I've never reposted someone else's blog post before. I don't know if there's any sort of established rules of chivalry for sharing one so I hope I'm doing this right. I've been following Get Rich Slowly for a little while now after it was recommended to me by a friend. They cover such a vast array of financial situations and goals that sometimes I end up just scanning over stuff. I don't have student loans I'm dealing with, but I also don't have a wide range of stocks I'm trading either. Quite often though, they post something that I like a lot, often sharing with my wife the ideas they discuss.
The blog post for today focused on colleges and student debt, something that my wife and I have discussed at length previously, but I believe also briefly touches on something much greater. I believe the topic is important to examine so I thought I'd share it.
I have all kinds of controversial thoughts on this topic, so I'll just give you the link and let you read it for yourself. Enjoy.
Get Rich Slowly: Are Universities Immoral?
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
Weekend! I Prefer the Weekend!
And so another week has begun. The weekend was good, but went by too quickly. We took a trip over to Hobby Lobby and picked up a large piece of board (I wish I could be more specific than that but that's what she always calls it. It's some sort of thick paper board used for drawing) for my wife's next project. She's going to do a themed project, but that's for her to talk about if and when she wants to. That night we went to a wonderfully low key pot-luck pool party. It was very relaxing.
On Sunday we went to Michael's, Target, and Best Buy. At Best Buy while my wife was following our son around she found a refrigerator with a tag that was printed incorrectly. It said it was free as advertised so we jokingly asked what we had to do to get that deal. I wish I had taken a picture. It was pretty funny and the sales people there were very confused.
I don't have any specific ideas for what my next project should be. Not for lack of ideas, but because of an excess. I'm tossing around a few things but I don't know if I'll have anything done in time for my Friday post. I decided that if I don't have anything in particular to do I might as well work on improving a useful skill. A while ago I had started working on a steampunk vambrace but ended up going in a different direction part of the way through. So I figure I'll practice some tooling on it and see what I come up with.
The hole was cut to fit a compass that was going to be the focal point of the design. I haven't come up with any other idea for a design so I might just stick with a steampunk idea, in which case I might actually use the compass. Or I might give it a multi-layered look and just cover it over. We'll see.
If I make anything usable out of this I'll put eyelets in the holes so it can be laced up more easily. The leather is uneven on purpose. I cut it out of a thinner part of leather and I decided to go with a more natural look and just follow the edges already there instead of cutting it straight.
We'll see what happens. There are a few things at home that I need for a couple upcoming projects. I'll try to bring them to work in the next day or so and then maybe I can get to work on some of the things that have been on my list for a while now.
On Sunday we went to Michael's, Target, and Best Buy. At Best Buy while my wife was following our son around she found a refrigerator with a tag that was printed incorrectly. It said it was free as advertised so we jokingly asked what we had to do to get that deal. I wish I had taken a picture. It was pretty funny and the sales people there were very confused.
I don't have any specific ideas for what my next project should be. Not for lack of ideas, but because of an excess. I'm tossing around a few things but I don't know if I'll have anything done in time for my Friday post. I decided that if I don't have anything in particular to do I might as well work on improving a useful skill. A while ago I had started working on a steampunk vambrace but ended up going in a different direction part of the way through. So I figure I'll practice some tooling on it and see what I come up with.
The hole was cut to fit a compass that was going to be the focal point of the design. I haven't come up with any other idea for a design so I might just stick with a steampunk idea, in which case I might actually use the compass. Or I might give it a multi-layered look and just cover it over. We'll see.
If I make anything usable out of this I'll put eyelets in the holes so it can be laced up more easily. The leather is uneven on purpose. I cut it out of a thinner part of leather and I decided to go with a more natural look and just follow the edges already there instead of cutting it straight.
We'll see what happens. There are a few things at home that I need for a couple upcoming projects. I'll try to bring them to work in the next day or so and then maybe I can get to work on some of the things that have been on my list for a while now.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Wooden Swordmaking
This past May my wife and son and I went down to the Georgia Renaissance Festival, and while there I picked up a little wooden sword for my son (at 16 months en garde is already a part of his small vocabulary and he knows how to sword fight). It came from The Black Swan Armoury and was very cool but very simple. I spent some time looking around at their selection, they have lots of different sizes and types of weapons, and decided that I could make some myself.
This past week I finally decided to try my hand at my own toy sword. While I was looking up wooden swords online (gotta do my research) I found this blog post. The sword designs he came up with are really cool and inspiring. I decided to go a little more simple than those but if I do many more of these I might have to try using some cool wood like he used. And I definitely want to make some leather scabbards like he's made.
I spent some time designing what I wanted the sword to look like and this is what I came up with:
It's a fairly basic design and I figured that it gave me a place to add a hand guard but didn't require it if I didn't feel up to it.
I got some pieces of wood from work. They're from a pallet that was being thrown away so I have no idea what kind of wood they are. I traced the shape onto it and started to cut it out with my coping saw.
Now I have to admit to not being very good with a coping saw. The angle of the blade is adjustable and somehow it kept getting turned in directions I didn't want it to. This resulted in me taking a chunk out of one side of the blade.
I could have kept the same shape but it would have required me to shave both sides down and end up with a much smalled dagger, so instead I decided to go with the flow and see how it evolved. I used my rasp to round the edges and just generally refine the shape.
After I had the shape defined fairly well I took a round file and began to make a separation between the handle and the blade.
After I had a good defining line between the blade and the handle I went back to the rasp to quickly thin the blade out. It's not that much thinner than the handle, but I wanted some amount of difference. I also used files when I got closer to the thickness I wanted to smooth it back out and to give it a bevelled edge. I also used files to smooth all of the edges and a half round file to round the handle.
Once I felt comfortable that I had it shaped just the way I wanted (or the way my coping saw apparently wanted) I sanded it all down. I'd like to say that I took my time to do it right and started with a coarse sandpaper and then gradually moved to a fine grit, but in reality I just grabbed some scrap sandpaper and scrubbed vigorously until I had turned my scraps of sandpaper into shreds of sandpaper. At that point it was pretty smooth so I was happy.
I wanted to do something to it to finish it off and make it look really cool so I stared at it for a while and tried to imagine it with different accessories. I considered doing a cool design with my wood burner but I just couldn't figure out what to do so instead I ended up just going with a leather wrapped handle. I had a long strip of some sort of fake leather that I ended up using because it was already the perfect size.
At some point during all of my projects I end up cheating or using something in a way that it was not intended to be used. This is that moment. I didn't have any glue and I just wanted to finish it so I ended up using this ModPodge Puzzle Saver stuff that I have. It's basically glue so hopefully it will be fine, but it's not intended for this kind of use so it might come apart later and force me to find the appropriate type of glue. Either way I spread some of it around on the handle and the back of the strap as I wrapped it around.
Once I had wrapped the strap around the handle I tucked the end under and coated it with more of the "glue".
Here are a couple shots of the final project.
This past week I finally decided to try my hand at my own toy sword. While I was looking up wooden swords online (gotta do my research) I found this blog post. The sword designs he came up with are really cool and inspiring. I decided to go a little more simple than those but if I do many more of these I might have to try using some cool wood like he used. And I definitely want to make some leather scabbards like he's made.
I spent some time designing what I wanted the sword to look like and this is what I came up with:
It's a fairly basic design and I figured that it gave me a place to add a hand guard but didn't require it if I didn't feel up to it.
I got some pieces of wood from work. They're from a pallet that was being thrown away so I have no idea what kind of wood they are. I traced the shape onto it and started to cut it out with my coping saw.
Now I have to admit to not being very good with a coping saw. The angle of the blade is adjustable and somehow it kept getting turned in directions I didn't want it to. This resulted in me taking a chunk out of one side of the blade.
I could have kept the same shape but it would have required me to shave both sides down and end up with a much smalled dagger, so instead I decided to go with the flow and see how it evolved. I used my rasp to round the edges and just generally refine the shape.
After I had the shape defined fairly well I took a round file and began to make a separation between the handle and the blade.
After I had a good defining line between the blade and the handle I went back to the rasp to quickly thin the blade out. It's not that much thinner than the handle, but I wanted some amount of difference. I also used files when I got closer to the thickness I wanted to smooth it back out and to give it a bevelled edge. I also used files to smooth all of the edges and a half round file to round the handle.
Once I felt comfortable that I had it shaped just the way I wanted (or the way my coping saw apparently wanted) I sanded it all down. I'd like to say that I took my time to do it right and started with a coarse sandpaper and then gradually moved to a fine grit, but in reality I just grabbed some scrap sandpaper and scrubbed vigorously until I had turned my scraps of sandpaper into shreds of sandpaper. At that point it was pretty smooth so I was happy.
I wanted to do something to it to finish it off and make it look really cool so I stared at it for a while and tried to imagine it with different accessories. I considered doing a cool design with my wood burner but I just couldn't figure out what to do so instead I ended up just going with a leather wrapped handle. I had a long strip of some sort of fake leather that I ended up using because it was already the perfect size.
At some point during all of my projects I end up cheating or using something in a way that it was not intended to be used. This is that moment. I didn't have any glue and I just wanted to finish it so I ended up using this ModPodge Puzzle Saver stuff that I have. It's basically glue so hopefully it will be fine, but it's not intended for this kind of use so it might come apart later and force me to find the appropriate type of glue. Either way I spread some of it around on the handle and the back of the strap as I wrapped it around.
Once I had wrapped the strap around the handle I tucked the end under and coated it with more of the "glue".
Here are a couple shots of the final project.
I'd like to make other styles too. Maybe I'll try to make the style I was originally going for. I'd also like to make some more wooden swords that are less toy and more prop. Right now I'm incredibly inspired by this sword by Blind Squirrel Props as well as this sword and this sword by Fevereon Props. Their work is way over my head and they use a lot of materials and tools that I have no idea how to use, but the way they put things together and the awesome props they make are really incredible. Maybe one day I'll achieve that skill level.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Bucket List... sort of.
Okay, so a friend just posted about bucket lists and it got me thinking. I've never really thought much of bucket lists because it often seems so overdone and Hollywood. Scream from the top of Mt. Everest, jump out of a plane, tandem paddle board with your loved one in the Caribbean surrounded by dolphins as the sun sets and natives swim by serving you drinks in coconut shells with tiny umbrellas, etc. It all has to be THE most amazing thing ever and way over-dramatized.
Sometimes the goals I have aren't epic.
Sometimes they're just normal. Or at least normal to me. Okay, sometimes they're weird.
So, I decided to make a goal list. It's not a bucket list. It's just a list of goals and projects that I would like to complete in the not too distant future. Hopefully it will help me actually get them done. I'm not putting them in any specific order because I don't feel I can rate them all like that, and then I would feel like I had to get them done in that order or something. But here they are.
1. Buy a house. I don't want a perfect house. I want one that needs a little love that my wife and I can make into the perfect house for our family.
2. Create a line of simple handmade costumes and accessory toys to sell. Hopefully I can go into more detail about this in the near future.
3. Open a cafe/hang out spot.
4. Build Stormptrooper armor and join the 501st.
5. Finish my Jedi uniform and join the Rebel Legion. I've made a non-"working" lightsaber and started on the tunic.
6. Refinish furniture. Ambiguous I know. I do have a selection of furniture that needs it, including a kids table and chair set, a rocking chair, and a vanity.
7. Scratch build a piece of furniture. Right now I'm thinking about a table.
8. Build a recurve bow.
9. Using that recurve bow, successfully hunt a deer and go through the entire process of taking it from forest to table myself.
10. Write a DIY book chronicling all of my DIY efforts.
11. Get a motorcycle. Not just any motorcycle. A vintage UJM. Or a Honda Scrambler. Or maybe a cafe racer.
12. Travel overseas. Not very specific I know, but there isn't one place that I want to go above all other places. As long as I could have fun traveling with my wife I'd be happy with any destination. Some places that would be fun: Italy, Scotland, Wales, Germany, a couple other "lesser" European countries, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan.
13. Go to a major Con. Comic Con is obviously the mecca, but I'd also do Celebration (do they still have that?), Dragon Con or something similar.
14. Forge a knife. I've done a simple railroad spike knife and put a bone handle on a knife blank, but I want to actually forge a knife out of steel from start to finish. I want to make the handle myself and make a leather sheath for it and everything.
15. Get a tattoo.
16. There's a list of other random projects that I want to finish that I don't feel are big enough to count as "goals" so I'll count them as one goal. This list consists of things like, sew our curtains, make some wall art, finish my whiskey stones, finish my sgian dubh, make more plush toys like my penguin and a Chewie doll, finish my prop flintlock and raygun, make wooden swords, etc.
I'm about 100% sure I've left things off, but that should do it for now.
Do you have a "bucket list"? Is there anything that you really want to do but you feel silly putting it on a bucket list?
Sometimes the goals I have aren't epic.
Sometimes they're just normal. Or at least normal to me. Okay, sometimes they're weird.
So, I decided to make a goal list. It's not a bucket list. It's just a list of goals and projects that I would like to complete in the not too distant future. Hopefully it will help me actually get them done. I'm not putting them in any specific order because I don't feel I can rate them all like that, and then I would feel like I had to get them done in that order or something. But here they are.
1. Buy a house. I don't want a perfect house. I want one that needs a little love that my wife and I can make into the perfect house for our family.
2. Create a line of simple handmade costumes and accessory toys to sell. Hopefully I can go into more detail about this in the near future.
3. Open a cafe/hang out spot.
4. Build Stormptrooper armor and join the 501st.
5. Finish my Jedi uniform and join the Rebel Legion. I've made a non-"working" lightsaber and started on the tunic.
6. Refinish furniture. Ambiguous I know. I do have a selection of furniture that needs it, including a kids table and chair set, a rocking chair, and a vanity.
7. Scratch build a piece of furniture. Right now I'm thinking about a table.
8. Build a recurve bow.
9. Using that recurve bow, successfully hunt a deer and go through the entire process of taking it from forest to table myself.
10. Write a DIY book chronicling all of my DIY efforts.
11. Get a motorcycle. Not just any motorcycle. A vintage UJM. Or a Honda Scrambler. Or maybe a cafe racer.
12. Travel overseas. Not very specific I know, but there isn't one place that I want to go above all other places. As long as I could have fun traveling with my wife I'd be happy with any destination. Some places that would be fun: Italy, Scotland, Wales, Germany, a couple other "lesser" European countries, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan.
13. Go to a major Con. Comic Con is obviously the mecca, but I'd also do Celebration (do they still have that?), Dragon Con or something similar.
14. Forge a knife. I've done a simple railroad spike knife and put a bone handle on a knife blank, but I want to actually forge a knife out of steel from start to finish. I want to make the handle myself and make a leather sheath for it and everything.
15. Get a tattoo.
16. There's a list of other random projects that I want to finish that I don't feel are big enough to count as "goals" so I'll count them as one goal. This list consists of things like, sew our curtains, make some wall art, finish my whiskey stones, finish my sgian dubh, make more plush toys like my penguin and a Chewie doll, finish my prop flintlock and raygun, make wooden swords, etc.
I'm about 100% sure I've left things off, but that should do it for now.
Do you have a "bucket list"? Is there anything that you really want to do but you feel silly putting it on a bucket list?
Monday, July 30, 2012
I'm Back!
Alright, so I'm back after taking an impromptu week off from blogging. When last I posted I had decided to go ahead and make our house hunting endeavor public. This past week has been incredibly busy running around meeting with our realtor, making calls to lenders, etc. So now I'm updating everyone on that process.
The long and the short of it is that we didn't get it.
It needed a lot of work. Possibly $20k worth of work. It would have required a renovation loan. We offered low enough that we would be able to afford the house with the renovation costs on top of that, but they weren't willing to go as low as we wanted. It's not a terribly big surprise considering the house hasn't been on the market very long. Our realtor equated it to a honeymoon phase. Basically the bank just put it on the market a short while ago and isn't going to take the first low ball offer that comes along because they still think they can probably get something better. We don't think they will. Our realtor agreed.
Our plan of action right now is to watch it and wait. If someone else snags it than that's okay and it wasn't meant to be. If thirty days go by and it's still there we'll try again, assuming it holds up well while being vacant for another month.
Regardless of what happens this has been an incredible learning experience. I'm the kind of person who looks at the idea of buying a house and thinks "I should research that process" but until I have pressure on me to get it done I probably won't. Finding this house forced us to actually go through the whole process, to also take a hard look at our finances and see how much we can actually afford and what kind of sacrifices we can make in order to afford more. Maybe this isn't the house for us, but when our house does come along we'll be ready. We'll know exactly how much house we can afford. We'll have saved more. We'll know who to go to for a loan. We'll know which grants to apply for.
Part of me is disappointed, sure, but I think I'm mostly thankful for the experience. I know God's going to bring the right house along. And I know that when he does, he'll provide a way for us to be able to buy it. In the meantime we're going to focus on being ready for when that time comes.
Have you experienced the frustration of house hunting? Or did everything work out really well? Ever have a door you really wanted open slammed in your face?
The long and the short of it is that we didn't get it.
It needed a lot of work. Possibly $20k worth of work. It would have required a renovation loan. We offered low enough that we would be able to afford the house with the renovation costs on top of that, but they weren't willing to go as low as we wanted. It's not a terribly big surprise considering the house hasn't been on the market very long. Our realtor equated it to a honeymoon phase. Basically the bank just put it on the market a short while ago and isn't going to take the first low ball offer that comes along because they still think they can probably get something better. We don't think they will. Our realtor agreed.
Our plan of action right now is to watch it and wait. If someone else snags it than that's okay and it wasn't meant to be. If thirty days go by and it's still there we'll try again, assuming it holds up well while being vacant for another month.
Regardless of what happens this has been an incredible learning experience. I'm the kind of person who looks at the idea of buying a house and thinks "I should research that process" but until I have pressure on me to get it done I probably won't. Finding this house forced us to actually go through the whole process, to also take a hard look at our finances and see how much we can actually afford and what kind of sacrifices we can make in order to afford more. Maybe this isn't the house for us, but when our house does come along we'll be ready. We'll know exactly how much house we can afford. We'll have saved more. We'll know who to go to for a loan. We'll know which grants to apply for.
Part of me is disappointed, sure, but I think I'm mostly thankful for the experience. I know God's going to bring the right house along. And I know that when he does, he'll provide a way for us to be able to buy it. In the meantime we're going to focus on being ready for when that time comes.
Have you experienced the frustration of house hunting? Or did everything work out really well? Ever have a door you really wanted open slammed in your face?
Friday, July 20, 2012
The Biggest Project Yet!
Alright, so here's another Friday passing without a finished project to post. I promise I have a good excuse.
First of all I will say that while I'm not posting a finished project it doesn't mean I didn't work on anything this week. If I had worked on the whiskey stones or pallet art that I had already started I might have finished, but I got excited about something else and switched projects. Sorry. Even that one is coming along slowly because of something much bigger.
The biggest reason I don't have a project to post is because I'm working on something much larger. My wife and I have been casually watching the realty market for a while now, but we recently saw a house that looks promising enough to try to make a move on it. It's a cute little yellow cape cod.
It definitely needs work, but it's adorable! It's a decent size, and it's pretty cheap. It has this white fence around the front yard and an apple tree and dogwood tree! There are rose bushes. We like the floor plan. It's got a big den with a fireplace. There's a pool in the backyard, but we would probably just fill that in. A yard is more important than a money pit.
So, who knows, this might not be the house we end up in, but right now we're hoping it is and it's got us running around right now learning about mortgage loans, APR, settlement worksheets, etc.
Pray for us, wish us luck, partly that we get it, partly that we don't go crazy trying.
First of all I will say that while I'm not posting a finished project it doesn't mean I didn't work on anything this week. If I had worked on the whiskey stones or pallet art that I had already started I might have finished, but I got excited about something else and switched projects. Sorry. Even that one is coming along slowly because of something much bigger.
The biggest reason I don't have a project to post is because I'm working on something much larger. My wife and I have been casually watching the realty market for a while now, but we recently saw a house that looks promising enough to try to make a move on it. It's a cute little yellow cape cod.
It definitely needs work, but it's adorable! It's a decent size, and it's pretty cheap. It has this white fence around the front yard and an apple tree and dogwood tree! There are rose bushes. We like the floor plan. It's got a big den with a fireplace. There's a pool in the backyard, but we would probably just fill that in. A yard is more important than a money pit.
So, who knows, this might not be the house we end up in, but right now we're hoping it is and it's got us running around right now learning about mortgage loans, APR, settlement worksheets, etc.
Pray for us, wish us luck, partly that we get it, partly that we don't go crazy trying.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Small Update
I read fairly slowly. Partly because I don't read as much as I used to and thus I'm slightly out of practice. Partly because I don't have copious amounts of time for just reading. Partly because when I get a book that I enjoy I like to soak it up and really get the most enjoyment out of it instead of skimming through it as fast as possible.
With Ender's Game it's definitely more of the latter. I am enjoying this book so much. The further I get the more I am in love with Ender's character. The further I get the more nervous I am for the movie's handling of him. I'm always nervous about child actors. They're often so flat. Ender is so rich. So deep. I love the way he thinks. Part of me wants to draw similarities between him and myself. Most of that is probably quite a stretch; one of those "I like the idea of this character so much that I'm going to imagine I'm kind of like him". Almost a reverse Mary Sue if you will. Regardless, I'm a little less than halfway through and I would definitely recommend this book as a good read.
I haven't had a whole lot of time to put into blogging or crafting lately. Work has been kind of crazy, and I've had some big things that have required a lot of attention. I have quite a few things in the works and hopefully I'll be able to get back to them soon. I want to start not only posting a lot more things but possibly even offer some of them for sale. *crosses fingers in hope that this takes off* We'll see how that one goes though...
With Ender's Game it's definitely more of the latter. I am enjoying this book so much. The further I get the more I am in love with Ender's character. The further I get the more nervous I am for the movie's handling of him. I'm always nervous about child actors. They're often so flat. Ender is so rich. So deep. I love the way he thinks. Part of me wants to draw similarities between him and myself. Most of that is probably quite a stretch; one of those "I like the idea of this character so much that I'm going to imagine I'm kind of like him". Almost a reverse Mary Sue if you will. Regardless, I'm a little less than halfway through and I would definitely recommend this book as a good read.
I haven't had a whole lot of time to put into blogging or crafting lately. Work has been kind of crazy, and I've had some big things that have required a lot of attention. I have quite a few things in the works and hopefully I'll be able to get back to them soon. I want to start not only posting a lot more things but possibly even offer some of them for sale. *crosses fingers in hope that this takes off* We'll see how that one goes though...
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