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DIY Not?

DIY-Not?

As I’m currently sitting in a hospital room waiting for the circle of life to begin, I have some time to reflect on other, somewhat less important, topics. Here goes.

As some of you may know, we recently purchased a house. As the house is relatively new (only about 10 years old), it didn’t require any major renovations, or anything of that nature, for us to be able to move in and be happy/comfortable.

All we really did is paint the inside, change the locks and make a few other basically cosmetic changes. Nothing big and nothing that required a reciprocating saw or a sledge hammer. I can’t decide for sure if I’m disappointed about that or not.

Now that we’ve been in the house a couple months, I’ve become more or less hooked on DIY TV shows (that and increasing my arsenal of cool tools). In particular, I watch several shows on the DIY network including The Rehab Addict and Holmes Make It Right. Or, really, anything with Mike Holmes.

These shows are pretty interesting and often very informative. I’m also entertained and I usually learn something. They do, however, have one downside: I now want to redo the entire house (or most of it anyway).

Since I’ve been watching the shows I look around the house and I see a lot of things I want to upgrade or improve. I could redo the bathrooms, change the stairs, add a room above the garage or upgrade the kitchen. There’s just so many possibilities. In short, I now have a DIY issue.

I don’t think it’s really going to be much of a problem as long as I keep in mind the fact that the last time I did any real construction, or anything like it, was over twenty years ago. At the time I was pretty good at it, but again, it was a long time ago.

Sure, things haven’t changed that much, but I do think some more information and thought is required before I tackle any real DIY projects at home. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t keep building my collection of awesome tools, right?

Busy, Busy, Busy

tool-box-1

I wanted to illustrate just how busy I’ve been recently by having not one, but three “busy” titles for this missive. So yeah, I’ve been busy.

That’s not to say that most of you don’t lead busy lives as well, I’m sure you do. It’s that I don’t know most of you personally so I can’t really speak with any authority on the subject, now can I?

I can speak with some authority or myself, however. So yeah, I’ve been busy. Been working on the house, working on other projects, working in general and also preparing for the arrival of Project M.

I’ve also realized that this time I have now to do things is going to be far less very soon. With the arrival of Project M imminent, I can foresee quite a bit of my time being taken up dealing with the day-to-day duties of being a father. No, I don’t mind at all. In fact, I’m really looking forward to it.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I won’t, occasionally, miss having time to do other things. Free time will just have to be regulated a bit more from now on, that’s all. When you’ve lived your life a certain way for as many years as I have, a very large change like this will certainly cause one to rethink one’s priorities.

Fortunately for all concerned, I’m a very evolved human being and will have no trouble making this important transition. Well, fingers crossed anyway.

Let’s switch gears now and talk about another subject I’ve become acquainted with recently: Home Improvement. Fortunately, I’ve got some background in things of this type having done a bit of construction as a young man as well as having spent several years as a Grip on film and TV sets.

Sure, that doesn’t mean I’m ready to add a room onto the house (it doesn’t actually need one, truth be told) but I do feel I know my way around a screwdriver, hammer and various other power tools.

That also brings me to a subject I’m very excited about: Tools. I think every home owner (well, almost every one anyway) should have a set of basic tools for doing things around the house. I have a decent set of tools I’ve accumulated over the years and also have many of the ones my Father left for me. Others have been broken, borrowed or otherwise lost over the years.

Consequently, my tool kit is a bit lacking in some areas. So, of course, that means I get to buy new tools. I’m enjoying that quite a bit.

Once I put the kit full together, I’ll post it here so you can see what I feel comprises an essential tool kit. Until then, try to get some fun outta life, you know?

Some Random Things For a Friday

Tony-Soprano-James-Gandolfini-1

It’s Friday and I’m tired. It’s been a long week mostly spent dealing with contractors, painters and more that will hopefully lead to our house being in order in time to move in next Saturday.

I feel pretty good about the whole process, but it’s exhausting. Fortunately, I’m used to negotiating, so that’s not the problem. The problem is I just want it all to go well and being the fan of control that I am, it’s sometimes hard to rely on other people to do their jobs.

But in the end, all I can do is my best and with a little luck, it will all work out fine. Heck, I’ve produced movies with that kind of philosophy before and those involved a heck of a lot more problems and more money than I’m dealing with now, so I’m really not all that worried about it.

Still, it is exhausting all the same. More than I thought it would be. However, all things considered, I feel very fortunate to be able to have these kinds of problems. It could be far worse. Far worse indeed. Nope, life is good.

Moving on, here’s a few random videos and whatnot for a Friday. Happy Weekend. Try to remember to enjoy yourself.

[vimeo 67871488 w=560 h=315]

A film title designer’s tribute to Alfred Hitchcock

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tto-eTLXEH4?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

If you can’t handle milk and cookies, I feel sorry for you.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFdn2TGx5VE?rel=0&w=560&h=420]

A remix by EclecticMethod from The Sopranos in honor of the dear, departed Mr. James Gandolfini. RIP sir.

Finally, here’s a handy info graphic that tells you all you need to know about the military alphabet. You’re welcome.

whiskey-tango-foxtrot-1