Cool Web Stuff

In an attempt to better tell the story of my most recent work trips, I used a couple of new (to me) web tools. First, I used the My Maps feature on Google Maps to create a storyboard of my journey (with my coworker and friend, Andrew) around Cape Canaveral Air Force Base looking for the Apollo I launch pad. Next, I used Zooomr to create a couple of picture boards that allow you to see a more detailed image by hovering over or clicking on 'portals' in the image. These things are described in more detail in the Life Blog (first entry & second entry) or you can look directly at the Google My Map and the Zooomr pictures of the Vehicle Assembly Building and Mercury Monument. Sorry if they don't work for IE users, I'm not sure why I had trouble.

Headboard Progress

I haven't made any progress on the headboard in close to a month. The combination of rain and other activities has really slowed me down. I hoped to work on it today but I'm not sure I will because of the rain again. It's not that I can't work in the rain, but it isn't particularly pleasant. Anyway, I thought I'd put out a brief update on what I've got so far. I updated the design slightly to avoid the baseboards and to allow us to add crown molding later if we want. I also made my plans more detailed as you can see in the picture.

The previous picture didn't even show the tables which I have completed building. They are 14 inch squares made from four pieces of oak. Just for these little pieces, I used a planer, miter saw, jointer, biscuit joiner, and sander. They turned out looking great; I just have to figure out how to attach them now.

And last but not least, I've already put up most of the boards. Compared to the two that are left, these were fairly easy but it did take some time to get them up there straight and evenly spaced. I used keyholes in the backs of the boards placed so that I just needed to get two level rows of screws in the wall with the correct spacing. It took some time and diligence but worked perfectly.

Little Projects

I haven't done a real projects update in a couple of months. The main reason is that I haven't made a lot of progress on anything big and with all the rain we've been having it really feels like I haven't done anything. However, when I think about it, there are many one day projects I've done that are still fairly significant. So this post is going to be a quick catchup and then I'm going to try to be better about posting even the little things as they happen. In addition to the things below, I've done some work on the headboard but I'm going to save that post for another day because E just got home from work .

Sidewalk - I mentioned some work I needed to do on the sidewalks in front. I got some quick setting concrete designed for patching that came in its own little bucket so all I had to do was add some water. It was actually pretty easy and despite the bicycle marks turned out pretty well I think.

Garage - Another rainy day project was organizing the garage. Since I started woodworking, I've been amassing more and more tools and wood so every now and then I have to take a step back and reorganize. This time, I mainly focused on wood storage. I reorganized my small scraps into various nooks like between studs and I used the legs from an old table to make a rack for long boards. I just moved the existing bolts from the leg corners to the sides and ran them through the studs.

I also took the opportunity to find a display shelf for some old tools I got from my grandfather. They were his dad's or maybe even his grandfather's. I just wanted to put them out because they are pretty cool. The picture shows the display with an old toolbox, miter jig, hand drill, and hand plane.

Yard Work - A couple weekends ago, we had a dry day that I spent cleaning up the trees around the house. Our oak tree got its yearly trim and I spent a significant amount of time cleaning out the trees that overhang our fence behind the garage from my neighbors' yard. I mainly did this because it just looked bad but there were also some limbs toughing the roof of the garage and there were vines that had taken over and were not only growing in the trees but also the roots are invading my yard. I'm hoping that pulling up some of the roots and providing more sunlight will help the grass grow back there. The pictures below give you a taste of how much I cut out. It was not my favorite task and I actually took a couple more days cutting it up to take down to the street.

Google Analytics

Some of you probably know that I am a bit obsessed with all of the tools, toys, and services that Google has to offer. Well, I've just made a basic update to the web page to take advantage of yet another. It is Google Analytics which lets you view statistics about traffic on your site. I've been using Stat Counter from the beginning and I haven't gotten rid of it. The little number at the bottom right of every page is my unique visitor count from Stat Counter. My only complaint is that I only get to see the last 100 page loads with the free subscription, but I just thought I'd add Google's free tool as well to see if I like it.

By the way, I've got some other projects to update you on. E just dumped a month or so worth of pictures off her camera so hopefully I'll be able to give you some updates soon.

Edit (4 Aug 08): fixed broken links.

More Garage Lighting and Upcoming Projects

E and I have decided that our next big project will be the "headboard" for our bed. I put that in quotes because it isn't exactly a headboard but I can't think of a better description either. It's actually more like wall art over and around the bed. Confused yet? The picture below is a rough sketchup of the design.

There are actually a few details missing. There will be small tables on each side of the bed cantilevered out from the boards there and some pendant lights that hang down above the tables. Again, hard to explain but we hope to have it done soon so I should be able to put up some pictures. I've already got the middle boards ready to be stained. I cut keyholes in them for hidden mounting to the wall.

The reference to more garage lighting is that I installed two more lights in the garage like the others. I wired them to the existing switch so I can get some pretty good light in there. The motivation was that we are in a pretty rainy season but there wasn't enough light to stain wood with the garage door closed. There is plenty of light now!

The other "upcoming project" I'm actually just about to go do. Because of tree roots, there are some steps in our sidewalk and the community association has been complaining. There is a whole frustrating story there because the steps in our sidewalk are nothing like some of the others around the neighborhood. We figure that someone on the board must live on our street. Anyway, I bought some concrete and I'm going to try to build "ramps" like the association requested. We'll see how it goes.