Recyclers won't take scorched books
I had a trailer load of books from my shop that were scorched and no longer usable. Maybe a ton's worth? The load (dry) was so heavy that I couldn't move the trailer by myself. (I used an old trashcan with wheels to load and unload the trailer, many loads.)
I called the city, the county, and one other organization. They don't recycle scorched (or smoke-damaged) books: "the paper goes through a change and is no longer usable". The only alternative was to take them to the dump - and they charge $36.50 a ton here to dump stuff.
I'm pretty disappointed. I wanted SOME good to come of those books that were damaged when my shop was torched, even if they were just recycled.
We can't afford to pay $36.50 a ton, so I ended up building a pile and burning them. I now have a mound of ash in our back yard around 12 feet in diameter and probably a foot high... from a pile of books that would have been three or four feet high. Talk about a hot fire, but I had to keep a fan blowing on it otherwise they'd just smolder. It burned for five hours. At least, now that stuff is out of the way and I can get more done - and a weedy patch got eliminated too.
Next is to finish taking anything that might be of value out of the burned shop, and then pull it down. That last may be interesting because the floor is bad in half of it and it could get a bit dangerous. I'm going to try to get scrap value from the frame and sheet metal... hopefully maybe enough to help us survive until fall (Sue hopes that we can get enough to BUY a "new" shed for my metal working tools).
Some good news of the day... I needed a ball bearing turntable for my computer table (the old one is worn out) and I found one and may be able to fix it up. I also found a couple of slides for drawers that I might be able to get cleaned up and one of my rock cutting tools is OK (blackened by smoke and some of the paint missing, but not damaged). The special grinding wheels for it are all melted, but at least I have that part. Maybe I can recover more?
Oh, and my neighbor gave me a lecture across the fence today about "You're getting old, you should get rid of your tools!". Funny, but I'm only 57 (feel like a thirty year old stuck in a badly broken 50 plus body) and if my family is any indication, could live into my 90s or longer - and those tools saved us more than a few times. I figure he thought he'd get some tools at a big discount... and he was surprised that I still valued them - some were tools that I'd designed and built! (He also suggested I was a bit old to be in school, but I finally feel like I am getting to where I was supposed to be - 25 years and more years ago! He doesn't understand that kind of stuff, and to him, EVERYTHING is about getting rich (he already is and owns hundreds of acres, cattle, and heavy equipment - but lives in a mobile home and cries poor all the time). He thinks I'm in school to get rich - doesn't understand that I'm in school so I can find work that I can do in spite of the medical issues and that I'm still just dreaming of having a life. I don't care if I'm a hundred - once I get the chance, I want a life! (I want to take vacations, travel, see the country and the world, and do more than just work and do without.)
I let him think whatever he wants, as long as he doesn't start trying to tell me how to think and be. I'm done with that sort of treatment from ANYONE.
Oh, and health being mentioned - I'd forgotten how easy it is to overdo it in the Florida heat and humidity, and have been going through a Fibromyalgia flareup (even in spite of the meds I take). I've been getting stuff done, but it's been a major case of self-discipline, and I've had to really pace myself and 'listen to my body' - slow down and rest when I feel weak and lightheaded. I'd love to take a couple of days and just flake out, but too much needs to be done and not enough time to do it all.
I called the city, the county, and one other organization. They don't recycle scorched (or smoke-damaged) books: "the paper goes through a change and is no longer usable". The only alternative was to take them to the dump - and they charge $36.50 a ton here to dump stuff.
I'm pretty disappointed. I wanted SOME good to come of those books that were damaged when my shop was torched, even if they were just recycled.
We can't afford to pay $36.50 a ton, so I ended up building a pile and burning them. I now have a mound of ash in our back yard around 12 feet in diameter and probably a foot high... from a pile of books that would have been three or four feet high. Talk about a hot fire, but I had to keep a fan blowing on it otherwise they'd just smolder. It burned for five hours. At least, now that stuff is out of the way and I can get more done - and a weedy patch got eliminated too.
Next is to finish taking anything that might be of value out of the burned shop, and then pull it down. That last may be interesting because the floor is bad in half of it and it could get a bit dangerous. I'm going to try to get scrap value from the frame and sheet metal... hopefully maybe enough to help us survive until fall (Sue hopes that we can get enough to BUY a "new" shed for my metal working tools).
Some good news of the day... I needed a ball bearing turntable for my computer table (the old one is worn out) and I found one and may be able to fix it up. I also found a couple of slides for drawers that I might be able to get cleaned up and one of my rock cutting tools is OK (blackened by smoke and some of the paint missing, but not damaged). The special grinding wheels for it are all melted, but at least I have that part. Maybe I can recover more?
Oh, and my neighbor gave me a lecture across the fence today about "You're getting old, you should get rid of your tools!". Funny, but I'm only 57 (feel like a thirty year old stuck in a badly broken 50 plus body) and if my family is any indication, could live into my 90s or longer - and those tools saved us more than a few times. I figure he thought he'd get some tools at a big discount... and he was surprised that I still valued them - some were tools that I'd designed and built! (He also suggested I was a bit old to be in school, but I finally feel like I am getting to where I was supposed to be - 25 years and more years ago! He doesn't understand that kind of stuff, and to him, EVERYTHING is about getting rich (he already is and owns hundreds of acres, cattle, and heavy equipment - but lives in a mobile home and cries poor all the time). He thinks I'm in school to get rich - doesn't understand that I'm in school so I can find work that I can do in spite of the medical issues and that I'm still just dreaming of having a life. I don't care if I'm a hundred - once I get the chance, I want a life! (I want to take vacations, travel, see the country and the world, and do more than just work and do without.)
I let him think whatever he wants, as long as he doesn't start trying to tell me how to think and be. I'm done with that sort of treatment from ANYONE.
Oh, and health being mentioned - I'd forgotten how easy it is to overdo it in the Florida heat and humidity, and have been going through a Fibromyalgia flareup (even in spite of the meds I take). I've been getting stuff done, but it's been a major case of self-discipline, and I've had to really pace myself and 'listen to my body' - slow down and rest when I feel weak and lightheaded. I'd love to take a couple of days and just flake out, but too much needs to be done and not enough time to do it all.