I’m still not sure what to call it, but now I know how NOT to install it.  During a weak moment a couple weeks ago, I agreed that we should put beadboard up in the dining room.  The room already has chair rail and a nice floor molding, so all we really need to do is fill in the wall space under the chair rail with the bead board.  Once I starting reading up on the project and looking into how to properly install it, I discoveredd that I am supposed to take down both the floor molding and the chair rail molding.  With the molding off, I am then supposed to nail the beadboard into the wall and then re-hang the molding to cover the edges and give it a nice clean look.  That seemed like a lot of work, and there is nothing wrong with the molding, so I decided to leave it hanging on the wall.  That means I had to make dozens of cuts to make little panels that fit into the open wall space between both pieces of molding.  I’m not a carpenter….did I mention that before?  I did the best I could as far as cutting accurate panels, but it took me 2 tubes of caulk to “cover” the gaps where my panels did not fit exactly into the openings.  I still have to paint, and a couple coats of good heavy oil based paint should help blend everything together.  Hopefully.  Neisha and I are both glad the project is almost over, but next time, maybe I will re-consider taking the molding off the wall to begin with and hanging it properly.  Save the caulk for the other weekend warriors.

Progress was made today.  I had a great meeting with a realtor friend of mine, and I think I am pretty close to finishing the model for the inital offering of the doughnut company.  I am excited.  I can finally see how the rubber is going to hit the road, and I can see how I can create profitable revenue.

The packaging on these doughnuts is obviously not the final product, but the doughnuts are.  I am attaching a picture to allow you to track the progression of our product through the development stages.

With my model down, and the product ready, my final step is to figure out the packaging and create the marketing materials.  Onward and upward, keep sending me positive thoughts.

Wow, I just found out I broke the seat of a chair at Brautigan’s cookout last Friday.  The evening was innocent enough, a standard cookout with good food and a couple beers.  When I sat down, I noticed the chair made a couple weird noises, not that I am used to chairs making normal noises.  It’s as if the chair was trying to tell me to get up and sit somewhere else.  It sounded like a streaching noice, like the seat was under extreme strain.  I leaned to one and found I had picked the wicker chair to sit on.  Initially I thought maybe the noise I heard was something else, hell, I just lost 30 pounds and my clothes don’t fit because they are too big, so how can I break a chair.  So I tried again with the same result.  The chair did not like me sitting on it. Listening to the chairs cries for help, I took action.  Neisha was still in the kitchen fixing her plate, so I quickly changed seats and made Neisha sit in the wounded chair.

After dinner outside, I made sure the chair was put back in it’s reserve spot.  It was not an everyday chair, but instead sat ready if needed for a larger meal.  It has been a couple days since that incedent, and I thought I was in the clear.  I thought wrong.  This morning I was greated by a quick hello and then straight to point

Dave: Morning

Me: Good morning

Dave: Hey, you broke my chair

Me: Which Chair? The wicker one?

Dave: In my kitchen, yep, you knew it too Fat Bastard

Me: It was making some rough noises when I was sitting in it last weekend

Dave: I sat in it today and was like, this seems weird

Just when you think you can get past your mistakes in life, someone has to sit in the chair.

Only 7 races into the season, I have to say Red Bull is making the performance I expect out of Ferrari.  As if to add insult to Ferrari’s injury, Red Bull goes Q1 andQ3 for the Turkish Grand Prix prixthis weekend. Alonso seemed to have caught an unfortunate tailwind coming into the 2nd half of the track, but the off camera interview says otherwise.  Alonso, your my only hope this year, so at least give me the perception that your car can compete with webber and vettel.  Massa goes Q8 but I have no faith that he will do anything with it.  In Fact, I actually think Alonso will find a way to pass him some how tomorrow morning during the race.  When qualifying comes down to hundredthsof a second, mistakes are fatal, and unfortunately, even Alsonso admits that Ferrari have made too many mistakes this season.  To back my team up, even with these mistakes, we are 2nd place in the constructors points going into the Turkishgrand prix.  Maybe Red Bull can experience some of their earlier season mechanical trouble and open a window for Massa or Alonso to make an epic move.  We can all dream…..

All the pre-race talk talk this weekend is about Formula 1 coming to Austin, TX.  That gets me so excited to see what kind of a track is “purpose built” .  I think the US can compete with anything the rest of the world has to show as far as engineered, function built performance…all I need now is a Ford sponsored GT40 branded Formaula1 team to kick ass, take names, and make money!!

I am so excited to BBQ this weekend.  Cold beers, corn on the cob, and 6 pounds of Boston Butt.  Nothinng is more American.  Check out this link, it’s a great post on properly preparing a slow smoked Pork Sholder:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-goldwyn/pulled-pork-recipe-how-to_b_590681.html?ir=Daily%20Brief

My current grill doesn’t allow for smoking, but I am commited to making it work in the oven. Yea, Yea, I know the right way to do it is with a real smoker, but I gotta use what I got.

Formula 1 is coming to the states.  My prayers have been answered!  Now I just have to find a way to get to Austin to watch it.  I think it was a great decision to bring the sport to America and hopefully this contract will lead to future venues in the states.  The series starts in 2012 and the contrat is set to run through 2021.

Bernie Ecclestone, President and CEO of the Formula One Group stated: “For the first time in the history of Formula One in the United States, a world-class facility will be purpose-built to host the event.

That’s great news that they are purpose building a track for the event. That should dramatically improve the performance of the cars and the entertainment of the spectators.  To say I can’t wait is an understatement!!

The Turkish Grand Prix is this weekend.  Following up Monaco’s performance, I expect Fernando Alonso will take it easy on  his practice so his car stays in one piece. Check out the details on this weekends race on www.formula1.com.  Here is the layout of the track, and I hope we have an active race after the impossible to pass street course in Monaco.

I am growing frustrated with what seems to be Massa’s inability to make a move during the race, and I can only guess that last year’s horrific injury has taken away his edge on the track.  The good news for this week……Massa won at this track from 2006 to 2008, so he is no stranger to this course.  Massa, if your listening, do it again and regain your confidence.

Like always, the practice, qualifying, and race events this weekend will consume most of my thought this weekend, so please, let me know if something else happens this weekend so I don’t miss it

So I have been working on a business model for a mail order personalized gift company.  The basic concept is sending a text message in the form of brownies, cookies, or doughnuts.  Any message could be spelled out like “Happy Birthday”, “Congratulations”, “Welcome Home”, etc. and any holiday or theme can be incorporated like “Be Mine” for Valentines day, or “It’s A Boy” for a new member of the family.  The cookie cutter’s we use to stamp out the letters could be substituted for any kind of shape.  I can’t find a gift company out there today that has a similar product, and I know that I would use this service if it was available.

I know there are a ton of spins on this model, so I would love to hear your feedback if you have any. I really think this could be a cool company.