Over the last two months I ‘ve added a few new toys to the shop.  Mostly I needed a Jointer, so I picked one up from Harbor Freight during a sale and added the 20% off coupon to bring it to under $160.  It’s not the nicest jointer, but it beats the crap out of what I had: None.

I also added a Ryobi AP1300 Thickness Planer.  I managed to grab it when Home Depot was bringing in the new AP1301, which seems inferior to the AP1300 (no cutter head lock, no re-plane, no thickness indicator).  As always, I looked for a deal and talked a manager at a Home Depot in Houston into selling me the floor model (complete, both knives, no manual/box) for $155 for a $280 planer.

Since I got the jointer and thickness planer I’ve expanded my woodworking fun to include some 4/4, 8/4 and 5/4 Walnut, Africian Mahogany and Cherry.  I’ve got to admit, it’s great fun taking rough stock and making dimensioned lumber out of it, regardless of savings.

I had to add a couple of software extras to this via learning Google Sketchup and buying CutList Plus to help me design and layout my cuts on my sometimes weird dimensioned lumber.  Both are highly recommeded.

Finally, I added my my much desired Rockler Router Table #1 package that I’ve been wanting for over a year.  This will get my Hitachi M12v out of my tablesaw and into a proper table of it’s own.  I’ll be building the Router Table cabinet this weekend (if it stays dry) and will post my Sketchup .skp file when I’m done.

Other recent addtions: Incra Precision Jig from Rockler ($59 vs. standard $120) for dovetails and all manner of precision router work and a All-in-one 50″ clamp.  I mention the clamp because it’s changing the way I work with sheet goods and even long stock.  It’s a clamping straightedge which allows me to run my circular saw, router, whatever all the way across a 4×8 piece of plywood in a precise manner.  This means that I essentially have a low volume panel saw when I add 2 2×4’s and a couple of cross 2×2’s to my saw horses.

Now if it will just stay dry I can make some sawdust!

I talked my wife into letting me buy a Rigid Wet / Dry Vac from Home Depot for $39.97 this past weekend. She went with me to supervise and help pick out some hinges for a baby fence I was making for the bedroom. When we arrived there was “Tex” outside hawking some extra display gear. One of the items he had was the Ryobi SS30 1HP straight shaft trimmer, which just happens to be the one I’ve been looking at. “Tex” offered it to us for %50 off, full warranty, extra oil and a strap.

So I scored a shop-vac AND a gas trimmer while with my wife…we have a winner!

My wife’s plan worked like a charm. I spent most of my free time last week cleaning out the garage for my new tools. I’ve setup and adjusted my table saw, sander and drill press. All are working like a charm and I bulit a small flush mount cabinet for my initial project. Amazingly, the door didn’t turn out to be as difficult as I expected. The butt-hinges did give me a little bit of trouble, but not in mortising them in…but mounting them.

I ended up returning my SD208 Dado set to HomeDepot and ordering the SD206 online. (8″ vs. 6″ Dado set)

Well, we took the plunge. Melissa and I had cashed in for $700 of gift cards to Home Depot. The points had been sitting around doing nothing, so we took this chance to put them to use. We also threw in the 10% discount that was available to make the deal even sweeter! We did end up owing a bit, but $850 of stuff for $70 aint bad! I made out the best, but Melissa will reap the rewards. I got my Ryobi BTS3100c Table Saw and my Ryobi Disc/Belt Sander, oh yea! We also picked up a 7000BTU LG Heat/Cool window unit for the shed we are converting into my office. I decided onteh BTS3100c after looking at it, reading about it and checking out the great online community.

She gets the rewards of:

1. My office moving out of the house.
1. Table saw will be used to make things around the house.
1. Sander will do the same.
Me cleaning out the garage to make room for my workshop!

Needless to say, I’m in the process of cleaning out the garage and the shed right now!

We headed down to Seadrift this past weekend for our first big fishing trip of the year. We ate at Barkett’s again and had great food there. The next morning we checked out of the Seadrifter Inn and headed for the floating cabin off of Matagorda Island We didn’t rush into anything so we hit the water around 9:00am (low tide) and motored out. We found that someone had broken into the floater, but hadn’t done much more damage than tearing a screen window and breaking a hinge on the shutter. Still just a shamed to see that people have to do that kind of shit. We dropped off our gear and got lines in the water.

We didn’t have much luck wading the flats, so we headed for the birds and I picked up a 16″ trout, so the skunk was off. Later, we retired to the floater for a nap and I managed to catch a rat red off of it (15″, back he went) and another keeper trout.

Later in the afternoon Stu suggested we head for one of his “honey holes” and he was right on the mark. In less than 15 minutes he and I limited on Redfish (21″ - 27.5″) and Mike nabbed a very nice trout.

We returned to the cabin and setup the grill and lanterns (I had a new Coleman Northstar which is VERY bright and easy to work with.) and cleaned fish. We had a nice “Surf and Turf” dinner and turned in for the night. I slept on the porch as the breeze was nice and I could listen to the waves and mullet jumping.

We woke up Sunday morning and piddled around, had some breakfast (corned beef hash, yum!!!) and went fishing again. Wading wasn’t the thing, possibly due to the low tide. We hunted down the birds again and got into the trout, but they were all coming in around 14″ - 14.5″, just under. No matter, we caught 8-10 of them and had one triple hookup.

Headed back the Seadrift and disembarked, cleaned up and headed to the house. Was a GREAT time and I can’t wait to hit it again soon!

We had our second float of the year last weekend. I stayed up way to late the night before, but it was fun…as always…I think.

The New Braunfels Float Team had our first float of the year. It was good fun with good folks, as always. We didn’t get started until almost 2:30 due to some newbies from Austin arriving late, but that was just more time to down a few cold ones and chat with friends. The river was flowing nicely and the new chute around Stinky’s was nice, but still shallow…keep your butt up through there.

The folks from Cummins Tools came through town and did a truckload sale here at the Elk’s Lodge. I picked up a $40 Drill Press and a set of 6 bar clamps for $30.

The Drill Press isn’t fancy and is a table top variety with 50mm (2″) of throw. I figured that for that price, if it works twice it’s just about paid for itself.

The Bar Clamps are similar to the speed clamps you can get at Home Depot or the like, but 6 for $30 instead of ~$20 each.

Melissa and I stopped on the side of the road the other day and looked at cat toys. They wanted close to $250 for some of them and I mentioned that “I could make that”. My birthday was coming up and I’ve been wanting a good power driver so my parents took us to Home Depot. We found a kit that included an 18v driver/drill, 5.5″ circular saw, flashlight and 2 batteries and a charger for $149.

I’ve had a tons of fun building:

1. Cat condo (2 floor enclosed box with circular holes in and out, fully carpeted)
2. Cat tower with 2 platforms
3. A 24″ x 48″ workbench on casters
4. Small parts box (8″ x 9″ with dado’ed base)

Since the initial purchase, we’ve been back and I’ve purchased the 18v speed saw (Rotozip like) and the 18v stapler/brad nail driver. All of this has made work around the house a pleasure and we have the cat toys + tools to make more for around the price the guy on the side of the road was asking.

My next purchase is a Ryobi 3100c table saw which we’ll be needing for the work on the house.

Charlie, Stoney and I played Landa on Friday. We had a very nice day and a very pleasant game. Now that I seem to have solved my slice, I actually enjoy getting to the tee box. The downside is that I’ve managed to screw up my short and mid-game since those shots are going well right, but not slicing. I think I can fix that by closing my club face a bit more.

I don’t get it, I’m paying for service and food at these places and it seems more and more of them supply less options for either. My wife and I recently went to a restaurant that we have frequented in the past and they have a plate that I like. I really like a plate of fried oysters, fried shrimp and fried crawfish, which isn’t on the menu, but they have made the sub for me before. This time we were informed that the only way we could do this is by “buying” the fried crawfish ($6) in addition to the other two I wanted and the fried catfish, which I don’t like. The other option was to order the “Pick two” platter which could have any two of the 3 I prefer for $12. Neither option is what I wanted, so since we were there we picked a halfway point with my wife taking my catfish and me eating the shrimp and oysters. In the end, they didn’t get the add-on sale they were looking for and didn’t even get to sell two plates…we split one. Finally, we won’t be going back anytime soon since they have decided that I can only spend money there the way THEY want. WTF? I wasn’t asking for free food, hell, I would even pay a modest fee for what I wanted ($1-2). Oh well, less business for them.

We’ve noticed several other times lately from differing places and I just wonder, what is their motivation? Always play inside the rules someone made or take care of the customer and get them to come back and spend more money?

It’s penny wise and pound foolish in my mind…you may make money off of me this time, but I won’t be back and won’t recommend them. Who really wins in this scenario? If not the restaruant and not me, then who?

That’s just dumb.

By the way, it’s Clear Springs Cafe in Clear Springs, just outside of New Braunfels.

My partners and I are going to take some folks out for golf tomorrow in Houston. Should be an interesting time. I’ll drive to Houston tonight and stay with Mike so we can get to the course early tomorrow.

I’ve revived the NBFloat Team website, be sure to visit it often to find out the goings on around NB.

We took our 1st Quarter offsite on the road this quarter. Stu got his new (used) boat and we needed to go try it out.

We ran down to Seadrift, TX and stayed at the wonderful Seadrifter Inn which was very reasonable, clean and right on the bay. Thursday night we went about 300yds to Barkett’s restaraunt and had wonderful seafood. A dozen fresh oysters for $9 and 4 full softshell crabs for $11. The food and envrionment were outstanding!

Friday morning we took the boat out and ran the 12 miles across San Antonio bay to Matagorda Island and went to fishing. It was cold, breezy on the way out but Stu’s flats boat rode well. We did some drifting, a bit of wading and some messing around. The water was murkey due to the wind and water temp was cold so we only caught 2 rat reds, but had a great time getting ourselves in order for the spring / summer.

I’ve got to go pick up a couple of saltwater rigs and a bit of gear for the next trip, which we hope to be in about 2 weeks.

Today we went and played golf with our good friend Charlie Zech for his birthday. It was a wonderful day to begin with, but it got VERY windy as the front blew in. My game continued to suck, but now that I’ve put away my driver and concentrated on hitting my 5 iron straight, it’s getting better. I had at least 6 bogie holes, possibly my best game. We finished with a 4 hole playoff by carts. We lost the first two holes so it looked pretty bleak, but Stoney pulled out 17 and by some act of God I managed to 7 iron to about 4 feet from the hole on 18 for a possible bogie, winning the hole and tieing the playoff. As I was lining up Charile came up and hit my putter during my lineup and the ball dropped straight in for the win/tie. We rolled around on the green for a couple of minutes!

My parents gave my brother and I a “Toy” for Christmas: Hasbro Power Air Surfer Skywolf RC airplane’s. They told us that it had been years since we got a toy and they decided we needed something fun. What a very appropriate present! I’m an IT Architect and have started a business this year with 3 partners, which is going very well, but it’s been full of tension. My brother is a captain for a major airline and flying is business to him. Wonderful choice by the folks!

I flew mine last night in their yard and found that it actually flies! This morning I took it over to the local park and put a full charge on it and flew it around. It seems quite underpowered, but does fly. I’ve since come home and taken a heater to one of the spare props to give it a bit more bite. I’ll see if that gives enough performance boost so I can keep from holding “full back” on the stick.

An update: I’ve fixed up my Skywolf and it’s flying like a dream now. First, I installed the “tweaked” propellor. Next I straightened out the control arms to the rear elevons which put them into a slight up pitch at rest. Finally, I tapered and taped the leading edge of the elevon to cut down on drag. I can now fly my Skywolf at “cruise” speed and straight and level at full power results in a slight climb attitude.

Our local Pizza eatery, Mr. Gattis has great pizza. They use nice ingredients on well sized pizzas, in short, we really like them. The pizza is hot when you pick it up, comes with plenty of extras and is reasonably priced. So why the rant? It’s their customer service. You can generally call them without much issue, but once you go to the store to pick the pizza up the shit starts. First off, they have 4-5 people behind the counter, but only ONE of them is normally minding the cash wrap and pickup window. This person is taking walk in orders, taking phone orders AND trying to run the register for the people there to pickup their pizza. This single person is way overloaded and often makes mistakes as it seems the least senior person gets cash wrap duty. They grab the wrong pizza, they can’t work the credit card machine and have a gaggle of customers staring at them impaitently. Maybe, just maybe, they should get some of those other folks back there to move their lazy asses and actually help out at the front where the cash is being delivered for a pizza.

It’s not a huge thing, just make someone back there have dual duty in high traffic times, I mean WTF they have great product, just shitty customer service and that shitty service isn’t the fault of the poor teenager working the cash wrap, it’s the fault of a manager or higher who’s deemed that one person on the register is enough.

My wife and I have been on a binge for it lately, it’s got the perfect amount of tartness with sweetness. It’s only 25% juice and it’s got high fructose corn syrup, but we don’t care. It’s good stuff!