23
Jan 10

Kayak: Accidents happen

Close-up of the split box beam

Woodworking lesson of the day: things can wait.  If you happen to be talking with a friend on the phone,  there’s no need to try moving a fragile cumbersome object.  Noted.

Quick recap.  The strongback I’m building is formed around a box-beam. So, yes, I was hoping to finish gluing the rabbet joins for the box beam today, which I did.  But in rushing to move the box-beam back into the garage, the beam split in two.  Big sigh.  However, I should be able to use a mitre saw to clean up the break and salvage the beam; it’ll just be a little weaker in that spot.  Frustrating.

However, the real test is going to be whether or not the forms fit around the box beam.  I still need to round the corners of the beam, but I tested the fit out a little today, and it’s going to be tight in places.  Cross fingers that they’ll all fit along and I won’t have to start the box beam from scratch.  Next time, maybe I’ll use nails instead of glue to fasten the rabbet joints.  The box beam doesn’t have to look pretty … just needs to be straight.



02
Jan 10

Kayak: Building the strongback

Dominic helping to make the rabbet joints needed for the box beam.Dominic helping to make the rabbet joints needed for the box beam.
Dominic helping to make the rabbet joints needed for the box beam.

The first step of the kayak project has been to build the strongback.  The one I’m building is the design that Schade outlines in his book (there are other techniques). He recommends positioning forms along a central beam.  The central beam can be a long wooden 2×4, but it’s hard to find a 2×4 of considerable length that is perfectly straight and dimensionally consistent.  If the beam is warped then the kayak will be too!

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02
Jan 10

Starting a new project

Night Heron Kayak

A finished Night Heron

Finally starting a project that has been a few years in the making!  I became interested in building my own kayak when a friend of mine built hers.  She and her dad had built the boat together from plans they found in a book.  Their kayak turned out beautiful, and any kayak is a lot of fun once you’re in the water!

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22
Oct 09

Pascal’s Memorial

The year of grace 1654,

Monday, 23 November, feast of St. Clement, pope and martyr, and others in the martyrology.
Vigil of St. Chrysogonus, martyr, and others.
From about half past ten at night until about half past midnight,

FIRE.

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21
Sep 09

Evangelistic Worship

Found this article on Redeemer’s website as I was preparing for our church retreat: evangelistic worship.  It has a lot of sound and practical ideas about running a church service.



13
Sep 09

Jordan and Robinson

jordan_robinson

Michael Jordan and David Robinson

This past week the NBA inducted its Hall of Fame Class of 2009.  Among the five people inducted were Michael Jordan and David Robinson.  Jordan is one of the all-time greats—the upper echelon of the upper echelon, and an automatic entry in any discussion of the best basketball player to have ever played the game.  Jordan was a prodigious talent and had the good fortune to land with the Bulls organization.  However, as I listen the sound bites and read the  reflections on Jordan’s career, the quality that I see that made Jordan into the player he was, was his unrelenting drive and competitiveness.  All athletes are competitive, but few ever were as driven as Jordan.

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03
Sep 09

Sarah-Vance

For better or for worse, no friend has impacted my life more than Sarah-Vance.  I was anticipating this entry since I started writing about my closest friends, and as Sarah herself said about the eventuality of this one, “I understand. It might be hard to explain our relationship.”

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17
Aug 09

Forgiveness II (16 August 2009)

This is the outline for the second lesson I gave on August 16th.  Most of the teaching comes from this sermon from Redeemer Presbyterian Church: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living: Repairing Relationships.

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17
Aug 09

Forgiveness I (9 August 2009)

This is the outline for the first lesson I gave on August 9th.  Most of the teaching comes from this sermon from Redeemer Presbyterian Church: Practicing the Christian Life: Forgiveness and Reconciliation.

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05
Aug 09

Forgiveness – Miroslav Volf

Forgiveness flounders because I exclude the enemy from the community of humans even as I exclude myself from the community of sinners. But no one can be in the presence of the God of the crucified Messiah for long without overcoming this double exclusion – without transposing the enemy from the sphere of monstrous inhumanity into the sphere of shared humanity and herself from the sphere of proud innocence into the sphere of common sinfulness. When one knows that the torturer will not eternally triumph over the victim, one is free to rediscover that person’s humanity and imitate God’s love for him. And when one knows that God’s love is greater than all sin, one is free to see onself in the light of God’s justice and so rediscover one’s own sinfulness.

Miroslav Volf