One year ago today: March 9, 2024, he’s from out west.
Five years ago today: March 9, 2020, pretty average.
Nine years ago today: March 9, 2016, Book of Timely Recollections.
Random years ago today: March 9, 2005, the computer school.
A classic winter morning, dead calm and dead quiet. Not a sound until past 11:00AM. We needed the rest, since y’day can hardly be called a break. (I was in the van nearly 6-1.2 hours to drive less than 300 miles.) It is so quiet, almost eerie. Until the birds all began almost at once. How about a real day off? It’s agree then, nothing today but hobby, reading, writing, and/or DVD movies. Starting by reading, I see Volkswagen, following my advice of 1995, is switching back to physical buttons. Now if only they could grasp the one-button-one-function concept.
Four hours later, the faster pace of y’day makes doing nothing a tad boring. Let’s take a peek at some social media while we decide if we’ll build or fix something today. I had set the game camera up in the silo, knowing there is a rodent in there somewhere, but nothing in 24 hours. Are we dealing with another Florida super-rat? If so, he must go, this State is already full of itinerant hunter-gatherers. A DC court has ruled the President can fire any officials who block reforms—which would include those 700 Obama/Biden appointed Judges. This could be interesting. (Note, the American don’t want firing, they want these people jailed or worse.)
I read the amalgamator sites and gather the Deep State has lot the money from their drug cartels, USAID, and ActBlue (the network of “charities” the Democrats were using to fund their campaigns). If so, it is doubtful they will ever win another election. And their dizzy little protests have taken on a circus atmosphere. The authorities are still arresting and booking illegals, which most people view as a waste of time and resources. These people have to rights to anything.
Puffer fish skeleton.
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I grab a siesta and zonk out till past 5:00PM, giving me just enough time to check some of my favorite sites, including one that lists small wood projects for sale. Mostly boxes interest me, but one of my criteria is build low, sell high. And this guy is selling chicken swings for $70. You heard me. Four pieces of scrap lumber and some string. One might ask what is stopping me from doing the Etsy thing and it is the same as eBay. Having to check every day for orders is a bit of a drag. But I have an idea. Other places charge so much, I’d like to try a sale.
Always a fan of wood finishes, I watched this guy seal a slab of wood in a cardboard box is a dish of ammonium hydroxide. I can’t momentarily recall where I have seen this product for sale, but it is used for cleaning. I was impressed by how it aged wood in 24 hours. I’m learning the wisdom of countless hobby woodworkers before me—rustic sells. I’m okay there, everything make is rustic.
After a nap, I see the temperature inside was up to 82°F, meaning it’s Spring again and soon it will be too hot to work in direct sunlight.
It didn’t take long for me to get tired of doing nothing. I went out to the shed and cut the pieces for six boxes, two matching pairs, a square box (it’s trickier than you think) and the box shown here. One again, you cannot see why this rates blog mention, so I’ll go over why it is different. This box was built fast and for the purpose of finding out more of what can go wrong. In addition to the varying size of the lumber causing odd inside dimension, here is what I learned to watch for, often called tricks of the trade.
1) Watch for knots, they can bend staples and you don’t want points sticking out.Satisfied I got something done, I decided to watch the movie “Exodus: Gods and Kings”. Great scenery and special effects so far, though a little less wandering around the desert would still deliver the message. When this happens I have a habit of watching two movies in segments. I chose one with Christina Applegate, who has been in movies since the age of 10. “Anchorman”, that’s it. By switching back and forth, I can tolerate the slow passages.
2) If there is a cup in the wood, orient it to face the inside of the box.
3) Match any uneven box corners by feel, not by sight.
4) Use jigs for every step of the assembly.
5) Some parts of every box, no matter how simple, must be hand-fitted.
ADDENDUM
The long trip last day had me listening “The Four Winds”. Elsinore is in really bad shape. After her youngest got silicosis from the dust, her in-laws gave her the truck and $60 to go to California. She arrived there to find the wages as low as 40ȼ per day she cannot even use the truck to look for work. Setting up in a migrant camp, she learns to follow the crowd, picking cotton and weeds and delivering stillborn babies. Her 13 y.o. daughter can’t take it and runs away. The book has made several mentions of union organization and I think this is where things are heading.
California depression politics is an ugly subject, but if you are curious where the Democrat party honed many of the tactics used against Trump, read up on this. One of the most effective were short Hollywood films masquerading as newsreels that were played at all movie theaters before the feature film. The time is now 1935, so she is only half-way through the 12 Depression years, which really only ended at Pearl Harbor.
Some parts made sense in my upbringing 40 years later. It was very well-established that in America, education was the key to success. More so than elsewhere and the pressure was intense by the time I was in high school. It would have been freakishly abnormal to meet any parents who did not want their kids to have the best of educations. So Elsinore enrolls her kids in the valley school, causing consternation among the locals who felt their tax money was wasted on outsiders.
