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Rebuilt the base of our target box and added a bottom shelf supported by the 2x3s that I used to frame it. The 2x3s were leftover pieces from another project as was the shelf that I added. Have also been doing a lot of filling and sanding due to the modifications and the damage done by my wayward son. But we won't get into that. Again. OK. Enough.

Have been using DAP water-based wood filler which seems to work OK. It's basically beige-tinted drywall compound which I think was DAP's original product line before they acquired the Plastic Wood brand and rights. The original PW product was cellulose-based which made it more durable although maybe a little harder to work with and probably contributed to a shorter shelf life once it was opened.

After a few years in the automotive trades, part of which was spent adjacent to one of the dealership's body shops, I started using the plastic auto body filler commonly referred to as "Bondo," the brand name of one of the oldest and largest suppliers. Because I wasn't "building pianos," as some of my friends in the building trades used to say, I wasn't overly concerned about wood grain, texture, absorption of decorative stains, etc.

It's main selling point, for me, was its extraordinary durability and, once manufacturers started producing and suppliers started selling the smaller "kits" of it for the backyard mechanic, I was all in. Now, 40 years later, it's actively branded and marketed to "wood butchers" like me. Its main disadvantage is that it's a two-part compound which requires the mixing of a base with a small amount of hardener. And once you've mixed it, you've gotta toss whatever you don't use.

Which is probably why I'm back to using the modern version of the more traditional wood fillers. I say the "modern version" because, back in the day, one of the traditional methods of making a wood filler was to combine the sawdust, from whatever wood you were building with, with a small amount of glue and applying it to whatever gaps you needed to fill. Never did that myself, but that story makes me wonder if that's where the idea for the commercially-produced "plastic" wood filler came from.

In any case, I've just applied the final layer of the DAP filler product and now I'm gonna have to let it harden overnight. Hence the time on my hands to ramble on and on about stuff that probably no one else in the universe even cares about. On the other hand, if you're still reading this, I might want to marry you. Unless your name is Richard or Fred. Because I don't like names that begin with "R" or "F," lol.

Anyway, tonight is the long-awaited and anxiously-anticipated combined band concert that my granddaughter Sophia is performing in. She was also in an earlier concert which included only the 5th and 6th grade music students from her middle school. But the concert tonight will include individual performances by all of the bands in the Westhill district followed by a combined performance by all of them together.

Which to me, as a former student musician, is a really interesting idea. It's to be set up in the high school gym and each band will remain in place while the others perform. And my understanding is that the order of performance will be from youngest age group to oldest, thus demonstrating the progressive development of musicianship across the district's music program. Then, as I said, the "grand finale" will be a combined performance of all of the bands.

Honestly, I'm almost as excited as if I were flying to Scotland for Her Majesty's Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. I said, "Almost," lol. After all, one of my dad's stories about his time overseas was about being given leave, when the news arrived that I'd been born back in the states, and attending a performance of Her Majesty's pipes and drums in London's Hyde Park. So, you know, I do have my standards, lol.

Seriously, though, I'm really looking forward to it and have arranged the rest of my day in anticipation of being picked up, around 5 this evening, to join my daughter's family at this event.

Thinking now that I'll ask the kid to autograph my program, lol...

LPK
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