209 and giant Jenga

Over the summer I made two goals to make by my birthday. One was for me to be able to squat 200lbs and the second was for me to weigh 200lbs or less. The first was achieved by mid September, since then I have hit 225lbs squats and will continue to improve. My birthday was this past Sunday and I came close but didn't make my mark, I'm down to 209lbs. I'm not upset with failing at my goal, I just need to look at what I can improve on so that I can one day hit my goal and beyond.

With my birthday being this past weekend I had a small get together at my house. Bonfire and in the carport I had a game of giant Jenga set up. I made the blocks and stand out of scrap 2x4's and 2x6's. The blocks were planed down on their faces so all the blocks were equal thickness and width. Everyone had a blast playing, I'm glad that I spent the time making it.

The old man

The old man shuffles out of his bedroom and finds his house once again empty. His companions talked the night before and agreed to leave early that morning to get a head start and move on. The group of men, women, and a couple of children all had lived with the old man since it happened, since the world went to ruin. The old man was now, for the first time in a couple years, alone.

He made himself a simple breakfast, his thoughts wonder to what was discussed the night before. How the supply runs brought back less and less, that there had to be something better out there. He ate slowly, continue to wonder why he didn't just along with his companions. Going with them would have been a better choice, why did he had to be so stubborn and stay behind. Finishing breakfast he began to clean his dishes and put everything away. He made up his mind, rather he changed his mind, he started to gather things from around the house.

First the bathroom; grabbing the toilet paper, soap, and his hygiene kit. In the kitchen he removed the freshly cleaned dishes, food stocks, and several more items. He went room to room only taking what was necessary to take with him. Everything was organized and boxed up to be packed into the jeep he had parked outside. With the small utility trailer there was only so much he could take. He finished loading the trailer and threw a tarp over it, tying it down securely. He secured two fuel cans to the front of the trailer and one more to the rear of the jeep. Once he was satisfied that he got everything he climbed into the vehicle and looked at the house one last time. He headed down the drive and onto the deserted highway in the direction his companions went.

The five of us

The five of us were in my living room; me, her, and three guys in uniform. They were not police officers nor were they soldiers, but they were heavily armed. Each had a M-4 or an AK47,  a sidearm, and even a large knife. Their uniforms were mostly black with dark brown pants. They wore ball caps and the two older guys had scruffy beards. They had to be hired mercenaries but that didn't explain why they stormed into my home and had me and her detained in the living room floor. The youngest had pulled the couch away from the wall and was behind it, as if he was searching for something. The other two was just standing there in the doorway to the kitchen. They had their weapons drawn on us but had got confident that they had the upper hand and slightly lowered their guard. The phone rang in the other room distracting the two standing, giving me a small window of opportunity. I kicked the coffee table making a pistol fall from a hidden compartment. Grabbing the weapon as it fell, I took aim and fired first at the two standing then at the one behind the couch. Giving each guy two shots to the face, all three guys collapsed to the floor.

The dreams are getting interesting, but I was more concerned with something else. Who was she? This woman has been found in many of my dreams but has never given me a clue as to who she was.

The van

I was taking a break while sitting in the patrol vehicle parked in front of one of our locations. I noticed the dark blue van pulling up behind me. I saw in my side mirror the gun in the man's hand as he exited the van and started walking towards my vehicle. My heart started to race as the gravity of the situation hit me. I only had a few seconds, I pulled my pistol from my holster and quickly turned in my seat. At the same time I rolled over in bed jerking myself awake. The muscle memory of countless hours of training still had my hands griping a nonexistent pistol as I aimed at the wall.

long days and pleasant nights

So who excited for the upcoming Stephen King Dark Tower movie? It has been a long time coming but hopefully they used this time wisely and prepared a grand adventure for us.

I have been a fan of the Dark Tower series since finding the Gunslinger in a second hand shop back when I was still in high school. A female friend even told me that I was her gunslinger, here to save her from her wretched life. The world has moved on for the two of us but the name stuck with me and yes that is the reason why the blog is named such.

I've had several copies of the books, most have been past on to friends and family. I have always wanted a set of hardcover editions but could never afford them. Last year I wished to join the ka tet one again but my sister still held ownership of my current collection, even thought they were lost from their recent move. I finally broke down and started searching for hardcover versions of the series. Most were acquired within a couple of weeks through the use of eBay, several were only a small percentage of their value new, a couple did cost me almost their full retail price but they were all worth getting.

The nightly Stitch sits on top his throne, my niece sent me a gift along with the books.

In total I now have a full set of the seven books in the series, the later added wind through the keyhole, and even found a book containing a shirt sorry that lived in the Dark Tower universe. Of course after finishing my collection my sister found the list books and sent then home to me, so I have two complete sets one in paperback and one hardcover.

My clothes no longer fits me

So I made it to the stage that most of my clothes are now to big on me. My jeans are no longer tight around my waist, but still snug on my thighs. All of my shirts are to big, I look like I am wearing a sack. Went tried on a size smaller and although the sleeves were okay and around my mid section were the right fit, it was to small in the chest and shoulders. I felt like I rip the shirt just by giving someone a hug. I did recently picked up a couple of polo shirts in a size large. But with the way most department stores like Wal-Mart, I'm sure it's just a marketing scheme to make guys feel better about themselves like they done to women for years.

I did notice the tags on the Wrangler brand button up shirts at Wal-Mart. Let's create more confusion by labeling them a large or extra large "relaxed" fit.

I still have a few more pounds that I wish to lose before I start work on my wardrobe. Correction, guess I should use the word inches instead of pounds. I can tell I have lost several pounds of fat but my body weight hasn't decreased much. Yes yes I know muscle weighs more than fat. Just wished I had started using a measuring tape side the beginning. I am still 12lbs from my goal of 200lbs by my birthday and I have roughly a month and a week to go.

Currently my favorite tee shirts are ones from Article 15 clothing, Grunt Style, and Ranger Up. Article 15 and Grunt Style uses a fitted shirt that is thin and really comfortable. Ranger Up is also great but the shirt I have is a thicker material. I really enjoy buying from these companies since they are veteran owned and operated.

Three months in

Just realized I have been gong to the gym for three months now. Three months since changing my life's direction. I have made progress, not as much as I had hope for but I have something to show for. I've lost 18lbs, down to 212, only 22lbs to go to hit my ultimate goal. 12lbs to go to hit my goal in November. I'm still progressing with the Strong Lifts 5x5, although I have finally hit a failure with my overhead press at 100lbs. I have added a few extras to my gym workout, even started running again.

I haven't changed my eating habits much other than just reducing the amount I eat per meal. I reduced my soft drink intake, but unable to consistently remove it from my life.

Still taking GNC Mega Man ripped vitapak, but have to make sure I take the therno igniter 30 minutes before a workout or my skin breaks out in a rash on my arms and neck.

Sealing multi dimensional cracks in the shower

One of the first projects I tackled after moving in was the shower walls in the bathroom. Before there wasn't a shower, just a bathtub. My cousin had already installed the shower head but never did anything to the bare wood walls. He had the panels there at the house but never had a chance to put them up. I finished out the shower, following the instructions to seal all seams and thought I did a decent job at it.

Two years later everything that I did still looks great but the panel itself has developed tiny cracks in the decorative tile pattern in the "grout" lines. This is either because my bathroom sits in a doorway to another dimension or because the decorative coating is thinner in those areas. Not wanting to risk something escaping through the cracks into our world I asked Andrew at the hardware store what he would recommend to seal of these tiny portals.

Spent a couple hours caulking these grout lines to temporary fix the problem. This was only to prevent further damage to the walls, once I get caught up on a few other projects I'm planning on tearing the panels out and replacing them with fiberglass panels. Our maybe actual

High rise beds

Dad recently gave me a bed frame that belong to my grandfather. The frame is a full size so it required new mattress set since I only had queen sized sets. So away I went to get a new set to fit the frame. Few days later I have the new mattress and box spring in the house and everything ready to be set up. I put the bed together and discovered how ridiculously high it sits. You can barely set the head board.

Obviously new mattresses are not made to be used with the old wooden frames that is made hundred years ago. I don't have many options with fixing this other than returning the box spring for something extremely thin or modifying the frame. The side rails have a ledge on the inside for slats to sit that actually support the mattress. If I remove this ledge the mattress can sit lower than the bed frame on a modern metal frame. So I can have the keep the decorative frame and drop it down five inches to a more reasonable height. This will also make it where the weight isn't supported by the antique frame, reducing the risk of damage.

They're harboring refugee hipsters

Last night I went out on a date to Eldorado Arkansas. Was planning on showing off this little hole in the wall Italian restaurant I found several months ago but they were closed, gone on vacation. We wandered the streets of the square and found Black Cat witch I assume was a Mexican style restaurant that down played its own identity as one. We both ordered the chicken fried steak with mash potatoes, I do recommend the chicken fried steak, it was great, but the mash potatoes didn't rate all tat great, how can anyone mess up mash potatoes?

After dinner we walked the streets and alleys of the square. Eldorado has been known for the many music festivals it has hosted in recent years. The decorations around the square are a sight to see, 55gal drums recreated into works of art. I found the book exchange phone booths a unique touch, although I thought they should have been painted blue. I also notice the many coffee bars that are located within these few city blocks. Then it hit me, Eldorado is harboring refugee hipsters. These fashion and trend setting sub cultural people are far removed from their native lands. My female companion laughed at this assumption and then asked what exactly is hipster. I asked her to be patient with me. Within the next few minutes I found one in his natural habitat, in the coffee shop trying to ignore the two guys playing music near the door. We on the other hand enjoyed the guys cover of hotel California and few other songs.

Sorry this is where I leave you, the rest of the night was pretty personal between me and my companion about what we discussed.

Furry bandits roam the highways

Spent the day cleaning up the bike after the wood cutter bees came out and left a mess. Made a few adjustments with returning to oem mirrors and replacing the rusted studs on the seats. After the sun went down and took the heat with it I went for a ride. It feels good to be in the wind on summer night after it being so hot all day.

After a hour or so I started heading home, on a bridge near my house I could a group of shadows waiting. As I got closer several masked bandits dashed out into the highway attempting to force me to stop so they can jack my bike. I watched as they hastily setup this trap, I found a opening and managed to dodge most of them, in a last ditch effort one threw himself in front of the bike and getting run over. I kept the bike up and safely made it the rest of the way home.

This is the second time that a raccoon ran out in front of me on a bridge.

Dating veterans

 At least three of my friends have told me that they will never date a guy who has been in the military because of one guy that they did date ended up being a total douche bag. "All military guys are crazy" "the military fucks guys up" To me, being their friend and also a veteran this was kinda hurtful. To rationalize that one psychotic dumbass is the flagship model of hundreds of thousands of veterans is ridiculous. This sorry example of a guy, who was also a veteran, is the same model of loser you can find anywhere else without the title of veteran. He most likely had these abusive and crazy traits long before he raised his right hand.

Most of us veterans have found ways to cope and even push past our problems. Several of us do suffer from PTSD, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and several other problems. We live with this everyday, struggle with things as simple as stand in line in a crowded restaurant, it does take some extra patience. Would you not date a guy that broke his leg and now has a slight limp for the rest of his life?

There are some guys that are abusive and complete douche nozzles, but these guys are found in the general population too not just the veteran crowd. Go on a couple dates with the guy, find out who he is, and then make a decision if you want to commit a relationship with him. Never understood this idea that several people have that after one date they are committed to this one person. Enjoy being single and enjoy meeting new people.

Setting realistic goals

I have been gong to the gym for six weeks now, lately I hadn't been able to to as often due to a child and then allergies directly afterwards. Hopeful soon I will be able to get back to going every other day. When I started going back in June I made myself two goals; one to weigh under 200lbs and two to be able to squat 200lbs by my birthday in November.

I consider these realistic goals, I calculated the number of times it will take to reach 200lbs squats with adding 5lbs each workout session and there is time in case I reach a plateau and have to push through it. I have also been steady with my eating habits, cannot call it a diet since I'm still eating foods that are bad for me and only been only reducing the daily number of cokes I drink to one instead of removing it completely. On the scale since the end of April, I have only lost a total of 7lbs. But I have also had to take my belt in for notches from where it use to be. I'm losing fat and gain muscle mass, friend suggested I take a tape measure and record my measurements weekly.

Growing razor collection

Not sure how I ended up with so many razors but I currently have 30 single / double edge razors. I started this collection with an idea to save money on buying razor blades since I'm forced to shave in order to maintain my job. With the average cost for the multi blade cartridge is $20 for a five pack and the average cost for a double edge razor blade is $20 for a box of 100, this seemed like a wise decision.

I started with a Gillette ball end tech that dad believes was one belong to my grandfather. I loved this razor and used it for roughly a year before dad showed up with another razor, this time a Gillette super speed flare tip. I could have stopped here, could have gone the rest of my life without ever having to pick up another razor besides these two. But we all already know what happen. My collection grew as I found forgotten treasures buried in flea markets, lucked out on several eBay auctions, and received a few more as gifts along the way.

I currently have most of the common Gillette razor models and a few lesser known ones like the prison razor, one that requires a key to take it apart to replace the blade. All of my razors are nut in mint condition and to be honest I'm glad they are not, I have personally used every single razor I have except for one, the Dunham duplex, I simple don't have any blades for this razor, I bought it simply to use the solid handle on a few other razors. I also have a few Treet and ever ready single edge razors along with two Shick injector razors that found their way into the collection but again the lack of blades available has prevent me from all but testing the razors out.

My newest addition is a 1941 Gillette Ranger tech, the grandfather of the super speeds. I have a soft spot for the super speeds, they have been through many changes through their production run and I have several that act as strong stones through time.

Reducing closet clutter

Lately I have been taking inventory of everything I wear, or rather what I'm not wearing. I have two closets full of t shirts and long sleeves. I only have a handful of button up shirts and then there is my uniforms for work.  I don't wear over half of what I have stashed away in my closets. I'm ruining shirts by leaving them on the hangers untouched. It is time for a change.

I went through the t shirts in one closet, making three piles of those I pull out, ones I'm donating, ones I want a friend to have, and those that I no longer wear but want to keep for now. Most of these are bike rally and other events I participated in. The shirts that I still wear on a regular basis were left on the hangers in the closet. The rest of this closet was mostly untouched due to everything else usually gets worn.

Decluttering the t shirts made me look at my current footwear. I still have boots from basic training and worn out running shoes. There is even a pair of trail shoes that I don't wear but cannot return since they have been worn on a couple camping trips. These were also put into a pile to be donated.

I still need to attack the other closet, which should be fairly easy side most of it hasn't been worn since I moved two years ago. Once this closet is uncluttered I will start remodeling it to expand it's capacity and allow it be easily organized.

Horse flies have homestead my carport

Past couple of weeks I have been getting dive bombed by this overly aggressive horse fly. He lives somewhere near my back door in the carport with a group of others and only attacks whenever I try to either unlock my door to enter my house or to go into the carport shop to get Morris some food. It's like he is showing out to his buddies of his expert aerial acrobatics. I have roughly five seconds from the time I walk up the steps to get the door open or I will get at least three fly bys. He won't stay long enough to get a bead on him with the badminton racket and always counter attacks whenever I even attempt to swing at the air.

One day my friend, you will make your last kamikaze run and I will send you to hell.

Homemade fitness equipment

I think part of the reason why I'm finally looking forward to exercising and going to the gym is partly due to its giving me more excuses to make things. It also doesn't help that I have a few friends interested in me making them a few pieces of equipment. It gives me enjoyment making things especially for others so I'm not going to complain.

With making a Gada and a pair of clubs, I have found several more things to try making.

I have started working on my strengthening my forearms and grip by doing wrist curls and pinch grips. The 10lb dumbbells at the gym are the perfect size to grab on the end but I won't be able to increase the weight once my grip gets stronger. I have found plans to make a pinch gripper using a hockey puck.

Working on proper form to do the various lifts I'm doing is hard with a broom stick or a piece of pvc pipe. They are simply to light for me. The pipe is great to warm up with doing shoulder passes but I wasn't something with a little weight but not as heavy as a barbell. So weighted pvc pipe training bar is in the near future.

Talking to a buddy about how weak his core muscles are I started looking for something that would help him. Being use to exercising machines that robbed him of strengthening his stabilizer muscles he has a hard time keeping balance while doing squats. Found the perfect solution for him, a slosh tube. A length of pipe 3" - 4" diameter and 6 - 10 feet long sealed on both ends and filled 3/4 of the way with water. Doing squats, lunges, presses, or even waking with thing will force your body to maintain balance.

I also have another design for making a macebell or Gada. I want one that using 2.5lb - 5lb plates so it would be adjustable as one would grow stronger using it. Still having to experiment to see if something will work the way I hope for.

I'm not trying to outfit a complete gym, I'm simply supplementing with a few things I can do while I'm at home. There are days I simply don't feel like going to the gym, mainly after working 12 hours at work. So far I have being able to go to the gym three times a week working around my work schedule. It is nice to knock out a macebell workout and head to bed though.

Indian club bells

An army friend and now co worker mentioned to me about a video he saw on Art of Manliness about Indian clubs. I eventually found the video, Brett does a turn of the century style of instruction video of different movements using Indian clubs. This was also about the same time I found his other video talking about the macebell or gada.

Art of Manliness Indian clubs video

One side note, go check out Art of Manliness if you haven't yet. Brett does several articles and videos on a wide range of subjects. Many topics are about things young men should have been taught by their father as they were growing up. Things like how to shave with a straight razor and creating a wardrobe to setting routines and learning to weight lift.

Art of Manliness

Indian club bells look great to strengthen shoulder and arm muscles and to increase the range of motion in the shoulders. I set off to find a set of my very own. Would love to have a set of hardwood turned clubs but the price is pretty high, $50 and up depending on the weight. To get started and to see if I world really like them I went to search a way to make them and still look nice. Found several designs that involved plumbing pipe and connectors, which made them look hasty cobbled together, my OCD took over and ruled most of these out. But I did find one design I really liked.

Backyard bowyer made a set of clubs using pvc pipe but instead of gluing connectors and pipe together he used a heat gun to heat the pipe so it would stretch over on top one another laminating five different diameter pipe together. I sent one evening and made a set filling his videos. I sold the set to the coworker that originally told me about the clubs. I'm now in the process in making two more sets, one for me and one for another friend.

Here are links to backyard bowyer videos, check them out.

How to Make Light Indian Clubs or Clubbells With PVC Pipe Part 1

How to Make Light Indian Clubs or Clubbells With PVC Pipe Part 2

How to Make Light Indian Clubs or Clubbells With PVC Pipe Part 3

Always remember to stretch

At basic training daily PT consisted of a warm-up, the daily exercise and a cool down. These warm-ups and cool downs were important to prevent injures. Somewhere along the way I have forgotten about these important steps while working out. And since 2008 I have suffered from back pain. Any kind of lift could resulted me to be in pain for a couple days afterwards.

Since I started lifting weights I notice the slight discomfort in my back. Told myself enough is enough and started looking for the stretches that were needed to alleviate this pain. Since then I started stretching everyday whether or I went to the gym and notice the pain in my back has decreased substantially. I don't think I'll ever be completely free of back pain, but at least I can bring it don't to a tolerable level.

New gym, new direction

So with my temporary membership at Physiques being over I went ahead and signed up for a membership at ultimate fitness. I like being able to decide at 2am that I want to go the gym and be able to instead of having to wait till it opens.

The only down side to ultimate fitness is it doesn't have much crossfit related equipment. This is only a small set back though. The equipment they do have you can do several different WOD's. I may talk to the manager to see if they have any interest in acquiring some of the basic equipment and maybe even adding a class to their lineup.

Doing the few classes of crossfit I noticed how and out of shape I really was. Since signing up with ultimate fitness I have changed strategies and started doing strong lifts 5x5. The simple compound lifts are meant to work most of the muscles in the body, three lifts per workout working different areas including your core and stabilizers since you are doing free weights instead of cheating your body using a machine to hold the weights for you. Starting of light and building up 5lbs each time you do that lift. Everyone has recommended this as a good starting routine, I can stick with this for a few months until I can progess into a more advanced routine.

Stronglifts 5x5

Second day of crossfit

I have been to the local crossfit box twice now and realizing how out of shape I really am. The WOD of the two times seems like they are meant for the seasoned veterans of crossfit. Even with the trainer scaling it down considerable it was still to much for me.

50 crunches buy in

3 sets of
5 medicine ball clean
50 jump rope
20 lunges

50 crunches buy out

I kept doing the medicine ball clean wrong because I kept trying to isolate each step instead of one fluid movement or squatting wrong. Before today I had never been able to jump rope, still messed up within a few reps, longest strong was about 14 reps. The trainer and I talked about my knee pain and tried to correct my form to help reduce the pain. I was only able to make it through two and half sets before having to quit due to dizziness. Had a good time trying to kill my legs though.

I have a week left at this gym before I'm done with my temporary membership. Even though I like many things about this gym I had to decide to go with the other one in town. Main reason was time constraints, the other gym is a 24/7, making it possible for me to go whenever I have the chance instead of only when they are open. The other gym is also cheaper, $36 a month with military/veteran discount. I will miss the crossfit box but will still continue to do WOD's on my own since I found a app that gives me a random generated WOD.

I actually like the concept of doing crossfit on my own, there are somethings I dislike about crossfit. Like lifting weights as many times as possible with a certain time or exercises I know will destroy my joints because I'm over weight. Doing crossfit on my own I can choose a different WOD if it indicates something I wish to not do.

Gym and heavy metal

Been absent from here for a couple months, every time I start a post it ends up returning into a rant. Once it becomes a rant I step back and remind myself that I really don't care and end up deleting the post before it even gets published.

Lately I have decided to join a gym and work on getting back into shape, no more half assing it with wonder pills or magical diets. Ordered my multi vitamins and took the suggestion of a friend to get some protein powder. Yesterday I went to the local gyms and signed up with a trial membership at one that has crossfit classes. May have to make the sacrifice and go to the other gym once the trial is up, the other is open 24/7 where as the one I'm current going is only open 5a - 9p.

I have also gotten interested in Indian club and macebell or Gada training. I actually made a Gada today out of pieces of black iron pipe and a couple of fittings. Used a 2"x6" nipple, 2" end cap, 2" to 1" reducer all for the head and 1"x 30" pipe for the handle. Not sure what the current weight is but it has a fair amount of weight empty. I can always fill the head as I progress.

Repairing glasses without using tape

My current glasses frames are two years old and the earpieces have literally rotted away. They had split open along where they meet the arms and were barely holding on. Eight months ago I had my eye doctor order new earpieces for my glasses and they have been on back order ever since. Giving up on ever getting replacements earpieces I decided I needed to do something.

I had some small diameter shrink tubing and thought I could make it work as a replacement. I ended up using two layers of tubing and a third on the ends to help round end over. They are a lot smaller than what they replaced but they feel great and even better they look great. If I do it again I would add the short piece on end in first. That way there wouldn't be a seam that could potentially irritate my ears.

Poor man's Chicken Alfredo

For awhile now I have been slowly stocking my pantry for times that I'm unable to make it to the grocery store. Times of bad weather, injure or illness, or times that I simply do not wish to leave the house, I want things in the pantry that are easy to prepare. To stock a pantry I needed things that I could eat even as a normal meal as the item needed to be rotated out when it gets closer to it's expiration date.

I started an experiment on making the Knorr brand pasta and rice side dishes into a main meal. Some didn't do do well but the other night I hit a home run. Combining Knorr Alfredo side and a can of Tyson chicken chucks I made a simple version of chicken Alfredo, it's not as good as the Olive garden but it does taste great.

I followed the instructions on the bag of the Knorr side. I drained the juice from the can of chicken and added the chicken to the pot one I had everything boiling. I finished following the instructions and it was time to eat.

Stocking up food for emergencies doesn't have to be expensive, you can only go so far with MRE's and peaches in can.

Woodworking bench, part 2

I have been working on my bench these past couple of weeks. Unfortunately I didn't have my cell phone at the time so didn't make any pictures during the process. Really the only thing everyone missed is the layout and cutting the dado's out for all the half lapped joints that I used for the cross members and stretchers. The joints were glued and I added screws for extra strength.

I drilled the holes in the top stretchers for the carriage bolts I will be using to secure the top to the base. I wanted to be able to separate the two in case I ever had to move the bench to another location. Once the top is done the whole thing will be simply to heavy to move as one unit.

The top had holes drilled into it to mate it to the base, the top was also counter bored so the heads of the carriage bolts will sit below the surface once they are epoxied in place. the plywood top will then be laminated with the wood flooring I have saved that dad rescued from a building from the early 1900's. I thought of screws and then lag bolts coming up from underneath but decided that the threads would eventually be worn loose.

The feet were finally done, I drilled the feet to accept a 1/2" threaded coupling and used a 1/2" carriage bolt as the adjustable foot, with a hockey puck for it to stand on. For more information on this idea and to give credit to where I had gotten the idea please visit Dan's Shop bench leveler feet. I really liked this idea, my shop's floor is nowhere near level so I knew that one side of the bench would had to be shimmed up to make the work surface level. The only difference between my feet and his that I used a cross member as the foot so drilling the hole went through side grain instead of his being end grain.

I still have several things to do before the bench is finished so hope you be looking forward for part 3.

No longer in isolation

Friday I finally received my replacement phone from Straight Talk. Surprisingly with all the bad reviews they have had I received a brand new sealed in the box Samsung Galaxy S4 mini. I'm only aggravated at the fact I was never notified of the package being shipped or provided a tracking number.

Not sure of the methods that they use but when I bought my phone and had it shipped they required a signature at delivery which was a hassle for me since the FedEx driver likes showing up while I'm still asleep from working the night before. But with the replacement being the same phone and being new condition I didn't understand why it didn't have the same requirement. I didn't know the phone was on my door step until I finally got up to get ready for work. The inconsistency boggles the mind.

They also informed me that they would compensate me for the time loss due to the phones being swapped. Haven't received a card and my balance hasn't changed. Still the same service end listed. Yet another lie from these people.

Woodworking bench, part 1

I have always wanted a nice heavy woodworking bench. I have made a few and even bought a cheap one from harbor freight, all were light and they wobbled. So with the new shop being filed out I decided that it was time for a real bench. I began by laminating spruce 2x4's together to create a 3x3.5" timber. This was milled down on the jointer until all were even and squared.

Just finished cutting the tenons.

Re gluing the two 2x4's that separated near the tenon.

The feet were joined to the legs by mortise and tenon joints and the cross pieces were half lapped and screwed. I could have done mortise and tenon joints on everything but it would have been a harder project on me just beginning more traditional joining methods.

Testing the fit.

Soon I will be laminating the 1 1/4" plywood and tongue and groove flooring to create the top. Will mount the bench vise and drill a few dog holes.

The great cookie fiasco

I have been eating Girl scout cookies ever since my sisters were in girl scouts. My favorite cookie was the Thin Mint, seems like it is the most popular of all the girl scout peddled cookies. Over the years I have watched my favorite cookie box shrink do to rising costs. Every year I have bought several boxes to survive me through the off season, cookies stored in the deep freezer last most of the year, not sure how long they would actually last, all are eaten by the time the cookie season is back and its time to restock.

This year has been a good year, I actually ordered a case of Thin Mints just for myself. Then I discovered the bad news, the companies that make the most popular cookie on the planet went and changed the recipe. To pacify the vegetarians they made the most beloved cookie vegan. There is a reason why milk and eggs were part of the recipe to begin with, it made the cookie good. Now the divine dessert has become artificial treat to appease such a small group.

The cookies still taste somewhat the same to those that only partake of the chocolate minty disk occasionally, but to those that worship the chocolate covered wafer, it leaves an artificial aftertaste.

Customer Service incompetence

Four companies that I had to deal with in the past week all have one thing in common, customer service incompetence. With my cellphone not wanting to function correctly I had to deal with Straight Talk's joke of a customer service center, these mindless drones simply read off a script from the computer screen no matter if you inform them you already performed the task they are wanting you to do, turn the phone off turn it back on, take the Sim card out, replace it, did that work? No I already did this yesterday when I called.

Suddenlink has also failed me, called to have a appointment made for a land line to be installed, no problem, "I have you set for Thursday between 4 - 6pm." No one ever showed, called to find out my account had no appointments scheduled. Also had the problem of when I called through Hangout dialer since my cellphone was acting up the call was being placed somewhere in Texas. This cause the problem of Suddenlink's routing customer service to a area that didn't serve my own area. "Sorry I cannot help you let me transfer you..." over and over again.

Both the postal service and FedEx has grown incompetent. The postal service had kept me on hold for a total of 2.5 hours waiting to resolve a problem of where my package was instead of where it should have been. FedEx is the newest offender, had a package scheduled to be picked up today, they never showed. After calling five times and being hung up by the automated line I finally got through to a live person. He tried to claim they had no information on such a package scheduled. He magically found it then claimed it was scheduled for the 25th and not today the 24th. That's a lie since I had called previously and was guaranteed that someone would be at my house to pick up the package between 6 - 8pm.

Cellphone aggravations

Ordered a new cellphone from straight talk recently to replace my LG Nexus 4 that was having problems charging, seems like the usb connector had a short. Received the new Samsung Galaxy S4 mini in record time and swap service over to it. within 24hrs started noticing service connection problems, it would have a two - four signal bars but would refuse to connect when making a call. Spent three days on the phone with customer service going through the same process of removing battery, removing sim card, turning off and turning back on, airplane mode on and off. Then having to wait a couple days before I had a chance to call a certain department that closed earlier than the rest of the call center. Straight Talk finally decide that the phone was faulty and decided to replace my phone.

Received my box that contained a empty padded envelope and return label, I was to return my defective phone before they would even send my a replacement. As I type this the package is waiting for the FedEx truck to show up to start its journey.

With realizing how difficult it is to contact customer service of straight talk when the phone itself is causing the problems I decided to have a land line phone installed in my house. I haven't had a land line in over a decade, since moving out on my own. It simply seem unimportant to have a land line when I lived alone and was always gone away from the house either at work or visiting friends.

Will continue once something develops.

Judgement Day

People are in the streets pillaging and rioting, there is no bread or milk to be seen on the grocery shelves. Is it the historic winter storm in the northeast? No sorry. People are armoring up their vehicles and barricading themselves in their homes. Twinkies are being consumed before they spoil when those that stockpiled them realize they had expiration dates. Is this the rise of the machines? Maybe. Get in line for your battery pod to power our new masters, Facebook is down. The machines are done collecting data to produce our simulated world so that they can rule the real one. This isn't the happy go lucky world found in the matrix, this world is filled with duck faced girls that are overly tan. There is nothing but reruns of reality shows on all channels. And someone is constantly performing an epic fail.

Wait what? Facebook is back on? Never mind, go back to watching cute kitties and post obnoxious meme pictures.

Plane Till

Have been absent from blogging for awhile. Since Christmas I have been out working in the shop on my days off. We have been trying to get everything set up and in working order. The big tools that dad brought needed tuning up and rust removed. I have also been working on tool storage to get everything organized and kept in order.

Till still needing couple coats of polyurethane

The plane till was planned to hold only the planes I thought I would use the most. I decided on storing two no. 4's, two no. 5's, a no. 5 1/2, a no. 6, a no. 7, and a no. 40. To keep the weight from being one sided I alternated the planes, the bigger planes near the sides and the smaller planes in the middle. I ended up with a panel 24.5"x23.5" made up of three pieces of pine, they were glued together and reinforced on the back side with two strips spanning the three boards.

Three boards made up the till panel, once glued they were planed smooth.

The top edge was going to be against the wall so I needed to put a fine angle to the top edge. the table saw only went to 45° so it was out, the radial arm saw would do the 62° I need but was limited on the width of board. I have never tried to rip with the RAS before but it was my only option to get a consistent cut. Saw was raised, tilted, and turned to do the rip cut, dad had warned me the risk of ripping on the RAS and to be cautious. Went nice and slow pushing the panel through and left a small area where the saw didn't cut. Quick use of the rasp removed the uncut area.

Wonder if the compound miter saws do something like this?

Milled a few pieces of 7/16" square stock to make the dividers in between the planes. Used a old gift card as shims to give a little wiggle room for the planes. The dividers were attached with brass screws, no glue was used so they can be removed and rearranged.

fitting the planes' dividers

Case was put together, added a couple of shelves above the till and the mounting boards were put in to give the case structure stability before attaching the till.

fitting the panel into the case

 During the most of the construction process Morris loved to come over and "help" once hopping up and laying down onto of the till. Tonight he decided he supervised enough and went to sleep in the new box dad modified for him and added his blankets in.

Morris gave up supervising