I received this in my e-mail from a good friend, Dave T.

UPDATE: As per John in the comments, I should have done better research. Here’s the corrected version:

Written By Regina Brett, of “The Plain Dealer”, Cleveland, Ohio, May 28, 2006:
“To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.
It is the most-requested column I’ve ever written. My odometer rolls over to 50 this week, so here’s an update:

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.

8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.

16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.

18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: “In five years, will this matter?”

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.

35. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.

36. Growing old beats the alternative – dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.

41. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

42. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.

43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

45. The best is yet to come.

46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

48. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

49. Yield.

50. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.”

Number 31 has always been a kind of philosophy in my life.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

There are people you meet in your life, and they move in and out and don’t really affect you much.

Then there are the types like Bloviating Zeppelin and Greybeard, who make a huge difference, even if you don’t get to see them nearly as often as you’d like.

(I have yet to meet BZ in person, and I look forward to the time; I have met Greybeard when he was out here visiting his son at college. Good man, good conversation – when are you going to be out here again?)

A little background, and to catch everyone up to speed: Wednesday I posted about the little remodel job I was working on, and mentioned during that post that it was time to retire the current flag. I was rather rueful in the fact that I could not, at this point in time, afford to replace the flag. In the comments, BZ asked for my address, because he had a brand new flag to send to me, and Greybeard popped in with a “ya beat me to it.”

The thing is, that my wife, whom I love and cherish more than anything or anyone with the exception of our Lord and Savior, worked a little search engine magic and found a source for flags at the incredible price of about $10.00 each – and she ordered two 3×5 US flags and a 3×5 USMC flag. She told me about it, and we were just happy as two clams in the mud flats of Morro Bay that we were able to get three flags for less than the price of one in a brick and mortar store. (as soon as I know where they came from, I will pass that on)

UPDATE: the flags are coming from FlagsMart in Walnut, California.

So, I leave it to you, BZ (and Greybeard): I have flags coming, so it’s up to you if you wish to send one. I certainly won’t refuse them, and they would be flown with honor and pride. If the size is as you state, BZ, I’ll have to trim the tree a bit, and I may fly it on Sundays and Holidays, as a Holiday flag. Again, it’s up to you if you still want to send it. My appreciation for the offer will not change, and my respect for you will not lessen either way.

Oh, and before I forget – I finished the install Thursday, and then ended up running to Casa Grande with my Pastor to pick up some culvert for a project at the church. Here’s the hall bath, finished out and trimmed:

And the Master bath installed:

Sharp-eyed readers will notice the sizable gap on the left side of the master vanity. The moron who measured the job mis-read the tape (twice!) and ended up nearly an inch short of the wall. To make up for this, I have fixed up a piece of special “wide” trim (actually a piece of cut-down stop stock) to cover the grand canyon of a gap. I will be doing that about the time you read this, or Friday morning for those who may not be by here the day this posts.

Again, a very heart-felt Thank You to BZ and Greybeard for their offers.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

1394 and a wake up…

Got half the install pretty much complete this morning. The customer has two baths, and only wanted one out of commission at a time, so the hall bath was ready for the new cabinets when I got there:

…and that’s the last picture I took at the jobsite. For some reason, I put the camera back in the vehicle, and forgot about it until I got home. It’s OK though – I’ll be back up there to install the rest of the cabinets and all the trim pieces, which means that I will have finished product pictures soon.

No, it’s not time for me to retire. When I got home, there was a stiff breeze blowing (has been for a few days, but this is the first time I’ve been out front and looking in the right direction to notice…) and the flag was standing out. I have GOT to pay more attention to the flag I’ve kept flying since the Global War on Terror (just because Obama doesn’t want to say it doesn’t mean we can’t!) started; my plan was to keep it flying until the ridiculous islamists are finished with their little temper tantrums. This flag won’t be the one to finish out the watch, though.

It has now been folded and will join the rest of the flags (seven so far) that have worn out and are awaiting a trip to the American Legion.

Downside – TMBWitW was out and about at the time, and we talked. She checked in a flag store where she was, and to replace the 3×5 American Made United States flag would cost upwards of $50.00. That’s a lot of money for a guy without steady income. So, unfortunately, there will be no flag on the front pole until I get some income. I sure feel bad, though – being a patriot as I am, it pains me to not have a flag up and waving.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

I’m going about this part a little backward – I should have drilled the doors for the hinges before I started applying the stain, but sometimes you get in a groove and forget where you need to be…

The first step is to remove all the sanding dust (you did remember to sand everything down to a smooth finish, right?) since the fastest way to mash up a finish is to try to apply it over sanding dust. On smaller projects I would use a tack cloth, but the air hose took care of the dust this time around.

I am using Minwax English Chestnut on red oak for this project. It’s got good color, good coverage, and is kind of forgiving if you leave it on too long – you can do a little extra rubbing to pull some color out, as long as you aren’t trying to pull it ALL out – which makes it ideal for hand application.

The sink bases are what is referred to as “linen” bases – there are no false fronts over the doors. Both doors and drawer fronts have a 1/2″ overlay to them, meaning the edges of the doors and drawer fronts overlap the openings by 1/2″ all around. The option was to have a larger overlay (probably 1 1/4″) and show even less of the beautiful oak frames.

The customer chose a flat panel door, and I fancied it up a bit with mitered corners. The inside profile is a Roman Ogee, about 3/8″, and the outer profile is a simple yet elegant 3/8″ round over. I used the round over on the outside edges of the drawer fronts also. The customer is picking out door and drawer pull or handle hardware, so I did not put a finger route or finger pull groove on the doors and drawer fronts.

The next set of pictures will have the doors hung and the drawers installed, for an almost-finished look. Just before I add the hardware, though, I will be using the Minwax Polyurethane clear semi-gloss spray as a top coat and to give the Chestnut just a bit of a glow.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

A while ago I mentioned that I was working on some cabinets for a remodel project. Saturday I got to the assembly portion (the customer would not be ready for the cabinets until this week; they hadn’t picked out the new faucets as of Sunday morning…) so I figured I would start taking pictures.

Start of the assembly of the first cabinet (a drawer bank):

Bottom in place:

Frame is on:

While I was putting the frame on, I managed to curl a 1″ wire brad through the face:

It’s kind of tough to see the nail. Next, I got to practice my “make it disappear” skills:

Today I will be staining the frames, doors, and drawer fronts; installation is scheduled for Wednesday and I will be sure to get lots of pictures from that, too.

As a side note, at my nephew’s wedding about a month ago I was weighing in at around 230. In the photos all you can see of me is my huge gut.

This inspired me to cut out my favorite soda beverage (and, I might add, my last source of caffeine) Coca Cola about two weeks ago. I weighed myself on Sunday morning before I headed for church. 214. Cool. I’m going to keep watch and see how low that will go…

How was your weekend?

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

1398 and a wake up!