She's "On the Right Track!"

Last night was Char's first vocal concert!

Look Charlotte, you're famous!

Mom got her dressed for the part.

And we were raring to go.

I don't think anyone looks too nervous.

Time to line up.

Here comes Char's line. It's a pun, "I hope you can get on board with these songs."

How did they sound?

We celebrated with frozen yogurt after the concert. It was a nice way to end the evening.

There are times when I'm parenting and I think, "I'm too old for this." A lot of parents my age have kids in high school and college. But I have to admit that I'm pretty excited to have 11 more years of nights like this. Thanks, Charlotte.

Iowa Orchards, Again!

Last week Char's class took a field trip to the Iowa Orchards in Urbandale. She had so much fun; she wanted to take us there, too.

We rode on a hayride out to the play area. Once there, we traversed the tires.

Then it was time for a jump into the corn pool.

When you get buried in corn...

... the corn gets into everything...

The view from the top of the hay bale slide didn't seem too high.

And the landing looked safe.

Let's go for a jump!

Again!

And again!

"Crash Landing Geronimo!"

I'm not sure why these slides were behind the Porta Potty, but I'm sure that would be quite a ride.

Once we were jumped out, we went pumpkin haunting. Thanks for the fun afternoon, Iowa Orchards!

Pinball Update: Full House Edition

I bought a pinball machine that didn't work last June. It was cheap, but you get what you pay for. 

I couldn't plug in the machine to test it. Someone had cut off the power cord - not a good sign. So, I tried a different route of repair. I used the "shotgun" approach. I cleaned every switch and adjusted the switches that weren't making contact. I took apart the stepper units in the backbox, cleaned them with 400 grit sandpaper, and then applied a thin layer of Super Lube synthetic grease. I tested the solder joints looking for breaks and loose wires. I also tested the continuity of all of the coils, and I ordered replacements for those that were dead shorts.

I finally installed a power cord and tried to start a game after three weeks.

Not too bad!

Next was the machine's appearance. Even Char could tell this one had an ugly paint job.

I used some chemicals to strip off offensive colors. I was hoping to find at least part of the original paint underneath, but that wasn't the case. Whoever painted this cabinet sanded off the original paint scheme. As it stands, the machine doesn't look terrible, but I'm going to try to replicate the original design. Hopefully I can make stencils before it gets too cold to paint.

The artwork on the back of the backglass was flaking off. You can see all the cracks that surround the Full House logo. I can have a replacement made, but that costs over $300 and takes a couple of months. I thought I could try to save the glass and save myself some time and money. 

I sprayed on a few coats of Triple Thick to seal the flaky paint back onto the glass. Even though I held the can about 20 inches away from the glass, some large flakes flew off the glass and disintegrated when they hit the garage floor.

Daphne helped me cover the wet, clear paint with saran wrap. The idea is you can can press the curved flakes flat against the glass once the wrap is in place. You let it sit overnight, and in the morning the saran wrap can be easily removed. I was skeptical about the ease of removal, but the wrap came right off. I masked off the score reel windows with heavy paper cut to size and weighed them down with quarters.

When the paint chips blew off, they left holes around the letters. Looks like we have some touching up to do.

Daphne helped me pick out the paint. We used this old VW vent window to see what each paint sample would look like when it dried on the glass.

Once Daphne approved the colors, she started the touch up. I tried helping her paint a straight line by using some painters tape, but that was a mistake. A huge section of the artwork peeled off when I tried to remove the tape. I had to carefully line up the artwork, and then I triple thicked the tape in place. Lesson learned.

After Daphne did the touch up, I did my best to fill all those cracks that look like rivers on a topographical map with white paint. I then covered everything that wasn't supposed to be translucent with silver paint.

The backglass looks okay. But the artwork certainly looks better than it was, and spending a few dollars on paint is better than paying for a replacement glass. The best part was working on it with Daphne. Usually, pinball repair is a solo affair.

The glass looks better the further you stand back. I'll call it a six-footer.

The playfield plastics were dirty, cracked, and warped from years of lightbulb heat.

I used Novus 2 to clean the plastic, and a heat gun helped me straighten the bends in the plastic.

After fixing the plastic, I cleaned the playfield with a magic eraser pad and rubbing alcohol. This leaves a residue that can be cleaned up with Novus 2. The last step is to polish the surface with a non-abrasive carnauba car wax. I installed new rubber rings before reinstalling the playfield plastic.

I rebuilt the three pop bumpers last week, and my next steps are to rebuild the flippers, get the free game awards figured out, and put in a power switch. 

This game gets more fun to play with each improvement, and that bothers me. I don't have room for it in the house. It's a garage-only machine, but it's getting too nice to stay out there... 

Gatorade Bottle Hack

Charlotte discovered Gatorade last summer, and now it's one of her favorite drinks.

The only problem is the Gatorade bottle's wide mouth. Char tries to be careful in the house, but the bottle can be messy when you're moving around on the couch or bouncing around in the car.

That's a spill waiting to happen.

I had the idea to make the bottle into a more grown up version of a sippy cup. I used a 15/64 drill bit to drill a hole in the bottle cap. That drill bit size makes a hole that is just slightly larger than the bendy straws we have at home. I placed the cap on a scrap piece of wood so I could cleanly drill through the plastic.

I then washed the cap to remove any oil or other contaminates left by the drill bit.

It's not centered, but it'll work.

Just replace the cap, and slide a straw through the hole.

The straws we have reach to the bottom of the 12 oz bottle, so Char can get to all the Gatorade and not have to tilt the bottle at all. 

The best part is you can keep the cap and use it again. I store ours on a shelf in the fridge.

Is it spill-proof? Nah. Kids will still find a way to make a mess, but at least this makes it a bit harder to do. 

Lightning Strikes Again

Tonight was our last night with Lightning, Char's first grade class's pet.

Char read Red: A Crayon Story to him.

She gave him a makeover, and that made him sad. I'm sympathetic; I've gotten that makeover, too.

To make up for the makeover, Char and her mom taught Lightning to play the Rat-a-Tat Card game. Lightning is either a fast learner or Charlotte is a good teacher, because it wasn't long before he beat Mom in a game of Rat-a-Tat. True story.

Lightning went with Char on a bike ride around the neighborhood after dinner. 

Then it got dark, and Lightning looked pretty worn out. It was time for him to go to sleep and time for Char to write in the journal.

Thanks for visiting, Lightning! You're our favorite snake!

Classss Pet

Charlotte's first grade teacher has a class pet. He's a snake named Lightning, and he's stuffed. I'm not sure about his schedule, but yesterday Charlotte was picked to take him home. She sprinted down the school's sidewalk to share the big news when I picked her up. After two days, Char will return the snake along with a writing assignment about what Lightning did during his time with the Monsons.

Charlotte and I have been listening to the Harry Potter book series on CD in the car. We're on the third book, Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban. After listening to a few CDs, we watch that same section of the movie. Charlotte was excited to show Lightning what the Night Bus looked like.

Since it was a daddy daughter night, Char and I took Lightning to the Flix theater for dinner and a movie. Lightning was happy the movie was about other animals.

Actually, he couldn't contain his excitement; he had to dance!

Who knows what else we will do with him?

Who Wants a Free Spoon Ring?

I used to sell jewelry on Etsy.

No. Really. I did.

What? You Don't believe me?

Check it out: link

It was easy to find old silverware at one time, but now it's next to impossible to find anything at a low price. I blame Pinterest. Now everyone has a use for old spoons and forks.

That's not why I stopped making jewelry, though. I stopped because my workbench in the garage shop  was right underneath my daughter's crib. Banging on stuff when your baby needs to sleep is never a good plan. So, I stopped.

But my daughter isn't in a crib anymore, and I recently found this spoon for 25 cents at a thrift store.

I wanted to make it into a ring, and I needed the practice, but I don't want to navigate the new rules of selling on Etsy. So, why not make a ring and give it away?

Here's my offer: the first person that emails me their name and address can have the spoon ring for free: ring_guy@email.com. I'll even pay for shipping in the US.

No, I won't sell your private information to anyone. I don't know how to do that, and I wouldn't do that to you. But, if you have trust issues, I understand.

Here's how the ring came out. It's at a size 6 1/2 to a 7, but the "wrap around"design makes it easy to enlarge if you need it bigger.

Once again, here's the email address: ring_guy@email.com. I opened this email account just for this blog experiment. If this blog post disappears, then someone claimed the ring.  

Belted, Again!

Charlotte passed her karate test, and she can now wear her new yellow belt!