I frequent a forum made up of wooden boat owners & builders. There are quite a few on it who are or have been programmers. I just had to share this post - as it proves how life is a mirror of programming - or is it the other way 'round? (His wife is doing fine, by the way). If you are not aware, SWMBO stands for "She Who Must Be Obeyed" and a dinghy is a small boat used to get to a bigger boat that lives on a mooring - usually powered by oars or a small outboard.

Any computer programmer is familiar with the concept of an interrupt stack. We all work with one, however. We amateur boat builders are probably very aware of it. I was all set to launch into the final week of painting the dinghy when SWMBO announced that the back (modesty) panel of her desk had come unglued. Would I re-glue it for her?

INTERRUPT LEVEL 1
Why of course! I just happened to have the requisite clamps for doing the job. Now the desk is a marvelous American antique, built very early in the last century. It's a student desk, made of oak, designed to be disassembled and reassembled as the student went to college and returned. As such, it's made of 5 modules: end panel, modesty panel, 3-drawer file unit, top surface and wide drawer fitting beneath the top. Each panel is made up of 5 raised panels set in styles and rails in the craftsman style. A beautiful desk, really. So I re-glued the modesty panel. When I came to re-assembling the desk, the next issue arose. This one was expected.

INTERRUPT LEVEL 2
The desk is assembled with metal loops attached at each juncture such that wood screws can be run through the loop and into the wood of the adjoining panel. The original idea being that the desk would only be assembled/disassembled two or three times at most. Today, the screw holes contain just enough wood fiber to prevent the screws from falling out from their own weight. So, no problem. I just filled the screw holes with thickened epoxy, and will just screw into the epoxy.

Except: by virtue of its advanced age, there are many other things that need attention. Essentially, the desk needs to be restored. So of course, SWMBO is going over the desk piece by piece, "can you fix this? Can you fix that?" We all can recognize the dreaded MISSION CREEP at work here. I patiently explained the difference between re-gluing the modesty panel and restoring the desk. I'll do the one now, and the other after I finish the boat. Right....

INTERRUPT LEVEL 3
Except: last Wednesday the wife got into an altercation with the jerk who lives next door, who knocks her down, breaking her wrist. After filing a report with the police and showing them the video of the assault, we spent the latter half of the day in the Emergency Room. Thursday morning we had an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon who will have to reset the bones (screws and plates have been mentioned). Thursday afternoon we spent filing an application for a restraining order. Friday morning the wife was talking to a personal injury lawyer, and in the afternoon she had a pre-op appointment with her primary care physician. Now tomorrow we meet with the attorney and Tuesday morning my wife goes into surgery.

This new dance is going to be a long one. The police report will be another week before we get to see it. Then we get to wait to see if the DA chooses to prosecute the jerk. Meanwhile, the civil case against the guy is developing nicely. Apparently during the altercation he told my wife that it was his objective to get us to move out of the house. The file I have assembled for the attorney includes our record of vandalism, harassment, trespass and arson. The civil side of this dance will likely take a couple of years.

BRIEF POP BACK TO MAIN THREAD:
Yesterday I was able to get in a few hours to work on the dinghy. Managed to mask off and paint the bottom and sides of the rub strakes. A nice soft grey to break up an otherwise vast expanse of blinding white.

INTERRUPT LEVEL 4
This afternoon I drive up to Sacramento to pick up a wayward exchange student. He'd stayed with us for two years a few years ago, and has returned for a visit. I'll put him to work helping me re-assemble the desk.