Cold weekend

The weekend was definitely too cold to do much of anything, but I still managed to keep fairly busy. I really didn't want to do much of anything since I'm fighting another cold and temps were below zero with high winds. Nonetheless, I had at least one project that had fallen through that really needed to be done. I took some time on Saturday to build a backstop for our drumset at church much like the one that I built at Hanfield several years ago made up of two sheets of plywood with acoustic foam stapled to them and hinged in the center.

I estimated the project would take about 90 minutes to complete, but no trip to Lowes is complete without a couple of follow up visits. My first visit saw me acquire the supplies, but leave the hinges at the store. I realized it when I was half way to the church but decided that with the wind howling and the hatch open on the Aztek, that I'd be better off dropping off the plywood and then going back for the hinges. My second trip was a success as the hinges were still at the register where I'd left them. Unfortunately, it wasn't until I got back to the church that I realized that the hinges did not have a removable pin. A removable pin makes the panels easier to take apart and store. A third trip was in order.

By this point, my cold had generated a nasty sinus headache and I decided to head home for lunch and some meds before finishing up. I headed back to Lowes, returned the hinges, got the hinges that I should have bought in the first place and went to the church to finish the job. It came together pretty quick even though my staple gun had to be refilled or have the chamber cleared about every four staples. I finally had everything set up by about 3:30, four hours after I initially set out to start the project. I was able to head home and hang out the rest of the day.

Sunday morning we headed out for church. Still cold, but not as windy. We were able to hang out at home after church until we had to go back for a meeting about naming the church. We are in the process of merging our congregation (Mercy Church) with the congregation that owns the building (Good Shepherd Community Church). It is an interesting process that I've mentioned on a few occassions which will eventually leave us with one church, two services and dual denominational affiliation with the Christian & Missionary Alliance and Mennonite USA denominations. Unfortunately, there's a bit of contention over the naming of the church in its new entity, but that's another post entirely.

Today I have the day off and have been doing shuttle service to All City Elementary, USF and First Baptist Preschool, otherwise I wouldn't leave the house. Maia and I have to leave soon to pick Amy up and it's snowing pretty hard at the moment, so odds are good that I'll be going outside to pick up Amy and to scoop snow before the day is out.

On the plus side, things at work are beginning to foreshadow the changing of seasons as my youth cold weather shop is dwindling rapidly and golf has expanded. We're only a few weeks from serious expansion of bikes and then we can start having fun again.