2009.11.10
New doors and marquee as seen from the stairs. (click for large view)
Well it has been a while since I posted anything about the construction of our home theater. We finally got around to buying doors for the opening. (I think Steph was getting a little tired of the curtains. ) We ordered this nice set of etched pre-hung doors with a square pattern from Home Depot. It did take about two weeks longer than they originally told us for the doors to come in but we have them on 0% for 12 months and we got a really good deal on them so I guess I can’t complain too much. When they did finally come in I rented the Home Depot truck and my friend Matt helped me pick these up and bring them to the house. It was so convenient and cheep that I feel less motivated to buy a truck again considering how infrequently I need it.
We did have a hell of a time finding the correct lock sets and knobs to match the rest of the house. We eventually had to buy them online as both Home Depot and Lowes had stopped carrying them.
I put the doors up about two weeks ago and have been working on the marquee since then. I was able to get the marquee finished and put up just this past weekend. I have included a few more pictures including a close up of the faux burled finish I put on the underside and a picture of the marquee when it is lit up.
Keep reading →
2009.10.04
About a year ago I traded in some about-to-expire airline miles for a bunch of magazine subscriptions. One of the options was Time and so I figured that would be a good choice. I’ve been getting Time now for a good 9 months and week after week this magazine continues to disappoint. It really amazes me what passes for journalism today. I won’t pretend that there was ever a time that journalism was impartial. I do not believe that that is truly possible. People will always interject their own opinion into what they write. However in this time of a billion blogs it seems that magazines like Time have fallen into the trap of passing opinion as a substantial part of their publication in order to attract readers. Keep reading →
2009.09.30
So I get this request for a donation in the mail from SmileTrain and I am just a little taken aback by it. Keep reading →
2009.09.25
If you live in the Seattle area you’ve probably seen the ads (these masquerade as a sort of documentary or news update) where the “mythical Ivar’s submarine billboards” are being pulled up from the bottom of Puget Sound. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can catch up on the whole thing on Ivar’s Website .
Personally I think this is just an absolutely brilliant marketing campaign. I was even taken in for a minute… but only for a minute… Keep reading →
2009.09.23
I might be sharing a bit of a folie à deux with Newsweek blogger Jonathan Alter on the idea that we need to change the way our election and primary system works. (Article) However, before I go there I must point out a few errors in his post and make a few corrections. Keep reading →
2009.09.22
I was reading an op-ed piece in the Economist (article) earlier this morning. I went online a little later and perused through the banter of the posted comments attached to the online version of the story. Mostly the comments seemed like an overly hostile not-quite-on-topic argument between conservatives and liberals with a lot of baiting and name calling. I decided that instead of posting my comments there among the discord and rabble, I would keep my comments on my own blog where I could control the comments. See while I believe in free speech (mine, yours, everyone’s) I am not the government and I am not bound by the first amendment when it comes to restricting comments posted on my blog. And this is the point I think is being missed. Keep reading →
2009.01.19
We went to monster jam on Sunday kids had a blast here’s the link to Picasa.
2009.01.17
So Steph had a Bunko party Friday night in honor of the upcoming inauguration the theme was red-white-blue / presidents / politics etc. I’ll take credit for coming up with the idea of Steph going as Monica Lewinsky. I gave her the idea but she took it an ran with it. The best part was Thursday when she asked me to make her a prop cigar. And yes, she won best costume.
More Pictures… Keep reading →
2008.11.25
Lately I’ve been having a lot of those moments when multiple events coincide with each other thereby causing new analogies, thoughts and ideas to form. Mostly this occurs because I have a habit of reading 4 or 5 books at a time. Inevitably these books tend to overlap in content even if they do not at first appear to. There always seems to be a connection, a common thread or an augmentation and compliment to each other. Today I had another such moment but with today’s news and one of the books I’m currently reading, Alan Greenspan’s autobiography “The Age of Turbulence”. If you haven’t read it I highly recommend it. Greenspan’s life spans most of a century and he provides his perspective on the economy and the famous people he has met throughout his life. To top it off his personal style of writing makes for an entertaining read. Keep reading →
2008.11.10
Last night we went to fill up the car and ended up 
paying under $2/gallon.
I was so happy I had to take a snapshot of it as proof.
The sad side was that our little Hyundai Accent would only take about 8 gallons of this “cheap” gas. I guess I should not complain since that will last us about a week of commutes.
