Get up, get goin',

Motivation is a funny thing. When you have it you're unstoppable.When you loose it, progress slows, passion wanes, and things come to a grinding halt. I hadn't realized it but I was at a standstill. I was using excuses that the family was busy and trips here and there, and work, and my back, my foot,my ribs hurt. In reality I was hesitant to get out to the shop, it would open the wound that my buddy is gone.

But after some reflection.....OK maybe a scotch or two....I realized that thinking like that was dumb, it was time to sh#* or get off the pot. Time to pick myself up, dust myself off and quit rolling around in the ego centric dirt.

So....rear cabinet.I have been stewing about the air conditioner. Ducting the system would distribute the air to various locations but would dramatically lower air flow. The best way to move the air would be to allow it to blow unencumbered. Where it is positioned now the air would simply blow from one side of the back to the other. Essentially creating a freezer in the back and a hot box everywhere else. The unit needs to be re positioned to allow for the air flow to happen straight down the aisle. The best place?....up high....let the cool air fall down. So I designed a cabinet above the rear bench. Storage on either side of a central spot where the air conditioning unit will be re-installed.
In keeping with the theme of rounded corners....  

I got my hands on some 1/4" round 4" radius. It will add a nice touch.

A seemingly simple design...but as you know...

Nothing is quite square, and everything needs a template.

I have a 4x8 sheet of fibrous peg board that has been kicking around the shop for 15 years......yes yes, I'm a pack rat. But it was time to re purpose the sheet.

A nice fit. I then cut access doors for the two storage areas beside the air conditioner new home. Storage will be at a premium! I allowed enough room on the outside edges for speaker installs....when I finally get to that!
It's good to be back in the saddle.

RCP

My heart is heavy. We said goodbye to Randy Cornelius Peters this week. Word like husband, friend, mentor, brother, leader, musical genius, seem to be pale when trying to describe who Randy was. To me he was an inspiration, a teacher, a mentor, a brother, a surrogate dad, a best friend. We shared so much in music, in discussion and in silence. He was with me every step of the way with Fillmore, and he will continue to be at my side and in my heart with all my remaining days.
I miss you friend...
Keep singing..
Keep swinging..

with love
Blake

Ground Hog Day!!

It's funny how we are influenced by pop culture. Last week was Groundhog day and all I could think of was Bill Murray in the 1993 movie with the same title. How often do we as adults feel like  weeks fly by because each day seems to blend into the next, You wake up one day and the kids are getting their drivers licence and talking about university!

So I make the best of each day that I can. I do what I love and love what I do. Sometimes that means I have bus time, sometimes that means I'm watching dance or volleyball, and sometimes that means I'm just hangin' making dreamy eyes at my sweetheart (she LOVES it when I do that)
I finally put the finishing touches on the interior panels. A couple of panels require additional fastening for aesthetics and stability. The addition of the various layers of isulation and vapour barrier required modification of the interior window wells. I left myself some "tabs" so if I needed to attach to them I could. And I did, so I did, but I didn't.....make sense?



not all tabs are created equal....or more aptly put not all tabs are cut the same.



The process is, I put the panel in place and then drill where I want the bolt. Usually it works.





But usually is not always. There were a couple of tabs where the bolt hole didn't centre on the tab. Where I wanted the hole and where there was space for the hole weren't necessarily the same.

So we improvise. The tab needed to be longer....so we made it longer! Simple!


Next was the passenger wheel well

It's like deja vu all over again, I've been here before

Although this picture was taken before I finished the final passenger side front panel position, it gives you a taste of where we are. Next I move to the back. Application of sound deadening material over the rea wheel wells, then overhead compartment, then bench, then....then.... then....

The warm Jaunuary winds

 What a day! For the end of January this is blissful. I grew up in Manitoba, northern Manitoba to be exact, where winter comes long and hard. The great side of that is you can plan your life, you can count on the weather to be cold in winter and less cold in summer. Seriously, it allowed us to consistently play in the outdoors. As long as we dressed for the weather we could do anything. Here... the weather in the foothills of the Rockies can be a little unpredictable. One day -20C the next +3C. It has it's pros and cons....but a pro that I still marvel at after 20 years of living out here is the Chinook winds and wearing a long sleeve t-shirt outside to work on Jan 23.

Like many times before and many more to come, today was a planned step back to move forward. After scribing my wall panels for the bathroom, I realized my eager stupidity when I was congratulating myself on how well the walls adapted to the plywood outer walls. It was then I realized there was another layer AND trim to be installed on the outer walls to bring them to their final profile. So down came the bathroom walls and down came the remainder of the outer skins. Then one by one I trimmed and cut the final surface layer.

 Of course while that happened it was the perfect time to place the sound deadening material from Soundproof Cow>. I knew I wanted to place it, and knew it wouldn't be difficult just time consuming...so like many things that fall into the "easy" category it got left out and essentially forgotten about. Until the moment was right.....and this was the right moment.

 Back to elementary school! Creative arts I think they used to call it, just like construction paper and a glue stick!

 There! very space age-ish, perfect time for the material to be tucked in behind the wall panels.

 Here we are, drivers side done. All inner skins of outer panels in place.

 I am swapping out the fasteners that attach the panels moving to a flat head furniture bolt like you would see with IKEA furniture

And now on to the passenger side...

Template Tempest

OK perhaps the term Tempest is a little strong. Nothing that recently happened was violent, but I must admit the use of mock ups, or templates has really stirred things up. I think my inability to adequately sketch my ideas onto paper without them looking like someone was finger painting with spaghetti is partially to blame as well. In my head I have an idea of what this will look like. When I try to sketch it out, it resembles my art work from kindergarten in Ms Puhatch's class........yes that name is correct....there is no typo......get over it!

After erecting the bathroom walls, I made a simple footprint outline of the Ikea sink I plan to use. This of course pushed me to ensure the final position of the toilet, which in turn required me to place the inner bathroom wall board up.

But....having curved ceilings and curved walls, means that each panel has to be scribed onto it's own separate template. I First used cardboard, thinking of course that this would be perfect....

It was not. There was a gap on the roof line that was inconsistent. Ranging from 1/4" space to binding the roof material. So I needed to get a better system for scribing. I tried the protractor, but you have to keep it level the entire way to keep the line consistent.



In the end, of course, the solution was the simplest design. A piece of 2x2 with a hole drilled through the body. This allowed me to be stable to the flat surface being scribed and perpendicular to it as well.

I could then easily have a line that was perfect to the roof line but would allow me to control the relief from touching the roofing material!

It wasn't much to look at but it held to the wall like a teenage couple in puppy love....minimal distance.

Now that we have the first wall template....it's time to transfer to the material to be used for the wall.

Nod to the Nog

I am both ashamed and glad all in the same breath of emotion. Like so many instances before this, I had significant visions of grandeur with respect to progress during the holidays. But as it has become all to common....it did not materialize in the way my utopic mind had envisioned it. And yet I am OK with that. What did happen was some great family time, hot coffee and reading by the fire with Ron while the rest of the world slowly stirred to life, outside splitting wood, playing in the snow and all around relaxing.

Christmas is full of surprises, usually in the form of presents!

This was a present I had given myself a while back, but a special order, and as such took a looooooooong time to come. But arrive it did. This is an Ocean Air sky screen for the "moon roof I installed in the rear bedroom area! It will allow us to leave the hatch open for air flow but NOT allow the pesky mosquitos! AND allow a block out screen so I can let the queen bee sleep in while I get up and make coffee!

Christmas is also a time for giving....like in giving up for the greater good. What I mean is I finally had to put my money where my mouth is. I finally gave up 1/2 my workshop space for a home gym.
This is the mayhem of me trying to reorganize the shop to allow for the loss of space.

Christmas is a time for celebrating. Celebrating the opening of my brothers Architectural design firm Boreal Designs

Aaaaaaand maybe having a little Sears catalog moment or two while we be goofy for the camera. Personally I thought he could use this in an advertisement brochure for the company. He didn't seem as enthused as I had imagined he would be...

Finally Christmas was a time for teaching an old dog new tricks. I still don't know if this was a real desire or just calling my bluff. You see the family went skiing one day leaving me(with a wonky knee) and my Mom to stay home and hold down the fort. After a lazy morning of coffee and cards, I said to my mom " I'm going out to play in the bus. You are welcome to come out and help, or you can stay in here and enjoy the fireplace." I'll be damned if she didn't reply " I'll come out and help"
And so she did. She was a guide to the bathroom wall mock up, she held  pieces in place and was my yes man when I needed one. She earned her Flxible wings however when she put power tool to metal. It took a time or two but she quickly mastered the pneumatic Riv-net installation gun! Way to go Mom! Thanks for the help!

Object are closer than they appear

I am far from old...but then again that depends on the frame of reference I suppose. To my son....I am sure I am as old as dirt. Respectfully of course! I mean he is a good kid, but thinking back to when I was 13, my friends parents were old, my parents were old...hell I remember when I was 17 and a girl we knew was dating a guy who was 30.....DAMN that was like dating a senior citizen. While to a few of my friends who are more mature than I...47 seems like a spring chicken.
Why the rant about age? Well I  am sitting here with a dram of scotch(old persons drink) while I ice my foot with plantar fasciitis (old person pain) and winge about how small the letters are on the keyboard(old person eyes) and ponder my pictures for this blog post.
Last week(sunday) I drove Fillmore into the city to get the coolant leak repaired in the rear heater unit. It was a drop dead gorgeous day. A beautiful blue sky with high wispy clouds, +7C which is amazing for December. As I barreled down the highway, checking the gauges- temp, air pressure, fuel, speed(yes I did get a speeding ticket in Fillmore some time back-who knew!), and mirrors I was struck by the beauty of the highway fading into the mountains set against the prairie big sky.

It wasn't until now though as I downloaded the picture did I think 'well that pic is a bit lack luster'. What seemed bigger than life in the present, seems almost indistinguishable now. I smirked at the thought of the message often found on modern day side mirrors

"Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear."

I guess what I am getting at is that sometimes we take things for granted, our health, our loved ones, the beauty of the world around us. At times it's not until it is taken away that we realize how lucky we are. I had a close call with a lot of potential bad sh#t in the last year or so, but I am so grateful for still being here to see the sky and to giggle about my aging eyes, and aging body.

When I arrived at Polar Mobility, Michelle who was to pick me up was delayed by a half hour or so. Much to her relief I said, "no rush Fillmore has heat and I have a book!"(and of course my reading glasses)
 Frankly grateful for the opportunity to sit, relax and enjoy.....to bad there wasn't a Tim Hortons close by...

The next day Fillmore was repaired and ready to go home, I picked him up after work....yes it's dark here at 6:30. I am tickled pink at how great Fillmore looks at night. Not so tickled when I am chased down by people who stop me on the street to ask what this is and if they can come aboard for a look.

After a few failed attempts at Fillmore time, I managed only to start to cut metal studs for the bathroom.

What a difference a week can make. Now, although still mild in comparison, it is winter. But as Christmas draws closer in the mirror, I am grateful for another opportunity.

The busted knuckle

 I love this thing, Randy and Leslie were out and about when they saw this metal sign.....and thought of me. Some things are truer than life itself.
 Today was a rare day, 3 out of 4 of us had no commitments....aside from getting the 4th one to dance...and as such we were able to play at home. Which for me meant I could spend the greater part of the day with Fillmore.

 The panel project continues. Remove, re-cut, replace.repeat. I was sidelined last week when the pneumatic rivnut gun broke down. The threaded mandrel was damaged. I thought it was marred threads, so I spent time restoring them only to find it still didn't work. After playing some email tag with the manufacturer I found out that the piece I needed to replace (a grade 8-1/4"x  2" NC hex head) didn't need to be manufacturer specific, which meant I could get it just about anywhere.

 So on with the show! More cuts and test fits, which means I got lots of exercise walking up and down the hill to my shop!

 After a great day, the paneling was complete....well as complete as anything really gets. You know how it is. You take a step forward and then the next job forces you to back track a little to reconfigure things. I know that at some point in the (hopefully) not to distant future I will be removing some of these panels to modify or attach something to.

 Speaking of a step backwards....there is trouble in paradise again.....

The rear heater core is leaking coolant. I made damn good and sure that all the connections were tight, but I discovered a pool of trouble. It was a slow leak but it made a mess. Looking closer at the problem I realized that the leak was not coming from a hose clamp but rather a fixture that is designed to allow movement(a swivel it appears), but it is leaking from the swivel itself. So I may need to replace the part. Being that it is only a few months old, a quick call to Polar Mobility got me in to see them first thing Monday. Which means a drop off Sunday and I will have to figure out a pick up time.

Good thing I like to Dance