Some things I've made

This will probably be a quick post as I have to run out the door to meet Ananda, but I wanted to post a quick picture of some of the things I've made in class recently. A hammer, a bevel board (the piece with the diagonal lines), and two bevel gauges. Bevel gauges simply measure angles while the board lets you put your gauge against it  and will let you know what the angle is. 

The hammer is the most recent project. It took a while, and while there are things I'm disappointed in myself about, I think it came out well and will serve me. Today we got to go out on a boat from the 1930's that belongs to the school. We didn't go anywhere, but it was just nice to be aboard, on the water. It was a beautiful old wooden boat too, so it was nice to get a sense of some of the things we may be able to make. I also signed up for rowing classes, as there are several small row boats that we can take out in the bay if we take a how-to class. Its been beautiful out, and its been frustrating not being able to get out on the water not having regular access to kayaks or paddleboards. I was just sitting with one of my classmates, Josh, and saying how nice it would be if we could get out on the water, so it was nice to have this show up. I'll be trained next Friday, and will be able to get out after that, which will be great. Should make for some wonderful photos. 

Also I've filed for unemployment and the Washington State Training Assistance Program. It appears that I have been approved for both, so I should receive support for the duration of my schooling. Which will be wonderful.

Anyhows, I hope all is well back home, and just know that I am doing well and enjoying my time in school. Be well.

Love,

Jamie

Carlin joint

Last couple of days have been rough. Spent two days trying to make something called a carlin joint.

Per the Community Boat Project : Carlins are structural members that run fore and aft in a ship wherever the deck structure calls for an opening that cuts across deck beams, such as for hatches or cabins. They are notched into deck beams on either end, and supported athwartships by spur beams notched into the carlin.

My goal these days at the boat school is try and get one thing done per day. Its a very low expectation, but its what I seem to be able to manage reasonably. Today I'll be making a bevel board, a board that shows degree of angles. We'll see how it goes. 

Gus

Gus is the outdoor cat who lives here, and has become something of an indoor cat. She is very sweet, has a very strong motor, loves to love and be loved and especially loves tuna. She is very good company.

Boat School, week 1

So everything seems to be going fine with boat school. Its been an adjustment. Having to be up early, having to actually be on time (go figure). All challenges on top of the fact that I've never done any real woodworking, so learning the tools and understanding what the instructor means when he says things like preserve the line and blowing corners out. All the work is in detail and I don't consider myself a perfectionist. Everything for me is making do as best as you can with the tools, materials, people and animals you have at any given time. And this is the same, just drilling down to a different degree of precision, which I'm beginning to feel like I'm getting to get the hang of. I have no idea whether I'll be a boat builder or luthier, but I'm enjoying the foray into unknown territory. Even my landlord has been skeptical of this little jaunt, but she seems to be coming around, which is good, considering how much I like living here.

Most of the days right now we are practicing making joins using two pieces of wood, say two by two. We then carve a small square out of both pieces, but only halfway through the wood, so there is a backing to it. The two pieces should fit together well, with the edges lining up to each other and flat across the plane. As simple as this sounds, its not that easy at first. You have to draw out lines using a ruler (tri-square), then cut along those lines with a japanese cut saw. This looks like a small machete with teeth. If the lines don't match, or the cut is off, the pieces won't fit together cleanly. If it hasn't been cut enough, you have to work at it with a sharp chisel to plane it down so it does fit. If you've cut too much, you start again.

With each project, it takes me usually about three tries to get it close to correct. As I do more, I pick up more on what the instructor was talking about, what he was looking for, how it makes things work. Its funny, I've done the same thing when training people for work, and they often don't do the things I've told them to do, which may seem arbitrary, but really does make a difference. Now I'm that guy. The learning curve feels steep, but I'm determined to get it and I am seeming to get it. I've gotten through most of the joins, and the class is now moving on to making our own tools. One is a small device which looks like a small wooden pocket knife, but is actually known as a bevel tool, used for measuring angles. Another is a bevel board, which is kind of like an alphabet for boatbuilders, a flat piece of wood with notches and lines indicating the plane of an angle, from 0 to 50 degrees. You can imagine how this might be challenging for someone with my inclinations, but I'm getting my head around it. Soon we will be making hammers and a toolbox.

Anyhow, that's all for now. I'll try to get some pictures of the things I've mentioned. For now words will have to do.

Hope all is well.

Love,
Jamie

Ananda

This is Ananda. She's doesn't like pictures so much, but said these were okay. I'm pretty sure she meant the one where she is making a face, but I'm going with both.

Cabbage life

So things here are going well. Life at the fort is winding down, which is a good thing. The transition has not been easy, fraught with plenty of self-doubt, but the alternatives never seemed pleasing, and I like the life I've created for myself here. It seems like the right decision, despite the risk, which is primarily financial, and can be overcome. I am ready to take that leap, and am looking forward to the change. Ananda has been working lots of hours, both with her job at the fort, and helping a friend out who she is covering for at her bakery so she can take a vacation. She's very tired, burned out, is in need of rest and is almost there. A few more days and she can rest. She is thinking of taking a vacation somewhere with the money she has made, which if she wants to, I hope she does. I know she has said she would like to see Ireland, as she has roots there.

Life at the cabbage is good. Gus is becoming used to being indoors I think. We are beginning to have more cold and wet days, though we seem to be having lots of really nice sunny days, which is unusual for September, or so it seems.

I had picked up a mattress via craigslist, but it was too big to get up to the second floor. I tried climbing it up a ladder to the window, but it was too big. I put it up for free on Craigslist as I was sick of having it in my living room, taking up space, blocking the rear window into the woods. A fellow came last night around dusk, his phone number from New York, but I answered anyways. I met him at the front of the main drive, as its confusing to get back to the cabbage. Lots of different drives and small habitations. I met him down there and he was a young guy who said he had just moved into a new place and was looking for a full size mattress. Didn't think he'd be able to get one so fast. I had torn the mattress, just a little  trying to get it up the ladder, or maybe down, and was worried he may not want it because of that. But then we were just shoving it into the back of his truck which had a camper top on it and it was getting caught on all sorts of things, so I don't think my tear mattered much after that. He seemed happy and I was glad I could help him out. I have a good mattress already, one that was given to me, and its worked out well.

I also found a really nice racing bike, but its too big for me. I am going to take it to the Recyclery, a non-profit bike shop in town that fixes up used bikes and sells them again. They sold me my bike, which works really well. They also sold me my helmet. I've never used helmets, always found them distracting. But its hilly here and you get going pretty fast going downhill. Its a bit reassuring to have one as you fly down the road. I'm hoping I get to ride some more, as its been a lot of fun.

Some other things I have to get rid of, a wooden pallet that I was going to use as part of a bed frame, some boots and gloves that don't fit, an incorrect water filter, a ulock. Its been a lot of that lately. Picking up stuff, trying to make things work, and finding what doesn't. S'okay, bit disappointing, as its all been good stuff, but sometimes things just don't work.

I work today at noon in the cafe. I've been training people at the front desk last few days. Glad to help out, people are complimentary, but glad I'm not doing it anymore. It was nice not to have to run around all the time like in food services, but its also more draining. So many things to know and speak about, lots of money issues, people who are angry and agitated. This is why I'm looking forward to just getting to work with my hands, do some detail oriented work that will hopefully produce some beautiful things. I'm also looking forward to doing some odd jobs, or just having a little bit of time off, so that I can enjoy doing the things I like to do, like painting and spending time with Ananda.

Anyway, that's sort of life right now. Its not everything, but its an idea, a snapshot so to speak. I hope everything is good where you are.

love,
Jamie

More home pics

Some more house pics. Roses are just outside the door and there is someone nearby who has built a sculpture garden by the pond. He's even built a little meditation hut up in a tree that overlooks the pond.  Enjoy.