[rescue] [Slightly OT]: Desk/Tables for multiple computers

[Skeezics Boondoggle]

On Sun, 10 Jul 2005, "Rox" wrote:

> I'd like to think that most people who can cope with multiple flavors 
> of *NIX are also reasonably capable of using a hand saw, tape measure, 
> screwdriver and hammer ;)  [...]

Using?  Sure.  Using well?  That depends on a lot of factors. :-)

I make the same dumb mistake every time - the classic sysadmin conundrum
applied to home remodelling.  "Should I take the time now to build a
decent tool or script to do this, in case I have to do it again in the
future?  Or should I just get the job done, 'cuz I'm in a hurry, and this
situation really isn't likely to come up again?  I'll save my scrollback
buffer, that ought to be enough 'documentation'..."  Ugh.

So I still don't own a table saw, a radial arm saw, a jig saw... my dad 
usually drives out once a year and we Do Projects, and he's got every 
possible tool, part, gizmo, thingamajig and nifty doohickey Known To Man.  
So I'm in power tool heaven when he's here, and never feel compelled to go 
spend the money myself on tools - I mean, my house is too damned full of 
COMPUTERS to maintain a workshop too!

Of course, when dad packs up and leaves, he takes the tools too.  So, for
the last n months, I've built my computer room and bedroom with
(essentially) Stone Age tools and an old Sears radial saw.  Nothing in
systems administration is ever as easy as it's supposed to be.  Nothing in
home remodelling is ever easy either.  I'm just a glutton for punishment.

Anyway, I'll have some pictures of the bedroom (er, music studio :-)  
remodel up alongside the datacenter remodel soon, and you can admire all
the perfect 89.5-degree angles in my stupid old house.  You know how it is
with old buildings - measure three times, four times, make drawings,
measure again, cut once - by hand, y'know, so it's "mostly" right on the
pencil line :-) - get out the ol' rubber hammer and whack things into
place - then check and double-check and triple-check that everything is
PERFECTLY plumb, straight and level... and when it's time to hang the
drywall, you stand there rocking an 8' sheet back and forth asking how
there could POSSIBLY be a 1/4" drop from one end to the other... stupid
old buildings.

>                          [...] It took me two part-days to design and 
> fabricate a fitted bench that supports a row of five 21" monitors and 
> their associated Iris Indigo, Indigo2, Indy, O2 and Octane 
> workstations. The top is 3/4" blockboard (covered with linoleum), the 
> frame is mostly 2x4. I add my own weight to that of the systems on a 
> regular basis to reach high shelving. 

Got any pictures or plans for this beast? :-)

I'm debating a couple of standalone tables or desks vs. one custom fit 
built-in bench in the server room.  Since I tend to over-engineer and 
over-build everything, the walls down here are fsckin' SOLID, man - I 
mean, the Pittsburgh Steelers legendary offensive line could not budge
these walls, man :-) - so I'm thinking I'll build in The Bench To End All 
Benches.  Of course, given the lack of tools for easy/accurately scribing 
a 9'+ long board into an alcove that's full of 89.5 degree angles is a 
sure recipe for frustration, and why pay a storage unit to hold two 
perfectly good 4' desks for me when I could use those instead?  Sigh.  The 
geek in me wants a custom hutch with support for some big ass monitors and 
maybe some built-in outlets and cable management stuff, and...


-- Chris