Roll, do not brush - 14 August 2022

Having applied fiberglass to the bottom of the kayak, it was time to apply epoxy to fill the weave, creating a smooth surface for final finishing with varnish (to protect the epoxy from UV destruction).  For the fiberglass, I used a scraper to apply a thin coat of epoxy.  For the first fill coat, I used a foam roller to apply the epoxy, and it went quite smoothly.  I was happy with the uniformity of the resulting coat.  I was concerned about the amount of wasted epoxy left in the foam roller when I was done with the application, so I decided to use a chip brush to apply the second filler coat.  Although the brushed coat seemed to use less epoxy and it left a smooth coat, it also had two problematic consequences.  First, the inexpensive chip brushes tend to shed bristles; this is no surprise, but I did have to stay alert to remove the bristles so they did not set in the epoxy to become permanent features of the kayak.  The second problem is that the brush left a thick layer that had a tendency to slump and drip on the more vertical surfaces of the kayak.  This will require quite a bit of sanding to make fair.  I plan to return to the roller for future applications of expoy filler and the coats of varnish.  I will use the brushes for areas that are not amenable to rolling, such as the areas around the coaming.

I also learned why being generous can sometimes leave one in a bit of a pickle.  During the construction class, the instructor suggested that people share epoxy bottles so as to reduce the number of epoxy stations that were needed.  I volunteered to let my adjacent colleague draw from my bottles.  The kayak kit comes with a gallon of epoxy, and that sounded nearly infinite to me.  Well, I ran out today, and I am not yet done.  I ordered a half-gallon kit, but it will take time to ship from the East coast, so my construction is temporarily stalled.  I guess I can go back and sand down some of those drips.

Assembling a RAD Power RADmission bicycle from late May 2022 - 8 August 2022

RAD Power bicycles is an e-bike company in Seattle.  I finally broke down and got my first e-bike, the RADmission 1.  The big arguments in the e-bike world revolve around mid-drive and hub-drive.  This bike is typical in that it is hub-drive, therefore the motor is in the rear wheel, but it is atypical in that it is a single-gear bike.  No derailleur, no speeds.  The bike has a power-assist option from 0-5, where zero is no e-assist and 5 is full power.  The power-assist works to amplify your pedaling; when you stop pedaling, the motor stops assisting and you coast.  There is also a twist throttle that provides variable assist independent of pedaling.  I bought the upgrade to the control system that displays the wattage that the motor is putting out.  The motor peaks at 500 Watts; other bikes from RAD Power are in the 750W range.  The bikes comes with 2-inch wide tires and disk brakes, so it is comfortable on many trails, including gravel.  The power assist stops assisting above 20 miles per hour, so it is a Class 2 bike in the U.S. because it has a throttle.  The bike was pretty easy to assemble when I followed the printed instructions.  Many or all of the tools are provided, but I often used my own tools because they are of better quality and easier to use.

I am still learning how to ride it well, but here is what I have learned so far.

I use the electronic assist in three ways.  I keep the assist level around 2 and that works well for me in almost any mostly level situation.  Power assist ranges around 100W.  When I hit a hill, I use the throttle to help, and that applies anything up to 500W to get me up the hill.  For steeper hills, I have to stand and pedal to get up.  Finally, I also use the trhottle to accelerate from a stop.  Nominally, this is not needed; the automatic power assist should kick in to help when I start pedaling, but I find that traffic (cars) are often impatient and the throttle-boost gets me going fast enough to stay out of their way or to cross the road (e.g., when riding on a trail that crosses a road).  When hill climbing, I will occasionally boost the power-assist level to 3, but I back it down to 2 for normal riding.  This gives me a pretty good range - I have yet to find the bottom of the battery.

This time-lapse video should have been posted here on 31 May 2022.

U.S. Savings Bonds - 8 August 2022

Going through some old files, I found a cache of U.S. Savings Bonds that were issued in late 1979 into the early 1980s.  Savings Bonds were once a "thing" but are now rather obscure.  They were denominated in smaller amounts ($25-$50-$100) and often sold through monthly payroll deductions.  They are bonds backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, so the purhaser does not need to worry about defaults or corporate bankruptcy.  As a consequence, the interest rates are not great, but neither are they as terrible as, say, a checking account at a commercial bank.  They have a defined date of maturity (10 years or so) and keep earning interest after that date - although the interest rate may drop post-maturity.  Some bonds are bought at face value and some are bought at a discount (e.g., half of the face value).  Today, Savings Bonds seem to have moved to an elecrtonic version, but these are old-fashioned paper bonds.

These bonds are old and long past maturity.  They would have matured before 2000, so the actual value of each bond today is far beyond the face value.  I checked the internet and found a page that describes how to redeem the bonds.  

Go to a bank.

Yep, there are a bunch of rules about paperwork that must be signed in the presence of a witness or a notary public.  

Many banks will decline Savings Bonds.

We visited three (3) banks before finding one that would redeem Savings Bonds.  One had certain designated offices that would redeem Bonds, but not the one we were standing in.  Another simply did not handle Bonds.  The third one would.

The banks require an account at the bank to redeem the Bonds.

We do not have an account at a local bank.  Gave it up years ago to consolidate our finances into a high-service brokerage account.  We have been doing all banking electronically for over a decade, but now we need a local account.

And there you have it.  To redeem your U.S. Savings Bonds, you need to have a local bank account and process the paperwork in the presence of a notary public or a designed bank official.

I am now opening an account at a local bank so that I can redeem my ancient Savings Bonds.

Picture of a rabbit because, well, why not?  Photo courtesy of Kathy Perko-Porter.