The shelf reborn, wet 13, Peanuts, reviews
Saturday morning Cindy was doing a spin class so I decided to go into old school chore mode. I was outside in the brutal heat and humidity until almost 11:30 weeding, weed whacking and attending to other outdoor to do’s. After lunch I went back outside to apply the chocolate colored stain/waterproofing I used on the rain shelter last week to other wood structures in the yard that were in need of it like the small shed ramp, dog deck frame, and the jump table in the bar park. In total I changed my shirt three times during the day after I sweated through them.
Late in the afternoon I decided I wanted to tackle the only remaining project on my mental list, installing a shelf over the big tv. This is actually something I did once before around 2003 when I had the 61 inch Sony projection tv. At that time it was used to house the AV equipment. When I bought the 73 inch DLP TV and the tv stand for it to sit on I had to rip the shelf out because it was too low. When I pulled the shelf I actually put the boards in the large shed toi be used again on a rainy day. Well that day came Saturday, some 8-9 years later.
The reason I wanted to put a shelf up was to have a good spot for the center surround speaker. With the 73 inch tv and now the 70 inch 4K set I had that speaker on the surface of the tv stand in the middle. Well with the new TV if I put it in the center it blocked the IR receiver for the set. I thought I would be creative and place the speaker behind the tv. The problem was since the speaker was partially obstructed, the dialogue for shows, which usually comes through the center speaker was somewhat quiet, requiring me to turn the volume up higher, making loud portions of a movie/show overwhelming.
Having that speaker right above the set seemed like a much better option, plus it would help fill up that gap of dead space to the top of the nook. When I tried to explain my plan to install the shelf to Cindy she was a bit unsure of how well it would work. I assured her I did it once before successfully and I could do it again. Having the shelf and trim board from the old shelf still available meant I didn’t have to worry about measuring or cutting new ones.
Cindy used the palm sander to clean up the old lumber. Sitting in a storage shed for that long had made the wood dirty and dingy. I used 2×4’s as the side supports for the shelf. Getting the shelf to look right is all about getting it even so I did a lot of measuring and leveling to ensure the boards on either side were right where they needed to be.
After a couple hours of work the new shelf was in place and looking good. Having the speaker up there was definitely an improvement, I could now hear the dialogue coming from the tv without cranking the Yamaha surround to concert levels. It was quite a busy Saturday but I felt good getting so much accomplished. Of course I shot video of the work. If you would like a more detailed view of how it went down, look here.
On Sunday morning I bugged Cindy about going out to run. It wasn’t because I loved the idea of running in the miserable heat and humidity. I just did not want to lose the small amount of progress I have been making with my running. Last weekend with Supercon and construction projects I did not get out to run at all. If I missed a second consecutive week I felt like I would be back at square one.
We did not start our first lap around the track until after 8AM so the sun was already high enough in the cloudless sky to start broiling us. I felt pretty miserable the entire run but I expected to. We completed 13 laps around the track at a 9 something per mile pace. I was beyond drenched with sweat by the end of it but I glad I put the time and effort into getting out to run.
Sunday had a definitely more relaxed pace to it. I did a few things including washing the Tacoma, during which I recorded two videos. One regarding a shift delay I sometimes experience going between reverse and drive and the other being a 2500 mile review of the truck. It seems like anything I post regarding the 2016 Tacoma is getting a lot of views on YouTube. The one video has almost 500 views already which is a TON for the first day.
Speaking of my YouTube channel, things have really been accelerating since I crossed the 1000 subscriber line. While the first 1000 subscribers took me some 8-9 years to accumulate, I have gotten my next 100 in about a month. I also am less than 20,000 views from a million total on my channel, another big milestone for a small time YouTuber like myself. My content may not be universally popular but it definitely does fit a certain niche. I am following the advice of Casey Neistat, a very popular You Tuber when it comes to how to grow your channel. Just keep uploading.
Sunday night we watched the Peanuts movie. I have always been a big Peanuts fan all of my life. The holiday specials and the cartoon strips were some of my favorite things growing up. Seeing the way they animated the characters for the film was odd. Most everything in the film was 3D rendered which honestly looked disturbing in some ways, like the hair on Charlie Brown and Linus’s head. However the facial expressions were done in an old school way like the old specials. For the most part it worked and did not mess with the feel of the movie. I thought they also did a good job of getting voice actors that could perfectly replicate the characters as they sounded in the 60’s and 70’s, something that was not the case with some of the more modern Peanuts specials that were produced.
Despite the pressure of it being a feature length film, I think they did a good job of making the story authentic, touching, and fun in a similar manner to what made the characters so endearing to us as kids. Although I had no desire to spend theater type money to see Peanuts on the big screen I was quite happy it arrived in it’s Netflix envelope. I pity kids today that have no modern day equivalent of Peanuts to look to. Most are far too busy being mesmerized by their portable screens to appreciate someone like Charlie Brown or Snoopy. The movie is a quality B+ addition to the massive Peanuts collection.
We started watching The Preacher on AMC, another comic book based show. AMC did great with this formula with The Walking Dead and it appears they have another winner on their hands. It is bizarre, crazy, and cool. Check it out.