Thumb Update

Nearly 8 weeks ago, I had surgery to repair the EPL tendon in my left wrist.  This is the muscle & tendon that allows you to make a 'thumbs up'.  I had severed it; just partially at first, in an accident at home.  About a week later, I ruptured it (meaning that it completely severed) when I put too much weight on it, not having realized the extent of the initial injury.

I was in a cast for about a month, and then a brace, which I still wear.  The recovery is coming along well.

There have been a few requests lately, via facebook and twitter, for updates on my recovery.  In response, I made the following video yesterday.  It's my first video blog, so be kind!  I've been having a lot of trouble with my home internet lately as well, so I had to upload a fairly low-res version.  I hope to get switched over to a new ISP later this week, and if all goes well, I'll upload a higher quality version of this and replace it.

Big thanks to everyone who has reached out with moral support during this ordeal.  You know who you are!  It really means a lot to me, and I appreciate your kind words and encouragement.

Tuesday Night OList Happy Hour: SnowCon, ATLOSCON, and OCON

2011 is shaping up to be an exciting year for Objectivist conferences.

- This week is SnowCon, the much-anticipated Objectivist mini-conference hosted by Front Range Objectivism in Denver.  I will be there for the weekend, but will miss the skiing/snowshoeing/other outdoor activities during the week.  I'm very excited to see my FRO friends, as well as other friends who are flying in.  Plus, I will get to meet some internet friends for the first time in real life, which I'm quite looking forward to, as well.

- Coming up over Memorial Day weekend, will be ATLOSCON, the second mini-conference to be put on by the Atlanta Objectivist Society.  I'm scheduled to speak at that one, so naturally I'm quite excited about it!  Their 2010 MiniCon was a great success, by all accounts.

- ARI has just posted the info and registration page for OCON 2011, which will be held in Ft. Lauderdale next summer, around July 4th.  Last summer, I attended my first OCON, and it was an amazing experience.

- I thought I had seen information on at least one other regional conference later in the year, but can't seem to find any official information to which to link.  If anyone knows about something I don't, please contact me and I'll be happy to add it.
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UPDATE 3/8:  I received the following email from David Maltby over at Chicago Objectivists:

Indeed, there is a Chicago MiniCon in the works for Labor Day weekend (September 4 & 5) 2011, and we are currently gathering proposals for presentations. I've added a link from our home page to the proposal submission form, which was previously circulated to our members via email: http://www.chicagoobjectivists.org/minicon-2011-proposals/. Please feel free to direct others to that page. The deadline for submissions is April 1st, and those selected will be notified by the end of April.

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I'm excited about all of these, although it's still uncertain whether or not I'll be able to attend OCON.  I probably won't know until around mid or late May.

This week's happy hour will be all about the conferences.

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Tonight's Menu:

Appetizer:  Are you attending or considering any of the conferences being offered this year?  If so, what are you most looking forward to?

Drink Special:  What Objectivist conferences have you attended in the past?  What were your favorite things, either specifically or generally, about it/them?

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Happy Hour takes place in the OList Chatroom, every Tuesday night, from 9-10 p.m. Eastern and 6-7 p.m. Pacific.

Point your browser to www.olist.com/chat.  You will be asked for a login and password - check your OList email for these.

You will see the chat window that looks like this:

On the right is the list of users participating; on the left is the chat itself.  At the bottom, you have the option of logging in through your facebook account, or as a guest.  If you log in through facebook, it will pull your profile picture into the list next to your name, which is a nice feature.

For general information on the OLists Socials, check out the OList Events page here.

Your hosts for the OList Socials are @DianaHsieh, @laforgetm (aka William Green) and myself, @Earl3d

Wire Glass Shelves

This shelving unit came into existence gradually, over the past few months.  It was one of those projects that took longer than it needed to, mainly because I was in and out of town so much, and didn't have a lot of time to spend in the shop. 

I whipped it up from some steel channel stock I had on hand, along with three nifty pieces of wire glass that I had salvaged from a house that was under renovation.  The glass pieces had been sitting around my garage for far too long, and were frequently being moved from here to there, or from there to here, to get them out of the way of something else I was working on or doing.  Finally, one day I just decided to get them out of my way once and for all.

OList Happy Hour: Spotlight on OGeeks

Three new OLists have recently been launched: OGeeks, OLeaders, and OCrafters. For the next few weeks, we're going to take a break from our regular Happy Hour topic format and spotlight these new lists individually.

Tennessee House Fireplace

Like the rest of the Tennessee House, the fireplace is simultaneously a bit traditional and a bit contemporary.

The stone is local sandstone, from the nearby Cumberland Plateau.  It is the same stone that we used on the exterior of the house.

For the wooden mantle, we used a beam that was installed as part of the exposed mezzanine structure before I arrived on site, but which I then rejected for quality purposes.  I made the framing crew build temporary supports, cut the beam out, and install its replacement.  You can read that story here.

Here is the replacement beam as it looks today:

Another thing I am particularly fond of is the wooden box that supports the TV.  I had them make it out of surplus planks from the mezzanine floor.  It nicely solves the problem of 'what to do with the TV' while tying back into the material palette of the rest of the house.

Tennessee House: Punch List

Last week I went to Tennessee for a punch list visit to my project there, and to photograph it for posterity.  The punch list is the list of final things to be completed by the contractor, in order for the project to be considered finally complete, and the contract closed out.  We ended up making 2 lists, one of things for Bob the Builder to complete, and one of items for Mr. and Ms. Client to attend to themselves.

The lists of final things were relatively mild.  There were only two things still not complete that I would call 'major', meaning they were things that materially prevented Mr. and Ms. Client from fully enjoying the new house. One was an issue with the cooktop, which prevented the propane from being turned on, and the other was the lack of a shower door.

The kitchen was otherwise usable, and we enjoyed roast chickens and broiled shrimp kabobs from the electric oven.  The bathroom was likewise usable, with the addition of a temporary shower curtain.

There were a few other inconveniences here and there, like a couple of (relatively minor) plumbing issues which came up and were resolved during my stay.  On the whole, the house is functioning very well, and looks great, if I do say so myself!

I took tons of photos but for now I'm just going to leave you with a few teasers.

Tuesday Night OLists Happy Hour: Why Paleo?

Tonight's Happy Hour Chat covers a topic of general interest for those on the OEvolve list, and perhaps those lurking therein, and was submitted to the Google Moderator by none other than the OList OWner, Diana Hsieh:

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Tonight's Menu:

Appetizer:  What made you start eating paleo (or paleo-ish)?

Drink Special:  What other eating strategies have you tried?  What were their drawbacks and/or benefits?

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Happy Hour takes place in the OList Chatroom, every Tuesday night, from 9-10 p.m. Eastern and 6-7 p.m. Pacific.

Point your browser to www.olist.com/chat.  You will be asked for a login and password - check your OList email for these.

You will see the chat window that looks like this:

On the right is the list of users participating; on the left is the chat itself.  At the bottom, you have the option of logging in through your facebook account, or as a guest.  If you log in through facebook, it will pull your profile picture into the list next to your name, which is a nice feature.

For general information on the OLists Socials, check out the OList Events page here.

Your hosts for the OList Socials are @DianaHsieh, @laforgetm (aka William Green) and myself, @Earl3d