I started cutting the sides for the jewelry box project in shop last week. I cut the front and back pieces properly, but I screwed up the side pieces.
My technique was perfect. My use of the machine was perfect. My measurements were perfect, to the point of anal retentality. I cut a perfectly-sized 3¾” piece.
I was supposed to cut a 7¾” piece.
It doesn’t matter how many times you measure if you’re measuring for the wrong target.
Well, I went to my first wood shop class tonight. All was going well until I stepped out to use the restroom.
The usual restroom in the shop was locked and we couldn’t get in, since the high school apparently can’t figure out how to get a key to the instructor. The backup restroom in the shop office was out of order, since apparently nobody has the sense to keep a toilet plunger nearby, so we had to go out to use the one in the student commons.
Due to me misunderstanding the directions, I went outside and promptly tripped over a concrete block in the parking lot, since the security lighting had broken down (noticing a trend here?) and I couldn’t see shit. I scraped up my hand good, and my knee somewhat, gave my joints a good beating in the process, and got covered in shit since it was wet and rainy. I ended up going home early.
Today the elbow and knee that I landed on are good and sore, so I called in sick to work, and made an appointment to see the Dr. this morning to get checked out on general principles.
As for the class itself, the first day was mainly watching safety videos about the equipment, and briefly going over our first project (a jewellery box). I still need to watch the table saw video (the one we were about to start before I stepped out).
How to get phone service transferred into your name:
I’m tempted to call them back, ask for a brand new phone line, and a brand new DSL line, pretend the old line doesn’t exist, wait for the new line to get connected, then have them cancel the old line, and hope that they can do that without interrupting service.
Also, the DSL will come from a different company, one that has enough brainpower to find their own ass in a locked closet, with both hands, a map, a flashlight and a bloodhound. (Without interrupting service.) I’d consider mentioning this fact to AT&T (underscoring that they’d be losing at least my DSL business) in the hopes that it’ll give them an incentive to pull their head out of their ass, but I don’t trust them to not screw it up.
Well, first I tried to find the appliance parts store. It appears to not exist anymore. I spent 15 minutes driving around the labyrinth that is the Meridian Park office park, and when I finally found the number, it was something else entirely.
So I went to Ace Hardware and got some washers that looked like they were what I needed, but when I got home and put them in, I discovered that the problem was more complex than I originally thought. When the agitator is fully on the shaft, the bottom of the agitator scrapes against the bottom of the basin, so there’s too much friction for it to turn properly.
I had my clothes in the car on the aforementioned trip, so after I went to Ace I tried to take my clothes in to the laundromat across the street. Well, they’ve gone out of business too.
So my plan A, B, and C all took a shit, just like that. So now I have to formulate a plan D and E, and the way things are going, probably a plan XYZ.
Anyway, we finally gave up and called a professional. They’ll be out Monday afternoon.
