Gutters, wagon wheels and first principles
Published: Thu, 10/30/14
My sister and brother in law had an extension built on their house,
on the extension there is a lean to shed. Quite nicely built and
good use of space but the shed is going to be ruined because the
gutter on the corner of the extension is overflowing at the corner
and dousing the door end of the shed every time it rains. Why?
Because the gutter has been set level if not falling away from the
down pipe. You would be surprised how much work I have picked up
over the years repairing rotten wood because some guttering or
other form of drainage is not doing its job. Sometimes there is a
genuine blockage or deterioration of a seal but very often the
gutter simply falls the wrong way. I would have thought that the
principle 'water flows down hill' was quite widely known
and understood. But no, it seems that this arcane wisdom is not
always shared with those entrusted with the vital tasks of
installing gutters and other forms of drainage. Strange but plenty
of rotten timber proves this to be true.
My father was an engineer and a practical man. He taught me as a
child that if you looked hard at a problem and thought about it you
could always come up with a workable solution. Perhaps not the
solution an expert would apply, but something that would save the
day none the less. I was taught that solving problems was a state
of mind and all you really had to do was work out the essential
principle to work with. Once you have got that then everything
else will follow. I was also very lucky to have Design and
technology teachers at school who taught me practical skills, and
even more important, encouraged me to be imaginative and try stuff
out. I know we live in a world that seems determined to make us as
helpless and dependent as possible but the 'world' is
always trying to beat you down in one way or another. You can
still cultivate the attitude that you will find answers if you are
prepared to look and think.
We have the advantage that getting information has never been
easier. I have just been asked to restore a wagon wheel, it is a
genuine wagon wheel but used for decorative purposes, but it still
needs putting back together as well as possible. So I did some
online research and there is loads out there on building and
restoring wagon wheels. While researching I came across this
http://www.lostcrafts.com/Farm-Devices/Handy-Farm-Devices-2.html
fascinating site which includes instructions on how to make a home
made level using basically scrap materials. Okay it would not be
as good as a modern spirit level, of which I have several. But it
shows that the application of principle means that there is no
excuse for not getting fall on a say a gutter. (if you have no
other way of checking just tip a little bit of water into each
section and see that it flows the right way!)
Part of the reason I was pleased to meet Ivar, keen to learn from
him and have been training and teaching Stav ever since (22 years
now) is that from the beginning Ivar said that Stav was about
learning and applying principles, techniques are there to provide
the opportunity to learn and test principles, so whatever problem
one may encounter Stav provides a principle from which to improvise
a solution. That was why I recognised the value of Stav in the
beginning and am keen to teach it now.
The self-defence seminars next month will focus on the principles
of self-protection and how to develop the mindset which will enable
you to apply them if required. Yes I do have techniques but these
are simply to provide a safe and effective context in which to
discover and test principles.
So, 1st November in Crewkerne 10am or 15th in Salisbury 10am
http://www.iceandfire.org.uk/train.html for more details of course
content.
I will be teaching principles of Stav at the seminar in the USA in
Minneapolis on the 9th to 11th May so if you are based in the USA
then check out http://iceandfire.us/events/index.html
regards
Graham