Sunday, July 20, 2014

Sore, Sore, Sore

     I'm sore all over from hard work.  Spent all afternoon yesterday assembling the second set of shelves I had cut and routed while on vacation.  Of course one of the uprights had warped -- slightly cupped -- and it took multiple screws per shelf to pull in the center where it (should) get a good glue bond.  Is this wise?  I don't know, but I have done it before with good results.  As long as the glue holds, it doesn't much matter if the vertical piece develops splits, since it's bonded crosswise at every shelf.  Still to come, trimming the bottom from that side with a narrow-kerf saw and move it in about an inch: that side sits in a corner, up against trim molding.  Both uprights will have to be notched for molding-clearance at the back as well.

     But notice the construction of my shelves is such that splits along the grain are not usually a problem.  That's not how world politics work.  There is no engineering against even predictable failure and there are a lot of stress points built in.  Even as I write, Putin's bully-boys and/or "Russian-oriented separatists" (depending on who you believe -- and a third option, that he primed the pump but they are barely under control, is hardly whispered) in the Ukraine are refusing to hand over the bodies from the airliner they shot down.  Most of them were from NATO-member nations and more of that group were Dutch.  A large number of them were HIV/AIDS researchers, on their way to a conference.  ...The Netherlands may well be the single least-aggressive member nation in NATO but they pride themselves on being civilized; acting like barbarians to 'em is one of the better ways of raising ire.  And when the skinny, quiet kid who sits in the back at NATO club gets riled, what will the bigger, tougher kids in the front row do to help their pal out?  

     Maybe we're about to find out.  1914, here we come -- and without even a dead Archduke to show for it.  Likely to be some aches come of it.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, at least the Dutch have the backbone to speak up!

Merle

OldTexan said...

I am seeing some buyer's remorse in one of the younger generation in my family. She is in her mid-thirties and completely upset with the leadership in this country and she made the statement this week that she did not read enough and did not know the facts when she voted for our president.

I was not rude enough to point out that she read the New York Times every day and listened to CNN and BBC every day and that she was full of information but, it was wrong information. I am just stepping back while the light bulbs come on.

Anonymous said...

You can usually get a piece of wood to warp in the opposite direction by reversing the dry/wet conditions. Cupped side down on a sunny morning for a brief period...

Though it will sometimes yield twisting.

Only recommended in extreme cases.

PHOTOS!