Just one of those days...

[Arthur C.]

Well, it's a rainy, chilly day in south Louisiana, one of those days where the dampness and cold go right through to your bones. A perfect day for carving, right?

Right. I have the project on my bench, good lighting, sharp tools,plenty of time, nothing holding me back from finishing the carving I've been working on for a week now. Except. Except I just can't get my rear in gear. It's 2:45 now, so I've managed to piddle away the best part of the day, and the prospects for the remainder don't look promising. Yawn-n-n.

Ever have "one of those days"?

[rjrsky]

Yes. Indeed. Know what you mean. Here in Middle Tennessee it is rainy, gloomy and 45 degrees. Cold to the bone. And, wife is sick to boot. But, thankful just the same.

Rob

[Soggy]

I know the feeling ,.....and I'm sure we have more inclement weather up here than you folks in Louisiana ,..... just gotta say " what the heck!,.... if I don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow".......
Wayne

[rjrsky]

Soggy,

Yes. Indeed.

Rob

[Merle Rice]

I had one of those days today and forced myself to get in the Shop . Started to do something simple on the Carving and before long i was involved in the project . Doesn't always work but it did today. Oh yes it is Cold here in Maryland also. Merle

[Claude]

Today, I did one my Honey-Do's - put up another shelf in the Master Bedroom closet. We have 9 foot ceilings, and the the builtin shelf is 6 feet off the floor. Lot of wasted space up above it, so I put in another shelf above the first the store excess pillows and blankets on.

Claude

[squbrigg]

Damm, that sounds down right balmy Arthur. I'll trade places with you, just for the next six or eight months, long enough for winter to go by. It's freezing outside right now, blowing a gale and driving the ice and snow right to the marrow of your bones. I'm getting to feel the cold these days, must be my advancing years! Have to brave the ice and snow every day though, one of the delights of owning a Siberian Husky, she needs her exercise or gets mischievous.

Bob

[Bob K.]

It happens to me a lot of times. When it does it's best to just do nothing...or at least something other than carve. I find that if I force myself to carve I just pick at the wood and do a lousy job. Just chalk it up to a non carving day. Read your WCI magazine...even back issues...get some new ideas. Watch some Youtube videos. Sometimes I'll even draw some new patterns or cut out some blanks. At least I'm doing something carving related. Some days are just not meant for carving.

[Randy]

The older I get the more of those days seem to be on the calendar. In fact I think today may be one of those days. It is cold rainy and I can’t seem to get my get up to go. Thinking it is a good day for a good book and a bottomless cup of coffee.

[DiLeon]

Started the year with a ballistic missile going to hit us, then the flood in April. the volcano blew its top and we waited three months for it total blow, two hurricanes came right to the islands, and my own medical scare just went through some major testing for tumors which after six weeks wait no cancer found .... no wonder I feel like I been hit by the need to do nothing lately ...a need to crawl under the bed and sleep the whole winter. I look at my shop and I am just not there right now. So yea I know this feeling major

[Gypsy31]

Wow, the cold weather in Southern California has been down to 70%!
Oscar

[Brian T]

My mental gearshift is finally in neutral today. I will marinate in coffee and carve something.

Yesterday was a toss-up:

>$2,000 for a new furnace oil tank ( and maybe $1,200.00 to fill it)
>More than $8,000 for an electric furnace +, more hole$$$ in my house , bigger electrical $$$ervice,
line upgrade and the logging of one of my 50' x 16" $$$pruce trees in front of my house.

My bank account said "go for the new tank." It will out live me.

The pharmacy upscrewed all of my prescriptions so sat and waited for that to get fixed.
But the wood stove pellets came and that ( 50 x 40lb bags) got humped into the house.

I'm warm and all the food is good.

[Arthur C.]

Today is a beaut! Forty-seven degrees at mid-day, beautiful blue skies, wind a little nippy but glorious working in the sun at my outdoor workbench...making a sanding bow. I've already been to the bank, Walmart, Costco, Albertson's, and Home Depot. Now to cut out some blanks for my current carving project and maybe mow the grass for hopefully the last time until March.

This weather sure beats the heck out of summertime, and my dog and I have declared this to be a day to enjoy working outside!

RV, you mentioned burning wood pellets. Our port of Greater Baton Rouge ships out an unbelievable volume of wood pellets, I understand mainly to Europe. Is it "high tech" or "low tech" to burn wood?

[Brian T]

Unit trains of wood pellets going east from BC (then across the Atlantic to Scandanavia) are a mile+ long.
Even with the shipping costs, they must find pellet fuel an economic advantage.

It's an ideal utilization of trees killed in past forest fires. Salvage wood, no use for anything else.
Very clean burning, cheap fuel with a fairly stable price structure when compared with any fossil fuel.

Temps hovering here these days around 32F, up and down, some wet snow showers and variable winds.
I'm burning maybe 70 lbs per 24 hrs. 500lbs will give me 2-3 lbs fine brown ash.
Over an entire winter, on average, I burn 10,000lbs ( 5 tons).

No, it doesn't carve for crap!

[Brian T]

Technology level? The guts of my Harman PP38+ pellet stove are fairly complicated with 3 electric motors and various temperature sensors.
Big printed circuit board tucked in there as well. I've run it 5-6 months per year for 10 years.

Economics? When compared with an oil-fired central heating furnace, I have saved $25,000.00 in the last decade.