Q: Most states or territories have building codes, or basic requirements that new homes and other structures are required to meet during construction. It’s important to familiarize yourself with the unique building codes for your area before you get started, as they can dictate everything from your basic materials to the type of measurements you use.  You can find a copy of your local building codes by running a quick search for “residential building codes” plus the name of your city, state, or municipality. In some areas, you may even need a permit to install a floor yourself for it to be considered up to code. If your floor isn't up to code, it’s possible that you could be fined or even forced to pull up the entire structure and start over. Before you begin cutting or measuring, grab a pencil and paper and sketch an outline of your floor. Your sketch should depict the floor's basic shape and layout, complete with any additional features like alcoves, nooks, and staircases. Extremely long spans, staircases, or interior walls typically require additional support, which can complicate your framing plan. In this case, your floor framing project will be best handled by a licensed contractor. Fill in your outline with specific measurements for each area where you’ll be installing a separate piece of lumber. If your floor is going to be 12 feet (3.7 m) x 18 feet (5.5 m), for instance, note that you'll need a total of 4 12 ft (3.7 m) boards and 4 18 ft (5.5 m) boards for the outer frame, as well as multiple 18 ft (5.5 m) boards cut to size to serve as the main floor joists.  Stick-framed floors typically consist of 3 main components—the sill plate, which goes on top of the concrete foundation, the rim joists, which box in the edges of the sill plate, and the floor joists, which run parallel to one another to provide internal support. The exact number of floor joists you'll need will depend on the size of the floor. As a general rule, floor joists should be spaced 16 inches (41 cm) apart for maximum stability. Draw and label your framing plan to scale and double-check each of your measurements to make sure they suit the structure’s size and support requirements. Once you’ve drafted your framing plan, review it carefully to determine exactly how much lumber you’ll need. The simplest way to do this is to add together the length of each individual section in feet. For example, 4 12 ft (3.7 m) boards + 4 18 ft (5.5 m) boards + 9 18 ft (5.5 m) joists = 282 feet (86 m) of lumber.  Remember, your calculations should reflect the combined length of the outer frame (multiplied by 2 to account for both the sill plate and rim joists), as well as each of the joists. It’s a good idea to order 15% more lumber than you think you’ll need so you’ll have enough in case of waste. After you’ve ordered the lumber you need, use a circular saw to cut each piece to the dimensions you listed in your framing plan. To frame a floor that's 12 feet (3.7 m) x 18 feet (5.5 m), you would need 4 12 ft (3.7 m) sill plate boards, 4 18 ft (5.5 m) rim joist boards, and 9 18 ft (5.5 m) main floor joists.  At most home improvement centers, you can also have your lumber cut to the desired specifications when you order it. Label each piece of lumber with a pencil after you cut it (for example, “sill plate” or  “main floor joist”). This will make it easier to keep track of where it goes later on.
A: Research the building codes for your area. Draw up a basic floor framing plan. Label the dimensions of your floor framing plan. Add up each part of the framing plan to calculate your materials. Cut your boards to size.

Q: Check to see how finely the lettuce or cabbage has been chopped. Some restaurants serve it very finely shredded; keep blending until your lettuce or cabbage looks right. Don't blend too much, though, or it will turn to pulp. Place it in a bowl.
A: Place a quarter in the blender. Pulse the blender for a few seconds at a time. Keep pulsing until it reaches the right texture. Remove the shredded lettuce or cabbage from the blender. Finish shredding the lettuce or cabbage one quarter at a time.

Q: Choose five to eight points where you will suspend your chimes. Indicate the points with a marker. This is where you'll drill holes, so the marks should indicate that the chimes are equidistant from the center with equal space between each chime. Don't forget to include a hole for where the striker will hang. Mark the other side of the base, too, to indicate where you plan on drilling holes to make the base hang from the wind chime's point of suspension if needed. These should be tiny holes. Your goal is to be able to run the thread on the chimes through them. Drill a hole in the center of the platform between the holes for the chime threads, then drill a hole through the striker's center and one corner of the sail. Cut an appropriate length of thread. This depends on how low you want these pieces to hang. For a five-foot thread, for example, fold the thread in half, then pull it through the sail and knot it. Make a second large knot where the striker will hang about 16 inches or less above, then thread it through the striker.  Try to keep the sail close to the bottom of the longest chime. The longer the sail's support line, the stronger the wind has to be to move the sail and its extra weight. Remember that wind velocity is often stronger the higher you hang the wind chime, so a sail too close to the ground also won't cause the chimes to sound as much. Take the thread coming out of the top of the striker and run it through the hole you made in the center of the platform. On the top side, knot the thread securely. This thread, if you chose to make it long enough, can be used to suspend the entire chime. You can also choose to add other hanging implements such as hooks.
A: Mark the base. Drill the holes. Thread the sail and striker. Secure the striker to the platform.

Q: You may need to buy an SD card reader since not all Macs come with an SD card slot.  If your Mac does have an SD card slot, it will be on the side of the casing (laptop) or on the back of the CPU box (desktop). It may also be on the side of the keyboard on some desktop units. Some devices require that you enable disk use via USB through its settings before your computer will recognize it. This is the blue face icon in your dock. It's in the toolbar at the top of the screen. This will open the Utilities folder, from which you can run the Disk Utility. Alternatively, you can hold down ⇧ Shift and ⌘ Command and then tap U to open Utilities. This app resembles a grey hard drive with a stethoscope on top of it. It should be listed under the "External" section in the left-hand pane of the Disk Utility window. If you don't see your memory card listed here, try removing and re-inserting the memory card. This is the stethoscope icon in the row of options at the top of the Disk Utility window. If you see a pop-up window that says "Your disk is about to fail" instead, you won't be able to repair your memory card. Once your Mac tells you the process is complete, you may safely remove your memory card and place it back in your camera. You may see an error entitled "The underlying task reported failure" here. If so, try restarting your Mac and running the repair again.
A:
Connect your memory card to your Mac. Open your Mac's Finder. Click Go. Click Utilities. Double-click Disk Utility. Select your memory card. Click First Aid. Click Run. Wait for your memory card to be repaired.