Roy's Garage: '90 2.4-4G64 5-spd D-50

[royster]

The story takes an interesting, life~altering twist at this point.

I had an adopted cat, whose owner had been admitted into a nursing home. When I began the garage project, I fed him out there at the job site. One day I noticed a stray had been eating his food. I befriended her, and it turns out she had 3 kittens, nursing near my house. There were some awesome days of raising the kittens, working on the garage, and enjoying summer. My rescue cat was not amused by the intrusion, but tolerated everything.

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Soon enough, walls were serviceable and the doors ready to install. Click-to-enlarge photo to see the mother cat eating near the blue chair.

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About the time the kittens were weened, some incident or factor caused both adult cats to die on the same day. I was left with three orphaned kittens, who I kept in the garage at night once the doors were in place.

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Work went on, the kittens grew, and one day, I bought a 1990 Dodge D-50: another life~altering event.

[royster]

My workbench is two 3/4" plywood sheets glued-and-screwed together, the top sheet of plywood being oak veneered. 2" heat-fused edge-banding makes the workbench look like a solid piece of oak. Second-hand oak cabinets were found here and there, and soon enough I had the garage I had wanted since my mother kicked the rock band out of hers', 4 decades ago.
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[royster]

Please allow me one more construction post before we park that D-50 in here.

The garage has evolved much since the previous pictures were taken. There is a functioning kitchenette with a stove/refrigerator apartment unit I found at a thrift store many years ago, for $15. Not show in the photo provided are the nice oak overhead cabinets I found and installed. A double stainless steel sink drains outside via a filtration system (I AM, after all, from California: we pioneered environmental awareness), and a rainwater retrieval system is designed (but not working, yet) to provide water for washing hands, gravity-feed with optional pump-assist. The garage has 100 amp service.

The work bench will hold 400 pounds before it will start questioning my motives. Remember, the walls are real 2x4 oak studs, reinforced and sheer paneled. It was when I decided to replace u-joints in the D-50 that the pristine workbench got its first dents and scratches. The Japanese call such marks "Wabi Sabi", meaning they tell a specific story instead of "decreasing the value of" that which is not perfect because it has been used.

Because of the way I framed and paneled the garage, it is essentially one huge speaker, because sound transfers nicely out, the bass is carried through the walls and floor like a giant woofer. I have a stereo system than can be heard all through the hills clearly. It is a very good thing I don't drink anymore. The radio/stereo amplifier is built into the wall. Two speakers are screwed tightly to the walls, and two tower speakers sit on the floor when I don't need the space to work.

The garage serves also as a carpentry workshop. It has a built-in air conditioning unit, and in winter, I heat with a kerosene heater.

The garage, as it looks today, can be seen in the following photos (future posts) of present-day work with D-50's.

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The cats grew up with loving care, and they had each other when I wasn't around. Their natural instincts were not hindered by human demands, so they in fact do go into the creek to hunt for fish. The twins are directly related to Maine Coon cats, who are in turn directly related to African Wildcats. The calico-furred cat is a representitive of every forest animal...including the skunks camoit fights (She waddles just LIKE a skunk!) Assuming they were born in late May, I named the twins "Castor" (the male) and "Pollux" (female), the twins of the constellation Gemini. And "Gemini" is the calico cat, with colors split perfectly down the center of her face.
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