30 January 2012

17 January 2012

Musical Interlude



Can't help but hear Robin Williams announcing this song using his Lawrence Welk voice....

(cropped because the imagery is ... very 70s and all that goes with that)

06 January 2012

New Desk Done

So I'm back from my border run, and have got my new desk all set up.  See previous post for photos of the creation of the new desk.  I was able, before heading to Nicaragua, to get a good finish of polyurethane on the desk, and then to allow it to dry thoroughly for three days, so this morning I got busy (with Jen's help) making the switchover.

Before (actually a few months ago)

After  
The shelf unit is the same, so you can see how much more space I have on the desktop.  Not only is the new one deeper, but it is also wider.

Umm, that's it.

01 January 2012

On a (Building) Tear

For Christmas this year, Jen's folks gave us cash, with which to do nice things for ourselves.  Jen used her bit as a lion's portion of the price of a "like new" netbook computer, and I decided I would use mine to buy materials for a larger computer desk, as the one I built when I first arrived in Costa Rica is small, because I had a small space in which to put it.

The first step was to go to the neighborhood lumber yard and get some planking for the top.  I wanted to go as wide as possible (and here in CR it's easier to get really wide boards), but I ended up getting 1"x10"s, as they were the most reasonably priced.  I also went with pine, although I did think about using the laurel (accent on second syllable, please) like I used for the folding tables last time.

I already had some 2"x3"s, that Jen's former boss gave me (along with some other lumber) when they closed down shop, so I decided to use them for the under-top frame and legs.

Top planks 'joined' using cleats and screws, and under-top frame assembled and temporarily in place.
Legs and low back brace added, pondering computer shelf placement.

Same thing, viewed from the other end (note the 'park' bench I made in the background).


The top with a nice coat of poly on it.

Close shot of the wet-polyed top, showing the dowel peg anchors.
Not a whole lot left to do before bringing this one into the house... decide final placement of the shelf for the CPU, more poly on the top (and legs and shelf) and attaching the upper shelf unit that is on the old desk, but all that will have to wait until I return from my quarterly trip across the border to get my visa re-stamped.  I leave in the morning, and will return on Thursday.

Pictures to follow!