Month: June 2014

Staring At a Stranger Until They Smile

Post author By Samuel
Post date June 28, 2014

I recently read a funny challenge on one of my favorite blogs (life listed by Danny Dover). The challenge was actually a set of small items to complete in 1 month, and 1 of the items (stare at a stranger in public until they smile back at you sounded like it would be a lot of fun). I also thought it would be pretty easy because I smile at people and they smile back all the time. Well my first attempt at doing this challenge didn’t go very well.

Attempt 1. I’m in line at the grocery store and see this lady with 2 kids behind me. She looks to be in a pretty bad mood, and the 2 hellions that she appears to be raising or at least purchasing food for look like a total nightmare (watching the entire scene I remember thinking to myself, man I am glad I don’t have any kids lol). So anyway I thought you know this lady could use a smile, now is a good time to try this stranger challenge. So I attempt to catch eye contact with her for 30 seconds or so…. fail. She is just watching these kids and telling them to settle down. Ok I need to step up my game and get her attention. She has her cart placed in between me and the rack of snacks that they have just before you check out… you know all the bad stuff you shouldn’t eat but they force tempt you with right before you leave. So what I decide to go with is I will ask her to hand me some gum, give her a big smile and she will be forced to smile back at my pearly whites…. all that ends up really happening is she (slightly annoyed) hands me a pack of gum (which I didn’t even really want) and I now am checking out with an unwanted pack of gum, and the laborious task of grabbing the gum has clearly annoyed stranger lady even more…. by this point I’m starting to get my items rung up by the cashier so I don’t have much more time left…. never one to bow to fate I decide that I will do a last ditch effort to just stare at her smiling while the cashier rings all my food up…. the end result of this smile blitzkrieg is that the cashier finally taps me on the shoulder and asks me to please swipe my credit card…. so now I have 1 extra pack of gum, 1 slightly more annoyed lady, and 1 slightly annoying cashier…. I decide its best to cut my losses and try this whole make a random stranger smile some other time.

hockey Samuel

New Stick

Post author By Samuel
Post date June 26, 2014

This new CCM 100 flex with Hossa curve is this shit. That is all.

Uncategorized

Morning Yoga

Post author By Julia
Post date June 26, 2014

I’m no longer the least flexible person in yoga class! I attribute this to taking yoga more regularly and to the fact that quite a few new people have joined…making me look like a pro.

No better way to start the day than finding your center and outshining the competition!

See: http://yoganonymous.com/5-reasons-sun-salutations-are-the-best-way-to-start-your-day/

This is how we start the class. I think I'll try starting each day with a few of these... — This is how we start the class. I think I’ll try starting each day with a few of these…

Fixing Stuff Samuel

Leveling The Floor In an Old Home

Post author By Samuel
Post date June 24, 2014

A while back I decided that I wanted to tackle leveling the floor in my home, or at the very least level the dining room floor so our games of Foosball would have a more even playing surface. At the same time as leveling the floor I also really wanted to install joist hangers to add some rigidity as well as help stop the slow rotation the floorboards were making over time. You see back in the 1930’s when the house was built they did not realized that they needed to secure the boards to keep them from twisting. In all fairness they did realize they needed to do this, but all the builders did was put 2 small trusses in the middle of each board, which was helpful but still allowed the ends of the board to rotate freely… which over the past 80 years they have done and in the process have become significantly un-level…. To get a feel for the gaps that we were trying to correct see the image below:

Center boards running parallel to the staircase. Notice the 1.5 inch drop where the floor boards meet

Now I wanted to touch on a couple very helpful tips and equipment to use:

1.) You can hammer the nails in for the joist hangers, but each hanger requires up to 8 nails… and your have to swing the hammer in a super small space… so in lew of that I opted for a palm nail hammer.

I liked this tool so much I just bought one

2.) To operate the nail hammer you need an air compressor, nothing fancy something like the one shown below will do the trick:

3.) To check your work you will want at least a 4 foot level & for jacking purposes I borrowed an engine/transmission jack from my Dad which worked perfect.

Now onto some helpful tips:

1.) Get a large piece of wood (2X12 is ideal) and place it under the jack to spread the force across a wider area. This will mitigate the risk of cracking the basement floor

2.) Don’t be afraid of the sound of cracking wood, its going to pop and crack a little. But what you do want to do is jack slowly. No more than 1-2 turns per minute. Remember the house has taken a long time to sink, we don’t need to rush jacking it back up.

3.) Once you get each board leveled, go ahead and put your joist hanger in place before moving on. This will help keep the boards from settling back down.

4.) Take time between ever one or 2 boards to walk up to the level above where you are jacking to check the walls for signs of cracking/shifting. You don’t want to end up cracking old plaster walls and making more work for yourself.

That pretty well covers how to level the old floors in your house. Hopefully you find these ideas/tips helpful and if you decide to tackle a project like this on your own feel free to drop us a comment below or leave a screenshot of your newly level floor:

Julia Twenty Somethings

Bell Curve

Post author By Julia
Post date June 16, 2014

Dealing with people isn’t getting any easier the older you get. Like a Bell Curve, where in the beginning and end you could give a shit what people think about you/have no pretense about complexities in relationships. But in the middle is where you’re always pretty much within one standard deviation away from the apex of the curve. Your relationships are more difficult, and there is so much potential for unspoken issues that sit, like giant pink polka-dot elephants in the room.

The edges are you when you think relationships are simple, you express everything you’re feeling. The rest? Its complicated.

What’s the best way to deal with this average place, where we spend the majority of our lives dealing with all kinds of relationships? Wishing it away to a time ‘back when things were simpler’ or looking ahead to when you will be old and ‘just won’t give a damn’ isn’t very constructive; but that’s what plenty of people do.

I’m wondering now, as I wade through several surprisingly confusing relationships in my own life, if it is fear that keeps people just a step away from that damned standard deviation. The majority of people behave a certain way regarding their relationships, so why shouldn’t you do as they do?

I’m working up the courage to not adhere to the norm and if I have to deal with confusing relationships I am going to be as close the the edges of that bell curve as possible. For me, this means saying how I feel and not first worrying about what the other person may think/construe from my words. It means learning that some of the relationships I value most are somewhat unhealthy for me – and working hard to be more honest with myself, my feelings and whoever the relationship includes. Basically not letting the people continue to ignore the elephant. He’s fucking there and pink and polka-dot.

Lets acknowledge this and either work around it or agree that maybe its just best that we both leave the room.

Julia Twenty Somethings

Happiness First

Post author By Julia
Post date June 14, 2014

“So, let go of things. Stop deciding an unknown future based on a temporary bliss and fleeting acceptance. Be selfish. Be you and who you want to be without the pressures of outside opinions.”

I just read an article called “Being Selfish Isn’t Being Rude…It’s Putting Your Happiness First” and it was like someone wrote it especially for me. The quote above jumped out at me as I read and I wanted to share it here. A friend recently told me that I am too nice and do too much for others and care too much for them as well. I usually chalk it up to a part of my personality that just won’t quit and keep moving. But this article spoke to so much that I feel; like helping someone all day or being pre-occupied with others and situations outside myself to the point where I am not taking the time to find my own direction and make my own plans.

In the ‘Summer of Julia’, a corny but hopefully true plan for the short sun-filled months ahead I think I am going to incorporate taking time to be intentionally selfish into my life. Maybe I will learn something about myself and the kind of person I am, without putting so much weight on what others expect of me.

Find the whole article here.