PICNIC

The paint on the door of the cart was beginning to bubble and peel. Scraping off layers I discovered an old paintjob that attempted to replicate wood. There was a dark brown paint with light brown brushstrokes. Then in an attempt to really make it look like a wood door, they put a coat of polyurethane on top. Perhaps not such a bad idea, but then painting over that was not the most weatherproof choice. The door is made out of metal, it’s very tricky and all done to look like a paneled door, which it is, but each element is wrapped in zinc. I scraped off as much paint as I could and am now painting it dark green. I also need to make a little awning for the door so it doesn’t peel again.

Emily Scroggs, an anthropology student at Lewis and Clark, interviewed me about my food cart this evening. She’s already talked to the owners of Savor. In Oakland, which is where she’s from, she says that food carts do not really exist.

At Pastaworks today, Dave the butcher was telling me about a dish he had at 3 Doors Down, called ‘the crouton.’ It’s a thick slice of ciabatta sauteed in olive oil, covered with a mushroom/sherry/cream sauce.

After doing some analysis with my espresso machine, measuring out exact amounts of espresso, taking temperature readings of the water, weighing the espresso as it flowed out, I was able to answer, hesitantly, a question Joel put to me. Does the espresso come out quicker or slower at a higher temperature? It comes out slower at a higher temperature, I have observed. His Ethiopian is also very tasty.

I picked up a Japanese on demand water heater today. Installation will be difficult.

I consolidated all the plumping inputs and outputs in the same spot. All the valve work is accessible in one area. I inspired myself by imagining I was plumbing up a submarine.

The windows have an awkward closure mechanism.

I cut away some exterior board for mounting the main electrical connection.

PVC pipe now comes out from the floor, allowing air to escape from the holding tanks as they become filled with sink water.