Daisy le dog.

I don't know. Talk about Daisy.

[EDIT 1/19/2014: Daisy is a dog. She is Kristin's small dog, and as we date for a longer and longer time, responsibility and ownership begins to shift. Daisy is now our dog, and we're more of a family of folks. When she pees on the rug, she is mostly still Kristin's dog.]

Patched things up with Alex.

Patched things up with Alex. Huge deserved apology was given to him. WTF happened to me? I'm incredibly relieved to have it in the past, and I'm happy to put distance between me and that.

Study Shack

Raked a clean space and laid out deck blocks for what I've been calling the "Study Shack" in my head. Looks like it will be a 6 1/2' x 8' tiny room with a loft. I have two big windows, and I could use some small ones for upstairs. A door would also be helpful.

Scrap Metal? Is that an idea?

What should I do next for work? Collect scrap metal? That seems potentially awesome. The thrill of the hunt. I love it. Make my own hours driving around? Boom.

My time there is limited...

 Further upsetness about the ongoing Alex deal. Eventually I just apologize. He irritates the shit out of me, but this argument is fruit from a bad tree. It all stems from an overreaction on my part, so the following character assassinations should never have come to light. It doesn't make me like him, but I have self preservation and other interests on the line too. I won't be at the shop forever. This is just a reminder that my time there is limited.

Kristin's piano and voice students' recital at Milkboy.

Tail Spinners Bicycle Swap Meet in Newark, Delaware.

Newark swap meet day. A fantastic situation. Then people came over.

[EDIT: 1/19/2014 - this swap meet ended up making me a lot of money. It took a long time to get around to listing things on eBay, but the eventual profits were excellent. A Serotta purchased for $400 eventually sold for $1000. If only these swap meets could happen once a week.]

2/22/13

Hung out with Dave. I snapped out at Alex earlier, and it's hard to think about anything else. It hit a deep nerve, and I'm starting to hate him.

2/21/13

Ride home with Shelly. Found out Alex emailed her to complain about the shop being dirty. WTF.

2/20/13

Walked to work and back with the new shoes. I'll be fine. Penn construction has tons of shit in dumpsters. Today, it was brand new doors with a huge glass window. If you have patience and walk around, you can build a mansion for free.

2/19/13

Making a new Sketchup model of a knock-off Epu. I'm enjoying getting better with Sketchup, and especially being able to model every tiny detail down to each individual cutout piece of building material. Every dimension and overlap down to the 3/8ths inch spacing between boards on the porch can be accounted for. Once I am finished with this model, I will be ready to build. My plans have changed many times, back and forth - but this might be the final model and design.

I'm having fun.

Sizing up lumber and the Tiny House building site.

In Kennett. Spent hours in Lowes looking at everything I might need to build a house. I was happy to see good prices on nice straight 2x lumber, and I saw everything I might need. The exploratory expedition filled in some pieces of the puzzle, and gave me some new ideas.

I looked at a potential building site - right next to my folk's place. Reasonably separated and not very visible from anywhere. It shouldn't be in the way at all. Looked at zoning regulations for Kennett, and found the newest "plan" that addresses housing needs. The plan lists details and ideas that fit perfectly with the idea of having a small auxiliary dwelling. Will my parents be comfortable with this idea? Can I build here? I'm aching to build, and this is a spot where I can. I like Kennett. I'd like to quit paying rent, finish college and get a job having something to do with carpentry or building. I'd like to try something new.

2/17/13

Lazy Sunday with Kristin in Philly. She has been feeling ill, so I stayed home and we made a day of it. I was thinking of going to Kennett, but stuck around instead. We ate brunch and got groceries. Still just all the super healthy stuff.

[EDIT 1/19/2014 - Around this time, we were shopping at the co-op in West Philly. You couldn't buy an unhealthy thing there. We were eating well.]

2/16/13

Tim's thing

[EDIT: 1/19/2014 - If I recall correctly, this thing-event was eating some deer that Tim's brother shot too much of, and watching some Top Gear with people including that guy who thinks he's pretty hot stuff, but to me seems not. I was happy to occupy some sofa and let time pass.]

2/15/13

Walked to and from. Feeling ready.

2/14/13

VDay, and Kristin is feeling ill. Skipped the party.

Working on the Phillips 3-Speed

Finished the Phillips bike. Walked to work; rode home.

(EDIT 2/19/2014 - The Phillips is a 1971 English 3-Speed. I rode it in stock form last winter, but decided on some upgrades. I re-tapped the bottom bracket shell to standard English threads, and re-built the original hubs into new alloy double-walled rims. I can't say it makes a huge difference, but the stopping power is improved. Steel rims in snow means a little planning is needed before you come to a real stop.)

2/12/13

Walked to and from. Feel like I really need to leave Philly. It's time for me to go.

2/11/13

Monday in kennett. Asked James about potentially building a tiny house at the farm. Awkward.

2/10/13

Lazy Sunday off w/ Kristin.

2/9/2013

Saturday - Su Tao w/ Dave Gary and Danielle

2/8/2013

Friday - Working on various Sketchup ideas, but it's hard to be motivated. I'm scatterbrained and unhappy. I'm afraid that I might not be being true to myself. Whatever that means.

REI Thru-Hiker's Class.

REI thru-hikers class. Left work early feeling shitty and almost melancholy, and barely went to the REI thing.

(EDIT 1/19/2014 - But, I did go to that class. I sat with other people who were planning to walk a long distance. I've already ridden some bicycles pretty far, and driven around in a van. I know what it's like to be dirty and hungry and lonely. I know what it's like to come home after that sort of rompabout. I know what it's like to forget what being hungry and lonely feels like. Right when you forget is when you start to romanticize it anew, and that is when you make plans to subject yourself to a new round of adventure. I already did this a few times.

Some people at the REI class are desperate for their first taste. I hope they get their adventure, and I hope it helps. I no longer feel a nervous intimidation. I am not - at this point - desperately seeking information printed on the inside of another person's cranium. One young man here is. He is trying to read the inside of my skull, and all I can do is hope that he finds what he needs. His plan is to walk the Appalachian Trail from north to south alone. Even in a group, that is a tall order. Alone - the odds are stacked. As a first adventure, and with the prospective adventurer seeking brotherhood from my sorry carcass here - at this meeting - makes me doubt his success. I want him to succeed, but I can't say I even expect that from myself. This is all okay for me, but I want better for him. He needs to get dirty and talk to other weirdos who ask all the big questions.)

2/6/13

Finished the Roberts 3-Speed. What a delight.

(EDIT: 1/19/2014 - I still haven't ridden the Roberts more than 10 miles since I bought it. It's still set up as a 3-Speed with an SRF3 hub. I've purchased a 1952 Sturmey Archer AM hub from a seller in England, and only a few days ago did I get around to pulling out the internals to compare them to the internals on the AW & SRF3. My plan is to ride the Roberts with a few different setups to compare the different gearing ratios and quality of the hubs. Then, I want to improve the internals of the hubs with the help of an engineer, a CAD drawing, and a machine shop. It's an old idea, and it's moving slowly.)

2/5/13

Went into work for a few hours due to other people not being able to. Sick or fixing cars...

2/4/13

Day off spent in Philly relaxing.

2/3/13

Day off with Kristin. Sunday is activity day. Went to AIDS thrift, etc. It was pretty great.

2/2/13

I went two days without taking Adderall. What's the point? there was nothing to get accomplished. Well I took it this morning, and it's a tremendous help at home. We'll see at what point in the day it wears off...

2/1/13

Home alone to watch the Shield some more. Smoke more pot. Had a pretty bad day - slow and not busy at work. Probably making the Roberts bicycle into a 3 speed. But tonight, I didn't even learn more about Sketchup. I just watched some tv and went to sleep.