Miscellaneous Ramblings...
08/11/08: I have a twenty five mile commute (each way), so
occasionally I'll stop and pick up audio books on CD to listen to while I swim
in a sea of tail lights. Don't get me wrong, Florida has it's share of oddities
to look at on my way to work, like the woman in a business skirt on a sport bike
waiting at a light that I saw today. No, oddly enough, nothing was showing. But
I need mental stimulation. The library I go to has a fairly limited selection,
but at least they add a few every couple of months.
The last book I listened to was titled "The Tender Bar" by J R Moehringer. I
picked this book because I saw a reference to Long Island where I grew up. The
book is a biography about J R's life growing up in Manhasset Long Island around
the corner from a bar where his uncle works. As it turns out, J R and I have
many things in common. Our lives parallel each others quite a bit, albeit about
6 years apart and in the next county over. From his father leaving at an early
age to love lost to squandering our early twenties in bars. I feel that the book
is extremely well written because it is very descriptive and brought me to the
verge of tears several times. Yeah, I am man enough to admit that I get choked
up listening to a book. It's probably because I can relate more than I am an
emotional sap. The narrator really helps to give this book a lot of character as
well. He gives each character a unique voice and it really helps you to follow
the story and even immerse yourself into it.
08/29/2008: Since the Cobra is gone, I've now decided to convert the garage into a "man cave". I think I can do it for less than $100. My plan is to buy a used TV for $20, a dart board and some darts for another $20 and possibly a small refrigerator for the beer for hopefully, less than $40. I found the TV on Craigslist.com, a 27" Sony with a pretty decent picture and I paid $20 for it. I also found a dart board with cabinet and darts on Craigslist.com for another $20. Tomorrow, I'll head over to the Home Depot and buy some plywood for a backing, so I don't throw darts where they shouldn't go and some metal support brackets for the shelving I made in the garage. The TV I purchased weighs well over a hundred pounds, so I really want it to be secure as It's going over the work bench. I'll also run a cable wire to the back wall and then put the dart board backing on some kind of hanger or hinge assembly, so I can access the stuff on the shelf behind it.
09/02/2008: Over the weekend, I found a refrigerator at a garage sale for free. I also went to the Home Depot and bought the plywood (and had them cut it to size) So I could make the doors for the shelving. I also put the TV in place, ran the cable wire, installed the jack and started to organize everything.Lastly, I bought a remote for the TV.
In typical Matt fashion, nothing went right! Of course, even though I measured twice, I still managed to screw up the doors and had the Home Depot cut the wood too short. No sin, they are going to cover the main area that I wanted, but I won't get the extended coverage that I hoped for. next, I found that the TV only works once in a while. Sometimes it would go on when I banged it, but eventually it didn't go on at all. That's OK, it was only $20, no real harm. Then I went to my friend James house who was nice enough to pick up the dart board that I had found on CraigsList.com. Yup, that was wrong too. I didn't realize that it was a softip dart board, not a traditional one and I never said anything to James, so he couldn't have known. Lastly, the mini-fridge that I got at the garage sale was a bust. It just doesn't work. Ah well, back to the drawing board.
09/02/2008 (part two): I found another TV on Craigslist.com, this time a 19" unit, also for $20. Hopefully, I'll have better luck with this one. Oh and I've got another line on a dart board that I will go look at tomorrow. Wish me luck!
09/03/2008: Today I picked up a brand new dart board set for $25. It was new in the box, with the board, cabinet, darts and chalk. So the man cave is mostly finished. Like an episode of trading spaces, right?! Well, maybe not, but the workstation has been cleaned up, a work light installed, the TV and cable are in, the dart board is up and well, I'll get the little fridge soon... Oh and damn the low quality graphics! On my first throw at the board, I got a bullseye! Hopefully, that is a good omen.
