I have the proverbial siding salesman coming over today, thanks to the professionalism of his scout, the earnest young college guy working his way through OSU in finance, but willing to let me blah blah about all those decals on the porch, and how Linux was such a big focus in this region for so long. It still is. I’m not saying the Linux story is over. On the contrary… I’m picturing like a Danny DiVito type. He’ll be showing me samples.
Anyway, after talking about my front yard C6XTY, the Sam Lanahan 5-frequency CCP (no, not communist, but yes Chinese in part), we turned to the business of siding and I let him book me for the free estimate, out of which a contract might emerge, though not today. I haven’t even mentioned to my family that I’m doing this as they all have busy lives. I happen to be between gigs and have a window in which to build my knowledge-base in the home maintenance department.
The south and east facing blue painted wooden exterior facets are sun-baked. The back side is brand new, and the west facing facet is submerged in a rainforest jungle, replete with cougars, coyotes, and maybe bear. I exaggerate for effect. Let’s just say the priority would be to address the sun-baked sides. But if I went with siding, that’d result in a hybrid, and would future owners forgive me for making that choice? I should ask a chatbot. And my friends.
I told the scout I was just starting to build an up to date file on a remodel. I’m usually immersed in cyber-space and am not wearing a general contractor hat. Is there a logical order to roof versus side work? Do they ever offer pre-painted custom logos on the siding. What if I wanted something Tlingit, or Tulalip?
I’m talking about back by the BBQ, while keeping the public facing facets more demur, as they are today (deep blue in hue). The sun-baked sides have become oxidized with a kind of “white rust” and this has made them pale and somewhat cracked, and obviously therefore aging more quickly than the other facets.
I probably won’t explain to the siding guy about my secret identity as a once and future trailer park mogul. Yes, I’ve lived in trailers full time, but I’m talking about the Cascadian Synergetics storyboards and those prototype camper communities, field testing futuristic "tripods" made in China and other places (they might have more legs than three; not all models have legs).
These will be unlike conventional domestic dwelling units in this early 1900s neighborhood, made mostly of wood. We won’t need “siding” per se, although every domicile needs a fuselage of some sort. Families book 'em and check 'em out, rate their experiences, make suggestions. Models that make the grade are more likely to be cloned in greater numbers.
The OSU student was interested in my tales involving Hewlett-Packard and its global calculator repair facility, which is not how the market went, so they turned it into a nanotechnology R&D hub instead. I’ve toured it. In that vein, he went on to talk about the new nVidia computer science building in downtown Corvallis. That got me to thinking even more deeply about our Cascadian Synergetics.
I’m not saying we won’t have tripod suppliers closer to the campsites. Chinese might stock inventory stateside much as Subaru does, a popular brand of car, meaning spare parts need to be easily obtained. Ditto for dwelling machines; parts in inventory, close at hand, is a plus. Fulfillment center technology is still in its infancy no doubt. Amazon’s are among the biggest and most visible. Civilians don’t see some of the military’s warehouses, which also come at various scales.
Remember BE DO HAVE in GST. Remember Supermarket Math.
The upshot of our meetup was: forget about siding, lets focus on the roof instead. It's past pull date, that much is clear. I just need to pick a next solution. I'll be soliciting additional advice. I've not replaced the roof in the thirty years I've live here, so it's no surprise that I'm contemplating my options in that regard.
