...and, with my final paycheque in hand (and it's only like 7hun, not the 11hun that I was kinda expecting), I realize that I can either be responsible, and pay the rent on time, oooor...

get firkin' serious about the show. BOY, am I motivated, by now.

After about 200ish inquiries, I have finally managed to track down some serious clones. I got raped on the price ($20ea, for 8 = $160! Ouch!), but the person I got 'em from was a starving actor, they looked really good, and the deal was one of those that you either jump at RIGHT NOW, or it ain't gon' be thea t'morry. So I walked a mile to my bank, pulled out way more than I was hoping to, and walked back to pick up my lovely little girls (all well-rooted in dixie cups, with nice looking leaves, the correct sex (of course!!!), and the most heavenly smell, even at 2-4" tall.

I then set 'em up on the top shelf of my lockable closet in my bachelor apartment, with a single cool-white 4100k 45w CFL (200w equiv) starin' at 'em. They seemed ok with the arrangement, and I set about building their proper enclosure.

I figured that I could either lay out 200-500 beans for a nice shiny mylar grow tent (couldn't find one used that I could get for a reasonable price), or, I could spend a bit on some basic lumber, and put my [somewhat rusty] carpentry skillz to work, and build a better space, cheaper.

My initial (hopeful!) budget was something like this:

100 Lumber/building materials
100 Clones/seeds
500 Light(s?)
----
700 Final paycheque. IEEEEEEE. Stop worrying. sIGH.

Since I spent 1.6x what I was hoping to, I really needed to find a bargain at the lumberyard, or shop really hard for the cheapest stuph that would do. The objective was to build a free-standing cabinet/closet, with a hidden entrance, that /just/happened/to/ blend in with the living room soooo much, that people would naturally mistake it for just another wall.

With Carte Blanche, this is No Problem.

With a hunnert bux, it's a firkin' creative nightmare, but fun.

Initial shopping list at Revy. Any ole timers out there from Canuckland will know the store of which I speak, tho it goest by another name now, which shall remain nameless.

4x 1/4" OSB, like 6bux each.
12x 2x4, pick out the nice ones, ARGH! 2.49 ea.
8x 2x3, even harder to find straight boards here, 2.09 ea.
j-box, 1.49
screw-in fixture, 1.49
Nice Big Light Bulb 16.79 (at WallyWorld for 19!)
Pack o' cheap extension cord/powerbar/6plex plug, 6bux.
1/2ga. of Mudding Compound, 4.79.
Paper tape. Not for what you think, but yeah, some o' that too.
Hmm, what did that work out to, plus t4x in our Socialist Paradise? F&*K! I'm overbudget again (at 120 and change!), and I still have to get that cheapie timer/powerbar thingy at a shop across the road, that is not only kuul, but the cheapest timer I can find (and digital!), that also handles 1875 watts, easy. I also break down later and buy a 4.5m/5yard heavy extension cord to power it, tho I bitch at the 11 dollar price tag on a FIRKING EXTENSION CORD. Geebus.

Where were we? OH yeah. I still have to get this home, and since they don't allow LUMBER on public transit, and I can NOT afford a cab, I wind up sweet-talking the manager of Revy to loan me one of their heavy plywood carts so that I can walk my purchases "a couple of blocks to home--I live in the neighbourhood."

The manager was really kind, and tho I offered to leave my drivers' license, they didn't ask, which was good, because it was close to closing, and there was no way that I was going to be able to walk to my apartment, off-load the lumber, and get back before they locked the doors.

Normally, it would take me 35 minutes to walk unencumbered to the LumbaSto, but with four sheets of OSB, plus a buncha 2x3s and 4s, it took almost an hourannahaff (pant pant) to lug the stuph home. And just as I'm /trying to nonchalantly sneak a huge lumber cart into the back of my apartment building, THE F**KING SECURITY GUARD sneaks up on me, and asks me why I'm doing construction in the middle of the night..! I gently and tiredly protest that "hey, dude, I work a night job, and this was the only time I could do this... and don't worry, I'm not going to be doing anything tonight, I just have to off-load this quietly, and get some sleep... Can you give me a hand? (That's whatcha get for being a busybody!).

HEy. I'm just building some shelves, eh? And I can build waaay more of 'em by buying the raw lumber instead of those shitty particle board kits. Gotta make some small talk going up in the elevator with the stuph that will fit...

F!CK. The OSB won't fit. No matter /how/ I try to bend it. So I have One. Last. Choice {why de **** didn't I get that lovely lightweight grow tent again?}

I have to lug the stuph up the stairwell, one sheet at a time. In the middle of the night. Quietly. Alone. Without leaving any pile of stuph alone farther than 20 feet from me at any given time, cuz I live in a rough neighbourhood, and if you leave shit alone out here, it gets took. Yaz. It done does. Did I mention that it was late?

So I planted the cart in the base of my nearest stairwell. Nothing too odd about a lumber cart underneath the stairs, is there? And then, all sheets to the second floor, one at a time (2.5, actually). Then, from there, all sheets one at a time to the 4.5 floor. Then to the 6.5 floor (ready to pass out now, sweating like a pig). Then, after a short catch-my-breath-please-God-don't-let-me-die break, all sheets to the inside of my kitchen hallway, one at a time.

I want to sleep now. REally I do. But there's still one more thing to do.

MEHUPE. I still have to walk that heavy lumber cart back to rEvY. aWW....

So I light a quick one up, change sox and shoes, and resignedly go downstairs to finish getting my daily workout. Walk. Walkwalkwalk. ouch. my. feet. hurt.

Somehow, I got home that morning, and you have no idea how fast I was asleep after my head hit the pillow. You need Really Expensive Scientific Instruments to measure durations like that...

And the next day, thus beganeth The Building.

Of The Sanctuary.
:chainsaw:











PS: I should mention that with the exception of a corded 3/8" reversible variable-speed drill, there were NO power tools used in any of this. For noise, of course.
CovertCarpenter Reviewed by CovertCarpenter on . Sooo... having found out that my 'day gig' has vanished... ...and, with my final paycheque in hand (and it's only like 7hun, not the 11hun that I was kinda expecting), I realize that I can either be responsible, and pay the rent on time, oooor... get firkin' serious about the show. BOY, am I motivated, by now. After about 200ish inquiries, I have finally managed to track down some serious clones. I got raped on the price ($20ea, for 8 = $160! Ouch!), but the person I got 'em from was a starving actor, they looked really good, and the deal was Rating: 5