Outhouse / Inhouse Craftsmanship

My good friend, Edd, commented during college a few decades ago that "it's not what you know, but knowing where to look it up."  He purchased a four drawer file cabinet which became his personal repository for information and delighted in explaining his filing and cross-referencing system.  

 Stewart Brand's "Whole Earth Catalog" brought this notion of tools and resources for new living together.  As a child I'd read the Sear Catalog and think about what I might do with all the things that we could not afford.  In that 1970 sort of time frame the Whole Earth Catalog took that to a new dimension, adding not only things but spiritually and meaning to the options.  It became a road map.  In a recent Facebook post including this same image I commented that I've forgotten many, many revolutionary resources and platforms on the internet, but I'll always remember and keep this book.  

For those of us who are information junkies the past 15 years have been interesting as the internet developed.  We all stare at our phones, all the time, 'swiping' away.  That's why I retain a real keyboard for real thoughts and real books for more tangible learning experiences.

The 'house' project has been challenging, a learning experience, and had I more time I'd have shared more 'in progress' photos, and perhaps some of the personality engagements with various staff people at Menard's.  Two days ago I had a great conversation with a young woman which I started with "how deep is your knowledge of plywood?"  She was pretty deep.  Together we worked through a problem, finding 5/16" sanded sheets mis-placed with the 1/4" sanded sheets, etc.



Art is where we find it, or in this case as we make it.

At the moment I'm sitting here LOL since I forgot the purpose of this post.  My daughter's ex-house has a finished expansion space on the second floor which was divided into two rooms.  The upgrades has included a built-in bookcase, new floor and window trim and a closet.  My daughter commented "how do you know how to do this kind of stuff?  Did you look it up on www.youtube.com or something?"  My immediate response was that my father died when I was very young and that I just had to figure things out.  Of course the Sears catalog and the Whole Earth Catalog and many issues of Family Home Handyman ran through my head.  The 'father' reference was a bit snarky so I backed off and commented that the only other thing I'd really built was a outhouse for our cabin back around 1990 or so (digging the hole was another story).  Her quick response was that the closet did look a bit like an outhouse, and so it does.

Everything starts with a good foundation, without faults.  Good companies know this.  Solid ideas, honesty, fairness, quality and innovative improvement of products and people.  We see this in the end products.  The new floor involved removing two or three layers of previous vinyl and a 7/16" subfloor.  The new subfloor is held in place with about 3000 staples (7/8" narrow crown for those who care) and I tired greatly of listening to the compressor.  During the 27-year gig I spent company money like it was my own and expected of my employees what I expected of myself.  My daughter won't own this floor (and house) for more than another month or two.  On the bottom of 4x8' subfloor sheet #3 I left a few comments about quality, the project at hand, a couple of philosophical topics, my name and date and a $1 bill.  Twenty or thirty years from now  it will be time to rebuilt, re-structure and re-think.  Business, tools and our own skills need updating.

As a total aside I did need to work through a trim issue mid-project and pulled a 3/4" chisel out of the toolbox.  It was my father's so it was no newer than 1954.  My uncle's Don's level was used extensively (I skipped the laser level) so that was a 1989 inheritance.  My oldest tool was my 1978 Sears sabre saw which was a really well made, lasting project.

Still laughing over "it looks like an outhouse."

P.S.  Test the electrical wires.  The wall switch may not shut off both 'hot' wires in a ceiling fixture.  Shutting off all power is better than finding a second 'hot' while on the ladder.