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4th of July Status

Jake — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 21:28:02 +0000

Things I didn’t do this holiday weekend:

Ride my motorcycle
Start building bookcases
Hang out with friends
Go to the Monday CrossFit workout

Things I did do this holiday weekend:

Finished installing the new baseboard
Made lavender simple syrup
Took the wife out for a lovely lunch at Salt
Cleaned up the garage just a tiny bit
Cooked a bunch so we’ll have lots of easy leftovers
Went to the Saturday CrossFit workout and still can’t walk straight

I call that a win overall.

Progress!

Jake — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:33:51 +0000

I needed (wanted — same thing…) to build a half wall above the basement stairs before I got to start on laying the new bamboo flooring.

So, that’s what I started on today. The wall is up, but only partially sheathed in drywall.

Me and the MFing wall that I built
Originally uploaded by Jake Sutton.

Also, I’m finished with my “month off” from booze. Hip to tha hooray, y’all.

Paint the Fence

Jake — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:08:16 +0000

Yesterday a bunch of coworkers and friends helped me sand an stain my deck rail. We had started with the hope of doing the whole damned thing, but that turned out to be an impossible dream.

I’m pretty stoked about the result of the day, though. The rail looks awesome.

Thanks everyone!

Much Nothing About… Ado?

Jake — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:09:51 +0000

Took last week off to get a little break after our big launch at work. It turned into a fairly busy period in between all the loafing on the couch.

Highlights:

Had a meeting with Ma and her giant dog rescue crew and got them introduced to my boss in case we can do some pro-bono work for them. We have a meeting scheduled for this Tuesday, so we’ll see if anything comes of it.
Took Mingus in for shoulder x-rays to see if anything joint-related was making him gimpy. Turns out the joints look pretty darned good. Hooray no surgery for the dog.
I had a medical visit myself, but that warrants its own post… Coming soon…
Painted the kitchen a pretty little shade of blue with the help of The Wife.
Spent the 4th at Brozo‘s, which is fast becoming tradition. Drank some beers, threw a couple bottle rockets, managed not to start any fires. Y’know, standard stuff.
The next day we made it out to see the Burlesque As It Was troupe put on a righteous USO-style show. That Charlie Champale is something else, I tell ya. The girls were pretty fun, too. We liked it so much, in fact, we’re going to see them again on the 26th at the Bluebird theater in Denver.
Today’s highlight was Rafa “Gun Show” Nadal finally finishing off Roger Federer in a marathon Wimbledon final. That and being able to buy a bunch of beer on a Sunday. Nice!

Other than that, I got to watch some Red Sox baseball, but really that hardly matters to me — I don’t really pay attention until September.

So, the iPhone 3G comes out this Friday, eh? Hmmmmm…

Quick Hits

Jake — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:00:12 +0000

My Colorado Avalanche managed to make it through the first round of the NHL playoffs. Now they have the pleasure of playing the possibly unstoppable Detroit Red Wings in the second round. In truth the Wings have looked fairly human this season, especially in the playoffs. We shall see.
The Wife and I are suddenly both able to jog something like 2.5 miles continuously. This is a big jump from where we were. I definitely believe a course change is the prime contributor to the improvement.
Since September of 2007, I’ve manage to whittle myself from around 220lbs to 190-ish. I only have this to say: It’s a lot of friggin’ work.
I cannot tell you how excited I am about GTA IV. The multiplayer action looks like a flat out hoot. Email me if you want my Xbox Live gamer tag.
Meanwhile, The Wife is all about the Karaoke Revolution on the 360. They’ve been all over adding downloadable songs to it. It’s really pretty impressive so far. Not to mention tons of fun.
I’m really sick of the Democratic primary garbage. I’m still backing the liberal black man, though.
My Ma has a fancy new deck on her house. It’s totally sweet.
I really need to sand & stain my deck this year (just like I have for the past couple years). Boo.
Went to a DeRailed (the Denver Rails user group) meeting last night. They covered interesting material, but I ended up leaving early anyway. It was definitely what you’d expect, demographically.

The Weekly-ish Update

Jake — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:41:50 +0000

Random tidbits once again:

I’m really pleased with the results of my latest slate tile project. Now I’m itching to switch into woodworking mode. I’m super excited about the new episodes of the New Yankee Workshop: Norm is building kitchen cabinets. I plan to eventually build cabinets for the mudroom and perhaps the garage (as practice for the potential “big job” of the actual kitchen). I think I’ll go ahead and buy the DVDs.
I’m gradually building up my home entertainment system to match the new TV. I’ve gotten a fancy HDMI-switching receiver and a fairly cool iPod dock thingy. Next on my list is a TiVo HD. Then some surround speakers of some sort (I’m still living in stereo, folks…). And then maybe an Xbox 360, finally. (Still holding out for GTA4 on that one.)
On the fitness front, my weight dipped below 200 pounds for the first time in a while yesterday. It’s back above today, but we’ll assume that’s temporary. I’m going to join a climbing gym soon, I think. A great new motivator I have is the Garmin Forerunner 205 I got for Xmas. It’s not as sexy as the new 405 everyone is drooling over, but it’s pretty darned cool. Of course, now I’m obsessed with tracking the slightest walk / jog / jaunt to the mail box. When The Wife teased me about it I quipped, “Are you kidding? I’m gonna track my trips to the bathroom from now on!”
Lots of interesting gossip about former coworkers and new coworkers. That’s about all I’ll say about that, I suppose.
I’m still an Obama cheerleader, though I don’t generally like to air my politics on this site. I like the look of things right now.
Trent Reznor isn’t exactly excited by the results of the Niggy Tardust experiment.
TV sucks almighty ass right now. I know there’s a writer’s strike going, but why aren’t networks taking better advantage by replaying some of the good stuff we might have missed previously? Example: AMC’s Mad Men? (Ooh! There’s an encore starting Jan 21. Nice.) At least I always have books to read.

So yeah… What’s new with you?

Quietude

Jake — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:13:46 +0000

We’ve got issues with our cable intarwebs at the house, so posting will be even more sparse than usual while I a) dick around with Comcast b) order DSL and wait for the modem to arrive.

Update: And we’re back! Whew!

Stuff and Junk

Jake — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 19:49:55 +0000

Firstly, it’s worth noting that The Mother-in-Law has a new dog. Molly is a blue heeler mix of some sort. She’s really sweet, though a bit crazy and fairly untrained. We’re hopeful, though, since Australian Cattle Dogs are in the top ten for dog breed intelligence.

Next on the docket are the mighty Rockies. Now, I’m not a baseball fan. I root for the Red Sox on principal alone. But c’mon! Who doesn’t love a “hometown underdog does good” story? Best of all, I know one Phillies fan who is an extremely sore loser. This could be fun.

In general, Autumn is upon us. The transition seasons always get me fired up in one way or another.

The Wife and I are taking a lot of long walks with Mingus to try to shed some pounds and keep the dog happy.

I’ve barely been on the Bonneville this year, but it’s OK. My favorite riding time is now, so hopefully I’ll get in the saddle at least a few times. I wish I was like these guys.

I’m itching to start a home project or a woodworking project (or both) soon. Updates when I do.

Hi. How are you?

Jake — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 01:45:36 +0000

So the big news of the past few days is the hot water heater saga:

Last Thursday evening The Wife and I went out in Boulder to the Rio with a gaggle of my new coworkers. After a lovely evening discussing the possibilities of attending a roller derby, a mixed martial arts bout, or a minor league hockey game (or all three) with the company founder’s wife, we came home to discover that we had no hot water. A quick trip downstairs revealed that our twelve-year-old tank was done and dead and pissing itself on the basement floor. Off go the water valves, and I know what I get to do Friday (hardly a worthwhile day off work, if you ask me).

Long story shorter than it might be: We actually had the funds on-hand to do the upgrade to a tankless water heater like I’ve wanted to do. Now I’m a proud owner of a Rinnai unit hidden away in my crawl space. The old space for the water heater is now only filled by a wall-mounted control panel. Best of all, I can take a shower all friggin’ day long if I want to.

There are couple downsides: the hot water is mighty slow to come at first; the hot water pressure is noticeably lower than that of the cold water. But neither of those bother me much — the continuous nature of the hot water (I can now happily take my shower after everyone else in the house!) more than balances them out, IMO. (Oh, and I guess I get $300 next tax season…)
Also worth noting: David at Oasis Plumbing rules me – highly recommended.

Other News:

I went for the first ride of 2007 on the Bonneville today. Hooray, Spring!
Ze’s winding down and getting all philosophical about it.
Shay and Rachel done got hitched. Mazel tov!

He’s Crafty!

Jake — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 02:10:22 +0000

This evening, I got the urge to try and make a wallet out of Gorilla Tape. I’d call the project a definite success (especially considering this was a first go at it), but the result won’t be replacing my usual wallet.

Related note: I like the new Craft magazine even more than I enjoy it’s big brother, Make.