September 26, 2011

Inspiration for some projects

I literally have about 10 blog posts in the hopper, but they are all waiting on some work, computer and physical, before they are ready for prime time.
Wonder what this is?
I thought maybe I should post some teaser pics.....but I don't have pictures for everything I have lined up.  I'm sure you, my captive audience, won't mind terribly.

The first pic should be fairly obvious, so it is a "gimme".

Just add water
I know a lot of people will get this next item.  It isn't a project in so much as a tool for future projects.  I have little to do other than clean it up and put it into storage for probably a good year until I start needing it.  I found my smaller version in the garage, right where it should have been, but I had been wanting a larger version.  These things run at least $100, but I found this baby for $14.50 at the Idaho Youth Ranch.

Not as deep as Brian's
This one is fairly obvious too.  I've been looking for one to use in gaming, but more than likely I'll just clean this up and use it for my Toastmaster duties.  I have a very nice item currently serving my needs, but I'm needing a bit more.  I could have bought this item new for $100 also, but I actually like the older ones much better.  For $7, I'm not going to be turning it down for a newer, sleeker model built with crappier materials.

A...of Doom!
I was never planning on working on this next project, which was designed by a friend of mine.  My wife wants one like his and while I wasn't planning on making her one, one of the raw materials was less than $2.  I just like boxes, so even if I didn't know about or want to start this project, I'd have picked it up anyway just to use elsewhere.

Look, it's a [blank]
This project might be an odd one for some folks.  Well, maybe a bit of a no-brainer for some.  My [blank] hasn't ever had one of these and it is just about impossible for some people to even imagine trying to [blank] without at least a crappy [blank].  My feeling on the subject is that if you really enjoy your [blank], then you rarely would notice that it doesn't have a [blank].  This isn't the first [blank] that I've had without a [blank], but I figured I'd prefer to go and get one.  Looking online they were about impossible to find for some reason.  Most people just put in a brand new-one, not a vintage model like I wanted.  While I did have an old one lying around, it wasn't the right size and is worth selling on eBay or some such.  Two night ago I was up way too late watching Revenge of the Nerds and for some reason it got into me to check on my [blank] and see if the [blank] I had fit.  When it didn't I looked online.  I found a source, but they wanted $200, which probably isn't unreasonable for an original.  Even though I didn't get to bed until about 3:30 AM, I was up at 9:30 with the same thought in my mind that I went to sleep with: if I was smart about it, and a bit lucky, I could get exactly what I needed/wanted on the cheap.  With a little bit of motivation I headed out to [blank] and spent a couple hours searching.  I found it and it only cost me $12 cash...and the couple of hours and some gas.

My final project/inspiration is a gastronomical endeavor from my heritage.  I've been wanting to make this one dish, but the traditional way can be a bit on the messy side and doesn't always work.  Sure, I could buy a specialty item for a good $100 that makes it a bit simpler, but some of the mess would still be there and I'm not sure it would be worthwhile. With a little bit of work I'm about sure that $14.50 worth of supplies will end up actually doing a better job.  Time will tell, but I'm starting this project this week.

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