Bunk Beds

At the Ridge Street house in Dawson there's a closet at the top of the stairs in a hallway-ish room thing and then a bathroom to the right and a large room with three big picture windows looking out on to the CRP grassland behind the house.  The large room is to become Jo and my bedroom someday. One of the projects for this trip was to get rid of the large object that currently occupies most of the room. 

That object is a good quality pool table. The previous owner, Mr. Cantu, was a pool enthusiast and according to Carol, he was pretty good at it. We suspect that the table was brought in through one of the large picture windows before they were built. The only way that pool table is leaving this room is in pieces.

So one evening after dinner I took a bottle of wine and wandered up to check out the pool table.  It was covered in bedsheets. I uncovered and cleaned it and played a few rounds. Over the next few days, Uncle Tom, Nicolle, Michelle, Jo, Carol, Amy, and I shot some pool on that table. Now that table is not going anywhere (I really didn't have to campaign very hard).

Instead, Jo and I will continue to occupy the smaller bedroom at the top of the stairs towards the front of the house. It has a nice cross breeze when you leave the windows open but then it sounds like you are being run over by 18 wheelers all night long as they roar past on Highway 75 just inches from your pillow.

A second effect of the pool table staying at its current location is that we need additional beds for children. So Michelle and I decided to convert the closet into bunk beds. Cade is demonstrating in the photo that Plan A could simply be to throw a pillow on each shelf to sleep four comfortably. 

Instead, Michelle and I spent a hour on Uncle Tom's porch stealing his internet to research bunk beds. Four days later here are the beds. Michelle is holding up the folding beds because the hardware to latch them folded up isn't in place yet.

And here is Vivian and her cousins and Evan trying out the bunks. We estimate it took about $300 in materials and then a bit more for my finger.

On the very last cut for the very last piece of the frame I inadvertently stuck the very tip of my left middle finger into the edge of the circular saw and caught a bit of flesh, nail and bone. The lady, a PA at the ER at Falls City could only apply one stitch because the rest is "like hamburger". Michelle rushed me to Falls City and sat by me for my two hours of excellent treatment and did very well in spite of admitting that she is a bit squeamish, especially when the lady said "hamburger". And she must have been hungry because she said it a lot.

The other funny thing was when they asked me for my emergency contact. I said "My wife, JoEllen Clark". "Address?" they asked. "Same as mine" I responded. "Uh - is she in Austin? We'd like an emergency contact nearer here" they continued as they eyed Michelle. And that's when Michelle sweetly said "Oh - she's just across the street from this hospital - in the swimming pool". At that instant you could have stood in the ER and heard a pin drop in Radiology, all the way across on the other side of the Community Medical Center of Falls City. They will be talking about that old Puerto Rican and his nice but slightly squeamish mistress and his uncaring swimming pool wife for some time.

ps. I broke the tip of my pinkie on my right hand three weeks ago while flipping tires during a workout. It's in a splint. So Vivian and Evan think it's hilarious that I have four usable fingers left in each hand. Throw in my dislocated big toe from soccer last summer and suddenly your future ain't looking too bright if you are a digit belonging to me.