I am a nerd. And unless this is your first blog, you already knew that. So naturally I have accumulated a lot of books, because well reading is cool. And why would I sell my 300-dollar textbook for 5 dollars after all those late nights we spent together. Those books are valuable being filled with my great notes and tears.

Therefore, I found myself in need of a bigger bookshelf. And being the nerd I am, I over complicated the bookshelf. I wanted to build this shelf on a low budget so I added onto my original structure and did everything I could to minimize materials. I did this by applying my engineering education through doing a complete structural analysis on the entire shelf and calculating the thinnest wood, and fewest screws that were needed to support the structure. $10,000 in tuition just saved me 30 bucks at Home Depot. I knew college was worth it.  So I did the calculus, made the diagrams, and found out the stresses created. I had the plans perfected, cut list made, and knew exactly what to buy.

I am used to driving a truck, but for the past two years I’ve driven a tiny Kia and I still have not adjusted to the fact that there are limits to what I can fit in this car. I never once thought to make sure the lumber I was buying would fit into my car. That’s too simple and obvious of a thought for someone that does calculus to help him build a simple bookshelf.

So there I was lying to myself in the Home Depot parking lot. Trying to convince myself that if I thought about the geometry long enough I could fit this sheet of plywood into my tiny vehicle. Countless trucks drove by and were probably laughing at this kid futilely trying the hatch back, the back seat doors, even the driver door to make this plywood fit.

After ten minutes I reluctantly did a walk of shame back into Home Depot and exchange my sheet of plywood for two smaller pieces. Leaving my pride at the customer service desk, I drove back to my apartment with lumber stretching the length of my car.

When I got home, I unloaded my vehicle and began to build my bookshelf. And aside from Jerry creepily staring at me for a brief moment as I was making a cut outside, my bookshelf construction went rather smooth. And now I have all these shelves that I am already starting to fill. But not to worry because I have a plan on how to add onto my ever growing creation. And yes the first thing I will calculate is the maximum size of lumber I can fit into my Kia.

Pardon the desk mess I am only human. And yes I know one of the shelves was bending I did that on purpose it is safe I did the math.

So I challenge not to look over the little things, because sometimes it’s the simplest of thing that will bring an entire complex operation to a halt. As always, make good choices, share if you like what I said, comment if you have something to add, and I will see you on Saturday.