I may have mentioned my brother-in-law, Junior before. He has been known to dabble in the trades and can usually figure out an efficient way to build or fix most things. Like the time that he found it to be more cost effective to repair a leaf rake, rather than splurge for a new one at the Home Depot.
You might recall that during a brief hiatus from my regular line of work, I did some freelance craftsmanship for him, just to help pass the time.
So this past weekend, we were over at my Mother-in-laws house, and Junior had come up with a plan to build a screened door for the cabana out back. The thinking was, with scrap wood and some screen from the shed, he could whip together a nice door for less than the $23.00 that one of the big box stores wanted for the cheapest model on sale.
I suppose I could just cut to the chase and tell you that nothing ever seems to work as planned, and as evidence, I offer you this picture of a stool Junior made out of scrap wood.
The only thing missing is the yellow caution tape. 
But, on to the project. First, as Norm Abrahm, the guy on The New Yankee Workshop says, safety first. Never mix power tools with beer.
Actually, Junior came up with a really good design. The door frame is made from 1x3 wood left over from some other project (see stool above) with a thin piece of plywood on the bottom for sturdiness and to keep a little dog from scratching on the screen. At about mid point, there is a 1X4 horizontal stabilizer, not only for sturdiness, but to allow two separate pieces of screen to be used. Pretty smart, eh? But the screen was too short (even in two pieces), and he still needed the hardware. Plus, with all the inadvertent nicks and chips, he had to purchase some wood putty to fill the voids. 
Before we ever did a dry fit, we had to make a quick run over to Culebra Hardware to get some supplies, and by now, the parts and pieces (not even considering the time) had exceeded the $23.00 Junior was trying to save. Another brother-in-law, Ed from Rockport, got in on the action. In total, four of us got our hands dirty on this project. Bob Vila would be spinning in his grave (if he were in fact deceased).
Please don't misunderstand - it isn't that we aren't all capable of a simple project like building a door to slap on to the front of a cabana, I think it is the overall effect of having four different people measuring, cutting, stapling and screwing. Screwing the door to the frame.
After multiple attempts, we figured out where we needed to make a few trims and shaves of the existing frame, and eventually, a grill full of fajitas and a few 12-packs of beer later, we had the door in place.
The final touch was a fresh coat of paint, added by another brother-in-law, Armando (no relation to Armando Montelongo). Looks pretty good for a little more than $23.00 and about 4 hours of labor from four of us.
On a routine visit to the dry-cleaners to pick up some laundry, I witnessed in a matter of seconds, proof that we are experiencing a total breakdown in the societal norms which allow us to be able to live together without clubbing one another over our heads. Because I keep my camera handy for moments such as this, I can provide the evidence you need.
First, this is the sort of thing that you simply shake your head at. An inconsiderate person simply pulls into an available parking space without any notion that the lines were nicely drawn so as to assist him or her in the decision process on how best to situate the vehicle to best accommodate other vehicles whose owners may wish to park similarly. Here, good society has gone out of its way to help guide individuals into what can reasonably be agreed upon as the best use of space for everyone. Instead, our friend here parks in front of the Dry Cleaning Station taking two spaces.
Of course, you say, if they are just running in and out of the cleaners to pick up the laundry, how long could it possibly take? Well, if the person who parked in front of the cleaners had actually gone in to the cleaners, perhaps only a few seconds. But in this case, when I walked into the cleaners myself, they were not there. Probably a good thing to. Though I am the calm one who simply takes pictures, my wife let loose with a verbal thrashing of the inconsiderate person for all to hear.
But poor parking is mere child's play.
What kind of impatient bastard takes a dump in the middle of a parking lot?
As I delicately stepped out the door of my vehicle, I spotted the foul evidence and loudly proclaimed, Oh! My! God! Eager to learn what I was OMG'ing about, my wife came to my side of the van to investigate what I had witnessed. In short order, she assed this to be Rottweiler poo and not the result of some poorly placed human defecation. WTF? Am I living in Animal Planet and is my wife suddenly an expert on the scat habits of large breed vicious dogs? Don't e-mail, I know Rottweilers are all friendly, it's just the owners that are bad.
Look, I've seen a Rottweiler take a dump on a street once while we were visiting my sister-in-law in Rockport; The beast just wandered down the middle of the street and looked at us and left about a foot long steamer that resembled an 8 day old banana. He actually looked at us and smiled when he did it. Now I know this might lead one to believe that it is a normal habit for a Rottweiler to crap on asphalt, but having viewed the aforementioned "business" and compared it to what someone left in the parking lot in front of the dry cleaners, I'm not so sure this wasn't the result of either a homeless guy or perhaps a young child being held up by a parent eager to avoid an accident in the pants.
Either way, like the truck driver who couldn't be bothered with parking between the lines, the person who left this little deposit has no respect for the people - the society that they live among.
And let's just say that maybe it was a Rottweiler, shouldn't that thing be on a leash?
Oh, and in case you are wondering, no, the sty that I had in my eye a while back did not come from watching that dog in Rockport poop on the street.
Attention PETA: No animals were harmed in providing proof of the total breakdown of society.
I suppose I could just cut to the chase and tell you that nothing ever seems to work as planned, and as evidence, I offer you this picture of a stool Junior made out of scrap wood.
The only thing missing is the yellow caution tape. 
But, on to the project. First, as Norm Abrahm, the guy on The New Yankee Workshop says, safety first. Never mix power tools with beer.
Before we ever did a dry fit, we had to make a quick run over to Culebra Hardware to get some supplies, and by now, the parts and pieces (not even considering the time) had exceeded the $23.00 Junior was trying to save. Another brother-in-law, Ed from Rockport, got in on the action. In total, four of us got our hands dirty on this project. Bob Vila would be spinning in his grave (if he were in fact deceased).
Please don't misunderstand - it isn't that we aren't all capable of a simple project like building a door to slap on to the front of a cabana, I think it is the overall effect of having four different people measuring, cutting, stapling and screwing. Screwing the door to the frame.
After multiple attempts, we figured out where we needed to make a few trims and shaves of the existing frame, and eventually, a grill full of fajitas and a few 12-packs of beer later, we had the door in place.
The final touch was a fresh coat of paint, added by another brother-in-law, Armando (no relation to Armando Montelongo). Looks pretty good for a little more than $23.00 and about 4 hours of labor from four of us.
