Tag: sabbatical

My company, Red Gate software, has given me a 6 week sabbatical. I’m documenting the time with all the posts under a tag if you want to follow along.

I had lots of plans for Monday. However things didn’t go my way. Some family matters delayed me getting started, and after Pilates, I was exhausted. Not from class, but I think from working in the sun all day Saturday and Sunday. I took a nap, and then couldn’t really concentrate, so I decided not to do much. I started to mark things, but gave up, covered the boards, and knocked off for the day.

I had some time with the kids, some family business, but mostly a relaxing day.

My company, Red Gate software, has given me a 6 week sabbatical. I’m documenting the time with all the posts under a tag if you want to follow along.

Not a productive week on the sabbatical, at least in terms of what I wanted to accomplish. This coming week is semi-busy with volunteering on Wed and Thur as well as a holiday Fri, so I decided to catch up this weekend.

Saturday was mostly working in the garage, cleaning the shop, building some small drawers for pieces and parts, and organizing a touch more. It was windy outside, so I didn’t want to joint and plane wood.

Sunday was much better. It was calm, and with a cup of coffee, I set up the jointer to square two sides of my new 2x4s and then planed them to thickness.

With the wood ready, I put it on the jig and cut it down to size. Once I was done, I tried to flip the pieces over to see if I could trim them again to give me spares, but they were too small.

It was hot, and I was ready to break, but I decided to see how things look. I grabbed all 8 pieces and laid them out on the bench. The jig is on the left, the flagpole on the right. Looks pretty good.

As you can see, the top is four small pieces.

The bottom, as expected, is four larger sizes, with more space.

Overall, things look pretty good. The two things that have me slightly worried. The first is that the top board, the shorter of a 2×6, is slightly twisted. It doesn’t lay flat with the other boards. I can clamp it down, so it’s probably OK overall. I think I’ll try it and see.

The other worrisome thing is that two of the joints, one on a 2×4 and one on a 2×6 are only about 6” apart. The directions called for all joints to be at least a foot apart, but in this case they aren’t. Not sure if it’s a big deal yet. Stability is an issue, but once it’s glued to other pieces, I’m guessing it will bear up well.

Worst case in both situations is that I need to recut wood. I won’t take the jig down for now, and if I need to, I think I can build another one quicker.

Tomorrow I’ll cut biscuit slots (a few were marked today) and glue up the sides. I need to cut some stands to raise the pole up, but I think that should be fairly quick. If that goes well, I’ll buy a large router bit tomorrow night and work on rounding Tuesday.

My company, Red Gate software, has given me a 6 week sabbatical. I’m documenting the time with all the posts under a tag if you want to follow along.

Today is another volunteer day with habitat. This time back at the ReStore. However I wasn’t feeling good. As I drove over there, I was fatigued, tired, and sipping coffee in the parking lot before they opened, I could have gone to sleep. However I got myself up and walked in.

I worried about trying to get through the day, letting them down, etc., but it went OK. I was the only volunteer, working with a guy in the back processing donations and putting things out on the floor. Also a touch of loading purchases for customers.

I took hinges off doors and wrestled with a sink for a long time, trying to remove the faucets and drains. I worked slow, chatted with employees, and managed to get through a long day. I left at 2 feeling drained and hungry.

I stopped for food and then at Harbor Freight where I bought 12 more clamps, with every intention of getting the flagpole glued next week. I felt slightly better, but I got home, lay down, and slept for two hours.

Not as much done as I’d planned, but fatigue does that. I’m sure some people think I’m doing this sabbatical thing wrong, but hard to tell. Every day this week I was up before 7, except Tues.

Andy Warren asked me if the time has been worth it and I don’t quite know how to answer that. Certainly it’s more relaxing and I get the chance to tackle things I wouldn’t have done before. I’ve gained some confidence with wood working and volunteered quite a bit more than I have in the past. I don’t know how things will feel when I get back to work, but I think I need to evaluate the end of this time and probably a few weeks later.

My company, Red Gate software, has given me a 6 week sabbatical. I’m documenting the time with all the posts under a tag if you want to follow along.

Today I’m losing most of another day away from my flagpole. Next week, I keep telling myself.

I had the second round of high school principal interviews first. We had voted on two candidates last time and they were both coming back today for more questions and a scenario. I got the schedule last night and it was interesting. Since a principal is a leader, the scenario has the candidate leading the committee through a process. It’s an interesting technique, perhaps one that can be used in my other work somehow.

I also think I semi-volunteered for more work. I talked with the superintendent a bit, saying that one of the issues I think lots of parents have is that we don’t understand the process and cost of education. One of the teachers had mentioned they needed lots of prep time for class, and I asked him why they needed the prep they said after they’d taught the class a few times. He asked if I might help figure out how to better educate and inform parents.

Not sure what I’ll be involved in, but I’m guessing I’ll be on the hook for something.

Half my day gone, Pilates in the afternoon and then class. Not quite what I was hoping for. I packed up and left for Goodwill, dropping off some clothes and then Pilates.I was late, having assumed the time and not looked at the reminder I’d set. However still a workout before fighting traffic for class.

Tenons

Tonight was the start of us cutting tenons by hand, We started with a lecture, watching the instructor cut, trim, and shape a tenon by hand. It didn’t look hard, and I even took notes. In fact, I spent the first 10 minutes of class writing down some of the things we’ve learned, trying to be sure I’ll remember them in the future.

I marked and went to cut my first tenon, badly twisting the saw and cutting at an angle. I wrecked both sides of the first tenon before getting a few hints from the instructor and starting on the other side of my board.

I got better, working slowly on this one, and finally getting it cut before starting on the other side.

I wasn’t trying to be too exact, cutting close and then snapping off the sides, knowing we’d use a router plane to clean up the tenon.

I was one of the slower ones to get mine cut, but once it was done, it was acceptable right away by the instructor. Even though it didn’t look great, it fit nicely.

Then I had to start cutting another one. I didn’t finish, but I did learn a bit of a new skill.