Saturday, October 01, 2016
The Ultimate Tool Cabinet
Bunny and I watched Virtuoso: The Tool Cabinet and Workbench of Henry O. Studley, a documentary about an extraordinary tool cabinet made a century ago.
![[This is the type of woodwork I would expect to see in a Gothic Cathedral, which, in its own way, this is. A Gothic Cathedral of tools.]](/2016/10/01/Studley.jpg "This is the type of woodwork I would expect to see in a Gothic Cathedral, which, in its own way, this is. A Gothic Cathedral of tools.")
It's an amazing hand-crafted cabinet, managing to hold 250 tools in several ingenious layers. But in watching the tools being removed, it became clear that while beautiful, it's not the most practical of tool cabinets. It doesn't really conform to Adam Savage's “First Order of Retrievability.” I could live with having to lift up sections to gain access to the tools underneath, but there are some fiddly bits where some tools have to be removed to gain access to others.
The other downside I see to the Studley Tool Cabinet is that it's a perfect fit for the tools you see. Too perfect—any replacements have to be identical or else it won't fit into the tool cabinet. And the documentary even stated that this doesn't hold all of Mr. Studley's tools—there are some that were stored in his workbench.
Still, it's absolutely beautiful and if I had a tool cabinet, I would love to have one just as nice.
Thursday, October 06, 2016
An observation made while looking outside the window
I look outside the window, and all I see is darkness. Must be late, I think and I look to the clock on my computer. “3:30 in the afternoon‽”
Oh yeah … storm shutters.
Monday, October 24, 2016
Notes about an overheard conversation about the finer points of gardening about the house
“Sweetums?”
“Yes?”
“Could you do me a favor?”
“Sure.”
“You know the bougainvillea out front?”
“Um … ”
“The large bush with the purple flowers?”
“Oh, yes. That bougainvillea.”
“I couldn't reach the top branches to trim them off. Could you finish trimming it for me?”
“Sure.”
“The gloves and clipper are on the table saw in the garage.”
“Okay … ow! Ouch! Ow! Ow! XXXX! XXXX! XXXXXXXXX!”
“Everything okay?”
“Why do bougainvilleas need spikes? One just went through my shoe!”
![[And this is one of the smaller thorns on the darned things (and it's 3.5cm for those of you who are metrically savvy)]](/2016/10/24/bougainvillea.jpg "And this is one of the smaller thorns on the darned things (and it's 3.5cm for those of you who are metrically savvy)")
”Is your foot bleeding?”
“Um … no … ”
“That's good. You won't need a tetanus shot.”
“What? Aaah! Again, why does this bougainvilla need spikes anyway?”
“Well … you know … protection from predators.”
“Predators? What? Here? In Boca? Predators?”
“Yes.”
“What, is a giraffe just going to stroll down the street, see the bougainvillea and think ‘That bougainvillea bush is too spikey to eat. I shall mosey on down the road for less thorny fare.’?”
“You don't see any giraffes around here, do you? And because the giraffes aren't interested in this bush and stay away, that keeps the lions away. Thus, protection from predators.”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
