Sleeping Dog vs. The World

Greetings! Welcome to this week’s update.

Trust me, the title will eventually make sense.

But before then, the big news is that I’ve made it past the first hurdle and am undergoing reference checks for a job. If all goes as it should I will be one of those who can monitor the Fine Arts shop at Langara College when the regular coordinator is out. I look forward to being back on campus occasionally, interacting with students, and seeing my instructors. As much as Covid allows any of that, at least.

But Covid will be less of a problem one of these days and normality will return.

Yay!

The past week saw some progress on the headboard project as well. Here’s what the installation in the bedroom looks like at the moment:

Not much, right? And yet that defines just about everything that remains to be done. Actually another piece was permanently installed after that photo was taken. It’s a horizontal crossbar attached in the front at the top. I had to make it from two pieces of 3/4" plywood glued together to get nice straight edges all the way around, no warping, sufficient strength, and enough thickness to handle the mounting screws. The dressed out vertical piece will attach to it and the 2x4 side rails you see above.

And here’s how the decorative piece is going:

The three horizontals and the middle verticals are permanently attached. The diagonal pieces in the centre are just placed there as I test fit things and try different ideas. Once I have everything laid out I will round the edges of the various decorative pieces to make them remain obvious after everything is painted. I wish I had a router table, but since I don’t it will probably be done with sandpaper. Unless I want to detour into creating a portable router table of some sort. Hmmm. That’s possible. Not sure yet.

A constant problem with this project is that nothing is straight, and there are no 90 degree corners. The whole house continued to settle after the bookcase was installed, so even if it all started out perfectly square — something I rather doubt — it’s not in that condition now. I’ve matched the existing horizontals and verticals as best I can, but by keeping things lined up with what’s there I ensure that regular patterns in the decorative front face will wander away from being perfectly lined up, even over the short distances involved. That would drive me crazy so I am playing with patterns that make each of the four quadrants of the headboard different. Ideally they will better hide the accumulated error.

It will take some time to get that finalized.

Here’s a shot of my mitre saw on its stand.

Once the castors were replaced, it turns out to be a huge help, and a great workstation. Plus I can wheel it to the back of the shop where it is out of the way while not in use. It’s hard to get much better than that.

In other news, the new blinds for the living room arrived (surprisingly quickly) and I installed them:

On the left I have installed the two at the far end — one closed and one open — and obviously on the right they are all installed. It’s a much cleaner look; more our style. Also, while it might not seem like much in the photos, there is a lot more light in the room when the the blinds are closed. It makes a huge difference. And remember we only keep them closed because they add insulation and keep the room a bit warmer in the winter. Once the temperatures go up enough we’ll open them and leave them that way until late next Fall.

I should have expected it, but this installation showed me yet another place where the house is not even remotely square or straight. The wall with the windows in it leans outward at the top by a surprisingly large amount. I guess after 60 years it’s allowed to do that, along with every other surface in the house.

Finally, in canine news this week, it snowed again.

I know… that makes no sense. But it goes with the title. Hang on.

Here’s the thing: at 5:45 am on Thursday morning, there was just enough snow on the road that a snowplow came down the street, making the kind of noises they always make. It also had bright, flashing yellow lights.

Someone did not approve:

He had to inform me that something was not right with the world, despite the fact that I was sound asleep.

He’s a neurotic boy, but he’s my neurotic boy, you see. When he needs comfort and reassurance, I’m the one he turns to. Anne won’t do unless she is the only choice. Thus I was on the receiving end of his worried squeaking.

Thankfully the snow didn’t last. Cruzer’s “issues” will continue, though, and I get to deal with them. At least it keeps me busy, if a bit sleep deprived.

See you in a week.