Bad news then good news and then more bad news...then more good news?

I had to take a quick break from the blog because life has been a little nuts.  First, the workshops have been going off without a hitch! Really great.  Everyone seems to enjoy them and I am figuring out quickly what is working and what is not working. We are moving on to more advanced specialized courses and hope to have more to offer soon. https://courses.thebenchri.com/  If anything it has been great to interact with people even if it is over the zoom. 

A bit of sad/bad news. Liz's mother passed away.  It wasn't a surprise but it was still tragic.  Liz's mom had been sick for quite some time.  She has been living down in Florida for over ten years now and for the last year Liz's father moved down there to take care of her.  We got a call around three weeks ago letting us know that she wasn't long for this world. After talking about it, we decided that Liz would go down there to be with her before she passed. Flying was insane apparently. The airline promised that the plane would be at 1/3 capacity (it was full). She has been away for three weeks now. I hope she can return soon. We haven't decided how she is going to get back.  Since flying was crazy she might drive but it is almost 24 hours without traffic. UGH. I hate that I couldn't comfort her when all this went down. With the workshops and work I have been working 12 hour days. 

With a lot of states going into phase two I have been called back into work.  Which is crazy.  We have been busy! super busy! Like Xmas busy.  I guess everyone is scrabbling to get their weddings back on track and want custom engagement rings....right away! I am lucky that I don't have to interact with the public and the owner of the store is providing masks at the door and there are four or five hand sanitizing stations around the store. 

Our studio is in full gear.  We finished insulating and the drywall has gone up. We don't have long now before we can move it.  We still have the outside, the flooring, the lighting and the ventilation. I bought all the furniture and it is now living in our bonus room (I may have jumped the gun on that) The cats have been using them as a jungle gym. 

More work on the studio

All of the new windows are installed in the studio which is exciting. I think the reality of the size of the studio is setting in which is....small.  I think that we can do a lot with a small space which is ideal but it might be a tight squeeze. We are looking for studio furniture.  Because we are trying to do this the right way we are going all out. We have always been a huge fan of the Seville UltraHD workbenches so we will probably get a few rolling carts to go under those benches AND a number of other things.  We shall see how far the budget goes. I guess the ultimate goal is to add value to the house and to provide an ideal workspace for both Liz and I.  We also have a finished basement so we are going to probably extend some of the studio there (digital tools, laser printers, sewing machine etc).  I am super excited about it all. 

I am also launching Rhino courses through a local school here in Rhode Island. They were having a hard time filling classes before the virus hit so I am contributing a portion of the tuition to the school. They are doing all the back end organizing and monetization so they are for sure contributing their fair share. They are also awesome people so it is great that I can help. If you are interested in the class go to https://thebenchri.podia.com/ to check out when the next will launch. 

The mayor of Providence has recently closed parts of the city with barricades to allow for more public space. The idea is that there would be more room for people to walk around without getting too close. Luckily....our house is literally one house in from the barricade so it might be hard getting our drywall delivery. 

Here are a few images of the windows, a few screen shots from the class, some promo material. 

The floor is in!

The floor to the studio has officially been installed!  Here in Rhode Island they are closing down some of the streets to make room for more open public space so people with no yards can walk around freely with plenty of room around them.  It is a super nice gesture but....I am not sure if we are going to be able to finish up our job here. We still have drywall to do and we are not going to be able to get the truck in to do the delivery.  I am not hauling drywall on a cart for two blocks. Maybe.....if I get bored enough I might.  Gotta work off these quarantine carbs.