Friday, July 9, 2010

Why I Like Working in Miniature So Much

Fair warning... this is not your usual blog from me...

I am reminded today WHY I like working in miniature so much. I'm about to build a deck with my daughter at her house.

Yesterday, I tore down the old back porch from her house. The wood was quite weathered, and many of the screws were hard to remove. I finally took my power saw and started cutting. What I couldn't tear apart with the saw, a sledge hammer managed the rest. I was down to the last upright post, which was hanging on by a few strands of wood. So, I took my sledge hammer and gave it a whack! That did it! The 8 foot tall 4x4 careened over to its side -- right into my daughter's 3' x7' plate glass window! They tell me it will cost a little over $400 to fix it....

Next, I called the rental supply to line up a power post-hole digger (an auger). The guy at the rental place said, "It works best with these power augers for the two people running it to be the same size." (I'm 6'4". My daughter is 5'2".) "Otherwise," he said, "the shorter person really takes the brunt of the lifting and running of the digger." My daughter is all of about 110 lbs. I'm a string-bean, too. The auger weighs 80 lbs. This could be a very interesting day.

So, here's my list of why I like building miniatures as opposed to full-size stuff...as if I really need to tell you, dear readers!
  • No building permits required. 
  • No heavy lifting (unless you have to move a dollhouse...)
  • No power drills to maintain and charge.
  • No blisters.
  • No heavy-duty sweating. 
  • No mud on your shoes after building a mini deck.
  • No sunburn or mosquito bites (unless you really want to work on your mini on your patio or deck). 
  • The framing boards on a dollhouse deck weigh less than an ounce for each 12' length.
  • No back-ache (unless I bend over my minis at my workbench for extended hours at a time).
  • I would also include "no building inspectors", but I have to admit that if I build a mini, I usually want to show it off to others, and every time I do that, there are the critics and critical eyed people who give me their two cents worth about what is right or not right with my project!

7 comments:

Caseymini said...

George, you forgot one of the things that I would put high on the list, especially in this case. Miniatures are MUCH cheaper!

Sorry you are having such a bad time with this!

Tabitha Corsica said...

ROTFL! Please forgive me for laughing but I know EXACTLY what you mean. Give me a mini-project any day!
(Sorry about the window :-( and good luck with that auger...)

Tabitha

Pan said...

Hi. Just discovered your blog. The tutorials are great; it is so nice to see how things are made. Thank you.

Chris P's Minis and More said...

awww so sorry RL stuff is a lot costlier... I'd rather do minis is right LOL

onbeingaminimum said...

I know it is mean of me but I had to laugh. Why is it that helping our children out to save on cost always costs us even more!

Susanne said...

Minis are the best, and if not, you just continue to dream ;-)
Love, Susanne

dalesdreams said...

Sorry about the window. :(
Hope all turned out well with the auger.

But, I completely understand life size versus miniatures, having done a lot of home restoration.

Minis are way more fun. :)

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