Too much?

As many of you may know one my many hobbies is paintball, although I haven't really gotten a chance to play much at all. Anyway, a while back Tom and I decided to jump into the sport head first and get our own equipment. We had hoped that many more would follow suit and were pretty pumped when Pony picked up his Tippman Custom 98 and joined us as marker owners. More recently our pal Tim upgraded from the old pump action to a automatic fire spitter that, honestly, makes the rest of us a little nervous. So now there are four of us. While not nearly enough to play any serious games, (WE NEED PLAYERS) it was enough to encourage us to press on and develop our own battlefield. Luckily Tom has access to around 80 acres and before we knew it we had assembled enough 2 X 4's and baseboard materials to make some sweet barriers.

After all this hard work putting together an awesome woods course I realized that hey my paintball gun is BRIGHT BLUE. I figured I needed o change that so the weekend before last I embarked on operation : CAMO. That's right, I looked at every camouflage pattern known to man and decided the good ole American Woodland pattern was best for me. After picking up the appropriate camo paint at my nearest Lowe's I began the long task of sanding, priming and layering paint and patterns.

Step 1: Sand the smooth surface with some 300 grit sandpaper to create a rough surface so the paint can bond to the metal.

Step 2: Tape off the inside of the gun. You don't want paint messing up the mechanics of the marker.

Step 3: Prime. I used two thin coats to cover more even. If you want a smooth finish you may want to sand very easily between coats, but I needed a more flat finish so I just sprayed one over the other.

Step 4: Spray the lightest color. This makes since because darker colors cover better. In my case it was the beige color. Two coats should do.

Step 5: Mask the the areas where you want the light color to be and trim out the desired pattern. Be careful not to cut into the paint as I did. If you do you can just touch t up with a detail brush or a toothpick.

Step 6: Spray on the green. Since green is on of the primary colors in the pattern you want it to cover about 50% of the object. Two coats.

Step 7: Spray the brown. Instead of masking again, I just free handed the brown. Just as with the green, brown should cover about 50% of the object. Two coats.

Step 8: I went ahead and unmasked the beige to decide on the placement of the black blobs. For the black I made a stencil out of paper and just taped it over the marker. Two coats. If I ever do this again I believe I will use a variation of this masking method over the cut tape. It was easier to take off and there is no risk of cutting into the paint.

Step 9: Clear coat. I used an acrylic clear coat. Three coats this time. This coat makes more of a difference than you may think. Not only does it protect your work but it blends and richen the paint for a nice finish.

Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome. I have to admit I was a little worried but it came together nicely. Now we will see how well it holds up. My only concern is how well the paint bonded with the metal. I think some sort of etching method might help the process but you have to go with what you got and this is what I've got.

Pass the Gwaltneys !

Fall is around the corner and the camping season has officially begun. Friday evening Tom and I set out for "The Land", an 80 acre tract near the town of Columbiana, Alabama, to meet up with our friends Pony and Dave for a much needed night of camping. Getting a late start, the much anticipated trip got off to a slow start. While traffic into the afore mentioned metropolis is usually lite, we ran across the aftermath of the meeting of a compact sedan and a train. Needless to say, it was not pretty. After passing the clearing scene and realizing that there was a body under the white tarp near the car, we swiftly proceeded to the nearest Taco Bell for the lamest camping meal ever. We reached the campsite just before dark hauling our gear with a trailer and Tom's 4wheeler and cleared a couple of plots for our tents. Pony was the first accomplice to arrive with his mammoth tent in one hand and a book in the other. After camp was set we settled around the fire with two burritos, four soft tacos, and four hard tacos which were now soft. Soon after Dave arrived and quickly fashioned a tent out of a blue tarp and two bungie cords. We thought this a little funny but hey you don't really want to question the efforts of a man who can list completing Ranger school with the US Army on his resume. After chatting around the fire and waiting for Dave to consume no less than six Gwaltney 100% chicken dogs with 40% less fat, we decided to take a stroll along the trail we have been clearing just experience it at night. Be thankful for LED's and Energizers because it is pretty dark in the woods at midnight. We finally settled to sleep around 1:30 am and I quickly realized how much better I would sleep if I had my own tent. Anyway the next day we awoke around 8:30 am and the fun ended around 10:30 am with Pony and Dave making an early departure. Tom and I hung out for a while before returning home as well. While I can't rank this trip one of my favorites, it was fun while it lasted. We are hoping our next camping adventure takes us a little farther from home with a larger cast of friends and perhaps another pack of Gwaltneys.

Obsessive But Not Compulsive

Those of you who know me may or may no know about the near obsessive research I do before any mid to large purchase is made. It usually starts with an interest of some kind. Mountain Biking for instance. While I am not the most skilled or in shape rider in the world and haven't ridden in a while I love the sport. I tried a few yeas ago to get into mountain biking with a bike I purchased from a department store but had little success. It was Pacific Vortex that weighed approximately 800 lbs with automatic locking brakes. After a couple of attempts at the trails of Oak Mountain State Park, I gave up on the bike. I decided I needed a newer, lighter and more quality bike. I began my internet research. Compiling information on bikes and parts. I soon developed an Excel spreadsheet to compare the items, but realized I just couldn't afford it at the time. About a year ago Tom [Bloggin Awesome over --> way] expressed some interest in mountain biking as well and the obsessive research began once again. In the end I purchased a Gary Fisher Tassajara from Cahaba Cycle and love it. Now I just need to ride it but that's another post for another day.

This type of obsessive research happens pretty often I'll admit. However it has resulted in some fine purchases that I have no regrets in making. My Spyder Xtra paintball marker, Gregory Lassen backpack, North Face Tadpole 23 tent and my latest purchase the Dell e1505 laptop I am currently using have all resulted from such research. I even have spreadsheets for wish list items that will probably never be purchased, such as performance upgrades for my wife Mini Cooper and parts for my 4runner to transform it into an unstoppable Hummer assassin.

My latest obsessions include the new Toyota FJ Cruiser, A/V equipment for my future home theater, ultralight camping items and photography equipment. The one issue of course is that all of these things cost money. Now if I only had a money generating spreadsheet. Maybe Quick-Star.....

Colors of Summer

You know those long weeks where you have to focus your attention a positive event in the near future just to get you through. Well last week was one of those. Fortunately, I had a three-day weekend within my sight and things were looking up. That's right Labor Day. It had promise. The start of college football [although I am not the type of fan that schedules my life around and wardrobe around it, I still enjoy a good game every once in a while]. The promise of nice weather. Three days of no work just after finishing a project. Just time to relax and do nothing. All I really need to do is paint one bathroom at home, shouldn't be more than a couple hours of work then I can ----SCCRRREEEEEEECH.

Yeah, that's right. The screeching was the unmistakable sound of my illusions of a fun-filled and relaxing weekend coming to a halt. To make several long stories short. It started on Friday night when insomnia took over due to the Killz buzz I suffered while trying to prime the bathroom in preparation for the "quick" paint job. The fun continued into the next afternoon after having painted the bathroom and realizing that the paint color just is not working. Sunday comes and after a refreshing yet sobering day at church, with everyone trying to reconcile with Katrina, I set off for an impromptu wiring job for the office where I work. After four hours of fiasco that you can read about by clicking the Bloggin Awesome link to the right, I returned home to once again paint the bathroom.

However, the weekend wasn't a total loss. Saturday night we [my wife and I] had some fun times at dinner with some friends and a game of Cranium. Monday afternoon we had the same group of friends over plus another couple for a cook out and a movie. These events provided just enough levity and fun to take the edge off the weekend. I also started painting my paintball marker this weekend, a project I will go into more detail about later. All things considered it was a pretty good weekend. Sure, I would like to have been able to paint the bathroom Wagner Power Painter style and I could have lived without the whole wiring adventure, but you can't discount good times with good friends.

----[.....] constitutes insights into my persnal life you may or may not know---

Gen-Nin?

Gen-Nin is an abbreviation for Generation: Nintendo, a term I feel describes those of us who fall between the X & Y generations. Although we are officially part of Generation: X, I feel we identify more with Generation Y. However, while those of Generation Y grow up in the age of technology, we Gen-Nins grew up with the age a technology. We remember when PC monitor choices were between green or orange and the mighty roar (screeeeeechbeepbeepscreech) of Prodigy. We remember the "Bag Phone" and Laser Disc. We remember when Apple made computers and wore a coat of many colors. We also remember and appreciate the evolution of each of these experiences that have made this a world where we view instant information through our flat panel monitors while talking to our friend on blue tooth enabled camera phone (except with Nextel) about the intricacies of Dolby Digital-EX and DTS-ES and sifting through the 10,000 song we keep in our pockets. It all started for us Gen-Nins with the 8-bit wonder known as the Nintendo Entertainment System, the first step in the console gaming arena that proved that technology does evolve.