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Another lovely day yesterday, making for one of the nicest three day weekends I can remember for a long time. Despite that, I spent most of the day indoors, attempting to apply Star Wars technology to the simple task of installing some track shelving.
The job should be simple enough. Screw the two vertical tracks to the wall, snug some brackets into the tracks, and put shelves on the brackets. Of course, you want the tracks to be plumb and level with each other. Otherwise, the shelves will be cockeyed, and stuff will start sliding off. That's where it gets tricky. The traditional way to make sure everything lines up is with a standard 4' level, the way it's been done for hundreds of years, and the way I've always done it in the past. It works just fine, except, it's awkward when you're working by yourself. You always need to figure out how to hold the level in proper position whilst you're doing whatever it is you need to do, an operation that frequently wants for a couple three extra arms. Usually you wind up putting up one piece, then propping one end of the level on that while adjusting the other end, taking into account any offset, trying to put the other piece into place, hoping the whole thing doesn't fall, and damnit, the frelling drill is out of reach. Bother.
( What's a mad scientist to do? )
In other tech news, I'm trying to set up an appointment at the dealer to have the bad u-joint on my truck replaced, but the service department has a message on their system that says my call back may be delayed because too many people are on vacation this week.
The job should be simple enough. Screw the two vertical tracks to the wall, snug some brackets into the tracks, and put shelves on the brackets. Of course, you want the tracks to be plumb and level with each other. Otherwise, the shelves will be cockeyed, and stuff will start sliding off. That's where it gets tricky. The traditional way to make sure everything lines up is with a standard 4' level, the way it's been done for hundreds of years, and the way I've always done it in the past. It works just fine, except, it's awkward when you're working by yourself. You always need to figure out how to hold the level in proper position whilst you're doing whatever it is you need to do, an operation that frequently wants for a couple three extra arms. Usually you wind up putting up one piece, then propping one end of the level on that while adjusting the other end, taking into account any offset, trying to put the other piece into place, hoping the whole thing doesn't fall, and damnit, the frelling drill is out of reach. Bother.
( What's a mad scientist to do? )
In other tech news, I'm trying to set up an appointment at the dealer to have the bad u-joint on my truck replaced, but the service department has a message on their system that says my call back may be delayed because too many people are on vacation this week.
