Truck Maintenance and Raising Dust in the Desert

It's being a pretty productive week... Though I gotta say... there's something in that phrase... productive week... that just makes my belly nauseous and my skin crawl... ;)

... somehow... it smacks of all the cliche's and mind numbing propaganda that they use to condition and train a kid to Believe so he grows up to be a Productive Citizen... (spelled; useful, obedient, treadmill runner)   ah... but that's food for a sermonizing tirade... and none of that today!

Nope... this week is just mostly the stuff a guy has to do to take care of the hardware and such that helps keep the Treadmill guards from draggin' him back to the plantation!

The first of the week was spent gettin' plenty of maintenance taken care of on the truck. Oil, Front end... yadda yadda...

Then, not only did the start, that I like, of Heart of a Man, Finally Click! ... but the clicking kept CLICKING! for hours and woke up the neighbors! and I actually now have the beginning of the sequel to A Pair of Second Chances on "Electronical Paper" as well... ;) Having solid starts working to two books, that excite me, at the same time... is um... exciting to me!

Then, yesterday I spent much of the day finally getting around to replacing the "Temporary" plastic cabinet that's set twixt the table/desk and the couch since we pulled out a year and more ago. It's been kind of a hassle... The lamp and such that sit on top of it have to be "put away" every time we move... only there is no 'away'... so that stuff was in the way if we needed to get in the rig on the road...

Small things like that can get under your skin. When you're as... um... sensitive as I am... it's better to have fewer things crawling 'round under your skin... so, I've been wanting to get that RV Cabinet cleaned up and made permanent for some little while.

I kept watching for something I could get store bought quick and easy. After a year I finally decided quick and easy wasn't gonna happen...

... so I opted for quick and dirty instead! :) Using the drawers from the plastic cabinet, a sheet of new plywood, a couple pieces of old signboard my brother in law had in his shop...

...as well as his shop!... along with some bits and pieces of hardware... I went to making dust in the wood shop.

*prepping the cabinet parts*

I got all the pieces cut out and ready...

It's not fine cabinetry... but... it'll work for the girls I dance with...

It helps to have a place for a few weeks in the winter where you can "borrow" a shop to do some projects like this now an' again... ;)

Shhhhh.... I'm gonna let ya'll in a lil secret...don't tell no one... it's the lil' part of becomin' a full timer that nobody talks 'bout 'cept in furtive whispers, when nobody's around... having a place or two with big garages or shops is a real plus... so that you can do your needful projects... 'thout havin' to maintain a shop yourself! but... shhhhh....it's a full timer secret... just make sure you buy the beer once in a while ;)

... and I don't have to mow the grass or maintain the sprinkler system! ;)

It's been a bit since I've done much in the way of 'cabinetry' so my... cabinet making muscles are out of shape...

*Pinning the RV Cabinet together*

The result being... Measure twice and cut once... should be read... Measure SIX times... and then stop and look one more time, before you make that cut... you bald headed, puss gutted, fumble thumbed, button punching biker cowboy!

Good thing my days as a custom leather maker taught me that it isn't that "Pros" don't make mistakes... it's just that they've learned how to hide 'em... or make it look like that was part of the Design! ;)

Still have the door to cut, I'll do that today... I think...

Have another of those Design parts to um... incorporate into the finished project.  :)  Like... OOPS... Somebody cut the overhang of the top on the front at only a half inch...

*RV Cabinet, waiting on a door...*

...and somebody forgot to remember that the salvaged door that's gonna be used... is... uhhhhh... an inch and a half! Doh!!!

Yeah, well... it's a long way from my heart...

Since that "Hole" I was filling was some deeper than the plastic cabinet we've been using... I thought it might be nice to utilize that space for things that could be a little more out of the way.

I extended that cabinet just about double deep... which is why I was whittling those holes in the first picture of prepping the RV Cabinet parts...

*Table side of the RV Cabinet*

The those side openings will be reachable from the table side... Useful for a Charging Station maybe... to get the mess of camera battery chargers, phone chargers, ipod charger, yadda yadda yadda... out of the way... and almost... out of sight.

So... I gotta go put my "Pro" hat on now... and cover up that glaring road hazard on the top of my head... while I scheme a way to hide the fact that my brain was off wandering down the road somewhere...

... instead of workin' with me in the shop!

Making Dust and Claiming It's Just as I Intended!
Brian