When I was in Panama, I wrote about my Favorite
Panamanian’s determination to raise the level of our bed back in Worcester. Before
those of you with dirty minds (guilty) can leap to any conclusions I’m talking about
the actual height of the bed. We got a new king-sized bed, for the first time,
back in November, which I love, mainly for the Leesa mattress (thank you
Daughter and Wingman). My wife, however, felt the bed sat too low to the ground.
After putting up my usual fruitless argument, she bent me to her will (as she
is wont to do). I sent a message back to the States and Keene Friend did a huge
favor by measuring the legs on the bed.
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| The Newly Elevated Bed |
We needed these because we have a local carpenter
in Panama who is nothing short of a magician. He’d made us a new bed for the condo
as well as a couple tables. My wife gave him the measurements and the added
height she wanted. He created four wooden stanchions that the bed legs would
fit into and lift the bed four inches. There were also four internal legs which
he told me how to handle. We lugged the stanchions home and they’ve been awaiting
my attention. Since today was scheduled to rain all day and night, a perfect
day to stay in, I launched on it this afternoon. Before I continue, I’d like to
get tangential and complain about the weather. I know that’s not very New Englander
of me, but it’s nearly Memorial Day and we’ve had temperatures in the 40s this
week (totally unacceptable).
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| One of the Stanchions |
Back to the bed, earlier this week I
painted the stanchions black because that’s what the project manager (my Favorite
Panamanian) decreed. I unloaded the mattress form the bed and started lifting
the bed onto the stanchions. This is where it got interesting. When Keene
Friend did the measuring, he, like I would have, assumed all the bed legs were
the same size. They weren’t. Two of the bed legs fit perfectly into the stanchions,
but the legs for the head of the bed were twice the size. I said it got interesting.
That happens any time I attempt fine carpentry. I told my disconsolate wife that
I could make I work by cutting as notch in the two stanchions so the other two
legs would fit in. It’s much more difficult than it sounds.
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| Stanchion in Place on Leg that Fit |
I got the first one cut, which, while
not resembling a work of art looked like it would work. Buoyed by this
unexpected success, I started in on the second with a little too much confidence.
That’s when the damned thing split down the side. Calling up all the experience
I have watching This Old House, I devised a way to repair the split using
pieces of metal I scrounged from my tool box as well as a couple really long
screws. In a major surprise, it worked. The only thing remaining was cutting
the braces for the internal legs and bolting them on. Again, not as easy as it
sounds. With the relentless rain I had to work in the garage, which already had
two cars, a discarded storm door, as well as the new toilet and vanity awaiting
installation in the downstairs bathroom. In other words, very tight quarters. I
managed to get it done without damaging the nearby cars other than exposing
them to some very pointed and obscene language (like when the thing split). I
re-assembled the bed and in a minor miracle it worked, the bed is now at a
wifely approved level and I can once more pledge to never try finished carpentry
again. Am praying those screws hold.
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| My Work Area |
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| Internal Legs Braced |
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| Ready for the Mattress |
A very sad note from earlier this week
with the death of George Wendt, the beloved Norm of Cheers. Cheers is, without
a doubt, my favorite tv series of all time. Every time I see an episode it
brings back great memories. I was working on my first Masters degree back in
the early 1990s at Providence College. Each Thursday night, after class, I
would rush to Great Aunt’s house to watch that week’s Cheers episode with her
and Soxfather. I still cherish the memory of those Thursday nights. They were also
Cheers nuts and brought me to the old Bull and Finch Pub, which was the name of
the bar Cheers was based on in Boston. It’s since become a major tourist trap
and renamed Cheers.. I’ve been watching reels on Facebook all week where they
show his trademark entrance with the entire bar yelling “Norm" as he walked in.
It feels almost as if I’ve lost a beloved cousin. Norm kind of did that for me.
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| R.I.P. my Old Friend |
For date night we watched Fight or
Flight. This movie truly surprised me. It’s a goofy action comedy with Josh Hartnett
starring as a disgraced secret service agent who’s coaxed back into the
business to capture a wanted cyber terrorist on a flight from Bangkok to San Francisco.
There are too many plot twists to describe other than to say Hartnett is
awesome as he kills his way through the plane loaded with assassins. He’s ably
assisted by Charithra Chandran as a spunky flight attendant; she manages to
steal the majority of scenes that she’s in. I would hazard a guess that we’ll
be hearing a lot more about this actress in the near future. She was great. As
was the entire movie which had me laughing as well as cringing as the carnage
unfolded. I texted my son as soon as I got home, telling him this was our kind
of movie.
Six movies fell in the A-Z watch, four
keepers and two jettisons: Parenthood - one of my favorite movies of all time,
just timeless; Parker – early Statham action movie and you got love the title;
Passenger 57 – 80s action flick that hasn’t aged well, getting rid of; Passengers
– despite beyond unacceptable meet-cute, still love this movie; The Passion of the
Christ – get enough of this at church, interesting hearing ancient Aramaic and
Latin spoken but this is not a repeat watch, getting rid of; and Pathfinder –
Viking kid grows up to fight alongside Native American family against more
Vikings in Vineland.
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RECURRING CHARACTERS:
ABFA – Amazing Best Family
Athlete – my daughter
in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter
#3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel -
second granddaughter; Cantankerous
Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything,
poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high
school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside
Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in
Brooklyn; Czech Connection – Czech couple who’ve become good friends
along with their daughter (the Czech Shadow); Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions
once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite
Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR
- First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since
high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with
after many years; Maine and Virginia
Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the
3rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake
Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close
friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals
– female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife
accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high
school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the
Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex
and my wife and I; Soxfather – my
brother-in-law (whom I miss more than I can ever explain); Tia Loca –
wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my
son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom,
of course
