Videos of Bats Flashing on the Internet

... actually, no, it's not that kind of flashing...

I have mentioned the big party/seminar series that my company puts on every year--see here and here for the 2005 and 2006 accounts, respectively. Anyway, that's what I've been up to--I haven't been home since Friday, and there are still a few more days. As usual, it is a great time, with plenty of excellent food, drink, and people.

But also work. No... really. But it was relatively fun work--we are building some demonstration wall mock-up sections, to show our client how they would build and detail this wall (two wall sections with more insulation than normal). So one of my colleagues and I spent a few days hammering together the walls:



Part of the job is to demonstrate how you would install windows into openings--the drainage connections (i.e., flashings) are very critical to make the window work. As my boss puts it: "... there are two types of windows: windows that leak, and windows that will leak. This is why we use a pan flashing underneath the window opening, to drain out that water. So windows are like people. I might not leak right now, but when I get old, I'll probably start to leak..."

So for educational purposes, they shot and edited videos that they put up on YouTube--and for some reason, they decided that I was optimal on-camera talent. So you can see me in the video (Proper Technique for Flashing and Window Installation), doing the Bob Vila thing, except talking too fast and dressed up in tool belt drag. I actually haven't watched the whole thing yet--I find it a bit embarassing, and like everyone else, there's the whole "Is that how my voice really sounds?!" problem.

Another fun part was doing drainage testing on one of these assemblies. One of my colleagues from grad school did a lot of work on drainage in walls, so we set up a test to pour a few liters of dyed water into the place where water should drain out of the wall. I was put in charge of aquiring a measured container of water.

Huh... how about an empty 1.75 of Jose Cuervo?


As dyed red water started pouring out of the wall openings, I just had to start croaking, "REDRUM! REDRUM!"

Sometimes, I have to admit it is pretty fun to do what I do.