Bloodvale

YES I GET TO SEE MY LITTLE GIRL 1 WEEKEND A MONTH - THE FIRST WEEKEND OF EVERY MONTH...

ON TOP OF NETBALL ON WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAYS! THIS IS FANTASTIC! I'M OVER THE MOON!!

YIPPEE!!!

Well today was the last day I was at the ex-Redcliffe City Council - now Redcliffe District of the Moreton Bay Regional Council.

Was very sad, I quite liked working at Redcliffe - excluding the travel of course.

I didn't really want to leave but had absolutely no interest in going through another amagamation.... so now I'm footlose and fancy free

Well it's done! My hair has been shaved for the Leukaemia Foundation - it's not too late to donate though, just go online to http://www.worldsgreatestshave.com and click on 'Sponsor'

Here are some photo's for your amusement:

Yup, in 2 days I'll be losing my hair for the Leukaemia Foundation!

Having said all that I did pre-bowl last night and was very happy with the result - 168 / 137 / 167. Much better set of games than previously ( I think last week all my games were around 100 )

Tried a different bowling technique last night, different grip and everything - spinning. I can't get much spin on the bowling ball but there's enough to give it a little flick at the end and it got me a lot of strikes. I just hope I can keep it up next week

Saddens me to think of all the fun we could have had today - so many things we could have done.

Alas I remained locked in the study finishing off newsletters and the like, Corinne is at her course.

It is going to be a lonely day.

I've got so many things to do and depression just saps your will to do any of them.

It really is an uphill battle sometimes to just get out of bed.

Depression really sux bigtime.

Well I guess I had better get this posted, been meaning to do it for ages.

At the same time I've been putting it off, I don't know why.

I started these drawers with Vern in March 2007 and I still haven't finished them by March 2008, sheesh.

In 2007 we did the side boxes but never really completed the drawers, just as well really as we changed our mind on how we were going to do the actual drawers.

The goal was to have side storage as well as a central set of drawers. There will be spaces between the central drawers, the side storage, and the rear cargo barrier for bits and pieces that won't fit in the drawers. The entire thing will be covered over and lockable so we can have our doggies sitting happily on top of it all when travelling.

Step 1 was to get a suitable template for the sides of the side boxes.






A full size PDF of our template can be downloaded from the website here (1Mb PDF). If you print it out A3 it will be the same size as the one we used.

Step 2 was to do some slicing and dicing. For our material we choose to use 3-ply marine bonded plywood. Strong, resilient, and should be more than suitable to the task at hand.


Step 3 was to create some floor and side panels using wood-glue and screws to hold them together. This helps to give structural strength to the box.




Step 4 was to add a lid. We're not sure if we're gonna keep this size lid or (re)move it when we create the centre bit with the drawers, so we'll see how we go. We used stainless piano hinges to hold the lid on.




Step 5 was to put it in place




Step 6 was to take them home and paint them up to protect the wood. I used an all-in-one water-based paint and got some anti-mould stuff and mixed it in with it. First coat I thinned out with water so it soaked into the wood better, second coat finished it off. Sorry no pics of that as it's a pretty rough looking paint job to say the least :-|

Originally the side boxes weren't secured by a couple of weekends ago Vern and I finished off some mounting brackets so they can be snugly bolted to the vehicle

Now for the actual drawers themselves, the tricky bit.

We used a metal framework using 25x25 RHS and 25x50 RHS. Both oversized, but what we had.
Timber is 18mm 5 ply.

Woodworking machine is cast iron 10inch tablesaw with router table extension.
Sturdier but less portable than triton.
We also used a jigsaw and a belt sander.

Job could be done with jigsaw and hand saw for straight cuts.
So you wouldn't need expensive equipment, just easier if you have it.
The metal stuff could be done with timber as well.
Woodworking machine is cast iron 10inch tablesaw with router table extension.
Sturdier but less portable than triton.
We also used a jigsaw and a belt sander.


So we start out with some left over metal






As you can see in this photo we used the wider metal (25x50 RHS) for supporting the sides...


Test fitting for sizing of the roof piece


Almost completed framework


Some tidying up


Adding the securing plates


A coat or two of paint




Complete with drawers




Done!

(actually I still have to make the lids of the side boxes and give them another coat of paint... but close enough for now)

Was nice.

Took her and one of her friends to see "Jumper". Good movie, a bit violent but still a good enough movie.

Asked her if she wanted to stay the week. Alas, the answer was no.

I'd already asked if she wanted to stay over tonight. At first she said she had something on early on Sunday, which wasn't a problem for me. Sadly though when I accidentally pinned her down on it in front of her mother it came to light that she was lying, she didn't actually have anything on Sunday she just wanted an excuse not to come over without saying outright "no".

Sad, and painful, that she feels she needs to lie to me - for whatever reason.

I was elated to see her and be with her (even though I sat two rows back so as not to intrude on her and her friend) but by the end of the day I was heartbroken and hurt.

Still, at least I got to see her. She now owes Jenny $10 though, I wonder if she'll remember that or how she is going to pay her off (before the movie she was going to come over tonight / tomorrow and do some chores to earn some pocket money, after the movie she changed her mind and I think I almost caught her out in another attempted deceit at why she didn't want to come over tonight).

It was nice to see her, even though the day didn't end as well as I had hoped. I love her, it pains me to think of the damage and pain that myself and others have caused her at such a young age. She's so beautiful. Does she not trust me? Does she fear me? Is she afraid I'll hurt her? These are just some of the many questions that whizz through my mind all the time.

It's not easy being green.

I may get to see Sarah on the weekend! Yippee!! One can hope anyway - nothing written in stone yet but it would definitely be nice to spend some time with her... even just the thought of it fills me with happiness and joy

Yup, was at Verns' for most of the day today putting the finishing touches on the boxes and finding out why the drawers stick.

Well actually we investigated that the other day and surmised the blasted things were sticking in the sound proofing I put in.

So I ripped out the sound proofing, easy fix - annoying though.

Have now bought the same as was originally in the back and will use that to cover the floor to ensure the drawers etc. don't rub and make annoying noises.

All that's needed to finish the side boxes now is a lick of paint.

Thanks Vern for all your help - I honestly thought I'd never see the day that I'd have drawers in the back! It's taken sooo long...

Congratulations on getting into the 1st team Sarah sweetheart!

Well done, I'm very proud of you and love you very much.

Hope you had a good day at the beach, put enough suncream on and didn't get too sunburnt...

Yeah man, what a stinker today!

Everything I leant on was HOT, doesn't matter if it was in the shade or not!

When I got home I checked the temperature gauge (it has a history of the hottest / coldest for last 24 hours) - 42 degrees outside with 96% humidity!!!

40.5 degrees inside with 87% humidity!!

Ouch!!!

Yesterday morning I got up and checked the rain gauge - 28mm. That had all fallen overnight as it was empty around dark the day before.. and I didn't hear any raing when I went to bed around 11pm so it must have fallen between 11pm and 8am the next day.

By 11am when we got home from our morning rounds the gauge had an additional 26mm in it! Sheesh that was a lot of rain. By the end of the day it was up to 30mm.

This morning when I got up and checked again it had another 16mm in it.

So in the period of 48 hours we've had 28mm + 30mm + 16mm = 72mm of rain! Wowee that's a lot of rain!

Yesterday the parks were flooding quite profusely when we left in the morning, but by the time we had returned in the afternoon they were back down to almost normal ... and I wanted to take a bike ride to see what it was like along the rest of the parks too....

Had organised to meet her there and we sat and talked for a good 30mins or so.

Was lovely.

Can't wait for training to start so I can see her more often.