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I spent today at the Jersey shore helping my mom clear out her house. She got flooded and had 4 feet of water in the first floor. The worst part is, she just finished a full gut renovation in May.
The whole community still has no power. While I was there, from 10:00AM until 7:00PM, I did not see a single utility truck, FEMA, Red Cross, or any other official of any kind. What I did see were three different crews of people who stopped by the house to offer us food, water and hot coffee. All volunteers from churches in the area. After a couple of hours in a foot of water in a cramped crawl space beneath the house in 40 degree weather, the hot coffee was a very welcome comfort. I don't know how the people who were really badly affected by this storm, who have nowhere to go other than their own busted up, flooded house with no heat, hot water or electricity, are able to handle this day after day. I went through boxes and boxes of old pictures that were ruined. My wife's wedding dress was there for "safe keeping" as well. Years of memories and personal items I never took with me when I moved out years ago, but my mom had saved....it was tough. I am heading back again tomorrow to do it all over again. I have lots of friends who live on Staten Island and New Jersey who lost everything. I had no idea of any of this until Thursday because I had no TV or internet access until then. I will be volunteering with the clean up on Staten Island as much as possible over the next couple of weeks. Here is a pic of the pile of stuff my mom and I tossed from her house. This was when we were about half way done today:


This is the first time her neighborhood has flooded in over 100 years. However, after Katrina, the insurance companies that will provide insurance in this area will no longer provide content coverage for the items in your house. Flood insurance covers structural damage, sheet rock, etc. Homeowners insurance will not cover flood damage to the contents of your home either. Good times.

I'm not trying to bring everyone down, but the affects of events like this don't tend to be understood by people until they have it happen to them. I'm a very happy-go-lucky kind of guy normally but this storm hurt a lot of people I care about. If the deadline doesn't get extended, I might not finish because I will be busy helping out where I can in Staten Island and south Jersey. Lots of people who need a lot of help in those areas.

And to get you back to your regularly scheduled not caring, a pic of the uke:

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

We all could care less about your uke. What we do care about is peoples well being. Take care Tony and remember that alot of people are thinking about your situation. Things will get better just like your uke. The top looks great.

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Jason Moe
LaCrosse WI 54601

Tony, I'm sorry to hear about your mom's house. My thoughts and prayers go out to the folks who have suffered so much from this single storm.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Tony, very sorry to see what happened to your mothers house and your friends in the area.
I glad not more people were injured, but it's a very bad situation all around, my prayers go out to all of you.
I just started looking at you your uke post when it hit 14 pages or so, I figured there must be something there to care about after 14 pages!

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Tony, there is not much one can say in situations like this. I'm. Sorry for you and your mom, as well as all the others whom have been affected. It sounds like you are making great efforts to help. Sometimes the only silver lining for people in situations like this, is getting to have their faith in humanity restored. Give your mom a hug for me.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Tony , hang in there my friend . While its things that had good memories , its still "things" your family and friends are all alive and well . Thats the greatest result one could hope for out of this tragedy.
I helped in the relief efforts after Katrina and understand the situation u are in this week .
We all Joke on here , but we are a community , and you are part of that . We feel for you and send our "extreme Caring and well wishes " to you and your family this week .

Take care My friend .

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The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
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Thanks everyone. I appreciate the love.


Posted using two tin cans and some string.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Small comfort, Tony, but I'm sending prayers your way. I'm so sorry for you and everyone there who is struggling. Give your mom a big OLF hug, save one for yourself, and hang in there.

+1 to all of that. We here in Baltimore are thankful to have dodged that bullet for the most part, and are praying for those that weren't so lucky.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Thanks again. Spent a couple of hours after work on Staten Island. I was amazed by the people who had lost everything and were still offering me food for helping them. I have heard enough "thank you"s to last a lifetime.


Posted using two tin cans and some string.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

You are showing that you have a heart as large as your big sense of humour, Tony. The best payment for giving a helping hand is a heartfelt Thank You. Well done!

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

I'm not all goats and jokes!


Posted using two tin cans and some string.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

By the way, the new top and rossette look awesome together. I'm glad you went through that tough time so you could come out better off on the other side. . .

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I agree. I like the new rosette better than the abalone I used on the ruined one. Although, if I do another rosette like this again, I will add a thin black line at the joint of the two different pieces of wood. These two pieces are very similar when you get to such small pieces that I think very few people will notice that it is not one piece of the same wood. Perhaps if the contrast between the two different pieces were greater, a black line delineating the two pieces would not be necessary. Maybe a small slice of EIR or ziricote would have been a better choice for the smaller section of the rosette. Both of which I had on my bench when I made this rosette. Unfortunately, I had the idea in my head to use the walnut burl and the spalted maple when I went to work on it and I could not see past my vision. Oh well. I still came out with a nicer looking top. Now if only I could get in some shop time!

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Well you have an extra month now. . . NTIC

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I spent a few late nights sanding the finish on the uke. Tonight I took the cordless drill with a foam pad and some compound and made it shiny.
Pics:
Top:


Back:


Side:


If anyone cares, I sprayed a can of Deft nitro on this during hurricane Sandy. I have some work to do on the neck and then I can locate my bridge. I am going to need to figure out how to do that. Is there compensation added on a ukulele?

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

With ukuleles, compensation is a different concept than with guitars. In your case it is the maker who is compensating. The Uke is so small because he thinks it will make his hands look bigger.

Edit: it looks awesome, by the way!

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Thanks Bryan. I am compensating. I wanted to post the uke with another...ahem...part, but I know I will get banned and the thread shut down.

Anyway, I should add that I only sanded this with 1000 grit and went right to the Turtlewax rubbing compound you can see in a couple of the pics. I may hit it with a second compound, but it looks so good right now, I don't see a point.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

I was planning on French polish for mine, but part of me wants to do tru-oil because I like the look of oil on curly maple a little better. I'm not set up for laquer so I have never used it. Yours looks really nice. I never really considered rattle can laquer because it seemed expensive and I doubted my ability to get a good coat with the spray can. You only needed one can? How many coats did you put down? With such a small instrument and the extra month, I might have to consider this. But the smell!

NTIC

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Looks really nice, Tony. What temperatures did you spray the deft at? Have you experienced any problems spraying it? How long did you wait before sanding and buffing?

Bryan,
It takes about 6 cans for a guitar. I brushed the neck and used one can on the box.
Brian,
I sprayed the first coats last Saturday and finished spraying during the hurricane. So 50's? Three or four coats a day.
I had some blushing issues, but I have blush remover. Fixed it in no time. Otherwise it was totally uneventful.
I let it sit from Monday of last week until last night. But, each night I would scuff it pretty thoroughly with 1000 grit and I had a fan blowing on it to help it gas off. It still smells a bit so it's not totally dry. Possibly because of the blush remover, possibly because I put on the coats too closely together without sufficient time to gas off the previous coats.


Posted using two tin cans and some string.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

That's actually a great idea but this uke has a home already. If anyone else would like to donate an instrument I would be happy to find an owner. It won't be hard since so many people lost everything.


Posted using two tin cans and some string.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

I located and glued on my bridge last night.


Gluing. The white dots all over the ottoman are bits of the lacquer I scraped off of the bridge location.


That's all for now.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

It's looking good

That is it could be if I cared,

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Easy now Steve or someone might think you care! Don't want to give the wrong impression!
Thank you though!

Posted using two tin cans and some string.

_________________
http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC