Man, thinking about Penarol versus Flamengo always gets my blood pumping a bit. It’s not just football, is it? It’s that raw intensity, that feeling that everything’s on the line. It actually reminds me of this one time, completely unrelated to sports, but the pressure felt kinda similar.
So, I was working on this personal project, trying to build this custom bookshelf. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. I decided I wanted this specific weird design I’d sketched out, with angled shelves and hidden compartments. I’d never really done much serious woodworking before, just basic stuff.
Getting Started
First thing, I went and bought the wood. Got some nice oak planks. Carried them back home, felt pretty good about myself. Then I laid out my tools in the garage. Old saw, measuring tape, some clamps, you know, the basics. I had my sketch pinned up on the wall.
Then came the measuring. Measure twice, cut once, they say. Ha! I think I measured about twenty times for the first piece. My hands were actually sweating a bit. It felt like making that first cut was super critical, just like the first goal in one of those tight Penarol-Flamengo games.
The Process – Ups and Downs
Okay, so I made the first cut. It wasn’t perfect, slightly off angle. Damn it. Had to adjust my plan slightly. Then came more cuts. Some went okay, others… well, let’s just say there was some extra wood destined for the scrap pile. It was frustrating. I remember thinking:
- Why did I make this so complicated?
- Maybe I should just buy a bookshelf?
- This oak wasn’t cheap!
I pushed through, though. Spent a whole weekend just cutting the main pieces. My back was sore, hands full of splinters. Then came the assembly. Trying to join those angled pieces? Nightmare. Used a lot of wood glue and clamps. Had to leave it clamped overnight, just hoping it would hold together. It felt like waiting for the final whistle in extra time.
Finishing Touches
The next stage was sanding. Sanding forever. Then staining the wood. Picked a dark walnut stain. Applied the first coat, waited, sanded lightly, applied another. It was slow work. But seeing the wood grain pop, seeing it start to look like a real piece of furniture… that was satisfying.
Finally, after maybe three weekends of work, sawdust everywhere, and a few moments where I nearly gave up, it was done. I fitted it into the space I had planned for it. Stood back.
It wasn’t perfect. If you looked closely, you could see the little imperfections, the spots where I had to fudge things a bit. But it was mine. I built it. That feeling of tackling something difficult, something where you’re not sure you’ll succeed, and coming out the other side? It’s pretty great. Kinda like watching your team snatch a win in the last minute against a fierce rival like Penarol or Flamengo. The struggle makes the result feel way better.
