Tag: Workshop

  • January 12, 2025

    It was an unusual Sunday only because I woke up rather early. At about 6:15, the cats had had enough of waiting and started whining for their breakfast. Hannah woke up to feed them. When she came back, I thanked her and fell asleep for maybe half an hour. Then, I found myself shopping for tools on Amazon for another hour while “watching” The New Yankee Workshop.

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  • July 4, 2024

    I’ve been struggling with a project that I’ve been working on for a while so tonight I decided to take a break and reorganize the shop.

  • February 13, 2024

    I haven’t been getting to the shop as much lately. A friend I’ve made there called it my sanctuary. It is.

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  • January 20, 2024

    What’s your dream job?

    Today? Today it’s woodworking. I would love to wake up every morning, pack a lunch for myself, and head over to my workshop. I’d love the freedom to be creative and to try things in a space that is full of all the tools I need. It’d be wonderful to answer only to my whim.

    Here’s the rub: I felt the same way about teaching when I first started. I felt free to be creative, to try new things, to innovate through my programming. The curriculum was the raw material, my program the method, and the students the result. I’d stay up late planning lessons, trying to be fresh with my delivery of tired and dated content. In class, I want to be cool, liked by my students, and involved in extra-curriculars. My goal was to do whatever I could to make learning accessible and school inviting.

    That passion has faded. My perspective on my teaching practice feels more practical now, more mature, and slightly jaded. I want to want to love teaching again. Sometimes, in small moments, there’s a glimmer from an ember under the ashes. The fire hasn’t been extinguished yet.

    Woodworking is my escape, my time to play. Going to the workshop is often a cathartic experience. It’s a place that allows me to process my thoughts while thinking about ways to build, cut, and assemble pieces of wood. It’s where my daydreams can rest.

    If I could get up every day and go to a place that felt liberating, I’d be living my dream.

  • September 9, 2023

    September 9, 2023

    I bought HSS chisels and a bench grinder today. Using them scared the shit right out of me.

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  • September 8, 2023

    It’s been over a week since I’ve been to the workshop. I was reminded that I’d been away when I got my box of new materials in the mail. The package has some weight to it.

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  • August 30, 2023

    Having a workshop in a storage facility is an interesting experience. Overhearing conversations is all right, but what I find most fascinating is how everyone seems to avoid acknowledging each other. It’s strange.

    When I get to my workshop, I open the door – it’s like a garage door – and then I step inside and close the door behind me. I hang the lock in the slot on the rails where the bolt fits so that I can’t get accidentally locked in. Once inside, I turn on all the lights. There’s one ceiling light but it’s really only bright enough to help me find the lamps I brought in, of which there are four. That’s still not quite enough lighting.

    After that, I change my clothes. I brought in an old area rug to stand on while I change. I like that the door is closed for this. Once changed, I put some music on. I keep the volume quite low, much lower than I would like.

    While working away today, I couldn’t help but notice how many conversations were taking place outside of my allotted space. There was a constant stream of vehicles coming in and out, too. I did hear one person introduce himself, there was another couple of guys who were inquiring about renting a space, and some guy was on the phone every few minutes. His ringtone is a foghorn.

    When I leave to go to the washroom, I lock the door behind me. Along the way, I pass by a guy who’s been there every time I have. I keep an eye out, looking for an opportunity to say hi. He continued on as if completely alone. Near the washroom, there was a guy – I’ve not seen one woman at this place – who was pulling tools out of his truck. I walked by him, three feet away, and he went about his business as if I wasn’t there. Another guy had to navigate around me as we were walking toward each other in a hallway. He didn’t look up from his phone. While leaving, those two dudes who rented the space, I’m assuming, were unloading their truck. They seemed to actively avoid looking up and in my direction. They even stopped their conversation as I was passing.

    I don’t quite understand it. For my part, I try to keep the noise down while working. Of course, I do make some noise, but I keep my music low and try to avoid making too much of a racket while working away. I don’t want to be “found out,” I think, in that, I don’t want people to become curious about what I’m doing. I simply want to be left well enough alone in my space.

    In the common areas, however, I feel compelled to acknowledge the presence of someone else if I see them. I’m not going to say anything, but I will most certainly nod a hello. I’m curious about what other people are doing, but only because I think people do interesting things.

    It must be that people go to the storage warehouse to be alone. Maybe we’re aware that we can be heard and don’t want to be seen making noises to avoid confirmations of assumptions. It could also be that we’re all just puckered-up assholes, trying not to let our shit out.

  • August 24, 2023

    August 24, 2023

    We’re reintroducing the cats. The plan is to get them comfortable with each other before the school year so that we’re not as worried while writing lesson plans, marking assignments, rearranging seating plans, drafting long-range plans, and preparing for the fall open house. Earlier in the summer, we had our first go at it and it went rather well.

    I have a bad habit of falling asleep on the couch. It’s almost become involuntary. Just as soon as I stretch out down the length of the couch, put my head down on the pillow, and pull the blanket over me, I’m asleep. I barely have time to find something to watch. It’s been a struggle to change.

    We went to sleep around midnight last night. We were tired, because it had been a long-enough day. By 2 a.m., I was up and moving to the couch. I couldn’t sleep for all the scratching at the bedroom door. Hannah woke up, too, and she decided to tape aluminum foil to the door. She went back to bed. It worked earlier this summer. This time, Eloise was unperturbed. Somehow, she overcame her distaste for the feeling of aluminum foil on her paws as she scratches at the door. Clever girl, she found the small gaps and pulled them open.

    By 5 a.m., we had slept for about an hour in total. Maybe two. It’s hard to know. Every ten minutes, that girl would be at the door, digging her way through like Andy Dufresne. I’d bring her to the couch, pet her, she’d struggle free and make her way back to the door.

    At 9 a.m., Ouli, Hannah’s cat, knocked over the glass of juice that was sitting on her nightstand.

    At 10 a.m., I got a call to let me know that the workshop space was ready for me to move in to. That perked me up a bit. I took a shower, made waffles for breakfast, and then took a quick nap on the couch.

    I wish I had the energy to be more excited about it. I’m thrilled to have the space. We went, signed the papers, and then picked up my new lathe. It was a bit of a struggle to get into the car. A kind woman stopped to help us, offering up a third pair of hands. She didn’t realize just how heavy it was until she tried to lift it. She was kind to offer.

    With a little more excitement in me, we drove back to the workshop and up to the garage doors. Hannah jumped out and punched in the code to open the door. Nothing. She tried again — still, nothing. I got out and tried. Nothing. We went to speak to someone at reception. No one was there, not even after I rang the bell.

    Unable to suffer any more struggle, we went to Starbucks for a quick break.

    We went back, because I was determined to get things started, drove up to the door, punched in the code, and nothing. I phoned my contact. She told me to speak with the guy at reception. I went over and he was there.

    After telling him the story, he told me that the code doesn’t open the garage door, but the side door to get into the bay so that I can open the garage door from inside the bay. The side door to the bay my workshop is in isn’t working, though, so I had to go to the next door over, cross through the building, and then open the garage door so that I can drive my car up to my unit.

    We did all that.

    We managed to get the lathe stand put together and the lathe set up. Tomorrow, I need to pick up some hardware to attach the lathe to the lathe stand, and I need a 40 W light bulb. There’s still so much to do before the shop will be ready.

    Before leaving for the workshop today, we ordered anti-scratch tape from Amazon. It was delivered this evening. There’s now double-sided tape on the lower half of the bedroom door. I hope it sticks.