Self-Discovery and the Art of Installing Insulation

 Self-Discovering and the Art of Installing Insulation

By Bobby Neal Winters

I will turn 60 in October and I am still finding out who I am. I reread that sentence.  Maybe it should read, I am still becoming who I am.  Then I wonder if the second alternative has any content at all; aren’t we always becoming who we are?  But the first takes the stance that there is someone who I am and that life is the process of discovering it...

I need more tea.

I had surgery last Thursday as I write this, and I am writing on Monday instead of Saturday as is my usual habit.  My surgery wasn’t bad--I’ve had airplane flights that were worse--but I kind of lowered my energy level.

I’ve been told by my surgeon that I can do anything I want to do as long as it doesn’t require lifting more than 15 pounds for the next six weeks.  Writing? Of course! Walking? Certainly. Mowing the lawn? Yes, but not on hills.

Woodworking?

Okay, what part?  Cutting a single two-by-four with a miter saw is allowed.  Carrying around a four foot by eight foot piece of plywood is not.

Both of these activities are important to my woodworking now:  I’ve decided to turn my garage into a workshop. 

I’ve been using the empty house next door, but for various reasons it is not optimal.  It will cost less money and effort to make our garage into an acceptable shop than it would to do so to the house next door. 

It’s like “If you give a mouse a cookie” and turns into quite an exercise in planning.

<ITALICS>If you want to be warm while you do woodworking in winter, you need to install a heater in your shop.  If you install a heater, you’d better insulate so you aren’t just wasting money.  If you insulate, you’d better put up some interior panels to keep the insulation in.

If it is a workshop, the panels really should be OSB plywood.  And before you put that OSB up, you need to do any electrical wiring that needs to be done.  That means you’ll need to do the wiring for your heater.  Since the wiring for the heater is going to be 220volts, you will need to learn how to deal with your breaker box.</ITALICS>

The thing is, if I screw up while wiring 220 into the breaker box, my wife will have a nice workshop for her next husband.

I am seriously thinking of hiring an electrician to do that part, but quite frankly I  might have to kidnap one to get them out. 

All of that said, I’ve got some time off because of my surgery, but it’s kind of frustrating because I can’t do some of the things I’d really like to do.

I’ve changed quite a bit in the last twenty or thirty years.

There is a moment I remember when I was about thirty--maybe a little more, maybe a little let--and I was walking down First Street about half a block from my house.  This was before I’d started my daily regime of walking.  I was having trouble walking.  My legs were tired and I was winded.  The thought came upon me that if I didn’t do something, I would get to a point where I couldn’t walk.

So I started walking every day.  I started with a short walk and gradually added to it.  Now I do two miles a day and it is a rare day when I don’t.

And I’ve learned to like it.  I look forward to it.

The woodworking has been the same. I found a tablesaw and in learning how to use it, I’ve reorganized large portions of my life.  It is work; it is a lot of work.  It is expensive; at times very expensive. 

But it is good for me. Knowing how to do something makes me better.  Makes me more useful to my family. 

Being useful is important.  That seems to be a part of who I am.  The need to be of use is strong.  It probably explains why I’ve allowed myself to be used at times.  That’s okay; a part of the journey of self-discovery.

Bobby Winters, a native of Harden City, Oklahoma, blogs at redneckmath.blogspot.com and okieinexile.blogspot.com. He invites you to “like'' the National Association of Lawn Mowers on Facebook. Search for him by name on YouTube. )