The Deck

So this summer I finally took the time to replace the railings on my deck. These pictures clearly show why they needed to be replaced. On the first photo the cross beam came right off of the nails. Next to it, notice the huge crack and the weathering on the wood. They don't show the huge gaps between the rails. My friends had been very kind about bringing their children over even though my deck was unsafe. I wanted to at least have a safe deck for them for their going away picnic. I didn't quite finish in time, but at least more than half of it was done and we could block the other portion with chairs. Of course, the kids kept wanting to go to the "chair" part instead of the safer part.

So the demolition was kind of fun as it usually is. Then the real work began. I enjoyed using my compound miter saw and it was great to see immediate progress. On my job I don't get to see the progress with any immediacy. Anyway, back to the deck. As usual, I was working by myself. This wasn't a problem until I got to the section that had very long crossbeams. I couldn't hold the board and nail it in at the same time so I devised what I affectionately called, "Staci's Helper". Essentially it was a red tie down that I used to tie one side at about the right height while I nailed the other side in place. I was quite proud of my ingenuity.

I had to get even trickier to put the top crossbeam up since there wasn't anything above it. Check it out.

If you are still reading about my deck accomplishment, thank you. The wood was treated and was still quite wet. In fact, every time I sunk a nail it was like the wood was seeping. My legs looked similar because they were dripping with sweat, but I felt good!

21st Century Skills

At work we are talking about 21st Century Skills all of the time. One of our goals is to ensure that our students are prepared for the 21st century workplace. There are many technological tools that I already use, but I haven't blogged. So, I've decided to give it a go.

The name of the blog comes from a 2005 comment. I was with a group of friends when we saw Elaine Dalton. Her husband had been our bishop years earlier and at that time she had a new saying every year. It always rhymed and was at least in some ways motivational. Anyway, during the conversation I asked her what her theme was for 2005. That started a discussion and one of us said, "Keep Hope Alive in 2005". Many times since then I've said to myself and others, keep hope alive. It has sort of become my mantra, hence the name.