Drilling

The very expensive drill press arrived Wednesday this week. I tried to move the boxes from the driveway into the garage, but man, the thing is heavy. So I covered it with a giant tarp till the weekend. On Friday I decided to unbox it in place and shelp the pieces in one at a time to save my back. I built up the base and got Reid, one of the strapping young neighbors, to help lift the 150 pound head onto the stand. I some point it dawned on me that there were in fact two huge boxes and my whole drill press fit in one. On further inspection it appears I  was shipped two. I checked my account and indeed I was only charged for one. Hmmm. I checked the manifest and shipping docs and they seem to feel that I was only shipped one. I have to admit that the thought of doing nothing and waiting to see what would happen did pass my mind for an instant, but my dad, sitting on my shoulder whispered in my ear that that simply would not do. So I called the company.

They had no clue. The young lady I spoke with wanted to send me a return sticker and to drop it off at UPS. I politely informed her that it weighed 300 pounds. She then said OK, I'll get FedEx to pick it up. I politely reminded her that FedEx will not pick up anything more than 70 pounds. It needs to be freighted, that's how it came. Of course, her supervisor had left for the day and would get hold on me on Monday to arrange pick up. So I have a huge boxed drill press sitting in my driveway awaiting pickup.

I used the monster this weekend. It is a sweet tool. A gentle whir is all the sound it makes. It does beep a bit too often for my liking, but at least it only flashes safety messages on the screen and there is no voice over reminding one to wear safety goggles at all times.

Theo and Audrey

It was Saturday a week ago exactly. I dropped bwo at the airport on her way to San Diego. After puttering around the shop for a while I took the girly out for a walk. I met Steve, one of the neighbors, on the road leading two strange dogs. Seems these two came along and stopped over at his patio, driving his three dogs nuts. We kind of know all the dogs in the hood, but these two were strangers. So Steve took them round the area looking to see if anyone knew of them. I went home and posted on the local FB lost pets board and Steve posted on Nextdoor. We got some comments but no bites.

Around 6pm Steve's partner Christy called and asked if I could help them out as no one had claimed the two and Steve's dogs were freaking out. Roxy gets on with nearly everyone (except annoying pushy puppies) so I agreed to take them on, hoping someone would claim them soon. The two, black and tan doodles, were well groomed and had shock collars but no other details at all. So I took the two in. Roxy was a little suspicious, but they were really chill besides being starving. After gobbling down their dinner, they just lay around watching my every move.

Eventually it was clear no one was coming for them that night so I settled down to go to sleep. The tan girl tried to climb on the bed with me, but I ordered her off immediately. They bedded down on the floor beside the bed, while Roxy took her usual spot under the window. At some point I woke up in the dead of night with two very warm lumps lying close on bwo's side of the bed. I just sighed and let it be.

Early Sunday morning I had arrangements to go to a "antique fair" in downtown Sac leaving at 6. So a sleepy Christy came to pick up the two after I had walked and fed all three. I got back around 9 only to find two cars stopped between our houses. The lady had recently moved into the area and was not yet on Nextdoor so a neighbor of hers had heard from one of our neighbors that her dogs were with us. The two were of course overjoyed to see their mom.

So Theo and Audrey went home happy. I too was happy to not have to worry any more. Sweet dogs.

Sunday Morning Musings

This last week it became much clearer just how much of a boring life I live. It's one of the main reasons I don't blog as much any more. I simply have nothing much to say. I avoid network news at all times and only read some very selective feeds. I listen to audiobooks to and from work, and while these take me to the far corners of the world, it's their words not mine. I come home from work tired and often quite stressed, and spend much of the workday evenings watching Youtube or reading. The weekends start with early morning walks with Roxy, David and Eliot at the lake followed by as many hours as I can physically stand in the shop in what seems like a constant battle to improve my woodworking/lutherie skills. Don't get me wrong I am quite happy in my lot. I have a little disposable income to waste on tools that I will probably never gain the skills to use perfectly. Talking about tools, I recently really overdid it.

I have been eyeing the Nova 58000 drill press for more than a year now. It's got all sorts of bells and whistles, including a LCD display and a direct drive motor (no belts to change for differing speeds). But it's not cheap. I finally concluded that I needed some joy and ordered one this week. It will take a week or two to be shipped, and of course now I have a touch of buyers remorse. It's not normal for me, as I don't usually second guess my decisions and just deal. Still this thing is way, way more than I could possibly need. Hopefully it will bring me as much joy as I get each time I use the way overkill Laguna bandsaw, which was the last extravagant tool purchase.

So here we are. We should be in Israel enjoying a daily falafel from Gabai. One of the reasons I was OK to drop all that cash on a drill press is that the amount of money it's costing to keep rebooking these tickets ($300 a time) is coming close to the tool cost and worse there is nothing to show for it.

If anyone is in need of an nice old Grizzly G1200 floor standing drill press in reasonable condition (I recently changed out the bearings), I have one  looking for a good home. The time changed last night and it's nearly 7am and quite light out. Roxy is getting restless, it's time to go to the lake.

Roxy giving me the eye cause she knows it's time for the Lake