It's Friday! - 12/20/2013 Edition

Darren Wright

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Well, almost through another week. I'll be on vacation all next week, but planning to work on the living room project (walls and paint mostly, maybe some flooring).

First though I have to do a repair to the hot water heater, it went out on us yesterday and didn't notice until 9:30 last night. Luckily I had a spare thermocouple, but it was only 18" instead of the 24" I needed. So I ended up popping the sight glass out to give me a direction with some slack and bending it to hover over the pilot flame until I could pickup a longer one tonight. Also have our nieces coming over to bake cookies with my wife for our family xmas tomorrow.

What's everyone else got going?
 
Well, with 15-20 people coming over for Christmas Eve I have to get ready this weekend:
Vacuum the house.
Check & refill the bar.
Finalize the tree decorations.
Pick up the 15 lb rib eye roast that I ordered last week.
Rub down the roast. May also decide to inject a tasty sauce this year, but am somewhat reluctant to affect a great piece of meat???
Get the grill ready (not a good time to run out of propane).
Check the calibration of the new Maverick ET732 Remote BBQ thermometer & the Thermoworks RT616 Mini Thermometer (thanks for the recommendations Brent). Last year the thermometer failed me & it was panic time. Now I can monitor the roast temp remotely. :thumb:
Pick up my daughter who'll be visiting for the week. :thumb::thumb::thumb:
Looks like I just made up a "To Do" list. ;)
 
Today I'm working on the drawers for our queen size platform bed - final top coats. I'm also starting the glue-up of the flag and display case I'm building for FIL.

Then there's remodeling three bluebird houses (hice?). Took them down and cleaned them out yesterday. I'm modifying them so cleanout is easier - just lift the front panel.

Saturday: Mount the drawer slide parts on the drawer boxes and install them in the bed. Hang the bluebird houses back on the trees.

Sunday: Brunch - rest. Lupper - rest. Sippy-cup and chill by the fireplace!
 
I am enjoying an extended weekend because I need to use up my "Floating Holiday" before the 20th. We had been hearing predictions all week about snow today. Went to bed with the hope of seeing some snow. (I need to get back to skiing!) Was disappointed to only see a smidgen over an inch this morning. Turned on the TV and all of the Seattle news programs have preempted the broadcasting so they can cover the "Storm Watch". I am watching in amazement and embarrassment as every news person available is spread throughout the Puget Sound area with their little wooden rulers showing us the amazing amount of snow that has accumulated...trace to 2".

The demographics of the state has changed considerably over the years as many people have migrated from CA to here. A reverse migration from the 50's, 60's and 70's. Before that, I would guess that most people came here from the northern Midwest and northern East Coast. My own grandparents came from Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Eastern Canada. And traditionally Seattle had a large immigration of people from Scandinavia. Before Microsoft and high tech, it was Boeing, fishing, logging and little else. It was the uncool place to live, being a very blue collar place with no major sports team or "culture". It was full of hardworking, tough people working in the elements 365 days a year.

Now it is apparently so concerned about a measly inch of snow. I am truly embarrassed and glad that none of you from the back in the snow belt can see this TV coverage.
 
Busy weekend for me. Some last minute shopping on Saturday and like Al I've got to get the house ready for a slew of visitors Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

We found out the other day the the Church Choir is planning on coming to our house Sunday night I'm not quite sure where we are going to put 30 or so carolers :eek: Between my grandson and my father in law passing away this year the folks at the Church have been doing there best in helping to raise our spirits during this Christmas season. So the wife has me clearing snow off a few walk ways and touching up a couple of million spots in the house that have chipped paint. I absolutely hate painting.

My grand daughter Abby would like a TV for her room for Christmas. She is a sweet, kind and generous kid. She is defiantly grandpas best buddy so I have to run a few cables into her room so all the guy from Direct TV has to do is add the box and plug it in. Shouldn't be too difficult.

My TV cabinet is all built so all I need to do now is put on the finish. Hopefully I'll get the first coat on tonight second on Saturday and then haul it upstairs and see how it fits. I hate finishing almost as much as I hate painting :rolleyes:
 
........... I am truly embarrassed and glad that none of you from the back in the snow belt can see this TV coverage.

Ha, around here the forecasters would have one believe that the Armageddon is going to strike any moment....sad thing is, a trip by any grocery store will show the mad crowds that believe them :doh: sheesh, it's winter, it's the northern states, it's normal every year, & yet somehow a scary amount of folks seem to think & act like they've never experienced it before.


Nothing much planned other than gobbling all the goodies the Mrs is making, under the guise of taste testing :thumb::D
 
another family gathering, kids, bil, sil, nephew and nieces and all the bf and gfs(of the children and nieces and nephew) who want to come.
were all meeting this weekend on the jersey shore, should be a nice time, a lot of eating, a lot of adult beverages, a lot of laughing, maybe a little gambling.
 
Festivities for the holidays start tonight with a great group of friends and kids. The host always sends us home with a baked good basket...so we leave a couple bottles of wine (if there's any left over :rolleyes:) Saturday I need to finish up some last minute gifts for the neices and nephews. Watch the Jayhawks take down the Hoyas and another get together with another group of friends, sans kiddos. Sunday will involve watching the Packer game with a warm fire and possibly babysitting my sister's dogs if they are able to leave town...snow/ice in forecast.

Back to work on Monday, but then off until Friday.
 
A bit of work tomorrow and then packing for a trip to visit Jake in Iowa with the wife on Sunday with a stop at the Ambassadors place so the wives can meet and catch up with Larry. Be gone for a while and leaving the shop in Jarrods hands.
So Merry Christmas to all.

I did get my bike out of the shop yesterday and I had it tuned and she runs great. All the way home from the shop all she wanted to do was DANCE !
 
Looking forward to a nice five day Christmas break. I have one project to build before Monday, a small bookcase for my granddaughter which i will put together using my Kreg jig. Should be able to wrap that up rather quickly then it's rest and relaxation....(except for when it's not....I'm sure you all know the drill)
 
Got a hot date with a friend to go see Ryan McGarvey playing at a nearby bar tonight. (Fresh back in his hometown after the latest European tour.) Saturday will be house cleaning, since my niece and her husband (who own my apartment) are coming to town for the holidays. Hope to also make it to the indoor rock climbing gym. Haven't tried it yet but have a friend who's into that kind of shenanigans. Sunday will likely be hanging with friends and family doing as little as necessary. :thumb:
 
Shop work and cooking. Have a Art gallery/craft showroom thing working and need to make about 20 goodies other than pens for the possibility. Turkey going into the brine for Monday, Tuesday is our traditional clam chowder and ham for Christmas. No shortage of "Take care of my sweetie" stuff either.
 
This is the last weekend for the holiday market I do in downtown Knoxville... I miss the first two due to my wife's hospitalization... she's still there, but I need to do at least one since I've paid for them... she's okay with me not coming to the hospital tomorrow....but I'll be back to see her on Sunday. She's improving rapidly now and may get to go to rehab on Monday for a couple of weeks then home...
 
I'm off until next year. If it was warmer, I'd do some shop stuff, but that's kind of out right now.

So, instead, I'm spending time organizing the music studio. I want to do a song where I use every instrument I have, so I'm tuning up all the stringed instruments and working on learning how to really use everything. It's kind of fun.

Going to make some cheat sheets for some of the less frequently played instruments as well.

Also have a personal website that needs a little attention...

Heres the start I have on the cheat sheets....

20131220-IMG_0347.jpg
 
We are behind the power curve for Christmas. Last minute shopping and making a few batches of nut brittle to share with the neighbors. Managed to get a workbench cleared off, so may actually make something.
 
Doing a couple batches of beer probably Sunday or Monday. The Boss wants to do a Double Porter with Vanilla and Bourbon, and I'll be doing a Double IPA for the club homebrew competition (problem is when everyone enters HUGE beers you have to also put something with big flavors in to even have a chance of the judges tasting it..). Need to get my corker/capper back from the fellow who borrowed it so I can get the Cider and Cyser out of the carboys as well.

Hope to get a little turning in, I have a few gift projects I wanted to get done but may or may not. I'm only about 3 months overdue on the one wedding present anyway.

\She's improving rapidly now and may get to go to rehab on Monday for a couple of weeks then home...

Good to hear things are looking up! Give her our best.
 
Now that sounds like some fun! hmmmm...

Doing a couple batches of beer probably Sunday or Monday. The Boss wants to do a Double Porter with Vanilla and Bourbon, and I'll be doing a Double IPA for the club homebrew competition (problem is when everyone enters HUGE beers you have to also put something with big flavors in to even have a chance of the judges tasting it..). Need to get my corker/capper back from the fellow who borrowed it so I can get the Cider and Cyser out of the carboys as well.

Hope to get a little turning in, I have a few gift projects I wanted to get done but may or may not. I'm only about 3 months overdue on the one wedding present anyway.



Good to hear things are looking up! Give her our best.
 
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