And now, I am tired [projects, food]
Jan. 18th, 2025 07:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rebeccmeisterToday was very much a "house rampage" day, in anticipation of going cross-country skiing tomorrow, and also in general anticipation of the start of the semester on Tuesday. It's just that when I don't get home until 7 pm on weeknights, I really don't have any window to do much of anything before it's time to go to bed. So a lot of stuff gets punted to the weekend.
But I should backtrack slightly. I got a package in the mail yesterday, frommallorys_camera, which was extra fun because at first I didn't recognize who it was from, until after I started opening it up. It contained this magic potion:
which we opened up immediately and enjoyed on the enchiladas we were having for dinner. Seriously, this is an a-plus solid hot sauce contender! I am very pleased.
Anyway, one part of the rampage was a lot of the usual chores: litterboxes, bathroom, vacuuming, general tidying. I was also able to chip away at a couple of lingering tasks, like putting away the flat artwork box from when I was working on getting a couple pieces framed and hung up. Since the cats have a newer giant box to serve as their cat cave, I broke down the old one that they never really used much and put most of the toys I'd stashed in it back into a storage container. I also transferred my costume collection from a cardboard box into a clear plastic storage bin, and stowed it on a shelf up high in the bedroom closet. That's one set of awkward bedroom boxes finally dealt with. Then I got the last of the rowing club's good megaphones inventoried, and continued the project of servicing the collection of bow and stern lights. Here's where I first must digress, to include details of that project.
It looks like there are currently 2 main issues with the lights. One of the 2 10-port USB charging hubs is flaky. Thankfully someone already went ahead and ordered a new hub; I just have to coordinate with the person who has it to pick it up from her. The second issue is that I think most of the charging cables themselves are also wearing out. The lights, which are really great for rowing at night, are manufactured by a mom-n-pop operation, and in coming up with the design, they opted for a system to charge them that uses USB-B cables. Those are the cables that often get used for printer connections - kind of square in shape. I happen to have a brand-new USB-B cable that I was able to use to verify that it could plug in securely to charge every single one of the 20 lights. But almost none of the existing charging cables plugs in securely anymore.
After some searching around, the internet showed me some tips and tricks for tightening up loose USB-A connections - those are the older ones found on many flash drives and the like. But so far I'm coming up empty-handed for USB-B, and it's possible that because of how they're structured there is no trick and we just need to order 20 new charging cables at $5 each.
So that's fun. I guess.
After that, it was time to do a bit of organizing in the basement and then FINALLY continue work on the worm bin bench.
Except, it seems I misunderstood something thatscrottie had communicated to me about the new shop vac. He had said that it worked, but that he had left parts in the box. I thought that meant he had set it up with its filters, but just hadn't attached the accessory bits and bobs. So after attaching the accessories, I started to merrily vacuum away.
It wasn't until some time later that I realized, to my horror, that the shop vac was spewing basement dust all over the place. That wasn't right. Please realize that this basement dust is probably full of lead and asbestos. Upon further investigation, it seems that a sponge filter had been installed, which is fine for wet-vac use, but the fabric filter cover that is supposed to be used for dry vacuuming purposes had not. I quickly closed off the basement so the cats couldn't come down, opened up the basement windows, and grabbed my elastomeric respirator and one of the room air filters from upstairs.
Still, ugh.
Thankfully, after that disaster, most of the worm bin bench assembly went as well as it could. It was interesting to build a second one, years after building the first one, and after all the other recent woodworking and sanding experience. S and I occasionally joke about my "emo woodworking projects," but I have to say I felt far less stressed/frustrated/emo/whatever about this one than many other past simple woodworking projects. I used a hammer and nails to build the first one. I used drills and deck screws for this one. I also spent more time prepping the wood this time - trying to do some preliminary sanding and smoothing and straightening. I now understand that it's time well spent.
I wish I could say the construction was all sunshine and roses, but the gods of woodworking did still seem determined to throw more small mishaps at me. For one thing, the chuck on the replacement Black and Decker corded drill* decided it did not want to cooperate. Just because of how it's structured, it seems I can no longer get it tight enough to hold drill bits securely, and then when I wanted to loosen it, it was exceptionally stubborn. Thankfully S has a fantastic small Makita cordless drill, so I just had to revert to swapping back and forth between a drill bit for pilot holes and a driver bit for the screws in the Makita. Anyway, I think this means I'm DONE with this Black and Decker drill for once and for all. I'm not sure if it should go in a donate pile, a scrap-only pile, or a pile for tool exorcisms.
For another thing, it appears I have finally worn out the hook and loop pad on my orbital sander. That was an entertaining discovery - when I tried applying a new piece of sandpaper, it just flung off into the air as the orbital sander started to spin up. So, another thing to put on the shopping list.
Then, when it came time to work on the lap joints for the lid, I discovered that the bench vise has started to work loose from the workbench. Upon closer inspection, I realized that I hadn't put on any washers when I originally installed the vise on the workbench in the basement, so probably over time and after many uses, the wood on the underside of the workbench has weakened. Along with that, I'm not sure that I installed it with nuts with the correct thread pitch, because it was a PROJECT just to loosen and retighten the nut after adding some washers. Of course, there could also be corrosion on the bolt, given that it lives in the basement. So some blood was shed at that point. Just a little.
When I finally got the vise sorted out, I used it to help with sawing the lap joints, which went, shall we say, interestingly. I don't have a clear memory of what I did to create the lap joints the last time around, but I do remember finding that part challenging and not really knowing what to do. Plus, lots and lots of quality time with a chisel. This time, I at least have the experience of having watched roughly a jillion YouTube woodworking videos, so I had a slightly better idea of what to do.
The resulting joints are far from perfect, but I can also guarantee they're far better than that attempt from that earlier era of my life. I've at least learned how to test-fit and make some adjustments to the joints so they fit together better.
And really, at the end of the day, the worms don't care anyway. What I do know is that they tend to do better in a wooden worm bin, as compared to the plastic bins that S and I can never seem to agree on how to manage, even after I've spent hours modifying them according to new specifications.
Anyway, that's how far I got before it was time to go upstairs andruin make dinner. The next tasks will be to sort through the household collection of leftover wood stains and finishes from other projects, and decide what to apply. I'm going to take comfort in the fact that the finishing stages of a woodworking project tend to require smaller chunks of time, as compared to what it took to get everything assembled.
I just really hope the gods of small mishaps show mercy at that point.
Messy workbench in the middle of it all
Oh - dinner was baked buffalo cauliflower, from a recipe I found online. Surprisingly easy, delicious, and more nutritious and far less fatty than I thought it would be. (Also, it wasn't really ruined, but the pieces repeatedly wanted to jump off the roasting tray and onto the floor.)
I did discover that two heads' worth was one head too many. Live and learn, I guess. It remains to be seen how well it reheats.
*S purchased an identical replacement for a drill of mine where he had stripped the chuck using it to build a bike trailer. By this point I'm thinking the chuck design is permanently flawed and should be permanently banned from my life.
But I should backtrack slightly. I got a package in the mail yesterday, from
mallorys_camera, which was extra fun because at first I didn't recognize who it was from, until after I started opening it up. It contained this magic potion:which we opened up immediately and enjoyed on the enchiladas we were having for dinner. Seriously, this is an a-plus solid hot sauce contender! I am very pleased.
Anyway, one part of the rampage was a lot of the usual chores: litterboxes, bathroom, vacuuming, general tidying. I was also able to chip away at a couple of lingering tasks, like putting away the flat artwork box from when I was working on getting a couple pieces framed and hung up. Since the cats have a newer giant box to serve as their cat cave, I broke down the old one that they never really used much and put most of the toys I'd stashed in it back into a storage container. I also transferred my costume collection from a cardboard box into a clear plastic storage bin, and stowed it on a shelf up high in the bedroom closet. That's one set of awkward bedroom boxes finally dealt with. Then I got the last of the rowing club's good megaphones inventoried, and continued the project of servicing the collection of bow and stern lights. Here's where I first must digress, to include details of that project.
It looks like there are currently 2 main issues with the lights. One of the 2 10-port USB charging hubs is flaky. Thankfully someone already went ahead and ordered a new hub; I just have to coordinate with the person who has it to pick it up from her. The second issue is that I think most of the charging cables themselves are also wearing out. The lights, which are really great for rowing at night, are manufactured by a mom-n-pop operation, and in coming up with the design, they opted for a system to charge them that uses USB-B cables. Those are the cables that often get used for printer connections - kind of square in shape. I happen to have a brand-new USB-B cable that I was able to use to verify that it could plug in securely to charge every single one of the 20 lights. But almost none of the existing charging cables plugs in securely anymore.
After some searching around, the internet showed me some tips and tricks for tightening up loose USB-A connections - those are the older ones found on many flash drives and the like. But so far I'm coming up empty-handed for USB-B, and it's possible that because of how they're structured there is no trick and we just need to order 20 new charging cables at $5 each.
So that's fun. I guess.
After that, it was time to do a bit of organizing in the basement and then FINALLY continue work on the worm bin bench.
Except, it seems I misunderstood something that
scrottie had communicated to me about the new shop vac. He had said that it worked, but that he had left parts in the box. I thought that meant he had set it up with its filters, but just hadn't attached the accessory bits and bobs. So after attaching the accessories, I started to merrily vacuum away.It wasn't until some time later that I realized, to my horror, that the shop vac was spewing basement dust all over the place. That wasn't right. Please realize that this basement dust is probably full of lead and asbestos. Upon further investigation, it seems that a sponge filter had been installed, which is fine for wet-vac use, but the fabric filter cover that is supposed to be used for dry vacuuming purposes had not. I quickly closed off the basement so the cats couldn't come down, opened up the basement windows, and grabbed my elastomeric respirator and one of the room air filters from upstairs.
Still, ugh.
Thankfully, after that disaster, most of the worm bin bench assembly went as well as it could. It was interesting to build a second one, years after building the first one, and after all the other recent woodworking and sanding experience. S and I occasionally joke about my "emo woodworking projects," but I have to say I felt far less stressed/frustrated/emo/whatever about this one than many other past simple woodworking projects. I used a hammer and nails to build the first one. I used drills and deck screws for this one. I also spent more time prepping the wood this time - trying to do some preliminary sanding and smoothing and straightening. I now understand that it's time well spent.
I wish I could say the construction was all sunshine and roses, but the gods of woodworking did still seem determined to throw more small mishaps at me. For one thing, the chuck on the replacement Black and Decker corded drill* decided it did not want to cooperate. Just because of how it's structured, it seems I can no longer get it tight enough to hold drill bits securely, and then when I wanted to loosen it, it was exceptionally stubborn. Thankfully S has a fantastic small Makita cordless drill, so I just had to revert to swapping back and forth between a drill bit for pilot holes and a driver bit for the screws in the Makita. Anyway, I think this means I'm DONE with this Black and Decker drill for once and for all. I'm not sure if it should go in a donate pile, a scrap-only pile, or a pile for tool exorcisms.
For another thing, it appears I have finally worn out the hook and loop pad on my orbital sander. That was an entertaining discovery - when I tried applying a new piece of sandpaper, it just flung off into the air as the orbital sander started to spin up. So, another thing to put on the shopping list.
Then, when it came time to work on the lap joints for the lid, I discovered that the bench vise has started to work loose from the workbench. Upon closer inspection, I realized that I hadn't put on any washers when I originally installed the vise on the workbench in the basement, so probably over time and after many uses, the wood on the underside of the workbench has weakened. Along with that, I'm not sure that I installed it with nuts with the correct thread pitch, because it was a PROJECT just to loosen and retighten the nut after adding some washers. Of course, there could also be corrosion on the bolt, given that it lives in the basement. So some blood was shed at that point. Just a little.
When I finally got the vise sorted out, I used it to help with sawing the lap joints, which went, shall we say, interestingly. I don't have a clear memory of what I did to create the lap joints the last time around, but I do remember finding that part challenging and not really knowing what to do. Plus, lots and lots of quality time with a chisel. This time, I at least have the experience of having watched roughly a jillion YouTube woodworking videos, so I had a slightly better idea of what to do.
The resulting joints are far from perfect, but I can also guarantee they're far better than that attempt from that earlier era of my life. I've at least learned how to test-fit and make some adjustments to the joints so they fit together better.
And really, at the end of the day, the worms don't care anyway. What I do know is that they tend to do better in a wooden worm bin, as compared to the plastic bins that S and I can never seem to agree on how to manage, even after I've spent hours modifying them according to new specifications.
Anyway, that's how far I got before it was time to go upstairs and
I just really hope the gods of small mishaps show mercy at that point.
Messy workbench in the middle of it all
Oh - dinner was baked buffalo cauliflower, from a recipe I found online. Surprisingly easy, delicious, and more nutritious and far less fatty than I thought it would be. (Also, it wasn't really ruined, but the pieces repeatedly wanted to jump off the roasting tray and onto the floor.)
I did discover that two heads' worth was one head too many. Live and learn, I guess. It remains to be seen how well it reheats.
*S purchased an identical replacement for a drill of mine where he had stripped the chuck using it to build a bike trailer. By this point I'm thinking the chuck design is permanently flawed and should be permanently banned from my life.
