Since Halloween is such a big holiday for my husband, I knew better than to schedule clients in my private practice for that evening. So what did this mean? I essentially had a day off with about 5 hours where the sitter would be watching the kids. Yay! I thought a lot about this day for at least a week in advance. I was so excited with everything I was going to get to do in the garage. I’m currently working on a box for my dad to hold some of his calibration tools. Following my recent box-making class, I was confident this would be an easy one. I mean, we had done it in under 16 hours in the class and that had included some waiting around while others used the machinery. I did, however, recognize that I was going to need a sled or two to make my box. I was so excited, I even made myself a to-do list that went something like this:
– make a crosscut sled
– make a jointer sled
– cut the sides of the box to size, sand
– cut the lid and bottom, sand, stain
Hahaha. I’m so funny. Like all of that was ever going to happen in a mere 5 hours. Especially with the way that I overthink everything. I can spend ten minutes thinking about just one cut asking myself, is this the right way to do this cut safely? How will I pass the piece over the blade? Do I have my safety goggles and ear protection on? I wonder if the noise is bothering the neighbors. Should I measure the cut one more time? On this day though, I spent at least the first half hour reading the instruction manual for my circular saw (which I had never used before). I hadn’t thought earlier about the fact that I wouldn’t be able to cut the 5’x5’ piece of birch plywood down to size on my compact table saw.
As someone who has probably described themselves in multiple job interviews as a multi-tasker, efficient, productive, it was quite eye-opening to realize that there is a part of my life where these adjectives don’t apply, yet. I would like to say it’s as easy as telling myself to think less, cut more but I don’t think that is the safest option for being around these tools (have I mentioned I seem to have a healthy/unhealthy fear of these machines!). From what I’ve seen from my fellow woodworkers online, it’s a matter of practice and patience with myself.
Here’s to hoping my dad gets his box before Christmas!