Eye Issue

My left eye is what too much stress and not enough sleep look like. I'm not worried about that, but what is going on with my right eye. That looks wrong.

Sword in the Stone

I picked up this sword and shield from wish.com. The shield looked larger in their pictures, but it's not in scale with the sword at all. I thought they were cool looking and for $3, I figured what the hell. I had no idea what I was going to do with them, but I like swords and I like lions. I thought maybe I'd stick them on the wall with the sword behind the shield or some such... I realized that wasn't going to happen when they arrived.

So instead I carved a rock out of rigid pink foam and painted it up. Then I inset the tiny shield into the stone and hot glued it in place. I think the results look pretty good.

foam boulder

The sword comes out of the stone. It's very Arthurian in that regard, only there's no throne of Britannia to be had. And it looks pretty good on the shelf next to my map of the Skorr.

Robert E. Howard's Valeria from the Conan story, Red Nails

Shortened Schedule

Well, never let it be said that I have not made mistakes in my life. For some apparent reason I was under the assumption, that my next semester at GRCC did not begin until September 10th.

I was wrong.

Classes start on Monday.

That's about two weeks earlier than I was thinking, which means all the projects that I put off, pushed aside, or just plain ignored to get a little "me time" are not getting done any time soon.

I don't know where, or how, I came up with my incorrect date, but I'm in a bit of a pinch. I have bathroom that is little more than an unfinished closet with a nonworking tub in it, a laundry room that still needs to be painted, and a couple of other things that I wanted to try and get done...

Maybe I can get it all done this weekend. Ha. Never going to happen.

Looks like it's time to start squeezing the projects in wherever they fit.

Illuminated Headboard

Illuminated Headboard

This Saturday was my birthday, but I still took time this weekend to work on some projects.

We painted and spruced up the bedroom for my mother's visit last month. However, there was one thing that didn't get done. We didn't get the headboard up.

I took care of that this weekend.

This is just a set of eight inexpensive, leather-look tiles, that are designed to be stuck to the wall with double back tape. But, I wasn't about to do that.

I'm not going to fix that mess of torn drywall paper and pulled up paint when we decide to change things up. So, I built a frame with a French cleat (my first French cleat project) and mounted the cushions to it, wrapped the LED light strip around the inner frame with some adhesive, and hung it on the wall at the head of the bed.

I think it turned out pretty nice for a cheap n' dirty headboard.

daytime

funtime

I have a video of the various colors and effects, but I'll have to add that later. My phone is not cooperating right now.

A Couple Days of Art

Well, we're finally done with the summer semester and I'm happy to report that I got all A's this semester.

HVA 174 | HVAC Blueprint Reading/ Design | A
HVA 246 | Mechanical Codes | A
PS 110 | American Government | A

Yay me.

I know I need to get back to work on the bathroom, but between the mini bust that I started customizing and the idea I had for a 1/6 scale beholder statue... I decided that the bathroom could wait until this weekend. I'm going to take a couple of days to work on my art projects and relax a bit.

Happy Independence Day

Grand Rapids did their fireworks on Saturday, July 2nd, and we were right on the water behind DeVos Place... where we were not supposed to be, I might add.

I had the idea that if we parked north of the city and watched the show from Riverside Park, Canal Park, or 6th Street Bridge Park we could see the show and avoid the worst of the crowds. But we just kept walking, past all the parks and we still couldn't find a spot. 

Heidi had the idea that we could cut through the DeVos Place parking garage and come out on the other side, effectively circumventing the blocked sidewalk. That didn't work when we realized the gates were down on the Lyon St exit. So she rerouted and went into the building, where we wandered around a bit until we found ourselves infiltrating the 2017 annual convention of the Church of the Brethren. We joined them on the back patio to watch the fireworks, but the trees blocked most of the view. So we slipped back into the building, down a bit and back out to the riverside walk. The closed section of the riverside walk, where only the convention attendees were allowed. And then we watched some fire works.

It wasn't our intention, but it worked out pretty well.

Happy Independence Day. Have fun and stay safe.

New Ride

2017 chevrolet impala

On the way home from school Wednesday night the Malibu died and had to be towed to the dealership. That turned out to be a rather pricey repair, coming in at over $750. The Malibu is just about 5-years old, out of warranty, and with 60,000 miles on the odometer it’s getting to the point where a certain amount of work is going to be needed.

Time to pull the trigger on a new car.

Perhaps, I just have the bug. My son just bought a new car, my uncle just bought a new car, Dale is always buying something, and I’m feeling left out. I want something new.

We were thinking the next vehicle was going to be an SUV, but after test driving the Equinox, we decided that it was just too much like a minivan. I’ve always been a car guy and while I would have been okay with the SUV, I was happy to pass it by and get a car.

It doesn’t handle like the Malibu, but it’s 305 hp V6 matches the Malibu and will hit 60 in 6.1 seconds and that is quicker than either my Malibu or my Camaro. And I must say it sounds pretty good doing so. It’s a step up, going from the mid-size Malibu to the full-size Impala, but to compensate for that we had to step down from the LTZ (now called Premium) trim level to the LT. We lose some of the bells and whistles, but even still, this car has a lot of impressive standard features.

I hope we get a lot of good years out of this car. I can say, less than a day into living with it, I like it.

it's a big car

Making the Grade

With the first half of the Summer semester done and two of my three classes complete, here's how I'm doing:

Class Grades - 2017 Summer  Official Grades Class Description Units Grading Grade Grade Points HVA 174 HVAC Blueprint Reading/ Design 3.00 Graded A 12.000 HVA 246 Mechanical Codes 2.00 Graded A 8.000 PS 110 American Government 3.00 Graded

Government, which promises to be an interesting class, will run through the 14th of August, then I'll get a short break and go back to 4-nights a week in the fall.

thumbs up

Stalled

Last night I put down the second layer of subfloor to bring the floor level with the hallway and then hung all but one piece of the remaining sheetrock (I have to get behind the shower to make an adjustment and install a bracket I forgot). But even so, I feel like it was a productive night after a busy day.

Tonight, was the first American Government class for the wife and I. On the way to school, the car started acting odd; sputtering and stalling, indicators coming on and service warnings appearing, and limited speeds. It was an odd bit of work, so I called the dealership and arranged to get it in first thing in the morning… It didn’t last that long. Leaving school it started, grudgingly and after stalling twice. On the way home it just stopped, the motor stalled and wouldn’t restart. It’s probably a sensor or module of some sort that has gone bad.

Whatever the case, Great Lakes Towing came and picked up the car and took it to the dealership and Zachary took a break from work and brought us home. All in all, it was quite an exciting evening and one that has me thinking about a new vehicle.

I'm taking the next bunch of days off to get this project as close to completion as I can. I go back to work next Thursday, so the challenge is to see how far I get.

Time for Sheetrock

Another day, another update on the main bathroom.

Today, I fixed everything in place. A few shims and it's all square and plum, which is important if we decide to install shower doors. If we go with a curtain, it's not so important. Once everything was shimmed and plumbed and screwed in place, then it was time to hang some drywall.

in place and awaiting use

I probably could have gotten all the sheetrock up, but I still need to add another layer to the floor to bring it level with the hallway and to lock in the bottom of the tub. It just seems like getting that down first will be the easier way to do things.

A couple things about this tub/shower that I feel I should share. It's a Sterling Ensemble, which is made by Kohler, who have a pretty good reputation. The first thing is that this unit is made of a far heavier and denser material than the Delta shower unit I put in the basement. It seems more susceptible to cracking and crumbling, and yet, feels more durable. The second thing, was in drilling the holes was surprising, this stuff is tough and rather than doing a burn/melt as the drill went through, it instead created a very fine powder. I recommend a mask when cutting this stuff. It feels very strong, and with the mortar base underneath, it has no give. I think we're going to be very happy with this unit and I hope we get a lot of years out of it. If we don't, I'm sure you'll be hearing about it.

Long Day in a Small Room

  
Today, I spent the day in the bathroom, or what was once a bathroom, and hopefully will be one again soon. These kinds of projects take me far more time than they should, mostly, because I'm deathly afraid of doing it wrong or ruining the stuff I've bought. Anyway, today was a day full of visible progress:

• Set bathtub on a bed of mortar, leveled, and secured to walls.
• Plumbed in the new tub/shower water valve.
• Drilled holes in and put up the shower walls, but have not yet secured them in place.
• Realized I don't have the right stuff to finish the drain for the tub.

The tub is level and holds water, as an additional bonus, it does not leak. There is hot and cold running water to it... again, no leaks. These are good things and sure signs that progress is being made.
  
  
Heidi kept popping in with her camera, so I asked her to give me some pictures to post. These are what she gave me.