Aside from a distinct lack of sleep, I'm running through possibilities of things for lighting tonight, things that I might have forgotten, things I need, etc. I'm going to have to make a last-minute run to the hardware store when I get home to get some low-wattage light bulbs.
My brain keeps playing little tricks on me, like the aforementioned dream of the lingere-clad supermodels, and seeing sexual words in place of actual words when reading something quickly.
And I'm not talking about easily mistaken ones like "The pen is mightier than the sword" or "CLINT FLICK". I'm talking about reading something like this:
Only one thread may select on a particular aspect of a socket at a time. For example, one thread may select on only receiving and another thread may simultaneously select on only sending on the same socket, but both threads may not select on receiving on the same socket at the same time. If this is attempted, only one thread will succeed and an EALREADY error will be returned to any other threads.
as this:
She was wearing a pair of cut-off jeans and a T-shirt with some rock band on it. The jeans had been cut very short. As he watched her walk around, he noticed that she was even better built than he had thought. She had a really beautiful pair of legs and he loved to watch them as she walked, and her ass... well, her ass brought him into next Tuesday.
It's distracting.
Bad news/good news.
Bad news:
Talked to one of the city plan examiners about the foundation work. My initial plan of the dry stacking won't fly because it's not yet recognized by the inspection department as a valid construction method, so it's back to mortar between the blocks. There is some precedent for this because of the use of mortar and the way it bonds to a block and the stress points. Block-on-block has a higher stress at the contact points; yes it makes sense to my physics-brain. It's equivalent to throwing a mattress on top of a bed of nails.
What it means that all the nice stacking work that I've already done has to be torn down, and what bonds I already have need to be broken. And I have to take the rather dubious step of learning to lay mortar and build concrete block walls that are plumb and level.
Note: if you want to say "suck" here (or other words of a similar nature), please feel free.
Okay, honestly, it represents less than ten hours of work that's already done, and a couple of four-dollar bags of mortar. You know, I can live with that.
Good news:
I don't need a new permit. Nor do I have to pay for an addition to the existing permit. I have to draw up plans and submit them, but I've already talked with the planner and know the codes enough to have them pretty much ready to go without much hassle. I have plenty of venting and access in excess of what is required.
Also, I don't need to core fill. Because the wall is not buried and has no backfill, the regular block is sufficiently strong as a structural material. He did suggest adding core fill with rebar at the load points to help transfer the load down to the footings. It's sound technique, and it can't hurt. And that means I don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on core-fill grout and plasticizers. It means I have to probably drop another 50 bucks or so on mortar and ladder reinforcing. And it means a lot of work doing something I've never done before, and having to get it right the first time, because do-overs aren't really available with concrete.
So while there is suckage, it is not terminal suckage.