Monday, January 27, 2014

Getting closer to having a TV...

Painted the wall and got the TV mount bolted up, still using the computer monitor for now.

Did figure out my good laptop in the home office has HDMI which is what most of the new TVs use...so I can run a 20' or 30' cable through the basement and up by here.


Thursday, January 23, 2014

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Sisu

Saw this great explanation, part of a bit longer article, from Finlandia University

To the Finnish people, sisu has a mystical, almost magical meaning. Sisu (pronounced - see'-soo) is a unique Finnish concept. It is a Finnish term that can be roughly translated into English as strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity.

Sisu is not momentary courage, but the ability to sustain that courage. It is a word that cannot be fully translated. It defines the Finnish people and their character. It stands for the philosophy that what must be done will be done, regardless of cost.

Sisu is an inherent characteristic of the Finnish people. You might call it backbone, spunk, stamina, guts, or drive and perseverance. It is a measure of integrity that surpasses the hardship and sees through to the end.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Why I should not plumb...

I just went into the basement to put insulation on the pipes.

Then I saw the drop of water on the drain cover on one of the valves.

It fell apart in my hand. The hardware store didn't have that size.

Four hours, three trips to the store, two valves, one tee, two elbows, several joints, and about a foot of new copper later my water system was restored to working order.

Oh, and if you disconnect the kitchen sink to drop a pipe to replace an elbow that was sitting right on the sill...remember to connect it again before turning the water back on.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Firewood

Put in 90 minutes on the pile today -- cut some dirty wood, changed the chain, finished that tank of gas, refueled, went another 30 minutes which probably used most of that tank...couple years ago it would've taken me a couple hours to go through a tank.








Mila Kunis off the rail...

...and gives the best interview ever. With Chris Stark on BBC1:


Saturday, January 18, 2014

More brilliant planning...

Decided, after putting up the shelf, to paint the wall :)

I'm going to try the same brown paint I have for the wall by the woodstove and the kitchen.

I did find Benjamin Moore 2119-30 that I think would be awesome, provided the black wouldn't make the room look too small. Yes, I over think this stuff :) But this post is mostly so I can remember that paint code.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

More shelving...

Built this week -- to match the perimeter shelving around the office.

Now that it is up, I can make a paper template and figure out where I want to mount a TV along that wall and put up the bracket. Then finally spring to buy a TV! Every time I read the reviews to buy a nice Samsung and the mixed reviews, the better it might be to buy a cheaper TV and figure I can upgrade to a much better one in a few years.

And clearly I need to paint! The ceilings will have to wait till after wood heating season is done so I can paint about the woodstove at the same time. I like the blue for my office, but I'm thinking something more neutral / earth tone would be good here.

Tried a different design to hold this up than the eye-bolts I used before -- a piece of metal strut(?) along the wall, with short pieces from it to hold up the shelf.


But I needed to put up false work to hold the shelf while I assembled and bolted everything together:


Super glued on a washer as a spacer:


Bolted it all together:


Unfortunately, it didn't work out as strong as I hoped and I needed to re-purpose the falsework brackets to instead help hold up the shelf in a level front-to-back position. But I'll be able to hide these behind books or brickback or something. I see a Target trip for house bling coming up.