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#1
Off Topic / Dreyfuss, the St. Elmo, and Co...
Last post by MWBailey - Today at 11:57:17 AM
Hey there!

Nope, I'm not dead, I'm still a steampunk, and I intend to keep posting in Homecoming  and maybe a few other stories later on. Have to see about that when the time comes, though.

"Whereinna heck have you been, Bailey?"

Well, here's the blurb I put in the Portrayal section:

Long story made short, Dad came home in November 2023 from rehab after a long stay  therein, in two consecutive facilities. He came back home almost a week to the day after I posted the above ("the above" being the previous blurb about continuing the story). He had injured himself, you may recall, in an attempt to use his walker to kill a roach in his bedroom. His fall in that attempt fractured his hip to such an extent that some joint replacement was necessary. That, plus his advanced age, required extensive rehabilitation.

He is now, after a very long time, almost able to care for himself - but not quite. He still needs extensive help from myself and my mother. Giving that care, and the time and exertion it requires so to do, are what has made it nearly impossible for me to make any headway until now (hopefully I can start doing that now, at any rate) with this serial (meaning Homecoming, of course).

I can't promise much, but I will endeavor to start adding entries again soon. I owe it to anyone who is still interested.

Thank you for your continued interest,

MWBailey
#2
Portrayal / Re: Homecoming
Last post by MWBailey - Today at 11:48:09 AM
Quote from: MWBailey on November 05, 2023, 04:04:01 PMAuthor's Note:

An explanation for my recent sudden hiatus and absence is forthcoming, as well as more chapters, however short time constraints force me to make them!




My Story.

It's not finished yet, and I intend to keep it going.
Somehow.
When I can.

Sorry bout promising an explanation and then going pitch black dark.

Long story made short, Dad came home from rehab after a long stay  therein, in two consecutive facilities. He came back home almost a week to the day after I posted the above. He had injured himself, you may recall, in an attempt to use his walker to kill a roach in his bedroom. His fall in that attempt fractured his hip to such an extent that some joint replacement was necessary. That, plus his advanced age, required extensive rehabilitation.

He is now, after a very long time, almost able to care for himself - but not quite. He still needs extensive help from myself and my mother. Giving that care, and the time and exertion it requires so to do, are what has made it nearly impossible for me to make any headway until now (hopefully I can start doing that now, at any rate) with this serial.

I can't promise much, but I will endeavor to start adding entries again soon. I owe it to anyone who is still interested.

Thank you for your continued interest,

MWBailey
#3
Tactile / Re: Gentlemen*! Behold — This ...
Last post by von Corax - Yesterday at 12:06:00 PM
Quote from: Sir Henry on October 26, 2023, 04:46:06 PMThe house used to be a Home for disable adults, so it had Safety Features.

1)There's the main wiring for the house at 240v. Though because every room has a shutoff switch (for all the electrics in the room) outside the room and a test circuit, the switches have as many as 9 wires going into each one.

2) The fire alarm and sensors are all wired up in a 12v circuit throughout the house. When we first lit the wood stove, alarms were going off in places no-one had been for over 20 years!

3) The best of all. All the internal doors are fire doors but as it was residential they were open all the time. This was done with an electromagnet attached to the wall behind every door and a metal disk attached to the back of every door. When the fire alarm went off it cut power to the magnets and all the doors would close thanks to the strong door-closing mechanism on each one.
This was a 96v circuit.
What happens when you leave all the doors magnetically left open for 2 years while the place is empty, I hear you ask. Glad you asked. Several of the magnets were hot to the touch when we moved in and every single door frame had needed to be reset as they had all been pulled out of square. And it turns out that you can fill the large gaps this creates with baby wipes. Loads and loads of baby wipes.  :o

Best of luck with yours.

I guess I shouldn't say anything about yours, since all North American homes are wired 240v/120v split phase, and my doorbell(s) run on 24v AC.

In any case, I now have a home, and a Place for my Stuff, so as soon as I can find said Stuff I can get back to work on my Thing.
#4
Tactile / Re: That 'big project' I've be...
Last post by James Harrison - Yesterday at 11:53:21 AM
Last night's dilemma saw me progress two items.

Firstly, the dining room wall took on a coat of breathable paint, followed by a second this morning. 



It's not an exact match of course, but I can live with that.  The dark patch at the bottom is where the paint is drying more slowly thanks to the moisture in the wall that kicked the whole thing off to begin with. 

Then I re-grouted the washstand splashback.





Which I think was a worthwhile exercise. 

With the bathroom, I think I'm going to try and break out what's left of the tiling (and possibly more of the plywood) and just leave the bits that are physically stuck under the toilet, bathtub and sink. 
#5
Tactile / Re: That 'big project' I've be...
Last post by James Harrison - May 04, 2024, 04:31:01 PM
Remember that marble washstand top?





I call that a success.  Naturally the washbasin and taps are only loose-placed at the moment, but it's a step in the right direction. 

The quandry now is what to do next;
1) The breathable emulsion has arrived for the dining room chimneybreast, so I could repaint that one wall.
2) The washstand splashback needs re-grouting before I can screw it back to the marble, so that could be done.
3) I've broken out enough bathroom floor to make painting the first two walls worthwhile.

So that's two fairly small things and one big one I've got to get going on.  I'm hopeless at deciding 'what next?' when my to-do list starts getting too long. 
#6
Meta-Clubs / Re: Dragon Tamers - A room for...
Last post by Cora Courcelle - May 03, 2024, 08:34:37 PM
You have absolutely nothing to apologise for as far as I'm concerned, I just hope you're in a better place soon.
#7
Anatomical / Re: Saccharin is Steampunk
Last post by J. Wilhelm - May 03, 2024, 03:49:49 PM
Quote from: RJBowman on May 02, 2024, 06:13:51 PM
Quote from: J. Wilhelm on April 30, 2024, 11:36:00 PM...it's not clear if anyone at all still holds the patent for it, or if it's name "Saccharine" is itself a registered active trademark.

The name doesn't seem to be trademarked, but saccharin does have an official web site:
https://saccharin.org/

It appears to belong to an industry group.

I found that site, but seems to be just a consortium of companies.

Quote from: von Corax on May 02, 2024, 08:09:01 PMAs far as I can tell from TSOATAK, the term "saccharin" by itself has never been trademarked.

Yeah, I'm not finding anything either.  However the potential for impact on the list is for products that may have been kept from the list due to "modern ingredients."

Most of the time it's the formula or ingredients list being too different from the Victorian recipe, but I'm not sure if there was a brand excluded due to the use of saccharine.  Probably not, but I have to review the 3 lists.
#8
Meta-Clubs / Re: Dragon Tamers - A room for...
Last post by SeVeNeVeS - May 03, 2024, 10:27:28 AM
I wish to publicly appologise for my recent behaviour.

After a year of stress and problems I admit I momentarily lost the plot a little (ok... a lot) and committed crimes against the forum which I now regret.

If you can forgive me I shall be back to posting as normal and annoy the hell out of you all again. :D



#9
Anatomical / Re: Saccharin is Steampunk
Last post by von Corax - May 02, 2024, 08:09:01 PM
As far as I can tell from TSOATAK, the term "saccharin" by itself has never been trademarked.
#10
Anatomical / Re: Saccharin is Steampunk
Last post by RJBowman - May 02, 2024, 06:13:51 PM
Quote from: J. Wilhelm on April 30, 2024, 11:36:00 PM...it's not clear if anyone at all still holds the patent for it, or if it's name "Saccharine" is itself a registered active trademark.

The name doesn't seem to be trademarked, but saccharin does have an official web site:
https://saccharin.org/

It appears to belong to an industry group.