conversationalonion

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Balance? o.O O.o

I’m a workaholic, it’s part of my wiring and how I’m built. I watch the time in the morning to make sure I’m on track and I find my mind stops racing in it’s usual self destructive nature when I’m on task and doing my thing on a jobsite. I’ve always had a tendency to live at work whether that means being at work all the time or taking it home as a replacement in my head for other thoughts. This…

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Differences in attitude...?

So I’m in construction, I play a delicate balance between management and the subcontractors that make things happen (hopefully). I do punch list, I’m the last man standing. I’ve noticed from time to time the reality that is construction and management styles. The particular style I am under is more loose and nicer than I am used to so for me it’s a walk in the park but apparently for some it’s…

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Covid Posting

This just friggin sucks!

So, I’ve been furloughed for if I can count right 3 ish weeks now.  Time seems to stand still for periods only to dissapear and have me wondering where it went.  I’ve come to realize that not working is a very bad scenario for my brain matter.  I need the feeling of pride and accomplishment that honestly only comes from work.  I’ve always taken pride in my work no matter…

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years ago I got bored and happened to have a gummy bear habit....

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Some thoughts on drive...

Some thoughts on drive…

Been a while since I’ve posted, I’m sorry about that. Things have been normal (as in hectic as usual) with plenty of things popping up here and there to deal with. In any case something that has been on my mind a lot lately is the examination of what we commonly call “drive”.

Drive is the mechanism which one possess to reaching a goal or setting things in motion.

To get a general starting point…

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A Manifesto?!

I have to laugh because it’s interesting to note to myself just how few people I know day to dare are unfamiliar with the term “manifesto”.  Many jump to conclusions based on stigma from the media coverage of less than savory people but most seem to either jump to the term “manifest” or shrug and admit defeat entirely.  With an entrepreneurial past a manifesto to me is quite simply a statement of…

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Some thoughts on mindfulness

Some thoughts on mindfulness

Lately I’ve been exploring DBT or Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and I must say this has been an incredibly interesting thing. One of the building blocks to this is the practice of mindfulness. I often challenge myself with the most difficult things and I can truly say this is without a doubt, an incredible challenge.

The past few days I’ve been focusing on observation skills as well as…

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Clinic Recipe Success “Tarragon of Virtue”

Clinic Recipe Success “Tarragon of Virtue”

Last week in culinary school we had a clinic surrounding use of herbs. I must admit that unlike most my classmates I absolutely LOVE these clinics as it’s a chance to experiment on someone else’s dime and equipment. After sampling a variety of herbs the day prior a clinic was announced to be a non meat dish using two herbs we have not used before. I immediately began working out recipe ratios in…

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Antique Store Finds!

So today we went to an antique marketplace here in town, one of those where several people all have separate booths and the place just handles the sales and money and such.  I absolutely love these!  My initial goal was to find some old but well loved hand tools to clean up and play with but did not really find anything that jumped out at me aside from a spiffy old metal tool box which I…

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The Big Four Oh..

The Big Four Oh..

Well here it is the day after my 40th birthday, I purposely kept myself as intensely busy and sidetracked as possible yesterday as I not only hate July anymore, I also hate my birthdays.  Regardless of how much I told everyone I did not want things or to do anything, eh everyone wanted to try to make it as special as possible.  While I may be distant and grumpy lately I am really grateful anyways.

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Stanley Handyman 1205 Bench Plane!

My Uncle spent the past couple weeks sorting and cleaning through his workshop stuff and came across a vintage Stanley Handyman that his father had given him.  It was plane to see.. (ha ha) that my Uncle had taken very good care of it and it was in excellent and useable shape.  Knowing my love for hand tools he gave it to me on the premise that I would appreciate it more and do it justice!  While I still have some sole work to do on this over time I did manage to get it true and bench ready with just a few hours of TLC and I am quite happy with it!

For those not into planes it’s important to note that the Stanley name has quite a sordid past as it relates to opinions of quality.  The handyman name is somewhat considered the point where Stanley began to sacrifice quality in efforts to become more of a value name.  Regardless in my honest opinion I believe that in the hands of a passionate crafter any tool can create well.  The H1205 is no exception and after some sharpening and setting it shaves quite comfortably the 14″ length and heavier weight (noted by the “H” in the model number) make it a joy for me to use.  A bit on the model, Stanley has always been one for interesting model numbers, consider the H1205 as a heavy #5 block plane.

So here we go with some shots!  Unfortunately I did not have a matching dark blue but was still able to get some fresh paint on the handles this will darken when I get some poly on it later.  As stated before the sole still needs some more attention but she’s in great useable condition for now and I’ll work the sole again at a later time when I decide to do one of my weekend tool dress/sharpen/true runs.  I’m always excited to get and use a new hand tool and this guy is no exception, he’ll be happy on the shelf next to my other so called “antiques” that I still use and use often.

    All in all a good Sunday project!

Another Plane Cleanup Stanley Handyman 1205 Bench Plane! My Uncle spent the past couple weeks sorting and cleaning through his workshop stuff and came across a vintage Stanley Handyman that his father had given him.  

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Sooooooo….

It’s been a long while since I’ve actuall taken out the laptop to push a post.  I’ve had a lot going on to deal with not only family and mental / emotional wise but also on the project side.  So lets take a quick look at whats been keeping me off the radar for over a month…

Aloha Nui Loa, He moku hanau ka po

Loosely translated, farewell my cheif the night is born.  May of this year brought an incredibly difficult time for me personally as we gathered for my grandfathers interment at the national cemetary.  I had already gone to his first service in Arizona which had very few family members and primarily friends and neighbors.  This time it was family, lot’s of family.  My grandfather and I were very close indeed, I credit him for everything that is “right” with me (and some of what is wrong with me I suppose).  Having several people with whom I am “disconnected” around during this trying time was a double whammy.  The flag was finished in time, I made just under 60 schnitzels, and ran around doing this or that.  All told, I made it through in fair shape.

The world of responsibility

In my adulthood here we go with the idea that actions have consequences and of course with my past DUI things have of course begun as far as responsibilities.  I’ve managed to keep my probation officer happy, pee in a multitude of cups (including being selected for a random test the morning of pops service!),  worked out my plans for community service, and this week I graduate from my EOP classes to go on to whatever the next class requirement will be.  Nose clean, DUI’s cost a lot, thank god nobody got hurt, dont drink and drive.

Projects, projects, projects!!

My primary coping method with anything has always been to keep busy, and so I’ve kept incredibly busy.  So busy I think a lot of people close to me began to feel like I was overdoing things and perhaps building up resentments of my own over taking on so many projects.  Perhaps they are right to a small degree but I genuinely am glad to be doing things for those that have always been there for me.  I may be short or hard to deal with when my attitude gets all jooglywocky but honestly I need to keep busy and I carry a great deal of pride in the aspect that I can do things for my family.  Pride is one of the primary traits I carry from pop, most days this is good sometimes not so much but it’s a big thing in the neurological disneyland I call my head.

So projects…. the ones with no pictures currently being done:

Sand and do a *real* stain on the decks for my gal

plan and remodel the bathroom for my gal (new tub was a steal!)

Aunties yard landscaping (ongoing for life yeaaa)

Fixed a toilet, installed many ceiling fans, swept this, watered that, weed and trim, pick up sticks, yards yards yards, woohoo

And this year I’d like to do all the custom trim work for my auntie which muahahaha I can get even fancier than planned now 😉

Now the bathroom will get photos of course and most likely several posts but for now we have Aunties Fence:

Auntie has wanted this fence for years, with quotes coming in above $6500 I think I did pretty well around $2000 in materials.  I had a lot of challenges dealing with poorly set posts from a prior contractor and of course hugging the house and such but I’m happy with it and more importantly with those hinges and those braces that gate wont sag!

Uncles Workshop!!!

Auntie told me three project goals she had for this year: the fence which the doggos have necessitated followed by uncles workshop being wired, insulated, paneled, and organized and finally; my cousins bedroom expansion.  I will be finishing the ceiling of the workshop this week and the project will be complete in full but here are some shots from early last week:

God I am particular about wire routing!  5 outlet circuits (two outlets per on each side of the shop and two outlets on one GFI/AFCI outside), 2 light circuits (because I like the idea of individually switching each light based on need).  Ah, feed from house has independent ground with two rods sunk and of course ethernet in separate conduit.  Overkill is tasty!

So aside from that I’ve been given some fun new toys as a thank you and combination “hey your getting older” gifts from auntie and uncle!  I’ve got a nice new set of Dewalt impact bits with index holder and such and *A MAG SLEEVE!!* anyone that’s ever driven screws overhead solo will understand why thats so big.  A new drill index with shiny sharp bits!!  A new 80T blade for muh poor beat up (but it works) tablesaw, a new pair of badly needed mechanix gloves… and… aaaaaand…. BEHOLD!!!!!

I call him “Chompy McRouter!!  Shown here in one of my old Nikon camera bags which fits it perfectly!  I’ll be covering some tips and tricks for palm / plunge routers that make life much easier in the shop and field in a later post so stay tuned as Chompy has a script to study.

Ha Ha!!  And Uncle got a GoPro for us to dink around with so expect to see some fun with that soon too!  So, for anyone patient or bored enough to read this far (not to mention read this at all) I will close with a quick thought and some pictures of my grandfathers beautiful Urn.

Pop gave me many things all of which are important to me.  The ability to combine the pride, work ethic, and craftsmanship that he taught with many of the material hand tools that he handed down to create something for my family which was his most important treasure is perhaps the greatest accomplishment I could ever achieve.  Mahalo nui loa he moku

.oO{The Conversational Onion}Oo.

Been A While! Busy Busy Sooooooo.... It's been a long while since I've actuall taken out the laptop to push a post.  

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Been a while and I would like to say I’m in the mood to blog but right now I’m just wasting a few moments before attempting sleep yet one more time tonight.  This month we inter my grandfathers remains at the Veterans cemetary here and I’m of course dealing with the emotions surrounding such.  One of my coping mechanisms has been to start a project creating something to be displayed during the service.

I’ve been dragging around this fancy CNC milled MDF panel that I had as a piece of scrap from a prior job and given the wavy pattern it seemed perfect for a US flag in honor of my grandfathers service.  And so it got plopped on a worktop in the other room for me to wander by in little bits here and there to paint and finish.  Eventually I’ll do a post with more details on the trials and frustrations of working this pattern as it’s been an interesting task figuring out the dimensions as well as realizing how poorly painters tape works on a patterned surface.

I’ve learned that my hand is not steady and “staying between the lines” is a skill I lack with great pinache!  Though I have also been playing with different brushes and tricks through the painting process in attempts to create a more “weathered” feel to the coats of paint.  In any case here’s some pictures for posterity:

I was able to use the tape to get the blue square in but for the stripes it was a losing battle and I ended up going the old pencil and square route.  I also kept the excess at the bottom of the panel instead of ripping it clean so that I can push maybe a grey or other neutral tone and stencil in an “in memory of” or some bullshit.

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The Flag Project Been a while and I would like to say I'm in the mood to blog but right now I'm just wasting a few moments before attempting sleep yet one more time tonight.  

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Great day today and finally took some time after it warmed up and the snow melted to get out and play a bit.  First things first though, a melting morning found me doing my morning dittly do chores and finding the cedar seeds I collected from the trees up front are doing more than sitting around, I’ve about 6 sprouts that I saw fit to move to mason jars of potting soil yesterday and figured I’d snap a pic today of one!

Look at him go!  I honestly expected nothing but a bunch of moldy seeds given that I tossed them in an empty chew container with some moist paper and forgot about them for a few weeks.  Hah the miracles of nature I suppose!  Everything I have read about these guys tells me the chances are incredibly close to nihl to get sprouts let alone grow some baby trees but it gave me something to do and puts a smile on my face today so why not!

Now on to the day with the saws!  I got the pleasure of dusting off the miter saw, my table saw, and my bandsaw again.  Off hip I did three cutouts on the band saw: another different kind of cat, a dog holding a leash, and an alpaca.  None of these have detail cut or burned in yet and are simply rough cuts but I’m not unhappy with how they came along given I used my craptastic art skills to try and trace and play with lines until things were semi agreeable.

I then let my random take over for a bit and did a “no plans” bench out of reclaimed fencing.  I opted to use the posts for well, posts!  And framed in with 2×4 doing two simple box frames for the bottom half.  The rear posts are cut with a 15* angle on the bottoms to lean the back “just so” and I used a third 2×4 along the top of the rear posts to support the pickets making up the back.

My original intention was to use reclaimed fasteners but since I have yet to sort my buckets for straight nails / screws I used my trusty 16 gauge nailer and outdoor construction screws.  2 1/2″ nails were used alongside 2 1/2″ screws for framing (all at angles) and 1 1/2″ nails were used to fasten the pickets.

I’ve still yet to sand and maybe do some smoothing of the corners with my plane not to mention whatever finish I choose but given I jumped in with no plans and just an off hip idea…  I’m pretty happy with it.

I’m thinking of doing some sort of cap to the rear posts and maybe adding a few slats on the lower box for a utility “shelf” but for a quick garden bench it’s quite comfortable at the angle I chose and the more I look at it the more I like it as a quick few hour project!

Tomorrow I have two appointments and will also be working on the ignition of my sweethearts van so it’s sure to be a busy and hectic day.  I’m glad I had the thought of using today more to play.  I’m sure I’ll have plenty of cursing and frustration in the future cutting the detail of the leash in doggo’s mouth as well as finishing out the rest of the pieces but hey, it keeps me busy!

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Impromptu Woodworking Great day today and finally took some time after it warmed up and the snow melted to get out and play a bit.  

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What to do When "Weather"

What to do When “Weather”

I’ll open by pondering the hilarity that is our current 24×7 news cycle, it seems the boon of constant communication has our new wave “journalists” making up terms more often than ever.  My latest WTF moment is the “Bomb Cyclone”, we saw this last month with the horrible storms and this week it was a “Mini Bomb Cyclone”, why not just explain that a storm system is moving and swallowing up other…

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I Hate it When I'm Right

I Hate it When I’m Right

It happens more often than I would prefer, I end up being right.  You would think that normally this would be a good thing, an overall “win”.  Sadly for me this is not so.  I, like many others am an outright pessimist on most days.  Sure I have this ability to exude a good and “always happy” attitude that is outright magical but behind it all, I always think about the worst.

I was right, I hate…

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My Grandmother used to make it for me all the time.  My favorite Auntie made it for me all the time, and then showed me a few years ago.  It’s a simple dish but beloved to me as one of my most favorites ever.

Friggin EVER!

Pork Schnitzel a thin pork cutlet butterflied nice and stupid thin or my preferrence a thin sliced pork loin, either way pounded to all get out.  The resulting thin meat is then given a bath in egg with a touch of salt and pepper, and dipped in bread crumbs (must be progresso itallian style!), then fried to perfection!

The recipe?  Cut pork thin, dip in egg, roll in bread crumbs, fry in oil until desired crispiness is met.

So the day:

This morning I found myself with a touch of bad brain so I decided it was best to stay busy, ALL day.  I started with my normal morning routine of dishes and cleanup, over coffee and my paper.  I sharpened all of Aunties knives, then set to cut the pork loin I had set out to thaw two days prior.  After thin slicing the pork I started breakfast making a nice egg, mozzarella, and veggie scramble with a side of sausage for uncle and myself.  The pooches got some scrambled eggs and off Uncle and I were to Lowes for fence materials.

After we returned I set to unloading and stacking the materials in the back for use “later”.  Dinked around with the dogs, cut up melon rinds for the worms, and laughed internally at the neighbor behind us (whom I’m not a fan of) as they neglected to call for a locate and managed to hit some utility while using an augur to dig fence post holes.  I then wandered in around 3 ish and began my schnitzel fest!  When all was said and done I had made the schnitzel, a very robust salad, and sat down to eat before typing this and getting ready for bed.

Time… for…. rest….

A Favorite Meal My Grandmother used to make it for me all the time.  My favorite Auntie made it for me all the time, and then showed me a few years ago.