Christmas Bird

I decided what I am going to do as a next project.  I'm going to do the welder, I just need to find some places to get some microwaves.

I got a new thermometer for the smoker for Christmas.  Which is why I think that the turkey was so good.  Better than ever.

What to do next...

I am in the middle of deciding what my next project will be.  I've looked at a few things and am considering a few of the following:

A backyard medal smelter
A new smoker, because someone donated a 22.5 weber to me.
Homemade Arc Welder

I think that the Welder would be the thing that I would get the most use out of, and I will learn how to weld , always a useful skill.  Especially in the upcoming post apocalyptic zombie world that we may or may not be heading toward.

Swype Beta Reopened

I just got invited to the Swype beta, which has apparently re-opened. It is super smooth. I can't wait to get faster at it. I'm surprised at how fast I can go already. The only thing that would make it easier for me would be if it would be in the dvorak layout. Although, if it were I think that it would be slower, because all the words would be across the screen from each other.

Just to let you know, that Swype can work on older phones (the G1) although I do have the "2708" radio with 14mb xtra ram running the latest Cyanogenmod Daily that I have had the time to flash.  But it works just fine.

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Day 1-1 of DGMT

I did the test also 5 Minutes Before I started. My Latest DGMT! Results: I just did 56 pushups at 37 pushups/min in #DGMT!  DGMT is Drop and Give Me Twenty, an Android app that does the "100 pushup" program.  Sure, I could just workout normally, but wheres the fun in that?

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Snug as a UDS in a Rug

Alternate Title:  UDS in a Blanket!

I couldn't find anything on "the web" against wrapping a drum smoker in a blanket (admittedly I didn't look very hard), so I grabbed a blanket that may or may not be the property of the most recent moving company that I have used...

I wrapped it up because despite my best efforts the smoker would either shoot way up to 250 with all the holes open or hover around 208 with one hole closed.  I thought  to myself, "Self, I bet your smoker is loosing a lot of heat to the atmosphere.  If you were to wrap it up in that blanket, you could conserve heat."  And so I did.  So far the temp has evened out at 232 which isn't too bad all things considered (all of those things being the freezing temperature outside).   Heres to hoping that it doesn't catch on fire.  God Forbid I be the focus of the next safety brief, right after: "Don't deep fry a turkey inside," youll have to sit through:
"Do not wrap a Smoker or Grill in a U-Haul Blanket."

Also this is a picture of Kadence enjoying the first day of the Advent Calender that we made together.

DIY Advent Calendar

With it being the holiday season, I decided to make my daughter an Advent Calendar.  I went with a more modern one than one with any religious overtones.  I also wanted a reusable one instead of a cheap store bought one.

First thing was a trip to the hobby store where I picked up my materials:

12"x12"x1/8" plywood
2  6"x12"x1/8" plywood
A book of Christmas themed 12"x12" cardstock
Green Spray paint
Wood glue
"Elmers" white glue

First step was to cut the 6" boards into 6 equal 12" long slats each so you have 12 appx 1" long slats.   It is more important for them to be the same width than to be 1".

Now, make a small sharpee mark off appx every 2" on one of the slats in addition to one on each end.  Once again, it is more important for there to be 6 equal sections instead of exactly 2".

Clamp all of the slats together.

I used a dremel to cut halfway down all of the slats at each mark.  The last "flag" on each slat is extraneous so it may be cut off, but ensure that the notch that you just cut is still there.  This will leave you with 12 inter-lockable slats.  I did a little dry fitting and I had to re-dremmel a few of them to get everything to work great.

Should look like this.

Add just enough wood glue to each notch and fit them all together; six notch up, vertically; six notch down, horizontally; to make a nice 5x5 grid.  I rigged up a couple of scrap pieces of wood so that everything would dry up nice and even.

While that was drying, I had my daughter help me pick out the background paper and spread some Elmers on the 12x12 board. After the glue was applied I put the paper on it and put a book on top of it all.

Next step was to get the doors cut.  I picked a good cardstock and placed it face down.  I placed the dried grid on top of it centered.  I spray painted the grid which left a negative image of the grid.

I took a perforating tool and perforated each square from the back.  Once everything was perforated I glued the grid into place.  Since we cut off one of the "flags" on each slat, that left a bit of "door paper" on each end that could be folded down to cover the wood on the outside of the grid.

Had my daughter pick out some candies to fit in the grid and had her place them in. (Tip: kids will stuff as much as they can into each compartment.)

Once everything was full, I glued the grid down to the backboard, centered of course.

Here is the result:

She had a super fun time helping me and she is looking forward to December. (Tomorrow)

Next year all I'll have to do is strip off the red door paper and re-glue a new piece down.

Thanksgiving is upon us.

I was up all night last night checking the chamber temperature of the UDS every thirty minutes, and cleaning up the house waiting for Baby Davy to come home.  This morning at 10, went to go pick up the wife and baby and brought them home.  Come to find out, the couple who were coming over for dinner may not be coming after all.  Oh well, more turkey sammiches for me!

At about 830 I took the turkey out of the smoker and put it in a roasting pan and covered it with foil added a cup of water and threw 2T of butter over the top.  Threw it in the oven at 250 so I didn't have to watch it while I went to the hospital.
When we got home I temped it and it was at a perfect 165 so I took it out, removed the shish-kabob skewers that were holding the skin together and wrapped it in foil and a towel.  Heated up the faux-cambro and dropped that bird right in.
Still waiting on the wife to tell me what to go to the store to get in addition to the turkey so.... I will tell you the results of this turkey cooking tale when I have them!