Yup, you heard that right, 3 parks in 3 days. Sounds crazy, and believe me I'd planned to be doing this over a week, but set backs will be set backs, and I learnt a very good lesson - don't rely on seemingly reliable semi hippie women who used to live downstairs from you to give you lifts to the DIY shop. That set back getting materials from Friday until today, at which point a 'man and van' guy I'd previously hired to move to this flat back in February turned out to be a savour with a white van. Great guy too, we had a very interesting conversation about the brilliance of android tablets on the way back from getting the wood.
So anyway, after finally getting home, getting the wood up the stairs (big thanks to Georgi and Theresa for helping me carry it up to my 4th floor flat) I was all set to start work. First I had to build unpack the powertools I'd brought the day before and the work bench, which unfortunately required assembly. How hard can it be? Well, in a sense not that hard, but it'd help if they gave you instructions! There were literally 4 lines of text, which might have well said 'build it.' It literally took me 2 hours to figure out where every random bit went, what way round it went, and finally get a working (albeit very small) work bench. Still, my front room mini workshop was complete! First cut of the wood and it wobbled all too much - turns out the clamps that came with the work bench were completely useless. SOO off I walk 35-40 minutes to another DIY shop to get some clamps, posting a couple Fingersized orders on the way home, as well as picking up a pizza for later (this was not a day I felt like doing wonders in the kitchen).
So was I finally ready to start, arriving home at what was now 4:30pm? The clamps worked great, but half way through making a cut my jigsaw felt funny.. The blade snapped?!? I guess it wasn't my day, and certainly not my day for tools I'd brought. However not one to give up, and not wanting to venture outside AGAIN, I figured I'd crack on with the only tool I had left I could rely on - a tenon saw! After a few hours of cutting:
Here was my 'union mandated break', with a treat from ikea!
And here's the end of the evening's work, retiring at 10pm due to a very aching hand.
At least I've got most of the championship park done, and I've got a full day to go at it tomorrow! Once the main bits of the championship park are done, which will take me like an hour, then I'll build the main bits of the other two much smaller and simpler parks and call it a day for tomorrow. The following day sees banks, quarterpipes, and other final touches added, followed by a ton of painting and a whole lot of sleep!
Look forward to another diary tomorrow :)
