Platform Beds Finished

I finally got the 2 platform beds finished. They're pretty sturdy and colorful, so I'm happy with my first wood working project. Although the entire project became much more complicated than I originally planned.

Once I had the back guest room emptied out, I decided to repair a crack and repaint the walls. They'd really been scuffed up when the concrete floors were poured. Linda and Sally were here on Sat & Sun. Sat afternoon they helped me repaint the back bedroom. Since they both know what they're doing, it went really fast. And it came out great. So the back guest room looks clean and new.

Here is Sally taping and Linda getting the paint ready.

The master painter :-).

Then we put the pieces together. I had a little trouble and broke a drill bit, but they went together pretty quickly. Though once they were together I decided I needed to paint the edges of the plywood platforms. I didn't like the white showing under the mattress when it was put on the bed. So the new paint had to dry for a couple of days.

Tonight Valda helped me move the mattresses, then I made up the beds. I really like how they look.

Now I just need to sand and paint the nightstand table so it can replace the 2 blue totes I'm currenly using. It's currently in pieces in the living room. One step at a time :-).

N401ES Bell 412

The North Slope Borough 412 stopped in for fuel around lunch time today. I don't know if they're on a search, or out training.

A Trip to Northstar Island

I got to/had to go out to the island yesterday for a meeting. It was very nice to get out of my office for a couple of hours. The weather was pretty good and the ice pack around the island opened up pretty well. Kim had to pick his way through it but it was pretty easy to get there.

I do miss living out at STP. I love the spring & summer scenery out at the beach. We also saw lots of birds. The geese have their goslings with them, but didn't see any baby swans yet.

Woody, Glenn & I standing in front of the hovercraft, still in it's garage.

You can really see the open water, and then how the ice pieces are packed up around the island.

Are here are some pictures of our new crew boat. The American Resolution. She seats 30 passengers, instead of the 14 max our Hovercraft the Arctic Hawk can take.

We're going to be really busy the next 6 weeks. We're done with our drilling phase, so Nabors is moving the drilling rig off the island this summer with the Crowley barge.

Stress Crack Project

I'm really discovering that my little house projects have a way of expanding. I thought the platform bed painting project would take 3 or 4 days. I managed to stretch it out over 2 weeks. Then to top it off, I decided I should paint the back bedroom, before I moved the new beds in. Once I got the old beds out, I realized the stress crack in the corner between 2 sheet of drywall was really going to bug me, so I needed to fix it before I painted.

Here is a close up of the crack.



This one is the first coat of mud, you can really see the fiberglass tape, it's going to need a couple more coats.



To make this long story shorter, I went to Ulmers and got some drywall repair tape & mud. Thursday morning before I headed north I got the 3rd coat of mud on the wall. I also messed around filling in a few other little gouges caused by moving furniture, etc. It should be nice & dry & ready for sanding when I get home in 2 weeks.


Here it is with the 3rd coat of drywall mud, still wet. Not too bad for a first try.



Then I can finally paint (though I think the taping will take longer than the actual painting) and get the new beds moved into place.

Murphy Bed 2

Lee came by this morning to help me get the Murphy bed fixed. He read the instructions and explained what I'd misinterpreted. Took about 30 min to adjust, but now it's all done. The mattress is on the tray and it's all balanced. Let me know when you're coming for a visit and I'll put clean sheets on the bed.
Thanks Lee.

A Little Yard Work - Chainsaw

All I can say is - if me with a chainsaw and no adult supervision doesn't make you a bit nervous. It should...

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After