Happy New Year

I managed to take the last 2 weeks of the year off as vacation, which was more than deserved after the marathon work weeks I'd put in out in Vegas. These 2 weeks have been fantastic. I've spent only a few hours actually working, with the remainder spent relaxing, with friends, or doing things I enjoy. Here's an update:

• I've gotten back to working on J's jewelry box, applying some tung oil finish. Once the oil catalyzes, I'll apply a few coats of wax (or maybe poly) and finish up installing felt on the inside. It should be ready for shipping by Valentine's day (I unfortunately have a two week return trip to Vegas coming up this weekend...arrghhh).
• I finally cleaned up the surround sound speaker wiring in the living room. For years, bare wire was showing in the corners with the unslightly blue spots from the sticky gum-like adhesive that is supposed to work wonders. Well, it doesn't. I replaced this failed folly with thin, paint-able wire conduit that actually hides the wires. It looks 100% better already and will look even better when painted the new wall color. What actually inspired me to do this was the HD satellite upgrade I had installed. The system is now kickin' with over 60 HD channels having Dolby 5.1 surround sound. I'm really enjoying it.
  
• I also made a trip to Party Creations to pick up supplies to make my first all-grain brew. I'm doing a Pale Ale similar to Sierra Nevada from the Brewing Classic Styles book. I built a cooler-style mash tun to do single infusion mash recipes. From what I've read and seen, it should work just fine. Here's the You Tube video set that inspired me to do it (there's 8 in all, each ~3 minutes).
  

I hope to get it into the fermeneter on Saturday so It can do it's thing while I'm away. By the time I get back from Vegas, it should be ready to keg. I sure hope so! Happy New Year all.