Gnarliest Wave I've Ever Seen

By far, without a doubt, the gnarliest day of surfing I've ever seen!


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Gnarliest Wave I've Ever Seen

By far, without a doubt, the gnarliest day of surfing I've ever seen!



More Surfing Videos

Back to the GRIND

Since the beginning of December, I have gone to the gym more, ran more, finished more projects around the house, brought in more side work, finished more projects in the workshop and wrote more blog posts. Why.... because school was over for the winter break. Well, you may not be hearing or seeing from me for a while, school starts again tonight. Apparently, as you can see from below, I am not the only one counting the classes left until the end of the term (Thanks Katie). 

The good news is, I am starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. After this 11 week term, one week spring break, and another 11 week term, classes are over. Then just a Thesis will stand between me and a Bachelor of Architecture degree. I am going to try very hard to keep this positive energy/momentum going even while classes are in session, but there is a good chance nobody will see or hear from me much until the end of this 23 week period. 


Until then, via con Dios, my friends. 

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Back to the GRIND

Since the beginning of December, I have gone to the gym more, ran more, finished more projects around the house, brought in more side work, finished more projects in the workshop and wrote more blog posts. Why.... because school was over for the winter break. Well, you may not be hearing or seeing from me for a while, school starts again tonight. Apparently, as you can see from below, I am not the only one counting the classes left until the end of the term (Thanks Katie). 

The good news is, I am starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. After this 11 week term, one week spring break, and another 11 week term, classes are over. Then just a Thesis will stand between me and a Bachelor of Architecture degree. I am going to try very hard to keep this positive energy/momentum going even while classes are in session, but there is a good chance nobody will see or hear from me much until the end of this 23 week period. 


Until then, via con Dios, my friends. 

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Winter Classic 2012

For the last 5 years, the NHL has had an annual Winter Classic game; and outdoor game, usually played on a ring built in a baseball or football stadium, between two rival teams, right around the New Year's holiday. Since that time, the group of friends I play hockey with on the weekends (aka the Sunday Dangles) have held our own Winter Classic. The only difference is, we usually play on a frozen lake, stream, or pond and, instead of the standard three period game, ours is over when the police come and kick us off. This year, however, through some hard work and good connections of some Checking for Charity volunteers, I had the opportunity to play on the actual Winter Classic rink at the Citizen's Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia. From the pre- and post-game tailgating activities, to the using of the visiting teams locker room, to the walk out through the dugouts onto the ice and the actual 60 minutes of play, this was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Definitely something I won't soon forget, especially since we came away with a win!

Creating (Storage) Space

With a few days off between Christmas and the New Year, it was time to get some much needed work done in the workshop. In this case, I needed to upgrade and expand on some of the overhead storage areas in the workshop. Since we moved in, we've been laying pieces of plywood across the existing 2x4 beams. The beams span about a 15'3" width, and are not load bearing, but limit the weight of storage it can hold. Additionally, being over 50 years old, some of the beams were cracking and not up to par for bearing any weight. Since I had a couple days off, I thought it would be a good opportunity to build new 2x6 beams at 16" O.C. for the first 8' of the garage. The only tricky, given the width of the span, the height of the ceiling, and the location of existing structure, it wasn't possible to cut a single 15-foot beam and get it into place. For that reason, I needed to take 2- 2x6's and overlap them approximately 9 inches, and bolt together with 3/8" lag bolts. I used joist straps and 2x6 blocking to tighten everything up and topped it off with OSB. The result was a workshop (which also acts as a gym) that feels like a new space. No more cramped space with barbells on top of the table saw. The workshop is clean, spacey and ready for 2012... looking forward to building some new and interesting creations, and wrapping up this pesky architecture degree. 

Beam connections were thought about (and run by a structural engineer) prior to building.

Existing framing/storage

More existing

Materials - the hurricane tie downs were used to connect the beams to the walls.

Prince - ready for a long day in the shop.

Since I was hanging the beams by myself, it was easier to build a template, then pre-drill the holes for one of the beams.

The day I was hanging the beams, there were two shop managers looking over my shoulder to make sure it was done properly and everything was level.

Closeup of bolted connection

Finished product, from below

Finished project, from above

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Winter Classic 2012

For the last 5 years, the NHL has had an annual Winter Classic game; and outdoor game, usually played on a ring built in a baseball or football stadium, between two rival teams, right around the New Year's holiday. Since that time, the group of friends I play hockey with on the weekends (aka the Sunday Dangles) have held our own Winter Classic. The only difference is, we usually play on a frozen lake, stream, or pond and, instead of the standard three period game, ours is over when the police come and kick us off. This year, however, through some hard work and good connections of some Checking for Charity volunteers, I had the opportunity to play on the actual Winter Classic rink at the Citizen's Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia. From the pre- and post-game tailgating activities, to the using of the visiting teams locker room, to the walk out through the dugouts onto the ice and the actual 60 minutes of play, this was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Definitely something I won't soon forget, especially since we came away with a win!

Creating (Storage) Space

With a few days off between Christmas and the New Year, it was time to get some much needed work done in the workshop. In this case, I needed to upgrade and expand on some of the overhead storage areas in the workshop. Since we moved in, we've been laying pieces of plywood across the existing 2x4 beams. The beams span about a 15'3" width, and are not load bearing, but limit the weight of storage it can hold. Additionally, being over 50 years old, some of the beams were cracking and not up to par for bearing any weight. Since I had a couple days off, I thought it would be a good opportunity to build new 2x6 beams at 16" O.C. for the first 8' of the garage. The only tricky, given the width of the span, the height of the ceiling, and the location of existing structure, it wasn't possible to cut a single 15-foot beam and get it into place. For that reason, I needed to take 2- 2x6's and overlap them approximately 9 inches, and bolt together with 3/8" lag bolts. I used joist straps and 2x6 blocking to tighten everything up and topped it off with OSB. The result was a workshop (which also acts as a gym) that feels like a new space. No more cramped space with barbells on top of the table saw. The workshop is clean, spacey and ready for 2012... looking forward to building some new and interesting creations, and wrapping up this pesky architecture degree. 

Beam connections were thought about (and run by a structural engineer) prior to building.

Existing framing/storage

More existing

Materials - the hurricane tie downs were used to connect the beams to the walls.

Prince - ready for a long day in the shop.

Since I was hanging the beams by myself, it was easier to build a template, then pre-drill the holes for one of the beams.

The day I was hanging the beams, there were two shop managers looking over my shoulder to make sure it was done properly and everything was level.

Closeup of bolted connection

Finished product, from below

Finished project, from above

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7