Tailgating - Its not just for football games anymore

For Christmas my wife bought me the Weber Q100 portable BBQ grill. We were at Walmart late one night and they had the grill on discount for about 30% off . We have always had good experiences with Weber grills so we bought it. 

Refinishing My Old Back Wood Door

Once again I did something that when before I started it seemed like a great idea, but as soon as I started, it was "Oh no what did I do".  Now that I am done I am glad I did it but the process to get there was not pleasant.

First Fire of the Year

One of the things I love about the winter season is being able to build a fire.  There is something magical about a fire that demands my full attention, soothes my wandering mind and brings a warmth of joy to my soul.

Fixing the Whine From My Ford Explorer V8 Engine.

Friday I set out to finally fix the whine that was coming from my engine. I had a couple of different shops tell me they thought it was the power steering pump and the Fords are notorious for having loud power steering pumps. So when I started to troubleshoot the problem I was a little bias towards my problem and my pre-conceived cause.

Today's plugged toilet was brought to you by the letter "H"

Once again I came home to a plugged toilet.  Preston is the usual culprit but he wasn't fessing up to it this time, I never did find out who did it. After fighting with the kids to get them to bed, I didn't feel like taking care of the toilet so I ended up fixing it in the morning.  In the situations where I cannot get the plugged toilet to drain with the normal tools: Toilet Plunger or a BrassCraft Homeowner Toilet Auger it's time to pull the toilet and remove the plug from the bottom.

A Halloween repair - Adding a ceiling switch box

The switch in my closet has been broken for some time now and I finally decided to do something about it last night. I figured I might as well take advantage of the sugar buzz and put the energy to good use.

Technorati - The Google of blog search engines

I have submitted my blog to Technorati which was founded to help bloggers succeed by collecting, highlighting, and distributing the global online conversation.

Read more: http://technorati.com/about-technorati/#ixzz1bO4yaRDJ

Technorati is the "Google" of blog search engines.

W9AQJP3WGUD3

Murray Moontlight Run

This past Saturday night my wife and I ran in the Murray Moontlight Run.  Yes that is spelled right.  I don't know why there is a t in the title, but there is so it makes searching for it on the Internet a lot harder (UPDATE, only some web pages have it spelled with a T, I think the actual web site has it omitted).

Conner Show us the cheap mans way of waxing

Scout camp is always a fun and adventurous time where boys get to do dumb things. Conner was talked into wrapping duct tape around his leg, which from the sounds of the video (sorry for the poor quality) you can tell it was a cheap painful way of waxing your legs.

This is just one piece of tape that had Conner's hair on it.  He had bald spots on his leg from where the tape was torn off.

Wifi Enabled Thermostat

For the longest time I have wanted to get a wifi enabled thermostat, but have never really needed one. This past summer my old thermostat went and I was forced to get a new one. While I was at Home Depot looking for a new one I noticed the various different types. First you have the cheap $20 - $30 ones with don't do much more than adjust your temperature. Next you have the mid range which do a little more and they run from $40 - $70. Finally you have the wifi enabled ones that run about $99. As I looked at these models I decided that its not that much more to go with the wifi one.

PVC Marshmallow Shooters - Linkin logs for adults

I seem to be on a PVC kick. Maybe because it seems like adult linkin-logs I don't know, but today I decided to build PVC marshmallow shooters with/for my kids.  (Yes really for my kids)

ksl.com - S.L. County begins weekly recycling pickups to preserve landfill

Come on Provo City, get with the program already. Weekly pickup is the key, so people will stop throwing away their recycalbes because the blue can is full.

ksl.com - S.L. County begins weekly recycling pickups to preserve landfill

Finally a discount on Thai food near where I live.

I love Thai food, so when I saw that Groupon had a deal on for Pad Thai Siam I had to write a post about it.  This deal seems like it would work best for dinner (maybe a date) rather than lunch, since they have a pretty good lunch special already.

Paid Thai Siam Groupon Deal

Pixy Stix Challenge

The challenge: Pour half of a large pixy stix into your rootbeer/applebeer and chug it as quickly as possible!

BYU Cougar Club—Salt Lake Chapter: Holmoe, Morris, Cahoon, Kariya, & Kaveinga to Spea...

BYU Cougar Club—Salt Lake Chapter: Holmoe, Morris, Cahoon, Kariya, & Kaveinga to Spea...: "This Saturday’s 6th Annual Big Blue Bash, a pre-season BYU football party, will feature past BYU greats and current players including Tom Ho..."

Rocky Mountain Wingshak - Groupon Deal (52% off)

If you are like me then you love the wings at the Rocky Mountain Wingshak.  Groupon currently has a deal for 52% off the chicken-wing meal for two.  This is the first time I have seen a deal for the wingshak, but you had better act quick.  The deal will not last long.

If you use this link, I can get a referral bonus (SO USE THE LINK) The Daily Man Shows Groupon Link

ksl.com - UDOT wins management award

OK I don't usually post this kind of thing on my blog. But are you kidding me? If UDOT won this award for management I would hate to see their competition. I think KSL must have misprinted this. It was supposed to say "UDOT wins mismanagement award"

ksl.com - UDOT wins management award

Judging a Book by Its Cover - Restoring a Cabinet

A few years ago I accepted some old cupboards that came out of a local daycare.  My intention was to hang them in my garage, but as everyone knows the world is filled with good intentions.  As the years passed by the cupboards just collected dust in my garage.  Slowly I would hang a single cupboard until all of them were hung, except the smallest one which was intended for my laundry room.

Every Thing is Better in the Rain - Including Running

Photo by: Patrick O.

For those of you who know me, you know that I hate running. I just don't get that euphoric reaction from it that others (like my wife) seem to get. Usually while running all I can think about is that I intentionally ran to this point, and now I have to run back.

Be the Handy Man - How to Replace the Motor on your Dryer

When the dryer stopped working after 8 years of service I was at a cross-roads.  I could ether have a technician come out and fix the dryer or I could replace it with a new one.  I didn't really have $500 bucks to spend on a new dryer, and sad as it may seem it was almost that much to have a technician come out and fix it. 

The Dirty Dash - Death by Mud!

Am I crazy to think that I can go from being a couch potato to running a 10K (while wallowing in mud) by September 24th?

Fathers & Sons campout

Over the weekend I had the chance to take my son to our churches Father's & Sons campout.  I use to go to these camps with my Father when I was younger, and I have always been looking forward to the time when I could take my own sons.

Men’s rugby advances to national championship | Universe.byu.edu

Men’s rugby advances to national championship Universe.byu.edu

A Great Deal - If You Don't Mind a Little Dirt

My local BSA council is currently in the process of replacing all of their older Springbar tents at their council scout camps, which allowed me to pick up a great tent at even a greater price.

Watching TV on your computer with encrypted digital cable.

I, like a lot of people use my computer as a DVR. That was until my cable provider decided to start encrypting almost all of my TV stations, effectively squashing the DVR concept on my computer. It wasn't that bad when I lost all of my premium stations as I didn't record much from them, but then one day I also lost my HD local channels.

Spring Skiing at its Best

When I think of spring skiing I tend to think of slushy snow that turns into ice. It usually brings back memories of injuring my shoulder on the last day of the season because of the "spring" conditions (oh and a bit of me goofing around). What I do not think of is fresh powder, with beautiful untouched hillsides on a gorgeous 50 degree sunny day.

iD10t Error - Take two

This is now the second time I have written this entry, thanks to a glitch in blogger. I guess the first draft sucked so bad blogger thought I needed to rewrite it. I just wish the next time blogger decides to erase a complete post it will not then follow it up with an auto save seconds later.

At some point in life part of being a man is admitting when you make a mistake. As I don't do this often (make mistakes :), not the admitting part) its hard to write about one that almost left me stranded in Southern Utah with a hefty repair bill.

The lumberjack diet

After watching info commercial after info commercial on these new fad diets, I decided "Hey I am a smart guy" I should be able to come up with something equally as good.

Paralyzed Utah County woman to race in Boston Marathon - ksl.com

Paralyzed Utah County woman to race in Boston Marathon - ksl.com

I have to give props to Katie who is racing in the Boston Marathon.  Reading this article just makes me stop and think "What is my problem? I can't even run a mile." So thank you Katie for your inspiration and making me Man up, I guess its time to start running.

Liquid Candy Slot Machine

In a land of "Bigger is Better" when it comes to liquid candy dispensers, no one does it better than Common Cents. 

Each fountain has the ability to mix up to 4 flavor shots into your soda, giving it a perfect mixture every time. The flavor mixing seems to be a Utah thing because whenever I travel and ask for a "Vanilla coke" or a "Cherry Coke" I always get blank stares, or a "Why would you want that?" but here different flavors of soda is very common.

Every month it seems they have a different special going on. Currently it is the 32oz drink for only 79 cents, and to think this would be considered a small (or maybe a medium) drink. With the large being 44oz and extra large being 52 or 64ozs.

I think this must be an American thing because I have never seen something like it anywhere else. For me it is great, instead of a pub I head to the local gas station for a pint (of soda)

It is March Madness time, don't forget to fill out your tournament brackets

Join my "Noting But Randoms" Group. Where all you have to do is Select "Auto Pick->Random" and then save it. It will take you 2 seconds.

Just follow the link below.

Noting but Randoms


Group ID : 150802
Password: randomboys

The Nemesis has fallen

After being beat up by New Mexico in the regular season, BYUs Mens' Basketball team was able to exact their revenge tonight in a 87-76 win over New Mexico in The Mountainwest's conference semifinal tournament game. Jimmer put up 52 points by himself. That guy rocks

ESPN Sports

Home Depot - Little Man Work Shop

I had to go to The Home Depot today to pick up some MDF board to make a muddroom locker cubby. (I will do a separate post about it) I took my son with me so we could have some male bonding time.  I walked into home depot and was surprised by the hundreds of kids running around the store.  I had forgotten that Home Depot does a little kids work shop the first Saturday of every month.  Today they were building Home Depot Nascar racing cars. 

We picked up our free kit and got to work.  The kit included a couple of pieces of wood that needed to be glued, and nailed together, as well as axles, wheels and stickers. 

Preston loved using the hammer to pound in the nails.  He could only get them pounded in so far and he would have to ask for help to finish them.  He was pretty excited about his car and kept asking when we could put the wheels on.

When we were finally done nailing the car together and putting the wheels on, Preston got to put on the stickers.  I mean really what kid doesn't love glue, a hammer, and stickers?

Once we were finished with his car, we were able to pick up the stuff that I needed for the muddroom project.  The whole experience just wore him out and for the rest of our trip he just chilled on the side of the cart.

What a great Saturday morning I had being able to spend it with my son. Thanks Home Depot.

Big O Tires - Buy 2 get 2 tires mostly free

Well I finally broke down and bought new tires for my Suburban. Big O Tires was having a sale on a few select tires.

Buy two tires get two tires for free.  Sounds like a deal doesn't it? Well guess what? It is.  They did have a couple of stipulations that had to be included in order to get the deal, but quite honestly I would have done them anyway.  1st is that you had to buy their 1 year alignment package (my car needed one anyway, and now I can take it in any time I feel I need another alignment for the next year for free) and 2nd you had to buy their road hazard warranty, which I would have done anyway. 

This is what they look like on my Suburban.
I think they look great!

The sales guy wanted me to buy their BigO Big Foot A/T tires (I have had them before and I liked them) he was under the impression they were not that much more, and would be closer to what I really wanted out of my tires, but once he looked up the price (almost twice as much) he jumped on board with the Falkin Wild Peak A/T tires.  Because of the sale it was pretty busy, so it took over an hour to get my new tires put on and the alignment done (The toeing was out and so it always pulled right).  Now that the new tires are on and the alignment is done, the suburban drives smooth, quite and straight.  I ended up buying a new tires a little sooner than I wanted to, but was able to save over 400 bucks, so who can complain?

Domino's provides online ordering!

I was in the mood for Pizza tonight, and it just so happened that a Domino's Pizza commercial was on. Domino's is offering a 2 topping medium pizza and 8 chicken wings for $5.99 each... I love chicken wings so I was sold. 

The problem was that I didn't even know where the local store was.  Its a good thing that I have the Internet, or else i wouldn't have found one of the coolest things I have ever seen for a fast food restaurant (or any restaurant that is)  Domino's Pizza allows you to order your food online. 

That's right You can complete your whole order online with out having to speak to a single person.  Then you just select if you wish to pick it up or have it delivered.  They even provide a way to track your order so you know when its ready.  I find this totally awesome and will have to suggest to the Daily Rock show to blog about it.  You seriously need to check this out, its worth the $13 bucks alone. (oh and you get some food too)

Domino's Pizza allows you to order online.

Now that's a great idea! - Brutus Contour Gauge

The other day while wandering through the Home Depot I happened upon a tool that when I saw it my first words were "Well it's about time." 

It is called the Brutus 10in contour gauge, and its used to duplicate the shape of an item and then you can transfer that shape onto another surface. 

For those of you who have done any tile work, you might be able to appreciate the tool.  In the past when ever I have to cut around a pipe in the floor, or a toilet drain, or some odd shaped corner, I have pretty much just guessed the best I could and then fixed my mistakes with grout, or caulking. 

Now that I found this tool I won't have to guess anymore. All you have to do is push it up against the odd shape and then use it as a template onto the surface you are cutting.  It's genius, and like I said before "What it's about time."

For more information see: Brutus Contour Gauge at the Home Depot.

BYU Basketball is shown the love

After beating CSU and SDSU last week, BYU mens basketball was finally shown the love by pollsters.  They are now ranked #3 in both the coaches and the AP polls, with an RPI of #1.

Congratulations Cougars

NCAAB Division I Polls

How to get a straight paint line with heavly textured walls.

One of the biggest problems I have had while remodelling my home is the heavy texture on my walls. When I would attempt to paint a nice straight line of color it would always bleed underneath the tape. Then I would have to come back with a straight edge and touch up the wall everywhere the paint would bleed. For a large wall its a very long and tedious process. 

The other day I decided to try something a little different.  After applying the tape as usual, I also pulled out some Latex Caulk (it has to be paintable) and applied a very very thin amount to the seem of the tape, and then rubbed it in with my thumb to the point where the painters caulking is almost not even noticeable. The idea is the the painters caulk fills in the gaps that the tape cannot.

After the caulk dries (depending on the caulk you use this can be anywhere between 20 minutes and 2 hours) Apply paint as normal, and viola you will have a straight clean line, regardless of how textured the service. 



Taped without caulking

Taped with caulking



As you can see the painted surface using tape and caulking produced a clean straight line, where as the painted surface using just tape bleed and produced splotches and an unclean line. 

So when you need a clean straight painted line, take the extra time and use the caulk, and save time by not having to touch up your work when you are finished. Nothing makes a painted room look worse then messy crooked painted lines.

UPDATE:  So a friend of mine read this post and suggested another way to get clean straight lines.  He told me that a painter friend of his applies the tape, then paints a small amount of the paint color that is underneath the tape. So on my cranberry/white wall if I would tape the white side of the wall, and then paint over the edge with the white paint.  This allows for the white paint to bleed onto the white wall. Once its dry just paint the cranberry wall as normal.  The white paint will seal the tape line (like the caulking) and you should end up with a beautiful straight clean paint line.

BYU Sweeps SDSU

Just got done watching the #7 BYU beat #6 SDSU. Congratulations to the Cougars for sweeping SDSU.  They are the only NCAA basketball team this year to be able to beat the Aztecs. Here's to a #1 seed in the tourney.


ESPN

Custom molding for my window

Picture 1.

I am currently in the process of remodelling my laundry room. Because its an older house (built in 1922) nothing is standard and I find myself coming across unique issues all of the time.

Today's unique issue was that one of the windows had a non standard window sill.  As you can see in picture 1, I had to fill the gap with expanding foam, but there was still a 3/8 inch lip that I needed to cover.

Picture 2.

Who ever installed the window the first time, put a 1/4 round molding on the top of it, and then used putty to fill in the gap.  I though about doing the same thing, but decided to pull out the trusty router and make a piece of custom molding for it instead.  I took a 2x1 inch board, and ripped it on my table saw to a 1x1. I then routed out the bottom using a 3/4 inch router bit, to accommodate for the odd size lip on the sill. Finally I put a 3/4 inch round end on the top to give it a nice smooth round finish.


The finished product fit wonderfully, and looks much cleaner than a 1/4 round molding piece with a bunch of putty would have looked. 

Picture 3.

In the end custom is always better than prefabbed, (or MacGyver work, unless you are MacGyver.)

Close up of the finished molding.

How I ended up sporting a Mohawk.

The other night my brother asked me to come over to help install some industrial lights in his garage (Apparently the two 40 watt bulbs were making it hard to see.) These are close to the Lights that were being installed

After pre-drilling all of the holes for the mounts, and putting anchors in, we anchored one side in while my brother was hooking up the wires to the electronic ballast. 

I jumped down from the step ladder I was on to move it to the next mount hole when BAM! I was smacked in the head.  At first I was a little stunned, but then I realized that the light had pulled itself from the ceiling, anchor and all (wussy anchor.) I grabbed my head where I was hit, and applied some pressure.  My brother wanted to see what the damage was, and when I removed my hand it was covered with blood.  My first concern was the amount of hair that was in my hand, seeing that these days hair is a rare commodity for me. Even though the picture doesn't show it, the side panels of the lights when both the lights and ballast cover are off, are very sharp.  As you can see in the photo it left a pretty good gash in my head. 

After putting a couple of paper towels on the wound to help stop the bleeding, we got back to work and finished installing the lights.  There were mixed feelings on if I should got to the ER to get some staples put in my head, but in the end I decided it wasn't worth the $1,200 bucks it was going to cost me.  I ended up going home and with the help of my wife, I was able to get my head bandaged up. Which leads me to why I now have a mohawk.  In order to apply a couple of butterfly bandages I needed to clear some space around the wound (as you can see it already had a pretty good size bald spot) so we shaved some more hair off.  Now I there was a very big bald spot. 

So instead of shaving my whole head I decided to just make a mohawk out of it. 

Now after 4 days of healing this is what it looks like.  Even though I probably should have gone to the ER and gotten staples I think my wife did a pretty dang good job at bandaging it up.  I might even only end up with only a small scar.

Man card upgrade

I think this is fitting for the Man show. Last weekend I replaced my water softener. The one in my house had gone skanky which makes sense since it had been there for 30 years. I had to actually do some of the copper pipe soldering to get the pipes to match up correctly which resulted in a few extra punches in my man card...


You can see I had to switch the pipes coming in from the back. Of course the new softener was opposite the old.

It's pretty obvious I'm not a proffessional from my soldering, but they all held the first time so I was pretty happy. The first time hooking up I had some gaskets in backwards which resulted in the entire area getting a nice shower...

Wussy Mustard

Yesterday as I was eating at Honey Baked Ham in Orem, I asked the girl if she had straight up yellow mustard and she said "you mean the wussy plain stuff?" She told me I needed to try the honey spice mustard. I decided I needed to man up and try this new mustard instead of my traditional wussy yellow. To my surprise it was actually pretty good. I felt like I had to try it especially because she was calling me a wuss if I did not.