Now that we have made the jump to "longer" days, what projects, aspirations, honey-do's, etc. do you have on your radar? As for me, I want to finish some of the projects I listed in this original Parlor thread. But I also want to go catch as many fish as possible from my kayak.
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Chet_Manly
7 years, 1 month agoMy "projects" have been more activity based of late, and less of the hands-on production variety, so I didn't post anything in the other thread. I have started these within the last couple weeks but the time change makes it feel a little easier somehow.
I'm prepping for a powerlifting meet in early June: Greenville NC, put on by RPS. I'll be in the amateur division since I'll participate in the drug-testing portion. I had stalled out in my training over the last year and a half, tweaked my back last summer, and since November have been climbing back to proper form. It'll be my first official meet, so I'm looking forward to that. I now have a group to train with which includes another competent lifter with an eye for form and technique. That helps SO much! It isn't affected by the time change but it's a major project for me.
I have a couple pieces I'm working on on the piano. Little technical ditties, but I want to commit them to memory by April. I've gotten on a Czerny kick and bought his book "160 8 measure studies". I enjoy reading through and working on some of those; 8 measures fits my short window of opportunity and attention span. With more day light, the kids will ideally be outside longer in the evening, allowing me to steal away more time to work on these.
Walk more. Walk dragging, carrying, or pulling something. I have a tire with a U-bolt attached to it and a strap that I load with plates and pull down the sidewalk in various ways. It's 500 feet to a specific streetlight so I just go down a back a few times. It's tiring and I get some odd looks but either me or the neighbors will all be gone within a year or two so who cares. And it beats the heck out of running!!! Extra daylight and warm weather will be very helpful.
I will also have to apply the texture to our ceiling, paint the walls and lay cement fiber board in the house we are in the process of building. I will focus on that this summer after I get this meet finished.
Clean out the garage and try to reduce our household goods in preparation for the next move. It's nice to have stuff but it's not as fun to have to move it.
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Razorback
7 years, 1 month agoAll noble causes, indeed. Good luck with your meet and try not to hurt yourself.
Try to squeeze in the piano time if you can. I keep promising myself that I will dedicate more time to becoming a better guitar player but usually end up picking around with the same old songs, chords, etc. It's amazing how much good a musical instrument can do for the mind if one only applies oneself.
Garage clean-out is on my list as well. My biggest problem is that I really need to remodel the entire garage. Therefore, I need another detached garage to store all of my items while I work on the attached garage. Fortunately, I firmly believe a man cannot have too many garages. Especially when the detached one can later be converted to a wood shop.
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Chet_Manly
7 years, 1 month agoI've seen some of your projects you post on here, I'm sure the remodel will turn out very nice. And yes, garages are like gun safes: you can never have enough of them, and the ones you have are never large enough. Please grace us with pictures of the final product. I will be in desperate need of a garage/shed/walked structure in a year or so, when we move, to house my own little gym.... The usefulness of our buildings can not be overstated!
As for the piano/guitar situation. I can only relate what has helped me. I've spent the last 8-9 years dabbling but never going anywhere with anything, probably mush like you described. I started teaching my son piano two years ago and then the other two children have started recently as well. The oldest has gotten to be pretty decent and can play things that are actually nice to listen to. We don't suffer half-assery around here, so an effort is made to be diligent. I realized that I spend about 2-3 hours in front of the piano each day teaching. Listening to someone else butcher and maim music really makes me want to sit down and do it right. I just picked two pieces from his technique book that I like and have decided to teach these by example.
This teaching situation I did because I felt there were no better options... Thought I did NOT want to at first and hated it the first year and a half. As it has developed, it has been a great experience and challenge for me and has brought me back into a mindset where I have an intrinsic push to develop beyond where I was.
I don't know if teaching someone else would work for others but that has been my frustrating and yet very rewarding path.
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Razorback
7 years, 1 month agoI will definitely post pics, if and when I ever get to that point. Since I first have to build a detached garage, I doubt it will be any time soon. Especially given that my wife wants a laundry room remodel first.
I would be willing to bet that, in the end, you will gain immense satisfaction from teaching your children to play. I can understand how hard it must be at first but at some point, they will begin to excel. A good friend of mine that I play with often is a gifted guitar player. He taught both of his sons to play and told me recently that at least one, if not bot, are probably better than he is now. And he revels in that.
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jordan
7 years, 1 month agoAccomplished- hiked a 21 mile loop at the local state park
In progress- the master bathroom is ripped out, need to get the new stuff in
Future- The kid bathroom needs to be repainted. Plenty of yard work to do after getting foundation piers and replacing a sewer line over the winter. Get interior cracks fixed caused by aforementioned foundation problems. Keep hiking to prepare for June trip to the German & Austrian alps so I can represent America properly.
I'm also interested in getting rid of anything we don't need. Need to do a lot of posting on Craigslist & eBay soon.
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Razorback
7 years, 1 month agoWow, did you complete the hiking loop in one day or over a series of days? Either way, congrats on that feat and good luck on your upcoming trip.
Good call on wrecking the yard in the winter. The best thing is that it comes back easily in the Spring.
I love getting rid of stuff. The problem is that I typically replace it with new(er) stuff.
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jordan
7 years, 1 month agoI did the hike in one day. It went well, but I was quite tired for a few days afterwards. My dad joined me for the last five miles which was great and not just for the company. I had a heel blister, he had moleskin, and I made a mental note I definitely need pack that for longer hiking trips.
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Razorback
7 years, 1 month agoThat'll make for a long day. Very cool that you got to do part of it with your dad. As someone whose father passed too early, I can't tell you how nice it would have been to spend more time with him.
I might need to pick up some moleskin as well. Some of my hunting boots don't always fit as well as they should (probably due to varying sock thickness). Occasionally I end up with a blister on the heel.
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elancaster65
7 years, 1 month agoJust bought a S&W MP Shield 9 mm.
Want to be able to shoot straight. Want to be able to strip and clean on my own. Got it last week. Next day was sent out in to the field for 6 weeks. Home for a week then packing off to Ireland/England for 10 days. Maybe I'll get to it late May before my next rotation.
That said, none of this depends on DST. Time for DST to go the way of the Dodo!
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glen
7 years, 1 month agoThis is a great thread. Pretty diverse stuff going on this Spring.
As for me, I just picked up a refurbished espresso machine that is on the very lowest end of what you would find in a coffee shop in terms of quality. I'm excited to learn the ins and outs of espresso. There's surprisingly a lot of tinkering and futzing involved with the machine and grind to create optimal joe. Who knew?
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