Close, But No Disaster

 

I've been poking away at the stone, putting in a few hours and then taking a step back to see where I've been and to plan where I'm going next. Friday I reached the point  where it was time to drill, so I put up, and let it sit. 

 

 

 

Saturday was The So Cal RatRod Ride. Attendance has been low for quite a while, now. Once again, it was just the club. Our ride meets up on the Santa Ana River bike path just two miles inland from the beach. The Santa Ana River jetty is the dividing line between Huntington and Newport Beach. We alternate between the two, one month Newport, the next, H.B. Huntington is where north Orange County goes to the beach. The city and state parks have parking for thousands of cars, and the bike path runs for miles along coast Highway above the open beach. People come from all over to go to HB.  

 But this Saturday was Newport. Newport is all narrow streets and beach housing, right down to the summer rentals on the sand. The Balboa Fun Zone is OK for food, and you can ride the little Ferris wheel, or get a giant soft ice cream with sprinkles.  The Balboa peninsula is quite upscale. The bike path ends in a beautiful little park at the entrance to Newport Harbor, and the home of the world famous body surfing beach, The Wedge. The streets are narrow, and parking is scarce. The only good part about cruising  Newport is The Wedge, and the girl watching. And as a side note, we've been going to The Wedge every other month for over ten years, and we've missed seeing big surf every single time. As for the girl watching, remember, I'm old. And I don't lech, if you know what I mean. But the wealthier neighborhoods just have better looking women. All well and good, but I'd rather have the less crowded path at Huntington. Even so, it was a good day. We put in about twenty miles On the stretch cruiser, that's a workout.

 

 

Sunday was back to work. As I mentioned earlier, I got to the point where it was time bore a few holes. This stone is thin enough that I didn't need to set up the big drill, and the jig. I have a very nice Ryobi battery operated drill that I bought a few years back when we were building the gazebo. It worked pretty well, but the batteries and/or charger crapped out about a year after I got it. So I'm back to using my 1960's vintage 3/8 hp Craftsman plug in. 

My aim with the drill is not as good as it once was. Two out of three holes went just right, but when I drilled for the large opening in the top spiral I veered off course, and drilled almost 1/4" low into what I was afraid was the wall of the coil.

That was one of those moments when you get that sweaty flush, like when you hurt yourself, or you see a cop car flashing lights in the rearview mirror. Now, the whole wall had to be shaved down to the level of the bottom  of that hole. *gulp* 

Nothing for it except to get the rasp, and start excavating.

 

*SIGH OF RELIEF*

I didn't fuck it up. 

hooray

This week Mary and I are  going back up to Art City in Ventura. We'll make a mini vacation of it, and get a motel at the beach. I have two more stones to go after this project, but I want to pick up three or four more. I like the California stone, but I'd really love to get hold of some Utah, or New Mexico rock. We'll see what they have.