My project is coming along nicely. We have taken off the boards along the walls on the onside. It looks like this:

The wood was removed from the wall using a tool called the multi-master. It can cut through pretty much anything, but it won't cut through your skin. It is a very handy for cutting through wood accurately.

My next task is to actually paint the window frames that have been scraped, glazed, and primed. This shouldn't be too hard. I have worked with paint three or four times in the past. Anyway, today was a very productive day. Hopefully, the weather stays nice so I can have more days like this throughout next week.

The storm window that I thought was gonna be to big to fit in the frame , turned out to be too small. It was a true pain because I had already removed all the glazing and points, and the caulk had already been squirted out so as to cushion the glass and hold it in place more. So we had to meticulously remove all the caulk from the frame and package back up the useless piece of glass I bought. Now I know for sure the dimensions are 24"X15".

Today we worked for a long time. We worked from 1pm to 8pm. We also moved the cupboard in my mudroom from the wall that will be attached to the solar panel, to the adjacent wall. Now the mudroom is so much roomier. Pictures are below. Moving the cupboard which turned out to be connected to the wall was tricky, but once we did that we also had to remove the carpet. Under the carpet we found an abundance of dirt, dead flies, and dead maggots. That was the real chore.

Today I finished glazing another window. Two down, one to go. Bill also came over to check my glazing. I was doing it fine, but he gave me some pointers on how to smooth it out even more. If you use water to dampen the putty, then it becomes very malleable, and easy to shape. Also he showed me how to use the paint chipper to smooth out the putty even more. So now I have two very good quality glazed storm windows. The last one I have primed and started the glazing of. It shouldn't take to long to finish the glazing for that last one because I am a pro glazer now. 

I just emailed Svante. Yes, the mayor. I was wondering if maybe we could set up a meeting and discuss building solar collectors (like mine) on more houses in Ithaca. If a high school senior with no construction experience can do it, then lots of other people can do it. It is relatively quick, its easy, and its cheap.

So today I went to Agway, and I bought a pane of window glass as a replacement for the pane that I broke when I was paint chipping. Now I can start the glazing on the storm window finally. Even though, I gave the measurements to the Agway people, the glass I got back looks too big to fit, but we shall see.

Seven Observations on Learning

2. I agree that if you cannot express verbally what you know, your knowledge is powerless, but I think that learning is mostly a hands-on experience. I find that I learn better if I am physically involved. I can read all about how to build a solar panel from books and offline, but I will never truly know how to build one if I don't do it for real. Verbal learning is very beneficial, but it is also very restricted. A good teacher will incorporate both verbal and hands-on learning into their course.

5. I agree with this observation. If you cannot remember any of the information that is taught to you then you have not learned it. In high school you are given a lot of information, but you are not given a lot tools on how to use this information. Perhaps, that is what college is for.

3. This point just seems to be out of place on this paper. The other observations are all that, observations. This once seems to be more like advice. I agree with it, cheating is bad, but maybe they could have made another observation of learning rather than use this one. 

Last Friday I met with my mentor. It had been a while since our last meet. Some advice she gave me is to set up a meeting with the mayor, Svante, and ask about his plans for energy policy in Ithaca. Also she reminded me that Tommy Beers, one of the owners of a solar panel I visited, is always available to help me out with questions I have.

So today I continued to glaze my windows. I finished an entire window. 1 down 3 to go. Glazing is a very time consuming process, and I think it is the most time-consuming part of my project. I hope.  

So today I continued my work on the storm windows. I did some more paint chipping, and I started to lay the putty around the windows to form the glazing. Putty is really hard to use because it is so sticky. It is a hassle to get the putty off your fingers and onto the glass, but after a while you get used to it. Here is a picture of what I have so far.

So today continued my work on the storm windows. I did some more paint chipping, and I started to lay the putty around the windows to form the glazing. Putty is really hard to use because it is so sticky. It is a hassle to get the putty of your fingers and onto the glass, but after a while you get used to it. Here is a picture of what i have so far.