Wow, what a great weekend. I got some great news late on Friday (more on that later) and the three of us joined our neighbors after lunch to walk downtown for ice cream. Saturday Finn and I got up early and got some breakfast, then jumped in the Scout to go check out the first big wave of fall yard sales. There wasn’t too much that interested us, although I found a set of 24″ carpenter’s clamps for $8. We spent the rest of the morning working in the yard and cleaning the garage, until Finn got picked up by her aunt and uncle to spend the evening. Jen and I scrambled to make a walnut, gorgonzola, apple and viniagrette salad, get showered, and make it over to a food and beer pairing party where our dish was the second in line. The beer and food were delicious, and we enjoyed staying out late.
Sunday morning we paid for it; all that unfiltered beer gave me a walloping headache. However, it was a beautiful morning, and after devouring breakfast and an Advil, Jen and I sat on the couch in the den with the windows open and indulged in long, uninterrupted adult conversation over coffee until Finn was dropped off.
Later in the day, the girls went on a playdate, so I took the opportunity to brew a Belgian Dubbel I’ve had in the basement since spring. I also set up a tub of water to soak labels in preparation for bottling the Irish Stout that’s been fermenting since late June, but they’re going to take a few days to come off easy.
* * *
One of the projects I’ve been thinking about lately is rebuilding the speakers I built my Freshman year in college. When I originally built it, I cut a sheet of 4×8′ particle board with a circular saw in my apartment living room and screwed them all together with as much precision as I could manage, but they never looked good when they were new. I’m thinking now about a sheet of 4×8′ MDF cut down with precision on a table saw so that butted 45° joins are possible, and spraying it with black satin paint for a smooth finish. I’ll buy some actual rubber feet so they don’t scuff the floors, and this time I can buy premade ports to amplify the bass (and I’ll be able to tune it properly). I dug out the schematics I used to build them in 1990 but I can’t find any of the notes or math I used to calculate the port length, so it’s back to the drawing board to recheck all my calculations. It’s all based on cabinet volume, so I’m thinking I might refactor the sizing to make them narrower and taller to lessen the footprint.