2/21-23/12 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

On the way I stopped in to visit with Uncle Charles but unfortunately I learned that he was at the dentist again. I proceeded on to Camp Serendipity. There had been a lot of snow in the mountains and an avalanche had killed three skiers at Stevens Pass just a couple days earlier. It rained all the way up but it turned to snow at about 3000 feet. I needed 4wd to get over the pass and down the other side. I paused at milepost 61 where the deadly avalanche had reached the highway. Snoqualmie Pass was closed all day because of avalanche control so the traffic was extra heavy both ways all the way to Cole's Corner because of all the re-routed I-90 traffic.

I arrived at 1:10 and was pleased to see that Mike had cleared my driveway and parking area. I used 4wd again to drive up to the water discharge hose. It was raining cats and dogs so I put on a full rain suit, got out, partially closed the valve to get pressure to the cabin, and then turned the truck around and parked at the foot of the concrete stairs in my usual manner.

I carried my gear up in two trips and noticed a fairly big branch had fallen from the double tree in the back of the cabin. It was lying on the berm from the roof and I couldn't tell whether the branch had hit the roof and then slid off or whether it fell straight down from the tree and landed on the berm. I dragged it to my firewood cutting station under the eaves and cut it up into firewood. Then I split some more firewood and took it inside and built a fire.

To my dismay there was a dead mouse in the trap behind the stove. The trap in the crawlspace was still set and the peanut was still on the floor in the loft, so it seems that the mice are getting in somewhere on the first floor or through the Grid 3 wall, probably up at the ceiling interface. I hope I figure it out some day.

After having my lunch, I spent the rest of the day measuring, figuring, and strategizing how I was going to proceed with the kitchen cabinet installation. I decided that the first thing to do would be to cut away any portions of the Grid A wall logs that would be necessary to get the cabinets properly placed.

On Wednesday it snowed lightly all day. After breakfast I measured and cut the big 3/4" finished vertical panel that goes to the left of the refrigerator. I measured it several times and only cut it once. That is one expensive piece of wood.

Next, after an awful lot of careful measurements, I cut into the baseboard and the first log above it in the Grid A wall. This only had to be done for the cabinet unit to the left of the refrigerator and for the kitchen sink unit. The refrigerator fits in its space the way it is without cutting any logs and the unit to the left of the sink is the corner unit which does not reach all the way back to the wall.

I used the Bosch oscillating cutter to make the vertical cuts and I used the Bosch Bulldog with the wood chisel to cut away the wood between them. I had to remove about an inch of wood at one end tapering down to about a quarter of an inch at the other end. The plumbing pipes sticking up got in the way and made the work awkward, and it is awkward working down where the floor meets the wall anyway, so my legs were pretty sore by the time I finished. It would have been a lot harder though without the Bulldog.

After a late lunch and a nap, I moved most of the cabinet units from the bedroom to the kitchen. Then after making many measurements, a detailed drawing, and several calculations, I marked the bottom of the sink cabinet for the holes needed to accommodate the plumbing pipes. Then with a drill and a saber saw, with my respirator and hearing muffs on, and the vacuum cleaner running, I proceeded to cut the three holes in the bottom of the cabinet.

After the sawdust was cleaned up, I pushed the cabinet over toward the pipes near to where it needed to go and it didn't look quite right. After a few measurements it was clear that the holes were off by six inches. What a disappointment.

It took me quite a while to check the measurements and the drawing to figure out where I had made the error. It turned out that I had taken a wrong dimension off the drawing and used it in the calculations. The dimension I had used was six inches too long.

After double and triple checking the measurements, the drawing, and the calculations, I marked the bottom of the cabinet where the correct holes needed to go. But I just couldn't get myself to cut into that wood again just yet. Instead I quit for the day and headed for the shower feeling very stupid.

In the evening, I discussed my error with a friend in Arizona and he suggested a better solution than cutting new holes. I think I misunderstood his advice, but what I thought he said sounded like a perfect solution and that is what I decided to do. During the night, while I was trying to sleep, an improvement to the idea came to me.

On Thursday morning the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. After breakfast I was prepared to use the ideas from the previous night to literally move the holes six inches across the plywood cabinet bottom. Using a carpenter's square to make sure my lines were all straight and square with the cabinet, I drew a rectangle around the three holes. I extended the sides of the rectangle in the direction the holes had to move by six inches. I connected the ends of these projections to form a second rectangle to the right of the first one and exactly six inches wide.

Then I used my Bosch oscillating cutter to cut out the two rectangles. But, using the idea that came to me during the night, I cut the long sides of the rectangles at about a 45º angle, sloped in toward the rectangles at the bottom. The other three perpendicular lines I cut at a normal 90º angle. Using this trick, the rectangles didn't fall out when the cuts were completed because the beveled edges held them up. This would make gluing a lot easier.

Once the two rectangles were cut, I simply exchanged their places and my holes were now six inches to the right. I used a rasp to true up the edges so that the rectangles seated nicely in their new spots and then I glued them in place. I took pictures before and after the rectangle swap.

I was happy enough with the result. It isn't pretty, but it is good enough for under the kitchen sink. And the time I wasted isn't going to get me in trouble with the boss, because fortunately I am the boss. It was a fun challenge, but I still feel pretty stupid about the whole thing. I left for home at 1:30.