Year 15, Week 14, Day One (week 711)

Year 15, Week 14, Day One (week 711)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
04-26-14 Saturday

75 in the morning 90 in the afternoon, Partly cloudy sky, clearing as the day went on, nice breeze to keep it cool with a low humidty. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

My new dad had to do a speech and it was early in the morning, so we went to that before breakfast. He did great and the people received him well. 
We went for breakfast afterwards.
It was kind of late but we did a little bit of yard sailing before heading home. We were disappointed that there was nothing we just had to have. I later did a run to a store and checked a yard sale on the way back. While I was there, they just started packing up. I did not ask for the price of the one thing that was of interest as I could easily live without it, a popcorn popper that you turn a crank to move the corn around inside the pan to keep them from burning. These people will do another yard sale some time in the next month or so and I can always pick that up next time. They had a little crock pot that might have held half a quart. I have a bigger one that is still small that I don’t use. I decided against this one.
When we got home, I fed and petted the kitties and then we all napped for a couple hours. 

Last week, I had picked up a sandwich grill that had plates for grilling, sandwich press, and waffles. They were completely out of them so I got the floor model. During the week, I decided to make waffles. It was not smelling good as it heated up. I cooked the first batch of waffles and then added the second and it stopped working. It was dead. It really stank up the office.
Electronic devices are packed with a magic smoke that makes them work. If the magic smoke escapes, the device stops working (usually described as burnt out). The idea is to get a device where the magic smoke stays inside it. 
Well, Today, I went to return my unit. I was given a sales slip that I could take to the cashier and get my money back. The clerk told me that I should go look to see if there was something else I wanted instead, and use my slip to pay for it. I was not going to, knowing that last time, they had nothing else, but I decided to look anyway.
They had the unit back in stock and a lot of boxes of it. I got it and, since I got the floor model last week at half price, I had to pay about the same amount this time. My deal last week wasn’t but I got a band new unit.

I went outside and had a look at the platter I made last week. I decided that when it is done, I will put inlay into the shrinkage cracks. It will strengthen them and also make it look like that was what I intended to do. I looked at my big log. The shrinkage cracking is through the piece. I am thinking to cut a chunk to make a vase or bowl and epoxy the shrinkage cracks so they stay together when turning. 

A couple of the pieces are drying, and turning the rich brown color. Others are too thick to show the color yet.

I laid down and napped again and that pretty much ended my day.

I do hope to do something tomorrow, but I am not sure what. I will have to see what happens tomorrow.





Year 15, Week 14, Day Two (week 711)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
04-27-14 Sunday

90 degrees, blue sky, nice breeze to carry away the heat, with little if any humidity. This weather report is brought to you by the City of Pompano Beach department of Tourism.

I tested out the sandwich unit this morning for breakfast. It smelled a little bad for a short time, then that went away. It worked nice. I used it again in the afternoon and it worked excellent. It is going to work tomorrow so that if I want toasted cheese sandwiches, or cook a sausage patty, or have waffles, I can with no problem. It adds one more thing to my lunch or breakfast menu. I had wanted a unit like this for years and now I have one and it finally works.

I got to Mom’s house and my back was bothering me, so I dug out the little lathe so I could sit and work, rather than use the big lathe where I would be standing, twisting and turning to work. 
I had made some chop sticks into roughly rounded rods. I took one of them and started rounding it more. there is one little problem I ran into. These chop sticks are longer than my lathe. I had already made them so they will go through the shaft of the headstock, which is hollow. I did as much of the stick as I could, then turned it around and did as much as I could again, and there is about an inch section in the middle that is untouched. I have to decide whether to work the center bit manually, or cut it in half and make two sticks. I did a couple short pieces. One I did was of the Sea grape I was splitting last week. I had a sliver and after cutting it to length, I used my knife to give it a rough round, and then worked it with the lathe. It is going to have to dry some more before I can finish it. 
Lunch interrupted me. When I got back out, I did just a bit more and then decided to end my day. 

I accomplished very little this weekend, but did enjoy myself. I have a lot of projects to work on, but just did not get any of it done. I have no idea what will be done next weekend. I don’t see my day interrupted by a meeting. I think it will be a good weather weekend too, though updates during the week changes by the day. 

I will see what I actually do next weekend.