If money grew on trees and for some reason it was still valuable i’d do a few things with all the fat stacks of cash that i would sustainably harvest.

1. Retire?  I love my job.  Heck, today i lost track of time and was late leaving work to meet my Girl scout cookie hook-up.  I guess i’d retire from 8-5 (plus some nights and weekends) work and do whatever the heck i wanted.
2. Travel.  More.  I get to travel a bit already.  But that’s because i wondered if i’d look back at an older age and wish that i did some more adventurous travel when i was younger.  Because i know i’m going to want to just do cruises to exotic places later.
3. Be generous.  Maybe give out emergency loans or scholarships or build playgrounds in middle-class neighborhoods.  I have always felt a little dissed because of those “at-risk youth”and their “lower class” neighborhoods dominated by “minorities.”  Not jealous mind you.  Just dissed for not being extraordinary either.  Where is the program for the straight C student that just is?
4. Cross breed my money tree with a tree that grows golden delicious apples.  I like them.
5. Make it so i didn’t spend money.  Like making major energy efficiency changes…
6. Go back to school.  I liked college.  But i’m afraid to try distance ed classes.  I’m just not sure that i’m the right kind of person to motivate myself.
7. Have someone do my laundry, dishes, and general cleaning.  I guess now i’m really letting all this money get to my head!
8. Give gifts to people randomly.
9. Become insanely protective about my money tree.
10. Bury my money in big mason jars below my money tree.  Maybe i should bury it in something more permeable than glass though – perhaps that’s what money trees need for fertilizer.

Oh – and maybe one more thing.  Buy a really good metal detector.  Because looking for old coins and lost jewelry just seems like a good way to make some money, have fun and get some fresh air and exercise.

A few years ago i picked up a set of 6 multifunction LED light bars. They can be set to hold a single color or to rotate through colors at variable speeds or even to activate to music. I had mounted them under the kitchen counter temporarily but didn’t like how the cord to plug them in showed. A few weeks ago i mounted them in the cabinets of the dining room. Five are mounted above the shelves and one is mounted in the bottom of the center cabinet under-lighting the liquor bottles.

I am thinking of ordering tempered glass shelves to allow the light to filter to the bottom of all of the cabinets. I found a place to order them online but will wait for some feedback on how it looks. 10 shelves would come to about $200.

I drilled holes between the cabinets and ran all the wires to the bottom of the center one. I drilled a hole in the back wall of the center cabinet and cut the end off the power cord which i then ran down to the outlet in the wall just below. I wired the power directly to the outlet terminals. The only drawback is that there is a power inverter that is constantly drawing power right now. I will next wire a switch to interrupt the power feed to the inverter and use it for the power button. The control unit has a power button but it is between the inverter and the lights. While I’m at it i might re wire buttons from the controls so i can change the mode and pause the color and then have identical buttons mounted below the center cabinet or in the bottom below the bottles. Naturally i’m thinking that some nice vintage 60’s or 70’s metal buttons would be best.

Star with LED rope light

Last year after Christmas i bought some LED rope lights on sale. I went to put them up but found that the only way to really put them “up” is to wrap them around something or to screw a zip tie to something. I have been thinking of attaching lights to a bike frame and then lights that are chasing each other to bike wheels and putting that in the bike shop window. Which had me thinking about zip ties and using them to just attach the lights to a shape.

But what shape?

I decided on a star because it would be easy and i had the following materials handy.

• aluminum tent pole sections
• long line wire
• zip ties
• electrical tape

It is pretty easy to do… cut a length of wire long enough to go through 10 identical tent pole sections with perhaps 18 inches of extra wire. String the pole sections on the wire like beads. Insert the male end on first.  Then connect two sections and then bend the wire back on itself.  Repeat until you have the five sections.  Now just arrange your star and attempt to have it symmetrical.  Tuck the ends of the cable into the opposite tent pole.  Use the electrical tape to secure the intersections.  THen just use the zip ties to secure the rope light to the frame you just built.

SOLD!

I have one 097134-02 motor. It replaces M51131, 097134-01, and of course 097134-02. It is 1/5 Horsepower, 120 V 60 HZ 4.9 A 3450 RPM.

Comes with instruction sheet for replacing the above motors.

Price including priority mail shipping: $35.

I just got a notice in the mail that the Alaska Airlines signature credit card will be trimming some of the benefits for cardholders. First, they are bumping the companion fare coupon to $99 from $50. Since there is a $75 annual fee for the card this is one benefit that i saw as having a real monetary value. Now the cost of that ticket essentially goes up to $175 plus taxes and fees. That still is a bargain most of the time.

They are also eliminating the annual anniversary mileage bonus. That’s 2,000 miles. That isn’t that much but it adds up. In the ten years i have been a card holder that’s almost enough miles to exchange for a ticket!

It might be time for me to shop around. Delta and Northwest recently merged and they will give credit for miles flown on Alaska Airlines… Their highest level card has an annual $150 fee but it comes with a companion coupon. And you can earn miles on some partners that i have been flying – like China Eastern and a few other obscure airlines.

Just got this email from Phil…

The first ever Beard Team USA National Beard and Moustache Championships will take place on Saturday, May 36, 2010, in Bend, Oregon.

Bend was selected from over 25 communities, resorts, and hotels — ranging from Las Vegas to Peoria — submitting bids to host the championships. Bend has pledged full community support for this extraordinary event.

Located on the Deschutes River in Central Oregon, Bend offers fly-fishing, rafting, golf, canoeing, mountain biking, hiking, and possibly even late season skiing and snowboarding at nearby Mount Bachelor. Did I mention beer? Bend is the home of seven microbreweries including the famous Deschutes Brewery practically next door to the Les Schwab Amphitheater where the competiton will take place.

There will be competition in four separate categories designed to include everyone. The winner in each category will walk away with a cool $1000. So that everyone gets a shot at the cash, the fifth $1000 prize will go to a contestant selected at random.

Here are the categories:

1. Best moustache. Beards are allowed in this category but the contestants will be judged on their moustaches only;
2. Best partial beard. Includes goatees, van dykes, sideburns, musketeers, etc.;
3. Best full beard. Styling aids are permitted;
4. Freestyle. Anything goes. Anything. Be creative.

The date?? It’s May 36. Purists will insist that it is actually June 5, but since I have been promising for months that the Nats will be in May, I am sticking with May 36 for now.

The championships will take place in conjunction with the 8th Annual Balloons over Bend hot air balloon festival.

Stay tuned for information on registration, lodging options, transportation from the airport in Portland, and everything else you will need to know.

For now all members of Beard Team USA are asked to:

1. Make plans to be in Bend on June 5th;
2. Tell everyone they know about the BTUSA Nationals;
3. Keep growing their beards and moustaches for America.

Looks like the freestyle division is going to allow props and dyes… That should make things really interesting!

I started trying to figure out how i could support the threshold of the new door. I checked my supply of metal and found a 4 foot long piece of angle aluminum that already was predrilled at one foot intervals. Perfect. I thought this would be a really easy fix.

But the access to under the threshold was kind of blocked by the front steps. And Yeti threw up some bile right where i needed to be. Thanks Yeti.

So i lifted up on the top step and it wasn’t even nailed down! The bottom step was nailed the the wall in four places so wasn’t too difficult to remove.

I measured the distance that i needed to span – 15 inches. So i was aiming for about 7.5 inches from deck to first step tread and also 7.5 inches to the top step tread.

First i used a layer of 6×6 treated beams to build the foundation. I cut some treated fence boards leftover from the backyard fence. and used them to raise the height of the 6×6s. You can see that i decided to do a curve for part of the step. Originally i planned on doing two curved steps but then decided to square up the ends of the bottom step and make the top step rectangular.

After i had the five bases constructed and spaced at 16 inches on center i used 2×10 treated lumber to construct the first step. I used a long flexible piece of Azek trim to trace the curve that i would cut. I used nails tacked into the deck boards (that were not yet nailed down) to guide the piece.

I started to use my jigsaw to fut the curves but it wasn’t sharp or powerful enough. So i switched to my sawzall which i had to use to complete the cuts through the 6×6s.

You can see a bit of wiring between two of the 6×6s. That went to one of the light switches next to the front door and controlled the lights in the carport. But there also is a light switch in the carport. The lights i have in there are motion activated so the switch isn’t very necessary – certainly not the one by the front door. So i trimmed the wires (the breaker was off throughout) and shortened everything up and put the wire nuts in a (mostly) weatherproof box.

I knew i wanted the full width of the board to start the bottom step. I also could have just ensured that the step ends landed on the 6×6s. Only 5 inches or so sticks beyond the 6×6 on either end of the bottom step.

The rest was pretty straightforward. I cut boards to length and ripped them as needed on my table saw.

I ran a plastic board through my table saw to trim out underneath both steps and fastened it with galvanized nails.

At about 6:15 i wrapped up the project. i spent under $35 on materials. my stash of treated wood is severely depleted and i’m running dangerously low on the white plastic material too.

On the afternoon of Thanksgiving i decided to take the plunge and replace my front door.  I popped off the trim around the inside and outside, removed the long screws from the hinge and jamb and the door just about fell out. There was no insulation between the door and the wall.

Here’s a photo that shows the old door from the outside.

Seth and Kahn arrived about a half hour into the project and we had our Thanksgiving steaks so i took a break from the door.  Friday i got spray insulation in and trimmed the interior.  today i worked on the outside.

I messed up three things.  First, i ordered a door for a wall based on 2×6 construction.  Well, there are parts of my house framed with 2×6 but this isn’t one of them.  So the door frame would have to stick beyond the wall on the inside or extend outside further.  I chose outside.

The door came with some wood blocking to make sure the kickplate stayed secure.  I didn’t remove those and so the door sits about a half inch higher than it needs to.  I still need to support below the kickplate so it is more stable.

When putting in the lock hardware i carved out the part of the door to receive the plate that surrounds the latch.  Once i read further into the instructions i found out that i could have just removed the plate.

Here you can see the gap between the outside trim and the wall sheeting.

You can also see two switches – one was for the light mounted just above and to the right of the door.  The other leads to the motion sensing lights in the carport.  There is another switch in the carport for those lights so i intend to circumvent this switch entirely.  The one for the light at the door i changed to motion activated.

To easily attach trim to frame in the door i cut a number of 6 inch long 2×4s and mounted them at 16 inch intervals behind the existing trim.

I then used some small galvanized nails to attach MDF boards that are almost 6 inches wide and have been primed on three sides.

The other side of the door took a little more time because of the wiring but i changed out the light fixture with a more modern one and installed a motion detecting switch to help with hands free light and making sure the light goes out when not needed.

I need to now run some of the MDF through my table saw so that it can be slipped in behind the facade trim to complete the boxing of the door.

So aside from the last few trim pieces i also need to brace the kickplate and wire in a doorbell chime inside the house (once i have one to install)

If you look at the last two pictures you can see the cabinet lighting that i’m working on in the background,

I know that there are creepy people everywhere.  And that online you should be careful everywhere but check this out…

I was looking at my “recent activity on Flickr and saw this entry…

I went to his profile.  They have not uploaded any images and have no friends.  Strange.  Why have a Flickr account?  Then i clicked to see their favorites.  They have well over 100 pictures that are favorites and every single one is a picture of a woman.  Some look mighty young.  One or two look ancient.  The vast majority are young women.

He could have easily been just saving the images to his computer – but he has them bookmarked online.  I made the image available only to my contacts.

I’ll be watching…

Amazon does not make it easy to keep on top of the feedback left for sellers. I have wanted an RSS feed to keep me up to date with my number of feedback ratings and my overall score and I finally sat down and figured out how to grab that information.

1. Set up an account on Feed43.

2. Create a new feed.

3. Under “Step 1. Specify source page address (URL)” type:

http://www.amazon.com/shops/YOUR_USERNAME

Then click on the “reload” button.

4. Under “Step 2. Define extraction rules” and in the “Global Search Pattern:” field copy and paste:

Feedback Rating

{%}

In the “Item (repeatable) Search Pattern” field copy and paste:

{%}{*}{%}{*}{%}

Then click on the “extract” button.

5. Scroll to “Step 3. Define output format” and give your feed a title like “My Amazon Feedback” use the URL from step one as your “Feed Link” and add a description to our feed. Under “RSS item properties” for the item title template use something like:
Current feedback
Item content template should be:

{%3} ratings giving {%4}% positive feedback or {%2} stars.

Check the box to merge and then click the “preview” button.

6. At the bottom is a link to your feed URL. Mine is here. Under “Optional features” further down the page you can rename your feed to something a little more user friendly.

7. Use in your favorite feed reader. Continue with these instructions to add your feed to your Google homepage.

8. Go to iGoogle.com and log in. Then click on “Add stuff” near the top right of the page.

9. Do a search for gadgets using “customrss” as the search term. Click on the “Add it now” button for the CustomRSS gadget.

10. Click on “Back to iGoogle home” near the top left.

11. Select “Edit Settings” from the drop down list when you click on the triangle at the top of the CustomRSS gadget.

12. Change the “FEED URL” to the URL from step 6.

13. Rename the “Custom Gadget Title” as you see fit.

14. Change the “# of items” to 1.

15. “Link Action” should be set to “Show description.”

16. Uncheck “show date” and feel free to mess with any other settings. Then click the “Save” button.

17. Enjoy your new gadget that shows you your Amazon feedback!