The Fantasy is Over

This fall, I've been in a fantasy football league (FFL) with 13 other people from work. I was very excited to play this year since I won the championship last year as a FFL rookie (and I'd also get a chance to rub it in everyone's faces). After finishing this season with the second best record at 10-3, I thought that I would make it pretty far in the playoffs and defend my trophy, but alas, I got stomped. So, before the trophy moves on to someone else, I wanted to post up some pictures of the championship mug and the shelf that I built for it.

The front of the mug (or is it the back?):


The back of the mug (or is it the front?):


The shelf:

I put some of those awesomely strong magnets on the back of the shelf so that I could mount it to a bookshelf or filing cabinet at work and show off my prize. Do you like the L-3 logo? Since I didn't have a scroll saw, I ended up clamping my jig saw upside-down into my Workmate and tied the trigger so it would stay on. As I was cutting it out, I thought to myself "I probably shouldn't be doing this, but it's the only way". Afterward, I made a promise to not do that again since it seemed like a kinda unsafe thing to do, you know with a blade moving up and down sticking up from the top of a table. Since I built the shelf and plan to pass it on to the next winner, it has been suggested that each winner personalize the trophy in some way. It should be interesting to see what the next winner does to it.

Christmastime Continued

The blog wouldn't let me post more pictures in my last post, so here are some more:

12 Medieval Days of Christmas:

The gifts included...
1 Dragon Dragging
2 Jousters Jousting
3 Tenors Singing
4 Silent Monks (they hold up a sign for each syllable being sung in their bit)
5 Golden Rings
6 Geese a'Playing
7 Hunchbacks Ringing
8 Ladies Waiting
9 Beggers Begging
10 Servers Serving (they sang part of "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast)
11 Jesters Jesting
12 Pipers Piping (we had a real bagpiper lead 11 little kids with toy instruments)

The Dickens Kids:


More Dickens Kids:


There was also a scene with the youth girls dressed up as Raggedy Anne dancing around the stage with oversized letter blocks. At the end of their bit, they spell "Merry Christmas" with them, but we had some difficulty doing that over the weekend. One show, the first R in Merry was a sideways Z, and in another show, the R in Christmas was upside down. Evenso, the girls did a great job.

It's Christmastime in Waco

December in Waco means Christmas parties, the Waco Christmas celebration, and friends bugging out early.

On December 2nd, my Sunday school class had a Christmas party for some fun and fellowship. Brice and Janet were in charge of the meat, and we were each supposed to bring a side. Brice fried up a turkey, and in spite of watching the Good Eats episode on frying a turkey, he opted to not use the turkey derrick. Speaking of Good Eats, I tried my hand at the baked mac and cheese recipe featured in the episode "For Whom the Cheese Melts 2". It turned out pretty good, and I got a lot of compliments on it, but I think I'll try it without the onion next time. Instead of the usual White Elephant gift exchange, we exchanged $5 gift cards to different places around town. I took a gift card to Hollywood video and came home with one from Rosa's. We also played a Christmas movie trivia game, and I tied for first place. Here is a sample question: name the 3 reindeer whose names start with D. And here's picture of us from the party.


This past Saturday and Sunday, Columbus Avenue Baptist Church (my church) put on its annual Waco Christmas Celebration. We had 3 performances on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. After working on one of the backstage crews for the last two years, I decided to do something onstage this year. I was in the main choir, the men's ensemble singing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", and a musical number called "Riggin' Up the Lights". Here are a few pictures:

Our fearless leader, Chuck:


The choir and a the childrens' ensemble:


The youth's black light number:


Riggin' Up the Lights:


Still Riggin':

Magnetic Poetry of the Day (or Season, or something)

Now, I know it's not funny, but we can't all be Shel Silverstein.

Long time, no post

Yes, I know it's been a while since I posted something, mostly because I feel like I don't have much of interest going on. So, last night I helped my friend Mike build a manger for a Christmas display at their house, and here's what it looks like:
Assembled...




And ready for storage...

We got to make use of a new toy that I picked up a few weeks ago... a 26-gallon air compressor and a nail gun set (a brad nailer, a finish nailer, and a stapler). Those nail guns are SOOOO much fun to use. If it hadn't been for Mike wanting to sand the pieces before assembly (I guess to keep his 2 kids from getting splinters or something silly like that), we would have had that thing knocked out in about 30 minutes.

OH WHAT A GLORIOUS DAY!!!

It finally rained today after almost 2 months without anything more than trace rain (and the trace rain only came once during that time). Also, we only reached 90 degrees today after having a high over 100 for 30 of the last 31 days. I really hope this "cool" weather is here to stay; my brown backyard could sure use some color.

Almost Done...

After almost a year in my house, I think I'm almost done decorating "The Pink Bathroom".
Here is a before picture:

Here are a couple pictures of the progress:


I changed and raised the light fixture. I also replaced the mirror with a taller one and added a frame around it. I still need to paint the walls and make some kind of window treatment.

Can Crusher in Action

Here is my can crushing center in action.

Engineer meets Can Crusher

I can't do anything like a normal person. Shortly after I bought a can crusher, I started thinking about how I could improve it. This is what I came up with. I wanted to build a can crushing center where the crushed can would fall into trash can on its own. First I drew up the plans (like a good engineer).


After a week of evenings, I finished the can crushing center, and it works like a champ. I cut a hole in the back of the can crusher and in the plywood top, so that when the can was completely crushed it falls right through in to the trash bag below.



I built the box part with a door in the front for easy access when the trash bag was full.





To make it easier to keep the trash back in place, I cut a little lip into the back of the side rails so that the bag won't slip off when stretching it across the outside of the box.

I figured while I was at it, I would build a shelf into the thing so that I had a place to put extra 12-packs.


All in all, I'm very satisfied with my latest project.

Mission: Inflatable (adventure at VBS)

Objective: Conquer the obstacle course in 30 seconds or less


The Look of Determination...


The First Obstacle:


The Second Obstacle: While barreling through this part, I accidentally separated a connector that held two parts of the course together (I don't think the course was designed for a kid of my size)


The Finish:


The Result: A lot of laughs (mostly from the spectators) and some raw spots rubbed on both knees.

[Props to Brice for the excellent photography]

Magnetic Poetry of the Day

Sanctus Real ROCKS!

I just saw the funniest music video ever. It's the "Fake Fight Song Video" on Sanctus Real's website. Go to http://www.sanctusreal.com/, click on "Music/Video", click the "Video Tab", click on "Fake Fight Video", and get ready to laugh. Enjoy!

While you're at it, watch "Say It Loud" all the way at the bottom, it's what got me hooked on Sanctus Real.

Edit: So, it turns out that the "Fake Fight Song Video" was made by some Sanctus Real fans. It's one of Sanctus Real's songs but that's not them in the video. Even so, it's still awesome.

Installing a Shower Rod

Yeah, so tonight I decided to go out and buy one of those double rod shower curtains since I have company coming in a couple weeks and hanging space is at a premium (and I had a coupon). I thought it would be a breeze since I've installed quite a few shower rods in my time. I mean, who reads the directions for a shower rod?!? There are all of four pieces to the thing: 2 expanding rods and two ends. Of course, there's usually only one piece.

So as I'm trying to expand one of the rods to hold the ends against the tile, I can't get both of the ends to stay put as I'm expanding the rod. As I'm turning the rod to expand it, one of the ends would spin out of place. After I repositioned that one, the other one spun out of place. In order to reposition the end, I needed to shorten the rod slightly to take some pressure off of it. When I did that, the other end fell clean of the wall. And back and forth went the dance for about 20 minutes. But, after finessing the thing a bit, I finished. As I'm cleaning up, I look at the directions.

One of the sheets included says, "ATTENTION: Prior to installing your shower curtain rod & towel rack system, place a blanket or towel(s) on each end of your bathtub to protect the tub should you drop one of the DUO end caps while installing." And in the fine print at the bottom, "Polder (the manufacturer) is not responsible for any damage to bathtubs and/or bathroom accessories due to individual person assembly mishaps, such as dropping an end cap(s). Polder clearly instructs a 2-person assembly for this product". To that I say "Thanks a lot! What do you do if you live by yourself? (Like yours truly)." That is such a shot to the handyman's ego: having to ask for help installing a SHOWER ROD! Fortunately, the ends never struck the tub when they fell of the wall, and it went in without too much frustration. All in all, I think it looks pretty good and adds some much needed hanging room to my Pink Bathroom.

Welcome to the World of Kevin!!!