Honor

I don't know where to credit this photo... it is found all over the net.  But it reminds me that actions always speak louder than words. And while I'm at it, kudos to the men and women in uniform.  Where ever there is a dirtbag that needs tossed overboard, or a nation that needs a chance to be rebuilt, the US is there to try and make it happen.  Our soldiers are buried all around the world for their efforts to bring freedom to the people. God bless the USA!

Times Square, New York at night

I had an opportunity this week to travel to New York city for a couple of days and take in the sights and sounds.  We had a gruelling schedule of landmarks and activities to try and take in while taking a bite out of the big apple.  I have to admit that I missed the culture and buzz when I returned to my quite home in the mountains.  Of course, culture and buzz have quite the premium these days, so I am thankful that the company I work for covered the costs.

We took in the subway, rode a taxi with a driver hell bent on qualifying for the Daytona 500, and saw the New York skyline from the Staten Island ferry.  Of course we took in some Broadway shows, explored international cuisine, and managed to do some shopping as well.  We also took a stroll through Central Park, which I have never done before.  I managed to literally walk into Sigourney Weaver, but that's a story for another time.  Overall, I give New York a thumbs up as a vacation destination if you've never visited before.  Just do your homework and find a hotel you can afford near a subway station.

I'll leave you with this video of Times Square at around 11 pm at night.  You can't really tell it's night unless you look between the skyscrapers!

Blue Ridge Mountains

These are the Blue Ridge Mountains as seen from I-26 in North Carolina.  A photo from the front seat of the pickup hardly does it justice, but it was too scenic to pass up.  I never get tired of seeing these mountains.  This morning they are dressed in the heavy clouds of an approaching spring rain.

Measure twice, cut once

Sooner or later, every woodworker who blogs posts their lamentations over some project that went south due to a mistake made while holding a measuring tape.  This is that post for me, although I have to admit that on more than one occasion I have had to re-cut a piece of plywood.  I figure with my tools and a pencil, the best that I can do is 1/64 inch accuracy.  If something is 1/32 inch off, I can usually see it with my eye.  So imagine my surprise when I made shelves that were 1/16 of an inch too wide. 

That doesn’t sound like much, but this bookshelf has to fit inside the 3 by 4 inch legs of the headboard of a loft bed.  The legs are joined with a mortise and tenon joint and it is not going to move 1/16 of an inch.  So I had the joy of removing that much material from the side of my bookshelf.

I decided the punishment for the crime would be to use a hand planer to correct the situation.  That decision has the added bonus of sharpening my planer after running it through the glue used to hold plywood together.  Anyway, by the time I could go rent a power planer and take it back, I could finish the job by hand.  Smoothing, filling, and repainting my small mistake will set me back about three hours, plus an hour to sharpen my planer.

No real need to worry about the moral of the story here.  In the end, I am still making chips and dust and doing something that I enjoy.  Although doing something twice does tarnish the joy a little bit, it still beats spending time at work by a good margin.  I have to admit that sharpening a planer is not much of a punishment either.  Since I need to touch this one up, I might as well sharpen the others while I have my water stones out.

Third Day

Third Day is one of my favorite bands.  They lean a lot towards southern rock and their lead singer sounds like Travis Tritt. I got to see them in concert, along with 10^th Avenue North and Trevor Morgan.  If you get a chance to see them on tour, the tickets are worth it.  The concert was nearly 3 hours and Third Day played for over an hour and a half.  The crowd stayed on its feet for much of the event and I left with sore hands from so much clapping.

Christian music has finally gone main stream, and bands like Third Day and 10th Avenue North are the ones who helped put it there.  Maybe you are lucky enough to live where there are contemporary christian radio stations. Almost a given if you live in the south; another reason for southerners to count your blessings!

Trevor Morgan starts things off right!

10th Avenue North was the next to take the stage.

Third Day rocks the house and never looks back!

You can log onto Third Day's website here and listen to streaming audio of the actual concert.  Just click on the boom box on the right.  It changes periodically.  I'll leave you with a video someone posted on youtube of one of their latest songs: Gone!