was quite good at by the end. Unfortunately that probably means my French Windows are about to fail and I think I’ll leave those to the professionals.
“That’s cool. Have another wine cooler.” This is the best sentiment I’ve heard in a long time. I’m sorry you have this repair to make, but I’m encouraged that it seems to be a normal task, unexpected but not crushing.
Somehow, “The Wacom stylus is mightier than the broadsword” does not quite have the same zing to it, but then, “calligraphy dip pen” or “calligraphy brush” rather overdo it too.
One suggests Indiana Jones’ method when dealing with burglars or swordsmen.
But one is even more fond of pens.
Even so, there is a certain appeal to a good sword. Not that I’d have more than beginner’s luck if I had one.
Good luck in your re-glazing efforts.
Well, we got the sucker in, and a razor blade will have to fix some things. But we didn’t break the window.
I am here to tell you if you are putting in a window, you want the tub of caulk, NOT the handy-dandy cylinder for the caulk gun. That stuff is an abomination. What we had in the ’40’s was so easy to use I helped my dad re-do the windows, at age 8. I both stripped old caulk and applied new. This syrupy instant-dry stuff gives you the material from hell with the propensity to cling to anything it touches, to develop holes when smoothed, and to start skinning over before you are through with the window and have a chance to clean up. Next time we get the tub.
@BCS, if I had the money, I’d ask for a truly well crafted katana. I have a book on the crafting of Japanese swords, and they have experienced an upsurge in the popularity of collectors, not just the old swords, but new ones made in the old ways. I’m not familiar with using a broadsword, but a katana, yes, I could do that very easily.
CJ, glad the window got in, when I push in glaziers points, I use one of the two putty knives I own. The stiff blade is for pushing and scraping, the flexible one is for smoothing out the caulk. A steady pressure on the tangs of the point with the knife held up at a slight angle of maybe 15 degrees, will help keep the point from sliding too quickly into the pane. Of course, if the sash is of hard wood, then you have to really push and it just means more chance of slipping or putting the point in too far. I wonder if my landlady plans to have the window sashes replaced/repaired in the basement window or in the garage. If I get my table saw working, I could probably mill my own muntons.
Heh. We used to live in a not-so-nice neighborhood. One night, DH looked down and saw one of the denizens slamming a woman’s head into our parked car. At the time he was cleaning the blade on a friend’s broadsword — for display only but nasty looking. He went out on the steps and requested the man cease and desist, while still carrying the sword.
“What’s it to you?”
“That’s my car.”
The man turns, announces, “I’ll be out in 6 months!” and runs.
Interesting times.
lol! I used to be on the university fencing team. Finished a match in downtown OKC, and still wearing my fencing whites and discreetly carrying my foil in the crook of my left (not streetside) arm pretty much as a hanger would have it, with my mask in the same crook of my arm—I was headed for my car. Now, this was also a not-nice area of OKC; and this would-be john buzzes up to the curb, rolls down his window and clearly has mistaken me in my uncommon dress for one of the working girls. I said politely, “You’re mistaken,” and reached over and pulled out a yard of shiny steel to demonstrate the fact. He laid scratch all down the street and out of sight.
Reminiscent of the old SCA story where a (Chicago-area?) sword jock was walking home from an event with live steel broadsword sheathed over his back… mugger comes up, shows knife, demands money. The fighter sez, “what is that, six, eight inches maybe? I’ll see your six inches…” SHHIIIIIING! “…and raise you four feet”. Mugger runs away. Some variations of this tale hold that mugger first tries to stab sword jock, blade turns on chain shirt under taberd, adding to freakout value 🙂
Lol—the incident is perfectly credible. 😉 Getting anywhere with fencing equipment is productive of craziness. I sponsored the fencing club at the highschool where I taught, and getting the gear back through the halls from the gym to the Latin room before the starting bell was a matter of fast maneuvering.
I never appear anywhere outside the dojo (well, maybe the front porch or the back door) while wearing bogu. It’s an invitation to a challenge, and it happened to me once long ago while I was taking karate, I was walking to class in my gi, and a young man, who was obviously still in Navy boot camp, came up to challenge me. Since I vastly outranked him, and he was drunk, I thought ordering him away would work. Hah! I was afraid I was going to get into a fight right then and there. Not good when you’re on a Naval installation. So now, my stuff is packed up, you can’t tell what is in the bags, and I don’t go out of my way to “tempt” people. Still 3.9 shobu of solid oak is a pretty effective deterrent.
Next project: The screen? Is it fixed yet?
The screen is fixed. The window pane is fixed. The putty is dry and the next job is painting the window, which is what we set out to do.
Jane and I have to give a talk at the library tonight. Sigh. But they’re paying us. This is good.
Eeeexcellent. Completed home repairs are good. Being paid (even if it’s a pittance, or in free food) is also good.
I am in negotiations with HD over installing the new windows. There might be a fixable issue with building codes and egress, because of the old style windows I am replacing. This is part of the reason I’m paying for them to do the grunt work, including making sure the new windows will be code-happy.
I’ll have to look up “bogu,” which seems to be a unit of measurement?
There’s so much I don’t know about Japanese culture and history. Interesting and sometimes very unusual, funny, or strange. But then, seeing how immigrants and international folks react to our culture, we are pretty strange too.
Hmm, that story of the swordsman and the mugger, very believable. One friend surprised a potential house burglar with his longsword, which was a reproduction but fully functional, which is why he keeps it handy in his bedroom. The burglar was…dissuaded…when met at the apartment door by a nice, pointy sword. I’ve heard similar from fellow scifi and fantasy fans, former military or civvies.
Hah, that must have been a neat foreign language dept. Our high school didn’t offer Latin or Japanese, and no fencing club. Too bad. But the tae kwon do club did give a neat demonstration.
I also wonder if a fellow language student is still in town; will have to look him up. A few years after high school, I was surprised one night to see him doing a TV commercial in Spanish for a local company.
Where did I get the impression bogu is/are a measurement? Divided attention, not good.
Trying wiki; no luck from my e-dictionary.
BCS, “bogu” is our protective equipment we wear during kendo. It consists of a heavy cloth headpiece which has a titanium/aluminum alloy grille in the front (for obvious reasons), a heavy lacquered chest protector, heavy gloves, and a hip and groin protector. if you look at http://www.ebogu.com, you will see what the equipment looks like. It’s heavy, and after a couple of hours of wearing it during the summer, it gets even heavier.
Thank you, Joe! Since I was curious, I looked around the site a little.
I tried Kendo once (Star wars influence) it was great, but in the end too much screeching, sweaty headgear and kneeling on my poor bare feet on a hard floor ouch I was not brought up to it (though I suppose it should have been tatami matting). those real swords are terribly scary though (they did that too). like playing with an enormous razor, so sharp you wouldn’t feel it until it had killed you …
Have not been commenting lately due to horrendous computer crash. Got a new one, and am gradually piecing the world back together. Didn’t lose too much. Kitteh wise, you’re kind of in the same situation I’m in — two (former) males and a (former) female, except the white one is 12, the female 6 and the black one is 3 (and a little thug! His favorite game is ambushing his older brother and sister and making them puff. The white one is getting some of his own back, though, as there was a time when he was the obnoxious lion kitteh. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzv0FEODj6w&feature=related )
Did you intend to post the kabuki/catwalk show? The first minute or so has nothing about kittehs, yours or otherwise.