Yet Another Instrument

Kiddo #1 has undertaken Jazz Band in the last few months.  But because tubas are not allowed in the jazz band, she has taken on and is learning the trombone.  Evidently tubas just aren't jazzy enough.  

A few days ago, we stumbled upon a trombone on ebay for a decent price.  And as a bonus, it was local.  Somehow we won the bid, and picked it up a day ago.    

She says it plays real nice, and the slide works better than her instrument at school.

Pretty cool!

Trailers and Trebuchet

I managed to rip down some free crates from work and salvage the nicer portions of plywood.  With this, I skinned out my project canoe trailer. 

I have yet to do the front and the back doors.  That is the next part to do.  Thereafter I plan to finalize the cross bar connections

We have also been busy working on the trebuchet for Kiddo #1's Science Fair.  She's had 2 months to build it, but she managed to wait until the last minute to get it done.  Luckily, the weather has been fair. 

With 60 pounds of counterweight, she can launch a baseball 90 feet.  I think she did a real good job in the construction!

Canoe Trailer Progress

   I have made good progress the last couple of weekends on this crazy project.  Uprights for the box have been installed, and my home-built "trusses" that have a slight slope.  

My home-built trusses are just 2x4s ripped down on an angle to allow a pitch for rain to not puddle up.

I also added in some inside corner trim.  I thought water from rainy roads may penetrate from underneath at the edge, so I used a piece of cedar (from the old built-in shelves of the fireplace room) to trim out that potential path.  Most of this wood I've used in this project is free: from shipping crates from big equipment at work, so I'm happy to re-use some of my old scraps from the house, too.

Tuba Christmas

This past weekend was the first "Tuba Christmas" that Kiddo #1 was able to play in.  It all sounded just great!  

Here's a picture of Wife with her little bitty euphonium,

 and Kiddo #1 with her well-loved tuba.

Happy Trails, Old Pickup

My old 1964 Chevy truck is gone.  But it's not a sad day, because I'm very happy to see it go to a wonderful lady.  A friend at work mentioned many weeks ago that his wife would be very interested in it.  In the end, it went to her.

So congratulations, old pickup truck.  You found a good and happy home!  Your new owner looks overjoyed!

Canoe Trailer Progress

Busy days, so slow progress, but I do get an occasional hour or two to continue work on this project.

I have the floor nearly finished.  I used 2x4s, and made what looks like a box frame for a bed.  I chose to keep those 2x4s flat just to keep things as low as possible.

Then, using some nice plywood from crates from work, I put down the floor.

Yeah - all this is just cheap pine, but I plan to waterproof it with leftovers from my front porch project.  And if it starts rotting away in a few years, I can just easily replace it.

Next to do:  Start building the sides of the box.  I'm initially thinking an 18 inch open space will be just right - right for packs, coolers, and totes, and just the right height for loading canoes on top without pushing them over our heads.

Flying Around Purdue

This past week, a friend stopped by the office in the middle of the afternoon and asked if I wanted to go flying with him.  He had to do a couple of "touch and goes" to maintain his pilot certification.  

I said, "Sure, let's go!"  So we went!

Here's the cool ride we were in.  I think it is a Piper - a Purdue owned plane that we rented for the afternoon.

Here's a cool view of State Street looking eastward.

You can see Stewart Center easily.

We even buzzed over the house and circled around it a few times.  

It's been a long long time since I have flown in a little plane, and by the end of the flight, I was getting a little dizzy.  I recovered pretty quickly once we landed.

Drew, you're a good pilot!  Thanks for the air time!!