u/i_continue_to_unmike

It was my first time doing any kind of masonry work. My body is quite sore but I enjoyed it. Feel free to roast my work.

Some thoughts:

• Buttering bricks is hard. Maybe the mortar. Maybe my technique. 6/7 times I tried to butter the end of a brick, the mortar slid right off.
• I ended up laying the bricks into a bed of mortar and then pointing/grouting/smushing the mortar into the vertical gaps after.
• Mortar that is too stiff is hard to work with, but too wet is even worse. I don't think I ever got the right consistency.
• Cutting bricks with a chisel is fun.
• The brick spacing was determined by the ribs on the underside of the lid. That part was kinda dumb.
• Next time I'll be more diligent about wearing gloves. My hands were mad at me last night.
• I'm going to give the bricks a gentle acid scrub to get excess mortar off.

That's all I got, I guess. It was fun. I'd like to do more projects with bricks and mortar in the future.

I've struggled with the Max A/C setting on this truck for years. The other settings worked fine.

MAX would never blow well and would sometimes leak out of the defrost. Turns out the issue was this vacuum line for the heater bypass.

"*What heater bypass?*"

Correct. Someone removed it from my truck ages ago and left the uncapped line there. It doesn't normally pull vacuum so most of the time it just looks like an orphaned line... *Except on Max A/C.* Turns out it was the source of the leak.

Lotta posts people make on here (google it, I'm right) about this line being disconnected. It's common for people to remove the heater bypass because they fail a lot.

Point is if that is you, put a cap on the grey line or your little recirculating door won't move.

https://www.oregonlive.com/living/2026/06/modern-milwaukie-church-is-getting-a-controversial-romanesque-style-makeover.html?outputType=amp

It is opposed by many.

For people who have studied architecture, there are about 20 architects in America in the 20th Century who are considered top for their breakthroughs and design thinking. Frank Lloyd Wright would be an example. Belluschi is in the 20. The Portland metro has almost no buildings by any in the 20, except Belluschi. Everywhere in America, there is a great focus to maintain the designs of those historic buildings.