I've Been Benched

A few weeks ago Jeannette gave me an ultimatum: learn to knit or build a cat tree.

After a few minutes of trying to knit I decided I'd rather round up our scrap wood and build a cat tree.

A few hours later I walked away from a moderately satisfactory cat tree, or at least I thought so.  The cats only seem inclined to use it when we're also in the room with them, something that suggests that it's not really as attractive a play thing for cats as I'd hoped.

Even if the cat tree was as successful at distracting the cats as I'd hoped, I think it was successful in another area - it re-ignited my interested in making wood products of questionable quality.  So while I'm not knitting, Jeannette's ultimatum was successful in that it got me interested in making thing (which was really all she wanted).

After the cat tree process I began to realize that not having a stool to use at my work bench was a little frustrating.  Over the next few weeks I began to think about various commercially produced stools that are available at some of the local stores.  Of course, as I don't expect to use this stool all that much I wasn't interested in paying all that much.

Then, I think it was last Thursday (it could have been last Tuesday or the Thursday before that), I realized that we probably had enough wood left over from the cat tree scraps (which, as you'll recall, were themselves scraps) to fashion a quick stool, or at least something approximating a stool.

Almost as soon as Jeannette was out the door and on her way to band practice I got down to work on my stool.

Within maybe an hour or so I was done.

While I was relatively happy with my quickly conceived and constructed stool I was also aware that it wasn't the world's best stool.

Almost as soon as Jeannette returned from band practice she was shown my new stool.

Almost immediately Jeannette noted the stool's relatively unstable nature.  That both of Jeannette's feet are off the ground when she sits on the stool make this feature particularly problematic.

Of course, even before Jeannette was kind enough to point out my stool's various faults, I was somewhat aware that it was a less than ideal stool.  Hell, I even know that it was a touch 'tippy' if the user wasn't careful.

Almost as soon as I received this criticism I began to formulate plans for a bench that would be anything but unstable.  If the Titantic was to be unsinkable, than this bench was to be untippable.

To achieve this untippable nature, I decided to use an A-frame base that would be quite wide, much wider than the bench's seating area.  Of course this A-frame would then be braced in various ways to ensure stability and, most importantly, untippableness.

Of course, as easy as the a-frame concept was to devise, how I might attach a bench-like sitting area to an A-frame base wasn't immediately obvious to me.

I eventually settled on chopping off the top of the A-frame off and then just using a bunch of long screws to attach the sitting area to the base.

Once I'd designed the bench in my head (an approach to design that does not require one to take measurements or really even plan for likely problems) I had to convince Jeannette that buying wood and tools for this project was worthwhile.

Fortunately, Jeannette was relatively easy to convince and last Saturday after picking up about 90% of the necessary supplies I set about working on my bench.

Much to my surprise it started to come together quite quickly and easily.

By the end of the first day I'd cut all but two pieces (the 10% of the supplies I didn't have).  On Sunday I cut the final two pieces and began to assemble the base - which also came together quite quickly.

On Tuesday evening I started assembling the sitting area.  Unfortunately, relatively early on in the process I managed to snap a drill bit and basically bring the night's work to a screeching halt.

Finally, after getting a new drill bit yesterday after work, I was able to complete the assembly of the bench.

Unfortunately, this bench is also a little high for Jeannette (maybe one of the drawbacks of an all mental design process?) but just as sturdy and tip-proof as I'd hoped.

I've been doing a little sanding tonight and eventually we'll but some kind of finish on it and then we'll call it a day.  Jeannette's even hoping that by next weekend things will be warm enough outside that we'll be about to use on our patio.

Anyway, if you ever happen to come over please feel free not to test the untippableness of this bench.  As we all know, the power of hubris brought icebergs into the Titanic's path and I'm hoping to avoid a similar tipping related fate for this bench and those who might be sitting upon it at that ill-fated moment.

Due to popular demand

Jeannette was a bit surprised that I didn't include a photo of our fancy new table in the last post.  To make up for my omission here's a photo of the table.

For better or worse (but probably worse) the table's base is a fair bit smaller than the table's surface.  Thus if one leans on the table they may end up toppling the items on the table into their lap.  Good thing we don't have too much stemmed glassware.

Isn't life exciting?

On Wednesday afternoon I received a call informing me that my recently ordered table was ready to be picked up on Thursday.  Much to my surprise, despite the fact that the store is closing and the table was suspiciously cheap, the call about the table's availability came right on time.

At about the same time I also received a call informing me the used 2000 Toyota Echo that Jeannette arranged to buy would also be available on Thursday.

Talk about synergy.

Now we could use the car to pick up the table, or at least that was the plan that was rapidly forming in my head.

On Thursday we bussed out to the car pick-up site and were back on the road within minutes.  Not surprisingly, our destination was the table pick-up site.  Of course, because it's construction season and because the loading dock is tucked away beneath a bridge getting to the pick-up point (even though it's only about 3 blocks from our apartment) took the better part of a half an hour.  Then, once we were finally on site, we found that the table was too wide to fit in either the back seat or the trunk.

So before we were back to the original table pick up plan - my hand-truck.

Of course the loading dock guys were amused to see that after the failed car-based load I came back with an even smaller means of conveyance.  Anyway, even if it looked a little funny, I made it back to the apartment with the table on the hand-truck in much less time than I spent driving around in circles trying to find the right one-way access point to the loading dock.

(I guess I somehow managed to spend more time and effort on the table pick up than I did on the new car details.  It's nice to know that even with the acquisition of a new vehicle I'm still not car (R)obsessed.)

A table in three prices

Today, while on our way back from lunch, Jeannette and I decided to visit a local department store so that we could peruse the store's going out of business bargains (which were recently bumped up to up to 40% off).

After taking a quick look at the clothing and kitchen departments Jeannette reminded me that we should head to the furniture department we've been thinking about looking for a new dining table.  And wouldn't it be nice if we could get such a table at a deep discount?

Almost as soon as we arrived in the furniture department we realized that the store only had about four tables to chose from, and most were too large for our apartment.  So it didn't take us to long to focus our attention on a round 48 inch diameter solid-wood table that should actually fit in our apartment.

According to a price sheet on the table the table was $349, though we were expecting that there would be at least a 30% discount.

When we finally tracked down a non-furniture department employee (the only employee handy) he suggested that he would try to make sure to order us a table rather than sell us the floor model.  While we were both excited to buy a non-floor model table, the idea of ordering something in seemed a little strange considering that the store is in the midst of closing and they are very actively trying to sell their remaining stock.  So despite the absurdity of the proposition we decided to just go with the employee's suggestion.

Things became even stranger when we saw that instead of being applied to the price indicated ($349), the 30% discount was being applied to $189 (we still don't know where this price came from).

So instead of paying $349 - 30% for a floor model, the store (despite the fact that they're closing) is ordering us a brand new table at more then 60% off of the original price.  Maybe this kind of special math is why they're closing?

And to make things even more bizarre, when I came home I went online to find a listing for the table on the store's website and learned that online it's going for $319.

It's moments like these when I am quite happy to accept the mysterious ways in which the world works.

Big changes

About 10 days ago I moved to Ottawa, joining Jeannette about two months into her residency here.  The day after I arrived we moved into our new apartment.  One of the great things about our apartment is that we are only a short walk away from Parliament.

While it was definitely a bit of a bummer to leave Wolfville, I have been enjoying my time in Ottawa.  In addition to getting a rush each time I catch a glimpse of the peace tower flag there are a number of other cool things here that are pretty neat (though we haven't found the time to do too many of them yet).

Instead of focusing touristy stuff I've been trying to get a sense of the neighbourhood (and the fact that the weather's been horrible hasn't made the idea of touring very appealing).  Today while I was walking to a prospective laundry site I noticed several piles of move-out related garbage.

One caught my eye as it seemed to have an Ikea table similar to tables I've had in Montreal and Wolfville.  Upon closer inspection I learned that not only was the table similar to the tables I've had, but that there was also an unopened Ikea table in the pile.  Apparently the former owner bought the table and didn't even ever get around to taking the five minutes required to assemble it.  Wow.

Had I not been on my way somewhere I should have made sure that this unopened table was pulled out and visible so that someone could pick it up.  It seems an awful was to buy a table and then throw it away without ever even so much as opening it.

Making a Wooden Futon Frame

A few weeks ago I looked at my friend Peter's wooden futon frame and observed that the design was really quite simple. Actually, the design seemed so simple it seemed like something that I might be able to replicate with relative ease and only a few tools.

Of course as I haven't made much furniture my claim that I would be able to easily make a wooden futon frame was met with some hesitation and suspicion. Even my pricing of lumber and buying a mitre box and saw didn't seem to allay fears that at best this project would end with a pile of partially used lumber and stripped screws.

Through all of this doubt I remained firmly committed to the idea and confident of my abilities, even though I haven't done much woodworking since my Home Maintenance class in high school.

On Tuesday I finally got around to picking up the required materials: 3 2x4s, 8 1x4s, 1 1x2s, 50 screws, and 6 nut/bolt/washer sets.

That afternoon I laid things out as best I could without cutting any of the wood and did my best to picture how the item would come together. Without much hesitation I then started working on the project by cutting the 2x4s down to size and then drilling holes in them to allow me to use the nut/bolt/washer combos to create hinge effects.

The next major step was to attach the 1x4s to the 2x4 sections to create the areas on which the pad was to rest. As expected, this all went quite well.

Of course, as I didn't make any plans or take any measurements from Peter's futon I did eventually run up against a problem when I found that some of the 2x4 sections were to long to allow the frame to lie flat on the ground when in the bed position. To fix the problem I had to remove the 2x4s from the 1x4s and cut them before re-attaching them. (Considering that I didn't have any plans or specs I was pretty pleased that this relatively minor and easily rectified problem was the only real problem that I encountered.)

Once the fram was constructed I attached sections of 1x2 the 2x4s to hold the back of the frame in the couch position. The next, and last, step was to cut wedges in some of the 2x4s to act as resting places for the previously mentioned 1x2s so that the couch position could be maintained. And even though I had to make the cuts freehand they turned out remarkably similar to one another.

Anyway, feel free to check out the time-lapse video of the event. As you can see, the frame is really quite simple and easy to construct.



[Embedded video]

In case you are curious, it does feel pretty great to have made a functional piece of furniture. I presume this sense of accomplishment is similar to what knitters or sewers feel when they make a wearable piece of clothing from materials that originally seem completely unlike anything even remotely resembling clothing.

The only the the futon is still missing is a proper pad, though a fully functional/comfortable arrangement has been rigged up with a thing foam mattress and a think memory foam mattres pad.

A Few Quick Notes 347

-Today (Friday) was another scorcher, though maybe not as bad as some of the 30 plus days of early this week. Actually, if one managed to stay out of the direct sun and find some of the breeze things weren't too bad. As the day has made its routine transition to night things have become a little moister. Given that the breeze has died this means relatively unpleasant/humid conditions.

-As bad as the weather has been for the past few days it seems ready to get a little worse. Hurricane Bill appears to be heading towards the south coast of Nova Scotia, which obviously includes Halifax with it. The National Hurricane Center seems to be suggesting that the storm will hit sometime on Sunday and then move on to Cape Breton by Sunday evening.



(Source: National Hurricane Centre. Hurricane Bill)

-Dalhousie was kind enough to send me an email with suggestions about how to prepare for an event. Though we aren't particularly worried about the storm nailing us to heavily we have taken a few precautions. We made sure to head to the NSLC to pick up some beer before there is a run on it tomorrow afternoon. Additionally, we have thought about how we will go about storing water in the off chance we lose power and water. Fortunately, just a few days ago we purchased 24 litres of carbonated water, which should put us in a good place for drinking water if we manage to lose power. Aside from food, which we would be buying anyway, the only additional purchase we might make is a little more propane, just incase we lose power and are forced to use our grill for a few days.

As of yet we haven't decided whether we will try to live blog the hurricane or not, if we do it should be pretty obvious that we are, and if not, it should be pretty obvious that we aren't. Anyway, the only confusion might come if we are trying to live blog the hurricane but then manage to lose power and internet part way through. If we aren't live blogging the storm and are curious about power outages and whatnot, you may want to check out Nova Scotia Power's live outage map (which is of little use if you lose power).

-This afternoon, after Neil and Rebecca did some preliminary scouting, Neil and I went to a soon-to-be-closing bookstore and purchased a used table for $20 and used cooler for $10. The table is about as wide as our current dining room table, but about an inch and a half shorter. It is the same height as our card table, but about 2 inches narrower.

The table and cooler are presently in the living room. We have put our big plant on top of the table and then placed our junk pile (including the cooler) underneath. My suggestion was that we get some fabric and drape it around the table to hide the stuff we are hiding underneath, though as of right now we have no plans to go fabric shopping.



-We had some rather tasty roast beef for dinner last night. Tonight we had pinwheels. Sadly, such beef rich meals may be a thing of the past for me as it is possible that I may have to go on a reduced beef diet in the near future in an attempt to reduce the frequency with which I form kidney stones.

-In yesterday's post I linked to the Google Voice blog. It seems that they have a feature that shows who has linked to particular posts below the individual posts. Subsequently, as a consequence of my linking to one of their posts, we had a strange surge of traffic based on people following their link to my post which occurred because I linked to their post. Seems like a bit of a quid pro quo arrangement to create internet traffic circles and improve everybody's PageRank.

I can now get down to work

Today, after all most two and a half months, I finally put acquired a key piece of furniture: a filing cabinet. This new acquisition should allow me to both organize my documents and get down to work. Within minutes I had my files in place and was beginning to feel better about life.

The wait has been far too long and led to too many sleepless nights.

A Few Quick Notes 224

-Today, like the past few days, has been quite nice. The sky is clear and the wind relatively low. The temperature, though it has dropped since I first arrived, is still quite pleasant, particularly if one is walking. Unfortunately, it seems that rain has been forecast for this weekend (at least I don't have to go walk to school on either of these days).

-Thinking of school, it has really been keeping me busy the past few days. Actually, to a large extent, the large quantity of reading and writing which I have been expected to do has been keeping me away from recreational activities (including blogging).

The notable exception to this trend was a trip to Yuk Yuk's that Neil, Rebecca, and I took last night. We decided to head back to see Kyle Radke, a comedian we saw on our first trip there a few weeks ago.

Just like on our previous visit, the evening was hosted by a local comedian who did some performing before each of the acts. The first two acts of the evening were from Halifax while the third was from New Brunswick. I think that all three of us weren't as impressed with the third act of the night, but that may just have been because he was quite clearly targeting his jokes to the middle-aged members of the audience.

As was the case on our first visit, all three of us really enjoyed Kyle Radke's performance. While there was some duplication of material (as one would expect) the show was consistently funny and entertaining. The material we hadn't heard before was great and was interspersed with some of the stuff we had heard, giving it a new context so that it didn't feel stale.

-I finally got around to baking some bread today. Unfortunately, my batch wasn't quite as large as I had hoped it would be. Some how I ended up with only three loaves, instead of my intended four. The bread is also not quite as sweet as usual, though that is mainly because I didn't put as much sugar as usual.

-Our neighbours, one of whom is also a political science student, will soon be moving out of their apartment. In preparation for the move the started to sell some of their belongings a few weeks ago. Neil and I took the opportunity to buy a few things, including a pair of end tables, some wine glasses, and a bookshelf. We were able to take possession of most of the item immediately, but we had to wait on the bookshelf as it was filled with books (this wasn't a particular problem as we didn't have an immediate need for the bookshelf).

Today we finally took possession of the bookshelf. Now that I have the item I really don't know where it will go. I guess I originally intended it go to in my room, but now I am not sure if I really need another piece of furniture, particularly one that is so large. Anyway, I guess I will have to figure something out sooner rather than later as I can't leave it in the middle of my bedroom for much longer.

A Few Quick Notes 221

-While today has been overcast the rain that I was expecting seems not to have arrived. In many ways I wouldn't really have minded rain as I haven't really gone outside much and I don't plan on doing so.

-Yesterday while Neil, Rebecca, I were at the local farmer's market I was able to buy some onions and celery and a bay tree. The tree, if it manages to survive the winter, should eventually provide me with more bay leaves then I can possibly use. Neil's major purchase was a bottle of Glen Breton, a locally produced single malt whiskey. Neil has been following this company and their products since he heard about the problems they ran into when they tried to call their product a 'scotch.'

-I have spent substantial portions of today and yesterday reading. If things go as planned this evening this trend will continue. Actually, some of my effort may have to be moved over to writing as well as acquiring electronic versions of articles.

Presumably tomorrow will be quite similar to today.

-This morning I made a loaf of banana bread. While I wasn't able to use the recipe I used in the past I was pleased with the results. Neil and I both found that the resulting loaf, while less dense than normal, had a pretty typical banana flavour.

-Moments ago I learned that both of the nearby grocery stores close by 6:00 PM on Sundays. I wish I had known this a little earlier in the day as I would have then been able to head out to buy some food for dinner. As it stands now I will be forced to either sink to eating leftovers or to throw something together based on the odds and ends that are presently available to me.

-We now have a new chair in our living room. The new chair is a deep red upholstered 'tub chair.' So far all three of us are quite pleased with the purchase, particularly that it seems to work quite nicely with our recently acquired ottoman.

A Few Quick Notes 190

-Today, like yesterday, is not as nice a day as I would have liked. Instead of having sun and clear skies we are back to fog and rain. This deterioration in physical beauty seems to have caused the temperatures to have dropped by about 10 degrees, presumably just because mother nature likes to kick people when they are down.

-At some point yesterday afternoon I decided to bake some bread. When I eventually got around to rounding up the necessary ingredients I found out that I was going to be a little short on the fats side of things.

Fortunately a quick trip to the store put me back on track (and also reminded me that we were short on oats).

As I started collecting the flours and grains I learned that we had some kind of multi grain flour. As I had never seen this used before I thought that I would give it a try and see how it worked. One noticeable difference is that the bread has more visible grains than before (even though I have tended to use many non-flour ingredients).

Eventually we ended up with 8 grainy loaves. Unfortunately, as is commonly the case, I had no interest in tasting the bread once it came out of the oven. Luckily, my father was able to taste the bread and seems to have given it a basing grade.

-Yesterday evening I received an email that suggested that I wasn't fully/properly registered for my ultimate team this summer. While this may be the case (though I did complete the online registration) they seem to have received my money and also placed my name on the team list. I am not sure how these two things occurred without my full-fledged registration.

-It seems that we are either entering wedding or now completely in the middle of wedding season. My parents will be attending a wedding this afternoon while I have one to attend in a few weeks. It seems that I know of at least one or two other couples who will also be getting married this summer.

What I don't quite understand is why so many of my acquaintances are getting married this particular summer, and why I haven't experience so many weddings in past summers. On the other hand, this could just be the beginning of a multi-year trend among members of my peer group (as we are entering the marrying age).

-My laptop is painfully slow.

-Last weekend I was able to remove a bookcase from the area between my desk and my bed. My room now feels much more open. What I am now wondering is why I didn't work on this issue as early as last summer (when the bookcase mysteriously appeared in my room).

-As usual, this morning I made my way over to Georgetown bakery to buy a dozen bagels. Unlike recent trips, I was not accompanied by my sister, who is at Guide camp. Though her absence meant that I had to do everything myself I would still classify the trip as a success.