fitnessfrombehindadesk-blog

[uroveneer-world]

Different types of plywood sheets and their Applications

Plywood Sheets is a type of engineered wood made from thin sheets of wood veneer that are glued together. It is versatile and can be used in a variety of applications, including construction, furniture making, and decorative purposes. 

Plywood is a widely used building material made from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together. These plies are usually laid in alternating directions to provide strength and stability. 

There are several different types of plywood sheets, each with its own characteristics and uses. 

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Here are some of the most common types of plywood and their uses : - 

Structural plywood: This type of plywood is designed for use in construction, particularly in roofing, flooring, and wall sheathing. 

It is made with strong and durable veneers, and has a high load-bearing capacity. It is made with a thicker veneer and has a higher density than other types of plywood to provide greater strength and durability.

Marine plywood: This type of plywood is designed for use in wet environments. This type of plywood is designed for use in marine environments, such as boats and docks. It is made with waterproof glue and has a high resistance to water and moisture.

Exterior plywood: This type of plywood is designed for use in outdoor applications where it will be exposed to the elements. This type of plywood is suitable for use in outdoor applications, such as outdoor furniture, exterior walls, and soffits. It is made with water-resistant glue and has a high resistance to moisture and weather.

Interior plywood: This type of plywood is designed for use in indoor applications, such as cabinets, furniture, and paneling. It is not as water-resistant as exterior plywood and should not be used in areas with high humidity or moisture.

Decorative plywood: This type of plywood is used for decorative purposes, such as wall paneling, ceilings, and furniture. It is available in a variety of finishes, including veneer, laminate, and paint-grade.

Fire-resistant plywood: This type of plywood is designed to meet fire-resistant standards and is used in applications where fire safety is a concern, such as in commercial buildings and high-rise structures.

Flexible plywood: This type of plywood is designed to be flexible and is used in applications such as curved furniture and decorative elements.

Softwood plywood: This type of plywood is made from softwood trees such as pine or spruce. It is lightweight and relatively inexpensive, making it ideal for construction projects such as walls, roofs, and floors.

Hardwood plywood: This type of plywood is made from hardwood trees such as oak, maple, or birch. It is more expensive than softwood plywood and is often used in furniture-making, cabinetry, and decorative applications.

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Applications of Plywood Sheets - 

Here are some common applications of plywood sheets : -

Furniture: Plywood is commonly used to make furniture such as chairs, tables, and cabinets. It is a strong and durable material that can be easily cut and shaped.

Flooring: Plywood sheets can be used as a subflooring material for hardwood, tile, and carpeted floors. It provides a stable base that helps prevent movement and cracking.

Walls and ceilings: Plywood sheets can be used as an alternative to drywall for walls and ceilings. They provide a smooth surface for painting or wallpapering.

Roofing: Plywood sheets can be used as sheathing for roofing. It provides a strong base for the roof covering and helps protect against weather damage.

Exterior siding: Plywood can be used as exterior siding for homes and other buildings. It can be painted or stained to match the surrounding architecture.

Boat building: Plywood is commonly used in boat building. It is strong, lightweight, and can be easily shaped to fit the contours of the boat.

Packaging: Plywood sheets can be used to create crates and boxes for shipping and storage. It is a strong and durable material that helps protect the contents from damage.

Overall, plywood sheets are a versatile building material that can be used in a wide range of applications.

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Conclusion - 

In conclusion, plywood sheets are a versatile and widely-used building material that offer numerous benefits over other types of wood and composite materials. They are made by gluing together multiple thin layers of wood veneer, creating a strong and durable sheet that is resistant to warping, cracking, and splitting. 

Plywood is available in a variety of grades, thicknesses, and sizes, making it suitable for a wide range of applications in construction, furniture-making, and other industries. Some of the key advantages of plywood include its strength and durability, its resistance to moisture and rot, and its ability to be easily cut and shaped to fit a variety of purposes.

The type of plywood you choose will depend on your specific application and the conditions it will be exposed to. It's important to choose the right type of plywood to ensure it performs as intended and lasts for as long as possible.

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[nealmcclure]

The Igloo Hotel

Located at mile marker 188.7 on the east side of the George Parks Hwy, this abandoned hotel is south of Denali National Park & Preserve and it is truly one of the most odd places in Alaska that you will come across. The nearest town to Igloo City is Cantwell, located about 20 miles away with a population just under 250 year-round residents. The cities of Anchorage and Fairbanks are both over two and a half hours away from this isolated structure in the middle of nowhere. Igloo City was constructed in the late 1970s by Leon Smith. He envisioned it as a hotel, though it was never completed due to code violations. The building suffers from undersized windows which do not meet code. In addition to some other code violation issues, the inadequate window size is the main reason the structure was never operational. Because this building was too big to demolish, it has remained standing for over four decades. The structure is so large in fact that airplanes can see it from over 30,000 feet high in the air. The round structure meant to mimic that of an igloo has four stories and is said to be constructed of 888 sheets of plywood with a urethane outside insulation Those who come from far and wide are urged to use caution. Because of the remote location, predators such as bears and wolves are in the nearby area and have been said to use this giant igloo structure as shelter during times of distress.

[copperbadge]

lustfulpasiphae

What do you mean when you say birch sheets? The cabinets in my apartment are kind of rough inside and I've been trying to find better liners than the kind of rubbery stuff

I hope it's okay that I pulled this out to turn into a post of its own, because I took some photos to share :D When I say "birch sheets" I'm just referring to thin 1/8" (3mm) sheets of birch plywood, cut into planks. Here's what they look like installed:

[ID: Two images of cabinets in my home; one, stocked with toilet paper, the other with a large bin in it. Both have long, thin planks of wood covering the original floors.]

I was having an issue with my bathroom cabinet (on the left) because the bottom of the cabinet was water damaged before I moved in, and wasn't molding or anything but had begun to sag. I wanted some stiff thin boards I could pop into place to make a clean, flat floor without having to replace the entire cabinet. I found these birch sheets that were the perfect length, but I had to order like 10 of them and only needed 3 for the bathroom, so I put the rest in a cabinet in the kitchen that happened to have an ugly-looking floor (and apparently misplaced several, not sure what happened to them). It really spruces up the look of a grotty cabinet.

Anyway, this year I was contemplating re-lining my upper kitchen cabinets; I put paper liners down when I was renovating before I moved in, but those only last so long and that was five years ago. I thought I'd install some birch sheets instead, which wouldn't warp or shred the way the paper liners have. My plan is to cover them in freezer paper, pop them in, and then just pop them out every so often and re-line them, which is easier than trying to put the paper straight into the cupboards (awkwardly located for that kind of work) or trying to remove the shelves.

I ordered the ones for the cabinets from somewhere new to me, so can't vouch for the quality yet; I was able to order them custom-cut to the size I wanted at that page, and while it's slightly more expensive per piece, I also only have to buy as many pieces as I need and they should fit snugly, so it's less expensive overall as a purchase. I'll post up when they arrive and I install them!

[oftenwantedafton]

haunted | dave miller x female reader

rating | explicit

part 1/?

words | 3k

cw | minor blood and injury, no explicit content this chapter

ao3 link

There is tremendous pain, and then there is none.

Imprisonment, and then freedom. The man doesn’t comprehend precisely how this was achieved, merely turning to look behind him to see the instrument of his previous torment sitting in a slumped position on the floor. The yellow rabbit suit looks worse than ever, the moth eaten orchid bow stained with something that might have been grease from the internal mechanical workings of the suit but likely isn’t. He has no delusions about what those spatters painting the animatronic are, but can’t yet reconcile that the substance had ever leaked from his own body. Glancing down, everything seems suprisingly intact and unharmed. Not even so much as a scratch. The springlock scars from his previous mishap are still there, of course, but those are the only injuries to be seen.

He shoves his shirt sleeve back down after patting his face, satisfied there is nothing physically wrong. He’s somehow cheated death yet again. The thought amuses him, and he barks a laugh, but the sound seems too loud in that all but forgotten space and he quickly stifles it.

There is an uneasy feeling begin to creep into the edges of his mind, the sense that there is something amiss after all, but he dismisses this notion and exits the room, leaving the suit where it is for the time being. He’ll tend to it later. Right now, he wants to go home, take a shower, and find something easy to heat up from the freezer. He’d been starving earlier.

He isn’t any longer, he notes absently, but that doesn’t overly concern him either. Likely the shock of what’s happened, the recent near death experience, has stolen away his appetite. Either way, he’s heading home.

Moonlight creeps in through the skylights, through the glass front of the restaurant where it has not been vandalized, smashed and boarded up and spray painted with graffiti. It bathes his hand as it comes to rest on the aluminum bar of the front door, and he notes how pale it makes him look, even moreso than usual. Milky white, the appendage that’s so devoid of subcutaneous tissue that it verges on skeletal pushes. Nothing happens. He tries again, with the same result.

The man frowns, glaring at the unyielding barrier. Perhaps something has jammed the hinges. Something from the outside he can’t see. Inconvenient, but nothing he can’t work around.

His pale gray eyes rove to the row of windows adjacent to the exit. There’s a fair sized gap he can fit through between one of the hastily tacked up plywood sheets and the smashed glass beside it. He kicks at a few remnants that stick wickedly out from the casing, but they seem as stubborn as the door had been. No matter. He’ll just be careful moving beside them. It would be foolish to injure himself now after what he’d just escaped.

He attempts to cautiously step through, but his progress is halted once more. Cursing, he tries again, only to find himself exactly where he’d started, on the wrong side of the makeshift blockade. It makes no sense. He can see right through to the outside. There’s nothing there to prevent him from leaving.

He reaches a hand towards the opening and finds this, too, is resisted. He can only go as far as the interior frame. It’s as if he’s encountering a forcefield of some kind. Invisible, but no less effective because of it.

He chews his bottom lip, contemplating the situation. Maybe there is something there that he can’t see. It is nighttime after all, and he’s getting older. His vision is just poor. That must be it.

Now his gaze casts around for an object that might solve his problem. One of the posts from the cordoned entryway rests on the confetti printed carpeting nearby, the garnet colored velvet divider that had once been latched to it long since missing. He bends to lift it, apparently miscalculating because his fingers close over nothing. He really is losing his vision, he thinks. He’ll have to get corrective lenses. Inconvenient.

Gritting his teeth, it takes him several more attempts before he successfully lifts the object. He swings it towards the opening, surprised when it goes sailing neatly through to the exterior. He reaches again, following the same path, only to collide with that invisible barrier again.

Absurd. That’s what this is. But he’s done wasting time. There are multiple points of egress in the old pizzeria. He simply needs to use another.

Parts and Service has one such example. The room where he’d come from. He should have just used that exit in the first place. Mind slipping. Another consequence of aging creeping up on him. He reenters the workroom, and naturally his eyes fall upon the rabbit suit once again. He’s going to check something before he leaves. Assess the damage. It wouldn’t do to leave it in such a heap. He’ll repair it another day, if it requires it. He’s just going to adjust its position for the time being.

He reaches for the rabbit head that’s still linked to the body. Strange, that. It should have been removed when he’d escaped the suit’s confines earlier. It’s only now just occurred to him how unusual it is to see them still attached, yet devoid of its operator.

His fingers close over the rabbit ear that’s still intact, finding it unpleasantly sticky. There’s a lot of that substance on the headpiece, apparently, because he keeps encountering it no matter where he grips; even the hand now braced along the opposite jaw dips into the tacky sludge.

For the first time in a long time, William Afton is afraid.

He’s finding the manipulation of the mascot as difficult as the front entrance troubles from earlier. He can’t get the head off, merely tilting Spring Bonnie’s face back. One of the fluorescent bulbs above flickers, strobing over the empty, fixed gaze, the tarnished button nose and casting its maw in washes of sickly yellow light alternating with darkness.

There is something inside the suit.

Someone inside, a person mangled and bloodied, embedded with the mascot. The springlocks have triggered again. The figure was trapped, merging within.

He does not gaze long at that unfortunate victim, releasing his grip and stepping back with a sharp gasp, the rabbit’s head now lolling back down as he drags his palms against his pants, surprised to see them clear of the blood he’d just been touching. He knows the shape of the face inside, even in its current condition, because he’s seen it reflected back at him in the mirror for over forty years.

The face is his own.

The uneasy feeling that had warned him earlier seems to mock him now. Did you think you had escaped death? Cheated it a second time? You haven’t. You’re dead. Nothing but a ghost now. Tethered to this restaurant that had once been his pride and joy, the source of happiness for so many families. Now a rotting testament to tragedy, like his own corpse, forever bonded with his beloved rabbit mascot.

This is to be his eternity, his afterlife, his own personal hell.

***

You’re too young to know about the missing children incident.

That’s exactly what the developer had been counting on when the property had finally been designated as available, the process of renovation promising a restoration of the town’s economy to newer, younger citizens who didn’t know about the building’s tragic history. It would have probably been better to tear the entire structure down and start from scratch, but that was more costly than using the existing one. Technically a portion of that property still belonged to the original owner who had recently disappeared much like those unfortunate children years before, but the new mayor, one of the primary investors in the project, was willing to overlook that little legal detail, agreeing that the best compromise would be to leave that portion of the mall intact, walling it away and concealing it from the exterior. A lot of the damage to the shopping center was cosmetic, even with its years of neglect. A usuable skeleton that just needed to be gutted. Shined up a little. Fresh paint. New floors and ceiling. And that eyesore on the other end blocked off entirely. Problem solved.

Now there are a series of small shops bringing new life to the mall, new commerce. Clothes and books and shoes for sale. A store specializing in computer repair and a nail salon and a coffee shop. Little by little it develops again. Money begins flowing. New job opportunities arise. This is where you come in.

The bookshop is a perfect summer job. After doing a stint in the food industry last year you know you don’t want to repeat that mistake twice. Books are clean. Books are peaceful. It’s not a library; doesn’t command that same level of chapel-like reverence, but there’s a certain degree of respect in a store like this. Customers aren’t too loud or rowdy or demanding. The most arduous task you’ve experienced thus far is needing to unlock the cash drawer to issue a refund for a textbook that had been ordered by mistake. No big deal.

It’s smack in the middle of summer, that time of year post Independence Day where people are still far enough removed from school obligations, the days feeling long and lazy, spent traveling or camping or swimming or whatever else occupied them during this slower paced, more leisurely time of year. The store is quiet today, and you slip away for a break, deciding it’s too hot to venture outdoors, instead walking the length of the mall, gazing at window displays while sipping on lemonade purchased from one of the kiosks.

Your mind wanders and before you know it you’ve reached the end of the renovated portion of the mall. The wall in front of you is boarded up, a sign posted forbidding entrance and another claiming the area is ‘under construction’. You don’t really believe the latter is true; at least, you’ve never noticed any progress in the few months that you’ve worked here. Maybe they ran out of money. Or ideas. Maybe both.

You begin to turn, halting when you catch sight of a figure moving behind one of the sheets of plastic draped over the edge of the barrier. You can’t discern much about it, except that it’s definitely child sized, the giggle that trails after its appearance confirming your suspicions.

“Shit.” You glance around quickly to see if there’s an adult anywhere nearby that might be a parent, but you’re alone. The last few stores at this end of the mall are vacant, the red lettered signs listing the square footage and realtor phone number sitting in the windows. If there’s construction equipment on the other side of that barrier, the kid was most likely going to run into danger. “Ah, hell.” You could walk to the nearest store and ask them to call the police, but maybe that was a bit dramatic. If you hurried, you could probably stop them from getting into trouble.

Sighing, you walk towards the plastic sheeting and drag it aside, stepping behind the blocked off partition. A bricked up wall with a huge hole gapes before you. You step into it warily.

To your surprise, the space inside is already furnished. There’s a dining room in front of you. It looks like some sort of children’s themed restaurant. You can almost make out what looks like an arcade off in the distance. Well, no wonder why the kid wanted in. Speaking of which. No sign of them, but they can’t have gotten too far ahead.

“Hello? Hey, I know this looks fun and all, but you’re not supposed to be in here.” You glance up at the ceiling, frowning at the light source. You’re surprised to find the power is on. Someone was gonna catch hell for that electric bill. You notice a lot of the tiles are missing, and some of the bulbs are burnt out. The place looks dusty, and it smells like it, too; the air is stale and unpleasant. Your skin crawls as you proceed a few more steps inside. This is a bad idea. You should go get help.

Another giggle draws your gaze, the pale face of a young girl there and gone again as she enters a door off the main room. “Wait! God damn it.” You stride quickly over checkered linoleum, glancing at the curtained stage at the front of the dining area before you nudge the door open. It’s marked for employee use only. There’s a long hallway stretching in front of you, and no sign of your fellow trespasser.

“Hey! Little girl? It’s really not safe to be in here. Your mom’s looking for you and she’s really worried. She promised to take you for ice cream if you come back with me right now.” There. A little lie, a little bribery, but if it worked, totally worth it. You wait at the threshold, hoping the child will take the bait.

No luck. And to make matters worse, there’s another child further down the hall now, appearing from seemingly out of nowhere. This one male, younger than the girl, his hair dark where hers has been light.

“There’s two of you? Great. Whose kids are these? No, don’t run!” Too late. The boy vanishes.

You hesitate, undecided on your next course of action. The corridor is darker the further down it goes. You might get lost. Then you’d be of no use to anyone. That, and you’re more than a little creeped out. So, the coward’s route it is, then. You’ll go back to your other plan of contacting the authorities. Let them handle it.

“What are you doing?”

The voice behind you makes you jump, nearly dropping the cup you’re still clutching. You whirl around to see a man dressed as a security guard. He’s tall and thin, his features severe. Everything about him is varying shades of black and white: pale skin, dark hair, pewter eyes, ebony and ivory uniform. You sigh with relief, thinking perhaps he’d been sent in search of the children. The alleged solution to your problem has miraculously presented itself.

“Hi! Oh, I’m glad to see you. There’s a little girl and boy wandering around in here. I followed them inside, trying to get them to come back out, in case it was dangerous.” You offer a smile that is not returned.

“They know their way around here. I’ll make sure they get back to where they belong. No need to worry.” He finally blinks, his long, dark lashes kissing the bruised looking skin beneath his eyes.

“Oh. You know about them.” You pause. “Are you sure it’s safe?”

“They’re fine,” he says, his eyes flicking down to the beverage in your hand. His nostrils flare slightly, as if he’s trying to detect the scent of the contents of that cup, before his gaze locks back on your features once again.

“Well, that’s a relief. Thanks…Dave,” you say, reading the name on the badge pinned to his chest.

“My pleasure.” He finally returns your smile, but the delay in its arrival makes it more unsettling than friendly. There’s a pronounced gap between his cuspid and molar on one side, and you catch a flash of his tongue—also pale, oddly bloodless looking, but that must be because of the poor lighting, surely—briefly worrying over that vacancy.

“I should get back to work now.”

A brief lift of his brows stirs the messy mop of hair on top of his head. The grin widens, peeling back his lips even further, the gaunt cheeks stretched taut. You shiver, waiting for him to move out of your way.

And then he does, the security guard abruptly stepping aside so you can exit the restricted area. You release the breath you’ve been holding in a loud rush, walking back into the dining room.

Without another word you return towards the barrier, a sudden sense of urgency making your steps rapid, your shoes clicking loudly on the floor. Dave’s are oddly silent, but you know he’s trailing behind you, just the same.

You grasp the plastic sheeting and drag it aside, sparing one last glance at your odd companion.

He lingers a few feet back, the long arms folding across his chest. “Come and visit me again sometime.”

“I’m sure I’ll see you around the mall.”

“I’ll be here,” he says, emphasizing the final word.

You emerge back into the mall, and it’s like being doused with cold water, the shocking contrast of the two environments making you freeze in place. You drag in a large lungful of air, savoring how clear and fresh it seems; how wonderfully sunny and bright it is. Like being outdoors, even though you aren’t.

You’d halfway been expecting a concerned parent or guardian to be hovering nearby, awaiting their offspring’s return. But you are still alone. Dave must be retrieving them now. You don’t think he’ll be very kind about it. You imagine how that encounter might go. Ushering them roughly out of that strange establishment. Those intense eyes flashing. Teeth gritted. Long and spindly limbs shoving them beyond the barrier.

And then, a retreat. Back into the shadows. Only the smile visible. White against the dark. A vampire’s grin before returning to his coffin.

You shiver again, tossing the rest of your drink in the nearby wastebin. It’s likely watered down by now. Nearly empty anyway. And your allotted break is almost over. As laid back as the manager is, you don’t really want to test the limits of that kindness. Your return trip is much faster. You’re not running, precisely, but your steps are brisk, fueled by adrenaline.

Come and visit me again sometime.

Dave’s raspy voice still echoes in your mind. Smoker, likely. Damaged vocal chords from years of that habit.

I’ll be here.

As if you’d willingly go back.

[is-the-snake-video-cute]

hello! you very kindly answered an ask of mine recently, and now that i’ve gone through your ball python tag i have a few burning questions!!

1) i’m having a very hard time keeping humidity up for our BP. she’s been doing fine, but she shed recently and it didn’t go as smoothly as it has before. after reading a few of your tips, i think i’m going to try helping her with the last little bits of skin with some reptile shedding spray and a short soak. do you have any other tips here? i know i should keep the water shallow and not try to force off any skin with my fingers.

2) this wasn’t the worst shed ever, but i’d really like to get ahead of it next time and just go ahead and figure out how to get her humidity right. i’m already using coconut substrate, but misting with a sprayer doesn’t seem to be cutting it. i was planning on buying a fancy reptile humidifier, but i haven’t seen that discussed much here. i saw you say somewhere to add water to the substrate itself, but what exactly does that entail/how much should i use? and about how much substrate should actually be down in the tank?

3) for her enclosure itself we’re using exo terra’s 40 gallon tank, which comes with a screen top. we covered a lot of it with a towel (also serving as a privacy curtain) to keep in humidity but i wasn’t sure if that was a good idea or not?

sorry to ask so many questions!! thank you so much for your time!!

(oh, last note! i know 40 gallons isn’t the right size for an adult BP, but she is currently about the same length as the long side. i haven’t had her long enough to know quite how fast they grow, should i be scrambling for a bigger enclosure now?)

Hello hello - these are all good questions, and I really love the care and love you're putting into giving your snake the best!

A soak sounds like a great idea. Make sure the water is lukewarm but not hot - it should feel the tiniest bit chilly on your fingers. Giving your snake a washcloth during their soak is a great idea because that gives them something to hold onto and they'll often be able to rub stuck shed off themselves with it.

I recommend no less than an inch of substrate. How much water you add to rehydrate depends on how big your enclosure is, but a good general rule for a 40 gal is about a cup of water poured into the corners will do nicely. Especially since you've got a screen-top enclosure (which are very difficult to keep humidity in), if you want to spring for a humidifier, it might be a good idea. I don't personally use them (because I'm old and I prefer to limit the number of devices that could malfunction in my snake enclosures), but it might work well for you in this situation. Another trick for raising humidity levels is to make sure you're keeping a deep water dish on the warm side so it'll evaporate into the air (though, again, with screen-top enclosures that'll only do so much).

A towel can help to retain humidity in screen-top enclosures, but there are a few other tricks that might work better. A sheet of plywood or PVC cut to cover most of the enclosure is what I've found to work best; failing that, covering the top with tinfoil you've taped down securely is another good option. Screen-top enclosures can be a bit of a nightmare with humidity-loving snakes like bps, but there are workarounds!

How fast a snake reaches thier adult size depends on how much they eat and individual variation, but in general you can expect most snakes to reach their adult size between 3 and 5 years old. Some will be faster and some slower. If your snake is comfortable in a 40 gallon now, that's fine! I prefer to get snakes in their adult enclosures at around 2 years old, but there's no need to scramble. Just keep in mind what she'll eventually need (I recommend no smaller than a 4x2x2 enclosure), plan for that eventuality, and prepare to have it when she outgrows her current setup.

All the best!!

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Inside Climate News:

Once a month for nearly two years, Evan Clark, the Waterkeeper at Three Rivers Waterkeeper, a water quality advocacy organization based in Pittsburgh, has traveled by boat along the Ohio River to Shell’s enormous new plastics plant in Beaver County. 

This facility is a cracker plant, using ethane from fracked gas to make ethylene and ultimately to manufacture up to 1.6 million tons of plastic per year. In his boat, Clark looks for tiny plastic pellets called nurdles and monitors the plant’s outfalls, the places where its wastewater is discharged into the river. 

Since the plant became operational in the fall of 2022, Clark has noticed strong chemical odors at the outfalls—potentially a sign of contaminants like volatile organic compounds, or VOCs—and found many, many nurdles, a feedstock used to make everything from soda bottles to car parts. 

This winter, Clark and the team he works with at the Mountain Watershed Association collected samples from 11 square feet of soil from the Ohio’s shorelines both upstream and downstream of the plant. Three Rivers Waterkeeper works to protect the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, while the Mountain Watershed Association focuses on protecting the Youghiogheny River, a tributary of the Monongahela. 

They found more than 700 nurdles, of all different colors, shapes and sizes. “They start to get kind of a white chalky appearance after they’ve been in the water for a long time,” he said, and nurdles also appear different depending on where they were made.

It was an alarming discovery that has implications beyond Shell, Clark said, although recently the team has been seeing more fresh, similar-looking nurdles that seem to have been in the water for a shorter period of time and could be linked to the Beaver County plant. They haven’t yet been able to procure a sample from Shell to match the nurdles definitively. 

“That is a tiny area, smaller than half a sheet of plywood, and our preliminary analysis of what we’re looking at there didn’t point directly to a problem at Shell,” he said. “But it pointed to a plastics problem that we have throughout the whole region.” 

To Clark, the “incredible” concentration of nurdles was evidence of the industry’s role in contributing to plastic pollution. “If we’re finding that amount of plastic spread through our environment that is the responsibility of manufacturers—these are plastic nurdles, they’re not from consumers—we have a real serious issue with the lack of regulation of plastics manufacturing,” he said.

[crexalbo]

Extremely Strong Shower Bench

I've gotten feedback from the community asking me to share my plans, so here it is. If you want to build your own shower bench, this is how you do it. Make sure to ask a thinno for help, this will not be easy to do!

This is an extremely strong shower bench with a 1000+lb capacity. The floor under you will fail before the bench does! This shower bench is designed to remove you from the shower and basically have you sit on the ledge. You will need a couple feet of clearance away from your tub's ledge for it to work.

The top of my tub's ledge is about 1' 3⅜" up from the ground. If yours is taller/shorter by more than ¼" or so, you will need to make some adjustments to measurements down below.

This is a photo of the materials I used to make this build. I got everything I needed at my local hardware store. My build wasn't perfect though. I would suggest you learn from my mistakes and acquire a slightly different material list though:

1x 2'×4' plywood sheet. Get something pre-sanded and rated for outdoor use. I recommend ¾" thick.

2x 8' 2×4s. Most any wood type will work, so get what you like most. I just got some normal 2×4s and made sure they looked pretty. If you don't want to bother with staining or weatherproofing the structure of your bench, get pressure-treated 2×4s.

4x 2' ½"×½" square dowel.

4x Simpson Strong-Tie RTC2Z. Get the black-powder-coated ones if you can.

2x Simpson Strong-Tie LUS24Z. These will be used for the cross beam.

4x Simpson Strong-Tie FB24Z. These will be the feet.

1x Simpson Strong-Drive SD9112R100 #9×1½" 100ct Connector Screws. You won't use the whole box. It comes with a bit.

4x 3" common nails.

32x 1½" common nails.

35x 1" brad/finish nails.

200-220 grit sandpaper.

Oil-based high-gloss polyurethane.

Small dense-foam roller & roller pan.

If you're applying stain, oil stain & staining brush for oil stain.

Liquid rubber. Get something that will provide grip.

Rubber-foam weather stripping. The thicker and wider, the better. I got 20' of 1¼"×7⁄16" and it worked great for me.

4x paper clips, hair ties, or something to hang the feet from.

A plastic tarp, thickness is more important than size.

As for tools, you really only need two things:

Hammer

Drill, ratchet, or socket screwdriver

OPTIONAL: File or knife

I also highly recommend some PPE. Get some cheap/disposable cleaning gloves, a mask of some type, hair ties for your hair, and an old change of clothes.

If you don't have access to a table saw at home, *don't leave the store yet!* You need to cut your wood at the store. Many home improvement stores will cut your lumber for you, either for free or for a low price.

Ask an employee to cut the two 2×4s like this:

2×4 #1: 38", 38", 17"

2×4 #2: 33½", 33½", 13", 13"

NOTE: If your tub ledge was taller/shorter than mine, then for every 1" difference, lengthen/shorten each 33½" cut by TWO inches.

Then ask them to cut two dowels down to 20½", and two down to 24".

You should also ask them to take 6" off the short side of the plywood, so it's 2'×3½' instead of 2'×4'.

You're not ready to leave yet! You need to make two more cuts, and the store employees will not help you with these. Many home improvement stores will have a DIY handsaw table where you can cut moulding down to length. You'll need to use this to make the last two cuts yourself.

You need to make an ANGLED cut into the 33½" boards. Lay the first 33½" board down flat as shown. On the edge closest to you, mark a point 1' 5⅛" away from the left end of the board. Then on the edge farthest from you, mark a point 1' 5¼" away from the same left end of the board. Position your saw across both points, and cut through the board. You may need to roll the board over to finish the cut.

NOTE: If your tub ledge was taller/shorter than mine, then for every 1" of difference, add/remove 1" from the 1' 5⅛" / 1' 5¼" measurements above.

For the second board, *do not measure!* It is more important that the cuts in the boards be identical than it is for any one cut to have exact dimensions. Lay the second board down, then set one of the cut pieces on top so the ends of the two boards are aligned, then use the existing angle in the cut piece to start the cut in the second board.

When you are done, you will have four boards, two slightly taller than the others, with the exact same angle cut in all of them. In the above photo, the boards are resting on their angled ends. These pieces will be your long and short legs.

NOW you can bring everything home.

First, lay down your tarp somewhere. Ideally you'll have access to a 5'×10' flat area outside.

Then you need to sand *everything* (except the big faces of the plywood, and the pressure-treated wood if you went that route). Pay special attention to the corners and cuts in the wood.

Now you need to attach the square dowels to the outside of the plywood board. Choose a face of the board to be the "up" face, the one you'll sit on. Put the 24" dowels on top, right along the short edges. Choose a long edge to be the back, and squeeze the two shorter dowels in along it between the side dowels. Nail everything down with the finish nails.

Next is staining, if you chose to stain. Apply according to the directions on the tin. You will likely have to do multiple coats.

Now the truly hard part, applying polyeurethane. I recommend using the foam roller for this and applying many coats. You can prop up the plywood sheet using the 2×4s if you like so you can get all the way around the edges in one pass. You'll still need to flip it over and do three more passes when done with the top, so you can protect the underside from warping.

While waiting for your polyethylene to dry, you may as well make the rubber feet. Grab your four FB24Zs and tie something through one of the holes in the end. Open your can of liquid rubber and follow the instructions to fully submerge each one before leaving it out to dry. One coat should be enough. Once dry, try to remove excess rubber from the inside using a file or knife.

When everything's had a good long dry (at least a day after final coat), it's time for assembly.

Grab your two 38" boards, your two 13" boards, all four of your legs, and your four RTC2Zs — everything except what's highlighted red in the first photo above. Set the 38" boards down on their narrow side along the long edges of the board, and the 13" boards down on their narrow side along the short edges of the board. Bring them together to form a rectangle, then set the RTC2Zs upside-down on the corners. Each RTC2Z has an L-shaped hole in its bottom; the top/bottom of each L-shaped hole will be filled by the ends of the 38" boards, while the center and left/right of each hole will be filled by the legs. The ends of each 38" board will butt against the wide side of the legs, while the ends of each 13" board will butt against the narrow side of the legs. Now make sure everything is pressed firmly together as you use the Strong-Drive screws to attach the RTC2Zs to the 38" & 13" boards. For each corner, four screws go into the 38" board and two screws go into the 13" board. *DO NOT ATTACH THE LEGS YET!* The legs are just here for spacing right now. Remove the legs when everything is attached.

Grab your 17" board and your LUS24Zs. The 17" board should squeeze in nicely right in the middle, turning your blocky 0 into a blocky 8. Straighten out your LUS24Zs if needed (mine were bowed outwards too much), set them down over the ends of the 17" board, and use 4 screws each to attach them to the sides of the 38" boards. Now grab your long 3" nails and use two on each LUS24Z, installing them at a 45° angle into the remaining holes. They'll nail at an angle into the 17" board and go straight through into the 38" board.

Flip everything over such that the plywood board is now resting good-side-up on top of the mostly-complete frame, with the whole thing resting on the rounded bottoms of the RTC2Zs. Center the frame between the left and right sides of the plywood (should be ½" overhang on each side); let the plywood's back overhang ½" off the back of the frame, and its front overhang 3½" off the front. Now use the 1½" common nails to nail in the plywood into the frame. I used four lines of nails, one for each outer board; measurements are in the second photo above.

OPTIONAL: Apply a final polyurethane coat over the nail heads. This will need a day or two to dry.

Screw the feet into the ends of the legs. See the third photo above for a reference. Try to make the feet as straight and snug as you can get them.

Insert the legs into the holes left from step 1. The short legs go in on the front side, and the long legs go in on the back side. You should have a bench that tilts slightly forward, to allow for water to drain into the tub. Use some sort of material as a spacer as necessary to adjust each leg to level out the bench. Don't be afraid to introduce gaps between the legs and the plywood; the metal connectors are what hold the weight. Once everything is nice and level, use six screws on each leg to attach then to the RTC2Zs.

Apply your rubber-foam stripping. I applied stripping all along the length of my tub's ledge AND along the underside of my bench.

And you're done! Your bench will look different than the photo above, I hadn't yet added the stripping, the wooden dowel siding, or the feet. And perhaps you chose a different stain color, or made your legs out of pressure-treated wood! In any case, this thing is built like a tank (made with actual home framing materials) and shouldn't break easily. I hope it serves you well!

[cthulhusstepmom]

Gaz finds out a couple of weeks after Price.

It's a complete accident and not even a fault on Soap's part really, unless you count getting the wrong type of bin.

It's some time in the middle of the night, Gaz doesn't know, Gaz can't be bothered to say. What he does know is that there's an intruder in his room ruffling around on the floor. "Ye wee foockin son of a bitch yer gonna wish ye were nae foockin born" ....Fucking Soap?

He doesn't even bother getting up. "Soap what the bloody fuck are you doin in here mate??"

The cursing on his floor goes silent. He's about to ask more when he feels a slight pressure on his calf, ready at this point to accept that Soap just wants cuddles and drag him on to the bed he's nowhere near prepared for the sharp pinch that clamps down on his leg.

"Jesus Mary and Joseph Soap what the hell??" He squeals at the same time Soap declares "I've got ye wee bastard!"

He looks down just in time for Soap to rip his covers and grab a... thing that had been attached to his leg, cradling it in his palms with a stern look.

"You gonna explain what the fuck just happened to me?" Soap, now looking appropriately sheepish holds up his palms like an offering. In them, cradled delicately in calloused hands is a baby turtle the size of a golfball. Little bugger is fucking cute too.

"I ah had them in ma closet...they wernae sposed to get out but the bin locks are shit. Think he could hear the water from your tanks or somethin, slipped right under the door."

Gaz, properly awake now, is taken to Soap's room with the little snapping turtle. He realizes for as good of friends as he is with the man he'd never actually been in his room, now he knows why.

"Mate there's no fucking room in here!"

"Ach ah know, I donnae have a space for turtles but they just hatched a couple days ago."

Gaz laughs. "Soap I meant for you ya fuckin muppet!"

Soap blinks. "Well I can get to the bathroom, and if I get chilly I can just curl on up in there with Wee Man."

Gaz takes it in, he admittedly doesn't know the first thing about reptiles but everything looks pretty fucking mint, fake and real plants all over, big sticks and caves to hide in, not to mention the size of the things. They don't look like much on the outside, sheets of blank plywood that look just the slightest bit slap glued. But the fronts have well installed sliding glass doors and the insides are all painted with hand drawn jungle and desert scenes and sealed expertly with silicone.

"You make this?" Gaz asks, gesturing to the enclosures.

Soap looks up from where he's contorted himself to get into his closet, fiddling with the bin that the baby turtles had escaped from where it sits on a heat pad.

"Oh aye, nothing much to look at but it gets the job done."

"Fuckin mint."

[taperwolf]

I went down to the makerspace to cut some styrofoam sheeting and some plywood, and I managed to use a table saw without cutting off both of my hands.

(Which has been a long-term dream of mine; I've even been examining doing big woodworking with CNC routers in large part because I've been worried about cutting sheets of plywood to size.)

[ukiyoe-reproduction]

Ukiyoe Reproducing ー "Asakusa Ricefields and Torinomachi Festival, from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo".

I thesedays done a work. It's ukiyoe reproducing from a Hiroshige's work, "Asakusa Ricefields and Torinomachi Festival, from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo".

The concept this time reproducing was to ``make as quickly as possible at the lowest possible cost, and with the highest possible quality.'' This work was made for wholesale sale to various vendors. However, there may be some individuals who want it, so I'm also selling it on my webshop.

I used the original image from the National Diet Library Digital Collection as a reference, but my colors and lines are quite different. However, such matter is generally not uncommon in ukiyoe reproductions. Also, even if the carving and printing are somewhat rough, it does not impede the appreciation of the print, which is particularly evident in the original prints from the Edo period. Thinking the producing status and skill standards of Edo period ukiyo-e prints, and comparing the originals and nowadays ukiyoe reproductions, it seems that the rougher carvings and printing take even more reality. Nowadays, ukiyo-e is commonly viewed as art , but on the other hand, it also has originally aspects of commercial prints made quickly and cheaply and printing techniques for that. Although it from my experience seems that carvers and printers in the past placed more emphasis on speed, but I think it comes from that. Alternatively, from the Meiji period to the present day, ukiyo-e may have changed from a ``commercial print'' to an ``work of art,'' and its technique changed from a ``printing technique'' to an ``artistic expression technique.'' One old printer once said, ``There is something "play" in the print by a master.'' In my personal interpretation, it seems to me like the work of a master , that is not made with perfect care and attention to detail, but rather work that is basically done well but still retains imperfection with a sense of speed. However, note this time my reproducing is far from such that level.

This time, I re-sharpened the previously used wild cherry woodblock with a plane and reused it. Such technique is also important in reducing production costs.

The keyblock done to carve. It's been 10 days since I started carving. Then, the necessary number of sheets are printed from this keyblock to make a manuscript for the color block, and each color block is carved based on that. I this time used woodblocks of plywood of japanese lime for that.

The all color blocks done to carve. Up to this point, 18 days have passed since I first started carving the keyblock.

I then prepared the paper for printing. It's hand-made japanese washi of all mulberry. The sizing was not drawn on this time paper, so I drew it myself. Once the blocks and paper are ready, I first do a test printing and check the blocks. Sometimes I forget to carve a part in the color blocks , so I must check it at this stage. After making a test print and checking the blocks, the final printing begins.

The total color impression is 17. I printed to make 120 sheets in 5 days. After this, l do some inspection work.

This time, I applied an aged color to only the front side of the paper since I thought that giving it an aged look would give it a better feel.

This time, the work took about a month in total, including holidays. When vendors purchase it all, this 120 sheet brings about 150,000 yen as my income. So I have to make it such quickly. Just to be clear, this is not a work of carver and printer, in terms of remuneration.

I mentioned that I made it for wholesale, but there may be people who want it personally, so I also sell on my webshop. In addition, my friend gave me the advice, ``I want one color ink line print of the keyblock since it's interesting. There might be other people who want it, so why not sell it?'' I thought that's a good idea, so I decided to sell a print of only ink line of keyblock this time.（This keyblock one not done aged process.）

[mirthlxss]

Off to the races

Chapter 7: He doesn't mind 

Somehow, both John and Lilith understood this, it wasn’t enough.

master list

price x oc, series.

a03: pricescigar, Off to the races is posted in full.

sexi taglist:  @deadbranch , @jxvipike, @smoggyfogbottom

warnings: angst, mentions of blood.

His comfort faded as quickly as his smile did, having corralled Lilith inside the Captain seemed to have moved on from her distress. Set on checking off another task on his ever-long list, his presence coursing through halls as he passed through, the dampened woman trailing after him. Soldiers pressed against the walls to make room for his bearish gait, reputation cloaked upon his broad frame, tripling his size. He moved in silence, thoughts ticking over in time with his steps, a steady beat in which his subconscious could growl too, mull over the thrum of his anger. Wet echos of her borrowed footwear sounded as she hurried herself in order to remain in his shadow, scornful eyes burning holes into the back of his khaki shirt, occasionally flickering around to then glare at a stray soldier. 

The flip-flops were slowing her down considerably, slipping and sliding on the shiny linoleum floors. Lilith slid her foot out of one mid-step, letting it remain in their wake. She soon ditched the other, now able to somewhat keep in step with Price as he led her through the maze of buildings. Words clattered against the cage of her teeth, hurdling around her shut mouth with such force she could barely contain herself, desperate to stir up something other than the heavy atmosphere that the man ahead of her carried. This whole situation had uprooted her life completely and yet it felt like he was the one on a quiet rampage. She could feel it slamming against her, the need to crack the weighted silence, break the dam. The pink of her lips now slowly burst into a deep red as the capillaries broke, teeth wrenched down into the soft flesh, hesitantly released in preparation to speak, cage steadily shattering. 

“This’ll be your room.” 

Her mouth hung open, brows furrowed as his tones filled the air instead of hers. So focused on projecting her angered gaze on him, entangled with finding the right words, blinded to her surroundings as he had thrown open a locked door. She faltered, blinking away the burning resentment in her eyes and letting them carry across the space. It almost reminded her of a dorm room, simplistic plywood furniture, desk, shelves, all of one eggshell colour that carried an impersonal air. The bed tucked into the corner, deep blue sheets that matched the colour of the curtains which were drawn over the window that presided just over. The light overhead flickered, he loomed beside the doorframe, inspecting her reaction, waiting. 

Lilith stepped across the threshold, bare feet scratched by the rough-cut carpet, an off-blue that almost looked dirty. Maybe it was. She shivered involuntarily, sucking in a deep breath, cringing at the overwhelming smell of bleach. 

“Garrick prepped it for you weeks ago,” Price had watched him do it, unsure as to why one of his best men was hell-bent on freeing someone who could have been the undoing of them all. Back and forth debate all the way as the Captain witnessed him scrub the place clean, skirting boards and all. 

“What’s going to happen to those men?” She faced away from the other, cheek turned and body held in place. Lilith felt as if one more step further would come across as acceptance, a willing participant in her fate, no doubt he’d want to seal her in this astringent-smelling room. Practically a storage closet with a bed and a window, it was just missing the bloody body. Somehow this felt familiar. 

She wanted some course of judgement, some trial, some punishment. His anger felt futile, an enraged Captain meant little to a woman trapped within his den of predators, a bleeding bunny led deeper into the bowls of this haunt, those pictures had only just rung the dinner bell. 

The question riled his wrath further, calloused hands down dragging down the length of his visage, pulling at the course hairs on his chin, eyes clenched shut. Blood lay behind them, the vision of red so potent he could barely see past it. Not that he wanted to, it felt right in this situation, morals askew when it came to upholding the dignity of a woman, one supposedly in his protection. The red swirled on, protection or investigation? Who knew at this point, lines continued to blur as the weeks went on, now standing in a soldier's room and asking for damnation. He had answered before, he was going to fire them. The answer felt weak now, frail in the kingdom of his rage, barely able to keep upright as it offered itself before him. Somehow, both John and Lilith understood this, it wasn’t enough. 

It felt wrong, wanting to inflict lasting hurt on men who were supposedly on his side, slept in his barracks, ate beside him at mess. And for what? A stranger who had saved Simon from a stab wound? Seen his face? 

Saved. 

He could make out her frame through the maroon mirage, peering out back at him, barefoot and shivering. 

“They won’t be an issue.” 

Lily inhaled once more, almost as if his reassurance had permitted her to breathe again. She nodded, eyes closing with the movement, lips drawn tight. She didn’t doubt that it would be handled, it seemed now, that the other's anger had grown so large it consumed her own, elevating the burden of action, swallowing the responsibility down as his to herald. His anger alone may have issued uncertainty but theirs together, it morphed into an odious thing. And by god was it beautiful.

The four walls surrounding her felt oppressive without Price’s presence pushing them back, focusing her thoughts. Having left Lilith to herself long ago with a gruff command to ‘remain’. At first, she spent the time in riled dismay, jeering out mock impressions of the Captain and his demands.

“Remain!” She’d bark, soon following it with a deeply sardonic laugh, then a stretch of pitying quiet as the room stayed the same, the carpet still scratched and she was still very much alone. With no clock to watch, an hour had stretched on to feel like an eternity. Wet clothes clad to her skin as she circled the small space, soon resorting to flinging open all the cabinets and drawers to relieve some modicum of her boredom. 

Upon opening the inside of her desk, Lily stood pleasantly surprised. A small sticky note clung to the wrapper of a chocolate bar, messy handwriting scrawled out in black alongside a badly drawn smiley face wearing sunglasses. 

‘Peace offering from your new neighbour, I introduce to you, the Gaz-laxy bar’

She removed the note to reveal a Galaxy bar with a ‘z’ crudely shoved between letters with what looked like black permanent marker. Lily huffed softly, a humorous swirl of air leaving her as she tried not to chuckle, it was so stupid. She loved it. 

“See, told you guys it was funny.” 

“Fucking hell!” With a gargled yelp, Lily spun toward the voice, now finding Kyle poking his head around the open doorway, Soap and Ghost beside him, all peering in. A strained silence fell upon the four as they seemed to stare at one another, she clutched the chocolate bar in her hands with a suspicious look, scowl now forming.

“How long have you been there?”

“Not long, just came back, meant to show yer’ round lass” Soap pushed past the two other men crowding her doorway, awkwardly stumbling into one of the open closet doors in the process. A bundle of clothing in his hands messily clutched with great difficulty as he took a moment to situate himself, now dumping them onto her bed. Lilith picked through the pile, all standard-issue military uniform, on first inspection most of the items seemed normal though as the woman started to look properly- 

“Where are the laces for the boots?” She held up a black boot, its leather tongue flopping out without the lace holding it steady. 

Soap rocked back and forth on his own shoes, which very evidently had laces, lips pursed as he let out an elongated ‘err’, decidedly looking away and distracting himself by opening and closing the door he’d just fallen into. Lily persisted, now ever more suspicious, shoving the boot towards Gaz, waving it in his direction with a raise of her brow. 

“How am I supposed to walk properly in them without laces?” 

“Not allowed laces.” Deep, voice awash with general distaste, like he’d chewed up stone and spat it right out at her. 

Lilith faltered slightly, not expecting Ghost to have addressed her, it was unusual, the man hadn’t spoken to her directly after the whole needle incident in the hospital. She chucked the boot back onto the pile, hand now situated on her hip as she returned his sour answer. 

“Any particular reason?” 

Both Soap and Gaz looked uncomfortable, even more so as the towering menace crossed the threshold and loomed over her, even with a good stride between them Lilith felt dwarfed by the other, things fell into Ghost’s orbit and never came back out, a black hole of a man sucking out all the energy in the room, all the oxygen. 

“Could hang yourself with them.” 

The sharp pinch of a shiver scraped down her spine, her hand fell to her side, shoulders slumping forward slightly, and the urge to make herself smaller overcame her. 

“No belt, no laces, no drawstrings.” 

She moved back toward the bed, picking up a long-sleeved shirt before casting an overly pointed look back towards the three. 

“No underwear either? What am I gonna do with those? Seduce someone into lending me their laces so I can finally fucking hang myself?” 

Soap let out a snort, throaty laugh leaving the shorter male as he petted Simon on the shoulder. 

“Ask the Cap’n about personal items and whatever’s not there” He rocked back and forth once again before Simon shrugged off Soap’s hand and crowded the man out of the room, grumbling something toward Johnny as they left Gaz waiting in the doorway. 

“C’mon Lil’ go commando and get changed for now, wanna show you the place before its dark”

She reluctantly complied with Kyle, only because of his stupid chocolate bar. Dawned with her ill-fitting hand-me-downs the woman looked like she’d been playing dress up. The dark green shirt hanging from her frame unflatteringly as well as the camo patterned cargos, which she had rolled up around her waist to accommodate for the material slipping down every two steps. The tour was short as her world had, oh so graciously, been opened up from the small hospital room to the section of the barracks which the team occupied. Shared bathrooms, a shabby common room and a hallway of half-empty dorms. 

“What a thrilling tour Garrick, I must thank you from the bottom of my heart for the ten minutes you took out of the busy, busy day to show me your bountiful kingdom.” Lily stood, arms crossed over one another, sarcasm spread thickly over her demeanour. 

“I haven’t even shown you the best part yet lil’ miss commando, get yourself ready, it’s the best your life in captivity is gonna’ get.” He grinned wickedly, beckoning Lily over to him as he raised himself up on his toes, stretching out to grab ahold of a cardboard box that sat on top of the row of kitchen cupboards within the common room. She watched curiously, inching closer as Gaz shook the box, the sound of packaging filled the air with each jolt. 

“Oh yes” 

“Oh yes indeed.” He hummed, chuckling now as the black-haired girl dove her hands into the mess of food. A whole box packed full of snacks, the feeling of the different plastics scratching her hand made her smile widen, childish pangs of excitement escaping her as she rummaged through the contents. 

“Suddenly I love it here.” She grasped onto a packet of crisps and laid them along her forearms like she was cradling a newborn, rocking the plastic and shushing it comically.  

“What’s her name?” Kyle cooed, now picking up his own packet and copying Lilith as they tended to the children. Laughter intermingled, he was indulging her for sure, or maybe just tired and happy that someone was willing to endorse his tendency to play stupid. Someone other than Soap that is. She circled the box and planted herself next to the other, pushing her packet towards his own when something seemed to halt the girl, her smile fading as she soon pointed at Kyle’s hands. 

“Was it..” She started, glancing over the red ridges in his knuckles, the beginnings of a bruise covering the flesh around the welts. A heavy sigh heaved from his lips as he let his packet drop back into the box, stretching out his fingers, he spread the digits wide in order to grant the other a good look. Garrick had decided the moment his hand had collided with the face of one of those tech boys, that he’d tell Lilith. This had gone beyond the usual, it felt less like duty and more like defending a friend. Even more so when Price had come back to the room, Gaz was sure he’d be hearing the Captain call them off, but no, John stood seething, soon joining in. Even Ghost had thrown his weight about a bit. 

“I doubt they’ll be finding any reputable jobs with faces like balloons” He scoffed, head tilted down slightly, trying to catch her gaze as she stared at his hands. Lily hesitated for a moment before she sucked in a sharp breath, already feeling the rush of blood circle through her head, the worry starting to build with every pump of her heart. 

“I wish-“ Voice fell flat, not as strong as she wanted it to be, betrayed by the air in her lungs. “I wish I could’ve done something yanno? I feel like, well, I don’t know” She sighed, closing her eyes as she pinched the bridge of her nose. 

“What happened, how it was dealt with, I think everyone involved wished they could’ve done something more” He was whispering now, lowering his voice to meet hers, outstretched hand now moving to gently grasp her shoulder, a gentle hold as they fell into quiet conversation. He inched closer, body turning to face her, eyes flickering around the place before he continued on. “I’ll be honest Lil’, never seen the Captain hit another soldier, not like that.” Hushed, eyes a little wide as he recounted Price, the look in his eye, the man seemed far from his sense, lost in whatever had taken hold. “Think we all crossed some lines today, if I’m honest-“

“What are you two hens clucking about?” The Scotsman smashed through the delicate exchange, rounding the corner to the common room with a loud whistle at the sight of Gaz and Lilly crowded over the snack box. “Price ain’t gon’ be chuffed about that” He hollered, clearly pitching the call up an octave or two, wanting to attract attention. 

“Shut up man!” Gaz was quick to snatch the packet of crisps from Lily’s hands and scurry to shove the box back above the cupboards, leaving the girl to stand confused. 

“Caught red-handed in the reward box Gazza, I canny remember you getting any permission for tha’” 

Lilith watched as the two dropped into some petty back and forth, soon gathering that the snack box was indeed not a free-for-all but a coveted reward. One that king Price seemed to dangle over their heads. The notion made her curl inwards with a dubious sort of humour, disbelief evident at the childish nature of it all. 

“Would you two shut up.” Ghost soon came into sight, notably, the man had changed into what looked like an attempt at loungewear. Dropping down onto the worn sofa he drew an exaggerated breath, taking out a phone from his pocket and holding it out before him. “Price said to go ahead and order.” 

[uroveneer-world]

What is Wood Veneer? Applications of Wood Veneer

Wood Veneer -

Wood Veneer is a thin layer of real wood that is sliced or peeled from a log or a sawn timber, and is typically used as a decorative covering for furniture, cabinetry, doors, paneling, and other interior architectural features. 

Veneer is an excellent alternative to solid wood because it is more affordable, more sustainable, and more versatile in terms of design options.

These slices can be as thin as 0.5mm and as thick as 6mm, depending on the intended use.

Largest Collections of Wood Veneer Ever. Buy Now from Uro Veneer World.

Wood Veneer is a thin slice of wood that is typically between 0.5 and 6 millimeters thick. It is cut from a log using a specialized machine called a veneer slicer, and is then used to cover or decorate surfaces such as furniture, doors, walls, and floors.

In this article, we will explore the characteristics, benefits, and applications of wood veneer.

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Buy the Largest Collections of Wood Veneer @ Uro Veneer World. 

Get in touch with us!!!

Buy your favorite Wood Veneer for your interiors and Home decor @ Uro Veneer World Today.

Characteristics of Wood Veneer - 

Wood veneer is available in a variety of species, grades, cuts, and sizes, which can affect its appearance, texture, durability, and cost. 

Some of the most popular veneer species include oak, walnut, maple, cherry, mahogany, teak, ash, and birch. 

The choice of species depends on the desired color, grain pattern, figure, and texture of the finished product. 

For example, oak veneer has a pronounced grain and texture that works well for rustic or traditional designs, while maple veneer has a smoother grain and lighter color that suits modern or minimalist aesthetics.

Veneer grades are based on the quality and uniformity of the wood, and can range from A (highest quality) to D (lowest quality). 

A-grade veneer is typically free of defects such as knots, splits, sapwood, and mineral streaks, and has a consistent color and grain pattern. D-grade veneer, on the other hand, may have numerous imperfections and variations in color and grain, and is often used for hidden or low-cost applications.

Veneer cuts refer to the direction and angle of the slicing or peeling process, which can affect the appearance and stability of the veneer. 

The three most common cuts are plain-sliced, quarter-sliced, and rift-sliced. 

Plain-sliced veneer is produced by slicing a log parallel to its growth rings, resulting in a cathedral-like pattern that is suitable for large surfaces such as doors or tabletops. 

Quarter-sliced veneer is produced by quartering a log and then slicing it perpendicular to its growth rings, resulting in a straighter grain and more uniform color that is suitable for high-end furniture or cabinetry. 

Rift-sliced veneer is produced by slicing a log at an angle to its growth rings, resulting in a straight grain and narrow figuring that is suitable for modern or contemporary designs.

Veneer sizes can vary depending on the application and the availability of the wood. Standard veneer sheets are typically 4 feet by 8 feet, but can also be 4 feet by 10 feet or 5 feet by 10 feet. Some manufacturers offer custom sizes and shapes to fit specific design requirements.

Buy your favorite and High Quality Wood Veneer Today for your interiors and home decor.

Contact Us for more info!!!

Get Quotes and View Prices.

Download the Wood Veneer Catalog Now.

Benefits of Wood Veneer - 

Wood veneer offers several advantages over solid wood and other materials. 

First, veneer is more affordable than solid wood because it requires less raw material and less labor to produce. 

This makes veneer a viable option for budget-conscious consumers or large-scale projects that require a lot of wood. 

Second, veneer is more sustainable than solid wood because it allows for more efficient use of natural resources. By slicing or peeling a log into thin layers, veneer manufacturers can produce several sheets from one log, thereby reducing waste and conserving forests. 

Third, veneer is more versatile than solid wood because it can be produced in a wide range of colors, grains, and patterns, and can be applied to a variety of surfaces. This allows designers and architects to create unique and customized looks that are not possible with solid wood or other materials.

Applications of Wood Veneer -

The applications of wood veneer are diverse, and it can be used in both residential and commercial settings. 

Some of the most common applications of wood veneer include : -

Furniture: Wood veneer is often used to cover the surfaces of furniture, such as tables, chairs, and cabinets. It can be used to create a variety of looks, from traditional to modern.

Doors: Wood veneer is commonly used to cover the surface of doors, giving them an attractive and natural appearance.

Wall panels: Wood veneer can be used to create decorative wall panels, adding warmth and texture to a room.

Flooring: Wood veneer can be used to create engineered hardwood flooring, which is a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to solid hardwood flooring.

Architectural millwork: Wood veneer is used in architectural millwork to create decorative elements such as moldings, paneling, and trim.

Musical instruments: Wood veneer is used to create the outer layer of many musical instruments, such as guitars, violins, and pianos. The thin slices of wood are often chosen for their unique grain patterns and colors.

Interior decoration: Wood veneer can be used to decorate walls, ceilings, and other interior surfaces. It can be used to create a rustic or natural look, or to add warmth and character to a space.

Overall, wood veneer offers a cost-effective way to achieve the beauty and durability of solid wood in a variety of applications.

Wood Veneer is a versatile and attractive material that is used in a wide range of applications to add warmth, beauty, and texture to various surfaces.

Visit Uro Veneer World Today.

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Buy your Favorite and Unique Collections of Wood Veneer Today @ Uro Veneer World.

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

Packard Patricia pickup

Chris Coleman

Former Test Driver & Mechanic at Automotive Industry (2007–2008

What were the original reasons for Chevrolet coming out with the El Camino?

The El Camino, and other similar vehicles, like the Ford Ranchero, Subaru BRAT, Dodge Rampage and others, were designed to offer car-like comfort, performance and convenience, with the cargo capability of a light truck. Three of the forerunners to this were the Packard Patrician pickup, the Chevrolet Cameo and the Dodge Sweptline pickups.

1957 Dodge Sweptline with tailfins

Chevrolet Cameo Fleetside

The El Camino was based on the full-sized Impala originally, and was enormous. The low ground clearance and hefty weight made it a poor choice as a pickup. Most owners purchased them for styling reasons, especially with the cat eye taillights and horizontal tail fins.

1959 Chevrolet El Camino

Later, Chevrolet downsized the El Camino and based it on the Chevelle/Malibu, where it remained until it was discontinued.

1968 El Camino SS

With nothing in the rear, other than an empty bed, it was difficult to make it competitive as a muscle car, since the weight distribution was heavily biased towards the front.

Also, the bed used curved sheet metal in many places, to accommodate the rounded body panels, and this wasn’t a good fit with common pickup cargo, like plywood, hay bales and crates.

With the passenger compartment realistically holding two people, it was worthless as a family car, while a station wagon version of the Chevelle would be perfect. These things made it an odd fit with a very limited customer base.

Holden Ute, from Australia

Paradoxically, in Australia, cars like these, called Utes (short for utility) were and are extremely popular. Australia has a more rural environment and remote ranches and homes, which make this type of vehicle perfect for them. However in a more suburban setting, like the U.S., the El Camino was always an odd choice.

1972 Ford Ranchero - Based on the Torino

Dodge Rampage

Dodge Rampage, built on the K-car platform

Subaru Baja

Today, no one makes a ute for the American market, but that doesn’t mean these may not resurface from time to time. As kids grow up and nests are emptied, we may once again see a demand for the ubiquitous El Camino, Ford Ranchero and others.

[somediyprojects]

DIY Stenciled Floors

Project by AshleyAnn:

I’ve always loved the symmetry and flow that patterns provide, but finding an actual pattern in the form of a stencil that I would want to use on my walls or other places in my home is a bit difficult. Most arts and crafts stores carry about five different stock patterns. Though there is a larger amount of custom options online, the prices are often high for most DIY projects. I recently decided to tear out the carpet in my bedroom and paint the plywood sub-flooring, until I am ready to put in a hardwood floor. After painting the floor, I opted to add a custom stencil using some of my favorite vintage fabric to add an extra kick. — Ashley

Materials

Sharpie

X-Acto knife

blank decorative stencil or clear thin acetate

vintage fabric & doily

self-healing mat or hard surface for cutting

repositionable adhesive

Instructions

1. Begin by getting your design the correct size for the stencil. The print on the vintage fabric I chose was a bit smaller than I wanted for my stencil. I took a photograph of a section of my fabric, increased the size in Photoshop and then printed it. You could also take your fabric to a copy store and print a magnified or reduced copy of the image.

2. Place your printed design (or actual design if it is the correct size) under the blank stencil. Using a Sharpie, trace the sections you want included in your stencil. Keep in mind that the base of the stencil has to be connected when you are finished. You might need to modify parts of your initial design when drawing on the stencil to make sure all areas are connected. I chose to add “filler” designs, like a doily, to my fabric to create a full-sheet stencil.

3. Using an X-Acto knife and self-healing mat or hard work surface, cut out your design.

4. After you have finished cutting your stencil, spray the underside with repositionable adhesive (what scrapbookers use). Let the first coat dry for ten minutes and then spray again. Let it dry for another ten minutes. Your stencil will now stick to the surface, but should not leave a residue when you peel it off.

5. Paint your floor using the stencil design.

Tips for Using Your Stencil

Keep in mind how you want the stencil to connect to itself when you begin painting. To create a diagonal stencil, I used half a doily design on one upper edge. When I painted the stencil, I simply rotated it until the doily was complete, thus creating a diagonal design.

Be careful not to bend any area of your stencil.

I prefer using small foam rollers when painting a stencil.

Keep in mind that the more precise your pattern, the more difficult to get it looking exactly right when painting. If you opt for an organic design rather than a geometric design, it is easier to fix mistakes and paint smudges.

Depending on the size of your stencil, you can use it on walls, floors, ceilings, furniture, canvas, fabric and countless other places.

6. Enjoy your one-of-a-kind stencil!

[cabernetkitchens]

Key Aspects of Custom Kitchen Cabinets

Custom kitchen cabinets are a popular choice for homeowners who want personalized storage solutions that perfectly fit their kitchen space and meet their specific needs and style preferences. Custom cabinets are built-to-order and are designed to maximize functionality and aesthetics in your kitchen.

Here are some key aspects of custom kitchen cabinets:

Design: With custom cabinets, you have complete control over the design. You can work with a kitchen designer or cabinetmaker to create a layout that optimizes storage, suits your cooking habits, and complements your kitchen's overall style. Custom cabinets offer a wide range of design options, including materials, finishes, door styles, hardware, and organizational features.

Measurements and Fit: Custom cabinets are tailored to the exact measurements of your kitchen space. This ensures a perfect fit, even in challenging areas such as corners, alcoves, or uneven walls. By maximizing the use of available space, you can achieve optimal storage capacity.

Materials and Finishes: Custom cabinets allow you to choose from a variety of materials and finishes. Common options include solid wood, plywood, medium-density fiberboard (MDF), laminate, or a combination of these. You can select the type of wood, stain or paint color, and other finishes to match your kitchen's style and your personal taste.

Storage Solutions: One of the significant advantages of custom cabinets is the ability to incorporate tailored storage solutions. You can choose specific features like pull-out shelves, built-in spice racks, utensil dividers, vertical storage for baking sheets, custom drawer inserts, and more. These options optimize organization and accessibility, making your kitchen more functional and efficient.

Quality and Durability: Custom cabinets are typically crafted with high-quality materials and construction techniques. Skilled cabinetmakers take pride in their workmanship, resulting in durable cabinets that can withstand the rigors of daily use. Custom cabinets are often built to last and can add long-term value to your home.

Cost: Custom kitchen cabinets are generally more expensive than pre-made or semi-custom options. The price will depend on factors such as the materials chosen, complexity of the design, and the size of your kitchen. However, the investment in custom cabinets can provide long-term satisfaction, increased home value, and a kitchen that perfectly suits your needs.

When considering custom kitchen cabinets, it's important to work with experienced professionals who can guide you through the design process and ensure high-quality craftsmanship. Take the time to research and consult multiple cabinetmakers or kitchen designers to find the right fit for your project.

Contact Cabernet Kitchen & Fine Cabinetry today for the most elegant custom kitchen cabinets in Vaughan.

[drtesla2426]

A gift given to @amistyshadow

It started as raw sheet metal. I plasma cut the layout of the box out of 1/8in steel, and the rose out of 3/32. First I bent everything (using a hand brake) to form, then welded the box together. Then I made the flower. The flower took the most time.

I started by welding the smallest petals to a thin rod. Then I used a torch to gently heat up and bend the petals into place. Once they cooled, I welded the next size to the rod, just below the first petals, and repeated this process. Once all the petals were on the rod, I drilled a hole in the lid, and welded the rod to the inside of the lid. The box is roughly 4in x 4in and 2in tall, not including the rose. I painted the rose with red spray paint. The box I hand painted, as I didn't want to risk getting the rose too dirty. I used some black acrylic paint from another project.

For the wood, used a 7watt laser engraver. I used inkscape to pull vector paths from some of her artwork, and used LaserGRBL to generate the code. On thin plywood, a power setting of 10% and maximum speed worked well. I used DALLE 2 to make the cat. I made the ART one from some stock images.

This was a fun project. I learned a lot about laser engravers. And nearly burned my house down on multiple occasions. Also, I think my room will always smell like campfires now. I should probably use it outside from now on.