Head Down

Picture of the Day
yesterday | today tomorrow

Monday
September 14, 2020
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after doing a bunch of relatively refined work lately,
it was nice to answer the call of a neighbor in my
building requesting some simple custom shelving for
her cellar storage space. after the precision of cabinet
building, it was fun to slap something together where
assembly speed, material minimization, and efficiency
of space took priority over aesthetics and polish. it was
also one of my shortest commutes ever, requiring only
a short walk with my rolling milwaukee packout stack
from one side of the basement to the other. i decided
to use 3/4" laminated shelf board sheets (rough cut in
store to make handling easier) fitted into notched 2x4
for legs. for the first section, i clamped together six
2x4s, cut a 3/4" groove across the grain (i.e., a dado)
to receive corresponding notched shelf pieces. with
the city locked down under a pall of smoke, might as
well spend the afternoon in a cloud of dust, safe in a
N95 mask, podcast murmuring under my earcups as i
made my moves one swift cut at a time. my brain tried
to trick me, taunting with memories of maui after i
suddenly fixated on the dingy subterranean walls in
the cramped windowless cave. how did i get here?
why am i not on a beach? such questions haunt me
but i dispel them by narrowing my focus, looking no
further than the next step and the tool in my hand...