Full Circle?

Way back in 1999 when Rob decided to build himself a keyboard case, he used a corner of my garage which was actually a family room at the time. Pretty soon he was building drum cases for the drummer in our (then) band and he used part of the garage and the driveway as his construction site. By 2001, he was building cases full time for local sound companies and businesses like Micron and HP and he knocked out a wall between the garage and the "real" family room and tore out the carpet. He needed every bit of space he could find and it often overflowed into my kitchen where we would end up spray painting caster plates at 3 in the morning. So much of those early days of this business are a blur and a bad memory and I know we did what had to be done because that's what self-employment is all about but I don't think I could do it all over again even with the same result. Maybe, but I don't think so.


Rob eventually grew out of the garage and found a shop in Garden City. It wasn't much bigger, and in 2003 we moved into the warehouse we are in now. He managed to fill up that space as well as the building next door to it that we've had since 2006. As the audio part of the company has grown, the case business has fallen off a little bit, mostly due to the rising cost of case product, so the materials we use take up a little less space than they used to but we have pretty much separated the 2 businesses in name AND by building. Committed Caseworks is in the old warehouse and Committed Events, LLC (since April!) is in the newer building. All of this rambling really is leading up to my point! Our lease is up in January so we've decided to temporarily give up one of the buildings and all of the expenses that go with it. While I really like the idea of saving money, especially in the slow winter, I've been digging in my heels about condensing everything into one space that we grew out of a long time ago. Granted, Kurt has made a huge difference in getting things more organized but we still have too much stuff. Admittedly, my biggest issue is that Rob is moving the case company back home. This feels like a step backward to me but I totally get the necessity of it. Honestly, I can't help but think we'll be painting caster plates in the kitchen again and I just can't get past that visual!! Ugh. A little resentment on my part? Maybe.


That was all a very roundabout way of saying that Rob has been building a shop in the backyard. He started with the foundation on October 20th:

He started back up again on November 5th and has been working on it just about everyday as often as he can:

His dad has been a great help!

Rob had a great idea when it came to putting up the main beam across the top. The building is 20 x 24 with 16' ceilings (yep, a small house) so it was no small feat to put up the beam. . .

It helps when you own lift stands!!

We really should market these to construction companies!!!

Way cheaper than a crane!!

I've actually had to contribute very little to this project. Other than holding a few boards on the table saw or lifting wafer boards up to Rob on the roof, I've steered pretty clear of the whole thing. I want to be supportive but this backyard is the bane of my existence and I've been shoved ruthlessly out of denial way too many times lately. . .

I've managed to take pictures but that's about the extent of it. . .

I do have to say I admire Rob's skills and tenacity. . .

The good news and the bad news here is that Rob is making friends with all of the neighbors. More than a few times I've stepped out and one of the neighbors will be talking to him over the fence, or worse, standing right in the MIDDLE OF MY BACKYARD. . .

Have I mentioned that I hate my backyard?

I do have to mention here that Rob is very creative about finding / purchasing materials for this project. He's been on Craigslist and to the auction, all of which he loves to do anyway, and has even sold scraps and returned items to generate more funds. . . He's even done the electrical work by himself. It helps that our neighbor is an electrician and even inspected Rob's work and passed it with flying colors!

Zach has been a huge help with this project. I think I can safely give him a high school credit for wood shop after this!

Once again the lift stands came in very handy. Everyone should have a pair of these! Not really.

As of November 23rd, the shop is nearly finished. . .

It still needs a door, inside walls and paint inside and out. . .

And then the fun begins. We get to move home the table saw, the routers, the rivet guns, the air compressors, the sheets of ABS, case hardware, tool boxes, etc. It feels like we're coming full circle by moving the case company back to the house. Do I have any hidden resentment about all of this? Nope, it's not hidden. . .

. . . But I'll deal with it. I keep telling myself that the pros outweigh the cons by moving the case business home but I'm not convinced yet. I don't think I'm a pessimist or a glass-half-empty kind of a girl but I'm having a hard time with this one. Good thing I have a blog for therapy. I'm gonna need it.