In addition to my spouting venom at the politicians last week, I actually did a little something. I started on the spiral stair during Open Shop. I cut the hand rail and the balusters all off. I picked up some more 1/2" square for the replacements and I was going to get a piece of 3/16" x 1-1/2" for the handrail and the frame for the extra step but they don't stock it. I was going to head North and get a piece but I'm thinking I might just as well go with 1/4" x 1-1/2". It won't be that much harder to bend. As soon as I get the new step made and slid on, we'll stand it up and start fabricating. I need to pick up some anchors to fasten it to the floor before we start working on it first, however.
You can tell that spring is almost here because I fixed my first rim of the season. Big diameter rims and low profile tires just don't agree with potholes. I should have taken the photo before I ground the weld down. The rims are made of a good grade of aluminum and they always weld up real pretty. The only tricky part of the job is straightening them out. I put them on the anvil and beat them into submission using a couple of hammers and the anvil itself. Ear protection is a must because they really ring. This one went pretty quick - about 30 minutes start to finish.
The boss is a railroad buff and happened in while I was working on my lantern. Thought he'd do me a favor and let me fix one for him, as well. It was pretty rusty so I sandblasted and painted it for him. They're goin' to miss me when I'm gone.
The top photo is the Color Guard that was at the cemetery Friday to lay Marty to rest with military honors. Marty was the husband of my wife's sister. Due to the convoluted nature of that family, I never really got to know the man that well. Kind of a shame, that. Seemed like the kind of guy you would like to call your friend. He was in the Air Force, Navy and the Army Reserves. He served in Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf Wars as a Corpsman and he was an extremely talented artist. By all accounts, he was a good husband, father and grandfather. All in all, a life well lived.
I've lost two out of three of the sister-in-law's husbands in the last month or so. Marty made it to almost 75 but Patrick was only 46. I'm almost exactly in the middle, age wise, for whatever that's worth. I'm hoping for another 25 years or so, at the least. I'm starting to feel the accumulation of the years but that's just the natural progression, I guess.
I've got the day off today for Washington's birthday as well as last Friday for the funeral service. I'm planning on working in the shop a little and doing a few odds and ends. We watched one of the grandsons Sat. night and Sun. morning. I didn't get much done but it was definitely time well spent. We went for a tractor ride and then hammered nails and drilled some holes on some scrap wood. We'll be watching the other one next weekend. Once again, won't get much done while he's here but that's OK. It's all about priorities and the grandsons trump most everything else.
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