Category: Updates

Honey Harvest – 2019

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

I had a good honey harvest this year. It was not a record breaking great one, but it was decent. Out of a total of six hives I was keeping and 2.5 that I was assisting with, I lost one to chemicals and one to foul brood – in the same bee yard unfortunately. One that I helped with also had a chemical exposure and once again (see previous post), my “Russian Survivor Bees” from Vashion Island were crap. They are still super mean, are not producing honey, and even the split from the first hive is behaving exactly the same way.

I sourced some sweet little glass honey-bear jars and I had some custom labels printed this year instead of using the generic “HONEY!” labels. I went through Sticker Mule and I need to say that they were perfect!! The artwork was spot on, the size and tolerance was just right, they were fast, and they were the cheapest source I found for that size and quantity in two colors. Their customer service in excellent and they have my business for all my stickers and labels from now on.

Switching Jobs

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I recently switched companies and positions. I harbor no animosity for my former company.  I did not leave because I was offered more money (it is the same almost to the dollar), for a cooler title, out of anger at someone or something, or because I felt overwhelmed or stagnate.  No, I left so that I can be part of a new team that has a goal of flying humans safely into space.   In that transition, I left a publicly owned aerospace part manufacturer and all of the complexities that come with answering to metrics and investors for a position at a privately funded space exploration, design and manufacturing company.   A company that is not currently motivated by profit, but purely by research, design, and exploration. 

To tell the truth it is a little scary:  I went from a company where I know everyone from the newest technician to the CEO by first name and they both knew me and what my I brought to the table. I have moved into a world that I only know a fraction of the people and tech, where I am the new guy, untested, untried, but I think that it will be worth any initial stumbles as it has been a decades long and multi-generational want.

My father was an aircraft nut!  He was a mechanic in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War and eventually worked on the SR-79 Blackbird project when it was still classified.  We went to airshows and aircraft exhibits galore.  He knew some guys that flew with and maintained classic War Birds for the Confederate Air Force and we would spend Saturdays helping out here and there. Including a very memorable time where as a very skinny kid, I was tasked/voluntold to pull a bundle of wire in the confined space below the cockpit of what I believe was a Mitchell bomber.  His love of flying things did not stop at the bounds of our atmosphere – living in Houston, I got dragged to the Johnson Space Center a couple times a year.  He would spend hours there just looking and smiling.  I didn’t get it then, but I sure do now!  If my dad only knew…

I.AM.Stoked!! 

I believe that the first decades of the 21st century will be seen in a few hundred years as the dawn of the privatization of space.  The precursor to mankind’s exploration of space beyond a single lifetime.  I get to be, in some small way, a part of that history.  I feel like the kid who inked the presses for Johannes Guttenberg as he was printing that first book on set type.   I feel that at the pivotal moments of exploration in human history, the little people behind some of our greatest explorers (Magellan, Ericson, Hillary & Norgay, Lewis & Clark, Cook, Armstrong, et al…), went to their rest knowing that they helped achieve something greater than themselves.

 Dean Kamen (the inventor of the Segway and holder of 1,000+ patents) once said that it was his belief that ‘…When we start to look at scientists and mathematicians the same way we look at actors and musicians, we will start to come together as a society and do great things…’  The private exploration of space is one of these great things.  I am proud to be one of those little people and I am excited for the days ahead. 

 

 

2019 News Year’s Resolutions:

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A year ago, to the day, I said that I would do a bunch of stuff in 2018.  Well, if you want to hear God Laugh, tell him your plans…

Life was sort of turn upside down this year with continuing hip issues, an unplanned knee surgery, a job change, house rebuild craziness.  If you factor in my own laziness, stubbornness, and my A+ skill level of procrastination I did not get even half of my list ticked off. From that list of 50 Things, the items below are what I actually did get done:

Organize my chaos in the shop and basement. – Basement done!
Sell, donate, recycle, or throw away shit that I do not use.
Use my planner and notebooks as tools not as something that I “have” to use.
Take my desk at home back and make it a conducive writing space.
Fly my drones more
Finish my CJ-7 Jeep restoration
Sign up for a letterpress class at SVC Downtown
Take another blacksmithing class at The Pratt
Give some $$ to Heifer and MFS
Be involved in politics more: financially and with a time commitment
Finish the house remodel –  even if I have to pay a contractor to do it (shudder…)
Make.More.Stuff!!
Ride my snowboard and skateboard because I am not too old or too fat
Road trip in WA and on West Coast more
Take my wife on vacation

For 2019, I am going to keep it a little simpler:

  1. Work really hard to stay healthy and avoid any more orthopedic surgery
  2. Quit Twitter for good this time.
  3. Get on my bike
  4. Lose the extra weight
  5. Be a great engineer
  6. Make better and better YouTube videos.
  7. Read more
  8. Spend more time with Family
  9. Worry about the house less
  10. Finish and USE my shop to its fullest.
  11. Be happier and remove negative folks and situations from my day to day.
  12. Take some more classes
  13. Make more friends
  14. Be involved in my community
  15. Buy and consume less
  16. Simplify

I Have Had Better Weekends

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This weekend was a giant cluster and I am glad it is Monday – those are words I have never said before. 100% first world boogie problems, I get it. My house is not on fire, I am not fleeing disease or a brutal regime, and no one is firing artillery or bullets in my direction. I get it, so please excuse my momentary lapse into the tiny issues in my own little world.

  • Ran out of ½ and ½ for coffee 1st thing on Saturday
  • Had to use my wife’s coconut creamer.
  • Was not happy.
  • Didn’t matter, spilled the coffee all over robe ½ way through the cup.
  • Said the F-word loud enough to make both dogs go find their mommy
  • Looked for a tool for like 40 minutes in house, basement, attic, and garage.
  • Still haven’t found it.
  • One of the dogs rolled in shit and then came happily into the house.
  • Same dog got on the couch.
  • I had to clean the couch
  • I lost my favorite fountain pen in the house somewhere while cleaning dog shit!?!
  • Went to yarn shop for my mother
  • They are out of a specific yarn she needs to finish a blanket.
    “Check back in a month… the dye lot MAY be different though…”
  • Went to grocery store and someone rammed the parking exit ticket-taking machine.
  • It was the only exit for cars.
  • Sat there for an hour+ – grumbling at “people”
  • Realized I forgot some stuff and had to go back to the damn grocery store.
  • Went to library to renew book (Chernov’s Grant)
    Found that I forgot to return a book 3 months ago
  • Have a $20 fine.
  • Opened Twitter
  • Read that The Cheeto refused to join the leaders of Europe for a 100th anniversary WWI Armistice tribute because of rain…
  • Got super worked up, hate Tweeted, raised my blood pressure, and then turned off the phone.
  • We cleaned the hot tub – up to my knees in 40 degree water
  • Splashed vinegar in BOTH eyes
  • A Normal coffee stand I frequent has switched to a bikini coffee stand.
    My “barista” was wearing pasties, dental floss and a shinny butt plug.
    She adjusted said plug absent-mindedly as she was making my coffee
  • I did not drink the coffee
  • I sent a joking text that super pissed my kid off.
  • Was not my intent.
  • Made a fire Sunday night
  • Set my phone top of the fireplace insert
  • Found it an hour later COOKED my iPhone! WAY to hot to even touch
  • Said very dirty words. Dirty.
  • Worked on tax receipts because THAT is coming up soon
  • Said some more dirty words about my own stupidity with the cell phone cooking.
  • New laptop won’t fit in my messenger bag – by a LOT.
  • Not buying a new bag!
  • Went to bed and read until I fell asleep and cracked myself in the face with above mention Grant biography.

The weekend was not total shit though:

  • I sign up for a blacksmithing workshop for making ram and dragon heads
  • There was lots of snuggling with my wife and the puppies
  • Got some of my Christmas shopping done
  • The hot tub is clean and ready to use
  • We are geared up for cold weather with plenty of firewood.

Update on the Bee Hive in our yard

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These are the weirdest bees…

The hive is in full south facing sun all day and protected from wind. They took 6 weeks to draw out the 2-3 new frames in a 10-frame super even with me feeding syrup and when I put the second super on in July not a single frame has been drawn out, even with two lower frames put up top. The frames have plastic foundation, so maybe they hate it. No burr comb either. Weird.They are super protective – not African-ized, but pretty damn mean.  I wrote the keeper that I got the nuc from and he sent me a note in return saying that this is “normal behavior” for his survivor bees.  It is not a lack of resources or the queen: she is a brood making machine with very few drone cells. They are just kind of mean.

After three months I should have 20 frames covered with drawn comb, pollen, brood, honey, the works.  I didn’t think I would pull any honey from them this year and planned to get them strong for a spring split in 2019. The no honey thing was a correct estimation, but not just for me, there is very little honey or pollen in the hive – maybe a frame and a half a frame of capped honey the rest is currently uncapped and capped brood.   Instead of 20+ drawn frames, I have 9.5. It is like they did not have enough pollen or nectar, which is no where near the case:  They were all over the blackberries, our 40’ of lavender, flower garden, and 70+ sunflowers,  so I know they had plenty of the flow this year.  I am going to have to feed them with fondant over winter and am condensing the hive into a single super for winter.
The source of the original nuc doesn’t treat at all, so I am finding that they have a pretty high mite count with some wing deformation (DWV?).  No AFB or chalk brood though. No robbing or ant issues.  The aggression and the possible DWV may be linked and may be the issue with comb drawing and honey production.
There is a hive of Italians right next to the new bees that was an early spring package. Same type of frames and two westerns of honey were taken off them, though am not happy with mite count and will definitely treat them as well over winter.  I blame the new bees for the high mite count this year.
I think that I will see how the new hive does come spring with the Apivar, beetle treatment, and all-winter feeding.  If they haven’t calmed down or if they show any sign of weakness, that hive will be getting a new certified Russian queen.
Any bee keepers out there have any thoughts or comments?

Catching up and writing more

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I have not been writing as much in the last few months as I should.  I have lots of excuses:

  1. House Remodel
  2. Hectic Work Schedule
  3. Jeep Rebuild
  4. A focus on film making and growing my YouTube presence
  5. Lawn and Garden care – seriously, this takes up a lot of my time.
  6. Too much TV and interwebs…
  7. Blah, Blah, Blah…

When you get to the base of it all though, the answer is that I have made time for all the other things that keep me sane/make me crazy except for writing.  I am renewing my focus and will be posting more words to go along with all of the pictures and video.

Let’s start with an update of current stuff:

The Attic

We are so close to being done with the attic conversion.  I have to put a couple of coats on the closet door and one on the stair railing and paint the 4 walls with a couple coats of the almond eggshell that my wife picked out.  The new hardwood flooring is being delivered today and it will be installed on Friday.  I will spend the weekend installing the stair treads and kickers/risers.  The receptacles, switches and lights are the last serious items that will go in before I touch-up a little paint here & there and I will be done and can focus on the basement.

Basement

We are 75% there.  All tiled laid, grout done and a functioning toilet!!  I need to finish the trim install, hang two doors and then paint EVERYTHING!  I am having a custom shower rod TIG welded together and will be building the double sink vanity.  I have to tack together & paint the medicine cabinet door and mirror frames as well.  After all is in, we will have a plumber come out for the sink install and shower hook up.  I don’t plumb.  I am afraid of flooding my house with water or sewage.  I leave that job to the professionals.

Main Level Bath

The tube tile surround is being replaced in two weeks with 6” subway and small hex tile.  The new bathroom mirror will be going in this week, and I have to have the exhaust fan switch rewired.

Jeep

I had a solid weekend working on the Jeep.  The taillights are installed, the winch is re-wired, mirrors installed, windshield back on with new gasket and PLENTY on extra silicone.  The upper KC spotlights are re-installed, and an issue with the front speakers if fixed.  I still need to paint and install the spare tire rack, as well as the CB, megaphone speaker, 2nd battery, air compressor, lower KC spot lights, passenger headlight, rub rails, whip antenna, headlight trim rings, and polish the rear tube bumper.

The current plan is to leave the top COMPLETELY off until fall when I re-install the soft top.  I need to finish the Hi-Lift Jack rebuild project, have the speedometer serviced, and replace my tube pads as well before the cold winter wind blows.

Garage

The shop of me dreams is packed full of everyone else’s crap right now.  It is all leaving by the last weekend in July if I have to put it all out on the road.  I need to finish wiring in my 40K lumens of LED lighting, a 50AMP plug, a couple of 220/30amp plugs and have an electrician connect all into my service panel.

House Exterior

  1. Downspout in back needs attention
  2. A section of soffit need looking at and possibly repaired
  3. I need to weld together the Juliet Balcony outside the dining room
  4. Weld railing for rear steps
  5. The new front windows need a little trim and paint
  6. Dining room window needs trim and paint
  7. The rear steps need to be painted
  8. The chimney needs to be repointed before fall/winter
  9. Basement railing needs to be installed
  10. Both front railings need to be sanded and repainted.
  11. External security alarm siren need to be installed
  12. A tiny bit of concrete need to be pouted
  13. Two security cameras need to be swapped out for the lower profile ones

The yard

Man, the front yard is good, a little weeding and bush trimming maybe.  The back yard though…  It is still a disaster, or at least ½ a disaster.  I want to fill 3-4 gabion baskets with all the rocks left over from a previous owner’s attempt at pond-scaping and make benches around out fire pit.  We will be adding a steel arbor from the garage to the patio this fall that I am welding up on-site.  The patio table and chairs will get a proper sanding and oiling this weekend and we need/want an umbrella of it this year.  I want to add a tool shed and additional firewood racks to the side yard.   And finally, the small yard next to the garage is my makeshift apiary and I would like to make that both permanent and presentable with some additional hives, gravel and flower plants in narrow garden boxes.

Health

Stamps-With-Foot, my mom, and the kids are good.  I am feeling all of my 40+ years lately though.  My hip is still painful a full year after reconstruction.  I may have torn the meniscus in my left knee, AND I have Fucking Tennis elbow from chopping firewood!!  Not being able to run and bike, coupled with my love of cookies, has left me with a classic “Dad-bod” and even my fat pants are tight right now.  Eating better now.  Trying to get between 7 and 10K steps in a day, having the knee looked at, and working on the elbow.  We are going to Hawaii in February and I need at least a 2-pac as there will be MANY shirtless days in and under the water, for my arm to feel better, and my knee and hip to be like 70%.

Other

Work is work, but I have really traveled at all this year and that is awesome!  Still wish I was building cabinets for a living, covered in man-glitter, smiling but that will have to wait.  I will be traveling to Arkansas this fall to see my daughter and her family.  My son will be here in Seattle for a couple of weeks this summer.  I hope to tour a couple of colleges with him.  My wife and I have a couple of road trips planned and I want to get out on my bike, kayak, and skate board a little (don’t tell my wife or knee Dr. about the board…) I have started recording for a monthly Podcast.  A friend conned me into it after a few years of asking.  I am going to just sit and tell stories without naming names or implicating myself in any illegal activities that are not past the statute of limitations.  As a reward for losing weight I will go ahead and finish out both of my tattooed arm sleeves and my wife and I are planning matching bee tattoos for our anniversary.  I still have not bought a boat or a motorcycle, so she will keep me for a while longer

Film Friday – Double Feature: Attic and Bath Remodel Status

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I spent two FULL days, with a little help from my wife, instaling the baseboard, door, skylight, stair, and window trim in the new attic space. This video includes a few tips and tricks along the way. As this will be my wife’s studio space, she put in some sweat equity filling nail holes, doing a little sanding, and she chose the paint scheme. I will be painting next and will document that whole process as well.

This is Part 1 of our basement bathroom build/finish. We decided to add a basement bathroom when we replumbed the house a couple of years ago. 6 months of chaos insued and we took a two year break before diving back into the bathroom build. This time has been SO much better. We went with white subway tile for the walls, black and while hex tiles for the floor, and charcoal grout. The next step is trim, paint and fixture install.

This weekend was full. I really need to stop working on my days off.

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Welding Cart experienced a failed wheel/axle combo
I said dirty words and decided to replace rather then rebuild
Also decided to upgrade – just a little.
Sourced new cart and used a 20% off Coupon
Assembled new Harbor Freight/General Tools MIG welding cart
Recorded a video of whole experiebce for YouTube channel
Wired in a couple plugs and lights in the attic.
Worked on linocut of our dog Brodie and of a mountain scene print for two letterpress projects.
Wove a 9”+ pine needle coiled basket – because I can.
Made like 6 Instagram posts
Played Ukulele for a bit.
Recorded a couple of riffs and a drum track
Started building a podcast tool for website – slow going
Made a run to the city dump with a trailer load of building material/construction waste.
Mowed and edged yard.
Worked on the washing machine
called it names until it worked
Spent an hour looking for new Jeep parts that disappeared in the garage.
Said more dirty words – there is a theme here…
Found the parts
Installed front blinkers and driver’s side head light.
Completely failed at installing LED tail lights.
Threw a little fit.
Asked questions and then ranted on the Internet forums.
Packet the LEDs back up, returned them, and ordered replacements with regular bulbs.
Sat in yard and drank some Rose’
slept late (8:30) on Sunday morning
Cleaned backyard a little
Took Mom to lunch
Celebrated Mother’s Day
Took mom to nursery for flowers and yarn shop for some skeins of alpaca wool.
Installed new fender flairs on the Jeep.
Installed new Jeep bumper and re-installed winch
HUGE pain and took forever
Two band-Aids with consumed.
Wore good cloths while wrenching.
Wife caught me with grease on shorts
She made wet-cat noise and I got in trouble…
Organized and hauled out all of the recycling from house and garage.
Drank wine in the front yard.
Drank some more wine.
Binged watched season 2 of Westworld to catch up.

The Spring Flu SUCKS!!

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I spent all weekend sipping on a bottle NyQuil – Strait from the bottle because that is how I roll when I have fever. I was at work Monday morning, but I am still not sure where the entire weekend went. It is lost in a dark blue haze with brief interludes of hacking and blowing my nose. It is now Wednesday and I am feeling quasi-normal again, but Stamps-With-Foot started coughing last night and called in sick this morning. I may have infected her.

I Might need a day off…

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This weekend was super full:

  1. Got a haircut
  2. Published “Week 4” attic remodel vid on YouTube
  3. Cleaned out freezer that shut down and spoiled EVERYTHING in it.
  4. Took freezer and bio-waste contents to dump.
  5. Bagged and took 1200 pounds of construction waste to dump
  6. Got Jeep out of garage, charged battery, and fawned over it.
  7. Cleaned yard a little
  8. Wrote a couple of letters.
  9. Had 2017 taxes done.
  10. Getting a refund for first time in 9 years.
  11. Wife and I are going to splurge on hookers and blow – her idea.
  12. Tried to work on the Jeep, but too much shit in my way.
  13. Cleaned garage some.
  14. Organized and hauled out all of the recycling from house and garage – there was a LOT.
  15. Put together new planer stand and mounted wood planer in shop
  16. Drank wine.
  17. Made and finished a YouTube video of the planer assembly.
  18. Installed security camera in the house.
  19. Installed switch and plug boxes and rafter supports in attic.
  20. Input time sheets for my J-O-B.
  21. Played ZERO music.
  22. Worked on a 3D printing design
  23. Got stuff ready for next week
  24. Drank some more wine.
  25. Going to bed now.

Film Friday – Week 2 of the Attic Rebuild

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I know… I have been posting a bunch of videos lately and not a lot of travel, Jeep, Puppy, garden, music, building, or other normal posts.  That will change with the coming of Spring and the completion of our attic remodel/rebuild.  In that vain, below is the short video documenting week 2 of the process.  It looks like it will be a 5-part series.

Mid-week Update

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So, this week has been crazy at work and at home. On the home-front, there were birthdays, shopping, it is Income Tax time, we have 3-4 guys showing up every morning at 7:00 with tools in hand to work in and on the attic.

My shop is full.  I can’t even get to my table saw and my bench is stacked 5′ high with insulation.   I need a little shop time to keep me sane or at least saner…  So, I took a little me time and signed up for some classes for spring and early summer where I will get use other folks shops and build/make stuff:

  1. Canoe Paddle Making
  2. Claw and Ball Foot Carving
  3. A 10-Week Letter Press Workshop
  4. Woodcarving Figures
  5. Spoon Carving
  6. Block Printing
  7. Industrial Sewing: canvas and leather

The Jeep Rebuild After Paint

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As you know, I got the Jeep back from paint about a month ago and it has been sitting on the lift in the garage – letting the paint cure. I am not 100% happy with the paint… It took 4 tries for them to get the hood and fenders right and there are little spots and dings on the tailgate. There is also some mess just above the nerf bars and a run on the rear fender that makes me twitch, but they will be covered by some trim and the fender flairs, so… I included the Jeep’s homecoming in a video here, but skip to 5:09 as I spent way too much time blabbing about other non-Jeep related crap in the 1st part of the Video.

Anyway, I have been collecting small cardboard boxes full of goodies since last October for the after-paint re-fit. That installation process begins this coming weekend. I am giddy with anticipation.

The part additions and changes from Morris, Amazon, ARB, and Northridge4X4 include:

Duel Battery tray
Halogen headlight Lamp Conversion Kit (wanted LEDs, but don’t want to pay $600+ for headlight!!)
Black Rugged Ridge Fender Flare Kit
Stainless Fender Flair Hardware
Front Side Amber Marker Lights
New Wiper Blades
New thick rubber floor mats
BestTop Bikini Top (uses existing soft top channel) for the 2 months of sun in Seattle this summer
Rugged Ridge LED Tail Lights
Front Parking Lamp/Lens
Black Factor 55 FlatLink Winch Cable Shackle
Burnt Orange Jeep Fender Decals
New Frame to Cowl Weather Seal
Black Powder Coated Stainless Steel Side Mirrors
New Winch Cover
Warn Winch bumper with D-Rings
Black Vinyl Spare Tire Cover
New Aviation-Style Light Switches for front spots and reverse lights
Stainless Steel License Plate Holder (I had it powder coated black)
Second set of D-rings (Powder Coated Burnt Orange to match Jeep Logo)
Hi-Lift Jack Rebuild Kit (sandblasting and repainting origional)
Bronze Door Hinge Bushings (sourced at McMaster-Carr)
Warrior Pipe ½ doors (because I can)
ARB Recovery Tools Bag to organize my off-road gear
ARB Compact Onboard Air Compressor (Got a SMOKING Deal at the ARB booth at a recent Jeep Swap Meet!!)

Getting new bar covers made as well

Film Friday – Framing Double Feature

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We are remodeling and rebuilding a 90+ year old attic into a master bedroom. This required completely rewiring to electrical in the attic, moving/fixing plumbing, building a complete floating floor, adding roof supports, etc… Below is thew documentation of the 1st week of the build.

Part I of a 2 part video on the replacement of a falling down 90+ year old shack of a carriage shed with a modern 24X24 garage. This was not a flat mono-slab, green field build. Lots of digging was required and a rebar-filled retaining wall and slab had to be poured in the middle of winter before the first wall could go up.

Film Friday – An Update and a Little Ranting

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A quick update about why I have not posted here on my blog or been on YouTube for a few weeks and how I have been spending my time: Roadtrippin’, some slight ranting, obscene gestures, naughty words, snowboarding, beer, some boats, a little 3D printing, and a sneak peak at the Jeep’s homecoming after 12 weeks in the body shop are all to follow.

 

YouTube Partnership Program Rule Change Rant

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So, I am going to rant for just a bit, bear with me…

-Mounts Soapbox –

“Ahem… I set a goal to be a better filmmaker, content provider, and maker five months ago.  Part of that goal was to reach the 10,000 view threshold to monetize my YouTube account.  I did not plan to quit my J-O-B, or be internet famous, I just wanted to use it as a milestone for progress toward the goal and I nailed it on January 4th!  10,000 views!!  I was so stoked that I woke my wife up way too late one night to tell her.  My account was under review for 2 weeks and I was finally officially monetized for two days – two WHOLE days – before BAM!!  I was demonetized with a huge group of small and smaller content providers.  Son of a…

While this was a while in coming, it looks like the process/decision was sped up when a guy with 15+ million subscribers named Logan Paul posted a video of a suicide victim. 1st, what a fucking privileged asshat.  WTF is wrong with people?!  He should be forever ashamed, and spend a great deal of his YouTube revenue on suicide prevention and advocacy.  What should’ve happened following the public and advertiser outrage was YouTube suspending or deleting his channel, but that dude generates SERIOUS ad revenue, so… What happened instead was that YouTube took him off the top-tier ad group and YouTube punished the SHIT out of the small folks by demonetizing channels with less than 4000 hours of watch-time AND less than1000 subscribers to ‘protect their core values’? Makes zero sense and this guy will continue to post and earn $$$ even at the lower tier.

OK, fine, fuck’em.  I was not doing this for some mythical pot of gold.  This setback is just going to make me dig deeper.  I am 10% to the new threshold and I will keep slogging on. Keep making and doing. Post better and better content.  This will make me leaner, stronger, bigger, better, more… A better speaker, better filmmaker, I will get lighting and sound for my videos dialed, have awesome content, and be a better person from it all. Success doesn’t teach half as much as adversity.

To all effected by the YouTube demonetization BS: Don’t quit! Keep slogging on. Keep making and doing. You too will be all the better for it. Send me your channel and I will follow you and help with the watch hour threshold. As I said, I had just hit the monetization before all of this and we will get there again.  It will take some hard work but, we can all help each other out.”

– Dismount Soapbox –

 

Fall Harvest and Market visits – long & picture heavy post

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It has snowed over the last three days, so I guess that our fall harvest season is officially over.

Our Garden this year was planted a bit late – like a month and a half, due to me having hip surgery and the complete rework of the back yard. Consequently, our sweet corn never fully ripened, but the hot weather and sunshine this summer made for great tomatoes, peppers, and squash. To add to our bounty: our grass is Ireland-green and we are set up great for next year 🙂

The yard – old and new:

 

 

 

 

We got real figs for the first time ever from a small fig tree on our south fence line. It has been in the ground for 5 years and this was the first year that it really produced fruit, which we enjoyed with breakfast. Our two cherry trees were not as productive as last year, but some of that had to do with the weeks-long battle we had each evening with the snails and slugs climbing the trees and the ants that came later.

 

 

 

 

The apple trees produced fairly heavily as well, though no thanks to an “arborist” that screwed up the pruning and set our yard on fire with an errant cigarette butt – seriously.

The apple trees:

 

 

 

 

Squash and Veggies:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lapin and Stella Cherries:

 

 

 

 

Stamps-With-Foot really came into her own this year with the flowers she planted and cultivated! The houses next door and across the street were for sale at the same time and we had a couple of people comment on our “beautiful” yard and our “amazing flowers.” It made me proud of her, and of the front yard for the first time in years.

A few of the flowers:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next year my bride has spectacular plans for more tulips, lots of lilies, dahlias everywhere, more lavender, and other bee-attracting flowers. We will also plant the garden earlier, with starts that have been hot-housed, have a 3’X4′ plot of garlic, lots of carrots, parsnips, and some more roma tomatoes. We are going to bag the apples to keep the apple-moth at bay and can/bake/press/ferment them next fall. A row of blueberries will go on the south-side fence where the firewood used to be. Raspberries will go in in a sunny spot and I am builting in 2 more garden boxes (pending Stamps-With-Foots approval) along the garage. Until then, we are blessed with a year-round farmer’s market in our neighborhood. It is full of local fruit, veggies, pasta, bread, honey, berries, cheese, fish, and meat. The offerings are seasonal and we have gotten to know some of the folks that grow our food, which is awesome.

Scenes from the West Seattle market:

Amazon is my friend.

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Amazon makes me happy. I need a tool or a book or a part and a few clicks and 24-48 hours later I have the stuff I need. In the last month I have purchased the following and help make Jeff Bazos officially the worlds richest man:

1-3/16-Inch Combination Wrench
1/2″ drive 6 PT STD Socket 1 3/16
Book: The Orphan Master’s Son: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)
Valvoline SynPower Synthetic Automotive Grease – 14.1oz
Conan The Barbarian Thulsa Doom Iron/Sew On Embroidered Patch
Winter is Coming / Stark Wolf / Game of Thrones 2×3 Patch
Dropping F Bomb WW 2 Style Tactical morale 3.5 X 1.25 Hook Patch
1 $25 gift Card
Book: The Weight of Ink
Dickies Men’s Short Sleeve Shirt, Blue Chambray, Medium
Book: The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language
DCDEAL Large Size 24 Compartments Adjustable Plastic Electronics Parts Gadgets Tool Storage Box
Biotics Research – CoQ-Zyme 30mg 60 Tabs
Book: Spoonbenders: A novel
Book: South Pole Station: A Novel
Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse
Pampers Swaddlers Disposable Diapers Size 2, 204 Count
Baqua Spa Metal Control (1 pt)
Crosman Squirrel Reset Target, Metal
2 of Philips 416131 Clear Appliance 15-Watt T7 Intermediate Base Light Bulb
A Court of Thorns and Roses Coloring Book
Smittybilt 2733 Tire Plug and Seal Kit
all Mighty Pacs Laundry Detergent with OXI Stain Removers and Whiteners, Free Clear, Pouch, 38 Count
Echo Dot (2nd Generation) – Black
Westmark Germany Vegetable and Salad Spinner with Pouring Spout (Red)

Labor Day Weekend – 2017

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I was at home for Labor Day weekend this year and spend the time working on the house and yard. I dug up a cubic yard+ of dirt where the garage walkway will be and then built concrete forms, added rebar, and welded wire for a 20′ X 4′ sidewalk pour next week.

 

 

 

 

I also took a couple of hours to rebuild a 10′ section of fence on our south side. A 40′ (12.2m) tree had grown through it from the neighbor’s yard. He let me cut it down a couple of weeks ago and rebuilding the fence was required.  Note: Stamps-With-Foot did not see me roped up, hanging in the harness, topping the tree, so I didn’t get in trouble for being a “stupid man” until later 🙂

Film Friday – Corner Cabinet Up-Cycle/Rebuild

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Way back in November of 2015, just after our return from living abroad for two years, I bought a set of hard used, little loved corner cabinets from a local salvage place. I have spent an hour and there installing, building trim, sanding, de-gunking, stripping old paint, priming, painting, and more painting. It has only taken 18 months, but they are now installed and look like they have been in our living room since the very first day.

Here is a slideshow/video tale of the steps taken in the project: What it was to what it became.

My Week in Review

/ Matt Talley / 3 Comments

This past week has been a week of mish-mash happenings:

90-day Post-surgery hip appointment: Could have gone better.
Fruit tree pruning
I built a lid for the compost boxes
A rat didn’t like my lid and chewed through the side to get at the worms in the compost bin
I said dirty words
Mounted 7 up-cycled cabinets in the garage
Finished painting 80 liner feet of 1/4 round trim.
Sweep and cleaned GROP
Organized some stuff into new shelves and cabinets.
Finished painting the corner shelf doors – 5 total coats of fresh paint
Installed the hinges and hung the doors on wrong cabinets
Said dirty words
Re-hung doors on the correct cabinet.
Scratched paint
More dirty words
Touched up paint
Finished corner cabinet install
Did some Physical Therapy for my Old Man hip
Mowed and edged the yard
Read a book
Made a few Instagram and Twitter posts
Amazon sent me a new tool!
Flew drone one afternoon after J-O-B
Planted the boxwood shrubs
Bought garden starts at Nursery: tomatoes, corn, squash, zucchini, peppers,herbs, lettuce, etc…
50+ hours at my J-O-B, hustlin’ to keep us fed and the lights on
Watched about 2 hours of NetFlix
Gave away a bed in our home office
Had to delver it to new owner
Drank some French wine
Worked on cedar log garden table
Bought couch/guest bed for the office/TV room
Braved the gauntlet at IKEA – three hours to pick up a pre-ordered couch 🙁
IKEA gave me a $50 discount for the trouble
Had to source clear glass Victorian-style pull knobs for the corner cabinet doors
Spoke to both of my children for Father’s Day
Heart Happy
Planted summer garden
There was some coffee drinking and puppy snuggling
Took top off of Jeep for the first time in 1.5 years
Started Raining the second I took it out of the Garage
Made grumpy noises
Had coffee and listened to a bluegrass jam session at favorite coffee shop
Watched a movie
Was prolific on Twitter and Instagram
Murdered some dandelions
Rode around neighborhood on errands in topless Jeep when it stopped raining
Made happy noises
Sent some J-O-B e-mails from home
Started reading American Gods out loud with my awesome wife
Went to bed to start it all over again on Monday morning

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Matt Talley_Corner Cabinet Rebuild_2017

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A Year Later – The Garage is Finally Legal and Inspected

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Holy crap… I got notice from our former garage contractor that the city permit for the build was about to expire. WhAt tHe FUCK!?!? Apparently, he had never called for the final inspection. It just never ends with this guy and the inattention to detail.

After a flurry of calls and e-mails, the city inspector came out yesterday and looked at the framing, roof, gutters, paint, electrical final. He signed off thew garage as legal and conforming but, said that we should have not moved in and started the insulation and drywall until the final was signed and in hand. He was the guy that did the initial inspection and remembered us and the build, so I didn’t have to tear anything out. While I appreciate the contractor letting me know about the expiration, I would have preferred that the inspections were done a year ago when the structure was done.

Update:

The day after the Final Inspection was signed off, I got a notice that a Waste Diversion Report (WDR) needs to be submitted to Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) for all demolition projects as well as any new construction and alteration permits where the project value is $30,000 or greater. Normally this falls to the party that pulled the building permit, but as I did the demo myself it got forwarded to me.  Links to the forms are below in case anyone in Seattle needs them.

SPU Waste Diversion Report Manual Form
Seattle WDR Letter 2016

Apparently, if you live in Seattle, our local utility company wants to make triple-extra sure you did not dump any building or demo waste inappropriately. I have the receipts from the equipment company and the hauling company, so there should be no issue.

Stuff that my wife has said that leaves me speechless

/ Matt Talley / 1 Comment

Continuing in the theme of previous posts about the shocking and funny things that occasionally spew forth from my wife:

  • Laurel has started calling the Amazon Cart the “Gift Basket” then mumbling curse words under her breath, after accidentally buying everything that was in the “Cart.” Our Amazon grocery and regular Amazon stuff accounts got linked and she bought a ton of stuff, including a CB for my Jeep, a 20 gallon waste oil container for my shop, and a Ninja Blender.  We had no idea until stuff just started showing up at the house.  It was like Christmas in May!

 

  • We were waiting in line one night outside The Showbox in downtown Seattle, an iconic music venue right by Pike Place Market, and a guy walked by with a big strait ginger beard that would have made any self-respecting viking proud.  My wife and I have a deal:   She keeps her hair long and I don’t grow a beard.  I looked over at her as he walked past and said with a raised eyebrow, “That could be me.”  Without a seconds thought she replied, “It sure could.  You will notice he is walking alone…”  Point, set, and match.

 

  • I was standing in the kitchen doorway, unnoticed by my vegetarian-hippie-raised wife as she was delicately eating a strip of bacon and heard her say: “I don’t even recognize myself anymore.”

 

  •  While out to eat one Saturday night my sweet bride made a flippant comment about it “…being OK to miss the previews…” for the movie we were running a little late to because dinner was taking a while. I gave her the stink eye as I LOVE the previews and she said:  “Thou shalt not glare on date night if you want to sleep with a real girl tonight…” 

 

  • After I made a joke at her expense on the way home from the same movie, she snapped back, “It is mother-fucking date night. You have to be nicer to me.”

 

  • One evening after two too many glasses of wine, Stamps-With-Foot got a little sick.  It is the first time in like 10 years that this has happened.  She felt BAD and demanded I call the ambulance.  I said no, while holding her beautiful long hair up and out of the way.  She said: “I am dying.  Why won’t you listen to me?!”  I said: “I am sober and you are not.  You are not dying, but you will feel really crappy tomorrow”  Her reply was: “That seems plausible,”  which she said in a perfectly sober and lucid voice before returning to the continued hugging of the porcelain with nary another word about requiring emergency medical assistance.

 

  • She is hooked on The Get Down, a Netflix TV show.  She came sliding into the living room one Saturday morning as I was drinking coffee and snuggling puppies on the couch.  She dropped into a low martial arts-ish stance and started singing Kung Fu Fighting, made some chops and kicks in the air, executed a jump turn, and then vanished to continue her TV binge watching.  About an hour later she emerged and said as she walked to the kitchen, “I was born in the wrong decade.  I would have been a disco queen in the ’70s.”  No preamble, no justification, no reasoning, just a statement of fact.

Film Friday – The Garage Build Film Part 1

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I’ve had a number of people on various web forums, 6 sets of neighbors, a few friends, and a ton of folks in our area ask me some detailed questions about our garage build: size, foundation, demo, siding, wiring, roof, the car lift, etc…  As I have been making some videos while rehabbing the hip, I thought that I would turn my garage build into a three part YouTube series to answer most of the questions and have all of the information documented in one spot. The first one is done and up now and the second should be done in a few weeks.

This one and the next are from pictures taken during the build, with a voice over.  The third will be a mix of videos, stills and some drone shots.  I learn something every single time I put a video or slide show together, so my hope is they get more and more watchable.

I didn’t have the time or facilities to do it in this video, but I would like to use my own guitar, banjo, ukulele, fiddle, and mandolin picking for the soundtrack on future videos. My son, brother-in-law, and any friends I can con into it will also be future soundtrack contributors.

Spring has Sprung!!

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Holy Crap, it has been sunny and over 70F for two solid days here in Seattle for the first time in 6 months! Flowers and trees are blooming.  Mason, bumble, and honey bees are flying about.  My grass is green.  This all makes me sooo happy.  In a couple of weeks, we are taking a little referral bonus from my J-O-B and doing a front and back yard makeover to include a little fruit tree planting, grass for the back yard, and veggie garden.

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Footnote:  I cursed us all.  12 hours after I posted this, there was a huge thunderstorm in Seattle.  Lightning, buckets of rain, power outages…  Probably all my fault.

Hip Rehab Milestone

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Today was a big day for me:  I got rid of the crutches and started using a cane.  My grandfather’s cane to be exact.  Also, I drove to work.  The first time in 6 weeks that I have been behind the wheel.  It tasted like freedom.  I was temped to play hooky from work, call in sick, and drive to Montana or Alaska or Mexico…

Brodie is having surgery again today

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Brodie, our 9-year old French Bulldog/Boston Terrier mix, is having surgery today.  This is his 2nd in three weeks.  He had a growth on his foot that was causing him to limp and three days after I had hip surgery, my wife took him to the vet to have it removed.  The pathology came back as a Basal Cell Carcinoma and they didn’t get it all with the first surgery.  It has been really hard on Stamp-With-Foot.  I am down with the hip, not able to even tie my own shoes yet and she has had to deal with me, work, veterinary oncology appointments, Dr. bills, diving me to appointments, our health insurance, pet insurance, our 2016 taxes, house stuff, etc.  The issue with Brodie has hit her really hard and there have been lots of tears and lots of worry.

Brodie is, after all, my wife’s “fur-child.”  She loves him with all of her heart.  True story:  We took some of our wedding pictures with Brodie and while posting some of them on Facebook, my bride cut me out of one photo and pasted the “new” one of just her and Brodie – he was wearing a bow tie and looked smug.

The prognosis for his full recovery after surgery is really good.  They are going to have to take one or two toes, but the disease has not metastasized into his lungs or lymph nodes, so the amputation will hopefully be the end of it.

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4/24/2017 Update:

Great News! We got the tests back and it looks like they got everything by removing the one outside left front toe. We are all very relieved! Brodie just wants the bandage off, the Cone of Shame to go away forever, and all the stitches out. He has take the bandage off himself like 4 times, much to the displeasure of Stamps-With-Foot.