Gina's journey

[ChrissyRyan]

Feeling much better now. Thanks all. Once I learned nothing was broke I did the heat/ice thing then got up and moved. First around the apartment, then up and down the lane in front of the house. By days end yesterday, I was on a stool working in the house. I learned long ago the worst thing to do is just sit. Still a bit sore but able to function. Thanks all.
 

I am glad you are doing better Gina.


Chrissy

[Lori Dee ✅]

Glad to hear it was just something minor.

That can be scary just the same!

Hugs!

[Gina P]

  Whew, what a week. Started with the hip fall. Still sore. Then got a bout of diarrhea and stomach cramps. Had PT for my vertigo on Friday, left me very motion sick. Then got a migraine yesterday. Add to that, a bit of depression. I get a memory of when I was wronged, that keeps playing over and over for a day or more. Kind of like when you get a song stuck in your head. So hip sore, stomach still not right, and head ache, with vertigo. What a mess!
  Through all this, I still was able to continue work on the house. Framing up a few walls. Did the cellarway wall with a closet on top and one wall of the bedroom. Removed a window in the back that would be in the middle of the new bedroom wall. It will be installed in another area that is to become a 3rd bedroom. I still have the floor in the center and front portions of the house to do, but I needed a break, and doing some framing gives me a sense of accomplishment. 
   There is an Easter dinner and egg hunt at the community center today. We are planning on going. Nice to meet and socialize with the local folks.
   

[ChrissyRyan]

Gina,

When would you use a steel beam for support in a house vs.  maybe a number of 2x12s?
Availability of materials? 

I have seen a steel beam, held up sometimes on one end by a steel post in a basement.
Maybe the other end was on the top a concrete basement wall, unsure.

Chrissy

[Gina P]

Gina,

When would you use a steel beam for support in a house vs.  maybe a number of 2x12s?
Availability of materials? 

I have seen a steel beam, held up sometimes on one end by a steel post in a basement.
Maybe the other end was on the top a concrete basement wall, unsure.

Chrissy

I think a steel beam would be stronger but also more expensive. They have a 20' I beam holding up the front portion of the house. Of course, they didn't do that right either. The support posts are sitting on the plank flooring with nothing underneath the flooring is sagging. I'm not sure if I want to reuse the I beam or do the 3-2"x12"s glued and screwed together

[Stottie Girl]

I think a steel beam would be stronger but also more expensive. They have a 20' I beam holding up the front portion of the house. Of course, they didn't do that right either. The support posts are sitting on the plank flooring with nothing underneath the flooring is sagging. I'm not sure if I want to reuse the I beam or do the 3-2"x12"s glued and screwed together

In the UK structural support is nearly exclusively steel or precast reinforced concrete. We just don't have the high quality structural hardwood timber in the UK anymore and it would be prohibitively expensive to import it. The old buildings all have huge solid oak timbers for support. Much prefer those, they're still standing after hundreds of years. Nearly all our commerical forests are fast growing spruce and it is such poor quality it is only used for pulping to make paper and loo roll! Our structural timber comes from scandanavia. I am a little envious of the wood ranchs and cabins you guys have in North America.

[davina61]

I was made to replace the oak lintel for a concrete one when we built the extension at the old house, had to saw it through to remove it. Blunted a new saw, it was harder than steel and I bet stronger than the replacement

[Stottie Girl]

I was made to replace the oak lintel for a concrete one when we built the extension at the old house, had to saw it through to remove it. Blunted a new saw, it was harder than steel and I bet stronger than the replacement

Oh that's a crying shame Davina. I used to do survey work to measure up the old farm buildings and old mills before we refurbed them and they had some huge timbers in them. It was interesting when I would go into an old abandoned water mill and all the old timbers, cogs and gears were still in place and still strong and not decayed. Hundreds of years old and you felt that with a bit of tlc you could see them working again! We knew how to build things back then!

[Gina P]

Took yesterday off from construction and drove my wife to an eye doctor appointment. Across the street was the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Built in the 1800's. Of course it has since shut down, thank God or I might be committed. Took one of the many tours. Place is huge. Built out of hand cut sandstone, and is the largest sandstone structure in North America. Anyway was a great day out exploring. Someday, I will figure out how to post pictures, till then you will have to look it up.

[Northern Star Girl ✅]

@Gina P
Dear Gina:
At first when looking at the name of the name of the "Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum" it appeared that the word  "Trans' referred to the "Trans" community but it actually meant it covered much of the Allegheny region. Built in the late 1800's.
              Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
https://trans-alleghenylunaticasylum.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqRzKdeUgJkZrMsX1mkvtBNVZy6MJd7ngfkpmw_2TL-AYVVUcxe 🔗

It sounds like a depressing place to view.
Please tell more about what you saw on the tour?
HUGS, Danielle [Northern Star Girl]

Took yesterday off from construction and drove my wife to an eye doctor appointment. Across the street was the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Built in the 1800's. Of course it has since shut down, thank God or I might be committed. Took one of the many tours. Place is huge. Built out of hand cut sandstone, and is the largest sandstone structure in North America. Anyway was a great day out exploring. Someday, I will figure out how to post pictures, till then you will have to look it up.

[ChrissyRyan]

Sounds fascinating.  There are many towns in the USA which are primarily known for their asylums, former or active.

Chrissy

[Courtney G]

When I was a young child, I occasionally went with my father to Greystone Asylum in New Jersey to visit my uncle. It was VERY similar in appearance to the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. We usually sat in chairs at the entrance but I think we went inside once or twice. I think my father picked good weather days so we could be outside. My uncle, who was a heavily-medicated epileptic, chain-smoked cigarettes with shaking hands and mumbled about troubles he had or things he needed. As I understand it, my father learned of some of the problems being reported there and moved him to a better location at some point. He stayed over at our house during major holidays, sleeping in my room while I slept elsewhere.

The whole experience was pretty grim and had a profound effect on me. We have a responsibility to take care of the needy among us, rather than blame them for their situation.

[ChrissyRyan]

I wonder if in the past being a transsexual would have been a reason to be in an insane or mentally ill care asylum in the USA. 

[Lori Dee ✅]

There was an asylum in Bartonville (Peoria), Illinois, that I visited many times. It was rumored to be haunted, but I didn't get that vibe. It was just an old hospital that has since been torn down.

I learned that it was not an asylum for the mentally ill. It was for tuberculosis patients, back when they thought fresh air was the cure. It had a large cemetery, but the space that got to me was the children's cemetery. Many of the graves had no markings.

Local history groups researched old records to identify them, then left a numbered marker instead of a name or date. The last time I was there, there were still many unmarked.

My ex and I would occasionally take a trip down there to "visit the kids". It always left me emotionally drained.