Rockwell Compact Circular Saw

I'm excited to start using my Rockwell compact circular saw. Since I live in a condo and have very little room, I have never bought a circular saw. As is, I have tools stored in every nook and cranny in my condo. My router, jigsaw, drill, and Rotozip are all in various closets and under beds. I forgot I had a jigsaw for a while until I found it stuffed in the back of a closet.

This weekend I redid my old patio table. The pressure treated wood was 17 years old and in need of replacing. But I didn't want to waste the old wood, so I decided to paint some art pieces on it. But first I needed to cut the wood to size. Certainly the jigsaw or Rotozip would do it, but I'm not good a doing straight lines with those tools. And I knew a circular saw would do it in half the time (at least).

I went to the store to look at getting a small one as was excited to find the Rockwell compact circular saw.

Look at how small it is! Easy to store, easy to use. And I finally can make straight cuts on wood. It's perfect for a hobbyist.

I have 6 boards at 48 inches. I can do at least 6 pieces of art with that. I can't wait to get started.

My Favorite Painting

Prince Charles by Bryan Organ, ©National Portrait Gallery, London

I saw this portrait in 1988. It amazed me then and it still resides in my head to this very day. I'm not a huge art fan nor a Prince Charles fan, but this painting of Prince Charles moved me on that day and stays with me still. You can see it at the National Portrait Gallery in London. It's the only image I remember from the entire place and they have quite a collection.

I wonder why it moved me so. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that it's remarkably simple in it's approach. It has no pretense and suggests no grandeur. In this picture Prince Charles could be any man, but he so obviously is not. It's accessible and I guess that's what I want art to be, be it art that I view or art that I create.

If you get a chance to see it, do. See if it speaks to you.

NPG Link

New Air Conditioner: Keeping Up with the Joneses

My neighbor put in a new air conditioner. It's about 8 feet away from mine. When I was out in my yard in the heat, I heard a slight sound and noticed that new air conditioner. It was so quiet. I was envious immediately. My 1995 air conditioner sounds like a jet. When I have it on, I have to turn the TV up to SCREAM level. I'm certain my neighbors hate me (for many reasons, this is just one).

I was so envious that I invited myself in their house to look at the unit. I don't even know their name. (I know, I'm rotten. The worst part, I still don't know their name. But I do know the make and model of the air conditioner.) They told me that they ordered it from Amazon and installed it themselves. Hmm...

I can order from Amazon, I thought. But I can I install a 100 pound unit? I thought that might be a bit much for me. So I order it from eBay and call out somebody to estimate the installation. $300. What? The unit only cost $479 and it comes with everything you need to install it but caulk.

Well, that was enough motivation for me to try to install it myself. I cut out all the old caulk and pulled and pulled and pulled. Man, that old unit just fit in that sleeve. Here it is out with a nice hole in my wall. Luckily the sleeve was still in great shape.

I pushed the new unit over to the window, installed some foam spaces and then pushed and pushed and pushed. Man, the new unit just fit in that sleeve. TIGHT on the sides. 

I added more foam than the old one had and caulked like a champ. It was easy to caulk inside the house, hard to get to the bottom on the outside of the house. I had to lay completely flat and I got covered in dirt and eaten by mosquitos. I even replaced the outlet. Nothing peeves me more than painted outlets and this one had 20 years of paint on it (including mine).

I still have to get some help getting the old one out of my house. There's no way that I could lift it by myself. Luckily, I have a big, strong friend with a truck. 

That was yesterday. Today, I can barely move. Wow, at my age that much work it's a lot of strain on your body. It bugs me that as I get older, my recovery time is much longer. But apparently it doesn't stop me from doing this stuff!

And there you have it. I just had to keep with Joneses (whatever their name may really be). You'd think being a Jones would make it a non-issue. You'd be wrong.