June 2022 Newsletter Edition
It is amazing how fast June passed. I celebrated my 45th birthday this month. I've continued working on my goals. I am making progress. What is making the difference for me is friends stepping in to do specific tasks which are too physically challenging for me to do myself.
In early June I discovered some damage that had occurred to my home. A neighbours tree hit the corner of my home causing some wood to fall off. A squirrel moved into the attic above my kitchen. I received a grant to address this.
With the chronic pain I experience I've become sensitive to both hot and cold. I become increasingly uncomfortable if I get too warm or too cold. The window air conditioner I've been using has slowly been loosing it's ability to cool the home. As well the noise the fan makes prevents me from sleeping. Then the house warming up also keeps me from sleeping. It is a vicious cycle. I've purchased a new window air conditioner. It is the Midea brand air conditioner that is "U" shaped. The window fits between the fan blowing cooler air in the house and the noise of the fan blowing on the condenser unit. This has been very helpful. It is truly amazing the difference a quality night of sleep makes.
I've been making progress with my laser engraver setup. There is still a lot to do. I am pleased with the progress I've made this month:
- I purchased a featherboard. This allows for narrow cuts and cuts made closer to the blade. The benefit is that it will protect fingers from being cut off by accident.
- I have now assembled the vent hood and painted it. The laser engraver is a form of very controlled wood burning. Without a vent hood the smoke detectors trigger. The exhaust of the laser running needs venting. What remains is adding either plastic, Plexiglas or tempered glass to fill in the sides and top.
- My friend who is a mechanic came over to assist me. I asked for help changing the table saw blade. I purchased the table saw used. It came with a rough cut blade. I purchased a fine tooth blade and my friend put this in for me. The fine tooth blade is needed for cutting the wood the laser engraver will use before etching photos.
- I've also purchased a tool required for my woodworking router. It is long allen key that is "T" shaped. This is used for adjusting the depth of the cut the woodworking router makes.
I am beginning to make progress strapping the shed walls. The shed was built using 2" x 4" lumber. Since all 4 walls of the shed are outside walls I would like to use 2" x 6" insulation bats. This will drastically reduce the cost of heating and air conditioning. The process of strapping the walls has begun. Slow and steady will get this process completed. I am pleased with what I was able to accomplish this month and so grateful for the help friends gave me.