Last night, January 21st 2010, was basically a waste of time. Why, because I accomplished virtually nothing. Let’s see, I managed to actually drive the screws into the wooden mounting board, there by ‘mounting’ the switch box onto the board. I also tightened the screws of the actual switch apparatus, effectively securing it into its utility box. At least that’s done now.
It was actually semi difficult. You wouldn’t think that tightening eight screws into place would be that hard, but nothing is as it seems. My efforts could probably be turned into a short slap stick movie and would entertain vast numbers with my antics.
First, the utility box was mounted on the wooden board made specifically for that purpose. This involved placing a ¼ inch screw into the appropriate hole and with a little applied force, driving it into the wood. Yeah right. I had to hold the utility box in place, while holding a very small screw and attempting to use a screw driver; all this at an awkward inverted angle in a confined space with a jumble of wiring hampering the effort. This made for a difficult task.
And there goes another one. A screw that is, not into the wood to secure the utility box in place. No, into the dark unexplored recesses of the interior cabin; exactly were ‘they’ wanted to. It was a conspiracy; those damn screws had no intention of being permanently placed into that wood. What is truly amazing is how far the trajectory of the miss guided screws could remove them from the work sight. I swear that in some cases the screw ended up in the other end of the boat, never to be seen again.
I enlisted the help of my youngest, who had come out with me. When not beating on the boat with a stick, he would offer his assistance. I reassessed the situation realizing that I needed a third hand. This would free one of mine to commit to screw holding, a truly noble effort.
Raz’n’, fraz’n’, fricking, frock; I still couldn’t get the sharp pointy end of the screw to go into the wood. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! I was starting to get annoyed to say the least; the amount of colorful metaphors exuding from my mouth increasing with every failed attempt. Enough was enough; it was time to get out the big guns. I needed my drill.
Delays, delays, nothing is ever easy, especially when your work space is completely disorganized like mine. A prudent craftsman would put all his tools away at the end of the work day. Needless to say, I am not a prudent craftsman. My tools are disbursed in piles at various points surrounding the boat. There is no rhyme or reason to the dispersal; it is simply where the tool ended up after its last use. Thus, finding a particular tool can sometimes be difficult. Last night was no exception.
A drill bit, my kingdom for a drill bit. That is after I found the drill. Oh, there was a drill bit in it, a 5/8th inch to be precise. Last used to mount the bowsprit; it would do me little service at this juncture. That is, unless I wanted large holes in the overhead of the cabin.
As disorganized as the workspace is, I still have a pretty good since of where certain items may be found; in this case a drill bit. Ah, success. With the drill bit changed out from large to small I was ready to conquer the utility box.
Wow, that made it a whole lot easier. With starter holes drilled in the mounting bracket, I was finally able to get the screws to grab the wood and was able to affix the utility box to the bulkhead. After that, the rest of the operation went without a hitch; at least as far as the screws were concerned.
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