I’ve been working on two projects. The desk is coming along, but the pile of plywood doesn’t make for a very interesting picture so here is a view of the SketchUp drawing of it:
more of a desk/bookcase thing.
Hopefully over the long weekend I’ll get enough parts assembled for a nice photo.
and the other project?
Well, the laundry room really needs new cabinets – especially since I removed the old ones this weekend. More on that later.
If you need me – I’ll be in the shop,
Andrew
Heather and I often watch reruns of Lawrence Welk shows. It’s a reminder of older days and the music that was one part of my childhood. From time to I’ll hear a song that I once played on the piano or sung in the choir. This weekend the country singer, Clay Hart, sung, “The Streets of Laredo,” also known as “The Cowboy’s Lament.”
Here’s an early version from Hart:
This is a traditional western ballad and has many versions.
This line in the refrain is haunting: “Bang the drum slowly and play the fife lowly.”
Perhaps a more famous version would be Marty Robbins:
There are many other versions as it seems like every country singer at that time had a version of this song.
Being reminded of this song came on the same day of the news of John McCain’s death, which made me thing of the song Sgt. MacKenzie. This song was used at great effect for the last battle scene in the Vietnam movie, “We Where Soldiers.” This song was written in WWI, but its power is still there. Here’s my current favorite version of this song:
Perhaps I might borrow lyrics from both songs say this at the news of Captain McCain’s death:
“Bang the drum slow, and play the fife lowly for never more shall he see the sun.”
May all our combat veterans receive the honor and respect they deserve.
Peace,
Andrew
Here’s a story my father use to tell:
There once was a jeweler who went to visit an accountant. The accountant examined the books, bank statements and say, “You’ve done very well for your self, what’s the key to your success?”
“I only take a four percent margin on the jewelry I sell,” said the jeweler.
“Four percent? That doesn’t make sense, you couldn’t have gotten this rich on just four percent. How did you figure four percent,” replied the accountant.
“It’s easy. I buy for one dollar and sell for five dollars and am happy with my four percent.”
Last weekend I bought the materials for my new desk and bookcases for the office. My shop is a small space – about 12 x 10 feet and too small to put large pieces on the table saw so the whole operation got moved to the driveway:
The driveway workshop
On the cut list were these four full sheets of oak plywood:
Yes, I cheated and used wheels to move the 90 pound sheets.
Also on the list where three 10 foot long solid oak boards:
That’s the board I dropped on my foot. The board is fine – my foot is still healing.
After a couple of hours of cutting and tweaking my back I ended up with these rough cut pieces:
That’s a lot of wood, but the smaller pieces are easier to lift.
And left a large pile of sawdust to clean up:
Hard to see in the picture, but the sawdust pile took a full garbage bag to haul away.
That’s it for this week. Next step is to start cutting pieces to length and running the solid pieces through the jointer and plainer.
If you need me – I’ll be in the shop,
Andrew
Andrew's View of the Week 