This weekend

Finally watched "Inception".  It was ok.  I think I was a little confused in the beginning, but it got better as I watched it.  Found a funny series of videos that I really get a kick out of.  It is the "How it should have ended" series.  They have one for Inception.  Check it out.
http://youtu.be/KBAuMpOpSnA

Of course, my favorite so far has been this one:
http://youtu.be/WbJ-y6BWfUc

Rain

It just isn't right.  We've had such beautiful weather the past three days, and when I finally get to Saturday it rains.  At least I got the front yard mowed last night.  I was going to do the back, but the pollen was really bad.  Once the lawn mower kicked it all up my eyes were itching and I was all stuffed up.  I don't have allergies, but I think when the stuff gets that bad it's rough on everyone. 

I was doing a little work in the garage.  Couldn't do what I wanted to do, which was to throw more drywall on the rest of the walls.  Unfortunately, because the garage is so crowded with junk I would have to move all of the stuff from that side to the other.  That involves moving some things out into the driveway to get them out of the way, but rain hinders that operation.

I did manage to get in the yard and weed the front flower bed, and plant a new rosebush to replace the one that died last year.  It looks better, but I need some more mulch.


It rained so much today that Loch Mess rose from it's subterranean lair to menace the dogs' entry and exit from our house.  Thing 1 and Thing 2 managed all right, though.  When the weather cleared I activiated the sump and it's all drained, now.

I did some work on a house way out toward Columbia, this week.  Replaced some rotted boards on the front porch.  I don't have the after shot.  The barn looked like something we used to make charcoal and pencil drawings of back in art class.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a happy Easter.  Watch out for the Bunnies!  ( see video)

Bark Wars

Today I finally finished replacing Ben and Joanna's new stair rail.  There's still some trimwork to be finished up that I will hit tomorrow.  I have never installed a rail with newel posts and balusters, before.  Not a nice one, anyway.   I have done deck rails, but this one was for the inside of the house. With lots of technical advice from Dad we finally finished it.  I think I need a couple more of those under my belt before I feel like I know what I'm doing. 

I know I complain about my dogs, Abbey wan Kenobe and Chewbarka.  I've got so many names for those two I just don't know which ones to use in a given conversation.  I know only this:  I will most likely never use their real names.   Anyway, my dogs seem quite introverted and quiet compared to the pack that resides next to Ben and Jo.   Every time anyone nears the property line they go off, like some really bad alarm system.  Makes me appreciate my dogs a little more.  Then there was that pit bull in the yard next to a house I worked on last week.  That thing was mean.  Every time I went through the back gate I was hugging the side of the house when that thing tried to jump over the fence and get me.  He got so close one time he slobbered on my arm.  I wasn't afraid of him-  my hammer was on my belt, so I was pretty confident that if he got a hold of me the encounter would end pretty quickly.  I just wasn't in any hurry to get bit.

Well, I'm about to head back to bed.  I just woke up a little while ago and we had a sudden storm hit.  For a moment I thought we were in the path of a tornado, it was suddenly so windy and loud.  It wasn't normal.  I was just up trying to see if there was any weather news out of the ordinary.  The wind has died down, now.  That just such a sudden and powerful and loud incident I was ready to grab the family and toss them in a closet.  Makes me realize that I have no interior rooms or hallways that can be closed off.  Fortunately, the wind passed and quieted down, so I guess I was just paranoid.  Anyway, Good Night!

Noticeable Progress

Got a lot done, today.  The workbench area is taking shape.  Got the cabinets mounted and the top installed.  I might have enough wood to make another cabinet, but there will be a delay in the final assembly, since I will need to buy more wood and that won't be happening for a while.  You can sort of get an idea of what it will look like.  Above the bench section I did today I want to put a pegboard cabinet, which I might have enough to build.  I already have several sheets of pegboard in the garage, but I don't know if it will work.  I'll get to that later. 

The benchtop tool tower.  There will be slots on the insides to hold some of my bench tools when I'm not using them.

The base cabinets and tool tower in place.

Another shot all the way down to the corner. There is one other base component I want to make and put in between the cabinets you see here, but it's not critical.  I'll probably be working on shelves and doors next week, if I have enough wood for all of it.

One of the wall cabinets.  I made the tool tower to be 72 inches high, forgetting that I raised the height of the overall workstation to accomodate the pegboard cabinet I want to build.  So I'll need to add a little to the top of that cabinet when I add the cap to the whole thing. 

Final shot of the bench as it is right now.  I was doing a little more skimming of the drywall so I can paint it soon.  It's getting warm enough to do that, now.  The cabinets will be painted, too, but I haven't quite settled on a color, yet.  I'm thinking Rustoleum Black Hammered finish.  The benchtop will just get a coat of polyurethane.

The garage is slowly getting less aggravating.  Still has a long way to go, but I don't feel so disgusted when I walk in there, anymore. 

Want a laugh?  Check out the video below.

Rainy Day

It's been pretty rainy for the last 18 hours, or so.  My yard has actually flooded, again!  Didn't expect that.  The sump was pressed back into action.  Still works really well.  I was just clearing out some old job pictures and found a few that might be interesting to share.

The entrance to the drive of a mansion out in Crozier that I winterized.

A closeup of the mansion.  It's on 10 acres of land, has one really big master suite with a huge master bath, 5 other bedrooms, and three other bathrooms, and one half bath.  Been rather neglected, though.  The deck will need to be replaced.

BETCO's shop cat, getting her morning coffee.

Stopping at the ATM...with the backhoe.

Closeup shot.  Got a lot of funny looks from people walking by.

I've built a few more cabinets for the garage.  I'll be working on that again, this weekend.  I think the shop will be in good shape by that point.  I will still need to build the wall cabinets and shelves, but they will have to wait a little bit.  I've about run out of material.  Yet, in using the material, I have gained so much space in the garage!  I'm so happy!!

More Garage Stuff

Did more work in the garage, today. Picked up the sheetrock dolly from Dad, so I was able to load up that stack of drywall and move it out of my way. I built two more cabinets, today.

Another base cabinet, less the doors.

Drilling the shelf pin holes.

The base cabinet completed.  Still needs the doors, and I will be painting it, eventually.

A wall cabinet, almost completed.

The completed wall and base cabinet.  The base is notched to fit over the cinder block foundation wall.  The cabinets are made to hang from the wall so I can sweep under them easier, and to keep them dry in the event of a flood, or something.  I still need to make the doors and shelves, but those are easy.   I will also be making a base unit with drawers.

An Attempt to Bring Order to Chaos

I guess I fell out of the blog thing.  Started school, and a new job, and cub scouts...I just haven't had a whole lot to write about.  Nothing that's all that entertaining, that is.  Until now. 

I started hanging drywall in the garage.  Finally!  I was working on cleaning out a foreclosed house that had a whole stack of drywall in the second floor.  The bank wanted it  removed from the house- they didn't care where it went, just as long as it was no longer on the property.  So it is stacked in my garage.  There is enough to cover all of the walls.  The only problem is that the Edcave is so cluttered and full of stuff that I can only do small parts of the wall at a time. Insulate, hang drywall, tape and finish, then move the junk around so I can access another  part of the wall.  I have half of the garage drywalled, now.  Hopefull in the spring I can get a ceiling up in there.  Then next winter I'll be able to heat the place a little bit.  It's hard to cut anything on the table saw or scrollsaw or bandsaw when you can't feel your fingertips. 

I dealt with the rats from last year.  I believe they are gone, but it's hard to tell.  I found an expired one in the old insulation between the wall studs when I was re-insulating.  The little dude was all mummified, but still had one of the little rat poison cookies in it's clutches.  It amazes me that they carried the things back to their nests.  I feel somewhat guilty, in a way.  Don't know why.  Anyway, once the drywall is up they won't be able to hide behind the cabinets anymore.

Meanwhile I have still elected to let the dawgs stick around.  They amuse me.  Well, Meg is getting weirder and weirder.  Abby still displays amazing feats of skill.  My favorite is to toss treats in her direction to see her catch them.  Have you ever seen the videos of the sharks jumping out of the water to get seals?  Think that, only smaller...and furrier...and less likely to kill you if you get too close.  Meg still snarfs her food down like it's going to run off if she doesn't kill it right away.  Abby-well, she is odd.  She takes forever to eat.  It's like she's savoring every bit. 

I spent last Saturday and today working on cabinets for the garage.  I completed the first base cabinet (minus the doors) and mounted it, and got the first part of the workbench top cut and installed.  I still need to apply hardwood edging to the top, but it looks good, anyway.  I need to get some wall cabinets up, and then install the pegboard above the bench top.  This is going to take a while, but I finally feel like it's moving in the right direction, anyway. 

Here's a shot of the garage after the last trip to the dump.

Believe it or not, it actually looks better than it did a couple of weeks ago.

Yeah.  This needs to be worked on.

The lower cabinet being built. Made out of MDF and faced with Poplar.

Today I got the first base cabinet in and part of the benchtop in place.  I am going to run another bank of cabinets and top down the wall on the right. Wall cabinets will go up later.

Another shot of the base cabinet.  I couldn't wait to put them to use.  The lower part of the cabinet will get doors.  The top part remains open.  I want to put a sliding drawer under the benchtop.  When the wall cabinets go up, there will be under the cabinet lighting, and pegboard above the benchtop up to the bottom of the cabinet.