Cooler Thursday

72F and overcast this morning, with a chance of rain. I managed to get outside today by 11:15, which is better than I've done for a while now. And that was just in time to see all the kids from Odlaw walking home, and big yellow school buses rolling down the street.

I have no idea why they were out of school at 11AM... on a random Thursday in September, but it definitely had me thinking about my possible future working at that middle school four blocks away.

Out in the back yard, it's mating season for the squirrels. They're more vocal and animated than ever, chasing each other up and down tree trunks, and calling in that creaky cry, from up in the high limbs.

After a few more sips of my coffee here, I'm gonna get out on the porch and see if I can't drill some holes in a storm frame.

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1:01PM

Okay!.. Thursday morning mission accomplished!.. at least for Window A.



I went down and got my long 1/4" drill bit from the basement, and sharpened four dowel rods, as you can see on the table, near the drill.



This was the dry fit, and as I'd imagined, the rods went through and into the crossbars without much fuss.

So I took the top off the glue bottle, dipped a rod into the glue, and used it to prime the holes in the crossbars. Then I dipped it again and put one through... and did the same with the other three.



And now Window A is gonna dry overnight.

Those clamps are for a split in the wood there (not related to drilling), that I glued up before clamping. Hopefully it won't cause any problems.

But as I said, I will cut off the protruding parts of the rods with a hack saw, and sand down whatever nubs remain, as I sand the rest of the storm frame.

I'm a little worried about how strong these connections will be, just because the rods went in so easily... it's all kind of a loose fit, and I'm not sure if there's enough glue in there.

But if it's solid, and if I can cut those rods without them breaking loose and spinning around, then I'll move on to Window B tomorrow morning.

And with any luck, both frames will be ready on Saturday, for the next step, which is tacking on the square dowel bezels around the backs... then sanding & painting the fronts.

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12:01AM

It rained off and on all afternoon and evening, and is currently raining lightly, but steadily right now.

Makes me really love September, and long to experience one without a big crisis going on, or a huge event looming in the near future.

The big news at work tonight was... no Darnise!.. for the second night in a row!

When I got to work, there was good old Ronnie, waiting to start in on the four hour area, just like he did last Friday.

It's not clear whether she quit, or just called in for the second day in a row.

But I think it's possible she was fired.

I mean, Geostaff is desperate and all, but... she ducked out of Friday, and then called in on Wednesday, so... I mean, isn't that what the probationary period is for?

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The dowel rods in the storm frame feel pretty solid tonight.

I tried to give a few of them a twist and they didn't budge.

So I'm gluing up the other frame tomorrow, same as I did today.

I'm hoping by the end of the weekend, to have them painted on the front, stained on the back, and ready for glass!

And if I order the glass on Monday, I can pick it up Tuesday before work.

But we'll see. I tend to overestimate how fast I can get shit done.

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I've been thinking about the calendar deck this week, while at work.

I missed my chance to create a fully illustrated tarot-style deck last winter. And now I won't have that kind of free time again for years.

But after turning it around in my head for four days, I've realized I can still make a useable perpetual calendar, out of an ordinary playing card deck, relatively quickly and cheaply, with stamps, grommets, rings, and a hole punch.

So, what I'm picturing is a card deck with two holes punched at the top of every card, through wich two locking rings go... to hold them all together in order.

In addition, all cards would have a third hole punched at the bottom, center.

There would be a cover card... such as the typical instruction card or extra joker that are normally included in card decks. And the three holes on this cover card would have metal grommets around them.

The idea here is that you flip up the cover, so that it's single central hole is on top, and that hangs on a hook or peg on the wall... so that the rest of the deck hangs below it, from the rings.

The grommets on the cover card would prevent the hook and the rings from tearing through it, as it supports the weight of the deck.

Ace of Spades would be the front card showing, and a week later, you flip it up and hang it on the hook with that center hole.

And now the 2 of Spades is on display.

And you just go like that all year until you're to the last card, which is the joker... and the joker also has metal grommets around it's ring holes... because it doubles as the back cover.

But it has no hook hole. You just have to start over.

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I cannot put grommets on every single card, because the thickness of the grommets, with 54 cards, would make the deck a foot thick, or something.

But I think, as long as the front and back cover cards have grommets, the rest of the cards should be fine, because as they hang... either from the rings, or from the hook... each card only has to support it's own weight... which is negligible.

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Okay so, for the Gregorian date ranges, I could use a rubber stamper, like the one pictured here...



It's ten characters long, and has letters, numbers, and a few symbols.

So I get two ink pads, one black, and one red... and then on each card, I stamp the date range at the bottom!

And then I can also stamp secondary text like, EQUINOX, SOLSTICE, or, MIDPOINT.

Or even, MID-WINTER.

Or, on the Jack of Spades, which spans the end of February into March... "ALL YEARS, LEAP & NON"

Things get a bit trickier with the face cards, because the stamps may not be readable over the artwork... so for that I guess I could just slap little blank white label stickers at the bottom, and stamp the stickers.

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I definitely WILL make one of these for myself, to hang in the kitchen.

But it struck me that I may be able to make a little money off hand making these for others.

I figure, to hand make one would cost under $10.00, and take about two hours, if I had a template for the hole punches.

but I could likely sell one for $20.00, if I had the right pitch, and included a little sheet of paper with snappy instructions and a bit of witty lore.

So, even if I only sold one, I'd make ten bucks!

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I mean... I don't think there's any legalities to worry about, right?

Basically all I'm doing is buying a brand name deck of cards for you... and then modifying it for you, to work as a perpetual calendar.

I honestly don't think it'd become an issue.

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Well, anyway, I do plan to make one for myself, sometime in the near future.

And with that... my Thursday is done!

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