It looks like its been about five months since I updated this thing, so I feel like I should throw something together.

Since we moved back from the absolutely wonderful state of Colorado, we've been living in our hometown and trying to figure out our next move in the so-called game of life. It turns out that our version of the game didn't come with instructions. So, its taking us a while to figure out the rules.

In the mean time, I've been keeping busy with work, a little play, and of course, more hobbies.

I've been trying to use this time of limbo to build a few furniture pieces that I've been putting off for a a while. The first of these pieces was a fun project. Two members of our family happen to have Cystic Fibrosis, which requires the use of some fairly bulky medical equipment. Unfortunately, this equipment doesn't fit inside of standard sized furniture. So, I designed a simple end table to house the equipment in between treatments, be functional during usage, and keep the equipment organized and protected at all times.

This is a picture of the end table before I put the door pull on it. The door slides back into the cabinet during its use so its not in the way. The top cabinet contains a noisy piece of equipment, which is why its enclosed, and the bottom area hold the rest of the gear.

It turned out well and it helped out my family. How can I ask for more?

The next piece was a tv stand of my dreams. Literally, I dreamt about this design one night and decided to build it. The idea came from a mixture of things.

A lot of people like traditional oak furniture. A lot of people like modern furniture. Making the transition between styles is difficult unless you get rid of everything at once and buy new things right away. This piece was meant to be a transitional piece. I'm calling it Transitional Modern. A piece built with traditional materials (oak) using a modern design (look at the picture). It's finished with a semi-transparent blue stain and has complimentary hardware.

I like it. So that's good enough for me.

The next piece is an end table built to go with the tv stand. Same style and design elements. Same opinion...I like it.

Other than those few things, I've built a few odds and ends things like a pavilion, a few coin collectors boxes, wood slat display crates, and some other things.

Up next, a classic archtop steel string jazz guitar and a ukulele. The ukulele should be done in a few days.

Once they're finished up, I'll post some pictures.

Until then....

Ski Dummy Race 2010

Well, I have mixed feelings about this one.

Last year, two of my friends and I competed in Seven Springs' ski dummy competition. It's a pretty ridiculous competition, but usually that is the only type of competition that I get myself involved in.

This year was much simpler than last. This time we didn't use a water jet, a MIG welder, or even an angle grinder. This year we built it somewhat Macgyver style. A couple feet of PVC, a few nuts and bolts, a little cardboard, and of course...duct tape. Tons of duct tape.

Last year, three of us built the dummy in about 1 1/2 days and managed to win a trophy. This year, we had a little trouble getting together because of everyone's busy schedules, so I ended up building it alone in about 12 hours. I nearly scrapped the plans of competing about five times, but my ever-supportive wife pushed me to finish it up.

Results...

1 person, 12 hours, 2 trophies. Not too shabby.

To be completely honest, it was pretty lame this year. I only had one guy competing against me. I'm still proud of the fact that my dummies have been the only ones to finish the race two years in a row.

Even though I left the competition feeling a little let down by the turnout and a little overcompensated with trophies, I'm glad that I did it again this year. Plus, we all went out for breakfast afterward again and the food was awesome. You can't beat a good breakfast day.

Ski Dummy

Last week, I heard about a Beer Festival in Seven Springs. So obviously, I wanted to know more about it. I went to their website, but immediately got distracted. I stumbled upon an advertisement for an annual event called the Ski Dummy Competition. Apparently it's an event that happens every January and it just so happened that it was going to be held this weekend!

As you can imagine, I called Ryan and our friend Steve and we got plans rolling. We only had one day to construct our Ski Dummy, but that was no problem. We figured our competition probably only had a few weeks head start on us.

You have to love spur of the moment things like this.

We decided that we wanted to build something ridiculous, so we ended up building an old man with a walker on skis. We didn't have a ton of time, so we build him in cross section style. You can see what I mean in the pictures.

Sonya video taped our run and it is pretty cool.


One night of planning
One day of construction
ONE TROPHY

That's right. We won longest run and best time. Not too bad for last minute.

Another Excellant Hobby

Recently, I decided that I don't have nearly enough hobbies. Although Sonya would probably disagree.

I've always wanted to own a wood lathe, but never got around to actually getting one. Now that Sonya and I have a house with a basement, I decided it was time to clean it out and build a workshop.

What house is complete without one?

My new lathe came in last week and I am very excited to get started on my newest craft. Sonya is happy that I finally cleaned out the basement.

I got the lathe from Grizzly Industrial, Inc., which is now my favorite place to shop. While I was checking out, I noticed a link called Gift Cabana. It peaked my interest for some reason, so I decided to see what it was.

The Gift Cabana made me very, very happy.

It turns out, it is a gift registry and it just so happens that I'm getting married this summer. I'm not sure if Sonya is quite as excited by this find as I am, but I am beyond thrilled to say the least.

I'll post some updates on my lathe adventures in the near future.

Redneckery

One evening, while brewing of course, Ryan and I started talking about going shooting somewhere sometime. It then quickly turned into a much more complicated event. For those who know Ryan and I, that shouldn't be much of a surprise.

Our shooting trip turned into a weekend trip to Sonya and I's hometown with Ryan and his wife Nicole. While driving, I talked with my dad and made plans for the four of us to meet him at his shop so we could build a trebuchet for the event.

What shooting trip is complete without a spur of the moment construction project?

I have to admit, given more time and materials, we could have built something pretty amazing, however we were limited to an hour and half for construction and whatever scraps we could find in the shop, but we built it regardless. And it was awesome because it worked. Sometimes.

Sort of.

One of my favorite things about this trip was taking this picture of Sonya. When we first started dating, she told me that she saw a picture of me that she really liked. Now that I compare the two pictures, I think it is pretty funny how similar they are to each other. Coincidentally, they were taken in the same location, but about 3 years apart.


The weekend turned out to be just what we needed. An escape from the city with some friends for some fun. Redneck style.