I haven't updated my blog in a while, because my laptop died, so I can't get pictures up. So, I decided to update without pictures.
I've Got Wood
Induendo aside, I have collected quite a bit of firewood to get me started this winter. So far, I've cut down three or four decent size pine trees and chopped them into firewood. It takes a while and quite a bit of work to cut down a tree, section it, drag the sections down to the cabin, cut them into one foot long pieces, then split and stack them all. Splitting the wood gets pretty monotonous (and does a number on my back), so I play a little game while I'm doing it. I try to see how many pieces I can split a log into with only one swing. A normal swing splits the log into two pieces. So, I see if I can split it into three or more pieces with just one swing. So far, I've gotten several tripple kills and two elusive quadruple kills (yep, that's a halo reference). Yes, splitting an entire tree's woth of wood is that boring.
Cabin Update
The weather is starting to cool off here (snowed this week), so I'm try to get the outside work done on the cabin before it gets too cold to paint. I've scrapped, caulked, and primed the back three sides of the cabin that needed it, and am ready to paint the whole backside (five small sides), as soon as I get a weather opening. I'll upload some pictures as soon as I figure out how, since I no longer have a laptop to take to the library.
I have gotten two coats of green on the back and am planning on painting the trim today. I accidentally got semigloss instead of flat paint for the second coat on the back, so it glows just a little more than the rest of the cabin. I'm hoping it gets dirty and tones down soon.
Mom's Visit
My mom came in town to visit last week. We spent most of the time working on the inside of the cabin. We got rid of some old furniture that was falling apart and just wasting space, hung some new curtains, and cleaned up a bit. We reorganized the living room so it should accomodate more people than it used to. As always, it was nice to have a visitor.
Snowboard Rack
One of the problems that we have in the cabin is that there isn't enough floor space or storrage space. We've got lots of stuff, but nowhere to put it. One think we have in abundance are snowboards. Right now most of them are stored under beds, but when people come and start using them, we needed a place to store them where they are accessible. I've had an idea in my head for a while to build a snowboard rack, and finally went to Home Depot to get the parts. The rest of this is kind of a how-to, so it might go into too much detail.
I used a 48" long by 3/4" wide flat piece of aluminum (1/8" thick) for the main structure.
I used #8 x 1.5" long screws with tapered heads to attach the alluminum to the wall. The hard part was figuring out what to use to hold the snowboards. I started searching through the random parts drawers at HD and found some small rubber corks (I bought eight of the smallest ones they had). They were perfect for what I had in mind.
I used #8 x 3/4" long screws with tapered heads to attach the rubber corks to the alluminum. It's important that the screws are tapered, so that the heads are flush with the aluminum.
I'll find a way to post a picture of the rack soon, so I don't have to try and explain how it works. The large gap between each of the posts is 10.5" between the center of each screw. The small gap is 1.5 inches between the center of each screw. To attach the rubber corks, I drill one hole were I wanted the cork to go that was smaller than the diameter of the screw. I then drilled a hole with a much larger drill bit to countersink the screw head (I tried using a drill bit with a countersink, but the countersink portion didn't work at cutting the aluminum). It is important that the screw threads into the aluminum partly so that it stays steady and can't move.
I drilled a small hole part way threw the rubber cork, then threaded it onto the screw that was fastened into the aluminum.
Seven more times, and the rack was ready to be mounted. The mounting screws had to be countersunk as well, to keep them from scratching the snowboards.
The final rack is very sturdy and will hold four snowboards. I plan on mounting one more rack somewhere, since we now have five snowboarders in the family.
Slip Yoke Eliminator
I also installed a slip yoke eliminator on my Jeep. It involved cutting, drilling, and tapping the rear output shaft on my transfer case. It was quite a little task for me to undertake in my sloped, rocky driveway, but all went well and the Jeep is driving better than ever. The slip yoke eliminator allowed me to get rid of my transfer case drop, so I have a little more ground clearance now, and a little more confidence that I'm not going to bang my transfer case on a rock off road.
Before:
After:
First Snow
We got our first snow of the season two nights ago. I woke up to about three inches of snow covering everything, but most of it melted by the end of the day. Loveland Ski Area, on the other hand, has been making snow since last Friday, so their opening day is getting closer and closer.
Job Update
I got invited to Loveland's instructor training in November, after which they make official job offers for the season. So, I don't officially have a job yet, but at least I know I didn't blow the interview. Unfortunately, instructor training overlaps with two of my last three OEC classes. That means I'll have to miss the last two OEC instructional classes (one of which is the practice practical exam), then take the practical exam the following weekend, which will be a challenge, to say the least. Hopefully all goes well.
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