July 27, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 27, 2024, a $65 budget.
Five years ago today: July 27, 2020, my back hurts . . .
Nine years ago today: July 27, 2016, ghettoized.
Random years ago today: July 27, 2006, a generic day.

           We’ll stay home a lot today. I ran the books for this month and we are $855 over budget. Of that $202 is entertainment in Tennessee and another $242 in groceries. Not bad for a family of four, but who around here is a big eater? Things just cost more in Tennessee and the gas on this trip was $330. Not all those add toward the total, for instance $166 of the gas was already allocated. There was but one thing to do, I made up a stack of my nearly-favorite coconut maple pancakes. And wait for a neighbor to break the morning silence.

           Here’s one of the few books I’ve ever outright trashed. The book is well-written (if exhaustive), but by a naïve idiot. It is chock full of praise for how to put yourself at extreme risk, even advising to put your neighbors and family on-line without their knowledge. Admittedly, by the time the Internet came along (1991), I had ten years experience with the dangers of identity theft and lack of on-line security. The author, Richardson, goes on about some Utopia where everybody is on file and filled to the brim with kindness of a new order. Don’t go saying he never had my experience, the book was not published until 2010. A better title would be “The Book of Zero Security”.

           No plans for today, but July has always been an obscure month in my memory. There is no July I can particularly remember in my whole life except maybe Valdosta, but that was only last year. How about we putter in the shed for the hot part of the day and see what gets done. And with this laser cutter, I definitely need a small table saw. Last evening, I had to cut a piece in half and the big table saw was too powerful. I’m toying with smaller items, souvenir size. Isn’t that something, I’m dying off and still plan for bigger days.

           I found my 30/60/90 shown here only to discover it is too large to fit under the chop saw guard. Meh, Harbor Freight will have something. Soon we’ll put the saw to work. Moments later, I have good news. Always welcome. Houseskeeping being what it is, I get and accumulation of sawdust behind all my saws, even with regular vacuums. During this setup, I got behind my sliding miter saw and under the sawdust, which has been there maybe years, I said to myself, “Look at that lever. I’ve seen one of those before.”

           Sure enough, that saw is a compound miter, and not only that, the lever works perfectly. It properly releases and resets with a quarter turn. I’d bought the saw to make longer cuts and never looked back there before it got buried [by sawdust]. We are back in business, my reward will be the angle gadget later today. I cleared more of the jungle back and tidied up, it was not supposed to get this hot. I moved boxes into the silo, one thing about the laser, it makes excellent labels. One item I looked at was the wooden urn for my beloved JeePee. A tiny but very well-made little box. It is now with family in Tennessee.
           Bing-bong on the radio system I just rigged up in the new work area. Heat advisory. That means it is 99°F somewhere in Florida. I knew it felt a big tropical before I took this coffee break. That won’t be a record, but damn close. Just you watch, tomorrow they will announce the casualties of those without the sense to get in the shade.

Picture of the day.
Northernmost Newfoundland.
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           A second coffee break, it is now after 4:00PM and I was able to do 90% of today’s work under shelter. I’m going to sacrifice some wood to make a quick mockup of the project I have in mind. I’ve got 20 minutes to spell, let’s look at the news. Assange is back in the news, and reportedly has a box full of Clinton e-mails, the ones so many people have committed suicide over. I advised him to avoid rivers in Arkansas. The FBI (not ICE) has gone after a restaurant chain in Alabama for hiring illegals.

           What’s this, since the rise of feminism, 45% of men have never approached a woman. This guy is posting videos of saying hello to women and catching their responses. These are women dressed to the nines, the look-at-me bunch. Yet some scream, some get offended, and some ask for money up front. Hey, serves these women right, though I’m not really the authority on this topic.
           My best pick-up line has always been “Hi.” However I’m first to tell you the trick is in the delivery. Still, don’t take my advice. I have limited experience with women that need (or require) approaching. Seems New York held a rally supporting the canceled Colbert show. Nineteen people showed up.

           Inside the big work shed with the fans, I was able to complete the prototype of this shelf in less than three hours, yeah, make that just over two and a half. That includes everything like hauling the lumber and setting up the saws. Actual construction time of the box was around half. The significance is that I did not hesitate over this project which even a year ago would have given me the jeebies. Experience. I knew when I started it would turn out and roughly the effort. I estimate a shelf like this should sell for around $45. How do you like it? The illusion, I mean, otherwise it’s just another box.
           There is no air conditioner in the kitchen, just a big fan. I left it too long into the season again, so full price it is. Usually install a unit rated for twice the room size. The mounting is 64 inches off the floor, so feel free to lend a hand. It is the only spot in the kitchen not blocked by something else. I will also need to install another heater. I’m quite happy with the unit it the back room. It is designed to heat chicken coops, but has a lot of plusses for me.
           Best of all, it is ceiling mounted saving premium floor space. It has a relatively powerful fan behind some adjustable vanes, so it keeps the room toasty.

ADDENDUM

           The shrinkage of the box bottoms is strange for several reasons. It happens only on the box bottoms. Yet this wood is destined for the same outside exposure when used for fence pickets. Thus, I wrote down some theories and then stacked the boxes in the sun to look for evidence. I found several clues. The boards shrink laterally, the short way. If the sides got smaller, I may not have noticed, but neither would the buyer. One box had no shrinkage at all. What is the common feature?
           Ah, the good box has a slightly darker wood. It is not like the others. I pulled the receipts and sure enough, all the other boxes were built from the same lif of pickets at the lumber yard, and I do recall the moisture meter reading a higher content both days. My cloth gloves did feel moist after handling the pieces. Is the solution to let the lumber dry first?            I will set up a trial, since I have no oven the remaining option is the Florida sun. That would mean someone finally found a use for it. Odds are I will use the existing boxes for my own storage. I have no other retail outlet lined up and reworked the boxes is not that economical.

           Here is the most expensive piece of lumber I have ever bought. This 8-foot piece of pine set me back $50. It’s for my next idea. I think you’ll like it, but expect delays. I’m behind on everything. If I croak and anybody gets in here now, they’ll conclude I never finished anything. That’s because my work-in-progress alone swamps their best days, kind of thing.

Last Laugh