Canned Ham: How to Succeed

Better Success, well-wigged

I knew there was something holding me back. I guess the sideburns aren't doing it.

71 minutes

Jonah was up the other night for, I don't know, an hour or so. We try not to look too closely at the clock when we do have to get up with one of our kids. Fortunately, it doesn't happen very often. Regardless, it was a long night. And it was such a bittersweet moment. On the one hand, I was frustrated to be awake and exhausted in the middle of the night. On the other hand, it was so nice to see the little man drop off to sleep in my arms. He doesn't often sit still.

Recently, a couple at church shared the story of their recent pregnancy and childbirth. Essentially, they found during their pregnancy that their child had health complications that, according to the professionals, were "incompatible with life". That phrase makes me shudder. I'm sure it's kept especially clinical to help distance everyone from the emotional aspect of the news. Still...shudder.

When their baby was born, the family was surrounded by family and friends. Seriously, surrounded. They had pictures of everyone at the hospital and there was so much joy in everyone's face. Joy...even while knowing the situation. Their baby lived 71 minutes. Those were some of the most precious 71 minutes in the lives of everyone there.

It certainly made the frustration side of my 60 late night minutes with Jonah a lot less...well...frustrating.

Built-ins Complete

Our family room has as decent sized fireplace right in the middle of one wall. It looks nice but does limit our use of that wall for furniture placement. The previous owners of our house had a pair of pre-fab bookshelves on either side. They were functional but didn't really fit as each one left a weird gap between the bookcase and the fireplace. A couple months ago, I started down the path of replacing those bookcases with built-ins. They are the biggest project I've had in a long, long time and certainly the most complex project in my limited woodworking career.

I'm happy to say I wrapped up the last of the bookcases this past weekend. We even started piling on the books (they still need organized). I could easily point out mistakes but I'll hold off on that. Instead, I'll just say I'm very happy with the results. They're sturdy, functional, and I think they look good.

Some construction highlights/comments:

1. The openings on each side of the fireplace were not the same size so the bookcases had to be slightly different widths. Both are the same height with the bottom cabinet being 36" high and the top cabinet being 48" high.
2. I knew I'd paint the bookcases so I used birch plywood and poplar for the construction. Both of which paint well. Stain would've been nice but I don't think it would've gone with the room as well. Also, paint helped hide my mistakes.
3. I should've gone with a glossier paint. They already have a few scuff marks.
4. I bumped out three electrical boxes (2 outlets and a light switch) to be flush with the bookcase. Easy enough to do though difficult to get the holes cut just right.
5. I think hanging the doors took nearly as long as constructing the doors.

And many thanks to those who allowed me to borrow tools.

Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream

Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream
by Adam Shepard
Harper
ISBN: 0061714364

The premise of Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream is an experiment. The author, recently out of college, took $25, his journal, and an empty gym bag and set out to see if he could make it in a new town. His goals were pretty simple. After one year, he hoped to have $2500 in cash, a furnished place to live (with or without a roommate), and a functioning car. The book chronicles the author's journey through living in a shelter, searching for a jobs, working with social workers, and all the highs and lows in between.

To some extent, the book is a response to Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. I have not read Nickel and Dimed. Maybe I should but I doubt that I will. I've read some excerpts on Amazon and my impression was that the author's goal was to complain and, ultimately, fail in making it. That just didn't feel right. I apologize if I'm off on that. Again, I haven't read it. Neither is this a review of Nickel and Dimed.

In any case, I enjoyed Scratch Beginnings. It was obvious Shepard, the author of Scratch Beginnings, set out to succeed and that appealed to me. He did got lucky on several things. He landed a particular job that went a long way to helping him pursue his goals. He also stumbled into a homeless shelter with a lot of useful programs to help the residents. As life goes, things did not always go his way. Through it all, he was focused, he sacrificed for his goals, and he went after it.

The friends Shepard makes during his journey are an eclectic group. There are those with similar goals and work ethic and there are those content to let the world happen to them. The point at which Shepard explained his experiment (at the end, of course) to his friends was interesting. In particular, explaining it to the guy that, well, had already succeeded in the same experiment. The only difference was that the experiment was his life.

About the only complaints I had about the book concerned the writing style. Some of it was preachy. Some was a little egotistical. Then again, it was autobiographical. If I wrote a book about me, it would almost certainly seem egotistical.

So, will Scratch Beginnings change anyone's mind about the American Dream? Probably not. Those (like me) that believe you can make it with focus, determination, and hard work will find the book appealing and fitting into their ideals. Those that don't will complain that Shepard was far more privileged than many others. He had youth, education, health, and no family to support. All are maybe valid complaints--Shepard actually points several out--though they'd still be missing the point. Either way, previously held ideas won't be swayed. My guess is that Nickel and Dimed is similar...making good points that will be lauded by those that agree and dismissed by those that don't.

Goodwill Finds

I had the opportunity to hit three different Goodwill stores recently. It's been awhile since I'd been able to find much to get excited about at Goodwill but these trips did not disappoint.

Here's what I came up with:

1. Blades of Steel for the NES.
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the NES.
3. A sweet Little Tikes Rugged Riggz dump truck for the boys (and me).


4. A vintage (1977) Fisher Price Adventure People Daredevil van. Just like the one I had growing up...just dirtier and missing a few stickers.



I regret passing up on Batman for the NES. We started using a modified envelope system for our budget this month and I had to prioritize. I had to pass on Batman in favor of other things I'm saving up to purchase. Still, all good finds.

Thanks Goodwill!

The Way Toys Work: The Science Behind the Magic 8 Ball, Etch A Sketch, Boomerang, and More

The Way Toys Work: The Science Behind the Magic 8 Ball, Etch A Sketch, Boomerang, and More
by Ed Sobey and Woody Sobey
Chicago Review Press
ISBN: 1556527454

I don't remember how I found this book. I might've just been browsing the library. Maybe I heard about it somewhere. It doesn't really matter. What matters is that it was a lot of fun to read. It's no secret that I love toys. I also love tinkering with things. This book was a cool combination of those two topics.

The authors essentially gathered a collection of toys for the sake of taking them apart to figure out how they work. The toys ranged from the very simple Magic 8 Ball to the potentially very complicated bicycle. For the more complicated toys (e.g. the bicycle), they authors glossed over a lot of details. That's to be expected, I think. Bicycle tinkering, alone, could fill a library of books. Overall, the toys were well covered. My one complaint--and I'm not sure it really counts as a complaint--is that several of the toys seemed a bit repetitive. Ok, not so much the toys themselves the scientific principals behind then. Again, I think that's to be expected. If two toys both operate on compressed air, it's only natural that the details would be pretty similar.

I did really like that the authors covered the history of many of these toys. And I especially liked how the authors provided information on how to create your own, homemade versions of the toys. I'll be making a stomp rocket in the near future.

I also now know how the Nintendo Light Zapper works. It wasn't what I expected. Interesting.