thanks to Rick, this thing may actually be coming to an end!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
today's misfortune cookie
there are lessons to be learned by listening to others
Lesson1: stop listening to others!
Lesson1: stop listening to others!
i work with this person and she's driving me nuts!
An individual who approaches someone's desk or workstation in a work environment almost immediately after sending them an email, usually to confirm that the email has been received.
Bill: I just sent you an email. Did you get it?
Mike: Probably, I haven't checked.
Bill: Can you check?
Mike: Uh yeah, looks like I got it.
Bill: Thoughts?
Mike: My immediate thoughts are you're an email courier and a douchebag.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
escape from nachotraz
as i said earlier, we've been busy with all kinds of summer goodness. guess that's what happens when you flood 5 FREAKIN TIMES IN ONE YEAR!!! you have to make up for lost time fast! so this was back at the end of June. another nacho moment...the P's have a place in Florida and one of the neighbors was moving so they needed to get rid of some sailboarding equipment they had. do you think you're son would want it? sure! why not! and that's how it came to be.
TJ was kind enough take time out of his precisous schedule when he did finally visit us, and hang out with nacho for he afternoon and teach him how to work this thing. sadly, that's the only time he's had it out so far. but there will be more and of course i'll be there to not take pictures and not post anything about it! hooray me!
TJ was kind enough take time out of his precisous schedule when he did finally visit us, and hang out with nacho for he afternoon and teach him how to work this thing. sadly, that's the only time he's had it out so far. but there will be more and of course i'll be there to not take pictures and not post anything about it! hooray me!
deck update....seriously!
okay, so it's been SOOO long since i (1) took any pictures of the deck and (2) posted anything about it, that it's probably safe to assume it's done and we've moved on to some other project. WRONG! no sir, nothing ever goes fast around here! it's season three of the Infinity Deck (because it just goes on and on). i don't think i took any pictures of the deck last summer and a lot has happened since then. true to form, i changed my mind about something and we now have a new section added to the deck...cuz ya know, we needed more room. and, of course, i forgot to take a picture of it today before it got dark so the Extension will have to wait until tomorrow. but since i promised Korby i'd post something, here goes.
some of you may remember the time we used interior molding for railing. let's see that was the winter 2007. the year we started all this. the 2nd winter saw string (i'm not kidding) string as the railing. yeah, JT, that really was string. and now, in summer3, we are well on our way to an actual, real life, something close to a dictionary definition, railing! nacho has been working his but off the last 3+ weeks and here's what he has to show for it:
First up: You have to train your top rail!
You can't just set the boards up there for cryin' out loud. so you lay them across the posts (stainless steel works best!) and you let them sit out in the sun so they sag. this creates a "memory". then when you turn them over and they bow up, you attach the support bar to them and it forces the to straighten out. but won't they just sag again? nope! the "memory" and the support bar keep that from happening. fyi, this was an actual conversation. oh, and i want to be sure to mention that nacho drilled out all the holes for the posts without a single mess up! good nachos!
Next Up: this rule does not apply to the stair railing
there was no training going on here. just straight up support bar underneath and attaching them to the posts. all the railings attach to the post by this cool little sleeve (that i also didn't take a picture of). it's a smaller diameter piece of post, with a square peice welded on top. it fits in the post and the railing screws into the square plate. done!
Finally: yes, this is actual stainless cable
but no, it's not permanently in place. not to get ahead of himself, nacho strung a few sections just to see how it would look. and it's going to look awesome. he's encountering some engineering issues though...so Korby & Moser, please call him and make him talk to you about this so we can pick another brain. the simple fix would be to buy the $25.00 turn buckles that already do whatever it is that needs to be done. but we need 50 or so of those and, well, that ain't gonna happen.
there are plenty more pictures. i just have to find them (ahem, take them) and post them. i swear there is an Extension and i will show it considering the pain in the butt it was to add. but it has made for the most awesome hammock hangout. Arnie is planning her deck with a hammock cave too!
and i cannot say enough about how impressive this has all been in that nacho has done so much with the help of friends, but also so much totally on his own. it has really given me a huge appreciation for his patience and persisitence. i would have hired this out a long time ago and probably not gotten something i like as much as i know i'm going to like this!
some of you may remember the time we used interior molding for railing. let's see that was the winter 2007. the year we started all this. the 2nd winter saw string (i'm not kidding) string as the railing. yeah, JT, that really was string. and now, in summer3, we are well on our way to an actual, real life, something close to a dictionary definition, railing! nacho has been working his but off the last 3+ weeks and here's what he has to show for it:
First up: You have to train your top rail!
You can't just set the boards up there for cryin' out loud. so you lay them across the posts (stainless steel works best!) and you let them sit out in the sun so they sag. this creates a "memory". then when you turn them over and they bow up, you attach the support bar to them and it forces the to straighten out. but won't they just sag again? nope! the "memory" and the support bar keep that from happening. fyi, this was an actual conversation. oh, and i want to be sure to mention that nacho drilled out all the holes for the posts without a single mess up! good nachos!
Next Up: this rule does not apply to the stair railing
there was no training going on here. just straight up support bar underneath and attaching them to the posts. all the railings attach to the post by this cool little sleeve (that i also didn't take a picture of). it's a smaller diameter piece of post, with a square peice welded on top. it fits in the post and the railing screws into the square plate. done!
Finally: yes, this is actual stainless cable
but no, it's not permanently in place. not to get ahead of himself, nacho strung a few sections just to see how it would look. and it's going to look awesome. he's encountering some engineering issues though...so Korby & Moser, please call him and make him talk to you about this so we can pick another brain. the simple fix would be to buy the $25.00 turn buckles that already do whatever it is that needs to be done. but we need 50 or so of those and, well, that ain't gonna happen.
there are plenty more pictures. i just have to find them (ahem, take them) and post them. i swear there is an Extension and i will show it considering the pain in the butt it was to add. but it has made for the most awesome hammock hangout. Arnie is planning her deck with a hammock cave too!
and i cannot say enough about how impressive this has all been in that nacho has done so much with the help of friends, but also so much totally on his own. it has really given me a huge appreciation for his patience and persisitence. i would have hired this out a long time ago and probably not gotten something i like as much as i know i'm going to like this!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
to blog or.....something else
finally, an explanation for why i'd rather blog than twitter. and i'm not a serious blogger like a lot of people - as evidenced by the fact that i still use blogspot and am too lazy to take on my own content. but i hung on to twitter for over a year, at one time deleting my account then recreating it. abandoning it, then coming back. and finally, like so much of college, recognizing it for what it was, just experimenting.
"A blog lets you define yourself, whereas on a social network you are more likely to be defined by others. Sure, blog readers can write comments — but the blogger can delete the comments, or disemvowel them, or turn them off entirely. Sure, a blog is dependent on the links you point outward and those that others point in; but it has its own independent existence in a way that no amount of messaging and chat and interaction on a social networking site can match. A blog is not necessarily better than a Facebook profile, nor is it worse; it is, simply, different."
-- from "Say Everything: How Blogging Began, What It's Becoming, and Why It Matters," as posted on Gawker "Was Blogging Just a Fad?"
"A blog lets you define yourself, whereas on a social network you are more likely to be defined by others. Sure, blog readers can write comments — but the blogger can delete the comments, or disemvowel them, or turn them off entirely. Sure, a blog is dependent on the links you point outward and those that others point in; but it has its own independent existence in a way that no amount of messaging and chat and interaction on a social networking site can match. A blog is not necessarily better than a Facebook profile, nor is it worse; it is, simply, different."
-- from "Say Everything: How Blogging Began, What It's Becoming, and Why It Matters," as posted on Gawker "Was Blogging Just a Fad?"
Monday, July 27, 2009
too much going on
it isn't for lack of want that i can't seem to post anything. there's just simply too much going on. since sailboarding, there's been birthday goodness, deck going's on, Ride The Wake madness, too much john boating, not enough wakeboarding, wet bike goodness, boxer swim lessons and general monsters antics, kiteboarding, and drama drama drama. i promise to sit down one night this week and catch it all up. like you care intertubes!
Monday, July 13, 2009
DO NOT MESS WITH ME BEETLE!
ate the first cucumber of the season off my own vine. this is a HUGE deal for me cuz i've tried for 3 or 4 years to grow my own cucumber bush and with no success. i get the dreaded cucumber beetle every year and if you read anything about them, they are horrible. so i've been going out to the vine every day and picking them off one by one and SMASHING THEM UNDER A ROCK!!! and today it paid off! it was delicious. i could have taken a picture had i not inhaled it so quickly! maybe next time.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
another one bites the 40
happy big 40 SilentG (aka Trogdor)! welcome to the club. your jacket is on order!
high times
this is what my co-workers do for fun when they're not at work.
of course this all started with a video from some other geeks that had done the same. since Brian can't be out geeked he set out to create his own. this was flight #2. flight #1 was probably just as good, but we'll never know since no one bothered to turn the camera on before they released the balloon. fyi - the balloon for this flight was released in Washington, IL and picked up somewhere off 155. you can read more about the whole thing here.
so what do you do with your free time?
of course this all started with a video from some other geeks that had done the same. since Brian can't be out geeked he set out to create his own. this was flight #2. flight #1 was probably just as good, but we'll never know since no one bothered to turn the camera on before they released the balloon. fyi - the balloon for this flight was released in Washington, IL and picked up somewhere off 155. you can read more about the whole thing here.
so what do you do with your free time?
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