Four days a week a passenger train stops at the station for about 25 minutes. Many of the passengers get off to visit the museum and hear me sending Morse code.
They pop their heads inside the open telegrapher's office door. I discovered many delight in hearing their names in Morse code. Most record a video of me tapping
out their name on a replica brass straight key. You can see a close-up photo of it here.
Most days there's someone in the crowd that can decipher Morse code. I always start off sending some silly message to
get that person to come forward. You can hear my Morse code throughout the museum.
For example, I might transmit:
R R COPY PLANS TO INVADE CUBA TMW AT 0900Z
or
FREE ICE CREAM SCT CODE MOCHA CHIP
Are you going to be in
central New Hampshire between now and Columbus Day in mid-October? If so, reach out to me to see if you'd like to meet up at the Ashland, NH railroad museum where I pound brass.
This year I'll be wearing a
new green and black paisley bow tie that matches my visor. By the way, do you know why telegraphers, accountants, and draftsmen wore visors back 100+ years ago?
Newest Columns
I don't always share in each issue of this newsletter my most recent work. My newest columns are located on the main Q&A category page of my AsktheBuilder.com website. I recommend you BOOKMARK that page and visit it on your own each week.
The Building Code Tips one in the list below is a MUST-READ. At the bottom of that column I need your help. It will make sense once you read
it.
These are the most recent columns I've uploaded:
Building Code Tips for Homeowners and Builders Too
Best Exterior Nails & Screws
House Settlement Debunked - What Is It, Really?
There are quite a few other new ones I know you've not seen. I suggest you go to the Q&A page and discover what you've been missing. You'll do well to add to the knowledge stored in your tiny gray cells.
Pam's Treated Plywood
I continue to stay very busy doing 15-Minute Phone HELP calls.
You should always get me on the phone BEFORE you sign a contract with a contractor or PURCHASE the WRONG product. FAILURE to make this small investment can cost you thousands of dollars when things go wrong after the contractor is gone with your MONEY.
Pam was one of my many calls this past
week.
A year ago a contractor installed treated plywood under a large covered porch. The porch is open on the sides and does get wet.
It was never sealed and she wanted to know what is the best product to use.
I shared she needed to use a product that was NOT a film-former. Just about every wood sealer I've tested in the past ten
years contains a urethane or film-forming component.
The sealers do penetrate, but they leave a clear film on the surface of the wood. This film PEELS in three years or less leaving a mess.
The best sealers contain synthetic resins. Most wood sealers are made using natural oils. These inexpensive oils are food for mildew and algae.
I started to do research and discovered a sealer that claims to be a NON film-former. I reached out to the company to see if this is true and to determine if they use a synthetic resin.
Please don't reply asking for the name of the product. I don't want to share it until I'm convinced it's a great sealer.
The
manufacturer promised to call me two days in a row and didn't keep their promise. That's not a good sign, especially when they KNOW I'm a syndicated columnist trying to give them $250,000 of free advertising by telling you and thousands of others about their product.
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