Part1-Decisions

"Alea Iacta Est" - in cement...

For some time my wife had wanted a sunroom porch. This was an omission in the original plans for our house and so now seemed like the right time to offer a bribe, an exchange of desires so to speek. Unheralded in all such projects however is also the optimist, the person that makes the impossible seem like walking or breathing. And in this case I made mention of our desires to Jeff Eager, a fellow instructor. His last name should have been a clue. During the regular year he is helps coach football at a local high school (hint! hint!). Somewhere mid conversation I believe he started to sketch a blueprint or create.an Autocad file on his palm pilot, or some such. I remember mentioning to Jeff that I had a foam board model of my dream greenhouse. This was like inviting Exxon to a weenie bake. Below is the original foam board model and digital pictures of some of the sketches Jeff created. The game was suddenly afoot, as Sherlock Holmes would say. Or as Harlan Williams would say, "Oops".

Uraniborg Castle as seen through the eyes of the fellow who would use it to finish a few 40 year old projects, eat a few tomatoes from the greenhouse, graft a few plum trees, and sit on that veranda and swing back and forth with his granddaughters, if the creator will allow it.
Plan made from foam board model. Note change in roof to accommodate future solar array!!
Jeff's original plan for the greenhouse and shop.

Originally, the sunroom plan seemed too small and my wife and I had failed to say the actual word "porch". When I sheepishly mentioned our error, that by now familiar ray of sunshine spread across Jeff's brow. He had seen a vinyl screen sash that was perfect for this type of project. The elaborate kitchen-like sunroom was gone and Jeff disappeared for revisions. I also mentioned I wanted to bank insulation against the outside of the greenhouse knee wall to reduce winter heating costs. This meant the outside door to the shop had to be moved and for stability the knee wall was expanded. But after a single set of revisions and a $10K burst of gratitude nothing seemed to happen....??? Several weeks passed. Tsunamis must begin this way. Time passed. You could hear the distant rumble of the volcano.