Joe's Personal Blog

We didn't use the butcher block top that came with Groland kitchen island when we built our bathroom vanity  .  We made the top into a coffee table. The butcher block  top was sanded with 220 grit paper, stained with Min-Wax dark walnut, coated with several coats of Min-Wax oil based Polyurethane. The table shows some banding across the top from the factory construction process.  We decided to leave that in as a character element. The poly adds a slightly yellowed tint that gives a warm feel.  Water based poly does not have this effect. The top is  hollow in the center section underneath, an Ikea cost savings. The wood is full thickness for the three inches on either end. I had some 3/4 plywood in the garage that I cut to the size of the hollow are area.  Ie glued the plywood underneath the table and then screwed hairpin legs through the plywood into the top using 1 1/4" #10 screws.  I drilled pilot holes using the "duct tape depth mark" trick so as no

Are you a gear head that picks hobbies based on the range of equipment you can learn about and Acquire?  If so, the motorcycle riding is for you! Starting from the top... Earplugs Always wear earplugs.  My favorites are  Surefire  EP-3 or EP-5  You can get these at motorcycle shows, gun shows or Amazon Etymotic Research ER20. that I get on Amazon Helmet First off is the helmet.  This is my long oval / high forehead friendly Arai Signet-Q.  This one has a Sena FM Radio bluetooth unit and the visor shield. The Sema is loud enough to talk over my earplugs. Jackets I wear a jacket pretty much all the time no matter what the temperature. I have commuted home in the summer if it is in the mid 90s with just an airbag and no jacket. The first jacket is a KLIM Goretex Latitude Jacket.  I can't rave enough about this jacket.  It works for me for 3 seasons, is waterproof and very visible. I really like this coat. The Hi-Viz does get very dirty on the inner arm

Materials I purchased a couple packages of 8.5"x11" silver and black reflective vinyl at a local motorcycle shop a couple years ago. It can bend a little but you really have to cut it to the shape you want taking into account the curves of your helmet or motorcycle.  BMW dealers are usually a good place to look.  Harley stores, not so much. Topcase Reflectors My Versys has a black Shad 37 top case with black 3m reflective strips on all flat surfaces You can see the wrap around reflectors on the top case at the top of the picture. Here we see the back case taken in my dark garage with a flash. This was only from about 3 feet away Silver Reflectors on a Black Helmet The helmet is the highest point on your motorcycle and is visible from any direction. Some of my riding buddies like black helmets for reasons I do not understand.  I customized this one with silver reflective stripes.  These pictures were taken in my kitchen with a flash. Y

This picture shows a Generation 1 Ikea Jerker desk converted to a standing configuration. The Ikea Jerker is an older desk now, too deep for today's LCD monitors. It makes a great workspace and is crazy configurable.  I especially like the extension wings and the side mount platforms. The extra large shelf holds the LCD monitor and the docked laptop.  Two smaller shelves hold other random items. The top one holds project boxes, the Siren of Shame and office supplies.  The bottom one , the UPS and software installation media and backups.

We wanted to create a different sink and vanity feel when re-doing one of our bathrooms.  We picked the Ikea Groland kitchen island to be the base and a cultured stone bowl  as the sink. The Groland has an all wood frame and a butcher-block top.  It comes unfinished.  The top in the picture is the untreated color. The base in this picture has been stained with two coats of natural finish and 4 coats of polyurethane.  This gave it a bit of an amber tint that we were fine with. Groland's frame is 19x41.  The top is 21x47 with one inch overhang front and back and 3 inches overhang on each side.  We put the frame against the wall giving 2 inches overhang in the front as shown in the picture. We decided to put a granite or quartz top on the frame and save the wood top for a later project.  The granite overhangs 2" in the front and 2" on each side resulting in a 21x45 top. Groland comes in normal counter-top height which is too tall when using a vessel sink.  We cut

I have no idea what the taste equivalent of sight seeing so any help for the title is appreciated. Catoctin Creek Distilling in Purcellville is a fun stop.  Visit here if you want to try something other than the micro-breweries or wine tastings. They hold different events and occasionally have entertainment.  The staff give short tours of the distilling area and and have a tasting room where you can purchase samples and buy their products. He is the tasting menu from mid 2015 Recipes The real reason for this blog article is so that I have a place to put the recipes we picked up while we were in the tasting areas.  Our group pretty much always favors the Cocktail Flights. 2014: 2015 Midyear 2016 January Cocktails

I have a Generac 4000XL that we use as a backup generator I purchased around Y2K time.  I decided that I wanted to convert the generator from gasoline to propane due to the shelf life of gasoline in the tanks and the impact of stored gas in the generator. Our normal process is to buy fresh gas before a weather event.  We then run the generator dry after the event and burn the gas in the lawn mower or my motorcycle.  A company http://www.motorsnorkel.com/ makes a simple propane conversion kit.  It consists of a replacement carburetor gasket with a propane snorkel and a low pressure regulator.   The hardest part of the kit installation is finding the right place to put it.   I wanted the regulator and hose away from the oil fill port, the oil change port, the exhaust, the pull cord and any common service panels.  Routing Issues The snorkel goes between the airbox and the carburetor.  You can see my airbox here with the tip of the snorkel hanging out after installation.  Th