Ceiling Fan

I'm sure you all remember this blog post from July of 2008. Shortly after we moved into our house, a ceiling fan broke. It's the smallest and least-used room of the house, so we kinda forgot about it.

Well, I'm pleased to announce that less than four years after the first one broke, I have replaced the fan! You just don't find service like that these days.

Naturally, I replaced it with the cheapest fan we could find. When we turned it on, the hum of the motor was loud enough that our neighbors could hear it. That was on the "low" setting. When we turned it up to high the phrase "Howling Demon" was invoked.

So, I got to replace the fan... twice. The second fan was a little higher quality. It actually functions like a fan should function. Plus, it's slightly nuclear.



Insert "That would make a good name for a rock n' roll band" joke here.

You know, all my stories are going to be short this week. Therefore, I'll post on Thursday also. Why not, right? See you tomorrow.

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Humming Toddler

A short cute one for you today.

My wife's brother and his wife both have electric toothbrushes. They also have a son who is a year and a half old.

Recently he's started a new habit. When they say, "Time to brush your teeth," he starts humming. He hears the noise when Mommy and Daddy do it, so he thinks he's supposed to hum while his teeth are brushed.

Told you it was short. :)

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Memorial Day, 2012

In honor (and celebration!) of the unthinkably brave... I say thank you.



Happy Memorial day.

(I'll post again tomorrow... yes, tomorrow!)

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Step Seven. Ish. Still. Kinda.

Not a whole lot of progress this week. I did get the rear thrusters glued on...


Not bad. I'm holding off on the paint job, though. I've learned that with acrylic paints, you really shouldn't try to clean the brushes by simply soaking them in water. I think this is why the black paint on the base stand turned out so bad. Also, the wood handles of my brushes soaked up a lot of water and then split open like old fireplace logs. Oops.

So... I need some new brushes. Again. Heh.

I did manage to get Andy ready for his close-up, though.


Not bad. Not perfect, but I'll take it.

I had a feeling about this next decal. First, I figured it would be difficult, and second, I figured it would look stupid. It *did* make for an excellent test to see if I know what the heck I'm doing with those decals...


Nope. I have no clue what I'm doing with those decals. Excellent.

So, Andy is faceless again. Frankly, he's so small that it won't matter. I hope I figure out how to do this and make it look good before I get to the bigger ones.

Wish me luck...

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The Ring

Last week my wife found an old emerald ring that she had back in high school. She put it on. It was a little tight, but it fit. It looked really pretty and made her happy.

She showed it to me when I got home. "Should your finger be all red and swollen like that?" "Probably not." "Oh goodie... nice ring, though."

I wound up having to cut the ring off her finger. She found a "How to cut off a ring with a Dremel" video on youtube. We watched it before making the attempt. It was a bonding moment.

"Let's do this over the sink." "Why?" "So that if one of us bleeds, we at least do it where there's a drain."

I got very strict "Do not cut off my finger!" instructions before we began. I was a little hurt that she thought I needed to be told that.

Now, here's a simple physics lesson. Friction produces heat (I told you it was simple). A Dremel blade can produce a lot of heat VERY quickly. The first half-second of cutting time went smoothly. I thought to myself, "This is actually gonna work with no problems!" Instantly, the shouting started. "HOT! OW! HOT!"

We eventually settled on using a plastic fork as the spacer between ring and flesh. It dissipated much less heat. And no one bled! I was pretty convinced that one of us would bleed, and that it would somehow be me.

I shared my success with P-Ziddy. "Success" never feels like success for very long after you share it with P-Ziddy.

P-Ziddy: At least you were close to water
P-Ziddy: Just don't drop the Dremel in the sink.
P-Ziddy: Or you would create a whole different situation.
P-Ziddy: "I wonder if stainless steel still conducts... ZZZZZZOT!"

Honestly, I might have dropped it in the water on purpose if I knew it was going to make a "ZOT" noise. I've missed out, I think.

We'll get the ring repaired soon so my wife can wear it again. It really was a pretty ring.

Naturally, as soon as I started sharing the story with P-Ziddy, he knew where it would wind up...

Jeff: I still can't believe she has 10 fingers.
P-Ziddy: Now there's a two-fer blog post
P-Ziddy: The cutting
P-Ziddy: And "The Return of the Ring"
P-Ziddy: Forged in the fires of Mount Doom. Repaired by the Israeli man at the mall.

Soon you will be whole again, my Precious...

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My Sister Has Four Kids Now

Last week, kiddo #4 (another nephew!) made his big debut. My sister's clan continues to grow... soon she will take over the world!

When he was born, they hadn't decided on a name. So, there was some debate among the other three as to what New Brother's name should be.

They didn't name him 'Gunner'

"We should name him Gunner!", shouted the oldest nephew (12 years old). My mom grinned. "I like that name. Mike Gundy has a son named Gunner. Go Pokes!"

Mike Gundy, of course, is the OSU head football coach. Oldest Nephew is an OU fan. He made a face. "He'll be the *good* Gunner."

The middle nephew (6 years old) started poking his new brother. My dad was trying to take a picture. "Stop poking him!", Dad said. "You'll have the rest of your life to poke him. Go poke something else."

It was probably not wise to give Middle Nephew an open-ended command like that.


Yep. That's my dad's belly. He's being aggressively poked by the 6-year old while he takes a pic of the new baby.

I love it. :)

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Step Seven!

Holy Progress, Batman!


This was the easy part
The "thrusters" step looked pretty intimidating, but turned out easy. At least at first.


Red Bull gives you wings?
These others look to be a little more tricky.


Just chillin'
And then there's this guy! The pilot, resting on a toothpick. Now get this... the Starfury is pretty much all dark gray. The stand will be all shiny black. But this tiny little guy will wind up having THREE colors painted on him! Blue suit, black boots / gloves, and he's gonna have a coating of gray on his helmet and shoulder strap. Yikes.

I'm also thinking about writing "ANDY" on the bottom of one boot. Who here actually thinks I can paint letters that small?


The Stand (non-apocalyptic version)
I skipped ahead a bit, figuring I'm about to hit a point where the 'fury has no "flat" surfaces to rest on while glue dries. The stand went together just fine...


Ew.
... but the paint job was kind of a disaster. In average light, it looks OK. In bright light, it looks bubbly and lumpy and awful.

I'm glad I did that first, because I do NOT want the Starfury's paint job to look like this. Anybody have any simple advice for me to make sure this doesn't happen again?


Whee!
A lot of progress, but a lot of painting still left to do. And suddenly that step worries me...

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