Post-Break

Now that’s what I call a break! This is the only time of the year I’m able to just let it all go, and lose myself in a stream of non-days. Monday? Tuesday? Who cares. Except for getting up to drive Cara to her car in the mornings, then I know the end is near.

The first few years I was working, this was tough. For whatever reason, work was still on my mind. Next was The Lodge construction phase. Where each day was marked and metered. These were the apartment days where I would get up early, change into construction clothes, bundle up, and drive out to the Rotary for a cold walk in. I’d fire up the Kerosene heater which was enough to occasionally warm my hands, and a hot thermos of coffee to keep me going. Around 5 or 6 PM after the sun set, I’d walk back out, numb to the bone, with a full list of things accomplished.

Then came the factory days. Cold, dark, long hours, and a few days of heading into work over the Holidays. Did that for a couple years. Makes getting up at 6 and driving the truck out from the Lodge these days for work seem like a cake walk. Even if it’s 40F in the kitchen. I highly recommend it.

And here we are, 2013, things finally coming together on CS3 after the Big Move. I don’t feel over-worked, or physically tired. But I do realize how much the 9 to 5 manages to destroy the creative process and inhibit any sort of spontaneity. If I continue down this path long enough, I may find myself in real trouble.

That said, this was a very successful break. I managed to assemble the Lodge downstairs room divider which combines display shelving on one side and storage and clothes hang-up on the other. I had cut the panels late winter of last year when I had a cement floor and garage doors in CS3. Just enough to keep me out of the wind and where I didn’t have to worry about sawdust going everywhere. Then weeks of sanding, pre-staining, sanding, staining coat 1, more sanding, staining coat 2, and a final sand….to each piece. 9 months later with outdoor work all but impossible, the big Q was now how does all this fit together? And what still needs more stain? A couple days and nights of edge banding, base-making, and gluing and fastening (and more staining) and the thing finally came together. With all the hard work out of the way, there’s just a few small things left and I can call it complete.

I also took this opportunity to get the washers and dryers in order. I vac’d out and repaired the avocado 806 dryer such that it stops automatically. I got the ’62 Frig dryer cleaned up and hooked up. Pulled the yellow dryer out of rotation and vac’d it. Then proceeded to pull every washer along the north wall, scrubbed the floor beneath, adjusted and leveled them all, and made any needed small fixes- like a new poly pump on one Maytag, and a leaky aerator on another. Pulled the beast of a combo machine, yanked the panels and cleaned out the decades old mouse nests (and carcasses) inside. What a mess. A long day for sure, but now ‘washer row’ is neat and orderly, and all machines but the combo, and 1 dryer not plugged in, are completely turnkey.

Unlike last year, the temps have been COLD over the break. No outside work here! But with a furnace running in CS3 I was able to push forward. While I didn’t get my bamboo ceiling installed, I did make progress on a lot of other fronts. For one, the floor for the kitchen will be VCT, but at the moment it was carpet, with cabinets and a stove sitting on top. After getting things moved, and the carpet measured and cut, the hole blister in my hand would agree that the installer’s glue was very effective, requiring much chiseling with a flat blade putty knife, and taking bits and pieces of OSB with it. I have the glue, just need to pick up the tile from the parent’s basement and it should be ready to go. On the opposite corner of the building, the carpet is now trimmed, wrapped and fastened up under the edge of the sunken living room, and the couches moved into place. The winter sun comes right on in and makes it a nice place to sit.

The ceiling pans and pendants are now up in the kitchen, though I still have no good location for a switch. Being of Ikea origin, they use a halogen bi-pin bulb which foils my plans for other technology, which I’ll reveal later. Speaking of which, the track lights I had bought for installation above the workbench are now scrubbed up and in. This was interesting because the tracks themselves were hung from suspended ceilings (Kamerick Art Bldg, UNI), which meant converting them for a flush install. And being a hodge-podge of section lengths, how would it all go together? But in the end it looks good. Just need brighter bulbs; the originals are perfect for murky painting illumination. Found the receipt, too. Bought June of ’09 for 10 bucks. Like I said, the ends are starting to connect.

Now, the workbench is finally done. All 18 feet of it! Made from chemistry lab tops from Price Lab, with lower shelves of ¾ furniture grade birch, which were recycled scraps from the cabinet project. 2x4 and 2x6 construction. A little shallow (24”) but given the quality of the tops, and the price (5 bucks, if I recall), I can’t complain. I officially have a place to work now (once I clear off all the krep parked there while other shelves and cabinets move about). That didn’t stop me on Tuesday from getting my Telex machine online. Several months in the making, I built up a current-loop power supply, traced the wiring in the ASR-32, got a connector wired up for the demodulator board I bought awhile back, and yesterday afternoon after getting the frequency locked in on the iPad, I was receiving 24/7 news! I have a motor control board (kit) on order from a club member which will allow the Teletype to automatically power itself on, receive a message, then shut down. This will be a lot more useful once I have a dedicated internet connection.

But overall, the general them of the break has been Organization. With one bookcase previously installed, the second would requiring modifying to fit my low ceilings. And so with some expert chiseling, a few cuts of the circular saw, and a pass through the table saw with the trim, the cabinet now sits jointly attached to the other, both full of books..organized by subject, the way they should be. The downstairs didn’t go untouched, either. My paint cabinet is now full of paint and stain quarts, and just where did all this spray paint come from?? And totes continue to be opened and sorted. But overall…lots of progress.

Amazing what one can accomplish with a little daylight and AM radio.

Oh yeah, and a restful Christmas and an entertaining New Year’s Eve, to boot!