So I was up at first sparrowfart this morning.
Fed the dogs and the squirrels, and sat drinking my coffee watching the squirrels and the birds eating and playing.
Finally the time arrived and we headed off to the bank to cash and deposit my paycheck (yup, they still literally pay with checks in the USA
) and then we headed off to Habitat for Humanity. At the Palm Bay branch they only had a few panels, but I was able to get the 3 short ones for above the AC unit, and the two long ones for on the door. They also had a special on today; 25% off all hurricane shutters!!! So we saved $15.
We asked the lady at the till if she knew if the Rockledge branch had shutters, and she told us that they didn't carry them. So we called the Vero branch (it is in a different County) and they did. So we drove the 20-odd miles South to Vero Beach. At the Vero branch I found 10 panels out of the 22 that I needed that were the right size, and took 12 others that were a foot too long. I can cut them shorter...
They charge for the panels by the foot, and they round down to the lower number. So the panels that I got that were too long were 7 foot and 11 inches, but they only charged for 7 foot. And when I was about to pay the lady at the till told me that today's special was if you spend more than $100 you get 25% off! WOW! So we saved $92 on the rest of the shutter panels we needed! WIN!!!
Back home I offloaded the panels, then measured and calculated how many bolts, washers, and nuts I would need to mount them. Then I headed off to Home Depot to get the hardware I needed. I wanted to use Stainless Steel bolts and nuts and washers, but that would have worked out at over $300
Even galvanised would have been over $200
So I managed to get nickle plated bolts and nuts and washers. Even so, the hardware came to $140
Back home I made a start on installing them. I did the 3 short panels that had to go horizontally across the top of the AC unit (nothing to attach them to at the bottom), and installed the first two panels that go on the front of the Florida Room. Mrs Zog helped out by holding the bolt-head inside while I tightened up the nyloc nuts on the outside. Because I was drilling through the aluminium frame of the structure I elected to install the bolts permanently, using body washers on the insode and normal washers on the outside, and nyloc nuts. When they are tight they will form a water-tight seal and not let any water inside the structure. When I need to install the shutters all I have to do is push them over the bolts and screw them down with wing nuts. Because they are a custom-fit, I am numbering each panel so I know where to fit them when the time arises.
I also pushed the bike from the garage to the workshop. The first thing that I noticed is that the clutch lever is completely missing. It must have broken off somehow in the shipping from SA, and the throttle sleeve inside the grip is also broken, and the right front flicker is busted off. Nothing that I can't fix though, I'll give the bike a thorough once-over in the next few days as I get time.
This eveing after supper I decided to take a break and went down to the pond to throw a line in, but no fish were eating my lures.
Oh well, maybe I'll wake up really early tomorrow and cast a line off the dock in the lagoon for a bit
Topic: Life in America - I made the move. (Read 884132 times)
