New Dining Room Table

So for the first 4 1/2 years of marriage Doctor J and I haven't had a dining room table. This hasn't really been a problem, especially for me, because all of our bikes over flowed from my "bike room" out into the dining room leaving me with plenty of room to do all sorts of things in my personal man cave....evidently this is no more. Doctor J has had her eye on this particular table from Pottery Barn for as long as I can remember and being the handyman extraordinaire that I am...I'm going to build it. Most folks have no idea that woodworking is a hobby of mine that I thoroughly enjoy and one I have very fond memories of my dad and I working on together. Now granted every time in the past that I have wanted to build anything I would just head out to dads garage and we would make thoughts into reality with all his tools....I however do not posses said tools. No worries, I think it can be done. And in the words of my new friend Bob, "All you need for woodworking is a good square and your brain". Well said Bob.
This is the table that Doc is wanting and one that I will undoubtedly rip off. Luckily our local Pottery Barn has this table on their showroom floor leaving yours truly to sneak in and take as many pics as possible. I was also able to find a cool video on YOU tube, how? I have no idea, about the "inspiration" of the table which shows a few good angles that I wasn't able to get crawling around on the PB floor. All that said...here are a few pics from this afternoons beginnings of my new table.

Yes my licence plate says TOYBOX3, deal with it. While the Element is perfect for 95% of everything I do...some days I do miss my truck.
Basically the idea is too make an internal frame, pictured, and then hang all the Poplar(Birch wasn't available)around it creating a very sturdy table top for the legs to attach to. If you look closely at the PB picture you see that the table is severely distressed. Obviously lumber isn't sold in this fashion so I spent the better part of an hour distressing my new 300$ pile of wood....crazy I know.
Trust me...there is a method to what you see. The large squares in the corner are twice as thick as well as glued and screwed into the frame which should make for a solid attachment point for the legs. Its a work in progress with the majority of plans still floating around in my head. Unfortunately, like I mentioned before, I don't have a garage, or a nice shop to work in....just the covered patio with Mandi there to help me. One day tools will be in their proper place on a wall of peg board long as the eye can see...one day.

New Shop Location

So just a little FYI, the shop I've been working at, Carolina Triathlon, just moved about 1/2 mile further down Main St. here in lovely Greenville, SC. How does this affect me....mmmmm not that much. Actually now I have to take two more turns in order to complete my 1.5 mile commute each morning, I'm a little bitter. Here's a few shots after just two weeks of occupancy....slowly but surely we are making it home. Soon we will be able to really enjoy being literally across the street from the "little Fenway", home to the Red Sox organizations AA team...it's going to be great. If you take a look at the pic on the right you can see there is a loft over the shop...currently empty. The city just approved our "structure" so now the stairs go in which will give access to 400sq ft of storage as well as a fit area and "the BOSS'S" office. Hopefully they get this project done sooner than later, the space is already beginning to feel cramped with boxes.
As it sits now there are over 200 bikes on the floor and space for more...that's a lot of bikes under one roof. Specialized, Look and Cervelo with approx. 80% being Specialized. This crusty old fellow is Mark K...aka "Grumpy. Hands down the best mechanic in town as well as George H. personal mechanic...doesn't hurt having him on staff, if you can stand his jokes. I have to admit it's pretty cool to have some big name cyclist stroll in the shop...even if it is just for Mark to tweak their bikes The next few photos are some of "Yogi's" artwork...as I've been so affectiontly named. I will say the door handle was a team effort by "Mini Me"...aka Brian M. (There you go Goose, there's your props.) And I can't leave out my boy Kevin S. for sending me the pic of the Cannondale staff bathroom where I got the paper towel holder idea, pretty cool. In case your wondering, No, we didn't just cut up a random S-Works Transition frame...some lady ran it into her garage while it was on top of her car...now it's destined to a life of art. There you go, a little window into my daily life...the place that claims more of my time/money than my wife gets. So much so that I feel the need to make it my own.