Jig
Whenever the time between posts to this site exceeds a month, I start receiving “Is everything alright?” emails. Things are alright—quite alright actually—and thanks to everyone who asked. Really, I’ve just been enjoying something which resembles a life—a concept which rather tragically became foreign to me for too long a while. I always wonder if bloggers overwhelmingly more prolific than myself spend any time whatsoever off the computer.
So let me break this long hiatus with an exciting announcement: sometime next March the wife and I will be having a son. I won’t wax philosophical (publicly, anyway) about the kinds of existential realizations which surface when thinking about having children, so let’s just say that it’s obvious that some aspects of my life have to change, not the least of which is my woodworking equipment. Knowing that I’ll be having a son has made me realize that I’ve spent too much time cleaning up messy cuts on a poorly calibrated and underpowered tablesaw, and that my router fence is not only inadequate but unsafe. When my wife showed me the pregnancy test, the first thing that came to mind was that I’ve totally outgrown my Black & Decker Workmate™ Workbench and that I need a proper bench with a proper vise and a massive benchtop so I can pound things “real hard”. It’s now clear to me that the answer to the daycare situation for parents who both work is twofold. One, a centralized dust collection system with a 1-micron filter bag, a metal canister, and a beefy impeller. Two, nothing beats a good set of sharp chisels. Nothing. Lastly, as I watch my wife undergo the magical transformation from, say, kayak to houseboat, I can’t help but think that the garage really needs a 100 amp subpanel.
In case you’re wondering, I’m planning on making all the baby furniture. The kind of stuff which gets handed down from generation to generation. Yes, I’ve found the Consumer Product Safety Commission guidelines for things like cribs.
I should mention that after my wife’s first ultrasound, I did have one realization entirely unrelated to woodworking. We haven’t seen any major advancements in pre-natal science since 1986, where ultrasound technology was used in James Cameron’s Aliens. Observe:
Finding aliens
Alien in profile
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15 responses
Comment posted at 13:42 on Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Awww…look, he’s got his daddy’s big umm, err, synapse…
Congrats!
P.S. It’s been so long since you last post I forgot how to loign on this thingy, but then I would have missed the wood-themed security question and the background image that looked like sawed timber - I almost went “qute!”…but didn’t.
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michel
Comment posted at 13:52 on Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Congratulations, Narayan … and yes, “some aspects of your life have to change” … most aspects, in fact 
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Comment posted at 16:51 on Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Congratulations Narayan! 
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Alice
Comment posted at 08:38 on Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Congratulations again! I’m glad I now know it is a boy. My very best to you and Nara always.
P.S. Knowing how long it took me to learn to spell your name, I hope you give this little one a name that his teachers will have an easier time with.
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Comment posted at 12:31 on Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Congratulations! It will be nice to see the fruits of your wood work … somehow, that was not pun intended, I swear .
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Comment posted at 10:40 on Thursday, November 03, 2005
<billpaxton>
That’s it man, game over man, game over!
</billpaxton>
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Comment posted at 16:28 on Thursday, November 03, 2005
Beautiful. Congratulations!
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Comment posted at 16:57 on Thursday, November 03, 2005
Congratulations. You are in for a lot of fun, truly.
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Comment posted at 17:34 on Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Congratulations! I have two daughters myself and they are my everything, my world. You did it 
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Kristopher
Comment posted at 12:40 on Sunday, November 13, 2005
It sounds like you need to get some fishing trips in ASAP. Quick we don’t have much time!
Congratulations to both of you. Hey does this mean you guys are grown ups now?
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Gilligalin
Comment posted at 00:29 on Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Truely awsome!
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Comment posted at 09:44 on Friday, December 23, 2005
This is embarrassingly tardy, but a helluva congratulations to you! That’s extremely cool, and I applaud your decision to build all the furniture yourself (it made for an hilarious weblog post, too). Your child is going to be so proud when he/she learns why daddy has only four fingers on his left hand
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Comment posted at 05:07 on Saturday, December 24, 2005
Well, well well…. what wonderful news to greet me upon finally visiting here. All the very best Narayan and Nara, boy are your lives going to change!!… and all for the better.
I do look forward to seeing brilliant photographs and hearing the exciting tales of parenthood from you.. ahh another little *fface* =)
congrats… and oh.. Merry Bloody Christmas guys…!
xoxoxox
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inspoetica
Comment posted at 20:52 on Friday, January 06, 2006
Congratulations Poog & Resonance!
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Dan Ledman
Comment posted at 14:06 on Monday, January 30, 2006
congratulations. babies mostly wake up at night… mostly
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