The project.

So you want an entry, eh? Oh, and with some pictures you say....

Ok, you've got it! I'm not quite done with this project, but the picture count was getting high enough I thought I'd go ahead and get some out of the way. This is the first time I've attempted something like this, but it's coming out great. I got advice from everyone I know, and help picking colors from some nice ladies as well. I've still got the desk to build, and this room just begs for a mid size LCD on the wall. It's is for sure not hurting for sound! Anyway, enjoy all the pictures.

Christmas and Concerts.

One of my Christmas presents from Deb was tickets to the Alison Krauss concert...tonight was the night. It was a great show. I was kind of pissed at first because the way the set-list was made up the first hour was all brand new stuff. But in the long run, that made it better because once Jerry Douglas did his customary solo so the rest of the band could take a break, it was all the hits from then on. I was skeptical about how a basically acoustic band would sound in the Columbus Civic Center but it really sounded great. One great thing about this type of music is you don't have to worry about the riff-raff that shows up at most music concerts. I can just imagine how the crowd at the Disturbed concert next month will be the exact opposite. Anyway, with a stacked-deck band like Union Station to back her up, it would be hard to screw up I would think. It was a great show, and a great gift....Thanks Deb!

I've not been on much because I'm currently remodeling my old computer room. Since it was recently vacated, I figured I'd better strike while the iron was hot and get that room back to office duty. It has sort of turned into a major thing, but has also come out great. I'm not quite done, so no pictures yet. I've sort of used it as a test room as well because I've never really been into construction but luckily my right hand man is a cabinet maker on the side so I had on-call advice when needed, as well as a place to borrow tools.

Food junkies, dieting, and tiramisu.

I've eluded to the fact that things are going pretty good around here. This is one of the best new year starts I can remember. Even money is looking up...Deb got a raise, and I've had a good run of side work lately. Not getting ahead mind you, but slowly coming out of the hole.

We dieted like hell this week, and of course the first few days are always impressive. I guess we were celebrating our great dieting skills by eating out last night..........

Deb calls and asks where I am and do I want to go eat after work....no kids, lets go somewhere nice. I say what about the diet. She says it's a steakhouse, we don't have to cheat. Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

We headed to a new place called Ben's Chop House. I've been there before but it was a different restaurant then. I must say that I'm pretty particular about wait staff...sometimes more so than being a food critic. Things were going well here however, prompt service and my glass never got under half full before there was another full one waiting beside it. The diet went to hell when the bread arrived. I was really hoping it was plain dinner rolls like most places, BUT NOOOO...it was yeast rolls like mom makes. They didn't last long amongst the Adkins dieters. So much for low carb. Deb ordered a Rib Eye and I got jumbo shrimp so we could try some of both. We didn't end up sharing much of either! Good stuff.

Finished up feeling pretty damn bad about cheating on the diet. Our girl stops and says "How about desert?" I was full and ready to cut my losses (so to speak) but Deb asks what they've got. The girl rattles off a list but the only thing I recognize is cheesecake. Now Debbie loves her cheesecake, but I can live without it. She suggests that I try the Tiramisu. I'm a picky bastard and could see how this could go bad, but things had been so good so far that I went out on a limb. That was one of the better decisions I've made lately. I've now got a new favorite desert, although I'm back to dieting now. If you've never had this, you've got to try it. Words cannot describe how good tiramisu is!

Some pictures of the mega-job.

Here are a few pictures of the job I talked about in my last entry.

Happy New Year, installer style.

Things have been hectic and weird around here the past week or so, thus the lack of updates. I'm not one to air out a lot of personal crap here, but I will say that for me things are going better around here than they have in a long time. This is sort of funny, since we've had another spell of being broke and behind on everything (thanks santa). Even at that, all is pretty good here.

Now, here is how a satellite man spent new years eve, and new years day:

On her way to work Thursday, Deb had some problems with the truck. Basically, it emptied itself of oil in about a minute. The good thing about the Powerstroke diesel is that it won't run if the oil gets dangerously low. That fact saved the truck from permanent damage. I couldn't find the problem in the parking lot at her work, so we filled it up and limped her home for me to check it out where I had some tools. I was already resigned to spending my long weekend working on the truck. Well, long story short, I found the problem (blown o-ring) in about an hour, and had it fixed 40 minutes after that. During this I got a call from Stan Merit, the owner of an upscale home theater store in town that I sometimes sub-contract for. They had taken on a job outfitting a new Golds Gym with more audio/video equipment that I can even get you to believe. The gym is supposed to open on 1 January, but there is MUCH left to do....would I be interested in helping out? This was a $90k (k-as in thousand!) job and basically HAD to be done or else. So.........

At 4 p.m. on new years eve I found myself at Golds Gym. I left this morning at 10 a.m. 18 hours of work, but the job is complete. Deb said she felt sorry for me....I told her feel sorry for Stan when he has to even up with me on Tuesday!

It was actually a fun job, and I was working with Stan's guys whom I've known and worked with for years. We had a scissor lift, and all the needed equipment. But it was a long night. I'll try to get some pictures of the finished project to post here. I was not even thinking about it last night.