Adventures In Garage Door Opening

 Today, I finished installing my garage door opener!   Hooray! 

A task that most people can complete in a single afternoon,  took ME an entire week to finish!   

Wanna know my secret?   

Well.  Lets get to it! 

First... I want to qualify the fact that time was a valued commodity for me.   I only had a few hours each day to work on the project.   ( 2-3 hours to be exact)   So don't be thinking that I'm some brain-dead monkey with a hammer and a bag of Cheetos.  I did what I could with the time that was allotted. 

First thing I had to do was get the actual unit up and connected.   I did that on day one.  ( Monday!)  I lucked out in having the day off because I went to Michigan for the funeral, and I happened to have that day off because I thought I would take a travel day in reserve.   Anyway,  I was able to contribute several hours to installing the unit. 

But then I ran into a small problem.  The instructions tell you to measure to the "largest height of the garage door."  kind of vague...   All of the videos mention this as well without any clarity on just where I should be measuring.  I measures and thought I had the proper height all lined up.  

Guess what...   I measured wrong.  

The proper height is actually 2-3 inched MORE than what you think will be the top most height of the garage door.    So some adjustments had to be made. 

Luckily, not much.  I thought I could squeak by with cutting a small notch in the 2x4 that was blocking the belt trolly.  But I discovered that that would probably cause it to become structurally unsound over time.    And I also discovered that by giving support to the 2x4s with a short lifter board,  I could avoid cutting a 2 inch notch out of each support.  That little revelation took a day...

With the  unit installed, I had to set up the wiring for the safety features.   This took an additional day to complete.   You might not thing that it would be that difficult, but there are wiring paths that have to be considered.  And then there is the aesthetic to the whole thing.  ( I want it to look good!)   So.. on Thursday, I finished the on/off button and safety sensors that mark the edge of the garage door.  

And then it was time for the wiring.  I had to get power to the short power cable that is provided.   I guess most modern houses have a random power outlet in the roof of their garage?  Well mine didn't!  

So I had to wire up something.  ( Electricity 101 Recap!) Did I mention that this caused a number of other things that had to be done prior to the set up?  Oh yes!  

My brother and I managed to get power to the garage and lights.   However....  I discovered that many of the "pre set lights:" were disastrously set up  ( this coming from someone that is a first year apprentice electrician....) Sure, I  might have passed Electricity 201.... But even I know when things are not as they should be. 

All of these wires coming out of the junction box with no where to go.  I spent an afternoon sorting out things and eliminating the redundancies.  In the end I got down from 8 wires to 3.   And I think I will reduce that even more at a later date!

With the wiring set up and unit installed.  I had to run power to the drive motor.  I had just enough cable from the previous job to set up an single double outlet near the ceiling.  I ran the wire to the breaker box and hooked it up on a single circuit.

All things pointed to success!  But I still had to program the unit to the door  max height and close.  Time to read the instructions!

A simple task.   And eventually I got everything to work.   I even programmed the Remote!.  Time for celebration!  

It is true that I may have celebrated a little early ... But I think  few beers are called for when a project that was a week in the making is finally completed.   That means that any follow up tasks are now in question...   And I probably should double check any thing that I took on after.  ( I say this knowing that I am inebriated enough to know that I am compromised  in any decision making that may follow....) 

So the garage door opener works!   WooHoo!   Something that seems so routine and ordinary.   And that got me to thinking....

Why is it that we live in a world now where things like garage door openers are taken for granted?   Has anyone really stopped and thought of the awesome technology that  goes into such a thing...  You push a button and your garage door opens up.   You can even do it from your car?   No wires!  Amazing!  

And if the item breaks and faults... you get mad.   Why!?   The entire thing is already Magic!  And you are upset because it no longer works.  Just how far have we fallen to become so  dependant on simple things that no one knows how to repair or replace?   Wat would happen to these people in they were thrown into a situation where they had to revert back to basic shelter and survival knowledge?   Can they build a fire?   Build a shelter?  Cook basic food?

Every task and skill I acquire from this "University of Home Ownership"  is one I will treasure.   Not only does it give me something to blog about,  but it also gives me basic knowledge that I think is in short supply these days.  

The rest of the night was spent cleaning and organizing.   I have other projects that I have to tackle,  But those are best  executed when I have a clean area and proper tools set up.  (And a bit more sober mindset....)   I am already thinking of how I want to set up my outlets  for maximum efficiency. 

So now I have to end this because the beer is effecting my typing... really bad!  I just re-read it and there are a LOT of spelling mistakes.    So.. I best call it for the night and prepare for tomorrow.   And try to make every second count,  

The Passing Of Time...

 Earlier this month,  Mrs Noorman Died.  She was the Mother of my best childhood friends.   Mark and David lived right behind us and we did everything together with them.   

EVERYTHING!  

Fishing,  Camping, Hunting, Midnight Movies,  Vaccations,   Etc.   They were all in my wedding!  These guys  and their cousins ( Eddie and Joe Arnold.) were an extention of the family and like a second set of brothers to us.  

 And as a result,  their parents were like a second set of parents for us.  Mrs Noorman,  ( I always called her Mrs Noorman.... Eric sometimes called her "Second Mom")   Would drive us to the cabin up north and we would fish and help David and Mark clear their yard of ferns and brush.   She would get mad when we stayed out too late fishing and when we chopped down trees that she was planning on cultivationg.   In short,  She was family. 

And when I learned that they were having a "rememberance event" this weekend,  I was torn.   I personally do not like funerals much.  And there are many reasons why...  But probably not what you may think.   I would sum it up as I think Funerals should be Happy Times in celebration of a life.  

 No matter how short or tragic the circumstances,  Life is precious and should be celebrated.   And what better time then at the end.   The living must go on.   The Sun Sets.  The curtain drops; and the story ends for that person.  (And being a Christian, I believe death is not even the real "end."....   But I digress...) 

All day Saturday,  I wrestled with the thought of attending.   I can not explain why.  (As mentioned before,  I do not like funerals....)  But maybe it was because I have not seen the Noormans in years.   About 25 years to be "specific!"  The last time I saw Mark was in Grand Haven Michigan and he had stopped in at Meijers for some camping equipment.   His two daughters were still in car seats!  

And David,   I think he might have stopped in briefly to the Property in Kaleva duing hunting season.  I can not remember the year.... But it was a Long time ago.   

And so the thought kept bugging me on how I could pull off my only free day to travel to Michigan and try to catch up with my extended childhood family.  I mentioned it to my boss just before leaving on Saturday and he suggested I should go.  (I love Haribo!)  He would approve the time off request and I could have Monday off for travel and rest if needed.   So now there were no barriers.  And no excuses....

There is not much you can do in three short hours to catch up the missing  30 years...  But we did our best.  It helps that Mark occasionally posts stuff on Facebook... So I have a vague idea of what the family is up to.   And it helps when  visiting with Ed and Uncle Bill a couple times a year while visitng my brother.  They usually fill me in with a few details of the Noorman Clan.  

Looking at all of those pictures of  Mrs Noorman and Mr Noorman as they met, married, and built a life together,   I was struck with a few moments of Clarity.  (Some of those pics were actually taken in Our House back when we were still kids!)  Mrs Noorman was not very well off those last few years. 

 Mr Noorman literally died trying to hide her condtion from the kids...  ( So they would not worry.)  And she apparently did not even know that Mr Noorman was gone after going to his rememberence party in the same location.   It must have been very difficult for both of them as age and dementia took its toll.  

To be married that long.   And look at the person who no longer looks like those early pictures....   And only seeing that person as you did 30, 40 ,  even 50 years ago.   Still young.  Still beautiful and alive with life.  And knowing....  That some day...  No matter how hard you try,   one of you will be leaving the other.   

And it will break your heart. 

And so it goes that now only Uncle Bill remains.  Mom, Dad, Aunt Rose, Mr Noorman, and now Mrs Noorman have all crossed over and are now regulated to our memories.   The memories of their kids and extended neighborhood kids who bothered them with questions and shenanigans.  All of those scenes of their lives are now foggy memories that live on in us.  

It was fun catching up with Dave and Tracy.  ( I introduced them to each other! ... oh so many years ago...)  And I briefly chatted with Samantha (the oldest Child of Dave and Tracy.)  If you ever read the story, you might understand that finally meeting Sam as an adult was kind of  fulfilling. 

And then  it was over, and everyone slowly faded away.  Including me.   I was one of the last people to leave,  wanting to make the moments last as long as possible.  But eventually all things have to end.   And I faded into the background along with all the others.  We mentioned that we should all get together again sometime,  but I know in reality,  the likelyhood of meeting up again will be slim.   We live of different sides of the lake.  And distance tends to dillute friendships over time.  Another leason we tend to learn as we age.  

There are many other things I wanted to blog about... But this post is long enough.   And I will finish it here.   A farewell to Mrs Noorman.   May she catch up with our other parents in that mansion in the sky.  And I will continue to try to make every second count. 

Electricity 2.0! With Help From A "Sensei."

 That means "Teacher, Instructor, or Expert" in Japanese.    And that would be My Brother.  

Eric, ( My brother...) came over to help me out with the wiring of the garage.  It was a project I had not planned to tackle just yet, but he suggested it and offered his knowledge and experience  if he could come over for a visit.   Given the fact that I wanted this project completed before the first snow,  I accepted his terms!   That... AND I  kind of wanted to show off the new old house.  And run my plans by someone who has traveled this path before me.   

So let's meet the "Expert"!

This is my brother.  He is a union Electrician from the IBEW and worked on robots at GM for many years.  He is Highly opinionated when it comes to politics and religion.  (Which makes him a GREAT addition to any gathering or party.)   

And he is slightly over  "Normal"  weight. 

So his method of teaching is less like Mr Miyagi  from the Karate Kid...

And more like a chubby Buddha  sitting on a mountain.

So I knew I would be doing most of the physical work...  Which was fine.   A small price to pay for the advice and expertise.   Not to mention that I wanted to do this myself anyway... And would have done it all alone regardless.  

But having an extra set of hands and another person to bounce Ideas off of was very helpful.  

We started Friday off with digging a ditch to the garage.  18" deep....  With 1.25" conduit.    It took pretty much all day...  There were roots and rocks and "dirt"...  Not to mention the old romex cable that the last owner buried in his attempt for power to the garage.  I pulled as much old wire out of the ground as I could, but ended up leaving several feet where we could not remove it. 

With the trench dug and the Conduit laid... (We now had to pull the cable through.   Again,  this was a task where having a second set of hands was helpful.  

The distance was well over 30 feet,  so we had to used a string to help guide the heavy cable through.   I knew this trick from Youtube.  Where you stake a small string and use a vacuum to suck it through.  

Then you tie on the cable.   Feed it through while someone else pulls on the string to keep it from binding up.  

It worked out surprisingly well!  ( I have never done it before.  Eric has done it many times.) 

With the cable through,  Eric set up shop in front of the Breaker Box. 

He wired up the breaker in the Garage and I threaded the cable through the trusses in the basement.  

All the way to the Breaker Box in the house.  (A little over 50 feet total length!)  

We then moved to the basement Box.   It took him some time to get down into my basement, but when he did,  he wired up the cable and connected the power.   Electricity now was moving through the cable.   All we had to do was flip the switches in the garage.   

This part of the project pretty much took all of  Saturday!   There were a number of reasons for this... Including the fact that we had to go to Menards several times trying to get things that we had either forgotten to pick up or needed to complete the job.  I think the third time traveling there,  things began to get a little frustrating.  

We hooked up to the existing wiring in the garage.   This meant we really did not know how the previous owners had wired things up.or where the wires went. ( You can see them in the rafters, but the set up is rather chaotic.)   So,  of course, the first time we flipped the breakers,   nothing happened!

A quick trouble shoot and diagnosis and we tried a second time.   It was dark by now.. and we were working in the dark with flashlights.   Not the best of conditions. 

Second time flipping the switch.

LIGHTS!   SUCCESS!  

Time for Beer!   We sat out in the cool evening basking in the lighted success.   IT took longer than expected, but we managed to do the "Heavy Lifting" over a weekend.  

With the Power now running to the garage,  I can wire up and instal my Garage Door Opener.   

The Opener might take require a "second set of hands," but most of the other things I think I can tackle solo.   Now that a breaker box has been installed in the garage, I can safely turn off the power and work without fear of being fried.  

Sunday morning, after Church,   Eric stuck around to trouble shoot several of the wiring set ups in the house.  We managed to get power to two of the outlets and "fix" a ancient fire wiring practice that burned houses down.  ( Two hot wires spliced together.... We disconnected one, only to shock me with the other end!)   Eric suggested we run out a new ground into the yard and disconnect the existing "Questionable" set up the previous electrician had set up.  ( Old school was not really the "best") 

So now I have a safe and secure ground leading to the box.   Several outlets now have power.   And several dangerous junction boxes have been "improved".  The plan is to slowly eliminate and replace the old conduit and wires with Romex wires.   And hopefully get power back up to the upstairs.   The upstairs outlets are not working and  are "ungrounded."  There is power going to them, but  they  will not work when you plug something in.  

This could mean that more "Demo" work is required.  But for now,  I am happy with the visit and the work that was done.   And I will now spend the rest of the week cleaning up the mess we made.   Not only are my tools in disarray...   The entire basement and Garage are a disaster!  

And I tend to like organizing stuff.   There is a zen to it when you find the time.  It also helps when you have a place to put your tools and junk.   It took me nearly a month and a half to get rid of the junk I pulled out of the basement on the last Demo project.  Now I have all of the planking from the basement stairs to toss. I doubt I will replace it with the original wood or even plasterboard. 

And now this post is getting long so I will end it here and hopefully add more to the story as I go on through the week.   The colder weather is providing me the motivation to move things along a little more quickly.   And perhaps, on those days when I am snowed in,  I will find the time and motivation to do most of the internal stuff.  

But for now....   Time to do a little more cleaning before work.   And make every second count. 

This pretty much sums up the weekend.