Atropa Belladonna

~ Raven (a.k.a. Nightshade)'s Weblog ~


These are the ARCHIVES of August 2007. For more archives, visit the Archives page. For the current Weblog entries, check the Main page.


Wed, Aug 1, 2007 (10:40pm)

I just wandered into an alternate reality, where my Dad was not an automotive mechanic, but a furniture repair/refinisher.

Shades had requested (for his birthday) that I see if I could get his Grandad's old swivel chair fixed up a bit. I made a couple phone calls and found a promising place here in Sherwood Park, which does high quality antique repairs. Took me forever to find the actual shop - I must have circled the block a dozen times, and the neighbouring blocks two or three times each - and I finally had to go into one of the stores to ask if anyone knew this guy's location. Sure thing, they said, just go around back, through the alley, and look for his truck. He works out of the back of the complex. You get in through a big overhead door.

I did indeed find him, or his van at least, and poked my nose into a nearby service entrance (where big trucks come up behind shops, to deliver goods). Sure enough, there was a guy, dressed in coveralls, cigarette sticking out of the corner of his mouth, rinsing off some stained brushes in a pretty powerful solvent.

"Are you the gentleman I talked to about the chair?" I ask.

"Sure thing" he answers, "Just gimme a minute here and I'll (mumble, mutter) brushes over by (mumble) into the shop, why dontcha?"

Taking it as an invitation to bring the chair into the shop, I went back to my van and took the chair out. He was over to help me in seconds, and was simultaneously nodding and shaking his head as I presented the chair to him. Instead of taking it to the shop, he stood in the alley examining it, commenting on the sad condition of the chair, pointing out the large number of things which would need to be fixed, and complaining about his very busy schedule. It went something like this...

"Well, good solid wood went into this - oh, no, no, look here - it's missing two spindles, two on each side... (makes tsking noises) I had some that were nearly like that, but you know, they have to be exact. Gotta be the same length, or it won't - look here, it's got a whole row of spindles at the top, we could replace with those, except, no, those aren't the same length either. better to just space these a little differently - see here? See where you could take this one out and put it here instead? Wouldn't nobody even notice. You could do that up, real simple. If I wasn't so busy, I could do that for you, couple days, maybe, is all it would take.

But no - this chair needs a lot more than that. Split here - looks like someone tried to repair it - no, no, needs some more (mutter) and the (tschk) wouldn't even be able to tell, actually, no - if you look right here - see (he flips the chair upside down) right there - look - do you see that? Where the dowel is out? It would be easy to fix. You could do that part yourself, if you just wanted to strengthen it up again. I could do it, too, but that would take me a while - I've got a desk I'm doing right now, and after that, well, heh, you should just see my shop. But this is good wood. Good stuff underneath. You could fix this one up real nice. Walnut I think. Yeah - here, look at that grain, that's walnut under the layers of paint. Who did that to such a nice chair? Not even a proper stain. Just slapped on paint without any undercoat - no, that's not mrm mmmrrr (muttering some more under his breath. Shakes his head. Nods. Nods some more.)

You're gonna need to do a lot of work on this one. It's all got to come off. Got to be stripped right down. Take the chair completely apart. See here? Here? And here? Take that apart, take out that dowel, gotta replace the bit that's broken away, there - you can see, these two armrests aren't even - someone's lost a chunk out of that wood there. Tried to hide it with filler and some paint. No, that's gotta be replaced. i can do that, you know? Make a new piece, fit it in there, look good as new. Gotta take the whole hting apart for that, though. That's complicated work. No - there's too many things wrong for this to be a simple job. I just - wait. I just need to check this. Nope. You need new castors too. Too bad I don't do castors anymore. But I can send you to a place for castors - best place in Edmonton. Right nearby the place you've got to go for the reupholstery. I told you that, didn't I? I don't do the reupholstery. I'll send you to the right place though. You don't have to go there, you could go somewhere else. There's places that'll do it cheaper. But these guys, they'll do good work. The only place I ever get any of my stuff done.

But this chair, yeah, you'll need to get a lot of work done on it. I won't lie to you - it's gonna take a while. I'm full up right now. Could take it somewhere else, if it needs to be done soon. You don't even want to know how much it would cost to repair this chair. No, you don't. Well, I'm not saying I could even do it, not really - I've got a 5 other projects I'm working on, and this chair would ... hey, one of them is walnut too. Wanna come on into the shop? Now, this is a real nice piece. You gotta see it. See, here, and here. Those have to be repaired. Gonna take me a week of work just to get that together again, but when I'm done, you see this drawer? It's gonna look just like this one. Hey - you can even see it, over on this table I was fixing the leg of. Now, this is an old one - early 1900's - and right here, it was split right through. but you can't barely see it now can you? No? You can't? Here, let me take it int othe light. See, there? If you look just right, you see that fine crack? That's where it was broke - clean through. That's how nice I'm gonna fix up this desk.

Oh, yeah - and if you want to see old, that there's a grandfather clock. 1800's, my guess. I think 1800 - 1820. Old one. Solid - the way they made 'em back then. It's only a little repair, but I got to get the right material - you don't just pick that up lying around - no, and then, then the tough part will be making it match up - just perfect. But I can do that. I can do that. Yup.

I mix all my own stains here. Right here! I can make up any stain you want on that chair. You come in - once I've got it all taken apart, all put back together, stripped and sanded - I'll make up the stains for you, and you can see 'em, right o nthe chair. I'll put a bit here, a bit here, you can look at 'em, right on the chair - make up your mind then. Not now.

That's assuming you want me to do the job. I've got so much else on my plate - it'd be, oh, I don't know, the desk, the grandfather closk, the other desk - did I show you the chair I've got, beign stained now? here it is - it's gonna be so nice when it's done - yeah, and then the piano has to be finished for the Stollery - not for the hospital, you know? But for the auction. That's a piece I'm finishing up nice for them - someone else donated it, but I'm doing the work, and it's gonna be a charity thing. Yeah, and after that, those dining chairs. I don't know - maybe 3, 4 months? I don't mean it'd be done then. I mean, that's when I could look at it. I'd do it sooner, but I have all these projects, and I don't know... If I didn't have to take it all apart, maybe I could do it between the desk and the clock. But no - it's gotta come apart, you see? It's got to. So there's no use. I just couldn't slip it in.

But - if you want me to do it - it'll be a fine job. You won't be disappointed. Been doing this for 35 years. I'll fix it up right for you. Yep."


Whew. Yeah...

The cool thing which struck me with such deja-vu (other than his run-on commentary) was that he even has the same workbench as my Dad. It's at the back of his shop, on the right, cluttered with a hundred different tools and jigs, and knives, and sanders, and hammers, and tubes and bottles, and it's even got a rotary grinder mounted on it, just like my Dad's bench. The only thing different is that, where my Dad's bench and everything on it is covered in a fine dark layer of grease, everything on his bench was covered in a fine sandy layer of wood shavings/sawdust.

It took a bit to convince him that I really do want him to take care of Shades' chair, and that I don't mind waiting (the chair was just gathering dust in our garage) and the price was a bit higher than I'd expected. But then, I hadn't realized that the chair was a legitimate antique, either. Apparently, it's from the turn of the century, between 1900 and 1910, he said. He grabbed one of the girls who works at the antique shop next door (the shop where, coincidentally, I'd stopped to ask for directions to his place) and she said it would probably sell for $1500, in it's current state. Fixed up, it's likely worth $2500.

I s'pose it could all be an elaborate scam. You know, talk up the customers real nice, and get the antique dealer next door to confirm your estimates, and then fleece the customer with a half-assed job. But I don't think so. The guy seemed to know his stuff, and be really excited about it - and the pieces he had in his shop (in various stages of repair) were seriously nice pieces. Unless he's invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into building an elaborate set for his hoax, I'm thinking it's legit. Hey - my Dad has spent more than a quarter century making his garage look that... well used. I doubt a fake shop would have the same aura about it.

Wed, Aug 8, 2007 (2:30pm)

Quad War (Aug 3-6) was excellent. Give or take hordes of wasps, opressively warm weather, and my asthma being triggered by smoke, dust, pollen, grass, hay, and all the other things which have sent me to the hospital in Lloydminster on previous Quad Wars.

Despite the hot weather, Myke and I did very well with our little shop, Cloaking Devices. We sold approx. $1500 of cloaks, bog coats, hoods, and hats. Fox had sent along some leatherwork (belts, bracers, and sword frogs) and made several sales. I hope he's able to send more stuff along next year, since many people expressed an interest in his work.

The kids had a lot of fun, engaging in mock swordfights in from of the cabins, playing hide and seek in and out of tents, swinging in the hammock, and generally enjoying the whole camping experience. Kalen made a friend named Kaitlyn, and the two of them are looking forward to seeing eachother again next Quad War.

I got stung by a wasp, and didn't die.

Honestly, that is one of my favorite things about the weekend - the not dying part.

Since I'm allergic to everything under the sun (animals, various trees and plants, many foods, air, etc.) my allergist said there was a very good chance I was allergic to bee stings. I've got an Epi-Pen for my nut allergies, and I had it along with me, but since I'd never been stung by a bee or wasp, I wasn't sure if it was going to be one of those situations where I needed to use the pen, or not.

I am pleased to report that the sting was no worse than stabbing myself with a pin (which I frequently do, while sewing) and the venom hurt no more than burning one's self on a hot mtch while lighting a candle (which I also do with greater frequency than I'd like to admit). The site barely got swollen at all, and within 24 hours, you couldn't even see where the sting had been. In that respect, I was a lot better off than the many others who were stung by wasps. Several people were sporting big red welts, or creamy white blotches of Lanacaine or AfterBite cream. Enough people that they were calling the event 'Quad Wasp' instead of 'Quad War'.

Kay - I have photos to process, and hopefully will post a bunch of them here, once they're done.

Thurs, Aug 9, 2007 (5:30pm)

Quad War Pics (mouse over to see descriptions of each photo)

                         



Tues, Aug 14, 2007 (2:50am)

Things that Suck

It's nearly 3am, and I'm not in bed yet.
My right shoulder is sore.
The kitchen faucet is broken.
There is (still) a pile of dirt on my driveway.
My sewing machines are out for repair.
The stupid Carpet Cleaner wasn't behaving for me, when I tried to clean the (very dirty) stairs.
FaceBook is refusing to let me log in, so I can't change my status there.


Things that Make Me Happy

I'm going to GenCon tomorrow!
I'm up late, but have no reason to get up early in the morning (apart from kids) because ALL my packing is done!
My right shoulder is not as sore as it was yesterday, 'cuz I had a Massage Therapy appointment today. Mmmmmmmmm.
There is laminate flooring in the kids' bedrooms, now.
We have a functional gate to the back yard.
My carpets are clean.
My computer is not broken anymore (or not very broken. Much.)
I got to go to Animethon on the weekend! Yay Amine!
I sat in on a panel about Yaoi, and got to ask, "But how do you pronounce it? "
The printer and my computer are now speaking nicely to eachoter, and things are no longer printing out post-card sized.
I'm going to GenCon! GenCon! Tomorrow!!!
So is Star!
And I'll have dinner with Kim and Fritz and Dazzy on Friday! At GenCon!
GenCon!!!

Aug 15-22, 2007

GENCON!!!

So much to say, and many pictures to post. However, Adobe Photoshop still won't work for me after the Great Crash of 2007-08. And I have many other things to post, and if I try to write up all the fabulousness that was GenCon, I'll be at it for days and never get around to updating.

Instead, I will regale you with the tale of our trip home, in point form.
  • Arrive at Indianapolis airport 1.5 hrs early
  • Get checked in 1.4 hours later after waiting in a freaking long line.
  • Luggage got tagged super-fast and with no consideration for whose luggage is whose.
  • Arrive at the gate to be told the plane is overbooked and only 3 of our 5 person party can get on the plane.
  • Party gets split up, airline pulls the luggage for 2 of us.
  • Flight gets delayed.
  • Flight gets delayed more.
  • Finally 3 of our party take off for Denver.
  • They miss their connecting flight.
  • They get assigned a different connecting flight, for 6am
  • They get stuck sleeping in the airport overnight
  • Half of their luggage is missing.
  • Connecting flight gets them to Calgary.
  • Yep. Luggage is definitely missing.
  • Finally get a flight to Edmonton, returning home around noon, about 24 hours after leaving Indy.
  • The 2 of us who got left behind get rebooked on a different flight, to Toronto.
  • Flight is delayed.
  • Flight is delayed.
  • Arrive in Toronto having missed the connecting flight to Edmonton.
  • Rebooked for a flight the next day at noon.
  • Airline gives us a comp. hotel at least.
  • But the luggage we have isn't ours, we've got our friends' bags.
  • Get back to the airport the next morning.
  • Flight is delayed.
  • Finally board & manage to make it to Edmonton.
  • Our (friends') luggage manages to make it home with us.
  • But 2 bags are still missing.
  • Manage to find one of the missing bags at the airport on the same day.
  • Last bag is finally found 3 days later.


Last updated goodness-only-knows-when. These are archives, after all.