Author: way0utwest

A full day planned, starting with 90 minutes of guitar. Working on “Everybody Hurts” along with some exercises and a little blues practice. It was a nice time, and I’m thinking that most of this sabbatical is going to be about guitar, with a few other things thrown in.

Afterwards, I went outside to get a little work done. I started with the winch. After machining new holes and ensuring I had hardware, I mounted it on the building.

It’s in a good spot, but I discovered a few other issues, which I wasn’t sure how to solve. First, the cable up there is 1/4” cable. The winch has 3/16”, which isn’t a lot different, but it is different. I removed the electric winch cable and found a 1/4” hole, or close to it, but it’s too narrow to get the old cable in.

I tried a few ways, including using the Dremel to saw off a clean edge. I could try to widen the hole, but I have a different issue, which is the drum is really small on the electric winch for 1/4” cable. That likely would be an issue. Perhaps the better solution is to connect to two cables together, but I need to do that up high, likely somewhere in the 22’ range, which means renting a hoist. It’s an interesting problem, and one for another day.

My wife has other issues with repairs, so I moved on to work with the tack room. The old lights are dying, likely with blown ballasts, but rewiring those is a hassle. It’s also likely not as efficient as getting something else. I did find a nice fixture on Amazon for $25, which is less than a new ballast for these lights.

I replaced one today and my wife liked it, so I’ll order another and replace the second one next week.

Then I went to do some feeder fixing. I cut new wood, but had some issues because some of the screws in this feeder are phillips, some are square, and I didn’t have the right bit. I decided to leave things along and just redrill some holes for a temp fix. Again, this seems like a next week project.

I have a few to fix, so I’ll measure some items while I’m out there, and then fix them better when the weather clears up. Today was cold, frigid really, with 10-20mph winds and a 25F temp. I retreated indoors.

I’m publishing early, with the intent to play a little more guitar and ride the indoor cycle today for exercise. Then it’s time to get on a plane.

Yes, I’m traveling on sabbatical, but not for work. My wife wants to celebrate this birthday in Las Vegas, so we’re heading out tonight. I got practice covered, and her sisters and our sons are meeting us out there for the weekend, so this will be a fun, relaxing weekend.

We’ll see what I can pick back up with on Monday. Halfway done, and it’s been fun and relaxing. Not getting as much done as I’d like, but I’m working through things.

A work day, trying to get a few things done around a busy life. I got up early to practice guitar and get in a few lessons before a massage. I know, life is hard, but normally I wouldn’t be getting in guitar or massages this often without a sabbatical.

Today was a easy day, and a short one with volleyball practice. I slept in a little. I’ve been a bit worn out with all the physical activity, especially after some hard runs yesterday. I got up in time for about 30 minutes of guitar, then it was off to:

A hot stone massage. I haven’t had one in awhile, but it felt good. A really relaxing massage from the therapist my wife really likes and recommends. I came out of there feeling good and immediately hit the gym for a little weight lifting. It must have felt good as I upped a few weights in the bench press and lat pulldowns.

Afterwards, I had to hit the grocery and hardware store for a couple things, then home.

It was cold and a little windy, so I stayed inside, getting the wire rope disconnected from the winch and then trying to decide how to proceed. I need to go remount it, which is the plan for tomorrow. Since it was only a couple hours from practice, I decided to skip that today and watch film.

It’s not really film, but one of the parents for my team records the games, so I re-watched a loss from last weekend. It’s hard to fit this in and I sometimes feel like I’m rushing things when I watch, so I took time today, made some notes, and then built a practice plan.

With a little more time, I hit the guitar again, doing a run through of a few songs, just to keep moving.

Then it was practice and dinner. An easy night.

Snow day. A break from things, and this makes my third snowboarding day in three weeks. Good, but not great. Still, nice to be on the slopes. I was up early, driving alone. My wife’s toe is better, but not enough. Hopefully she’ll go with me next week.

It was chilly, 15F, but no wind, not not a bad day. At first it was overcast, but the day cleared up and eventually I could see Breckenridge from Keystone.

I spent about 3.5 hours on the slopes, warming up a bit on blues, and then working through some moguls. I love the Oh, Bob! run, but I tackled a new one today: Wolverine.

It’s a steep, tough, in the trees, all mogul run. I had a few minor spills, and had to rest a couple times, but made it down. According to my watch, in about 14 minutes, which was the longest run of the day. A good day overall, wandering a bit around the mountains.

Then it was time for home. No happy hour, but I did stop for more Beau Jo’s on the way home.

On the way back, I’d been looking a cheap, used, electric guitars. I wanted something else in the office to practice with, and a cheap electric seemed like fun. I found one locally on Facebook marketplace for just over $100. It’s not great, a cheap Dean, and a small amp, but it gives me something to keep in the office and play with. I tuned it and messed around a touch before calling it a day.

A good day 12.

A day late, but I wanted to get the start of week 3 out there. A slow start, but relaxing.

The Weekend

A busy weekend, mostly volleyball for me. Saturday I had to feed horses early, then the a midday practice. Afterwards I was planning on working on my winch, but ended up being short a part and having an issue with alignment, so I gave up, played some guitar, and then drove to Pueblo for a tournament.

Sunday was in Pueblo all day coaching, then dinner with my wife and home late. Nothing really happening on this day.

Monday Morning

I started with some guitar. I wanted to get back to a routine, and while I did sleep in a bit, I then spent about 90 minutes going through a few lessons and practicing. I’m wandering around, so a mix of some blues lessons, a guitar exercise lesson, and then a few songs. I also started to look through the Top 60 Fingerpicking songs. I won’t get through 60 on this sabbatical, but I started with #1 (Time of Your Life), which I know, but not as a fingerpicking song.

Then I decided to go outside for a bit. It was a nice day and I cut some metal, trying to get the winch mounting holes to align with the holes in the metal bar. I had to extend a few holes, and stopped there. My plan was to remove the wire rope and then attach the existing one, but the one Allen wrench I’m missing is the one I need.

Frustrating, but I have other things to do.

Since I was in the shop, I decided to mock up a guitar stand. I need at least one, and likely two, in my office, so I thought I might take some plywood and make one. I cut a couple pieces and then added a biscuit to join them

The glue has to dry, so I stopped here, but I did make progress on something.

Since nothing was working well upstairs, I decided to work on the basement. I went downstairs and get through one of the rooms, removing some stuff and sweeping out the floor. I took stock of some of the framing, and realized that this might be a bigger project than I thought.

In any case, I found a few interesting things. This is the last set of servers that ran SSC. The firewall on top, two web servers, and the db server on the bottom. They’ve been in my basement since Redgate took over the hosting. I didn’t fire them up, but I piled them in a spot where I can decide what to do with them.

I went through some books, culled out those that are worth donating, along with some CDs, stereo equipment and luggage, and loaded it all in the car. That’s an errand I ran on the way to the gym.

I also found a couple boxes of SSC shirts. I brought them up and put a couple loads into the washer to clean them. They must have been in the basement for six or seven years. They look OK, but they’re a touch musty. I’ll give them away at the user group meetings.

Finally, some health time. Goodwill, yoga, and the grocery for a few items.

The day ended with more guitar in bed, with my wife singing along for a few songs. A nice, relaxing day.

I’m still not quite moving in the direction I want in the basement and garage, but I am making some progress. It’s also relaxing and exhausting to be working every day with my hands and not with a computer.