Asymptote

as·ymp·tote n.
A line whose distance to a given curve tends to zero. An asymptote may or may not intersect its associated curve.

As the building of my Passagemaker dinghy nears completion, progress seems to be slowing. That is clearly one figurative definition of asymptote; advancing towards a goal, but never really getting there.

This past weekend, I took a quick trip up to Chicago to visit family. Before that, some household projects required my attention. And on Monday, I spent the evening mowing the lawn, a project that was made more cumbersome by the need to change the oil in my mower, clean and re-thread my string trimmer, and dig the leaf blower out of the corner of the garage where it has sat, unused, all winter. So last night, I was very eager to do some sanding and perhaps get the boat nearer to a stage ready for varnishing. About 45 minutes into the session, my quarter-sheet orbital sander gave out. This led me down the time-consuming path of disassembling it, then reassembling it, only to find that I couldn't discover why the motor would run, but the pad didn't vibrate. So, frustrated and dusty, I cleaned up, had a nice dinner, then searched out my receipt in order to return the sander to Home Depot where I bought it in November. I got there only to find that they don't exchange electric devices after 30 days. To take advantage of Black and Decker's two year warranty, I had to take it to an authorized repair shop. Fortunately, there happened to be one near my workplace. So I took it there this morning, anticipating a lengthy repair process, and wondering what I could do on the boat in the meantime. But much to my surprise, the fine folks at the DeWalt Authorized Service center on Green Springs Hwy in Birmingham were able to exchange my sander for a new one right on the spot. So I am back in business. For those of you keeping score, this is the second sander I have burned up on this boatbuilding project. Let's hope this third one will last long enough to complete it. Total hours: 80.