Feels Like Work

I was sitting in the dentist’s chair, minding my own business having my teeth cleaned after Dr. Julie had poked and prodded all of the tiny crevasses in my mouth. She had finished drawing all of the blood possible and reluctantly told me that although I will need to replace a crown in the not too distant future, I was good for another few months. The dental hygienist was doing her thing scraping and polishing when Dr Julie popped back into my field of vision.

Of course I thought she had had second thoughts about future necessary work or remembered that she needed a down payment on that summer home on the Riviera. To my surprise she told me that Louise had told her I did some wood working. I said that although it is true I like to work with wood, I am not that good. Like most women, she ignored what I said and asked if I could make a treasure chest for the dental office. I mentioned that a bank would be a safer place to keep her money. It turns out that when kids are good (or bad) they receive a toy to go home with. When Dr Julie moved offices the other office kept custody of the chest and the new office needed somewhere cool to keep toys.

I agreed and regretted it almost immediately when the receptionist gave me measurements by holding her hands apart like she was describing the fish that got away. I asked about colour and got a shrug as an answer. Nice… Well, at least I didn’t have any cavities.

I had some ideas and went online to see images of treasure chests and possibly find a design that would work. Most of the ones online were beyond my skills, too large or just wrong for the application. I decided that a curved top was the way to go and recessed panels for the sides. The top worked surprisingly well and in no time at all it all came together. Good on me!

Well, that was a couple of months ago and I had let apathy creep into the build, doing a little here and there, but effectively doing nothing. Sure it was cold in the garage where I mostly worked and I had gotten sick for a week or two, but I was just lazy, finding it easier to watch TV when I had spare time. I wasn’t writing blogs or really doing anything. Well, until I got the email “Just wondering how the treasure chest was coming along.”

I fired off an email with a comprehensive list of excuses that sounded lame to me, but they replied that they had infinite patience. I just hate people that are that nice and understanding.

Long story short, I kicked my ass into gear and assembled the pieces I had; made the ones I didn’t and went to the hardware store to pick up the hardware needed to finish the project. I had a few set backs, but managed to get it built pretty quickly, stained and put the hardware on. It looked pretty good if I do say so myself. Sure, I would do the next one differently, but that’s because like most humans I learned a few things by my mistakes.

I dropped it off yesterday and they seemed pleased with it. They are far too nice to tell me the truth if they didn’t like it. When Dr. Julie asked how much, I told her a root canal, two fillings, an x-ray, two tooth brushes and a package of floss. She smiled and said that I also needed a crown.

I am always happy when I finish something I make for myself. I am very understanding when it comes to excuses about how lazy I am. To do a commission just feels like work and I am retired.

Grass Being Green

Well, the whining and bitching can end starting tomorrow. Our wonderful weather forecasters have decreed that we will hit 20°C tomorrow. I will be able to get my pasty white skin out in the sun where it should be.

I will be at a loss for something to complain about, but being an old man I should be able to find something worth spending my opinions on. The world is spinning as it should.

You can tell it is spring because I have seen a couple of robins hanging around the trees. The rhubarb and chives are beginning to sprout. I suppose that if I had planted crocus or tulip bulbs in the fall they would also be sticking their noses up thru the fast thawing soil. I have planted bulbs in the past and all it got me was a couple of fat squirrels. It is possible that the squirrels buried some of my neighbour’s bulbs in the garden, I will check tomorrow.

The real sure sign that spring is here is that Stan and Karen the neighbours across the alley were sitting on the deck in the afternoon sun drinking a couple of beers. His garden is still under a foot or two of snow, but that should be mostly gone by late in the day tomorrow. Life is good.

Well, not so good for some of the towns near rivers, as those rivers are rising over their banks. Some of the towns north of us are in mandatory evacuation situations. Farmers in southern Alberta can’t get onto the land to seed because it is so water logged. I hope it stays warm and dry for a week or three so that they can grow the food I love so much.

The other sure sign of spring is that today I swapped out screen doors to the back yard. We have a nice insulated door to keep the winter cold outside where it belongs that functions from late October till late April. The rest of the year we use a door I made last spring with a doggie door in it so that I don’t have to keep getting up every time someone walks past the house to let Buster out. It gets old very fast and I have suffered months of getting up just in the middle of that exciting scene on my favourite show.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the large pot holes on the road and road gravel putting chips in the front windshield. I have been living with a chip for a while now and will continue to do so until the city sweeps the streets.

I am looking forward to grass being green and having leaves on trees and bushes in a month or two…