Smooth Sailing

Smooth Sailing
Originally uploaded by treough.

The Rietveld chair is coming along nicely. I'll finish up the assembly tomorrow and start priming it on Monday.

His/Her Last Day on the Job?

His/Her Last Day on the Job
Originally uploaded by treough.

This car was Gladwrapped outside Lowe's in San Bruno.

New Feature

I've added a WebCam here and to the right under 'Other Links'. Don't expect too much for now, I'm working to improve it. When I'm at my desk I'll point the cam at my mug, and when I'm away you'll only see a clock. The plan is to to have the cam point out our front window at the traffic below. To do that I'll need a longer firewire cable and some type of signal booster. Check back in a few weeks.

The Timber is ready, but am I?

I just went over and got the timber from Cuschieri's Cabinet Shop. The wood is cut to size and ready for assembly. I'll go back to the hardware store tomorrow for a Square, glue, screws and drill bits. I'll also go back to thinking about how to proceed with the assembly. I'm thinking of building the sides first, then the cross members, then attaching the back and seat.

The R&B Chair

"How to construct Rietveld Furniture" came in yesterdays mail. To my surprise, I learnt that the chair has been made differently over the years. I've chosen to make the conventional red, blue and black version that we all love.

My first trip this morning was to Home Depot to price lumber and tools. The lumber is quite cheap. I'd estimate <$30. But then I also needed a square, plane, gauge, mitre box and saw. Then because the lumber was too long to fit in the Mini, I left without buying anything. I came home and thought about it. There's a cabinet maker around the corner on Lincoln Blvd. So I converted my metric measurements to inches for him, and he's cutting the wood (redwood) for $50. Joy! Now my work is reduced to little more than an IKEA project and painting.

Rainy Day Review

We're expecting rain later today, and there's some drizzle. So I'm inside listening to Radioio80s streaming audio.

But when I want to listen to terestrial radio I use my Tivoli PAL by Henry Kloss. It's a portable design using a rechargable battery. The case has a soft rubbery coating that's pleasant to touch and won't slip. It has on/off, volume, and tuner. That's it! but the reception and sound are very good. It's ideal to take from room to room so you won't miss a bit of "All things Considered".
Feeding off the popularity of the iPod, Tivoli also sells it as the "iPal". There is a auxillary input on the back to plug in your mp3 player.

BMW M1

By chance, a few weeks ago, I came across the Mallya Collection.
The cars are stored in an unmarked building in Sausalito and can be viewed by appointment only, but the mechanics on duty allowed me to wander through the collection. I'll show pictures of two other cars from the collection in the following weeks.
This BMW has a midmounted straight 6 cylinder engine ( I hope BMW never builds a V6 ) with 277hp. They were built in the late 70's for homolagation of the race version.

My neighbor must like the design:

Men in White

The goal of Bowls is simple. Get as close to the jack (small white ball) as possible. But to complicate matters, the bowl is asymmetrically weighted and won't roll straight.

Click here for the location of the Bowling Green. If the weather is nice they'll be playing. There are benches to sit and watch.

Cycling Video

Click on the image for a QuickTimeTreo movie of todays ride across the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Breeze House

House prices in San Francisco are insane. We don't even consider buying a house. Two bedroom condos in our neighborhood cost $650,000. However, it might be possible for us to build a prefab one day. I daydream about this design, an acre of land up the coast, two cats, two dogs, and a broadband connection.




Go here and here for more prefabs.