Handy Randy

Last weekend Randy and I did a little garage project. This is the 3rd woodworking weekend in a row for me, if you include the shelves weekend and the week in-between when I helped with the roof.

Randy needed to complete a woodworking project for his cub scout project, so rather than making a birdhouse Karen and I thought he could help me build a workbench in the garage. He went with me to Home Depot and was a real trooper, helping me pick out all the materials. This was a bit difficult with all the post-Ike home repair projects in full flight and supplies low.

I decided to use the old 4x4 legs from the beds I had made for Tyler and Randy - when I had split their bunk beds to make loft beds. The 4x4 lengths made excellent bench legs. Randy got a little bored with the project but came out and started driving nails. After that, I pretty much could not get rid of him. He loves that hammer! And he's very good at it.

We put up a bench with a "step" or "seat" on one side that I thought the kids could use to help with projects, or I could just sit things on it. We also put up peg board and hung some tools from it.

Great job, Randy!!

Ooh it's hot up there

After the ravages of the hurricane our church meetings were cancelled today. There were too many people with hurricane aftermath problems that needed attention.

I got a call today from Brother Bleazard who needed a ladder to work on the Gillett's roof. So I spent an hour or two on the roof with Br. Bleazard putting tarps over holes. I did it barefoot because I could get a better grip on the steep roof - was great idea until the sun came out. Br. Bleazard used to work on roofs so was very good with safety and making sure we were roped and tied to prevent falling off. But even still I was very glad to get down and be done with it.

While I was on the roof I got another war wound on my thumb. The first was from my shelf wood-work (see earlier blog) and mashed my thumb with a hammer, the second was when I was splitting some hamburger patties and whacked the same thumb with the spatula, and the last was with a hammer on the roof. The last one split it open - it was pretty gross. And for those who know how well I do with the sight of my own blood, I got a little nervous standing on the top of a 2-story roof with my blood drops staining the shingles and tarp everywhere... I worked through it and made it off the roof in one piece.

What a blessing to have nothing better to do that help out my neighbor with his roof problems. How could I refuse that opportunity? I just keep thinking about how little damage we had to our house and in our neighborhood in general - we are so blessed!

Saturday night and all is well

I just want to report quickly that all appears to be well with the Jason and Karen Welker family. The kids slept well last night despite the scary howling winds. The power started going in and out sporadically from around 1:30 a.m. until about 5:30 a.m., when it went out completely. What made that fun is that our bed mattress is an air mattress (Select Comfort) and during the night whenever the power would go out, it would beep at us. What a ridiculous idea for a bed alarm! Let me sleep for crying out loud! Other than loss of a/c it was almost a relief to have it out.

The kids had a rough time today without a/c, t.v., computers, Wii, etc. By about 2 p.m. we decided it was time to solve the lack of power. A couple of our neighbors had purchased generators and they hummed smoothly all day long. We weren't able to find a generator within 300 miles. My parents called and volunteered to bring us one from Flagstaff (they're on a wedding anniversary trip). So they bought one and we agreed to meet them halfway (Lubbock Texas). After a 20 minute drive we got a call from Ned, our neighbor, telling us the power was back on. We came home and called Mom and Dad and aborted the trip to Lubbock.

What a blessing! No real house damage (bent exhaust chimney pipe and a loose piece on the roof but that's about it). The dog survived and the fish are still swimming.

I'm thankful for the prayers and thoughts of our friends and family. I know those prayers were heard and am grateful for the power of prayer.

I do not like Ike; no, I do not like him, Sam I am

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Would you like them here or there?

I would not like them here or there.
I would not like them anywhere.
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I'm going to agree with the unnamed guy from "Green Eggs and Ham" on this on. I'd just as soon not taste the effects of a hurricane. But, if we must then I think we're about as ready as we're going to be.

We should be okay I think. Good news is that depending on where Ike makes landfall we should have a good bit of land to slow it down before it hits us - between 50 to 90 miles most likely. We are in the direct path depending on which model you look at. Yesterday the "favored" model showed the eye of the hurricane going directly over our community, but today that model tracks Ike further east (by about 15 miles). Some models show the hurricane passing us to the south then west, which would not be as good. Being on the west side of a hurricane is usually better because the rain and debris has dissipated somewhat. The east side is typically where the accumulation of debris and heavier rain bears down, and is often called the "dirty side".

We've filled the bathtubs with water, put up our trampoline and other outside stuff, clean and cleared rooms, and made a place in Karen's closet for the kids to sleep tonight through the storm (no windows). The kids are excited. My only real concern is that we didn't board up the windows. Then again, most of the neighborhood didn't do it either.

Wish us luck!

The pains of progress (and putting up shelves)

So it's been, what, two and a half years since we moved into this house? We're slowly but surely organizing things. It's not that I don't want organization but I need to space my projects far enough apart so that I forget how painful they are. Case in point: my most recent inspiration - the shelves I installed in the garage.

We have a 3-car garage and we make a point of using it. This is a tangent worth of its own blog, but let's just say most people in Texas seem to think the garage is for everything but cars.

We have two cars, so currently the 3rd bay has served as a catch-all. Unfortunately it's been catching too much. Also the back section of the garage has been poorly used and I got the idea that I could do something with the vertical space.So I took my inspiration from a show I saw many months ago - the DIY Network's Wasted Spaces (search for "Sports Garage Makeover"). I went to Home Depot and bought myself some lumber and screws and away I went fixing the problem. I built three shelves hanging side by side from the back of the garage.

What I did wrong:

1. With the first shelf, I built the shelf completely before raising it up and screwing it in. This meant the shelf was heavier and had nothing to brace it while screwing it in place. Karen and I together were barely able to hold and secure it. For the 2nd and 3rd shelves I screwed the 2x4 horizontal support into the wall , then laid the particle boad shelf frame onto that while securing the hanging 2x4 supports. MUCH easier.
2. I used the wrong length 2x4 to make the first hanging support. I didn't realize this until it was fully secured. What's the saying about measuring twice, cutting once?
3. I nailed the metal braces into the ceiling joists instead of screwing them in. I should have used screws but didn't realize this until after the first two shelves were up. I'm planning to go back and add some "L" braces to the 4 hanging supports, as well as a middle support to those first two shelves with screwed-in metal braces.
4. Smashed my thumb.

So at just under $100, two days hard labor, 3 dozen bent nails, two broken drill bits, one broken Dremel cutter, and one very smashed thumb I'm pretty happy with the results.

Next garage project will be to build some additional shelves along the far wall and underneath the hanging shelves. One section will have a workbench space. I can't wait!