Good afternoon (that’s EBT – eastern bar time). Today is the first Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt for 2023. I was going to say that this would be the last ‘first’ I have to announce, but tomorrow will be the first Thursday Doors Sunday Recap, and it will be huge! Several people did not take a holiday break, and I promised to include their doors on Sunday. This post “
“Your prompt for #JusJoJan and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: ‘out of the box.’ Write about the first thing that comes to mind when you think ‘out of the box.’ Enjoy!”
If we were having a beer, you’d be interested in my recent delivery.
“Happy New Year, Dan. It’s good to see you. Modelo?”
“Yes please, Cheryl. Did you ever get out of here last week?”
“I did. I left after serving the champagne toast.”
“What about Skippy?”
“I don’t know what happened to him, and… Oh, here’s your buddy.”
“Happy New Year, Cheryl. You were about to reference a rat’s hind parts.”
“Cheryl, give this man a John Howell’s Special and put it on my tab. Happy New Year, David.”
“With pleasure, Dan. He sums up my thoughts about Skippy to perfection.”
“Here’s your bourbon, your snifter of seltzer, your glass of ice and some cherries.”
“Here’s to having you back behind the bar, Cheryl.”
“Enjoy it while you can, David. Since he ruined my holiday weekend, Skippy has agreed to work for me next Saturday.”
“Next Saturday? The fourteenth?”
“Yes, Dan. Why do you ask?”
“Because John Howell is going to be here next Saturday.”
“Well tell him I said hi. You might add, I’ll probably still be in my PJs when he gets here, maybe I’ll be reading his new book. It’s rising up in my T B R pile.”
“T B R? I’m not familiar with the acronym. Care to explain?”
“To Be Read, David. I’m surprised you didn’t know that.”
“I read a lot, but I don’t usually let the books pile up ahead of me. I’m more of a just in time buyer of books. Speaking of piles, Dan. What was that pile of boxes I saw the UPS man carrying to your porch yesterday?”
“The big one was dust collection supplies.”
“You’re collecting dust?”
“In my workshop, David. I am trying to collect as much sawdust as I can at the source.”
“I see. Cheryl, you might as well bring us another round, I’m going to ask Dan to explain something technical.”
“I’ll get those. By the way, that crash you heard was a resolution breaking.”
“How do you collect the dust, Dan? I’m envisioning you dragging a shop-vac around with you and tripping over hoses and cords. Dangerous for old men like us.”
“Old men like us? Well, snarky humor aside, it is dangerous, and if I can show you what I took out of that box, you might understand.”
“Hose. I take it that’s for a vacuum. How long is that?”
“Twenty feet (1).”
“Twenty feet? Your shop is only sixteen feet wide.”
“One room is wider, but the dust-collection in there is already set. This is for the smaller room, and that is only sixteen feet wide. But the hose has to go overhead and drop down was necessary.”
“I see, so you’re not tripping over the hose. What does the hose connect to?”
“There are four components to the system.”
“Sheesh, David, you really should have kept that resolution. Here’s a fresh beer for the dustman and another splash of bourbon for the weary listener.”
“Four components you say?”
“I’ll be brief. One is a wall mounted dust collector for big machines. It’s piped into the large room, through the wall to the bandsaw and under the floor to the table saw.”
“Can is suck up dust from both?”
“It can, but I have blast gates installed so only one is ever in use.”
“The hose to the bandsaw looks longer than necessary.”
“It is. I can remove it from there and connect it to the other stationary machines.”
“Is that a shop vac next to the table saw?”
“Yep. Sometimes I place smaller tools in that area. There’s another one behind my chop saw.”
“And I guess another one in the other room.”
“No, I mounted our old whole house vacuum in that room. It’s mounted high, this new hose will go from there to my drill press or my workbench as necessary.”
“Well, I guess that makes sense. No tripping over power cords and hose, but a lot of running around to turn vacuums on and off.”
“No running at all. They’re all plugged into remote-controlled outlets. I can turn them on or off from a fob in my pocket.”
“Cheers Dan, and may I say, that’s brilliant.”
(1) 20′ (6.1m)
All five of my current books are now available in audio book form thanks to Amazon KDP’s Virtual Voice process. The voice is AI generated, but I can honestly say, it’s pretty darn good. The audio books are reasonably priced (all below $7 US) and, if you already own the Kindle version and want to add an audio version, you can do that for $1.99. There is a five-minute sample on the book page for each book. If you’re interested, click on any of the Dreamer’s Alliance book links below the image or on the link below for my latest book.
No Facilities 
Add your thoughts or join the discussion. One relevant link is OK, more require moderation.