This is a mirror of a video originally posted on Odysee:

https://odysee.com/@artvarious:4/carpentry2024:e

Music: Weber - Der Freischütz – Overture

Full text on Control C, because I had to crop it for this description:

https://controlc.com/85687e6d

~* 2013 - Treadmill shelf

I haven't used the treadmill much for the last few years.

My health hasn't inspired it. Exercise is stress, and stress is a trigger that has caused pain under my eyes. I do exercise in small amounts.

I should get back to using it though.

~* 2013 - Laptop stand

Done as a coursera course (Artifacts – Design).

Adjustable up and down.

Meant to offer a shaded place to do outdoor work.

It had a stand that worked like an umbrella. I made my own umbrella.

My dad got dementia in 2022 and threw it out.

~* 2014 - Cat shelves

I built them so that cats had a safe route off and on the roof.

Once I saw a large dog come in our backyard, and my cat rushed up these shelves to safety.

~* 2016 or 2017 - Parking stall marker

People were using my stall, but then the university changed the rules so that anyone could park anywhere.

~* 2017 - Adjustments for university dorm:

As in the previous dorm room, I built a bed frame to have more space under the bed, and space that I could access without pulling up the mattress. It was so high that I needed a little ladder to get into bed. So worth it, and I liked the height.

The residence managers made a rule that everyone needed to use the same type of chair. Students couldn't bring their own chairs.

In college, about 12-14 years previously, I complained to a doctor about pain in my neck and wrist. I was told that my computer setup wasn't ergonomic. I changed my setup so that I was sitting properly. This is why I thought the university residence's new rule was stupid and dangerous. The chair I was given sat too low for using a computer. There were no wheels, which made it a nuisance to use.

I don't recall complaining to management. I'm not good with people. Perhaps I did. In any case, I decided there was nothing I could do to help the other students, and to just make my own adjustments. I built a frame to convert my chair into a rolling chair, that was more ergonomic.

I think my new dorm room was more spartan than the old one, which is why I wanted so much more shelving. I like to cook.

My roommate liked my carpentry so much that she asked me to build her a table/shelving. I did, and she paid me for the materials and that was it. At least she gave me that much.

I tried to sell my creations, and I got one caller. I don't know why it fell through. Anyway, I removed a few braces to reuse them later, and almost all of it ended up in dumpsters.

~* 2019 - Cat tree

My cat LOVED this tree. I put it in her room, but not long after, I decided it wasn't stable enough and needed to be adjusted. I took it back in the garage, and later I saw her frantically looking for it. Aww, so cute that she loved something I built so much. Sorry, Kitty, it needed to be fixed.

I liked to ambush her when she was sleeping, because sometimes she made the cutest noises when she woke up.

My cat died in 2021.

In 2022, my dad got dementia and threw it out. That was upsetting, because I know there would have been another cat who could have loved it as much as my cat did.

It's a little therapeutic going through old photos and videos. For a while, I couldn't find evidence that this tree existed. My dad threw out my stuff and sometimes there's no record of it – or my hard work -

existing at all. Luckily, I found these videos.

That was part of my motivation for doing demos on Doomworld. My dad could throw out my stuff, but he couldn't go on Doomworld and throw out my demos.

~* 2020 - 2021 *~

I did not do carpentry for two years, because the pain from an injury was demotivating. I was in pain for two years before that, but stuff needed to be done.

I focused more on research (started in 2013), which was more therapeutic. Not knowing what to believe is unsettling.

~* 2022 - 2023 *~

I did not do carpentry for another two years, because my dad threw out some of the things I built. He mostly left my tools alone, except for my best wood clamp. There is no point in building if the thing you build is going to get thrown out. It was demoralizing.

~* 2024 - Red light therapy stands

My infrared bulbs are soothing for pain or discomfort underneath my eyes.

~* Addendum *~

Emerald moved from the neighbour's house to mine in 2005. She didn't like how many cats there were in the other house.

She had a middle-aged stage where she growled at her reflection and her shadow. For some reason she grew out of that.

She died of old age in 2021.

I'm working on a plant stand. For years, I've looked at a lawn chair in regret, thinking that the eavestroughs should be held up with custom built stand, not on a lawn chair. It's a bit of an unpleasant project. It needs sanding in places where power sanders don't fit.

The work continues.