The New Studio Saga
May 1-3 (The Move Part 1)
MAY DAY...MAY DAY...MAY DAY...MAY DAY...
The fact that it has taken me until January to post these images from May can only give you a small indication of how fondly I remember moving something like 40 tons of machinery, tools, and lumber from Alabama to Tennessee. To my "Former Friends" who helped me with this horrible task, I can only offer my thanks and sincere sympathy that you ever knew me.
One thing is predictable with certainty in the Deep South - If a task requires physical exertion and endurance, the weather will be hot and humid. The move took place on two hot, humid weekends in May.
The first load consisted of most of my machinery and a lot of lumber. LC Stewart (L.) and Anden Houben pitched in with my two young hired hands (Brandon Cooper and a chum). Once loaded I weighed the truck and found that I was about 4,000 lb. overweight, so we had to offload some of the lumber onto the trailer LC was pulling with my planer aboard.
The planer and lathe were too heavy and bulky to haul on the Ryder trucks, so LC brought them in two trips on a low trailer. Anders Hardware in Northport helped out with a forklift to load, and White Bluff Building Materials sent down a forklift to unload them for me.
May 12
After all my trouble trying to locate a sheetrock contractor, I picked up the local weekly paper and Greg St.Laurent was advertising for work! Unusual for a Nashville area contractor, he is not a songwriter. He was trained as a painter and has extended his impasto techniques to include sheet rock finishing. It was my good luck that he thought my taping was adequate and agreed to put the professional touch on my drywall.
Greg (above) and his partner were able to knock this out before it was time to move in the second load of stuff from Alabama.
May 15-18 (The Move Part 2)
Steve Davis, Anden Houben and LC Stewart helped with loading, and Linda and I unloaded. Probably the worst part was getting my 4,000 lb + Oliver Lathe out of the studio and onto a trailer. It is about 12 feet long and was very awkward to handle. Anders Hardware again helped with a forklift in Northport, LC drove it down and White Bluff Building Materials helped us unload it.
A 26 foot-long truck is about as large as you can rent without a commercial driver's license - but it holds about as much stuff as you would ever want to load and unload.
It took days to sort and squirrel away all the lumber onto the racks. We must have moved about a cord of shorts that were too valuable to throw away.
Some guys are just plain hard on their wives. Linda stuck it out through the whole miserable ordeal. Sometimes the only thing left to do is "Slab It."