Sealing multi dimensional cracks in the shower

One of the first projects I tackled after moving in was the shower walls in the bathroom. Before there wasn't a shower, just a bathtub. My cousin had already installed the shower head but never did anything to the bare wood walls. He had the panels there at the house but never had a chance to put them up. I finished out the shower, following the instructions to seal all seams and thought I did a decent job at it.

Two years later everything that I did still looks great but the panel itself has developed tiny cracks in the decorative tile pattern in the "grout" lines. This is either because my bathroom sits in a doorway to another dimension or because the decorative coating is thinner in those areas. Not wanting to risk something escaping through the cracks into our world I asked Andrew at the hardware store what he would recommend to seal of these tiny portals.

Spent a couple hours caulking these grout lines to temporary fix the problem. This was only to prevent further damage to the walls, once I get caught up on a few other projects I'm planning on tearing the panels out and replacing them with fiberglass panels. Our maybe actual

High rise beds

Dad recently gave me a bed frame that belong to my grandfather. The frame is a full size so it required new mattress set since I only had queen sized sets. So away I went to get a new set to fit the frame. Few days later I have the new mattress and box spring in the house and everything ready to be set up. I put the bed together and discovered how ridiculously high it sits. You can barely set the head board.

Obviously new mattresses are not made to be used with the old wooden frames that is made hundred years ago. I don't have many options with fixing this other than returning the box spring for something extremely thin or modifying the frame. The side rails have a ledge on the inside for slats to sit that actually support the mattress. If I remove this ledge the mattress can sit lower than the bed frame on a modern metal frame. So I can have the keep the decorative frame and drop it down five inches to a more reasonable height. This will also make it where the weight isn't supported by the antique frame, reducing the risk of damage.

They're harboring refugee hipsters

Last night I went out on a date to Eldorado Arkansas. Was planning on showing off this little hole in the wall Italian restaurant I found several months ago but they were closed, gone on vacation. We wandered the streets of the square and found Black Cat witch I assume was a Mexican style restaurant that down played its own identity as one. We both ordered the chicken fried steak with mash potatoes, I do recommend the chicken fried steak, it was great, but the mash potatoes didn't rate all tat great, how can anyone mess up mash potatoes?

After dinner we walked the streets and alleys of the square. Eldorado has been known for the many music festivals it has hosted in recent years. The decorations around the square are a sight to see, 55gal drums recreated into works of art. I found the book exchange phone booths a unique touch, although I thought they should have been painted blue. I also notice the many coffee bars that are located within these few city blocks. Then it hit me, Eldorado is harboring refugee hipsters. These fashion and trend setting sub cultural people are far removed from their native lands. My female companion laughed at this assumption and then asked what exactly is hipster. I asked her to be patient with me. Within the next few minutes I found one in his natural habitat, in the coffee shop trying to ignore the two guys playing music near the door. We on the other hand enjoyed the guys cover of hotel California and few other songs.

Sorry this is where I leave you, the rest of the night was pretty personal between me and my companion about what we discussed.

Furry bandits roam the highways

Spent the day cleaning up the bike after the wood cutter bees came out and left a mess. Made a few adjustments with returning to oem mirrors and replacing the rusted studs on the seats. After the sun went down and took the heat with it I went for a ride. It feels good to be in the wind on summer night after it being so hot all day.

After a hour or so I started heading home, on a bridge near my house I could a group of shadows waiting. As I got closer several masked bandits dashed out into the highway attempting to force me to stop so they can jack my bike. I watched as they hastily setup this trap, I found a opening and managed to dodge most of them, in a last ditch effort one threw himself in front of the bike and getting run over. I kept the bike up and safely made it the rest of the way home.

This is the second time that a raccoon ran out in front of me on a bridge.

Dating veterans

 At least three of my friends have told me that they will never date a guy who has been in the military because of one guy that they did date ended up being a total douche bag. "All military guys are crazy" "the military fucks guys up" To me, being their friend and also a veteran this was kinda hurtful. To rationalize that one psychotic dumbass is the flagship model of hundreds of thousands of veterans is ridiculous. This sorry example of a guy, who was also a veteran, is the same model of loser you can find anywhere else without the title of veteran. He most likely had these abusive and crazy traits long before he raised his right hand.

Most of us veterans have found ways to cope and even push past our problems. Several of us do suffer from PTSD, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and several other problems. We live with this everyday, struggle with things as simple as stand in line in a crowded restaurant, it does take some extra patience. Would you not date a guy that broke his leg and now has a slight limp for the rest of his life?

There are some guys that are abusive and complete douche nozzles, but these guys are found in the general population too not just the veteran crowd. Go on a couple dates with the guy, find out who he is, and then make a decision if you want to commit a relationship with him. Never understood this idea that several people have that after one date they are committed to this one person. Enjoy being single and enjoy meeting new people.

Setting realistic goals

I have been gong to the gym for six weeks now, lately I hadn't been able to to as often due to a child and then allergies directly afterwards. Hopeful soon I will be able to get back to going every other day. When I started going back in June I made myself two goals; one to weigh under 200lbs and two to be able to squat 200lbs by my birthday in November.

I consider these realistic goals, I calculated the number of times it will take to reach 200lbs squats with adding 5lbs each workout session and there is time in case I reach a plateau and have to push through it. I have also been steady with my eating habits, cannot call it a diet since I'm still eating foods that are bad for me and only been only reducing the daily number of cokes I drink to one instead of removing it completely. On the scale since the end of April, I have only lost a total of 7lbs. But I have also had to take my belt in for notches from where it use to be. I'm losing fat and gain muscle mass, friend suggested I take a tape measure and record my measurements weekly.

Growing razor collection

Not sure how I ended up with so many razors but I currently have 30 single / double edge razors. I started this collection with an idea to save money on buying razor blades since I'm forced to shave in order to maintain my job. With the average cost for the multi blade cartridge is $20 for a five pack and the average cost for a double edge razor blade is $20 for a box of 100, this seemed like a wise decision.

I started with a Gillette ball end tech that dad believes was one belong to my grandfather. I loved this razor and used it for roughly a year before dad showed up with another razor, this time a Gillette super speed flare tip. I could have stopped here, could have gone the rest of my life without ever having to pick up another razor besides these two. But we all already know what happen. My collection grew as I found forgotten treasures buried in flea markets, lucked out on several eBay auctions, and received a few more as gifts along the way.

I currently have most of the common Gillette razor models and a few lesser known ones like the prison razor, one that requires a key to take it apart to replace the blade. All of my razors are nut in mint condition and to be honest I'm glad they are not, I have personally used every single razor I have except for one, the Dunham duplex, I simple don't have any blades for this razor, I bought it simply to use the solid handle on a few other razors. I also have a few Treet and ever ready single edge razors along with two Shick injector razors that found their way into the collection but again the lack of blades available has prevent me from all but testing the razors out.

My newest addition is a 1941 Gillette Ranger tech, the grandfather of the super speeds. I have a soft spot for the super speeds, they have been through many changes through their production run and I have several that act as strong stones through time.

Reducing closet clutter

Lately I have been taking inventory of everything I wear, or rather what I'm not wearing. I have two closets full of t shirts and long sleeves. I only have a handful of button up shirts and then there is my uniforms for work.  I don't wear over half of what I have stashed away in my closets. I'm ruining shirts by leaving them on the hangers untouched. It is time for a change.

I went through the t shirts in one closet, making three piles of those I pull out, ones I'm donating, ones I want a friend to have, and those that I no longer wear but want to keep for now. Most of these are bike rally and other events I participated in. The shirts that I still wear on a regular basis were left on the hangers in the closet. The rest of this closet was mostly untouched due to everything else usually gets worn.

Decluttering the t shirts made me look at my current footwear. I still have boots from basic training and worn out running shoes. There is even a pair of trail shoes that I don't wear but cannot return since they have been worn on a couple camping trips. These were also put into a pile to be donated.

I still need to attack the other closet, which should be fairly easy side most of it hasn't been worn since I moved two years ago. Once this closet is uncluttered I will start remodeling it to expand it's capacity and allow it be easily organized.

Horse flies have homestead my carport

Past couple of weeks I have been getting dive bombed by this overly aggressive horse fly. He lives somewhere near my back door in the carport with a group of others and only attacks whenever I try to either unlock my door to enter my house or to go into the carport shop to get Morris some food. It's like he is showing out to his buddies of his expert aerial acrobatics. I have roughly five seconds from the time I walk up the steps to get the door open or I will get at least three fly bys. He won't stay long enough to get a bead on him with the badminton racket and always counter attacks whenever I even attempt to swing at the air.

One day my friend, you will make your last kamikaze run and I will send you to hell.