Each year, my quartet, Sound Accord, delivers singing Valentines. It’s always a joy! This year since Valentines Day was Saturday, we sang on both Friday and Saturday. We delivered songs to 21 sweethearts on Friday and to 11 on Saturday. It was two days of tears, laughter, and kisses. What a love fest! We sang for teenage sweethearts and for octogenarian sweethearts. We sang before hundreds, and to just one. Each of the 32 events was unique, but each was a clear expression of love. I just plain love being in the middle of it.
Whew. February 15
February 15th, 2009Singing Valentines in Utah County
February 2nd, 2009
Once again my quartet, Sound Accord, will be delivering singing Valentines for the big day. We will schedule our biggest day on Feb 13, so that we can deliver to schools and businesses. We will also be available mid-day on Feb 14.
If you are a man who would like us to sing to your girl friend, wife, or other female significant other, please call Duane at 801-830-5858. If you are a woman, who would like us to sing to a man, well … NO. We did that a couple of times early in our career. It just doesn’t work! (At least not for us!) We will be singing in Utah County only. (Provo UT, Orem UT, Lindon UT, Pleasant Grove UT, American Fork UT, Lehi UT, etc.)
We deliver 2 love songs and a long stemmed rose as your Valentine for a fee of just $45.
More about the quartet is here: SoundAccord.com
Woodshop progress: insulation and drywall
January 2nd, 2009My shop is too big! OK. That’s the last time you’ll hear that. Though the work continues it seems slow! There’s just a lot to do. I had the week off from work. It has been nice. Most of the insulation is done on the lower level. For now, I’ve just sealed off the attic room. I love insulation! Though temperatures have been in the 20’s and 30’s a very small fire in the woodstove keeps the place nice and comfy. Sheetrock is installed on 90% of the shop ceiling. The storage ceiling is yet to be done. Most of the ceiling was a two-person effort, with the help of Terri or Erin. (That’s the way to do it!) But I did about 5 panels on my own. The drywall lift I rented made the job pretty easy. I don’t know how else I could have managed to install drywall on an 11-foot ceiling. Cool stuff. I hope the engineer had an equity position. The Telpro panel lift is a great tool!
Barn at Sunrise
January 2nd, 2009December 31, 2008 – Plain City, Utah
This photograph was a “team effort”. I was the driver. My daughter, Erin, was the photographer. In my youth, I enjoyed photography, and apparently the genes have successfully transferred. Erin visited for the holiday week, and brought her new high-end digital SLR camera. It was my suggestion that we go out to photograph some of Utah’s vanishing agricultural landscape. I’ve had the project in mind for some time. We had a great time and took lots of pictures. The photo above is the masterpiece of the week. We visited the site first on Tuesday, then decided to return Wednesday at sunrise for this shot.
Vanishing landscape? This particular barn is across the street from a new subdivision.
Woodshop progress: Passed electrical inspection this morning!
December 22nd, 2008A milestone! I finished the rough-in electrical last night and had the inspection this morning. Yes … was a bit nervous … I’m not an electrician. I have some experience over the years … but still I get concerned about nuances of code, when the inspector is on his way. I shouldn’t have worried. I knew that it would go well when we walked up to the door and the inspector said, “That’s a beautiful door!” I gushed … “gee thanks I made it of cherry and walnut”. He barely glanced at the wiring, and passed it all off.
None too soon! It’s cold, and I had to get the electrical inspected before I could start insulating. I haven’t dared to put a thermometer out there, but with full ventilation and no insulation, I don’t think the woodstove raises the temperature more that about 15 to 20 degrees.
Here’s the details on the electrical: The sub panel is fed from an 80 amp breaker at the main panel/meter box on the house. The panel is a 200 amp panel. Formerly, it had 2 100 amp mains. I down graded the 100 amp mains to 2 60 amp mains for the house, then added the 80 amp main for the shop. As you can see below, I built lots of diversity into the shop circuits, especially since it is a one-man shop.
Circuit details for the shop:
30A 220: Planer
30A 220: Dust collection
20A 110: Perimeter outlets A
20A 110: Perimeter outlets B
20A 110: Table saw
20A 110: Jointer
20A 110: Attic outlets
20A 110: Storage outlets
15A 110: Shop Lighting A
15A 110: Shop Lighting B
15A 110: Storage/Attic Lighting
15A 110: Swamp Cooler
15A 110: Garage Door opener
Lighting for the main shop will be 15 8′ 2-lamp T12 fixtures that I picked up used at a good price.
Validation
December 14th, 2008I don’t do movie reviews. Ordinarily. But, my family has just voted this film to be the best for 2008.
Feeling a little down? Need a little validation? Spend 15 minutes with Hugh Newman and start smiling.
Utah drivers: Give me a break!
November 29th, 2008I ride a bicycle. A lot. I commute to work by bicycle more than 50% of the time. Last year I rode more than 3000 miles. I started riding again 2 years ago, and with all my safety gear and safety mindset, I’ve been incident free.
I believe that no driver out there wants to kill a bicyclist, and I also believe that the reflective gear I wear helps drivers to be aware. Generally that means that on the road, drivers give me plenty of room.
But still, Utah drivers: you can be better! I know … I know. Bicycles are rare here. I know. We love our SUVs here, and will be driving them until the last drop of oil has been drilled. But wake up! You can do better at sharing the road.
Recently, I spent a weekend in Portland Oregon. Portland is bicycle nuts! Bicyclists are everywhere! And drivers have adapted to sharing the road. It’s obvious. While there, I didn’t do any bicycling, but I did observe lots of friendly driving. I was amazed when walking back to Erin’s (my daughter’s) apartment after breakfast. We were walking north on a sidewalk approaching an entrance to a shopping area. We were yards away from the intersection, and yet, as we approached, a driver approaching the entrance and ready to turn into the lot WAITED for us to see if we were going to cross her turn path! Amazing. The last time this happened in Utah was probably some time around 1924.
In contrast here, I was coming home from work on my bicycle one evening, and crossed the northbound I-15 off ramp at highway 193 with the walk light. Not a big deal of course, except for the possibility of drivers taking a free right without checking the crosswalk to their right. So as usual, I held back … getting either driver eye contact, or seeing that traffic would prevent a free right. No problem. Then 2 miles down the road while waiting for another light the driver of a UTA (Utah Transit Authority) para-transit bus opened up her door and said, “Was that you crossing the road back at 193? I just think you should know … you scared me to death back there! I was ready to turn, and there you were right in front of me!” OK. Well that was well intentioned, I guess I was being told that I should be normal, and drive a car. But here’s the situation. Yup there I was with a reflective orange vest, a reflective neon green helmet, a 20 watt halogen headlight, in a crosswalk with a walk light, and a professional driver wasn’t looking right to check the crosswalk while turning right! Wake up!
Reflecting on this later, I realized that though the comment had scared me, I was indeed safe riding by my rules. I had assured that on coming traffic would prevent her from turning into me … and as it turned out I was just clearing her path as an opening cleared for her. No problem. But Utah, wake up. Pedestrians and bicyclists do exist.
Woodstove for the woodshop
November 22nd, 2008I got out to the shop early this morning to work on wiring. But it was about 37 degrees, and hmmm, my priorities shifted. I got to work on installing the woodstove. I first had to do some work on the manufactured chimney. I’d placed it temporarily for the roofer, but hadn’t installed the ceiling flange. The chimney needed to drop down 6″ into the flange, and unfortunately the roofer — absent my direction sealed the chimney into the roof flashing. I had to undo that, and to seat the chimney pipe in the ceiling flange.
Then it was off to Lowes for another section of chimney, cinder blocks, stove pipe etc. So now the bill for chimney, etc is about $400, but I got the stove for $50. Hah!
By 3 pm, I had the inaugural fire going, and tomorrow morning the temperature will be right for wiring. I don’t know about you, but without a woodstove … well it didn’t feel like a woodshop. Now it does!
The shop is closed in!
October 28th, 2008Well, the door is hung, and winter can come. I just need to do the weather stripping, and we really are ready.
Next up is the gas line for the radiant floor heat. I’m digging the trench for the gas line right now. Should have the gas supply done in a couple of weeks. Then we can do the 4-way inspection and start installing insulation. After the door was up — even without insulation — I noticed the building was warmer than the garage. The south windows are providing good solar gain.
A door for the new shop
October 11th, 2008I figured that the new shop should have a fine door that speaks to what goes on inside. Sometime around 1992, I acquired some walnut from an old woodworker in Pleasant Grove, UT. The walnut had grown in his yard, and he’d had it sawn into 12-quarter planks. Well it’s 2008, and that walnut was still waiting for a project so it has found its new purpose. It’s been a rewarding project. I haven’t applied woodworking skills at this level of fussiness for quite some time.
I like to make a connection to the wood I am working. That connection is always special when the wood has both a story from the inside and from the outside. Wood, of course, is a contankerous medium. It always has a story to tell from the inside, and sometimes it expresses itself at the worst possible moment … almost always when you ask it to do something it didn’t want to do! But on the other hand the wood may also have a story from the outside. And that’s the case here. I wish I could remember Stan’s last name, but after 16 years, it does escape me. He was a member of my barbershop chorus, and about 80 at the time. He’d reached the point that he realized his stash of walnut was probably not going to be used by him. He was pleased to pass it on to me (and accept whatever cash was involved at the time). But more than the cash, he was happy to see that precious walnut go to a fellow who would appreciate it. Some of it went into bench top for an organ bench at the ML Bigelow organ shop where I was working as a craftsman at the time. Stan — the musician — was excited to hear about that. I have a feeling he’d also be mighty happy to see his walnut in this woodshop door.
Here’s the door after the first coat of finish:
