Another overdue blog update without any cool pictures. (I added one)

What is going on in my life?  Well I will tell you even if you weren't asking.
1.  The table saw project that I blogged about a long time ago, I also finished a long time ago.  I couldn't find the pictures i took of the final setup, but it ended up working really well and i can move it around really easily when we have to clean out the garage every time Maggie goes to the bathroom in there (which is like every day).
2.  We got a new puppy named Maggie.  We weren't sure about her at first, but she has turned out to be a lot of fun and really crazy and energetic.  I have probably talked about this already, but I don't re-read the things I write, so sorry for the redundant news
3.  I started a new project a few weeks ago.  We pulled out the shower in our upstairs bathroom because it was broken and also a piece of junk.  Our new one we just ordered just came in today!  I am going to try to get it put in before we start getting guests for wedding related things.
4.  I built a new home theater PC.  That news is kind of boring, but i am excited about it.  We don't have TV at our house, so this is a big deal for us (kind of).
5.  We just moved some flowers around our yard and are hoping that they don't die because we moved them kind of late into the season.  We are hoping to get started on working on our yard and landscaping, but we have just been jam packed with wedding stuff.
Thats not all thats going on in my life, but thats a good enough update for now for the few people that read this.

I will get some pictures up of things going on because pictures are always more fun to look at.  I know that I prefer them to reading generally, so you all probably do too.

Heres a photo of Maggie to tie you over till I stop being lazy and put more up:

Running in Kansas City

It has been a while since my last blog post, if you hadn't already figured that out.  This past weekend Marn and I went for a 4 mile run/walk race in Kansas City called Love2Run.   It was fun.  We ran a loop around the downtown airport that was nice and flat and also included some ice, which wasn't as much fun.  

A picture of me crossing the finish line:

We spent the night before in the Power and Light District of Kansas City.  We stayed in the Marriott Hotel downtown on the 18th floor, which had a great view.  We could actually see the airport from our room which helped psyche us up for the race.  We went out for our Valentine's day dinner (1 year engagement anniversary) to the 801 Chop Shop located in the P&L district.  It was really good, and super fancy.  I had a veal chop steak and Marn got scallops with a apple and cranberry sauce.  We sided those dishes with creamed peas and their Gnocci special for the night, which had mushrooms and Parmesan cheese smothered in fresh butter and cream.  If that wasn't enough, we even got Tiramisu to go along with it! We got to split a bottle of wine and I even got a glass of port with desert.  If your mouth is watering right now, I cant blame you.  It was one of the best meals I have ever had.  If your wondering why I am telling you what we had for dinner, read the next paragraph.

However great the meal sounded, which it was, I regretted having had it the night before a run.  I woke up with a semi-full stomach and felt fine, until I was about two miles into the run.  I didn't get sick or anything, but I had to slow way down to keep it that way.   Hence the 38 minutes to run 4 miles.  I was hoping for closer to 30 minutes, but oh well, theres always next time.

(Started off as a) Quick rant that you will probably not read...

I really hate that my bank automatically locks your account after typing your password in wrong twice.  I mean, I realize its for security, but honestly, I think it would take a "hacker" more than two tries to guess your correct password, which he would never try doing anyways because he would probably be more interested in stealing a bunch of credit card information that would actually get him somewhere other than being able to see my checking account information.  I mean you cant even get any information in the e-banking including your account number.  All he would get would be how much money I have that he cant steal because you cant do anything with the electronic banking other than look at how much money you have and transfer money between accounts...

Anyways enough of that.  So this is only irritating because I regularly type in the wrong password just because I have about 4 passwords that are similar, but the one I type the most is not my banking password.  Since I usually don't think about it the first time I type in my password, I just automatically type in the wrong password.  The trick is to catch myself before I mindlessly type in the wrong password 3 times to lock my account (which sadly, I do a lot)

The real problem is that they have a password reset option which I setup myself in which you type in both a question and an answer.  Pretty standard right?  Well, it just so happens that when I saw that, I thought - I will never need this feature because I always know my password.   Because of this, i typed in the most random question into this box because I had a song tune in my head-  "Whats your flavor , tell me whats your flava".  So I typed that into the box, Whats your flava?.  So now, every time I lock myself out of my bank account, which is at minimum once a month, I have to type in all these facts to verify my identity so that I can reset my password only to be stopped by the question, Whats your flava?  I have no idea what answer would have popped into my head when I was thinking about that question, so nevertheless, I always have to end up calling the Bank and having my password reset.  (You think I would have changed this by now, but I haven't)

The point to this whole blurb is this:
1.  I hate having my account locked automatically because I don't pay attention when I login to e-banking.
2.  I have no idea what my "flava" is.
3.  I am listening/watching  the Craig David - Whats your Flava music video on youtube trying to figure out what in the world I was thinking, without success.
4.  I regret setting my password reset question to "What's your flava?"

Barley, the best dog in the world

Dear Barley, Even though you were just a dog, I am so sorry that your last moment in life was spent in pain, cold, scared, and all alone. I wish I was there for you to lay your head on my lap and stare up at me with those big brown puppy eyes as you slowly faded away. I am going to miss all the trips I wanted to take you on camping, hiking, and visiting other dogs so you could play with them. Our house is going to be so empty without you there greeting us every morning and afternoon after work. I miss you so much

Project: Improve Table Saw Stand - Part 1

Yesterday, I started a project that I have been meaning to do for a while now, which was upgrading my table saw stand.  

Issue 1:  The rubber feet that are supposed to keep the saw from sliding during use are not properly adjusted and are generally more of an annoyance than a help.  The feet don't keep the table from sliding because they are too short when the wheels are in the up position (stop position) and so they aren't doing any good.  When they are in the down position (roll position), they typically drag loosely across the floor and get caught on cracks and other things.  

Issue 2:  Because the legs are not braced at the bottom and are made of thin steel, they easily torque and cause the wheels to vibrate and lock up or pop into the up position.  It is almost impossible to move the table saw without a huge effort and resetting the wheels once or twice.

An Image of the Existing Condition of the Stand.

The Plan:  Using some 2x6 boards, construct a lower frame and bolt the stand onto it.  Relocate and remount the wheels so that they are more secure and will not torque/vibrate/lockup.  Remount the rubber feet onto the the new frame.

Getting the supplies.

In my original plan, i was going to create a square frame using lap joints at the frame intersections and bolt/glue the pieces together along with attaching the metal frame.  After some thought, I revised my original plan to a shape that looked more like a roman numeral 2 ( II ).  I am happy with the results so far.  I still need to attach the wheels to the new base.

The new base bolted to the frame with the rubber 

feet installed.

The new base without the wheels installed. (And

Barley's nose in the lower left)

The result so far.

The new base is much sturdier

and does not wobble at all.  I am hoping 

this resolves all the issues I was 

experiencing with the wheels.  I will

update once the wheels have been reattached.

Some Pictures from Christmas

Our Christmas tree with presents under it

at our house.

Our stockings waiting for Santa

(Plus the desert table from Christmas Eve)

Marn and Kerrick enjoying the Christmas Spread

The parents enjoying the Christmas Eve dinner.

Christmas tree and presents at

Phyllis and Jim's House

Our Christmas Tree