Welcome to the bar, where they’re using their outdoor cooler to keep the beer from freezing but Cheryl has it reasonably toasty inside. David and I have stopped in for a chat and some adult beverages…and maybe some mushrooms. We’re going to try to dispense with Linda G. Hill’s combo Stream of Consciousness Saturday and JusJoJan prompt while we relax:
Your prompt for #JusJoJan the 20th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “in a nutshell.” Use it as an idiom or use it literally. Enjoy!
Linda G. Hill
If we were having a beer, you’d want to catch up on a quiet week.
“Hello my friend.”
“Hello David. How are you this sub-freezing day?”
“I am cold, Dan. I haven’t been out much this week, and my car actually creaked as I got in—don’t go there—and again as I started moving.”
“I’ve been out a few times, but I know what you mean about getting into that cold car.”
“Hi guys. It’s times like this I wish we sold coffee, but I’ve got bourbon and beer. If you’re cold, I can always Irish-up a cup of instant cocoa.”
“A John Howell’s Special for me, Cheryl. I might not need the glass of ice, but I’ll take the standard setup.”
“Dan?”
“A cold beer is amazingly refreshing on a cold day, Cheryl. It’s like having clam chowder in July.”
“So, what did you do this week, Dan. I assume you worked inside.”
“I did spend several hours redesigning and rewriting the script I use to gather the information for the Sunday Recap of Thursday Doors.”
“Hmmm, redesign—geek stuff. Rewrite—geek stuff on steroids. Can you fast-forward to the end of that story?”
“Sure. I am once again able to generate the table used in the recap. In fact, it’s now even easier than it was.”
“That’s great, Dan. I understand you couldn’t keep doing that by hand.”
“Do you want to know what the problem was, or how I solved it?”
“No, not really. Did you do any work outside?”
“I cleared the snow and ice we got on Tuesday, and while doing that, a bolt stripped on my snowblower. So, I fixed that on Wednesday.”
“How does a bolt strip?”
“It’s the bolt that holds the support bracket for the crank that turns the chute. So in addition to the normal vibration, it get vibration from the crank. That combination makes it get loose.”
“Then you tighten it. Over time, the loosening and tightening wear on the bolt—amiright?”
“Very good, David! You are exactly right.”
“Did you replace the bolt?”
“Yeah. The dealer is right in town and he had one in stock. Took about forty-five minutes.”
“Anything else done in the cold?”
“I repaired a couple frayed cables for my iPhone.”
“I’ve thrown out several of those. How do you repair them?”
“Heat-shrink tubing.”
“No, I thought of that. There isn’t any size tubing that goes over the jack and shrinks down to the size of the wire.”
“That’s true, David. So, I slit several pieces of smaller tubing and built up the cable to the point where I could shrink a large piece over them and the cable.”
“That was a great idea. How many layers did it take?”
“Two small, one medium and the final top layer.”
“Ok, now I have one last question.”
“Hold up, David. I have two questions. One, do you guys want another round. Two, do you want anything to eat?”
“Another round for sure. I saw Dan’s car at Skooter’s, so I’m not sure about food.”
“Dan???? Cheating on me?”
“I had a burger and a dog. I didn’t have breakfast. But I could eat some of Teagan’s mushrooms.”
“Okay. Beer, bourbon and one order of mushrooms.”
“Now, Dan. What about that hunk of wood you bought. What the heck are you going to make out of that?”
“David, you have to understand…”
“Stop.”
“What?”
“When you say, ‘David you have to understand,’ you’re getting ready to play the LP version. I want the forty-five version. Start, finish, cut to commercial.”
“Here’s your bourbon, David. You’re lucky Skippy isn’t working today. He’d never understand that reference.”
“I guess I’m showing my age, Cheryl, but Dan understands.”
“I do. The piece of wood isn’t big enough to be something, but it’s big enough to be the door of something.”
“The door of something? Like what?”
“I’m thinking of a corner cabinet. If I hollow out the back of that piece of wood, I can curve the shelves out to fill the void. It will be deceptive from the outside.”
“So, you could put something in it that’s curved and bulges out at the bottom.”
“Possibly.”
“Like a bottle of John Howell’s Bourbon.”
“Exactly.”
A little slide show for the woodworkers
I purchased this at the woodworking show 
A little wider at the top 
Narrow at the bottom 
I will hollow about 3 1/2″ out of this 
I’ll feather this out but I won’t remove much 
There’s no room for the hinge body to be recessed here 
The hinge would fit here, but it’s too far in from the edge 
This might work if I reverse it 
This will word if installed in reverse 
This will work
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 
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