Monday, October 17, 2011

Whirlwind

So I didn't really intend to take spring and summer off from blogging but, as my boyfriend likes to say, "time went ‘poof’."  Things started feeling really busy for me and I had a typical Rachel reaction – simplify where I can.  The unfortunate casualties of this simplification were my blog (whoops!) and my diet (I had just started running, so I used it as a not-so-good excuse that I didn't need to worry as much about food).  Not true, as it turns out.  If only simplification could be that simple!

The rainy run that started a healthy addiction: the 2011 St. Patty's Day Dash with my aunt Catherine.
In March, I started taking an evening class at a community college on energy auditing.  If you, dear reader, are like 95% of the people I talk to about this, you just read the word "audit" and felt the urge to skip ahead past this section.  So at the risk of boring you, I'll simply say that I have a keen interest in sustainable building.  Energy is a clear place to start any conversation on that subject.  It's a pretty basic concept -- build houses and buildings that don't fall apart or hog energy (in the form of materials or fuel) and try to save houses that currently do.  So now, after 130 or so hours of training and rigorous written and field exams, I am a BuildingPerformance Institute Certified Building Analyst.  Hopefully that will come in handy in the not too distant future.  If not, it still does sound kinda cool, no?

In May, I was offered a job as a finish carpenter and cabinetmaker with a new company.  My new employer is a general contractor, as opposed to a finish carpentry subcontractor.  They mostly do high end residential and restaurants.  I was familiar with the company, as I had worked last winter on one of their restaurant jobs (see below).  I really liked all of the people and was very comfortable with the general "feel" of the company.  That gut reaction, combined with the fact that the general manager encouraged me to help facilitate some of the company’s own sustainable building goals for the future, sealed the deal.  It was honestly one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make.  I felt very close to my former employer and hated the idea of leaving at the beginning of summer (a busy time in this line of work) for this new opportunity.  But aside from my concerns about the timing, the decision was very clear for me.  So I had to do what was right for me and my future.  I have been happy with my choice.

This is an accent wall that I installed at the Asian street food restaurant "Revel", where I originally met my new employer.  It was actually one of my favorite projects ever - the wall is made up of random sizes of old lath, a very cool re-purposing of material. 
In July, I became enamored with sailing.  Seattle is a beautiful place to live.  I love the weather here year-round (I rarely complain about the rain), but summer in Seattle is quite simply unbeatable.  My boyfriend has had a lifelong dream of owning a sailboat, while I had never even been on one.  So we took a couple of free rides at the Center for Wooden Boats (if you live in this area, I highly recommend checking these out), and he started looking for a modestly-sized (and modestly-priced!) trailerable sailboat.  We found the perfect fit: Swallow. Now, I had never understood the tradition of deciding boats are female, always referring to "she" or "her."  I would trip over such talk, and it grated on my ears when I heard it from others.  But Swallow is a beautiful wooden boat, a one-of-a-kind designed by a Boeing engineer and built by a shipwright in Anacortes, WA.  Suddenly, I was tripping over using the word "it."  She has soul.  And, yes, she needs a little repair -- mostly just in the form of sanding and varnishing.  But she is a really solid little boat and has absolutely no leaks or structural failings.  In fact, she's overbuilt.  So I'm absolutely thrilled to have this labor of love to spend some time with.  I am actually looking forward to getting out there and starting some of our projects.  None of them are overwhelming – I know how to work with wood!  Fiberglass and metal, not so much.  But wood, I know and love.

My first repair: the rub rail had a scarf joint that had come loose over time. Glue and clamps worked like a charm.

Out for a sail on the Puget Sound, Myra and Gunther snuggled into a blanket on my lap.
Family visits and vacations pretty much brings us up to the present.  And now it's October.  Fall is here.  Some stores even have Christmas displays up!  That's just crazy, if you ask me.  Fall deserves to be celebrated – bring on the brisk winds!  I have scarves and sweaters!  Bring on the rain!  I own a crock pot!  Bring on the dark evenings!  I have a blog!  So yes, I promise not to let so much time go by before my next post...

Fall = delicious hunkering down.

1 comment:

  1. I would love to hear more about Building Performance Institute...as you know I am in that line of work....Kinda!!! LOL I am very excited for you new beginning and what the future holds for you...Can not wait to read all about it!! Love you cuz, wish I could go sailing with and your BF!!!!!

    ReplyDelete