Friday, January 30, 2015

Thwarted

This is turning into the project from hell.  Were I not made of sterner stuff (go ahead and say it, "stubborn") I would chuck the whole idea.  Since the shop downstairs is at least twenty degrees cooler, make that "colder" in January, than upstairs, I waited until afternoon to brave the nether regions.  Filled with enthusiasm and anticipation, I put the new titanium bit in the drill and, zoot!, punched a hole where the dimple had been.  One piece drilled, two, and then the drill bit snapped.  Evidently titanium only works and is unbreakable at the tip and not at the shank.  It probably doesn't help that I have no idea what I'm doing, going on instinct alone.  Luckily, I had bought two bits (thank you, Steve).  Refusing to be beaten by a mere tool, I replaced the broken bit and started on the third part of the project.  Can you imagine how disheartening it was to hear the drill grind to a halt as the battery went dead?  I put the battery in the charger, turned off the light, locked the shop door, and came back upstairs.  Not wanting the day to be a complete waste, Bessie and I went outside and she supervised while I picked up another wagon full of twigs, bark bits, and limbs from the front yard.

Ralph's coloring is similar to the setting sun and yesterday he was definitely brighter than the western sky toward dusk.

While I'm on the subject of cats, Clay gets bragging rights for being the only person so far for whom Celeste has come out of hiding and actually let touch her before zipping back to her room.  There are those who think Celeste is a figment of my imagination because Ralph is the only cat they've seen.  Ralph is gregarious and Celeste is reclusive with everyone but me.

I may or may not go downstairs again to take on The Project today.  I would ask, "What else could go wrong?" but we know how that usually ends.

1 comment:

Kathryn said...

I thought you were going to tell us that you plugged in the battery to recharge it, but it was on a hot outlet and you switched off the light switch that controlled it...accidentally. Guess that would answer the question of what else could go wrong! Good luck with the project!