24th March 2012. I can't forget the text message Priti sent me shortly after she went out to a party. It said "come quickly, someone just hit me." My heart stopped for a few seconds until her next message assured me she was okay. It happened less than a mile from home and I could rush to the scene with my friend. It was such a relief to see her walking around. Two cars collided in front of her while she sat waiting for a right turn. A red mustang ran a red light and hit a left turning pickup truck. The mustang then swerved and hit the left rear door of our car, just missing the driver door by a few inches. The pickup also took a sharp left U-turn and stopped inches short of hitting the front left. I think it was a miracle Priti did not even have a whiplash injury, and not even any soreness afterwards.
Our super reliable Toyota Camry of last 6 years got totalled even though it was somewhat driveable. Body repair aside, there might have been a left rear wheel axle damage so it had to be written off as the repair estimate were pretty close to replacement value. The grueling car hunt began and drove me nearly insane, because I decided to find a decent car under a self-imposed shoestring budget. I really hate depreciation of newer cars and tried to minimize that. I needed a 4wd at a minimum due to hang gliding needs, and thought a suv would be great for occasional camping trips where we can sleep in the car. The used car choices were many, but many were so spread out that it became impossible to see most of them. I was fixated on a Subaru Outback from the beginning, but they were hard to find under budget, so I looked at Forester, XC70, Xterra, Rav4, CR-V, Highlander and Pilot. Test drove a few used ones at dealers. Almost decided to get the rugged 4x4 Xterra, but a second test drive of a 2003 Honda Pilot 4WD won me over. I bargained hard with the broker and managed to bring the final price down to meet my strict budget. End result = zero buyer's remorse, got the car under kelly blue book private party value, and did not have to visit DMV for title transfer. The fun part of this deal was the negotiation that happened entirely over text messages. I told them my final offer and just went out to see other cars. They kept sending texts with reduced prices and I kept telling them to keep working on it.
During the last 2 weeks, we drove a 24 year old volvo 240DL which Priti's boss let us drive. I can't thank him enough. I loved the simplicity and the particular quality of the drive. It felt mostly like a good old ambassador. I would have bought it from him if not for the impending visit from in-laws and my parents.
Pampa di had an idea of symmetrical interlocking step stools that can help kids with balance problems. It was a simple enough requirement and took only half day of fun in the garage workshop.
Pampa di came up a neat idea for social engagement of the kids in her school. Although two kids can ride the rocking horse I made earlier, they don't face each other. I started with a simple plan using 2x6 rafters but the curve was not enough using only 5.5" depth of the plank. I ended up using two plywood planks (8" depth at the center) on the sides with steeper curve for better rocking motion.
From what I hear, this setup works pretty well. I will probably simplify the design a bit more in the next version.
My latest box trolley for my friend's school was 20x24, and I was pleasantly surprised to know that it fit 3 very happy kids. When I saw the photo, it made all the labor worthwhile. There can't possibly be a better way to spend spare time making something as simple as that which produces pure, renewable and never ending happiness for a bunch of young souls. Along with this happy moment, came an unpleasant memory. A few days ago I noticed that a very favorite handmade wooden toy I gave to a friend's kid, all covered in marker stains. Ok I get it, anything clean is a canvas to a kid with a crayon or marker. But this same act would have been unthinkable when I was growing up. I mean, whatever happened to the good old fashioned parenting where a kid is taught about values right from a tender age ? Kids will do their things, but that doesn't stop the parents to show them what is acceptable and what is not. Like, how to fix it and not do it again. The simple fact that my friend failed to teach their kid the difference between a store-bought plastic toy and one made with sweat and care hit me with a thud. I didn't exactly see it coming. Good luck to the parents out there raising kids with abundance of things and lack of values I think are helpful in future. I am bracing to see what kind of adults we will have to deal with in 20 years.
A few stamping blocks for the kids at Pampa di's school. Some of them has issues grabbing sponge to paint with, and apparently these enabled them to do so.
Made a couple of bowls from leftover cabinet plywood. Although a bit hard to turn, I liked the pattern the plywood produced. Very therapeutic time spent on the lathe.
I have made a couple of trolleys for my friends' kids and this is my 4th one. This time I made it as simple as possible, took out the long wood handle to push it around, but instead attached a rope to pull it. Easier to build and safer for kids as well.
This time I gifted it to the school of special needs kids where my friend teaches at and I think this is one of my best gifts ever. I find that gifting something like this to just one kid is not even worth the labor, since they move on to other toys way too soon. In a school setting, on the other hand, a handmade wooden toy gets the use it deserves.
After I dropped this off to my friend, the next day I got a photo that made me very happy. We keep forgetting that such a simple toy can bring enormous happiness to a bunch of small kids playing together. Practical hands on things never go out of fashion, and I think these are the things to grow up with, not cheaply made plastic electronics stuff that break in a few days after opening the package.
I always like to make my own bowl blanks by glueing up different types of wood from my stash of scraps. This time it was 4 pieces of 4x4 redwood fence post sections and some light colored pine. Not being green (wet) wood, it was a bit difficult to curve up the inside, but it turned out ok. The diameter of the bowl is around 8 inch.
Just when I thought my hands were full with hobbies, I had to makespace for another one. I have been postponing getting a lathe again, simply because the size I wanted were too expensive. And then all of a sudden I found a new 12"x36" central machinery brand lathe for under 300 bucks at harbor freight. The temptation was too much, so I had to get it home.
First project: spindle turning a spatula from a scrap piece of pine wood.
Ever since we got rid of the TV, life has only become better. Six months of no useless shows saved a lot of time for creative use. We missed watching good movies on a large screen, so with enough pokes from roomie and wife, I ended up getting the simplest HD projector and a bare bones sound system. Thanks to my uber geek roomie (Dinesh) we got a completely satisfactory setup for under one grand. 900 bucks for an Optoma 1080p projector and 60 bucks Cyber Acoustics 5.1 speaker system. For the screen I got reluctant to get yet another bulky gadget, and went the DIY way - painted a wall with matte white after making it slightly grey. So far, zero complaints and hope it stays that way. Much, much more fun to watch HD videos of hang gliding now. Next week I am trying to get it mounted on the ceiling, a little further back for a bigger image.
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