Eruption

Do you think Ed ever gets tired of playing "Eruption"?

One of the greatest guitar heroes of all time.  God, I'd love to hear something new.

But the old is all we've got, and the old is still better than everything else.

UPDATED:  Better video

Really?

Dear God, has anyone priced Egg slicers recently?

One of my favorite childhood kitchen toys, I just stumbled across a need for one while watching Good Eats S2EP5:  The Fungal Gormet.  Never occurred to me to use one to slice mushrooms.

No idea if I've already got one at home, so I'll hold off on that purchase for a bit.

A Different Kind of Truth

Van Halen's new album, A Different Kind of Truth, was released yesterday to generally favorable reviews.  New disk is based largely on old demos that have been circulating among the faithful for more than 30 years.

As a guitar player, it's pretty much required reading for me.  Edward's riffs form the foundation of a pretty fair amount of post-1978 Rock & Roll.  Even if you don't hear it as much in modern recordings, it's what's everyone works on in the woodshed - which is where I'm going to be spending the next several months reclaiming my chops.

Should be interesting, if nothing else.

Wuxtry

Given that I've lived in Atlanta for the better part of the last decade, it's surprising that I had never darkened the door of Wuxtry Records, one of Atlanta's best-known independent record stores.  Until yesterday.

Wow.

Any record shop with a fully stocked King's X section is completely cool with me.  Depth of catalog was mindblowing, and reasonably priced.  Tons of used CD's, which I prefer to MP3's for some reason.  Also a deep, deep array of vinyl, which someday I will get into, I suppose.

Second weekend

Things went a great deal smoother the second weekend.  

As you can tell, I've still got a long way to go.  At this point, both main cabs are basically complete - structurally.  Still lacking cosmetics & doors.  Will likely wait until the build is complete to add shelving inside the units.

Will likely spend the balance of the week filling, sanding, painting & planning for next weekend's project:  the workbench.  The two 2x4's you see to the immediate left of the cabs will hold the pegboard (locking) above the workbench.  I've also just about decided to house the compressor & shop-vac in the leftmost cabinet.  That frees up the space under the bench for drawers, and makes implementing a lock mechanism significantly easier.

Had to shim everything about 1/2".  Turns out, the backs of garages are higher than the front, for obvious reasons.  Whole garage falls off about 4", moving left to right.

It's important to remember that the garage ISN'T the project.  I'm not building fine cabinets from rare mahogany --  I'm building a @#$@$@#$ workstation / storage unit.  This should end up tight & functional, pretty from the street, but damn the minute details.

The real project comes next.

Better.

Closest yet.

Not quite there yet, but better.  Might well be as close as they get.

Garage band.... saws

My friends in recovery tell me that the first thing you have to do is admit that you have a problem.  I'm something of a chaotic guy to begin with, but I seem to function pretty well considering.

My tool situation, however, has become completely unmanageable.  And it's a situation I've been powerless to correct.

I've got plenty of tools.  That's not the issue.  The problem for any resident of an old school ranch is storage & organization.  I own perhaps 40 screwdrivers.  Most days, I can't lay hands on a single one.  My dozen flashlights have been hidden by well-meaning spawn throughout the estate.  Finding a charged battery for a power tools is a quest worthy of Arthurian lore.

The garage has always been a problem area, and where my tools - theoretically - have been stored.  Trouble is, it's such a monstrosity that you can't FIND anything!  It's a perfect state of anarchy.

If you are lucky enough to actually find the tool you need, good lock finding a suitable workspace.  Every flat surface is covered with... stuff.

On top of that, the garage proper is home to everything that doesn't belong in the house.  Tools & household items are littered together throughout the space.  Perfect example.  I have a mini-cooler.

... full of calk.

In any event, I started the process of solving the problem last weekend.  Building a series of three closets, with a workbench in-between.  Workbench will also contain drawers for storage, and an old-school pegboard for the usual suspects.  Insulated spaces for the compressor & shop-vac for noise isolation.  for I have many other projects slated for this year, but I can't get started without a place to work.

behold the results after weekend number one: