…makes everything better.  More garage photos are up on flickr, with a first coat of paint added.  It definitely needs at least one more, as you can see the primer through the paint in some areas.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get that taken care of this weekend and finish everything up early next week.  Meanwhile, I’m cooking up a double batch of apple butter and will be canning it shortly.  Delicious.

I decided to learn how to can this weekend.  I bought a giant 33 quart pot and mason jars and went to town.  My neighbor has grapes planted along the fence along our property line, and I picked somewhere around 50 pounds of concord grapes which are now in the process of being turned into jam.  I’ve got a dozen half-pint jars so far, and that’s like 10% of my crop.  I’ve also got 5 quart jars of applesauce that might need a home in the near future.

The garage is coming along nicely as well.  It’s now got a frame structure consisting of 1×2s set up in 3 squares each 4 feet on a side along the wall right above my bench.  You can check out the most recent photos on my flickr site.   I’ve actually made more progress since those photos.  The entire structure has a coat of primer and will get a coat of paint soon.  Then the finishing touches go up and I’m good to go.  It’s exciting to be this close to finishing.

Kelsey and I finally picked a gym to join.  We’re proud members of the Idaho Athletic Club now.  They’ve got seven facilities across the valley and there’s one about 2 miles down the road from me.  They’ve got nice, clean facilities and don’t seem to get too crowded.  We’ve set up a schedule so that we can be workout buddies and keep each other motivated.  Especially during the winter.  The downside is that between work, hitting the gym, and riding, there’s not a lot of time for making decent meals during the day.  We don’t really want to eat crap all the time, so decided the best thing to do is make a week’s worth of meals every weekend that we can just heat up.  This Saturday was our first great cooking experiment.  We made 12 pans of lasagna to freeze.  That’s right, 12.  In addition to that, we made barbecue pork, paella, gratin potatoes, and sweet potato stew with pork.  There are pictures of everything up on flickr.  Check them out, but be careful not to drool all over your keyboard.

The great garage renovation continues. I’ve posted a few more pictures on Flickr. As you can see, the workbench is starting to go up. I’m making it 12 feet long so I bought a piece of 3/4″ plywood and had it cut in half, giving me a couple eight foot planks, each two feet deep. I’ve got one of them up and need to cut the other in half so I can slip it into place. There’s a twelve foot 2×4 running along the wall, providing lots of stability. I’ll have a total of 4 legs along the front with corresponding supports under the bench and struts about halfway down, adding a little more stability. You can also see the paint that I’m using for the whole wall. I know there’s a big patch that’s still just primer. That’s going to be covered up, though, so I didn’t want to waste paint. Yes, I know I primered it, but I wanted a protective coating over the whole wall. I should be able to finish the bench tomorrow and then I’ll add a bit of color to it. All in all, it’s coming along nicely.

I moved into my new house knowing that there was work I’d have to do.  It’s not a project house by any means, but it is 50 years old.  So there are definitely things that need a little attention and TLC.  First major project on my list is the garage.  When I moved in, the garage walls were insulated between the studs, but there was nothing else over the insulation.  Which I don’t exactly consider a good look.  There were also a couple junky old chests of drawers and a decently-made but ugle shelf  made of bare wood along one wall.  There were also a couple pre-fab shelving units, one on either side of the garage.  It’s by no means a giant garage, but it is a two-car, and being as I only have one car, there’s an entire side I can play with.

As you’re all probably aware, I’ve been known to ride a bike or two in my day.  I figured the best thing to do with my extra garage space would be to set up a good area for bike storage and maintenance.  I laid out a solid plan for what I want to do, and jumped right in.  I began by ripping out all the old shelving, since I knew I didn’t want to use it.  As I was doing so, I noticed that the installer of that shelving had put support struts in between studs the whole way across the garage wall.  But he did a piss-poor job of it, so not a single one was actually flush with the studs.  Since I wanted to cover the studs up, I needed to rip out every one of those support struts.  Fun.  I also discovered that the pre-fab shelf on that side of the garage was held on by a single vertical column of finishing nails.  Finishing nails, people!  Kelsey actually ripped it off the wall with one hand quite easily.  Good thing I was storing my camp stove fuel on that thing.  Yeesh.

On to the actual construction:  I began by putting up 1/2″ particle board across the entire wall.  Luckily I had help from Kelsey and Jon for that, since it was a bit of a project.  I also caulked between the boards and over the screw heads so it would look decent when painted.  I didn’t go nuts and there are actually a few places that won’t look smooth no matter what, but I didn’t want to go crazy.  It’s just the garage.

After that, unfortunately, my project lay fallow for a few weeks.  I’d miscalculated the amount of particle board I’d need, so a section of wall couldn’t be finished.  Given the fact that I certainly can’t fit that much wood into my dinky car, I had to wait until this weekend, when I was able to rent a pickup to head back down to Lowe’s.  I also grabbed the rest of the lumber I’d need plus painting supplies.  I put up the last board on Saturday evening, then caulked everything in.  Today I sanded, cleaned, primed, and painted.  As that all gets dried and settled in, I’ll start with the rest of the construction.  Check out my Flickr page for some pictures and stay tuned to see what comes next.

What exactly is going on here?

“Yup, they’re still there.”

A lot has happened in the past, let’s see… 10 months!  Holy shit, is that right?  Hmm, maybe I should do this more frequently.

My life since new year’s summarized:

Started 2nd intership.  Drove to Puyallup 4 days a week.  Played with kids.  Packed up stuff.  Drove to Medford.  Rented apartment.  ROAD TRIP!  Kelsey got sick.  Kelsey tried to die.  Hospital in Pullman.  Movie, eat, movie, movie, sleep, movie, eat, nap, etc.  Kelsey recovered.  Drove to Boise.  Interviews.  Back to Medford.  Last internship.  Return to Seattle.  Graduation.  Packed up stuff.  Studied.  Studied.  Studied.  Licensure exam.  Passed test.  Moved to Boise.  Started job.  Bought house.  Moved in.  Worked on house.  Worked in McCall.  Worked on house.  FINALLY rode bike.

Yup, that pretty much sums her up.  I’m living in Boise and working for a company called Elks Healthcare Staffing.  It’s a contract company that sets me up with work as it’s needed.  I’m currently in a semi-permanent position 2 days a week working pediatrics since that clinic recently lost 2 PTs.  It can get difficult at times doing PRN work, but the long-term nature of that job helps a lot.  It provides me (and the kids) with good continuity and follow-up.

My bikes currently lie fairly dormant.  Due to all the work I’m putting into the house right now, I’m finding it difficult to find time to get on the bike.  I went for a ride yesterday with Kelsey, though, a nice 2ish hour affair.  Here’s the sweet part about Boise – it’s less than a week from October and it hit 90 degrees yesterday.  We rode until 8:30 with shorts and short sleeves and never felt cold.  Even when we got hit by the sprinklers.

Here’s hoping your night was better than mine. Suffering from a migraine practically all day meant a lot of couch time, interrupted occasionally by brief bursts of energy just powerful enough to propel me all the way to the nearest toilet. There I would hold on for dear life to that porcelain life preserver as the final remnants of 2008 forced themselves from my stomach.

My current condition of a fuzzy head, slightly blurred vision, and churning stomach may mimic that of countless others across the country but rest assured that I had a lot less fun in achieving mine.

The past three months I’ve been piggybacking off an unsecured wireless network based somewhere in my building. A couple weeks ago that network lost access to the Internet for some reason. I can update my blag from my phone (as im doing now) but it’s less than convenient so until my Internet access returns this is about the best you can expect from me.

Today is Monday, which of course means I spent my evening watching The Sarah Connor Chronicles.  If you haven’t seen it, you’re missing out.  Mainly because of Summer Glau.  But what I really wanted to write about is something that happens in tons of action movies and really bugs me.  I guess it doesn’t really bug me, it’s kinda if nit-picky really, but still…

At one point during the show, one characteer gives another a pistol and asks, “Do you know how to use this?”  Rather than say anything, the second character ejects the mag, loks at it, replaces it in the gun and then cycles the slide.  This is a universal action movie reply that means, generally speaking, “Fuck yes I know how to use it.  The real question is, ‘Do you know how to load it?’  Why don’t I just go ahead and make sure you do, chucklehead.”  It’s a little pretentious.  Here’s my real concern, though: knowing how to eject a magazine doesn’t mean shit when it comes to actually firing a weapon.  I have full confidence that any one of you, my loyal readers, who hasn’t ever shot a gun could very quickly figure out how to eject a mag.  Here’s a hint: it’s the only button on the gun.  I’m also pretty sure that everyone knows to cycle the slide before firing a pistol.  Most likely from the same action movies I just mentioned.  My overall point is that that’s a pretty piss-poor response to an honest question.

Consider an analogy.  You’re fifteen.  You’ve never operated a car before in your life.  Someone hands you a set of keys and asks if you know how to drive.  Instead of answering them, like a normal person, you swagger over to the car to show them how badass you truly are.  Answer me this: having never driven before in your life, do you think you could manage to unlock the door, get in the car, place the key in the ignition, and start the engine?  Of course you could.  That’s the easy part.  The not-so-easy part is somehow keeping yourself from subsequently plowing into a tree or cop car because you don’t know how to drive.

What am I getting at?  If someone gives you a gun and asks if you know how to use, just answer them.  Please.  Because, let’s be honest, if you ever find yourself in that situation, shit’s about to go down and it’s no time to be a cocky asshole.  Or accidentally shoot people in the face trying to prove that you (ironically) know how to not accidentally shoot people in the face.