Dem boats.

I realised it's been too long since my last post about work on the Belgica.
So I'm going to give you a speedrun through a month's work.
Here goes:

We have a museum in our hangar where the Belgica is standing.
Although I can't call the hangar 'the place where the boat is standing'
because there's only one rafter finished at the moment.
There is no boat yet.
Anyway I helped the people reorganise the museum,
got some old stuff in my hands (like the financial records dating back to 1930)
and felt important.

It's fun to see how the people at work, instructors, bosses, people like that
also come to me for things that are not typically for workers like me to do.
I helped placing electrical wires on the wall, I am busy making eight bee-hotels
at the moment (for the city, so I can go place them on location too soon! ^-^ )
They ask me for opinions, I study plans for the boat even though
I'm not educated for that, today I placed cabinets and a desk in the new
bureau of my boss, which I first fixed (made a ceiling, floor, lights and electricity,
the bathroom (so I'm doing plumber things too.)

Yeah, it's actually really great at work, but I can't stay there forever,
and that sucks. I actually don't get paid either so maybe it's best
that I look for another career opportunity.

I helped the organisation with ideas as well as actions to make the overall
'feel' of the hangar more pleasant, like my idea to put one of the small boats
(project from the past by the newbies) on a raised platform.

I also made the skeleton frame for a sloop,
one of four that are going to be placed on the 35-meter long vessel.

Aaaand here's me pointing out that we're building the second rafter now.
A though job that can't be underestimated, but it's also a lot of fun.

Long anticipated -maybe- post about work.

People have often been asking me the following question

"Ok, so, you say you are building boats. Fine, but what exactly do you do?"

People of the world, I present to you: my days at work.

I call this picture: crappy quality of me being proud of the sloop.*

I am currently getting skilled at using the bandsaw,  the power mitter saw, the late,
and the manual horizontal panel saw. I can use hand saws, planes,
drills, you name it. I am a quick learner, they say.

This is the current team: me and Rachid, both beginners,

and Benjamin and Cafer in the background, working hard.

In this video one sees the big hangar where the magic of transforming wooden
beams into boats and smaller artefacts takes place.
First, we see Noureddin working on a treasure chest and a shelf.
The camera then goes towards the sloops, one being halfway done,
and one being just a skeleton.

This is what I do. This is what I like to do. And this is what I will continue to do.
Untill I have honed my skills to make guns again. Probably.

Awesome day.

Today was a good day, for an end-of-the-world scenario.
Life started as usual, at six o'clock, when my cellphone
-yes, I have a cellphone- woke me up from a good dream.
I got ready and went to work, where I found myself working
on one of the four sloops of the New Belgica.
We put in the floor today, and then cleaned the cantina,
toilets, dressing room and workplace for the vacation
that bars progress.
After that, a team of crane workers and truck drivers
surprised every one of us when they brought in another boat
that needed restoration. The Aloha, as it's called,
is a gorgeous piece of work, from the wooden
head at the bow to the beautiful railing that prevents
drunk people -I assume- from falling into the ocean.
It's so big it didn't fit into the hangar,
as was planned, so it needs to be worked on outside.
I can handle it, I want to stand in the mud and the rain,
as long as I can work on this piece of artwork.

Inspiration for woodworking.

For some reason I did not take the train today.

No, I decided I should walk home after spending some money in the city next to mine.
It was cold but I did not care, I was half-dancing while walking,
people in cars were looking silly, but I felt like a boss.
A big part of that was that I was wearing my dandy suit and listening to songs like
'That swing again' by Dj Doo Good, and 'Can the frog tap dance' by Dr. Cat & Dj Pony.

Anyway as I was dancing-walking-feeling like a badass,
I came across some architecture I totally loved, and I thought I should share it here:



This was so gorgeous I asked the lady in the candy store next door
about the background of the building and reason for the design choices.

The man who lives there is a fairly good prop and scenery builder for
famous plays on stage, musicals and the like.
He spent about ten years building his masterpiece,
which is two stories above ground, and two below.
Not basements, but actual liveable floors.
Also, there's not a single wall in the entire house that's straight, so that's awesome.

There is a gigantic bridge to the front door,
and the lady of the candy store told me the man planned to make the entire house rotate,
like clockwork, along with the sunlight, so the living room window would be permanently
facing the sun.
But that would require budget not even that man has.

Anywhore, what I'm trying to say here is that if that man can do it,
so can I. And he did that all by himself.
So if I'm going to stay in this dimension, I should make it as good-looking as I can.

I am tired of seeing these never-changing boring houses.

Building stuff.

Oh hey there, are you guys ready for the joy of winter, and furthermore, the holidays?

I was never a holiday guy to be honest.

But this year, I will do it. I will make something.

It's not going to be gigantic, like my aspirations,
and it's not going to be very well done,
seeing as I just started working with wood.
But hey, at least I did something,
I made something myself, and that's better than buying something off the shelf.

Here's a teaser.

The Builder's vibe.

Hello interwebs,
how's your sunday, good?
That's good to hear.

These days I am full of motivation, full of that 'vibe' that makes you love your job,
and fills you with a sense of delight when you do what you do.
Is that making any sense?

Anyway, what I mean is I have found my place in the woodworking sector,
and I am planning to pursue it further into the art of prop building
for photography, maybe even plays on stage and events like Burning man or Handcar Regatta,
but there's nothing to do here in Belgium, so.. yeah..

Basically, I want to build a career that resembles the world where I come from.
Making 'alternative vehicles' that were a common sight in my town,
and resume my past profession as a business man of firearms.

It will be a while untill I can do all that, but hey, a man's got to have a goal.