Friday, November 28, 2008

A Day on the Links

The Phist Bros invited me to play a round of golf, something I had never tried before. Wright was sure that I would find the experience, very interesting. Since I am trying to develop a better boss-employee relationship with the boys, I agreed to give it a try.

I had discovered that I am by no means a "natural". Wright seems to be pretty good, and Lefty better than me.



After the first nine holes, Wright said he was close to par (whatever that means).



Lefty had taken less swings at the ball then I had, and seemed very happy about that.



Lefty then gave me a nickname, he called me "hacker". I'd never had a nickname before and was kind of pleased, that I was fitting in.



By the 18th hole, I had improved a great deal. I hit the ball in the hole in very short order.







Lefty seemed to get worse as we went along. On the 18th hole, he kept yelling "four", even though he was well over four swings at the ball.
That's when I figured out what Wright had meant by finding golf interesting.



When Lefty doesn't do well, he gets angry and breaks his golf sticks. Wright and I snickered, we did not laugh out loud however, since he still had some unbroken clubs.

I don't think this is a game that I'll be playing again.

Monday, November 24, 2008

The Lighthouse (Part 8) Who would have guessed?

I was surprised that you haven't been by for awhile. Dad explained that you visit by way of the Internet. It seems that one of the bills that I customarily just put in the desk drawer was for Internet connection. That's all straightened out now, and I'm glad to see you again.

****************************************

We are ready to install the roof on the Beacon House. Alonzo made arrangements for a crane, with which I hoped we could do the job.


I practiced operating the levers and such, and when I felt confident, we hooked the cables to the roof.
A problem with using miniature equipment for miniature building, is that such equipment does not convert well for handling scale loads.


First the crane tried to tip over.


Then the boom gave way.

This caused a problem, as I had planned on lifting the completed Beacon House on to the main structure with the crane.



Dad said that I complicated the beacon house roof project. His solution has always been to "let the Phist Bros. do it".


They are more useful then I had thought. The roof is on, and looks good. I guess I'll need to rely on Lefty and Wright a lot more.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The Lighthouse (Part 7)


C.J. humming softly "You Light Up My Life".





"Hello, again. I'm just cleaning the lens for the beacon. Just a minute and I'll come out."



"I'd invite you in, but as you can see, it is a little crowded in here".



"I'll bet that for a minute, you thought that I was trapped in here. We have , however, added a door".



"The door sure makes access a lot easier".



"I was surprised to discover the amount of electrical things needed to make a lighthouse beacon function. It is all coming together".

"Next we'll be adding the roof, railings and some flooring around the beacon house. See you soon".









Saturday, November 8, 2008

The Lighthouse (Part 6) The Beacon House

For the last few days, I've been working on the Beacon House, with Lefty and Wright. They don't seem to be to happy about my being the Boss. "The Kid" is what they call me, but only when they think I can't hear them.



The plans call for the beacon house to be built on the top of the light house. I talked with Dad, and we've decided to build the assembly on the ground and then lift it to it's proper location.



I gave the Phist Bros the day off and asked Taelyn and Alonso to help with the final assembly.



They put their shoulders to it, and we got it closed up. That's when I discovered that the designer had neglected to include a door.



Taelyn and Alonso got some ladders and I climbed out. We will be putting a door in real soon.



I took a group photo of the three of us.



My new shoes are helping with my photo taking. You may be asking yourself the question "How does C.J. set the timer and still manage to get in the photo, when he needs a ladder to get in and out of the Beacon House"? Well, I'm not telling! I will say that the next time you get a fancy piece of equipment, read the manual.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The Lighthouse (Part 5)



Good Morning. I did not expect to see anyone this early. There must be a great deal of interest in the Lighthouse Project, as you folks seem to be coming by oftener. But, since you are here I would like to tell you about an idea my Dad has had.


Let me get my coffee cup, I'm a real "troll", without my morning cup of caffeine.


Dad wants me to take over the "business". He wants to semi-retire. He says that since I just graduated for M.I.T. (Miniatura Institute of Technology), that he thinks I'll do okay. He'll of course be around if I run into any problems. I'm going to give it a try. If "Pixielated Builders" looks a little different, it's because I'll be doing the Reports.



Darmit!


Darmit again!

Dad use to take all the photos. That's why he was never in any of the pictures. I've discovered that our camera has a timer. However, I'm experiencing a problem getting into position before the time expires.

Part of the problem appears to be my work boots. I trip on the laces when I try to hurry into position.
Hopefully, with non-lace shoes and some more practice, I'll do better next time.