The Bed Saga. Part 1.

[Michael R. Dow]

So I moved into this house in March. No, that simplifies things too much. Let me try again.

In March I got a job offer contingent on my being able to relocate from Austin to Houston on VERY short notice. I found a house (that's a whole story in and of itself, I might add) that had a detached 3 car workshop (it is illegal, by the way, to store a car in a garage when one has power tools.. I'll find the statute somewhere.) So I trundled a house full of kids, furniture and tools from there to here.

Time passes, job settles down, life establishes a rhythm... No, you don't want to know how much HELL was just compressed into those few words. Well, maybe you do, but I'm not going to go into the details. Let's just say that good ol' biblical Job had it REALLY easy.

Weekend #1: Preparing the shop.

Finally, noting that I still have no real bedroom set worth talking about, I set about turning the mess I created in my 3-car workshop into a true woodworker's dream. I've already got most of my tools moved, and there's stuff piled on top of them. Weekend 1 was spent moving everything around into some semblence of order. No big problem here, 'cept for the fact that some of that stuff is HEAVY! And there's no SWMBO to worry about, thank God...

Weekend #2: Powering the shop.

Hmm.. One 20 amp circuit feeds the garage. I'm running a 25 c.f. freezer, a beer fridge, lights, outlets and garage door openers on that circuit. Let's see if I can just run a few more amps and turn it into 220v... Wait, what's this?! That ALSO ran the laundry room, back bathroom, outside lights and back hallway lights on that circuit? WHAT THE HELL?

So much for a $20 job... Now I get to run #4 wire (3 strands) all the way from the panel to the garage for a new box: That's 175 feet, folx. Yup.

If it weren't for all the damned rain this past weekend, it would be done. So let's see... What do I have invested in the first part of this project?

#4 wire - 500 ft. $125. Various 'stuff': $50

Ok... So I'm just a little over budget -- no big deal.

What am I going to build? I decided on the bed from Woodsmith #108, so I went out to get some wood, too... $257 worth, to be exact. Some wonderful cherry, quilted, curled, figured... Can't wait to get power.

This is turning into an episode of "this damned house", I just know it...

-Michael

[Swingman]

Keep us posted ... think Morash would be interested in tackling a little reality TV?

[DonkeyHody]

You want sympathy? You'll have to go to someone who hasn't been there so many times. I think its a story most of us could tell. I can even finish it for you. Before you're done, you'll have found an excuse to buy another tool or two. SWMBO used to ask at the conclusion of each project,"So how many tools did that cost?" Now, I occasionally beat her to the punch and say proudly,"And I didn't even have to buy any tools." Of course router bits don't count . . . do they?

DonkeyHody Even an old blind hog finds an acorn every now and then.

[arizonabigguy]

Well, on the positive side, you can have your wife arrested if she tries to use the garage to park her car while your tools are in there.

[Young Carpenter]

Now you've hit on it Woodworkers Reality. DIY needs to cash in. :0 Then there is "when projects go wrong: the good the bad the Gory" there's a thought.