Cena has the best collection of pics from the weekend up on her blog. I posted more details on the props from the Accostume party on my flickr page.

[edit: Make blog has a post on our party props as posted in Flickr. I like letting others blog for me.]

We have been getting decorations ready for our costume party coming up on Saturday evening. I ordered some human skull replicas off of eBay to use for a few of them. This is simply one of the skulls on the end of a 1×1 piece of wood that is zip tied to our hand truck. I also zip tied a 1″ diameter hose for the arms/shoulders to the piece of wood and then i hung some old rusty knives and a sickle (found the sickle at the dump last time i salvaged) from the porch roof. I also jammed a rusty bolt in his mouth to keep the jaw open (it is spring loaded).

So a few weeks ago Cena and I were shopping at the hardware store and they were putting stuff out on their sale tables. One of the employees suggested we get to the store the next Sunday morning for their basket sale where everything on the sale tables is up for this little game… anything that you can fit in a shopping basket for $20 and anything you can fit on a shopping cart for $50. We perused the items on Saturday and actually went to the store 45 minutes before opening. There was already a line. It was a bit of a mad scramble but we did leave with a “beer machine” that retails for $120, boxes and boxes of lag bolts, stainless screws, and washers (all the same size though) boxes of nails, three pairs of Dickies overalls (one my size and two that Cena just sold on eBay for over $10 each), some stocking stuffers for family, a few picture frames, iron candle holders, all sorts of hardware pieces, scraps of chain, and that kind of stuff. It was a good use of an early morning (considering i had been playing music at the bar until 2:30).

Shed reincarnation
Originally uploaded by zieak.

I finished framing two of the walls for the shed with the metal studs we salvaged from the pool project. I made the grade beams out of 6×8″ posts from the guardrail that was removed and then used 12 foot long metal studs as floor joists. I used 5/8 inch pressure treated plywood that has a plastic veneer glued on for the floor. The plastic side is down to act as a vapor/pest barrier. So far i have spent 9.50 on the building. The footprint is 12×14.

Glass eyes
Originally uploaded by zieak.

Cena’s mom brought us to Archie McPhee’s in Seattle and they happened to have a box full of glass eyes for taxidermists. How perfect for the purse with eyes all over it!

First halloween
Originally uploaded by zieak.

We bought two pumpkins at the grocery store for our halloween party (i plan on putting a strobe light in one) and so i can eat the seeds. I love pumpkin seeds.

When we returned from Anchorage two weeks ago I had three bad pieces of mail.

1. Insufficient funds notice from my bank. A transfer I scheduled online failed to happen. Dang.

2. A letter from Chase saying that they lost some of my account records on some hard drives. They suggest I watch my statements and credit reports. Crap.

3. A letter from the IRS noting inaccuracies in my 2004 taxes. Fark. Apparently they didn’t get my amended return or something.

All three technology errors.