Of Air Mattresses and Table Tops

I have now been in San Francisco for ten days.  The weather has been beautiful, the people great, and the food amazing.  I've moved from Mark's couch to an airbed on the floor of Hattery's conference room.  I'm up a little before six every day, awakened by the crew working on the new space underneath me.  A big pot of coffee, a granola bar, an apple, and I'm down to the basement, where a pile of reclaimed ceiling joists await transformation conference tables and desks. 

A lot has happened it the time I've been here: I've de-nailed 75 boards; my boss bought a full suite of wood shop tools from some folks down the street; I've planed one side of all the boards; with the help of an old friend from Alabama who just moved to the Bay Area, Chris Currie, we ripped the edges off all the boards to square them; and we started laminating the joists into table tops.  In between all this, I've been working away on the designs for the bases of the work tables, watching a little playoff football, and checking out some amazing food.  

Despite progress, there is still a long way to go.  I'm grateful for Chris's help, and the support of the folks at Hattery, and looking forward to getting on with it . . . .

The raw joists.  Old growth fir, they are from a building that is around sixty years old, meaning the trees these boards came from possibly began growing around the Civil War.  An privilege to work with such storied stuff. 

Pulling a lot of iron out of the boards.   

Close-up. 

Travelin' Man

Happy New Year!  This month, I'm spending a couple of weeks with the folks at Hattery, a start-up in San Francisco.  They've hired me to help fit out their brand-new office, constructing some conference tables, desks, chairs, and brainstorming about how they can use their space.  One of their employees, Mark Wills, is a friend of mine from Alabama.  


In the space of a week, I have crossed the continent.  Seven days ago, I was in Baltimore for the holidays.  I drove back to Chicago, with a layover in Ohio, spent a few days in the Windy City, and then continued on my way.  Yesterday afternoon, I got in a bus and rode to a train station.  I got in a train and rode to the airport.  I got in a plane and flew to Phoenix.  I got in another plane and flew to San Francisco.  I got in a pickup truck and drove to the couch that will be my bed for awhile.

The toolkit.