Creeker's Past Week's Accomplishments

[Dennis Peacock]

6 Dec 2021

Greetings,
Life is getting a bit more back to normal for me and The LOML. She has finals this coming week and I am coming off oncall duty at 8 AM on Tuesday. I'm very thankful that oncall at the new job is nothing like the previous job's oncall duty. What a relief that is! I have a few projects I need to get back to but I'm trying to sort out my motivation and my drive to get things going again. I guess we'll see how it goes. Here's to a "get back to normal" week for our household.

That's it for me, so what did YOU do this past week?

Best of weeks to you all.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I put together a quick dulcimer and completed a banjo that had been half built since September. Just routine shop stuff for me this week.

[Lisa Starr]

After messing with the WoodRat a bit this week, I've decided I'll keep it. So I moved a little bit of stuff around the shop to free up some wall space. I also completed the install of my new DC system except for an auxiliary port adapter to design and 3D print. Working towards Christmas preparations in our home, so time was a bit limited in the shop.

[Jim Becker]

Dennis, I'm glad things are moving in that direction and will suggest that perhaps working on creative things might actually be "good medicine". So get out in that shop!

Now...If I could only follow my own advise on that. Sheesh. I did a small personalization inlay cut on the CNC for a friend but otherwise, didn't do a whole lot due to, you got it...lack of motivation. We still don't have the old property sold and that's weighing big-time on our minds. Thankfully, there is once again actual showing traffic after a Turkey Day lull. Soon, I hope, 'cause I gotz plans for a lot of things that will involve both the shop and the house. I'm likely going to get my lathe moved soon since it's about time to move the tractor, too...and that has to happen at the same time to be able to load and unload the lathe from the trailer. That's the only thing left in the old shop other than the base for the drum sander which I believe I'll just store or liquidate. I also need to sell off a bunch of turning stock that I'll never get to using...I already culled out what I want. I may do that with part of the proceeds going to the local turning club. Oh, and I do need to get in the shop to cut a "charcuterie board" for our Cockatiel's holiday gift. She's a princess...

[Paul F Franklin]

I know it's a surprise, but I'm still working on my kitchen. I got tired of having to clean the snow off my car, so I took most of a day to clean out my half of the garage where I had been storing the cabinets. It took hours to break down all the cardboard, load it into the truck and take it to the recycler. The bed of the truck was full. The back seat was full. The passenger seat was full. And I didn't even unbox all the molding so there will be more cardboard. Wish there was a better way.

I finished wiring the island; had to use shallow surface mount boxes for the exterior receptacles because one side is all drawers and the other is the drawer microwave, so no clearance for a flush box. Fortunately they will be hidden under the countertop so they won't look too ugly. I ordered the knobs and pulls and they came quickly. I made a drilling jig for the knobs and got those installed; will do the pulls tomorrow. I put in a couple more pieces of temp countertop since it looks like mid-Jan before we have real counters. They come to template next week. Probably my favorite thing this week was installing a blum servo drive on the waste/recycle pullout. A light bump with the knee and it opens; really slick. We had a "wave your hand" trash can before and got used to hands free opening, so this was a welcome addition.

Now that I know when the countertop guys are coming, I have to get serious about installing the fridge panels and cabinet. I've been dragging my feet because it will be fussy, but that's next on the list after I get the pulls mounted.

We had a couple of nice(r) days so on one of them I did a final pass on the leaves and put the leaf vac away for the season. On the other nice day my wife and I put up some meager outdoor Christmas decorations; nothing fancy but it helps us get in the spirit.

On one of those nice days, my buddy took the skid steer (we co-own it) to do some work out on a rural property he owns. Mid afternoon he texted me a photo of the skid steer sitting half submerged in his pond! He had finished up the work he had and was headed to load up when the pond bank gave way and the ss slid in. Thank goodness he wasn't hurt, but it doesn't look good for the machine. I think he was going out today with another guy to use a big track hoe to pull it out so we can assess the damage.

[Jim Becker]

Paul, your skid steer should recover from the pond thing a lot easier than a car would...at least they are designed to take on tough, wet conditions. Yes, not supposed to be submerged, but at least the wiring is more accessible, etc.

[Paul F Franklin]

Paul, your skid steer should recover from the pond thing a lot easier than a car would...at least they are designed to take on tough, wet conditions. Yes, not supposed to be submerged, but at least the wiring is more accessible, etc.

I hope you're right, Jim. My buddy is worried the engine will be full of water, but from the pic it looks like the muffler and air cleaner are above the water so I think chances are good it won't be flooded. The hydraulics are completely sealed of course, except for the cap on the oil tank, but it's even higher than the muffler. Fingers crossed. Mostly I'm trying to keep my buddy off the ledge. It's just a thing. Stuff happens.