A Special Day

Today is a special day for me, one filled with sweet memories, and great expectations for the future.

Four years ago today the love of my life agreed to become my wife!

New Old Tools

I really like old tools. Of course I like new tools too, especially hand tools. But there's something special about a tool that has a little age and wear on it. It just looks and feels comfortable, I guess.

There aren't really many old tools in Oklahoma, because there haven't been people here using tools for that long. (Yeah, I know, there were people here using stone tools, but you know that I'm talking about relatively modern tools, so don't be a smart aleck.) Most of the old tools are back on the east coast. But sometimes I run across some interesting hand tools anyway.

This past Saturday I picked up the items in the above picture at a local garage sale. These were just dumped in a box with some junk. As you can see, I got a decent old large chisel, which I'll probably never use since I don't plan on building a log cabin soon. The neat old four-fold rule is nice. I already have a couple larger, newer ones, but this old Lufkin has a lot of character. According to that well-known on-line auction this item is worth ten times what I paid for all five of the tools shown.

I'm going to like the little steel vernier caliper. It should come in handy. And the little 4-inch combination square is good to have.

So, all in all it was a nice GS find. It's this kind of stuff that entices me to go out early on Saturday mornings. Its a big job staying out of the way of the feeding sharks (oops, I mean ladies sorting through the kids clothing, cracked dishes, Avon bottles and assorted foo foo). But sometimes it pays.

Added: Yes, I do realize there are only 4 tools in the picture, not five. I can count; I just need to double-check sometimes :)

All Around Good Weekend

Yep, good weekend. But then, aren't all weekends good? Saturday we drove to Cordell, Oklahoma for a Pumpkin Festival. Trouble was, there wasn't a punkin in sight! (OK, maybe a few). But it was almost all venders of rubber snakes, Chinese toys and cheap knives. Later in the afternoon we stopped in Hobart, where there wasn't any kind of celebration going on. There we had a thoroughly fine time walking around the square, having lunch in a small diner, going to antique stores, and taking lots of pictures.

But, the coolest thing is all the wildlife we saw. We saw some really large hawks and a tall blue heron. We saw a snake in the sun on a back road near a little lake. We saw two deer standing by the side of the road. And coolest of all, a young mountain lion trotted across the road about 50 yards ahead of us as we drove through the Quartz Mountains. It was a rare privilege to see this reclusive animal, but I couldn't help thinking that I hope I don't meet up with him/her while hiking someday. Or even worse, have him/her nearby, watching me or even following me without my being aware of it!

Boxing and Shivering

The Boxes Are Coming Together
October 12, 2006

Here are a few pics of the progress I'm making with the oval boxes. The first shot is of the materials, consisting of blanks for the sides, tops and bottoms, all in cherry. What you see below is enough materials to make 10 sets of 5 boxes in graduated sizes. By the way, my materials were supplied by John Wilson. If you ever want to try building these, I heartily recommend him to you for all the wood, tools, and instructional materials you will need.

This next pic shows about half of the boxes after assembly and awaiting a finish. A lot of steps were performed to get from raw materials to a completed box. First, the swallow-tail fingers on the sides were marked, bandsawn and trimmed by hand. Then the sides were soaked in very hot water till they could be wrapped around forms, joined with copper tacks, and then placed on shapers to be dried. After the sides were dry, the tops and bottoms were cut and shaped to fit exactly, and then pegged to the sides with wooden pegs. Final sanding then made the boxes ready for a finish, some of which will be painted with old fashioned milk paint, and others which will be treated with a clear hand-rubbed oil and wax finish.

Windy!
October 12, 2006
Man, was it windy this morning! I looked at the weather forecast last night, and it called for some wind and a possibility of light rain, but I wasn't expecting 20 - 30 mph winds. Don't think I'll brave the open road in that kind of wind, especially with only a barbed wire fence to break the wind across the open prairie between here and work!

Cool Weather Riding
October 11, 2006

We got another little cold snap this morning. At 6:15 this morning the thermometer outside my kitchen window read about 43 degrees (fahrenheit). I’ve been looking forward to cooler riding weather so I could try out some of the new cool-weather clothing I purchased recently.

If you’ve ever visited this blog before, you may know that I commute to work by bicycle almost all of the time. Riding this summer has been a good way for me to stay active without taking up much extra time. Mornings are always nice, but summer afternoons in southwest Oklahoma are pretty hot. So it is with some anticipation that I’ve watched the temps drop as fall approaches.

Last winter I didn’t ride on the cold or wet days. If the temperature was below about 40 degrees I drove my truck because I simply didn’t have good cold weather riding gear. I had a light balaclava, a set of light tights, long-fingered gloves and a nylon windbreaker. So, the best I could do was layer with shirts or sweaters under the windbreaker.

This year I want to see if it’s practical to ride when it’s cold, windy or wet, I so I ordered knee warmers, arm warmers, a helmet cover, windfront tights, a light cycling jacket, a heavy cycling jacket, and a fleece balaclava. So far I’ve found out that the arm and knee warmers are sufficient down to about 45 degrees. Below 45 I need the light jacket over the arm warmers (I don’t own any long sleeved jerseys) and light tights instead of the knee warmers. (The knee warmers would be plenty warm, except that they leave my ankles exposed). I think this combination will be fine down to about 40 degrees.

I’m looking forward to lower temperatures; I think that my heavy cycling jacket will be very warm, and I can’t imagine wanting to ride at a temperature it can’t handle. The one area I don’t have covered (literally) yet is something to keep my feet warm. I really like the idea of winter cycling shoes (like the Lake MXZ301) but they are very expensive. I probably should try a set of shoe covers first, at about 10 percent of the cost of winter shoes.

However, I’m not looking forward to riding in the wet. I have fenders on my main bike (an 80’s vintage Nashbar Touring model with a 5-speed freewheel and downtube shifters), but I’ve fallen on wet streets and didn’t like it. Plus riding in the wet can be really dirty for me, the bike, and my clothing. So we’ll take it one day at a time.

By the way, I recommend you check out the IceBike site for great tips on cold weather riding and gear: http://www.icebike.com .

Way too long ...

Yep, it's been way too long since I've posted here. You know how it gets; you miss a few days, then weeks, and before you know it, it's been so long since you've posted that you feel like starting over.

It's been busy around here, that's for sure. Long hot summer & fall, working some overtime, travelling for my work about once a month. Managed to get in a couple of organized rides: The Hotter 'n Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls was good this year, except it was so hot that the organizers closed the 100 mile course early. I did the 100k again this year. Saw some friends there that I hadn't seen for a while.



A couple of weeks ago my wife and I did a short local ride. The wind was brutal on the way out, but riding with the wind back into town was nice. The organizers in the small town were really friendly.

Since I've last posted I've also done a little home improvement. Because our son is now a sophomore in college, we've converted his bedroom into an office / computer space for ourselves. That required painting and new trim. We also installed closet organizers and new closet doors in our master bedroom.

My current project is another batch of Shaker oval boxes. I like to make several sets of boxes as gifts each Christmas. This year my wife and I are planning to build and finish 10 sets of 5 boxes, some of them in traditional milk paint, and some in a clear finish to show off the cherry wood. If we don't end up giving them all away we may try selling some.

I'm still commuting to work by bicycle, using my old Nashbar Touring exclusively now. Even though the morning temperatures are still in the 50's and 60's I'm getting ready for the cold weather. I've already purchased some cold weather gear which should outfit me better than last year. I'll report on how it goes.