I'm so excited! My daughter read her first pages out of a book today at four and a half years old! That's not all she's doing. We are starting to build models together. Like my father and his father before him, I'm starting her out with Popsicle sticks. She'll be a MMR in no time!
She is learning fine motor skills, leveling, how to glue (go away, Bob) and perspective. Taylor is a natural and has inherited my family's artistic skills.
Rex the Wonder Stegosaurus was the first to give the decking a weight test. Coming in a 10 tons he managed to stay out of the drink.
Actually that shot was just to test the new light out. Some of my magnifying lamps have old bulbs. The one I replaced today has been working since I was 15 years old without replacement! These new daylight deluxe bulbs don't give the yellow light that is screwing up my pictures. They are about $7.00 each, so I'll replace the other two shortly.
A few friends have asked "why do you blog since you don't get paid for it?" I do it for me. For many years I've recorded everything I've done in composition notebooks. It is great for words and drawings, but not for photos. Blogs are easy and searchable note pads and I'm finding this is a fabulous way to keep track of what I'm doing (example in a few minutes) and to share it with friends. I learn a ton from the comments that friends send or post. Post some of your own!
Tonight we are decking the pier. Its very simple, though a bit tedious. We'll use Elmer's glue VERY sparingly and put the boards down as square as possible. Each board will be monitored for color and shape. Warped boards will be thrown out if they can't be made to give the pier appeal.
Using a steel square, we get started. I put a few boards down and while the glue was wet I squared them up. Notice that I use lighter and darker boards together and try not to use too many of the same kind in a row. My wife came down and in her loving way said "boardwalks don't have a joint down the middle!" After I picked her up off the floor I explained to her that this was a dock and since it was so wide (32 feet) the boards, only being 16 feet long, would need a seem. I could alternate them, but since track will be laid directly on them they needed the extra strength under the track of the solid board. Then I said something to the effect of "it's my !@#$!# railroad!" She left.
(this is a joke...my wife is VERY supportive of the hobby)
A note to myself. Scott, you need a thin one of these. This one is TOO heavy.
Here we are well into the planking. I just put barely enough glue so that it doesn't seep through the boards. Then, using a very sharp pair of curved end tweezers, I drop the boards into place and push them with the tweezers points to a tight fit. I only fell off the pier and into the water once. Damn. I forgot to put a ladder on this thing.
In my drawer full of gauges and rules I have these handy aluminum containers with glass tops. In these I keep scale things the I use for perspective. Bill the traveling salesman was removed (he's HO scale) and he was assigned to walk the pier.
Here you can get a feel for the size of the pier. Bill is standing where the track will be. In my drawer I keep scale cars, people and other common items to use as a reference or a photo prop.
Crap! I ran out of planks! But I cut for an hour! Looks like I have an empirical issue in my ciphering. Not the first time. Ok, we'll stop for tonight and make some more (a lot more) planks tomorrow. This project is moving along fast and I can't wait to see it done!
Here is the planking from the canopy of my Sopwith Camel fighter plane....
(sputter, sputter....cough....cough)....uh oh...low on fuel.
...back into the ocean again!
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