Moving day

It’s that time of year when everything changes outdoors, which alters what I do indoors in the shop to adjust to the cold.

As Thanksgiving approaches two things happen like clockwork. The most welcome of these events is that my sociopathic neighbor finally cuts back on her incessant lawn mowing. Pleasantly, she’s only mowing every 48 hours now, a huge decrease in her usual routine. The other thing isn’t so welcome, however, and that’s the fact that my garage shop turns into the North Pole. By that, I don’t mean it’s time to start making a few Christmas gifts. (Although it’s time to do that, too.)

What I’m talking about is the annual deep freeze my shop becomes. It’s no problem at all when working, as I just kick on the gas heater I installed two years ago and I’m working in shirtsleeve comfort. But at night or any other time I’m not working, it’s cold out there. That means it’s time to grab up all my glues and finishing supplies, and move them inside the house.

Fortunately, our laundry room connects to my shop and the house, so I can make use of the cabinets in there for storage. It adds a few steps when gluing up or finishing projects, but keeping the materials out of the cold is well worth it. As long as I remember to do it.

I put a coat of polyurethane on a project yesterday, planning to follow it up with a second coat today. And although I brought the project itself into the house, I neglected to bring the can back inside and this morning that varnish is, shall we say, a little on the thick side. Not a huge hardship, as the can is sitting on the kitchen counter now warming up to working temperature, but it is one of the things I need to adjust to this time of year.

All in all, moving my supplies twice a year to accommodate the cold is a minor thing in my circumstances. I know a lot of guys who have much, much colder shops in colder climates this time of year, and I can only imagine how they handle it.

A.J.