Cleaning Up

This past week I have spent the afternoons cleaning up the shop area. Just about got it so that I can get to my lathe. But I need to make a trip to the land fill which I will do Monday.

I keep finding things that I had forgotten or wondered where it was. Small clamps, wrenches, drill bits etc. It is a little like a treasure hunt because I keep finding things I forgot I had and that is sweet.

I have been wanting to build a small display cabinet to display some of my wifes' salt and pepper shakers and I have this cherry I think would work well. Well anyway I have been trying to figure out the type of corners. I think I will try a dovetail joints .Something I haven't tried before. but Fine Woodworking has a article from which they used a jig on the band saw to cut the dove tails out. Think I will try it on a piece of pine and give it a whirl on pine until I got the hang of it.

On being Retired

I have been retired now for over a year and be truthful I miss work. But then i was blessed with a job that I enjoyed doing for 40 years and planned on working at until they carried me off the job feet first. But then life happens and you do what you hadn't meant to do.

Well i am surprised that it isn't quite as relaxed as I though it would be.

I am still looking for that regular "42" game. I haven't made it to Archer City yet to go through Larry McMurty's book store. My fishing gear is still gathering rust. My shop hasn't made as much saw dust as I would like. But then that is OK.

Life is what happens to you as you make your plans.

Life is what it is.

Saturday I spent the day writing on Wiki how and with my family. It was a very good time. I was out in the shop with my oldest while his wife and my daughter were going through the things for our normal garage sale in the late spring. My oldest grandson came out and ask if I could make a stand or holder for the scrabble tiles as one of them was broken and they were wanting to play a game.

Well I thougth about it and with  him I made a quick one from scrap popular using super glue to glue up the three parts. It was a chance to show him how ot use the band saw, stationary belt sander and dremel tool, clamps and glue. Then I had him put a coat of paste wax over the completed piece. It was simply fun.

Then that eventing we met up with the entire family for a meal at a favorite Olive Garden. There is something about setting at a head of a table with your family gather around and everyone talking and laughng. I had on one side my oldest grandson and on the other side my youngest and all I can tell you is that Grandma and I were well entertained with their descriptions of their daily lives.  Life is good.

But you know that is what you must do. take time to enjoy what you have and don't fret about what you don't have.

Yeah I know the government both federal, state and county are in turmoil.  But you know they will be tomorrow to. So for now I am going to enjoy the moment and do my best to make life better for my grandchildren and family.

Practice what you Preach

Been thinking about what I believe.  James said in the New Testament, that to what you do has more value than what you say.  So I have been thinking about what can I do to show that I am not just a liberal in voice only.

While I don't have a problem getting arrested in protesting what I believe my health problems make that difficult or even dangerous for me. So I will help where I can support of those who are willing and able.
I will also volunteer to work the phones to help get out the votes for those who I believe will help make a difference.
I also will help work the phone for organization like NPR drives for donations so that they can continued to do the good work that they do.
In short it is about doing what you can where you can to make a difference .

In the Shop

For my next project i am starting to build a set of shelves to hold the TV, knick knacks and books in the living room. We currently have a old style entertainment center and it is way too big and we would like to sell it in the up coming garage sale.

So while I do not want to get too involve with one that might not work in the next house we are currently looking for I have come up with a simple and relatively inexpensive set of shelve. We have decided to go for one that resemble a step ladder similar to what I saw in Popular Mechanics Nov 2010 issue..



Anyway I will start on that this week.

Reading, Movies, and Music

Completed reading Peter Bowen's "Stewball" a mystery set in Montana and the west. Great story involving gun running, and right wing organization, and murder. Recommend reading for fun only.

Began reading Stieg Larson's "The Girl Who Played With Fire". The first book was really good and have hopes for this one.

Re watched the movie "The Book of Eli" really good doomsday movie. Also watched last night on the History Channel "The American Inspector" a series dedicated to using a public works inspector to take a look at US infra-structure in 6 different locations. last night while it was dramatised they were spot on an looking forward to the next.

Lately I have been listening to a lot of Rolling Stone and Beatles. But then i get pulled back to the American Recordings of Johnny Cash particularly #5 also the blue grass group Allison Kause and Union Station they have come out with a new one that from sound bits looks like it will be very good.

Out in the Shop

Well I finished the band saw stand today and mounted the small Delta Shopmaster 9" band saw on it. Only expense was the black spray paint as the stand itself is made again from the scrap bin. Every shop should have a scrap bin.

I built it on the fly or first in my mind and then sketched it out on the pieces of scrap plywood that I was using for the top. Surprises surprise it worked out.

I realize that it is lower than most stands built for a bench top band saw but I have been working with the concept of what if I found myself limited to using a wheel chair a lot more than I care. So I am trying out different things to enhance the functionality for limited moblity.

Government shutdown

 

I originally wrote of my disgust with what was going on in Washington. and  the pettiness and vindictiveness that seem to be what is referred to as politics as usual.  But I thought better of it.

 

I do have a socialist, christian and humanitarian bent to my politics. What they are calling Christian values in Washington well it is definitely not what Christ or his Apostle preached. I am a true believer in what you do for the  one  you do for all. . 

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” Mark 10:25

 

The Puritans believed that if God did not bless you with success then you were not worthy or one of the few saved. This concept seems to be still in effect with the elitist in our government and particularly this concept seem to rest with the Republicans.

 

Reading

Just finished reading "The Girl with Dragon Tattoo." started slow and finished with a bang. Worth reading.

Started reading "Stewball" a mystery set in Montana.

What are you going to do?

Politics are absolutely the worse double talk and double dealing I can ever remember and I remember Nixon.

The Economy is so bad I am not sure we will ever recover and I lived through my share of ups and downs in the economy.

My country is fighting in three wars and we can't afford to even look after our own.

So, what are you going to do. Well for me this weekend it was a weekend spent with family.

Saturday I met up with my youngest son and his kids at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens and had a wonderful afternoon. There was a beautiful garden a delightfully warm day spent in the Japanese Garden. Life could not get better.

Then on Sunday all my kids came over and we grilled some steaks and spent time with all of our family.

Life is Good