Tuesday and I’ve just noticed that I’ve skipped a day!
26 May 2009
• Halifax, NS
by Mike
Mea culpa, mea culpa, but I guess it's better to say nothing if I really don't have anything to say.
Our first weekend is over and we are settling in. We spend most days and some nights at the boat trying to get some work done. Our residence is with our daughter who kindly continues to allow us to cramp her style by letting us camp out in her living room. Her landlord doesn't allow dogs so poor old Peri is relegated to his post of guard dog and stays aboard to bark at intruders. We spend some nights aboard if I am working late, but it is nice to sleep in a real bed that we can each get out on our own side without having to crawl one another.
I continue to rough out the cabinetry for the tool crib in the middle cabin. For anyone that has never done it you need to know that it is nothing like making tables and chairs in the basement workshop. The main challenge is that there are very few right angles and at least somewhere there are two sides with irregular facings. Add to that the fact that you have to get the wood in and out of the companionway, sometimes several times if you are doing the cutting outside on the dock (and I am, by order of the Admiral) and you have some interesting times! I am using rough grade plywood to block out the shape and then will cover it with a thin oak veneer ply that I can varnish to look like the rest of the wood in the cabin. This is the cheap route but, hey, I'm retired and living on a fixed income.
Monday night Barb and went downtown to visit some old friends from where she used to work. I worked there too for a short time so I knew all these people as well so it was great to see them. They had all moved on from our common employer and we had great fun forensically dissecting the company to review what was wrong with it. Sadly, I think it's going down the tubes since the original US owners sold it to an offshore company who simply don't have a clue about running a global and especially American business.
Last night we had a staff meeting at the place that I currently work and I must say that it was done exceptionally well. The owners know how to deliver an orientation/pep talk without sounding like they're preaching or being condescending and we all came out re-invigorated, although I hadn't been there long enough really need it but it was good to get the lecture on how the place is structured and how it is run. Of course the trip to one of the local bars from nachos and beer didn't hurt morale either.
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