Since people often repair bicycle tires with duct-tape (or as I like to call, “duck tape”), why not make the whole thing with duct tape. I fact, why not make everything with duct tape? That way, nothing can be damaged ’cause it’s already repaired!
Author Archive for Kyle
Page 4 of 79
We went to the beach this morning for our traditional monday and friday yoga-and-tai-chi-at-the-beach-and-afterwards-dive-in-the-water-and-top-it-off-with-a-hot-cocoa-after reutine. It was neither cold nor warm. (It coulda been warm if the sun was out) Anyway, as we were walking along the beach, I spied a smashing, pristine pair of leather gloves. Just like the ones I use in woodworking. There was a bit o’ sand inside ‘em so I assumed whoever dropped them wasn’t gonna be coming back for ‘em for a while.
So, when we got back home, I washed them out and set them in the greenhouse to dry.
Now, in the picture, the gloves look a little funky but keep in mind, I took that after I washed ‘em and wet leather always looks a little stinky.
Well, there’s a reason why I haven’t been writing much recently, it’s because I’ve been doing the same thing every day for quite a while. Specifically, practicing mortise and tenon for the next shamisen. You see, fancy-shmancy shamisens have necks that can be split into three pieces. They are connected together with mortise/tenon joinery, and that’s what I’ve been practicing. Possibly after another test piece or two, I should be practiced enough to be ready to make the three piece neck.
Today, it was time to prune the Ghanko (spelled something like that) tree ’cause it was just getting way too big and was hanging over the road ‘n all.
It was pretty easy to trim ’cause we had new saw blades so it cut easy. The branches were very long and shot out far. They were also kinda bouncy. When cutting the really long ones, I had to wait for the cars to pass before cutting it off. A couple times, there were a few harrowing moments (lawsuit wise). I was halfway through cutting a big one when, halfway through (which I believe I already mentioned), It broke off. Fortunately, there was a branch below that was going parrallel to it so it was fortunate that it was right below it. So, it was balancing on the branch and I was holding the butt of it so it wouldn’t fall. Once the car passed, I pushed it off the branch and it started to go into the road but it bounced back to the curb.
Anyway, after getting it pretty manageable, we noticed that or neighbor’s rose bush/tree (it was pretty high) was getting tangled in our bamboo so I went up and tried to take out the part that was going into our property but it was hard ’cause not only was it tangly, there were massive thorns on ‘em and I didn’t have gloves on. I cut off a big chunk which was a bit of a mistake. I tried to pull it down (’cause the rose branches were right above me. But it was stuck on bamboo and itself. I got the pole pruners to sever the little ‘uns which would hopefully loosen it a bit to bring it down. After getting a few pieces off, I swept ‘em to the side and went back to prune more. Then *snik!* Up went a 1/4″ thorn into my toe! That was annoying! Why don’t people plant the thornless kind!? I tell ya, when the barefoot look comes back into style, roses will be much less popular.
Anyway, I finished the rose tree and then cleaned off my foot. It felt fine after a while.
It’s been getting warmer but downstairs, in the shop, it’s still nippy. I usually put on a sweatshirt, vest and long pants. Since I’m normally barefoot all the time, I figured I’d just toughen up and endure it downstairs. So I did that and I was fine but I noticed that even though I was fine and mainly sitting in one place, if I needed a straight-edge and all I had in my reach was a flimsy plastic ruler, I rationalized that it was good enough but I knew that since my feet were cold (the tops of my feet were fine but the cold linoleum sucks the heat right out of the soles of m’ feet), I didn’t want to get up and get the right tool for the job. So, I broke down (well, it wasn’t technically “breaking down” if I had a good reason) and went upstairs to get some shoes. Not closed shoes mind you! Sandals with socks.
Anyway, when I opened my warm-clothes drawer, I saw the sweatshirt that I thought was stolen at the Ugly Mug! Imagine that! I was so sure I brought that sweatshirt and took it off during the performance but I guess it was in my drawer the whole time!