Well, the drywall stage is now completed and work has started on the floors in earnest. The front room had some sort of tile over the hardwood floor and is meticulously being scraped off leaving a black, gummy residue. It’s worth it though because this is the same sort of wood that is in the shop next door where they also refinished the floors and they are gorgeous.

The floor in the back room has been painted and appears to be a different wood composition, much broader planks and perhaps a softer wood of some sort. Regardless, it will take some effort to get both rooms sanded down and refinished though the result will be worth it we think.

On a side note, despite me feeling somewhat old and feeble, it turns out I’ve got a little physical strength left after all. That 1909 model 367 National Cash Register apparently weighs more than 150lbs. I’ve been moving this around my wood shop at home and finally carted it in to be shipped to NY where it will get a little TLC. The restoration job unfortunately is beyond my capabilities and available time. So the experts are going to help out.

The bummer is that the scale at the shipping place only indicates up to 150lbs and the register was over that in mass. No wonder I felt sore moving that thing hither and yon! It took 3 guys at the shipping office to wrestle it on to the scale. Even though it’s going to cost a mint to ship, I left feeling strong!

Here’s a picture of the drywall going up on the storeroom in the store. Things are now really starting to move which is a good thing.

Spouse met with an expert yesterday and selected the color scheme for the rooms. We’ve decided that the theme for one room is “explore” and that the theme for the other room is “create” – hopefully, we can infuse “fun” coupled with “buy” 😉 throughout the entire store!

The painting is progressing on the exterior now as well bringing the building into harmony with the other tenant too. If only we could convince the owner of the lot next door to clean things up a bit, it would help with the overall ambiance of the space. One thing at a time I guess.

I’m working on a prototype for a product we’ll carry in the store. Nope, not ready to talk about the store concept or this particular product. Let’s just say that I needed to assemble a wooden box frame to help support the main components of the prototype.

Now, strictly speaking, I didn’t need to use a box joint. I could have used a butt joint or half-lap and it would have worked just fine. Look at the picture, it’s a pretty joint! It became a point of pride that I learn how to make box joints in some reasonable and repeatable way.

I tried the first time free hand at the table saw with a single blade. That didn’t work so well.

I tried the second time by sketching out the joint on the wood then using a hand saw and chisel to do the work. Not only did it take a long time, the joint looked horrible, though it did work.

Finally I broke down and purchased a stacked dado for my table saw and built a box joint jig. It worked!

There is something deeply satisfying about creating something tangible; it hits both the mental and the physical aspects of innovation. I look forward to the next time I need to make a box joint now that I know how to do it.

Spent time in the store this afternoon chatting with the electrician and a potential painter. The framing is now complete. Most of the vent work for the furnace has been installed and that work is nearly completed. The electrician has a bit more to go having re-wired the entire space adding needed grounding and a new electrical service.

Still have a little IT related wiring to get finished this week and the sheet rock guys may be able to get in as early as Friday, which would be divine. Once we get the rock on the wall, we’ll get some painting to happen in both rooms and have the floors to go. Couple of more weeks and we’ll be ready to take possession of the space and start outfitting the store and that’s pretty exciting!

The layout looks just like what we envisioned. It’s progressing very nicely. I’m particularly impressed with the building owner’s approach to all of this – it’s going to be a good working relationship I think. I’ll write another update when there’s something more to share.

I’ve gotten many questions through the back channels (why don’t you comment?) about how Gracie is doing. She’s doing very well. The drainage tubes were removed yesterday and she’s healing right up. The worst part was the first night after surgery. Poor thing was up literally all night (and I was up with her.) The good part, no cone for Gracie…

Now she’s back to her regular self wondering why she can’t go on long walks right now and generally making a nuisance of herself. We ended up canceling our family vacation this week to hang out here with her while she recovered and I think that was a good choice.

So, prognosis for a full recovery is good though the wound still looks appalling. But overall, the hound is on the mend.