Grugger’s Way

It’s NEVER too late to “Get Crafty.”

As I relax a little more and get used to being “retired,” I begin to seek out new forms of expression.  This blog is one form, of course, but I also have newly-found enjoyment in tinkering around the house as a “Mr. Fixit Man” and have also begun to spruce up the yard and house and find that to be very satisfying.

Out in the garage I have begun the process of insulation and dry wall that will eventually make that space more comfortable for the dogs when we have to leave them alone during the winter.   I made them a “dog bed” that fits within their fenced enclosure in the garage.  It is made out of a four by eight foot sheet of plywood with carpeting on top.  Under the plywood I placed insulating foam “blue board” which is two inches thick and will keep the cold concrete from penetrating to the surface.  The entire contraption is framed by 2×4’s and that not only holds it all together, but it prevents the dogs from chewing on the insulation.  The carpeting is held in place with quarter-round moulding all around, thus preventing the carpet edge from unraveling or giving the dogs something to rip apart.

I am thinking of trying to build some birdhouses next.  That is something that I remember seeing older guys doing, so I am going to find out if it is really satisfying (or not).  My Grandfather was a big birdhouse builder out in North Dakota. Not only was his yard full of birdhouses, but he had them hanging all over his workshop.  I think he got a little carried away with his hobby.  I could see myself doing the same thing, as I do with most projects. Perhaps I ought to just build planters.

And I notice that it always seems to take me at least TWICE as long to complete a project as I estimate.  Perhaps that has something to do with becoming “retired.”

I am going to hold off on putting a “total” number with the names of places I would like to see; so this post is not entitled “Top Ten” anything.

There are many famous landmarks around the world that I HAVE seen, and the experiences were usually wonderful.  I am kind of a geography/history/architecture/archeaology/el corrida afficionado, so landmarks, “wonders” of the World, and such are big in my mind.

First of all I want to see Wrigley Field.   Okay, so it may not be a “wonder” of the world, but who knows how long it will stand?  For that matter, who knows how long I might stand?  In all probabability, Wrigley Field will be here (there–Chicago) way after I am gone from this world.  But then, that is what I always thought about Yankee Stadium too, and know I’ve had to just scratch that off my list!  Fenway Park is another landmark that I MUST see.  Since Boston is on my main list for Many Many reasons, Fenway Park is a good possibility…so long as they don’t demolish it for some brand new, chrome-y, stainless steely, concretee edifice that lacks all memory of Carlton Fisk, or Jim Rice (by the way, congratulations to Jim on Hall of Fame this year).

Before this gets all out of whack–sizeways. Here is my list.  I won’t add a lot of comment because…well, who cares WHY I want to see something before I die?  This is just a list that you might find interesting and consider for your own “bucket” list, so to speak.

• The Great Pyramid and the Sphinx
• Morocco
• Ghana
• New York and the Empire State Building
• Great Britain, London, Dublin, Glasgow
• The Fjords and Oslo Norway
• Paris and Eiffel Tower
• Castles in Romania, Austria and Germany
• The Matterhorn, Geneva and Zurich
• Copenhagen Denmark
• Hearst Castle (California)
• Boston and Fenway Park
• Chicago and Wrigley Field
• Disney World and Epcot

So that you don’t think I have left off some of the great places, I will mention that I have been to the French Riviera, Rome, Barcelona, Valencia, Malta, Athens, Crete, Tokyo, Nagasaki, Manila, Perth, Australia, Mexico, Hawaii, Seattle, New Orleans, San Antonio, Dallas, El Paso, Corpus Christi, Omaha, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Rapid City (Mt Rushmore), Pensacola, St. Augustine and Daytona, Myrtle Beach, Kitty Hawk, Virginia Beach, Philadelphia and Washington DC and points in between.

I’ve become quite the “Tool man” in my early retirement.

I am always on the lookout for new hand tools to augment my toolbox or replace stuff that is really old or outdated.  I have found that most hand tools never wear out.  I don’t know if that is because, for the most part, they don’t get much use, or if hand tools are really manufactured to “last a lifetime” as many come with that “lifetime” guarantee. It is pretty hard to destroy something made out of steel.

So far I have avoided buying tools at garage sales and second hand stores.  I have about fifty screwdrivers...a lot of them are the same size, and with an assortment in each tool bag, I still have a lot left over.   I keep tool bags in the pickup, in the van, in the motor home, in the garage, in the house.  Yes, I know…overkill.

Recently my wife’s stepfather passed away and he was a “hoarder” and a handyman, so….I picked up a couple of tool boxes full of stuff from his garage.  Lots of wrenches…to match my screwdriver collection.

The other day I saw a couple of new things:  a chisel that was also a flat rasp on one side and a curved rasp on the other side. (click on all images to open larger photos)

I also liked the little hand-held saw that came with three interchangeable blades: wood, hack-saw, and a flat blade (for cutting something off smooth to a flat surface).

I just had to add these to my toolbox.

I also picked up a thirteen-piece spade bit collection.  I never seem to have the correct size blade…and now I have every size in sixteenths of an inch.

And finally, here is a photo of a tool that city-folks rarely have:  it is a draw knife. We folks here in the mountains use it to remove bark from a log.  I never had one until my son wanted me to help him build a baby crib out of logs.  That is another story: it still is under construction.

Good God, if we really ever go to the metric system I will need a new–everything!

My Son’s Project, a Log Baby Crib for his newborn daughter, has been under construction for the past FOUR months. It languishes in the garage, precariously balanced, with all the rails and uprights stripped of bark, sanded down, and cut to approximate length.  (click to enlarge photos)

He and I agree: if we had ANY IDEA of how many HOURS this project would take, we would never have begun.  We made THREE trips into the forest just to cut downed timber into the pieces we thought we needed.  (Thankfully, I live about ten minutes from the national forest.) Back home, after stripping the bark, we would find less than acceptable wood.  (These are all Ponderosa pine.)  Even when we thought we had good timber and went ahead and sanded it, the drying out process resulted in some HUGE splits and cracks.  Some we just gave up and went back into the woods for more; others we decided to patch with wood filler and then sand again.  We think these pieces LOOK okay right now, but how the patched cracks will look when the clear polyurethane is applied is anyone’s guess.

So…our problem right now is that the baby, Haley Mae, has been born (over six weeks ago) and will soon need a crib, and we are still MANY hours away from having a finished product.  We are both a little timid about making the final cuts and drilling the holes. (Okay, I am timid and my son is busy with his newborn).   We have marked where we think we should drill for the tenons but if we make a mistake and put the side rails too far apart, the vertical “upright” pieces will be too short and BACK INTO THE WOODS WE GO!   NO!

I estimate that my son has about 30 hours into this project and I have over 100 hours!  (The crib project is in MY garage and the forest is by MY house. He works full-time and I am “retired.”)

I wanted to classify this as a “retiree” project, but as a retiree I can tell you that there will not be projects of this size and complexity until I don’t have so many other “retiree” things to take care of around the house.  (You can look back at my previous posts on the yard, the deck, etc.)

Grandchildren are great; and the next several will all be able to use this wonderful log crib; or, I will happily purchase an acceptable substitute from Target or Wal-Mart.