Built-ins Complete

Our family room has as decent sized fireplace right in the middle of one wall. It looks nice but does limit our use of that wall for furniture placement. The previous owners of our house had a pair of pre-fab bookshelves on either side. They were functional but didn't really fit as each one left a weird gap between the bookcase and the fireplace. A couple months ago, I started down the path of replacing those bookcases with built-ins. They are the biggest project I've had in a long, long time and certainly the most complex project in my limited woodworking career.

I'm happy to say I wrapped up the last of the bookcases this past weekend. We even started piling on the books (they still need organized). I could easily point out mistakes but I'll hold off on that. Instead, I'll just say I'm very happy with the results. They're sturdy, functional, and I think they look good.

Some construction highlights/comments:

1. The openings on each side of the fireplace were not the same size so the bookcases had to be slightly different widths. Both are the same height with the bottom cabinet being 36" high and the top cabinet being 48" high.
2. I knew I'd paint the bookcases so I used birch plywood and poplar for the construction. Both of which paint well. Stain would've been nice but I don't think it would've gone with the room as well. Also, paint helped hide my mistakes.
3. I should've gone with a glossier paint. They already have a few scuff marks.
4. I bumped out three electrical boxes (2 outlets and a light switch) to be flush with the bookcase. Easy enough to do though difficult to get the holes cut just right.
5. I think hanging the doors took nearly as long as constructing the doors.

And many thanks to those who allowed me to borrow tools.

Farm Fresh!

We're trying something new at home. It's a service called Farm Fresh Delivery. It seems like a pretty cool idea. They deliver fresh organic produce directly to your door. They offer a number of different packages on either a weekly or bi-weekly plan. And there's no contract to sign...it's just a standing order you can cancel anytime. You can even make substitutions if there's something on your delivery that you don't like.

This really isn't a sales pitch...

Anyway, we signed up to have produce delivered every other week. Our first green tub of fruits and vegetables arrived this past Tuesday. In two weeks, I believe we simply set the old tub out on the porch and Farm Fresh Delivery swaps it out for another one with our new order.

So far, our experience has been very positive. We did make a couple substitutions in our delivery. I think we requested grapes instead of Brussels sprouts. Seems like we opted out of something else but I can't recall. What we did get included oranges, apples (2 kinds), pears, onions, potatoes, garlic, lettuce, and kiwi. We've tried a good deal of it. I know the the apples, oranges, and pears have been really good.

With no contract, we figured we didn't have much to lose by trying it out. We'll see after a couple months if it still makes sense for us. Will we use the food we get? Will it be enough? What's the budgetary difference between this an buying food at the supermarket?

Has anyone else tried it (or something similar) out? What was your experience?

Unclutterer

Over the last year, my wife and I have been working pretty hard to clean up a lot of the stuff we'd managed to accumulate over our lifetimes. We've put comics and toys on eBay. We've sold things on Craigslist. A lot of stuff went to Goodwill. A few things were put on Freecycle. We've just gone through our very full 2-drawer filing cabinet and managed cut what's filed in half by shredding a ton of unneeded documents. I even sometimes find myself perusing the Unclutterer website for cool ideas on organization and, believe me, they have some good ones.

We've had a few reasons for doing this:

1. We have less space. We moved last year and now have one less bedroom and one less garage space. This, combined with the the addition of a new child, there's simply less space for stuff.
2. We have less time. With the growing family and a strong desire to really be with my family and my kids as they grow, there's less time to use/enjoy/mess with unneeded stuff.
3. Changing philosophy. I've had several collections over my lifetime...comic books, action figures, Transformers, etc. The problem was that, eventually, I lost interest in the collections and they just ended up packed up and stored. I've whittled this stuff down significantly. I'd really like to keep only those things I'm truly passionate about. Oh, I still love comics and action figures and other things...I've just gotten a lot more selective about what I get and what I keep.
   

Anyway, in many cases, our uncluttering has involved getting rid of things. But, there have been a few instances where simply meant making good use of space. Where my wife previously had most of a guest bedroom for crafting, she now has to share the dining room with my drawing table and the computer. We recently sprung for a Sauder Craft Armoire and it's worked out very, very well. It looks really nice. It has a ton of storage. And, when not in use, it really doesn't take up much floorspace. Plus, it keeps all the crafting supplies organized and on-hand rather than packed in tubs under the bed.

For me, I've had to get creative in the garage. Where we previous had space for three cars with one bay set aside for bikes, tools, etc, we now have a scrunched two-car garage. Bikes have been hung. Workbenches have been mobilized to allow the parking of cars. Most recently, I scored a sweet toolbox off of eBay. It's a monster. Big. Red. On casters. It was local and proves there really are some good deals still on eBay. Like the armoire, it'll keep my hand tools handy, dust-free, and organized.


There's still more to do. I'm selling things on eBay now. But, it's definitely getting better.

Reel Deal

I love garage sales. It's like having a Goodwill store on every corner. Over that past few weeks, I've managed to hit a decent number of garage sales. I've specifically been looking for tools, a small desk to replace our over-large desk, kids toys, video games, and anything else that catches my eye. Thus far, I've picked up good deals on some toys for Jesse, a jigsaw, and even some random free stuff people were looking to unload. I'm still looking for a small desk and a couple bench-top power tools but we'll see.

Anyway, this post is specifically about something I picked up last weekend. We came across a reel lawn mower at a nearby garage sale. It's a couple years old and I think it originally came from Walmart or Sam's club. I'm not sure. It really doesn't matter. Since we moved to the new house and now have a smaller yard, I've been thinking about a reel mower for some time. We have a perfectly good gas mower so I couldn't justify buying a new mower just for fun. But, it's hard to turn down a good deal on something you were curious about anyway.

Well, so far, I really like the mower. It cuts reasonably well. I did have to sharpen the blades and I greased the whole thing while I had it apart. I think it will do even better if I adjust the blades a bit more. Otherwise, the mower has a lot going for it:

• No need to buy gas specifically for the mower.
• Environmentally friendly.
  
• I need the extra exercise.
• Doesn't require extra time...just more effort.
• Takes up less space in the garage.
• Quieter. This means I can actually hear the music from my headphones. It also means I can mow earlier in the day and later in the evening without bothering the neighbors. I can also mow during nap time without worrying about waking the kids.
• It's kind of therapeutic to see all the grass clippings go flying.

Anyway, I haven't gotten rid of the other mower. I'm not sure I'm ready for that just yet. Still, we'll see how the next few mowings go.

Loveseats and Zeppelins

My lovely wife and I just got back from what many people call a "Baby-moon." We took a long weekend to enjoy some time together before Baby Dos moves in this May. It was a the fun and relaxing few days we both needed. Here's how it went down:

Friday afternoon: We dropped Jesse and our dog, Maggie, off at my in-laws and headed out to Cincinnati. We arrived at our hotel, a SpringHill Suites, right around dinner time. We scoped out the local area, had dinner, and relaxed at the hotel that evening. We don't go out of town often but, when we do, we've really liked the suite-type hotels. They usually feel a little more spacious with multiple rooms and often have things like microwave ovens, small refrigerators, and better-than-average breakfasts. And they really don't cost much more than a non-suite hotel.

Saturday: We drove up to Dayton to the National Museum of the USAF and spent the day there. I'll try to write more information on this in the near future. I first need to see if any of the pictures taken in the various hanger buildings are actually worth posting. I will tell you this...the place is awesome. We went a few years ago and they've since expanded significantly. Really, we were there from 10am - 4pm and still managed to miss a lot. We saw the aircraft stored inside but we didn't get a chance to read all the historical data or see the outside planes (it was raining). And finding time for the Presidential Gallery or the Research and Development Gallery was out of the question. Another trip is definitely in order.

Sunday, we hit the new IKEA in West Chester, OH. It opened just last week so we expected it to be a complete madhouse. We were right about the madhouse thing but it was certainly tolerable. The place is well designed and, despite the sheer number of people, it didn't feel claustrophobic. We picked up a few things: shelves for Jesse's and Baby Dos' room, one of those kiddy-tunnel things, place mats, curtain rods, and a step stool). Anyway, we didn't exactly spend a lot of money and that's perfectly fine. The best things we took home were ideas for future decorating. And the nice thing about this IKEA is that it's only a couple hours away so a quick day-trip isn't out of the question if/when we start thinking about remodeling projects.

Finally, we came home Sunday afternoon. I took Monday and Tuesday off to recuperate and enjoy some non-committed, margin time. It was spent working on some drawings for a web comic idea, a nifty sculpture, and, most importantly, enjoying my family.

I also bought some new wiper blades (but not at IKEA).

Johnny Bench

Despite the incredibly cold weather and that fact I could see my breath while I was out in the garage, I finished the workbench this weekend. And, I must say, it's a beautiful, beautiful thing. I started with the plans for The Ultimate Tool Stand but ended up making quite a few changes. The first change being a move to building the base out of 2 x 4s rather than MDF. That was partly for economy and party because 2 x 4s fit much better than sheet goods in a 1995 Honda Civic. The other change was to use particle board instead of MDF for the flat surfaces. Again, it was a little cheaper and I doubt the work I'll be doing will be putting so much stress on the thing that I need to worry much about it falling apart.

Anyway, the feature list:

1. The whole thing is on locking casters. When I want to use it, I can roll it out . When I'm done, I roll it into the corner and my car still fits in the garage.

2. Sliding doors. Combined with the enclosed ends and the dividers, the doors create two large , nigh dust-free compartments. Plenty of space for saws, routers, etc.

3. Three removable boxes. These provide several things. First, height adjustment. If I want to work on something tall like a bicycle, I can pull the boxes off. If I'm working on something smaller, I put them back. Also, when I use a miter saw, I pull out the middle box, set the saw in its place, and the two outside boxes provide a level "feed." Removing all three boxes leaves the bench at a good height to line up with my table saw...a perfect outfeed surface.

4. Clamp space. The open area sandwiched between the top and bottom of the boxes, provide ample space to clamp things. Per the Ultimate Tool Stand, I still have the ability to cut grooves into the boxes which would provide even more clamping capability.

5. It's incredibly strong. A lot stronger than I expected.

6. I think the whole thing cost me around $50. Not bad.

I'm still thinking I may coat the horizontal surfaces with polyurethane. That would definitely help smooth and protect the surface. Of course, it needs to get a lot warmer before I can even thing about doing that.

Unpacking: Monkeys with Jetpacks

Unpacking from our semi-recent move has been and interesting experience. To be honest, I’m really getting anxious to wrap it up. Fortunately, we’re to a point where there are really only two places that need work. The first is the new baby’s room. It’s not packed with stuff but it is housing a lot of things like comic books (a side note, I’ve cut my comic book collection down from 7 boxes to 3), my unassembled drawing table, and some sewing/quilting supplies. Having my art supplies so inaccessible hurts my heart. The second place is half of the garage. Granted, most of what’s in the garage is stuff that will stay in the garage--tools, sporting goods, lawn/garden stuff--but the trouble is that it’s piled in with absolutely no system. Not being able to find things in the garage is frustrating. And not having room to park my car in the garage isn't helping.

On the plus side, we are making progress. The other night, my wife sorted through yet another box of old books, setting aside a number of them to either give to Goodwill or post on Craigslist. I also unpacked a box of office things and old projects. The most notable thing I found was my homemade monkey sculpture shown in the attached images. The little simian did suffer a bit during the move. A foot, a hand, and a few pieces of the based had to be glued back on. He’s fixed up and he’s back in fighting shape once again.

What’s next on the unpacking to-do list?

- Get some garage storage in place. I’m getting started on a modified version of this workbench. Some shelving is also in the in the works.

- Reduce our number of work surfaces. We’ve got a computer desk, a school desk with a sewing machine, an antique desk, drawing table, and a craft table. It’s crazy. Surely we can organize these to do double duty.

- Figure out where the re-evaluated work surfaces will go. Move them.

- Sort the bookcase designated as “mine.” When I unpacked the boxes of books, I just threw things up on the shelves. I’ve got Harry Potter books on three different shelves. I’ve got Ian Fleming next to a devotional, Constructive Anatomy next to Narnia, DIY stuff next to Musashi. How is it NOT driving my librarian wife crazy? I know it bothering me.

Wish us luck.

Phone Envy No More!

There's a previous post regarding a certain rotary phone I happened upon at the local Goodwill store. It really wasn't all that impressive at the time. Don't misunderstand, the fact that it was a rotary phone means it already has a lot going for it. However, there was certainly room for improvement. This baby had a lot of potential.

Over the last few weeks, I've weaseled in time to trick out the phone. It's not perfect but I think it's looking pretty sweet. I was tempted to tweak it even more but I'd just about reached the limits as to what could be done before the phone was no longer fully functional. As it is, it works for both ingoing and outgoing calls.

I'll let the images and video speak for themselves.

2 Guys and a Truck (ok, 5 Guys and 2 Trucks)

As of last Thursday, we’re in the house. Jesse spent last Wednesday night at his Grandparents, we stayed up late working on some last minute packing, and we met the movers at 8am the next day. And, let me tell you, the movers (Two Guys and a Truck) were awesome. After only 3.5 hours, 2 trucks, and 5 guys (+myself) everything was at the new house. They were fast, courteous, and careful. It was amazing.

Then came the unpacking and, so far, so good. We immediately got to work on Jesse’s bedroom so he’d have someplace to sleep that night. Our bedroom went together pretty quickly, too. Over the last few days, the kitchen, family room, and most of the rest of the house got unpacked and situated. There’s still a lot of stuff in the garage and one bedroom is full of office/art/craft stuff but things are definitely coming together.

This is not to say there isn’t still a lot to do. My moped and lawn mower are still stored at a friend’s house. I kind of wonder if the lawn mower is going to run when I get it…I did absolutely nothing to prep it for storage. Well, if it dies, I really will think seriously about one of the reel style mowers. It would definitely be better on the environment. And, of course, we’ve still got boxes at my in-laws.

As for the house, we love it and we especially love the neighborhood. We’ve visited both parks (walking distance from the house), a neighbor couple brought us a pie, and everyone we’ve met has concluded the conversation with something along the lines of “If there’s anything we can do to help, don’t hesitate to ask”…and it feels like they actually mean it. We commented last night how it was great just to see so many people out. You know, people walking, riding bikes, having family baseball games at the park. People were actually waving to each other. I also thought it was cool that the dad across the street was playing football with a dozen kids in the cul-de-sac last night. Cool for the kids. Even cooler for the dad.

And, my commute? 25 minutes flat. Not actually much different than living in Westfield, only 5 miles from the office.

Count to Five

A few random things:

1. Jesse is crawling! And standing up at the table! The little guy's on the move.


2. I happened upon this article about another fun thing that's fallen victim to the latest streak of recalled items. It's an arm wrestling video game that, apparently, has resulted in a several actual broken arms. Ouch. I especially like the distributor's comments about how "The machine isn't that strong...". Kind of adding insult to injury.

3. I sold my first round of comic books the other day. I posted them on Craigslist here in Indianapolis as a last step before putting them on eBay and, amazingly, someone in Maryland wanted them. Anyway, they were issues 1-5 and 9-12 of the 1986/1987 Watchmen series. They went for my asking price which was probably low but I'm happy with the result.

4. Several weeks ago I was reading through the list of the Top 100 Sci Fi movies on the Rotten Tomatoes site. It was an interesting look at an extremely varied genre and I found many films that I had never seen and several that I would like to see. I started by watching Westworld (see it on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes) and was duly impressed. Definitely Michael Crichton's precursor to Jurassic Park. I followed that by watching Futureworld, the sequel to Westworld. Well, there's a good reason why Futureworld is NOT in the Top 100 movies. That reason...it's awful. Seriously, the worst movie I've ever seen that didn't involve Crow or Tom Servo. Consider yourself warned.

5. Moving Day is tomorrow! Wish us luck.

Oldies but Goodies

I like old things. Old cars. Old motorcycles. Old furniture. Old people. Explains the whole "retro" part of "Retro Brett," doesn't it? When we moved to the apartment, it was a little sad that so much of our old/old-themed things had to go into storage. I know it's silly but I'm really looking forward breaking open that storage locker. The things I miss most? Well, here's the list.

1. Late 60s/Early 70s Sears Spyder. Maybe our best ever Goodwill find. It’s a 24 inch, 5-speed, glittery pink banana seat bike. It took a lot of effort to clean it up (new tires, tubes, cables, white cable housings, brakes, and a lot of polishing compound).



2. Late 60s/Early 70s Huffy. Another banana seat bike from Goodwill. Smaller than the Spyder. I rode it to work once and my back hurt for days. The wicked wheelies I can pull on it are worth the pain. Again, major cleaning and fixing up involved.

3. Arcade Cabinet. I finished this a few years ago so it's not technically old. It does, however, play a ton of classic arcade games…even does so legally. Each player has a joystick and ten buttons. That’s 28 switches between the two players. With two wires per switch and two connections per wire…sheesh…that’s 112 tiny, tiny soldered connections. Sorry for the bragging. My wife and I are fond of Asteroids.

4. Bookcase. My first attempt at building real furniture. Sliding doors. Low and long. Again, not really old but it's definitely a throwback to Mid-century modern design à la Brett.

5. Drawing table. Not old. Doesn't even look old. Still, I miss it.

6. 1984 Tomos Bullet A3 moped. Serious restoration on this one. I call it the Star Spangler. So lame it's cool.

Goodbye De-Luxe Apartment

Alright! We found a house! Barring some kind of extreme unforeseen circumstances, we should be moving to Fishers within the next month. Interestingly, the place isn’t really what we were looking for. Initially (and throughout most of the house search), we had been looking for an older house. Something with swank. Something with a good sized yard. Most likely a ranch.

What we found, instead, is a newer 2-story house, smack in the middle of a housing addition. We walked through it last weekend and liked it a lot. It worked for us. The price was right. And, even though it didn’t “look” like what we wanted, it “did” everything we needed. We liked it even more after the nearly flawless inspection last week. Specifically, here’s how the place weighed in:

1. It has a tiny yard but there are two parks (one provided by the housing addition and one by the town of Fishers) just a short walk away. We’re minutes away from playgrounds, a place to picnic, and even baseball diamonds. All without me having to mow a baseball field-sized yard. Maybe I'll even check out a reel-style mower.

2. It’s smaller than the house we had before but that’s actually a good thing. We wanted less wasted space and we’re hoping it to keep our family close…physically, at least. Even still, it’s big enough for us, our hobbies (sewing machine, drawing table, workbench), and our friends when they visit. Besides, it’s less space to heat, cool, and clean.

3. It’s newer than we wanted but it’s also more efficient than most of the things we looked at. Newer windows. Newer furnace.

4. It’s on a slab. No worries about a crawlspace infested with mold, mice, or C.H.U.D.

5. It’s in a great neighborhood. There’s a family we’re close with from church whose house we can actually see from our driveway. They truly know their neighbors and, from what we understand, the neighbors are awesome…a real community. They even vacation together. Amazing. We’ve already got planned babysitting nights set up.

6. It’s a reasonable commute for me to go to work. And it’s only minutes from my wife’s job…close enough that, on the weekends she works, I can drop her off or she can ride her bike without our trading cars.

7. The public library is a bike ride away.

8. Close to church.

9. Close to everything else we actually care about…HamCo’s Recycling center, Super Target, Hardware stores, Greek’s Pizzeria, etc.

10. The price was right where we wanted it. The savings puts us a few years ahead in our saving for college and retirement. Enough so that more having more kids is not a financial question. It also frees us to pursue other things that weren’t previously quite as feasible...a lower paying/more fulfilling job for me, maybe more school, adoption, more charity, or even a big project like the restoration of an old car. Add to that the lower utility bills, and it’s a score.

11. The house has been well maintained. The water heater is only a couple years old. The roof was new with last year’s hail storms.

All this adds up to a house that’s move in ready and doesn’t consume either a) all our money or b) all our time. We’re pumped!

De-luxe apartment in the sky

Well, I've been busy but I've obviously not been busy blogging. In the month since my last post, we’ve sold our house and had a surprisingly smooth closing. The actual move? Well, that was less smooth but moving is always such a pain no matter what It would've been a lot less smooth without our friends to help out and, for them, we are truly grateful. Believe me, the fridge and the arcade game wouldn’t have made it out of the house otherwise.

So, we’ve semi-successfully truncated roughly 1100 square feet from our living space. Ouch. It does hurt but we are learning to live without luxuries like couches, full size washers and dryers, and mopeds. I think the thing I miss most is the back yard for our dog. It rained this morning and taking her out to do her business was not at the top of my priorities. The experience will certainly help us appreciate our next living quarters.

In some most excellent news, my prodigal notebook has been found! The notebook was no big deal but it contained some ongoing creative writing that I was sorely missing. I was to the point where I’d simply accepted that it had been put into storage only to be found when we moved. Luckily, my ingenious wife suggested a yet-to-be-searched bookcase and there it was!

In closing, We're a movin' on up!