This is part four of a personal carpentry project whose stages were recorded on video: building a cat house for our two kittens. Here are the other parts:
In this video, you can see the finished exterior, with the 2 cm wood planks cut to size and nailed in place. The floor is also completed. You’ll see the wood has stains and other marks on it, since it’s left over from the renovation job. By the time the cat house is completed, all of that is going to be sanded away and any holes or dents are going to be repaired with wood filler.
Which car would you rather drive: the BMW M3 or the Toyota Prius?
I’d take the M3. It’d be no competition for me.
As it turns out, Top Gear tested these two cars around the track. The M3 got better mileage than the Prius while both cars traveled at the same speeds for 10 laps. This was part of a show segment where the BBC had asked them to show which cars are more economical, given the high price of gasoline.
Top Gear also tested a bunch of supercars (Lamborghini, Ferrary, Aston Martin, McLaren and R8), and found the Audi R8 gets the best gas mileage — 5 mpg — during healthy track driving. The runner-up was the Lamborghini Murcielago at 4.1 mpg.
Jeremy Clarkson’s conclusion was this: it’s not the car, it’s how you drive it. You can get decent fuel economy from a sporty car that you love to drive, or you can get decent fuel economy from a boxy, under-performing hybrid. Take your pick.
This is why I love Top Gear. It’s always fun to watch.
Images used are public domain, obtained from the Wikimedia Commons.
This is part three of a personal carpentry project whose stages were recorded on video: building a cat house for our two kittens. Here are the other parts:
In this video, I show the finished frame and talk about the next steps in the project. You’ll have to excuse me as you watch the video, because there are two places where I can’t remember the English words for what I wanted to say. Living in a foreign country and speaking another language all day long has one obvious downside — I tend to forget some English lexicon, and I don’t like it. Fortunately, these are just momentary lapses. When I sit at my laptop and write, I have no problems (yet).
This is part two of a personal carpentry project whose stages were recorded on video: building a cat house for our two kittens. Here are the other parts:
This is part one of a personal carpentry project whose stages were recorded on video: building a cat house for our two kittens. Here are the other parts:
The materials used are a mix of reclaimed and leftover lumber, insulation and double-pane glass from the renovation of our place. Instead of letting them go to waste, I decided to build a solid shelter that could withstand the cold temperatures of the coming winter and also provide adequate insulation and ventilation against the summer heat.
In this video clip, I show the frame and the joints of the cat house. You’ll also get to see our two kittens.
Raoul Pop 