This evening I sat on my patio swing and whittled on a piece of wood
with my Schrade Old Timer that I had bought sometime while waiting to start law-school. Twenty-eight years ago? I think I was working for the Chicago Crime Commission then. It cuts. It was razor sharp when I bought it and it nicked my thumb when I first opened it at the knife store. It was Corrado Cutlery in Chicago. I bought most of my good knives there. Carmen Corrado has been gone a long time and so have I from there. The last knife I bought there was a Klotzli handmade in 1996.
I took out the Schrade because I lost my favorite pocket knife -- a Gerber bolt-action that I had for twenty-two years. I had put a Flicket on it so I could open it one-handed and the bolt-action let me close it one-handed. Very handy.
The Schrade has a thin, about 1/16" plain carbon steel blade that takes a good edge. I get it razor sharp with a few strokes on a dry artificial stone. It has a brass liner lock which I first saw on this knife. The reason for the nick on my thumb.
Corrado's was a block away from my big law firm job where I billed out six times my salary. The less said about that the better. I didn't stay but about a year and a half.
The patio swing is cedar logs, seat hanging on chains from an A-frame. I put it together a couple of months ago. I'll leave it age natural and stain it next year.
I replaced the bathroom window screen yesterday. Actually, I built a new one. Finished pine, 1x2 for the sides and top, 1x3 for the bottom, butted together. Oak door stop, beveled, for the molding to hold the screen. It looks nice natural, the two woods contrasting but I have to paint it to match the rest of the house trim and to preserve it. That's where the wood I was whittling on came from. An eight inch piece of 1x2 left over.
The grocery-store lady looked into my cart and asked, "Are you cooking rice?" I showed her the two steaks I was going to marinate and grill as well. We agreed that I should not pound them. They came out ok. Next time I'll take a minute off each side in grilling them. The rice is perfect.
We had a thunderstorm with five inches of rain in an hour and high gusts. I suspected a tornado. One gust put my deck umbrella through my kitchen window.
It keeps running through my head that I should label this post "My Last Summer". I'm not going to. Tuesdays are jinx days.
I took out the Schrade because I lost my favorite pocket knife -- a Gerber bolt-action that I had for twenty-two years. I had put a Flicket on it so I could open it one-handed and the bolt-action let me close it one-handed. Very handy.
The Schrade has a thin, about 1/16" plain carbon steel blade that takes a good edge. I get it razor sharp with a few strokes on a dry artificial stone. It has a brass liner lock which I first saw on this knife. The reason for the nick on my thumb.
Corrado's was a block away from my big law firm job where I billed out six times my salary. The less said about that the better. I didn't stay but about a year and a half.
The patio swing is cedar logs, seat hanging on chains from an A-frame. I put it together a couple of months ago. I'll leave it age natural and stain it next year.
I replaced the bathroom window screen yesterday. Actually, I built a new one. Finished pine, 1x2 for the sides and top, 1x3 for the bottom, butted together. Oak door stop, beveled, for the molding to hold the screen. It looks nice natural, the two woods contrasting but I have to paint it to match the rest of the house trim and to preserve it. That's where the wood I was whittling on came from. An eight inch piece of 1x2 left over.
The grocery-store lady looked into my cart and asked, "Are you cooking rice?" I showed her the two steaks I was going to marinate and grill as well. We agreed that I should not pound them. They came out ok. Next time I'll take a minute off each side in grilling them. The rice is perfect.
We had a thunderstorm with five inches of rain in an hour and high gusts. I suspected a tornado. One gust put my deck umbrella through my kitchen window.
It keeps running through my head that I should label this post "My Last Summer". I'm not going to. Tuesdays are jinx days.
posted by nk at 9:52 PM
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