>>david: hi, guys. welcome back to toolin' around. our guest comes to us from the last frontier, and no, i'm not talking about outer space. she's a designer, a builder and aworld-famous do-it-yourselfer. and i'm pretty sure that she's wrestled grizzlybears. all the way from alaska, here's ana white. thank you so much for being here. and iwant to get into the diy, i want to get into the blogging, but first off i reallywant to talk about you and growing up in alaska. so what was it like? people don'tknow- what was it like, is there igloos? >>ana: well, there's notigloos but it's definitely a whole different world up in alaska. how i grewup
we didn't just walk a mile to the schoolbus, we ran because you're gonna be chased by a moose, or it was 49 below.>>david: so that's all true?! >>ana: yes, absolutely. so, a really reallydifferent life. i didn't know it was hard until i had like, modern convenienceslike a phone and electricity. >>david: so you didn't have a tv growing up? >>ana: no, no. i remember going to college and just being like, wow i canplug a curling iron and i can turn lights on?! >>david: let's jump forward. ok, so at one point you left alaska, and you decided to go to the west coast or i should say, the lower part of thewest coast.
>>ana: the lower 48. >>david: the lower 48, exactly. >>ana: yeah, so i went to school forcomputer science and i went worked in the silicon valley for a few years andi had a great job, great people to work with, good company. there was really nothing wrong with my job but i was miserable inside and i can remember justlooking out the window and watching the gardener trim the roses and mow the lawn and just being very envious and feeling like he definitely had the better gig. >>david: so something was missing.
>>ana: must have been, and maybe it was just my alaska roots but i moved back home and you know, just just decided that, you know, that just wasn't for me and i wanted to be happy. >>david: ok, so you move back to alaska. you started building. what's the biggest project that you'veever done? >>ana: well, last year we tackled a timber-frame cabin so it's made of giant timbers and it was it was a huge, huge project. tonsand tons of building materials- of wood the biggest woodworking project i willprobably ever tackle. >>david: and this was off the grid? >>ana: off the grid, yes.
>>david: so you had to use power tools? >>ana: yes! thank god for power tools! >>david: for battery-operated power tools?! >>ana: well, i mean come on, right? wedon't even have like, a lock on our cabin and what we do is we board it up frombears and then you cannot forget your ryobi drill when you go because you need totake all the bear protection off the doors. >>david: so, ryobi became your partner in life? >>ana: well, you know their tools are really, i like them because they're very versatile so i can bring the drill but then i canalso bring the vacuum and use that to
clean up because it's off-grid, you can'tplug in a vacuum cleaner and then like, middle of the night, using the outhouseor taking your kids out there and there's bears walking around. you've gotto have a light you know, cellphone charger on the light. >>david: so, let's talk about your husband. so, you guys decided to build your own house which is a wonderful thing, but he alsointroduced you to working with tools. >>ana: well kind of, i mean i would watch him work on tools but i just nobody had ever taught me and i just didn't think thatyou know i was brave enough or strong enough or whatever to use tools and ican remember the first time that i ever used to saw. he was up in the rafters andhe cut a board too long, he would pre-cut
things and then go up in the rafters. andhe handed it down to me and was like, can you just take a little bit off the end? i waslike, no i cannot use the saw, no. and he's just like, look you have to because if you don't i have to go all the way down, climb all the way down the ladders and make this cut, and go all the way back up. i can remember making that first cut and firsti was just like, wow that was awesome! i cut a board! all the possibilities, right?and then i was mad like, you mean all these years it's been this easy and nobody hasshowed me how to use a saw. >>david: but you built a playground for your kids. tell me about that. >>ana: yes, so eight months out of the year is winter in alaska, so we try to get the kids out, but that's
impossible, sometimes. so we took someplywood and some 2x4s and we spent three days before christmas. we'recrazy, i know. who does that? we do that. building this indoor playground, and it'sreally, it's really awesome. the kids loved it. they're just downthere playing school and playing house and playing post office and monkey bars. >>david: and that goes along with exactly what we were talking about, where you built all the furniture in your house. there's no big box stores to go run toif you need a coffee table or an end table, so tell me a little bit about that. >>ana: well, that's really how i got inspired is, we built this house
and we were of course too broke to buy furniture and even if we could buy furniture it's not like, you know stores are right there. i'm so i ust kept thinking if wecould make a house why can't we build our own furniture? and, my husband who you know, had more of a background in construction would tell me, peopledon't build their own furniture anymore because you need all these tools and youneed all these you know skills and i'm like there has to be some middle ground. you can't be either buying flat-packfurniture, that you still have to build, and it's very hard to build, for meanyway.
>>david: with allen keys... >>ana: yes! yes. so, right, you're buying that or you have twenty thousand dollars in tools and a huge shop, and you'vebeen wood-working for 30 years and your grandfather taught you how to do it. sothere has to be something in the middle that, you know not every cook has to be achef. you can still make a fantastic meal and,in my case fantastic furniture, with just simple tools and simple materials. >>david: well, let's talk about that for a second, because you have inspired, i mean literally, a nation of diy-ers and bloggers that get your plans online forfree. and you give this back to people so
tell me a little bit about that. >>ana: well, it's brought so much joy to mebecause when i built that first piece of furniture and i stepped back and lookedat it and i said, you know i saved thousands of dollars. i made something. i made the farmhousebed that brings a lot of value to our home. it makes my home more beautiful and i did that myself. it brought me so much joy and itwas something- joy for me. >>david: and you decided to impart that to everybody else. >>ana: yes, and i just wanted to share that. i was just like, this is the most amazing thing ever.
you know, not only are you going to savetons of money make something thatactually improves your home but it's it's the best hobby that you could everhave and i really just wanted to share that. >>david: so, speaking of the best thing ever...>>ana: what's going to happen now? >>david: we're gonna play "ju-know alaska"! are you ready for a little game? it's a little game. we love to play games at theend of our show so i'm gonna ask you some questions. what are the wolves of the sea? >>ana: orcas. >>david: that's correct! you got orcas! in alaska, what animal is it illegal to wake up when napping?
>>ana: it has to be a bear, but who would ever wake up a napping bear? come on, right? >>david: that is correct! you would be an idiot to wake up a sleeping bear! true or false: alaskan salmon fishermen are ruggedly handsome. >>ana: i'm an alaskan salmon fisherwoman. what do you think? handsome? >>david: i would give that a big yes! >>ana: ruggedly handsome here! >>david: is yellow snow safe to eat? >>ana: no. >>david: thank you very much! that's all the time we have. thank you for joining us. ana white. i'm david sheinkopf. thanks for joining us here on toolin' around, a constructive conversation.
bye bye, folks.