Carpentry is addicting

All this DIY stuff is addicting! The stuff that you can do is too numerous to count. I have to keep in mind not to just keep building stuff and end up with a crowded, cluttered, ugly area. Last night, I couldn’t help but fix the stool where my water dispenser sits. It used to be this stool that some carpenter pieced together. I needed one where the dispenser can securely stand on with a small place where I can put a glass or a pitcher on. I used spare lumber from an old cabinet and made it look more decent. It needs paint but that can wait until everything is done and things can just be painted all at the same time. At least it is functional now and it looks ok, better than how it did. Actually, I cheated. I only covered 2 sides. I didn’t need to cover the other two since it was facing the back and the side beside the refrigerator.
I was going to throw away this old filing cabinet my dad got from my lolo’s office. Can you now imagine how old that thing is? The drawers wont open right and it was dirty. I know how much new filing cabinets cost so I decided to try to see if it can be salvaged. I took out all the drawers and emptied out the crap inside. Why do mice keep shitting on everything?! Anyway, I got it cleaned. Ripped edges got mended with a nail crimped inside the edge to make it more stable. I hammered out the dents and bent support struts. I used a pliers to straighten out the rail guides so it would slide in better. Those without rail guides, I used a 2x1/2 piece of wood to act as a guide. In the end, I shoved that filing cabinet back in the storage room perfectly functional. It needs a coat of paint but nobody will care about how it looks in the storage room.
I couldn’t stand seeing the holes in the wall from the nails that were previously attached there. I grabbed my can of putty filler, mixed in the hardener and covered it. I'm glad that old can still hardens. I used it before to fix a dent in my car. Yes, I fixed a dent in my car. After seeing the car repair people do it so many times, I tried to do it myself and I think I did a decent job at it. Anyway, holes in the wall are covered. I have to figure out what colors to use on the hallway walls and on my living room walls.
I found the base and ornate legs of an old bench. It would be a nice thing to fix up. I found some pieces of wood in the storage area that used to be a part of something. They look like they would make nice and sturdy shelves.
I'm going to take a shower now so that I wont be tempted to work some more.
Here are the before and after pictures of the stool i use for my water dispenser.

Job almost done

I'm so happy! I am 2 plywood sheets away from completing the last wall of the 2 rooms I made. Then it is painting, cleaning and arranging. Ang babaw ko kasi natuwa ako at nagamit ko yung mga tools ko haha. I needed a plumb bob so I tied a length of string on my pencil and tied a small key at the end. I needed a chisel so I got an old screw driver and sharpened it to suit my needs. Oh, have to put the door on the maids’ room but I need to clear out the junk in the area outside it before I install it.
My dad was funny. I went down a while earlier and he saw me. He said, “Baka gusto mo ng karpentero para tulungan ka tapusin yung ginagawa mo.” All I said was, “e tapos na nga e. Dalawang plywood na lang ang kulang.”
I’ll save up for a decent step ladder and a nice tool belt. It is crazy to put a chair on top of another just to reach the ceiling. Luckily I didn’t have any problems. Damage for this project is a burn, a scratch distal to my left elbow, some scratches on my right hand, splinters, 2 leg scratches and a shoulder scratch.
I’ll be better next time. Little projects would be to fix the stool where my water dispenser sits, make a book case, make shelves, make a folding table.
Ah! I always like the feeling when a project gets done.

Playing Carpenter

My place has a lot of room. Sadly, my proximity to my parents’ optical made it a perfect place to store some equipment. It would be great if it were just a chair or a few items but the list has a couple of Optical chairs, some towering optical stuff, a few boxes of metals and accessories and a couple of boxes of lenses. Add the fact that the person who made plans and designed a room in the large space didn’t really think about things, I end up with a mess outside my room. Last week, I decided to change things. I don’t know if it was boredom or just the fact that I wanted to be able to say that I can do it, I made plans to tear down the existing room and put it up elsewhere beside a new storage room. Two rooms in place of one is how bad that space was planned. I bought lumber, plywood, a power saw, and some nails to start. The project is really easy. However, the problem lies in the fact that I cant empty out an area and just work and put stuff back in. I have to work around the mess and shuffle them around. A few scratches, a burn and some sore muscles after a few days and im about 3/5ths done. Tore down one room and has built one. The storage area is in the works. It would have gone faster if I didn’t sprain my wrist from karate last Monday but I still got some stuff done. I should ask the building administrator how they fixed the cement on the ceiling and walls because the friggin thing is so hard that my masonry drill bit wont go through it! Anyway, I can safely say that I can build a room (with electrical work too!). Scratch that off my list ;)

For christmas, I wish someone will give me a nice leather toolbelt. It’s a bitch working without pockets. Then again, I shouldn’t be working in my pajamas either.

Habitual Choices

My friend Adrian had Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken in his blog. He said that it was meant to remind him. It is interesting that it reminds me, too, of my journey. My initial choice has become a habit. I hope that consistently choosing the path less traveled will lead me somewhere pleasant :) It is not that the common path is not attractive. It is, as a matter of fact. It is just that i keep thinking that the other is more worthwhile. It is more difficult to traverse but i get to see and experience things that others dont. I have no complaints and i look forward to the rest of the way.

The Road Not Taken

By Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long as I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim;
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh,
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.