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.

A Few Quick Notes 351

-After a rainfall approaching biblical proportions yesterday, I was quite surprised to wake up to find that today was almost perfect.

-After what seemed to be about two weeks, but must have only been three or four days, I finally finished off the batch of beans I made after Neil and Rebecca's departure. I guess the question now is whether I make another batch for the next few days or try to diversify my diet slightly.

-Moments ago I emailed my MA thesis to my supervisor and the other two professors who will be reading it. It is a strange feeling. It is possible that I may have to give a presentation on the topic on either Thursday or Friday, though this has not yet been scheduled, though I imagine I will hear about this shortly.

-Still no word from the Vegas vacationers. At this point I am starting to think that they are actively avoiding communicating with us as they don't seem to be reading the blog, emailing, or phoning. Jeez, if I don't hear anything soon I may have to start looking for people to sublet their room.

-Yesterday I went to one of the local Chinese grocery stores and purchased a 1.5 Kg bag of instant noodles (kind of like ramen but without the flavouring packets). Once I got the noodles home I took a look at the nutritional information and ingredients. While only three ingredients are listed (flour, salt, curcumin) the nutritional information seems to suggest that for every 100 grams of noodles contains over 20 grams of fat, 75 grams of carbohydrates, and almost 10 grams of protein. Though I don't know much about these things, something seems a little off with this information (and the list of ingredients).

-For the past few days I have been on the look out for some wood with which I hope to make a plant shelf for my window. Given that we are in the move-out portion of the month I decided to go for a quick walk this afternoon to see if I could find any discarded shelves or other furniture from which I could salvage some wood. While I did see a number of piles of crap left behind by people who had moved out, I didn't see any wood that matched the dimensions I was looking for. When I was about a block away from home I noticed that there was a old election sign with a wooden post lying in the ground. Though this was a little dirty and wet, I was able to separate the plastic from the wood relatively easily.

While I was taking the plastic sign components off I accidently broke the piece of wood. At first I was a little frustrated, but eventually I saw that the break actually gave me an easy way to improve my design and allow for some taller plants on the windowsill. As I need a little more hardware I wasn't able to complete the project tonight, though I hope to have a beta version by tomorrow.

-For those of you in Halifax, and the South End specifically, it seems that the Sobeys on Queen Street will once again be offering its 10% student discount on Tuesdays this year and is now open until 8:00 PM on Sundays. These items are both great news as far as I am concerned.

-Because of yesterday's heavy rainfall an Ultimate game that I was supposed to play today was cancelled. While I am normally quite keen to play, this cancellation worked out quite nicely as I was then able to stay at home and put in a few more hours on my thesis. I presume that that is it for our season, but I really don't know.

A Few Quick Notes 181

-Today has been another sub-par day with overcast skies and occasional periods of rain. Fortunately, things weren't too windy or too cold. Hopefully this type of weather will either bring the capelin or come to an end, either option being relatively acceptable at this point.

-The banana bread I made yesterday turned out pretty well. I modified, by adding chocolate chips, a recipe handed down to my mother from my grandmother. I think that I will likely try to make the recipe again, but in future attempts I might add both nuts and chocolate chips.

-Earlier today I had a very odd head related experience. Each time I chewed I felt as though there was an echo in my head. Tapping on the right side of my head lead to the same experience. Fortunately, through the power of sleep I was able to rid myself of the problem and get myself back to just a normal headache situation. Though more painful, the second phase of the condition was much less disconcerting.

-For dinner tonight I had boiled carrots, green beans, lamb chops, and a quick bread. For desert, while my family was having bananas foster, I had a fairly large helping of carrot sticks.

-While cleaning the basement yesterday we came across some old hard-wood flooring that we didn't have any plans for. I suggested that we give it to Jeff, a friend of mine who works in the world of wood and wood products.

This evening Jeff came over to pick up the wood, along with two faucets. This was great because it allowed us to clear up a section of the basement while giving something useful to someone that can actually use it.

-My own bedroom cleaning program seems to have stalled. While I was able to make some progress a few weeks ago I haven't managed to finish the job. Maybe I should try and put away my papers from Montreal, something that would at least be a step in the right direction. Also, removing the things I plan on giving away (along with the empty beer bottles) would also be a good next step.

I kind of feel that if I am able to clear some of these things out I might be able to install, for the remainder of the summer, a stereo system that is presently stored in the basement (though this would be somewhat unnecessary and would take up all of the space that I gained through my cleaning).

-I am definitely beginning to get nervous about my transition to Dal in the fall. I really hoped that I would have done more preparatory reading by now. Also, I really need to contact my prospective supervisor about reading and course selection. Maybe I will develop enough fear by the end of the week to allow me to move forward on this front.