In anticipation of rain by lunch, we tried to get the headers done and some upper walls up.
Category: Daily Life
Ramblings, often stream of conscious, journaling the events of my life.
Weekend Project Day 4
I came home last night to settle into some programming and realized that the weekend was going to be wet. Wet is good for programming but bad for construction so I traded. Last night, was Day 4 of Amy’s birthday present/weekend project. Half the headers got done.
Weekend Project Day 3 – 6th Wall Secured
The 6th wall (the front door) has been cut, studded and secured. The side walls have been knocked off, moved forward a half inch, and secured.
A smack of reality
There is the way that most of us believe the world works; then there is the way it really works. Most of us believe that we live in a rules based society where minor infractions result in catastrophic consequences. The fact of the matter is that we live in a fuzzy logic society guided but good suggestions but where oversights, back scratches, and silently looking out for one another is the norm. Sometimes we fail to realize that stranger is looking out for our best interest.
Today I thought I was exchanging 34 cracked pieces of fir precut studs for 34 in better condition. As it turns out I was only returning 32 plus 2 eight foot pine boards but the paperwork said 34 boards. Exchanges are not allowed in the yard. Wood has to be returned for cash and a new purchase has to be made. Paperwork is in triplicate…twice. After exchanging the 32 boards the yardman drove me to the stack of 2×8 pine, pointed, and said, "I’ll go take care of the paperwork with the yardboss." After swapping my two pieces of pine, I walked to the shed to sign the paperwork. I’d like to blame it on the lack of coffee in my system but truth be told my brain was turned off and I had a naive moment as I uttered, "what about the two pieces of pine." The yardboss glared at the yardman, questioned him, and like a scene from Brazil begin pounding on keys and muttering at her computer. I signed here, there and there again. As the yardman and I walked away from the shed, I apologized and he was good humored about it but I think he probably muttered at me as I left.
The Little Miss Project
Amy had but one wish for her birthday…a clubhouse. And she received basically one present…a pile of lumber for a clubhouse. We are building The Little Miss by WoodManor.net. Below are the timelapse videos of the first two days of work. I cannot give you these 20 minutes of your life back. The audio at the beginning of the 2nd video corrects rather quickly. The best parts of each video are the last two minutes so skip to minute 6 on the first video and minute 10 on the second.
The Little Miss Project
Yesterday of a 27 step plan, we completed steps 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Weekend Project
You can see the beginnings of the front porch and the front door.
Weekend Project – Footers
Weekend Project – Foundation
From last night’s receiving
Them: "When I was a child, I drove a mini-bike into your house."
Me: "Oh, so that’s why I have foundation problems!"
Someone else: "I lived in your house for 6 months."
Another person: "We once drove a car into the sinkhole in the creek."
My house has a colorful history.
This weekend’s project
Happy Birthday Amy!
What an amazing eight years!
Making a girl’s 8th birthday wish come true
Amy has her mind set on a club house for her 8th birthday (tomorrow!).
The Fantasy
On Saturday morning, Ty Pennington and his crew from Extreme Makeover Home Edition show up with a bobcat and the materials to build The Queen Anne or the Spoiler. By Saturday evening, a portion of the yard has been contoured, landscaped and become home to Amy’s new playhouse in which we celebrate her birthday inside.
The Reality
Saturday I build the Little Miss by myself leaving landscaping for a different weekendlifetime. Sunday afternoon, we celebrate Amy’s birthday inside and around her clubhouse.
Cathy’s fear
The construction will be delayed and problematic and Amy will go without any semblance of a birthday present until the end of the summer or worse.
The Wishful Desire
Any volunteers want to grab hammers and shovels and help me put this together in one day on this coming Saturday? Does beer and pizza still work in exchange for labor?
And you can bet there will be a timelapse of the build.
Of Being Dad
File this under things that make me twitch.
Tommy, in a phone call to me: "By the way, my laptop hasn’t worked for the past week and a half or so. Says something about no bootable media."
Me: "Did you install anything recently or drop it?"
Tommy: "No but there are two screws missing on the bottom."
Of Being Dad
File this under things that make me twitch.
Tommy, in a phone call to me: "By the way, my laptop hasn’t worked for the past week and a half or so. Says something about no bootable media."
Me: "Did you install anything recently or drop it?"
Tommy: "No but there are two screws missing on the bottom."
