Job search update 2

Hello Everyone,

It has been a busy week and busier end of the week.

Choir practice Wednesday night! Always good to let the voice loose, HA! I am a baritone with good range. That being said tenors are always needed in church choirs, so mostly I sing tenor. One song that night we were lucky to get down to middle C or lower. Mostly up in the stratosphere of E, F and G! That is very high for me and I really have to work at it. By the end of the night my vocal cords are stressed and I feel hoarse. But I recover.

Company3;

Thursday I went on a job ride around with one of the company guys to see how things were done and ask questions about the company and learn from an employees perspective. So I got another picture of the company. Then it was back to the office for a mini interview. After which I went and took a drug test…no problem there…but still no job.

They got the results today…of course good! So next I meet with the GM on Monday afternoon. What happens after that? Maybe a job…maybe not…more waiting…I guess I at least have to wait until then. Three more days to wait to then see if something happens or more waiting.

Then Thursday night I went to a 4 hr CEU class (a requisite to renew my plumbing license). Usually they can be mostly boring, but it wasn’t bad this time. So by bed time I was worn out and had a lot of thoughts and info running through my head. It was good to see you John D. leave a comment if you stop in!

Today I went north and met with my long lost neighbor buddy, Gabe. It was good to get together again after 11 plus years. Just like the old neighbor days. We looked at an area of his house that needs my expertise and then went to a friends house for almost the same situation. I had to cross the border over into cheesehead land! That’s Wisconsin for the uninitiated. Then drive back home. All in all about a 140 mile round trip. So another busy day.

The weekend is staring straight at me! Gotta grab it by the horns and make some good of it! Let Monday come when it gets here, two days in between!

Maybe I will get the scroll saw busy and make some saw dust!

Later, Harold

How It Is Done 5

Hello Everyone!

Back to it again! This time with a plumbers twist! 🙂 I had to get FUNKY!

Last post I was needing a container. Well I solved the problem as only a plumber would! So here I and we go!

The bin I bought

No it wasn’t the answer! That’s lemon oil! Not what you’re thinking. Next pic!

FALSE advertising!!!

It says 16 1/4″ , so I should be able to get 16 1/2″ corner to corner easy! NO WAY JOSE!!! It is smaller at the bottom than the top! What is with that?! I need the bottom as big as what it says and it ain’t.

So after asking for help and shopping around the plumber has a plumbing epiphany! AAAHHHHH! Spotlight please! 🙂 Use plumbing!!

the parts!

You can see I got ahead of the pictures before I started taking them. Okay buy 3″ PVC cap, 3″x2″ PVC reducing coupling, 2″ PVC street female adapter, and a 2″ PVC plug. I had a 21″ piece of 3″ PVC pipe at home, perfect.

I cut about 3″ off the pipe about 17″ long using the band saw. Use the purple primer on all fittings and ends of the pipe. Cut some supports from the PVC piece cut from the pipe using the scroll saw. Prime them too.

Glue the cap on one end of the pipe, the coupling on the other end and the adapter into it. Teflon tape the plug and screw it in the adapter. Glue one support to the cap and one to the coupling and they become the stand and you have this!

my trough/tray

It is nice and steady! Let it get good and dry. I tested it with water, no leaks (but of course)! Dry it out and pour in the lemon oil from the bin.

It's not what you think it is!

LEMON OIL! Come on just because I am a plumber you think I am showing something else!? Time for a swim!

Soak both sides for a while.

Take it out and let it drip for a bit, then gently wipe it off and let it dry.

Looking good!

Okay that’s it for tonight. It has to dry for a while, then the clear coating begins.

Oh, I promised a pic of the pattern! Here it is.

The pattern after the cutting

Have a great weekend everyone!

Later, Harold

News

Hello Everyone!

Not really a break, just a news flash.

I have a plumbing job interview today 9:30 AM Chicago time.

Update later.

Later, Harold

Interview update

It went well I think. Now I wait to see if a job offer is made.

I have more to say about it, but not at this time.

Later I met a friend for lunch and had a good talk with him. He bought! We haven’t seen as much of each other since the WA football season ended. Then on the way home I dropped off my resume at a plumbing company, didn’t get to meet the owner. Those have been few and far between. Oh well. 😦

In one more week our church choir will start practicing again. Can’t wait! Been missing that! Could have been a good pick me up tonight. Kinda slipping now. Oh well, I’ll survive one more week without.

Hey Gabe, remember those karaoke nights after bowling! 🙂 Good times! 🙂

Before I can go any further with my How It Is Done series, I need a container. It has to be about 18″ long and about 3″ wide with sides around 3″ or higher. It does not need a lid/top/cover. It has to hold liquid. Been looking all over for something. I need it for two projects now. Any advice out there on where to look or what to look for? Thanks.

Later, Harold

Oasis

Hello everyone!

I know! Long time no post.

I and the rest of the family have been busy with the regular life stuff and the other side of my life, plumbing. I am still looking for a job and also doing some things to drum up some work too. So I have not been at the scroll saw much.

I did make a little saw dust and that has to do with the title. I also finished the remaining jerseys that I left lying too long. Sanded them again and spray painted them and glazed them. They turned out great and I delivered one today and now I just have one delivery to make. So that kept me away from the saw too. When I am finishing pieces I don’t like to be cutting at the same time in case saw dust would get on the pieces while they are wet. I have had enough problems with out that!

I guess you could say I reached an oasis with my finishing work. Kinda that perfect feeling when all is going right. (Except for not cutting) I missed that. Even in paradise I don’t think you can have it all. The plumbing area is stirring too, so that is good.

I have used the word oasis twice (now thrice) counting the title so what gives? Well since I was concentrating on finishing and not cutting, also because I reached the doldrums with that, had no wind in my sails. I didn’t know what I wanted to cut. So I went back to an old stand by. What I call my desk top names. I cut out the word Oasis. It is the name of the high school youth group at our church. Here it is.

3/4" Walnut I think

I will get it to our youth pastor tomorrow night. I hope he and the kids like it.

I also have said I will do one for our church library. Appropriately it will be, library. I think I will do it in Walnut too. Though I did get a pretty good sore throat after cutting the Oasis out of the Walnut. I have read that Walnut can affect you badly. That may have been my bad though. I was cutting with out the fan exhausting out the window because I took it out when the blizzard came through and I was painting and finishing other pieces slowly, so I didn’t put it back in. Figured I didn’t need it. No dust mask either. I will give it a go again and see what happens. I think the Walnut will look good in the library.

Well enough for now. A lot of words and only one pic.

Later, Harold

Catching Up!

Hello Everyone!

I am catching up with the orders! All are cut and sanded. Most are painted. But my hand painter is baking cookies here today with her mom. My spray painting technique needs help. I don’t really know what I am doing wrong. Some times it works out great, but when it goes bad it really stinks!

I got one order in the mail and another was picked up. I tried to deliver another order but he was not at work today. So if you read this Rob G. your order is done. I will try again tomorrow. You NEED to show it off there. Or you can contact me too.

Also a neighbor asked me to do a project for them. It is cutting a wood seat for a chair. So I said yes.  She also wants a snowflake ornament. She didn’t have time to get it at the craft show.

I tried out a new contact form on yesterdays post that wordpress just put out. I lost the whole post! I don’t know if I will get it back. 😦 I can’t remember all that I said. Then I tried it on this one and lost it too! So I had to re-do it. I guess I will wait until they get the bugs worked out.

I also repaired our kitchen faucet today. Yep even in a plumbers house things go wrong with the plumbing. But I had saved parts and faucets from jobs and had the exact part out in the garage. I just had to go find it. It’s good as new! I think I get that saving parts thing from my grandfather. It has come in handy many times over the years. Lots of happy customers when you don’t have to order new parts and wait for them or have to replace the whole faucet when I have had parts in the truck or at my house. 🙂

So here are pics of the rest of Rob’s order.

Later, Harold

Valley day

Hello everyone!

I did the plumbing job today. So we got some cashola. It was one of the hardest kitchen faucets to take out that I have had in a long time. I usually try to get them out in one piece but this one wanted no part of that idea. It came out in many pieces. The new one went in no problem. Most of them do. I also fixed a toilet. So the plumber did some plumbing. Done right and done good with another satisfied customer. That’s what I strive for.

So what’s with valley day? I’m  glad you asked! You know it gets kinda hard to keep coming up with titles for this blog. Named after what I did that day, or didn’t do. Named after the work I am doing; plumbing or wood crafting. Named after ornaments I made or what happened to them. Or about what is going on or off, like the roof.

So since I was home most of the day, we live in a valley, and the job was basically up the street from us, about a mile or so. Plus the ornaments I am going to show you pics of are area related. Sooo, Valley day became my title for today.

The ornament pics are of the names of the Sub-division we live in and the grade school in the valley where the craft show was held.

So without further delay, here they are.

Later, Harold

Our sub-division

We are actually on the western edge of it.

The grade school

Lots of people liked these! I sold one of the school but none of the Valley View ornaments.

Have a great weekend!

It is snowing!

Hello Everyone!

As if everyone here in northern Illinois didn’t know it. But for those out of the area we are getting snow for the second time, I think. Well at least measurable on the ground snow.

So in honor of our new snow fall I will post a pic of a snowflake ornament that I think is the most intricate piece of work I have done yet. It is so intricate…how intricate is it?… it is so intricate that I did not even attempt to put it on my sander and my wife broke parts off of one while trying to do some touch up sanding. I think they really turned out great though. Painted white with sparkly stuff. I guess it is glitter. It really was kind of fun to cut too.

I did let my wife out of the dog house after a while. It got cold out and was going to snow and her howling…I’m just saying! But she had to get back to work painting too. 🙂

Well the weekend is upon us. I have a plumbing job for tomorrow and I got out my one piece insulated coveralls. So I think I am ready to make some saw dust in the cold garage. Bring it on!! Along with working on the product page and flyer page. Is there a better word to use than flyer or is it flier? Pamphlet? Any ideas?

Well anyway here is the snowflake enjoy!

Later, Harold

Too bright?

Too dark?

Oh, I am kidding about the dog house stuff if you really stayed with me on it. 🙂

The Plumber Plumbs and talks

Hello everyone!

Well today was a good day! But no saw dust was made. Other priorities came up that had to take precedence.

Like a money making plumbing job! A friend called over the weekend and needed a water heater put in to replace a leaking one. So I did that this morning. It wasn’t an easy one and had its frustrating moments (okay longer minutes) in case he reads this I won’t gloss it over too much. But it was good to work with the tools again and have a good finish. It just took some effort and also finding out it wasn’t going to go the way I really wanted it to go. Not meaning easy, but the how and in what way it was going to get to that finish.

But isn’t life like that? Some times you got to adjust and then re-adjust and then re-re-adjust! You can’t always go with the flow. Some times you got to swim across it to get to the other side. Some times go against it or, not even get into it and walk your own path, and blaze your own trail! Some times there is no flow at all!

Then this afternoon I took a friend out to lunch and we talked for a couple hours. Both of us sharing some personal stuff and it was a good time. I want to be there for this friend and I WILL BE! Friends need to be there for each other through thick and thin, even unconditionally some times. I want to say more here but I also want to be careful in what I say. Some times I am blunt and that can be good or bad (some times both).

Here goes! Warning read at your own risk!

Have you ever messed up in life? Haven’t we all at some time or to some extent? Yes, there are consequences for that mess you and I have made. But aren’t there times when you or some one needs help to get out of that mess? What do you do?! What do you do for that person who needs a helping hand. Can you really let them go at it on their own?! What if their mess up affects you? Can you forgive? How far will you go in forgiving them? Really, how far should you go? Is there an end? Can you really say you have done enough? I think that we tend to rationalize when we think we have. What you really want is for some one else to take up where you want to leave off (at your stopping point). I’ve done enough, great go pat yourself on the back! Feel better?

But should you really stop? Oh, but I really care…then…SHOW IT! When some one really messed up but is really trying to turn around and get help  and get their life back on track as they and you see it. I think if you really care, you and I need to be there for them. Not just to talk, but to take action and be involved. Isn’t that what you would want. Wouldn’t you want to be thrown a life line?! Maybe two?! Would you want to be TOLD “go, be clothed, be fed, be sheltered” and that person talking walks away. Incredulous! They just lost all credibility in your eyes, right?

So what do we do? How far do we go? Do you enlist others to help with out stopping yourself? Will you continue on?

I have lots of questions, not knowing whether I have answers. I may be rocking a boat here, or stepping on toes or kicking shins. Am I sorry?…I don’t know…should I be? I think we all need to pick up some of these shoes and put them on. But will we walk in them?

I’ve done some talking here, I plan on walking it. Are you a talker, a walker or just a looker? Or have you turned away completely.

Have I stirred up a hornets nest in your mind? I hope so! Cause mine is buzzing! Maybe its too much caffeine or I took my vitamins too late today, or both! 🙂

Later, Harold

Busy Saturday

Hello everyone,

Yep today was a busy one without making any saw dust, oh well.

I went out on some errands while the rest of the family went to a movie. I got a heater, a heat gun, some wood and a few other things. When I got back I was going to do some cutting but I have not gotten there. Is there a “yet” in there? I am not sure.

Then Benjamin (our oldest) and I started in on stuff for getting businesses going. He is an economics major. So we have been looking into a plumbing business start up and also a wood crafting business, just to keep things separate. We looked into phone numbers and related services and got one set up. So things are in the works! I’ll keep you posted (that’s what I do here!).

The other day my wife was going through a drawer and out came a wooden shirt tie my Dad had made. I’ll put a pic at the end. I think it was made of oak. So I am gonna try and make some of those too. Anyone remember what they are called? T-shirt ties?

Also a pic of Melodie’s number 8, she likes it. I haven’t put a gloss coat on it yet.

Have a good weekend!

Goin to church tomorrow! Are you?

Later, Harold

T-shirt tie?

Melodie's #8

Ideas

Good evening!

I had a busy mental day today! What does that mean? A lot of thinking, trying to put ideas together on the computer or on paper or just plain talking it out.

I have had requests to make different items and put prices up and I have to think about my real line of work too. Which is plumbing. So I have a lot of mental irons in the fire and I have to make decisions on which way to go and what to do. Some times it feels like many ways to go all at once and I realize being pulled in different directions negates the others and I go no where. Frustrating!

So no saw dust making today (yet). I have a pic of some lettering I cut out of some scrap pieces of cedar. Gotta use it all up! Only waste as little as possible. So here are the letters.

No winners to either question in the previous posts. Come on! Leave a comment and take a guess!

Later, Harold

Family initials