Look, Ma--No Hand(le)s!!!

[mikeschn]

On Sunday, I gave birth to a beautiful 20-pound bouncing baby door:



I am so proud, I hope you'll excuse me while I pause to wipe a tear from my eye. (Took me about a day and a half, because of rain delays.)

So what kind of fenders are you going to put on your baby?

Mike...

[IraRat]

I even put my beer down a few times, because it was hard to work the rasp with one hand. (Besides, there was only an ounce or two left, and it was getting warm.)

I will be printing up that quote so I can hang it up in my workshop as a constant reminder of how the real professional approaches his work and the level of comittment needed to get the great results shown in the photo.

Andrew

Thank you, Andrew.

And you know, while those words were bursting forth from my fingers, I just KNEW that they were even deeper, more meaningful, that they would have an ever greater effect on the teardrop building community than I had ever first imagined.

(Damn, do I love the British, especially Andrew. He ALWAYS gets my jokes. )

[IraRat]

I already have the fenders, Mike--standard round Northern Tool aluminum type. I just don't know how I'm going to finish them off yet.

[Marck]

Ira,
For a brass rain gutter, maygbe you could get a piece of Brass pipe and cut it lengthwise, make your own..... Maybe????


Beautiful job you've done there.

[TomS]

But you'd better get some Sam Adams, not Bud--which can be POISON to a New England boy like yourself.

Us Brooklyn guys have no taste nor class, so we've built up an immunity to Budweiser and Ed McMahon.

Ira, you've got my number. I definately prefer Sam Adams to Bud. I just thought there must be a super secret ingredient in the Bud (monkey pee, perhaps) to speed up my build.

Not everyone up here in New England has my refined and highly cultured taste. When I was a kid, my old man used to drink Schlitz. Now he drinks Miller Lite. Yuk!

[Ross Wade]

Looking real sharp Ira. You gonna make to Anastasia State Park in October?

Ross

[madjack]

..... ................

[Joanne]

On Sunday, I gave birth to a beautiful 20-pound bouncing baby door:

<snip the great picture>

Ira,

You keep posting pictures like that and no one is going to believe you when you start that "I don't know nutten about building no trailer" story! You are proving yourself to be quite the builder. Yours makes a very unique statement.

In all seriousness, I really like how it's turning out. I like the nautical theme and I like the fact that it has as much personality as it's builder. (Please don't misunderstand me, that's a complement!)

Keep up the good work.

Joanne

[IraRat]

Marck, I don't even know what a rain gutter LOOKS like, so Joanne's nice words aside, I really DON'T know nuttin' about building. I'm really winging it.

Don't see how I'll be ready for Anastasia, Ross. Yeah, it's a month off, but there's still a lot to do here--and a limited amount of funds to buy the stuff I need to do it.

Also, as Woody knows, I'm kind of in the process of fighting city hall; I don't have a garage, and I'm not allowed to park a TD on the side of the house. I'm past my extension date, and I don't know if they're going to continue to give me a hard time. So I may have to find a boat yard ($$$) real soon to park it, so I can finish the darn build.

It's amazing--I work in Boca Raton, where you're allowed to park ANYTHING in your driveway, but not in Coral Springs where I live, right next to the Glades, where the only people that will be bothered by it are the mosquitoes, possums, and the occasional alligator.

[s4son]

Ira,

How about a door update?

Scott F.

[IraRat]

Thanks for asking, Scott!

Second door is on, but it doesn't close perfectly yet. Some more rasping and sanding to do to get it to close perfectly, then the trim.

I worked on it for a few hours Saturday, and a few hours Sunday, but we had such a nice and hot RAIN-FREE weekend here, I spent a lot of time with the kids in the pool.

I didn't want to get a heart attack trying to rush it (sorry, Gage), but I can tell you one thing:

With one door already installed and closed, and working on the other one, it was GREAT cranking that AC on while I was working! I have one of those units with a digital thermostat and remote, but the remote is still in the house, and without the manual--no way I could figure out hot to set it higher than 68 degrees.

It was like an ice box in there!

So a tip to new builders:

Forget about putting a refrgerator in your galley. Get the right AC, and you're all set to store meat.

[s4son]

Ira,

Sounds like you're making good progress. Definitely need to take time out with the kids. They are grown and gone before you know it.

Scott F.