http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGVQQf_iQpI
This is what I want to build, some nice video of one in action. Spent a fair chunk of the afternoon getting a material list together.
Anyone want to invest $4000 in a business?
Dang, didn't think so. :-)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Beautiful Day
There are times when insomnia is rewarding... This morning was one of those times. Watching the sun rise through my window, the gradual lightening of the horizon as the sun crept into view, then the brilliant blue sky taking light, seemingly filled with hope, life, joy. They say that the sun shines brightest after the storm, that without hardships and trials, that we lose our appreciation for what we have in life. Never have I appreciated what I have quite as much as I do now. I am truly blessed in so many areas of my life.
I get to go running today. Going over to visit Peter and go with him, which I need to leave for shortly. We got a little rained out yesterday, but the West Sac Running Club meets Sunday mornings, so we're going to go join them for a morning jog. I'm really looking forward to it.
Even though I desperately need new running shoes. Oh well... :-)
Have a wonderful day, my friends. Treasure your loved ones, appreciate your friends, respect those around you, even if they have not earned it, and remember that every choice is ultimately your own.
-Edit-
Running was great, did about 5 miles in total. Fantastic time, beautiful weather.
I get to go running today. Going over to visit Peter and go with him, which I need to leave for shortly. We got a little rained out yesterday, but the West Sac Running Club meets Sunday mornings, so we're going to go join them for a morning jog. I'm really looking forward to it.
Even though I desperately need new running shoes. Oh well... :-)
Have a wonderful day, my friends. Treasure your loved ones, appreciate your friends, respect those around you, even if they have not earned it, and remember that every choice is ultimately your own.
-Edit-
Running was great, did about 5 miles in total. Fantastic time, beautiful weather.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Foam Rolling
Those of you that know me, know that my flexibility is pretty darn awful, compounded by the fact that my muscles are perpetually knotted and tight. So Dani invited me down to Fleet Feet after running last night, to go to a seminar of sorts on something called foam rolling. In spite of being rather skeptical, I decided to give it a shot, not really knowing what I was getting into.
OMG.
Even today, my right leg feels dramatically better than my left. So many people showed up that there weren't enough rollers for everyone to have one, so we traded out halfway through, thus why only my right side got worked on. So here's basically what foam rolling is...
http://www.coreperformance.com/knowledge/training/foam-roll.html
So we got shown a little routine, focusing primarily on the legs, and it was absolutely wonderful. Very painful initially, but I certainly feel much better now as a result of that. That it could make such a noticeable difference was quite surprising, but I could very clearly feel it working out the knots and tightness in my legs. So, I think I may well go ahead and make myself a good hard roller, and continue the exercises.
Anyone who suffers from perpetually tight muscles like I do could do worse than to take a look at foam rolling. My skepticism has been won over, check it out...
OMG.
Even today, my right leg feels dramatically better than my left. So many people showed up that there weren't enough rollers for everyone to have one, so we traded out halfway through, thus why only my right side got worked on. So here's basically what foam rolling is...
http://www.coreperformance.com/knowledge/training/foam-roll.html
So we got shown a little routine, focusing primarily on the legs, and it was absolutely wonderful. Very painful initially, but I certainly feel much better now as a result of that. That it could make such a noticeable difference was quite surprising, but I could very clearly feel it working out the knots and tightness in my legs. So, I think I may well go ahead and make myself a good hard roller, and continue the exercises.
Anyone who suffers from perpetually tight muscles like I do could do worse than to take a look at foam rolling. My skepticism has been won over, check it out...
Monday, February 22, 2010
Crazy? Yeah, that's my life...
So, I kept seeing signs all over the place for Rosemont Little League, the regional league where I'm living right now. On a whim, I decided to contact the organizer for the coaches and volunteers on the teams to see if they needed any help. I've wanted, for a long time, to play in one of the amateur leagues in the area, but I think it just doesn't fit in with my life right now. As much as I would love to do it, I'm not in that place right now. But a league that meets less than a mile from where I live, where I can help kids in the sport I love? Yeah, that's something worth making time for. So we'll see if anything comes of it. I pulled down my info from the amateur league as well, I do enough stuff for me, one more thing is just one more thing. But if I can share my love of baseball with some kids and work with them, and be around the game I love, that'd definitely be worth the sacrifices to make that happen.
So we'll see. Currently, they don't have a particular need, but as soon as the teams are organized, they'll have a better handle on what volunteers they can use, and I should hear back from them at that point. Sure would be a lot of fun. :-)
So we'll see. Currently, they don't have a particular need, but as soon as the teams are organized, they'll have a better handle on what volunteers they can use, and I should hear back from them at that point. Sure would be a lot of fun. :-)
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Gardening...
Well, I have the garden almost fully laid out for this year. Really looking forward to it, its going to be great! The food over the summer is going to be amazing. I'm so incredibly excited to be working on a project of this scope up there. I have a 25'x50' plot and a 75'x50 plot to play with. Which should give me enough room to do all the veggies I want to, plus some raised beds for herbs. Can you tell I'm excited?! :-) The barbecues and dinners over the summer are going to be the stuff of LEGEND.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Business Plans...
Tomorrow I'm contacting companies about carrying the lap desk I mentioned in prior posts. It'll be interesting to see what the level of interest is in something like that, especially in the companies that carry SM's lap desk. It'd be amazing if I could get contracts with several companies to produce them so I don't have to deal with selling them at all, but I'm also curious to see what kind of terms they will seek for something like that. We'll see...
Companies I'll be calling:
Jas Townsend
Panther Primitives
C&D Jarnagin
The Regimental Quartermaster
Fall Creek Sutlery
That should pretty much take up the time I have available for calling, we'll see how it goes...
Companies I'll be calling:
Jas Townsend
Panther Primitives
C&D Jarnagin
The Regimental Quartermaster
Fall Creek Sutlery
That should pretty much take up the time I have available for calling, we'll see how it goes...
Monday, February 1, 2010
Fixing Nicole's Laptop
So, here, we have identified a large part of the problem. Note the patch of fuzz that looks like something crawled inside and died...The outgoing airflow on the heatsink was heavily obstructed, not to mention the abundance of dust and what-not on the heatsink fins themselves. So, cleaning that out, will be getting some Isopropyl Alcohol to do the final cleaning, so sadly, it probably won't be all finished tonight.
And here is where that guy came out of...
No, I haven't cleaned the fan yet. Yes, I'm going to. :-)
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Friends...
I am really lucky to have some of the friends that I do, people who, if they were able, wouldn't hesitate to be there for me when I need them. I wish that they were here, it sucks that so many of them are far away, whether physically or otherwise. So, you know who you are, thank you. For wanting to be there and caring.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
One of those days
There are times in your life where you just want to be around other people, whether its friends, family or casual acquaintences. Yesterday was definitely one of those days, yet it ended up being one of the most isolated days I've had in a while. Which, in some ways, ended up being very good for me. Hopefully today won't be the same, though.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Dance...
Wow, so that's what it feels like... I'd nearly forgotten what it feels like to learn dance, to push yourself, to expand what you are comfortable with, and that wonderful moment when it clicks, and you suddenly understand what you're doing and can step off with confidence. There were so many moments like that yesterday.
I've done a fair amount of ballroom dancing over the years. It has mostly been social dancing, I haven't really taken many professional lessons, or focused too heavily on technique. I was with the Sacramento Ballroom Dance Company for a few years, that improved my dance quite a bit, but was also limiting in a lot of ways. I didn't get to push myself the way I wanted to, well, that may not be totally fair. I didn't push myself the way I should have as well. I half-assed a lot of things in my life, including that, getting by on my natural abilities, rather than seeing how far my natural abilities can be trained and focused. I decided, when I went through my life assessment back in September, that I wasn't going to half-ass things anymore. As I've been social dancing, and seeing others, and feeling followers' responses to my leads, and looking at my abilities, I realized just how much I've half-assed my dancing over the years. For one of the things that I love the most in my life, I have seriously sold myself short and not pushed what I'm comfortable with, or confident with hardly at all. I made a committment to myself to not do that, and here was an area where I had been doing it for a long, long time.
So, while I was running the other day, I ended up going by Ultimate Dancesport, which is right near where I live now, and on a whim, decided to stop in and see what they were doing. Talked with a really nice guy named Djimi, one of the instructors at the studio, and incidentally, the Argentine Tango teacher. We talked, and he suggested I meet with one of the instructors to have an assessment of where I am, skill-wise and technique-wise. Since I was off work the next day, I said sure, and made an appointment for the next day at 10 with Tania.
So, Tuesday morning, met with Tania, talked about my goals with dance, my background and experience, then went through some basic steps. I think she was a little worried when we started, because she picked what is probably my weakest dance, Rumba. As we went on and I got a little more comfortable, though, she got a better idea of what I know and where I need work. She was quite impressed with my technique on the basic footwork. For the most part, I keep things pretty clean in that respect, and she gave me a few suggestions that I was able to adjust very quickly to do, and I figured overall, I did alright. So, I'm going to be starting some private lessons, as well as doing group lessons,to really focus on learning technique, the basics of all the dances before I start filling in flash and trash. I'm very excited about that.
So, ended up on their website and found out that they had an Argentine Tango lesson that evening, which I'd wanted to do with a friend of mine who ended up having work commitments that conflicted with what we were planning to do. So sadly, that plan got scrapped for January. But on seeing the class, I figured I'd try it out and see how it went. It turned out to be a really fun, challenging, and educational class. Everything that I needed and wanted to stay focused and push myself. I was the only person with no Argentine experience in the group, so I had to play a little catchup, but Djimi is a really good instructor, and very quickly, I made it up to speed. I was initially having some issues leading the women, which is unusual for me, they weren't picking up on the leads. I tend to be, for the most part, a fairly strong lead, and pretty clear in what I wanted, so that was frustrating. So ended up dancing with Djimi to figure out what I was doing wrong. That was a little weird, not because he's a guy, but because he's a very tall guy. Like, probably 6' or a little taller maybe. It is very difficult to see where you're going with someone that much taller than you. Heh, but we got things straightened out fairly quickly, and as it turns out, I was just being too subtle with my lead for people new to Argentine. The lead was there, just not strong enough for the women to pick up on it immediately when they're working on their footwork as well. Once I figured that out, and how to accentuate things a little better, it went quite well. There were a lot of wobbly moments, as its been a LONG time since I've worn latin heels, but overall, I was very pleased with the class and what I learned, and I have a lot to practice and work on now.
Afterwards, dropped in on a beginning salsa class, that unfortunately, was pretty basic for what I'm looking for. Still, it was a lot of fun, and I really like the teacher. He's a ton of fun, really good natured, and a great dancer. Looking forward to getting in on some of his intermediate classes.
But as I'm sitting here writing, I'm thinking about all the things that I can do better, all the areas to focus on, improve, and practice. There is a lot to do, I have a long way to go, and I'm really excited about what is in store.
I've done a fair amount of ballroom dancing over the years. It has mostly been social dancing, I haven't really taken many professional lessons, or focused too heavily on technique. I was with the Sacramento Ballroom Dance Company for a few years, that improved my dance quite a bit, but was also limiting in a lot of ways. I didn't get to push myself the way I wanted to, well, that may not be totally fair. I didn't push myself the way I should have as well. I half-assed a lot of things in my life, including that, getting by on my natural abilities, rather than seeing how far my natural abilities can be trained and focused. I decided, when I went through my life assessment back in September, that I wasn't going to half-ass things anymore. As I've been social dancing, and seeing others, and feeling followers' responses to my leads, and looking at my abilities, I realized just how much I've half-assed my dancing over the years. For one of the things that I love the most in my life, I have seriously sold myself short and not pushed what I'm comfortable with, or confident with hardly at all. I made a committment to myself to not do that, and here was an area where I had been doing it for a long, long time.
So, while I was running the other day, I ended up going by Ultimate Dancesport, which is right near where I live now, and on a whim, decided to stop in and see what they were doing. Talked with a really nice guy named Djimi, one of the instructors at the studio, and incidentally, the Argentine Tango teacher. We talked, and he suggested I meet with one of the instructors to have an assessment of where I am, skill-wise and technique-wise. Since I was off work the next day, I said sure, and made an appointment for the next day at 10 with Tania.
So, Tuesday morning, met with Tania, talked about my goals with dance, my background and experience, then went through some basic steps. I think she was a little worried when we started, because she picked what is probably my weakest dance, Rumba. As we went on and I got a little more comfortable, though, she got a better idea of what I know and where I need work. She was quite impressed with my technique on the basic footwork. For the most part, I keep things pretty clean in that respect, and she gave me a few suggestions that I was able to adjust very quickly to do, and I figured overall, I did alright. So, I'm going to be starting some private lessons, as well as doing group lessons,to really focus on learning technique, the basics of all the dances before I start filling in flash and trash. I'm very excited about that.
So, ended up on their website and found out that they had an Argentine Tango lesson that evening, which I'd wanted to do with a friend of mine who ended up having work commitments that conflicted with what we were planning to do. So sadly, that plan got scrapped for January. But on seeing the class, I figured I'd try it out and see how it went. It turned out to be a really fun, challenging, and educational class. Everything that I needed and wanted to stay focused and push myself. I was the only person with no Argentine experience in the group, so I had to play a little catchup, but Djimi is a really good instructor, and very quickly, I made it up to speed. I was initially having some issues leading the women, which is unusual for me, they weren't picking up on the leads. I tend to be, for the most part, a fairly strong lead, and pretty clear in what I wanted, so that was frustrating. So ended up dancing with Djimi to figure out what I was doing wrong. That was a little weird, not because he's a guy, but because he's a very tall guy. Like, probably 6' or a little taller maybe. It is very difficult to see where you're going with someone that much taller than you. Heh, but we got things straightened out fairly quickly, and as it turns out, I was just being too subtle with my lead for people new to Argentine. The lead was there, just not strong enough for the women to pick up on it immediately when they're working on their footwork as well. Once I figured that out, and how to accentuate things a little better, it went quite well. There were a lot of wobbly moments, as its been a LONG time since I've worn latin heels, but overall, I was very pleased with the class and what I learned, and I have a lot to practice and work on now.
Afterwards, dropped in on a beginning salsa class, that unfortunately, was pretty basic for what I'm looking for. Still, it was a lot of fun, and I really like the teacher. He's a ton of fun, really good natured, and a great dancer. Looking forward to getting in on some of his intermediate classes.
But as I'm sitting here writing, I'm thinking about all the things that I can do better, all the areas to focus on, improve, and practice. There is a lot to do, I have a long way to go, and I'm really excited about what is in store.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Some good, some bad, life goes on
Well, lets see where to begin... I missing my best friend right now, she and I have gone our separate ways in what will hopefully be best for us in the long-term, but right now, it just sucks. All the way 'round. There isn't an upside to losing your best friend, ever. Its a struggle, every minute, to not pick up the phone and want to try again and again and again, like we've been doing. But doing so would just be selfish of me, which I'm not going to do. Not after everything I've put her through.
My partner for Argentine Tango is going to be traveling for the next two months for work, so she won't be able to do Tango By the River with me. Which is really disappointing, but I can't exactly complain too much, it is for work. Soooo.... Find a new partner, I guess, try it next month? Who knows.
Got all the paperwork to officially file for my Fictitious Business License. Will be doing that on Monday, at which point I'll open up a bank account, get checks, and officially start my business. Really, really excited about the opportunities that that holds. More than anything else, that is something that I can pour my heart and soul into right now, when every idle minute brings more thoughts of Nicole. I wanted her to be a part of this too, so in some ways, its bittersweet, but its my dream, and I have an opportunity to pursue it right now, when I have no attachments, nothing to distract me. But on the other hand, its also a time when I have very little inspiring me. That makes it hard sometimes. I operate better with a muse, but I have a clear vision of my future, and that will sustain me for now.
Got kept on at JC Penneys, and am getting a decent number of hours, if not quite as many as I'd like. Hopefully, the number will be getting ramped up, as one of the primary people in my department got transferred to a different area due to stupid and senseless politics and general bitchiness. Its really crappy, but eh, c'est la vie.
One of my good friends is coming up this weekend so we can make a reproduction of his great-great-etc-grandfather's lap desk from the Civil War. I'll have photos up documenting our process at some point, hopefully before too long. Should be a really cool and exciting project, and definitely a learning experience for me. I'm looking forward to it, a lot. That'll hopefully be one of the mainstays of my business.
Speaking of which, for those of you that don't know, this is the plan:
Reproduction Woodworks - Specializing in historically accurate and documented reproductions, but also doing general woodwork for various vendors at Ren Faires, etc. I'm currently working on three primary projects that will be the pilot pieces for this venture. The first is an original folding chair from the Civil War. All of the templates, and initial leg members are cut out and ready to assemble. I'm waiting for correct rivets from RJ Leahy to complete the prototype, at which point, I will be sending out an e-mail to solicit the first round of orders for the chairs. First 10 replys will get a discounted price. I'm planning on marketing by letting people who purchase my products give referrals. Anyone that purchases from me, and mentions someone by name, the referer will get a $5 coupon towards their next purchase. That should drive some business, and make people who promote my products able to get things at pretty nicely reduced prices. Secondly, I'll be making Bread Boxes, Ammunition Boxes and Rifle Boxes for the Civil War, which are all simple to make, cheap to produce, and there aren't many people making them right now. Those will be marketed to the sutlers throughout CA, as they're a bit hard to ship long distances, but if there is demand for that, I'll approach that when I'm ready to. Third will be the Lap Desk that I am making this weekend, and those will be marketed nation-wide. I'm going to see if I can work some contacts I have with east-coast reenactors to get one out there and on display. That is by far the larger market, and what I want to break into eventually. Doing so will dramatically improve the profitability of the business.
On the side (well, at the moment, we'll see if it becomes the primary money-maker), New Stirling Arms wants me to start making goblets, which I'm looking forward to, it will be a great project to develop. Over the next three weeks, I'll be doing prototype designs, then take up several examples to NSA to see what they want to proceed with. Then, into production in the spring. That, in addition to the crossbows and catapults, which are coming along nicely.
To facilitate all of this expansion, I'm going to seek a $8000 loan for materials and to build one of these: http://www.mechmate.com/
This'll handle all of the drilling, boring and cut out of the chair parts, possibly even doing parts of the lap desk if I can get it set up how I'd like, and also making the crossbows I do sooo much easier and faster. As in, cutting my time EASILY in half, probably reducing two-thirds of the work for the crossbows as well as giving a superior result. Then, having that in the shop will open up a lot of other avenues for pursuing work, both for NSA and other vendors, as well as projects in modern woodworking.
Soooooo.... That's the plan. If you know anyone that would be interested in investing or reviewing my full business plan and financial plans, let me know.
And we'll see where life takes me from there.
My partner for Argentine Tango is going to be traveling for the next two months for work, so she won't be able to do Tango By the River with me. Which is really disappointing, but I can't exactly complain too much, it is for work. Soooo.... Find a new partner, I guess, try it next month? Who knows.
Got all the paperwork to officially file for my Fictitious Business License. Will be doing that on Monday, at which point I'll open up a bank account, get checks, and officially start my business. Really, really excited about the opportunities that that holds. More than anything else, that is something that I can pour my heart and soul into right now, when every idle minute brings more thoughts of Nicole. I wanted her to be a part of this too, so in some ways, its bittersweet, but its my dream, and I have an opportunity to pursue it right now, when I have no attachments, nothing to distract me. But on the other hand, its also a time when I have very little inspiring me. That makes it hard sometimes. I operate better with a muse, but I have a clear vision of my future, and that will sustain me for now.
Got kept on at JC Penneys, and am getting a decent number of hours, if not quite as many as I'd like. Hopefully, the number will be getting ramped up, as one of the primary people in my department got transferred to a different area due to stupid and senseless politics and general bitchiness. Its really crappy, but eh, c'est la vie.
One of my good friends is coming up this weekend so we can make a reproduction of his great-great-etc-grandfather's lap desk from the Civil War. I'll have photos up documenting our process at some point, hopefully before too long. Should be a really cool and exciting project, and definitely a learning experience for me. I'm looking forward to it, a lot. That'll hopefully be one of the mainstays of my business.
Speaking of which, for those of you that don't know, this is the plan:
Reproduction Woodworks - Specializing in historically accurate and documented reproductions, but also doing general woodwork for various vendors at Ren Faires, etc. I'm currently working on three primary projects that will be the pilot pieces for this venture. The first is an original folding chair from the Civil War. All of the templates, and initial leg members are cut out and ready to assemble. I'm waiting for correct rivets from RJ Leahy to complete the prototype, at which point, I will be sending out an e-mail to solicit the first round of orders for the chairs. First 10 replys will get a discounted price. I'm planning on marketing by letting people who purchase my products give referrals. Anyone that purchases from me, and mentions someone by name, the referer will get a $5 coupon towards their next purchase. That should drive some business, and make people who promote my products able to get things at pretty nicely reduced prices. Secondly, I'll be making Bread Boxes, Ammunition Boxes and Rifle Boxes for the Civil War, which are all simple to make, cheap to produce, and there aren't many people making them right now. Those will be marketed to the sutlers throughout CA, as they're a bit hard to ship long distances, but if there is demand for that, I'll approach that when I'm ready to. Third will be the Lap Desk that I am making this weekend, and those will be marketed nation-wide. I'm going to see if I can work some contacts I have with east-coast reenactors to get one out there and on display. That is by far the larger market, and what I want to break into eventually. Doing so will dramatically improve the profitability of the business.
On the side (well, at the moment, we'll see if it becomes the primary money-maker), New Stirling Arms wants me to start making goblets, which I'm looking forward to, it will be a great project to develop. Over the next three weeks, I'll be doing prototype designs, then take up several examples to NSA to see what they want to proceed with. Then, into production in the spring. That, in addition to the crossbows and catapults, which are coming along nicely.
To facilitate all of this expansion, I'm going to seek a $8000 loan for materials and to build one of these: http://www.mechmate.com/
This'll handle all of the drilling, boring and cut out of the chair parts, possibly even doing parts of the lap desk if I can get it set up how I'd like, and also making the crossbows I do sooo much easier and faster. As in, cutting my time EASILY in half, probably reducing two-thirds of the work for the crossbows as well as giving a superior result. Then, having that in the shop will open up a lot of other avenues for pursuing work, both for NSA and other vendors, as well as projects in modern woodworking.
Soooooo.... That's the plan. If you know anyone that would be interested in investing or reviewing my full business plan and financial plans, let me know.
And we'll see where life takes me from there.
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