Friday!!!

First thing yesterday morning the phone rang at 8:02 am. It was Greg Olsen asking me if I had heard about Gaylord National Resort. "Uh, no, what about Gaylord National?" Greg goes, "Well, I am glad you asked!" He proceeds to tell me that two semi-trailers full of equipment shipped from Garland to this project and all of it was refused! Over $200k worth!

I guess the controversy had been going on since 3 pm the day before. The order was refused because the dealer ordered Vulcan-Hart equipment. We never had a purchase order. We had a Letter Of Intent, a quotation, and a PO number supplied by the dealer, but no order. Well, because the factory was so desperate to get their numbers up for the quarter, Amber in Customer Service was pressured to enter the equipment on the quote as an order. That was fine until the huge order was refused.

Now we are trying to sell all of the equipment that was returned to the factory.

Craig was out of the area all day with his family taking his oldest to college in Gainesville.

Lastnight I was in the garage until around 10 pm. I assembled the box joint jig and had several attempts at making a crank for it. The first crank was messed up when I countersunk too close to the edge. I made another one but when I hammered the tee nut into it it began to crack and split.

This morning I rubbed soap up and down the threaded rod to lubricate it. The jig really seems to be very accurate and stable. 16 turns of the crank exactly equals one inch of carriage travel!

The day at work seemed to go quickly. At noon Fay and I drove over to BJ's Brewhouse to meet Debbie, Craig, and Betsy for lunch. The Orlando Sentinel said that BJ's "could be better" and after our experience today, I would have to agree. The food was nothing special, but the service was poor.

We were supposed to have a 70% chance of showers and it was cloudy this afternoon so I put my truck windows up. It did not rain.

This evening I finished a new crank for the box joint jig. I made this one out of MDF and it is just a 6-inch-diameter circle with a handle on the radius. I stopped the carriage, drew a line along the side, and then cranked the handle 16 revolutions. I measured with my steel ruler and it is EXACTLY one inch of travel! Yes, I think this jig will work. Tomorrow I need to get steel skis to mount on the bottom of the sled. The skis follow the T-track in the tablesaw keeping the jig aligned with the sawblade.

We did not get a paystub today. Craig said that Gabe must not have gotten them from Paychex intime. I hope that is the case. Navy Federal is not even showing the direct deposit as "pending".

Mid-Week

I guess I'd better make another entry here before Becky calls me and says that she hasn't read anything new here.

Spent some time in the garage yesterday evening working on my Lynn's jig and I stripped the sticky Danish oil off of my drawer fronts. I got the traveling carriage glued up with maple panels and left it clamped up.

The stripping was easy. I just rubbed a paint thinner soaked rag over the finish and scrubbed it off with steel wool. I had to hit some of them twice, but it was not hard. I am going to strip it all completely off, let it dry, and then spray satin polyurethane on them in my bathroom. I figure the AC should keep the humidity low enough for the finish to dry and the exhaust fan should keep me from going dopey from fumes.

I slept very well lastnight. I think the working in the garage had something to do with that.

The Delfield Road Show in Atlanta wrapped up this morning and our reps started back to Florida. Gabe and Tom are enamored with Hanson Group's offices up there and they are eyeing their neighboring suite to expand into. Fay told Craig that it was nonsense and that he needed to speak up for our office because our lease is up in a year and we definitely need more space too.

We are approaching $600k in new orders for the week. Yessiree! It's going to be a good week for FER.

This evening I was in the garage trying to drill pilot holes in the jig carriage when I had a minor set back. The drill bit caught the maple carriage, spun it around, and threw it. It broke. I immediately started another one made out of pine, but I foolishly did not consider the grain direction and as I was chiseling the notch out for the carriage rail it began to split along the grain.

Finally I made carriage sides out of MDF, but I beefed them up and made them bigger because the MDF is a softer and weaker material. It took me until 9 pm, but I had a snug-fitting carriage glued and screwed up. I have the screws countersunk and covered with walnut plugs. Tomorrow I will chisel the plugs off and sand the whole carriage down smooth. I also cut out the crank handle from a yellowheart scrap, but it needs to be sanded to net shape on the sanding wheel.

I bet I sleep well again tonight!

Orlando, FL

Wow! That weekend went by quickly!

On Saturday I did mostly nothing aside from drinking coffee, folding laundry and reading stuff on the Internet. It was just too damned hot and humid to do anything outside and I felt like I needed the rest.

I read on the Wired website about a recently-built rapid prototyping machine that uses ordinary table sugar as the construction medium. This led me to read about other "fabbers" that are being marketed for the hobbyist and do-it-yourselfer. You watch, these machines are going to be as common as desktop printers or household appliances soon. Download music? Ha! Now you can download the plans for anything you want! Download the iPod file, print it out, and play your MP3s on it! The wave of the future.

Bill and Becky called in the afternoon. They are cleaning their garage and they have decided that I can have the ShopSmith wood machine. Bill never used it very much and since I used it when I was there they decided that I would get more use out of it. I will bring it back on my next trip up there.

On Sunday I got a little more done.

I ate breakfast and sat at the computer in the morning sipping coffee. Then around noon I went out to the garage to mess with my projects. I chiseled the walnut plugs flush with the sides and top of the carcase and sanded everything flat. I lightly sanded the entire surface and then brushed on a coat of Kilz white primer. I set the carcase against the wall to dry. I am going to lightly sand it and put one more coat of primer on before I start to paint the case black.

Next I began working on my finger joint jig. I am building a copy of Lynn Sabin's box joint jig from pictures and cutting list I found on the Internet. I cut the base, sides, and front rail from MDF scrap, I cut the carriage rail and carriage parts from maple, the clamp and handcrank wheel are yellowheart. I purchased the tee nuts, acorn nuts, 36-inch-long 3/8"-16 threaded rod, brass bushings, and other hardware last week at Lowe's and Woodcraft. I am going to use steel t-track rails screwed into the bottom. It is not finished yet, but I made alot of progress between noon and 4 pm. I got the basic sled glued and clamped up. I am eager to see how well it works!

As I was sweeping the garage up I heard thunder. Sure enough a big black anvil-shaped cloud was coming! I got Buddy outside quickly for his walk and then got back home. I took a shower and laid on the bed to listen to the Trends CD that Craig loaned me. It began to storm. Heavy rain, lightning and thunder. Buddy laid on the floor next to the bed. A big bold of lightning struck nearby and Buddy jumped up to run to his bed!

Well, I guess that lightning strike set off the fire alarm in Building 11. Everyone was outside in the halls for the hour it took to get the alarm cancelled!

In the evening I continued working in the garage. I removed all of the clamps from my finger joint jig/sled and pilot drilled holes for screws. I inserted about 20, two-inch long screws into all of the panels to reinforce the glue and then I covered the screw heads with left over walnut plugs. Today at lunch I knocked the proud walnut plugs off with a chisel.

John Lein, my garage neighbor, came in and told me that Amy and he will be having company on Friday and that they are going to Michigan sometime next month. John was impressed with the finger joint jig. Fortunately I was able to point to my Sears Craftsman router bit box to show him an example for what it will be used for.

I started with a 10-foot-long maple board and ended up with two 60-inch stringers when I was done chopping jig parts from it! I am going to use those two 60 inchers to frame in my router table extension on the tablesaw.

The folding table I use in the garage was bought for me by Florence about 16 years ago at K-mart in Goldsboro, NC. It has served as a computer table (more than once), a sewing table, and a workbench/sawhorse. The wood-looking paper is starting to peel off of the top. I am going to get a 24x48 sheet of laminate and put it on the top with contact cement. Then I will use the router with an edge-trimming bit to clean up the edges all the way around.

Today was a typical Monday at the office except that most of our reps are on their way to Atlanta for the Delfield Road Show demo. I processed over $90k in new orders today. After lunch we had another powerful thunderstorm with lots of very bright lightning! I found money on my chair this morning - $20 from Craig for lunch while he is out of town. On Friday we are supposed to have lunch with Betsy.

Summer !

I couldn't understand why Buddy kept licking up puddles on the sidewalk yesterday. This morning when I got up and filled his food and water bowls I found the water bowl dry! I forgot to give him fresh water yesterday! No wonder.

It was very warm and humid this morning. Weatherman promised us rain and it did rain this morning. It rained very hard. It rained for 10 minutes.

We passed $350k today in new orders - even better than I expected! This will be another good week.

When I returned from lunch Evelyn was already at the office helping Craig with his scanner. Next week she is going to install a guest-port on our network router and she is going to re-locate our fax machine to my front table! That will be more convenient for me.

Today is the first day of summer and the longest day of the year (in the northern hemisphere).

The picture posted today is a map of Antarctica showing the rivers and lakes beneath the glaciers. Pretty interesting!

Orlando, FL

Another hot day and even more humid because of last night's rain. The weatherman gave us an even bigger chance of rain today, but it hasn't rained yet. I think it could as soon as the air starts to cool off.

We passed $265k today. Yup. I bet we pass $300k tomorrow morning.

I got all of the Olive Garden and Red Lobster stuff filed today. I am glad. That was an inch and a half thick pile of paper!

Made hamburgers on the grill this evening when we finished our evening walk.

Orlando, FL

Today we passed $200k and it looks like it's going to be a very lucrative week for FER!

It was very hot and muggy today, but in the afternoon it clouded up and rained. I would like to see a long slow soaking rain all night.

Because of the wet slippery weather, I do not think I will make it to the gym tonight. There are alot of accidents out tonight.

Grindstone

Back to the grindstone. Man! That weekend went by fast!

On Friday night I got the laundry done. On Saturday morning I cleaned bathroom and kitchen floors. Then Buddy got a bath. After his bath I put the flea and tick medicine on him again. I folded up the laundry. In the afternoon we drove to Casselberry and got a sheet of 3/4" thick phenolic-faced plywood. I am going to make a router table extension for the table saw. In the evening I made hamburgers on the grill.

Talked to Mom on Saturday. She said that Marrissia is pregnant and they are looking for another car that can easily hold baby seats. Since she was taking fertility pills, you watch, she will have atleast twins.

On Sunday I washed all of my stemware - it was covered in dust! Then I dried it and hung it back up. In the afternoon I went to work in the garage on the carcase of the cabinet I am making. I had a hard time getting it together properly -- the body is not going to be square. I will probably have to sand the sides of the drawers when I fit them just to get them to fit.

After gluing up all the biscuit joints I reinforced them with screws. The screws are countersunk and covered up with walnut pegs. After I chisel the tops off and sand, apply primer, and a couple coats of black paint you will never know those screws are there.

Still, I wish the carcase had gone together perfectly square. Oh well. Let's just get the damned thing done.

In the evening I joined Amy and John at the pool. They cooked out and I had some leftover filet mignon and chicken. The water was as warm as Florida tap water. When I got out I actually felt cool - but the sun was going down by then too.

Today was hectic and busy. Processed $165k in new orders today alone! Looks like another stupendous week coming!

TGIF !!!

I am glad this week is over. This was a hard week. We got a tremendous amount of stuff done at work and placed over $500k in new orders. I am tired.

On my way to work I broke my sunglasses. The left arm just snapped right off. Fortunately I had a spare pair in the glove box. I kinda like them too - the lenses make everything look orange!

Today I finished re-programming the fax machine. I just need to re-write the directory for it now. I started moving files to the new file cabinet and expanding the Red Lobster and Olive Garden files today too. When that is done I will have to re-label the drawers. But I am glad I getting these projects moving forward.

At lunch today I saw three vultures eating a dead amadillo on the road. As I was walking Buddy we saw a "Labradoodle" dog and Buddy went up to say, "Hi". On the way back to the office I saw an osprey eating a fish on top of a street lamp.

Craig was back in the office this afternoon. Evelyn dropped in too. She helped Fay with MS Excel and then she worked with Craig on, I'm not sure, whatever it is they work on.

It rained for a few minutes this afternoon. When I got home I took Buddy for his walk. Then I watered my plants and heated up the grill. I made cheeseburgers for dinner. Then I ran the vacuum cleaner. I an hour or so I will start laundry. I meant to go to the gym this evening, but I don't think I'm gonna make it.

Orlando, FL

The little gray kitten must have gotten out of the tree because we did not hear it when we walked past this morning.

In the shower this morning I brushed Just For Men dye into my beard to cover up the gray/white hair. It turned out very good.

On the way to work I stopped at Mobil and put $31.50 in gasoline into the truck. Then I went next door and got a sausage breakfast burrito meal at Chik-Fil-A.

The morning was very hectic for me as I struggled to get Hyatt Place demo requests out to the various reps who are handling them. Then I placed a $235,000 order with Garland/US Range. Yes, it's going to be a lucrative week for FER.

I let Fay take the first lunch while I was getting caught back up.

In the afternoon it rained briefly. Cooler today with winds out of the north in the morning and then northeast in the afternoon.

Now it is time for me to shower and head over to the gym.

Pictured today is the bed that I would like to build for my bedroom. I can order plans for it from Fine Woodworking for $19. The example was made from mahogany and the lumber would probably cost over $1000. I will make mine out of maple and walnut.

Orlando, FL

This morning on our walk I heard this noise in the trees... I almost wrote it off as a bird, but then I realized it was meowing! We investigated and found a gray kitten, about two-weeks old, up in the tree next to the Kids R Kids daycare center. We could not get it down.

"What do you mean this is only Wednesday?" Damn. Feels like it should be Thursday or Friday already.

It rained this afternoon. There were wind gusts and a good heavy downpour. There are always car accidents after the rain. We are starting to get afternoon showers pretty regularly now.

Orlando, FL

Monday. Ugghhh!!

The morning was extremely busy. Nancy Baranet popped in after her demo in Tangelo Park Elementary. She went to the Test Kitchen with Fay to gossip. She was so busy gossiping she forgot to raid the supply cabinet! She called and asked me to mail 100 envelopes and all my rubber bands later.

We were supposed to go to lunch with Betsy again this week. Craig is going to take her to that new BJ's restaurant on Conroy Road. But Betsy is on vacation all week -- she took a cruise. Craig will be at MAFSI for the rest of the week, so it looks like it will be next week.

Fay took Debbie to lunch at TooJay's in Doctor Phillips. We were so busy on Friday we forgot all about her birthday.

Debbie reports that it t-stormed at her house and golf ball size hail fell. So much infact it overflowed her pool! She had to run home today when it was reported that we were going to have another storm - she has to give Harley a tranquilizer during storms.

When I got home I stopped to check the mail. Toni Ann came out of the office and asked me how I was. I started to mention the hole in the ceiling of my garage and she interrupts me, "Oh! The oppossums! I wondered whose garage it was. I figured somebody would be in today to report it." She is going to have maintenance patch up the hole in the ceiling.

Evidently Amy Lein next door reported it.

Buddy has been walked and is laying down. The weather is very unsettled outside. It has cooled way down and is cloudy, but I bet we don't get a storm tonight.

Pictured here today is something I have wanted for a long time -- the Wheelman Bushpig. You can get one on the Internet website for around $699. I know I would fall and bust my ass on it, but it would be soo cool. Plus, nobody else on the block has one!

Weekend

This was a good weekend. I didn't really spend alot of time relaxing, but it was good overall. On Friday evening I moistened the drawers on my project with a damp sock so the coarse grain would pop up for sanding. Then I went to the gym.

The gym is almost deserted on Friday evenings. Oh there were still alot of people there, but it is a big building, so it takes alot of people to make it look full. When I returned from the gym I started the laundry. I was up past midnight, but three loads were done - whites, towels, and darks. I am sure Buddy was wondering why we were up so late!

On Saturday I folded the laundry up and ran the vacuum cleaner. Then I went to the garage to sand those drawers down. With the drawers smooth again, I wiped the dust off with a rag and mixed up the 2 ounces of yellow dye I bought with 2 quarts of water. I applied the dye to the wood with an old sock. I let the panels dry and then put on a second coat. That wood turned VERY YELLOW! So did my finger tips -- I did not wear gloves like the label advised.

I poured the remaining dye into a mason jar and closed it up. I might need some for touch up or on another project.

Buddy and I got into the truck and we drove up to Casselberry to the Woodcraft store. I was hoping to get a sheet of the 3/4" thick phenolic-faced plywood for my router table saw extension and fences. It didn't come in. They were importing it from Sweden, but they found a domestic supplier and they promised they would be getting some this week. Only difference is that the US made stuff will be chocolate brown. The color isn't really important to me.

I picked up some clamping and fastening doodads and some right-to-left reading ruler tape while I was there and we headed to the cheap Chinese tools store. Here I got a couple of packs of inexpensive paint brushes and a box of 36 really cheap one-inch brushes.

I got some solid rubber 8-inch wheels for my electric generator there too. I want to get a 16mm shaft to use as an axel and some tubing I can bend to make a handle and front rest for the generator frame. I think I can fasten the axel to the frame with U bolts and the handle can bolt directly to the frame. That generator is heavy when it is full of fuel!

On the highway I noticed that Clear Channel Communications has installed giant LED screens on some of the billboards. The advertisements are full color and they switch from ad to ad in a flash! I bet they save money with those because people do not have to go to the sign to change the ad too. The screens are especially impressive at night!

When we got back home Buddy was tired from panting so hard. He went right to his bed and layed down. I went back to the garage and continued working.

I met a nice guy in chat Saturday night named "Alex". He is my age and travels alot with his retail-related job. He lives in College Park. I went over and met him. Again, I am sure Buddy wondered why I got back so late and was up so late!

This morning I walked Buddy and then started work on my project again. I spray painted the wire L's I am using as video bookends again. Then I sanded the drawers down smooth again, wiped the dust off, and started to apply Danish oil to the wood. Apply a coat, let it soak in for 30 minutes, apply another coat, let it dry, apply another coat...

It began to get warm in the garage with the doors shut and I pulled out my milkcrate to get a rag to wipe my forehead with. Boy, did I get a surprise when I did! There was a oppossum sleeping in the rags!! It woke up and hissed at me!

I opened the garage door and told my neighbor, Brian, to come look at it. Then I turned the crate over and shooed it outside with a long piece of scrap wood! While I was herding that one out I saw another one hiding in the corner by the door! I pushed him out too, but he was biting at the stick and hissing loudly. I sent him flying like a furry golf ball into the bushes!

On my router table I noticed a bunch of fallen insulation and paint chips. There is a hole in the ceiling where Maintenance got into the overhead to fix drain pipes for the apartment above my garage. My only guess is that they got into the garage that way -- they fell inside and then just decided to make themselves comfortable!

With the drawers drying I got the sides, top, bottom, and back braces out and measured and marked where the biscuit slots would be cut, but I did not cut them because I don't want sawdust and chips sticking to the sticky Danish oil on the drawers. I will cut those and start dry fitting the cabinet next weekend.

There was alot of thunder and lightning this evening, but no rain here. Somebody got some rain though.

This evening I used the clippers and took my goatee back down to about 1/4 inch long and I shaved my head smooth. About a half inch of hair came off my face. You can see the white patches again so I will be applying color to it tomorrow evening.

TGIF !!!

Today was a very long, hot and angry day. I am glad it is over.

When I returned from the gym lastnight I spent some time in the garage sanding my project drawers down again. Then I rubbed the saw dust off with a wet sock -- wetting the wood down will make the coarse grain pop up and then it can be sanded off. The reason I did this is because I will be using a water-based dye on the wood on Saturday and pre-wetting and sanding will ensure that the dye doesn't make the grain pop up as badly.

This morning when Buddy and I were returning from our walk we were about to go upstairs but we heard claws scratching at a window. I figured the guys downstairs had a new dog, but when we got around the building it turned out to be a squirrel that had climbed halfway up - up the screened half of the window, and now was desperately trying to climb the rest of the way up. Boy! Buddy went crazy trying to get that squirrel!

I am going to the gym tonight. I have not seen Brian, "The Attendance-Taker", in the gym all week. You can bet I won't be calling HIM to remind him of it.

Pictured here is another jig I would like to make. This jig is especially for cutting box joints (finger joints). It has a moveable carriage mounted on a long 16-pitch screw. Each turn of the screw advances the carriage 1/16-inch. It doesn't look very hard to build.

Orlando, FL

Today is "back-up day" at the office. We bring our portable hard drives in and plug them into the USB port for a 2-hour back-up copy session. We do this once a week so that we have a copy of our files if the computers are stolen or die or if something happened to the office.

I had to start checking all of the orders on that big list. I am not happy about it. I think Craig is afraid of Kelly Hill. "But we gotta do it, Vince. I'm telling you, she will turn it back on us if we don't." My lower back hurts from bending over that little bit to get into the files.

It was very hot today. When I left in the evening (which was at 5:02 pm, thank you) it was a blue sky with light fluffy clouds, but as soon as I got around the building the sky was black and it looked like it would storm!

Buddy got his walk soon after I got home. We walked through clouds of no-see-um bugs and they stuck to the sweat on my skin. When I got home and checked in the mirror I had little black carcasses all over my head and face!

Making some chili for dinner/tomorrow's lunch right now. When I finish this log I am going to shower and get down to the gym. The sooner I get started, the sooner I will finish, right?

I am glad tomorrow is Friday. I need my weekend now. Craig is crazy if he thinks I am coming in on the weekend to get that list done.

Orlando, FL

I tried to leave for work early this morning but only managed to get out 10 minutes early. Since I needed to stop and buy gas this morning, I think it was just enough time. Mid-grade unleaded was $3.11 per gallon this morning.

Weather was cloudy all day. That held temperatures down, but it was very humid too. During my lunch it began to rain, heavy at times, and heavier later with lightning! The new roof seems to be watertight at work. That is a good thing. Anyhow, we need a good soaking rain. Badly.

The last two hours of the day were a little stressful as I quickly prepared a list of Red Lobster purchase orders to Cleveland Range for the past two years. The list runs for nine (9) pages! I am afraid we will end up having to pull all of those orders to verify the filtration notes. I told Craig, "Darden Restaurants is not the only customer I have to worry about!" He is very conflicted about it, but he can't seem to stand up to Kelly Hill at all. It's going to take two weeks to pull all of those orders.

I promised myself I would get out of there early and I ended up staying until 6 pm getting that list ready. I got home late and now, with the rain and everything, I can't decide if I want to go to the gym or not. Maybe I will just go to the garage and do some sanding.

Orlando, FL

Lastnight, around 2 am, my new neighbors decide to start hanging pictures and hammering the wall right behind my bed! I had to do some hammering of my own to get them to stop. I am not going to listen to Dan complain about his noisy neighbors below him anymore.

Work was another busy day of orders, service calls, and a ton of email correspondence. Donna Flood asked Craig to make me go through all of the Darden orders to Cleveland Range in the past year and report which steamer orders did not have "Filtration ordered from Ecolab on PO XXXXXX". I told Craig that her request was unreasonable, especially considering that there were 471 purchase orders to Cleveland Range and I will have to pull each and every one of them to determine which had steamers and which were missing the note (the majority of them).

At lunch today I went to The Cheesecake Factory and had lunch with Ana Velazquez. Ana had a big salad and I had a crabcake sandwich. Ana is very busy too. She claims that she is handling 15 projects right now (her boss says 5 projects). She was very full of questions about how I am doing and wanted to know my opinion on recent politics. She told me that she is going to "Hotec" - a hotel trade show, this summer in Arizona and Matt Thursam of Disney is going to be there too. I told her she should meet him for drinks. LOL! Time seemed to fly right by during lunch!

On the way out of there I saw the new Ikea store being built behind the mall. A few months ago I saw the building that is now housing Old Navy. I thought that was the new Ikea and I was disappointed at how small it was. Oh no. The Orlando Ikea is going to be ginormous!

The afternoon was almost as busy as the morning. Craig brought in orders totaling over $76k just by meeting a couple of dealers face-to-face today! Must be nice to have that "golden touch".

Did not get out of the office until after 6 pm and Fay and Craig were still there when I left! I just finished walking Buddy -- poor Buddy! Home alone by himself all day!! Now I am going to shower and get my fat butt to the gym -- going to run in my new shoes!! Yay!

Orlando, FL

Hot and very humid -- that's what the weather was like here today.

Busy Monday in the office. Almost $80k in new orders processed. I got an Acrobat file of the Cleveland Range ConvoTherm Recipe Guide from Chef Kim Portman and I printed out all 48, full-color pages. I brought it home and put it into a Docubind binder. When we get the brokeback ring binders we will take a disk or USB drive to Kinkos and have them economically print multiple copies for us.

I had some nauseating gas today. I think it is from those peppers I made yesterday.

When I got home this evening I took Buddy for his walk. Then I bound the Recipe Guide. After a quick shower I went to Sports Authority to get new running shoes. They cost me $49.00. I think that is okay because those shoes were over $60.00 when I first started buying them.

Back from the store I immediately went to work in the garage sanding my project down. I want to get it ready to use the yellow dye.

Tomorrow I am having lunch with Ana Velazquez at Cheesecake Factory. I think I am just going to have a salad.

Pictured here is what is believed to be the entrance to a cavern on Mars. Mars! What an interesting time to be alive.

Tropical Storm Barry

TS Barry came through Tampa Bay on Saturday morning and dropped some much-needed rain in Florida. It went into the Atlantic near Jacksonville and is headed north to bring rain to the Carolinas and Virginia.

Yesterday morning I started the laundry early because BJ's does not open until 9 am. I had the whites done before I even started out. I got six cases of water, two cases of green beans, two packs of sliced turkey breast, two large bottles of Listerine, half a case of cream of mushroom soup, and six cans of Dow Tub and Tile Cleaner.

Next stop - Petco. Here I got three months supply of Frontline flea and tick protection, two packs of doggie duty bags, and a new harness for Buddy. I went home and put all of this away and then I headed out again.

Third stop was Super Target. Here I got the rest of my groceries -- frozen foods, canned goods, eggs, cheese, produce, meats, etc. I drove all of this home and put it away and took a break. I started a load of dark clothes and I put a pot roast into my pressure cooker.

The pot roast took about 35 minutes to cook. Out it came and into the cooker went peeled fingerling carrots, sliced celery, onion, and garlic cloves. The vegetables were done in 10 minutes. Pressure cooker is very fast!

By this time all of the rain had cleared up and it was getting kinda warm. I took Buddy with me in the truck and we drove to Casselberry to the Woodcraft store. Here I browsed and I found the Dust Cutter bag I wanted for the table saw. I also found a small bottle of "lemon yellow" wood tint that you dilute in water or alcohol and apply to wood -- that will even out the color on the drawers of my project!

I noticed mixed in with the sheet goods there a 1/2 inch thick green phenolic coated wood board. I asked the salesman if he thought it would make a good wearing surface for a router table. He said it would. I asked if it came in 3/4 inch thick boards. He said he would have them on Thursday. He goes, "Did Norm Abrams or someone on TV just have a program about this? You are the third person this week to ask me about that!"

Later this week, depending on how quickly I run through the rest of my money, I might go back there and get the 3/4 inch green phenolic board and a router insert. I want to order the mobile base for my tablesaw too. I need to get new running shoes yet.

In the evening it rained again. I began working with Sketchup some more. It really is a great program for making 3D models. There are better products for 2D drawings, but this is really great for making models. This weekend I even figured out how to make compound curves on a model!

I phoned Dawndee and asked her about Wishbone, their 6-month-old pit bull terrier. Wishbone was sick and puking all over the house! He is as big as Buddy now and he still has a few months of growing to do! Dawndee said that they go and lay on floats in the pool when it is quiet and the kids aren't there splashing and playing rough in the pool and the dog actually likes it!

This morning I went to Walmart to get a few things I forgot -- more canned goods mostly. Then I made ten stuffed peppers and put them in the oven. While those were baking I went to the garage to work. I installed the Dust Cutter bag and I kept working on my second crosscut sled.

John was getting his son, Noah, ready to go up to Michigan for the summer. They got new tires on the truck and he was changing the air filter. I helped him with that and then he was putting the tonneau back on the bed and the ribs had pulled out of their sockets. I found some pop rivets and my rivet gun and we fixed that too! They are really good neighbors.

It is amazing how much dust I create working in the garage! There was a very large pile after I swept up the floor. This week I need to sand the drawers down again. Then I will mix some of the yellow tint up with water and rub it on the wood with a rag. The sample in the store was unnaturally yellow and that is what I want for this project.

Here is a picture of my first crosscut sled. This one can be used with the blade at any angle from 0° to 45° . The second sled will be used with the dado blade.

It was 91° F today and I was a little dehydrated from working all afternoon in the garage. After I got everything cleaned up I came in, got Buddy, and took him for a walk. Then I got a shower. I drank down two bottles of water immediately -- I was thirsty!

Now I have to go back to work tomorrow. I am having lunch with Ana Velazquez on Tuesday. She asked for an updated copy of my resume. She is looking for a job for me at Wyndham Resorts. I think I am basically happy where I am though.

Friday!!!

Yay! Another weekend!

Today was very gray and overcast all day. Around 3 pm it began to sprinkle. A tropical depression from the Gulf Of Mexico is making its way to us and it is expected to bring between one and five inches of much-needed rain.

Today marks one year that Buddy has been with me. Today marks two years that I have been with FER.

Wrote a check for the rent first thing this morning and I used web bill pay to pay most of the rest of the bills. I am still waiting on the Shell Oil bill and the USAA car insurance bill. Tomorrow I am going to the wholesale warehouse and grocery store to get food. Then I have to go to a pet supply store for Frontline and doggie duty bags.

I guess I will just putter around my garage on Sunday. Work on my cabinet project and finish the second sled I am making. It will be time to go back to work before you know it!

Take a close look at the invoice for the screws in the picture posted today. Talk about getting "screwed" !!