I am terribly disappointed tonight.  This past weekend, my mom bought my son some Skechers Hot-Lights Damager Police shoes.  Here’s a picture of them.  Just so you can see how awesome they are….

These shoes are some of the coolest shoes I’ve ever seen.  And I want a pair.  I have searched through the Skechers website at least three times tonight.  They do not carry them in adult sizes.  I am terribly disappointed.  Do you know how hard it’s going to be to figure out how to make me a pair.  I’m going to have to find red, white and blue led lights.  I’m going to have to figure out how to attach them to my shoes – and make them blink.  These are exactly what I need for a foot chase!  Imagine the fear I could instill in the criminal’s mind when he looks back and sees blue lights ON the cop chasing him.  Skechers, I’m disappointed that you are not providing a product that is clearly wanted and needed.  For now, my son will have to be the coolest kid in school. (but I may be headed down to Radio Shack for some LEDs)Technorati Tags: Skechers, Shoes, Hot-lights, Damager, Police

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A few months ago, I came across a tutorial for building a hidden door bookcase on Instructables.com.  I’ve always been fascinated by hidden passages and unique features in homes.  I found out that there are several companies out there that fabricate all kinds of hidden doors.  Hiddenpassageway.com has some really high end secret passages (and a pretty cool website).  Another site, Hiddenpassages.com also has some pretty good ideas for hidden doors.  If I ever get to build a house, I’m definitely going to incorporate some nice hidden passages.  I wanted one now though.  We only had one place in my house where a hidden door could be put in without much trouble – a coat closet in our living room by the front door.  I decided to make it look like a built in bookcase.  Here’s the finished product (almost finished – it still needs to be stained dark like the console beside it.)

My kids are calling it our “Scooby Doo” bookcase as a tribute to all of the neat hidden passages in the old Scooby Doo cartoons.  The next picture gives you an idea of what this area of the house looked like before I built the door.  It was taken a while back just after I had just hung our new tv and built the console underneath.

I removed the closet door and tore out the door casing.  I wanted to make the new feature look like a built in bookcase.  I should have taken some photos during the building process, but unfortunately I didn’t.  I built the basic bookcase frame first.  After I had the frame built, I had to figure out how it would open and shut.  I couldn’t use regular door hinges anywhere because they wouldn’t allow enough clearance and would be difficult to hide.

I found an article on Woodweb.com about using a Rixson pivot hinge on hidden bookcase doors.  It was extremely helpful and gave me the idea of constructing a scale model of my bookcase out of cardboard to test my hinge placement.  My father has a machine shop, so I built the hinges myself.  Each set of hinges is made from a short piece of steel tube welded to a steel plate with a polyurethane bushing pressed into the tube and another plate with a 5/16″ bolt welded to it with the threads cut off.  Here is a photo of the top hinge.

The weight of the bookcase doesn’t rest on the hinges.  They are just pivot points to keep the bookcase aligned.  The weight is held by three pivoting casters underneath the bookcase.  Two of the casters and the bottom hinge can be seen in the next photo.

I’ve had some questions about the design of the hinges, so I drew the following diagram to help explain them.  They are simple to make and shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes to put together in a decently equipped shop.  The diagram is crude (I drew it in MS Paint), but functional.  You can right click on it and download or print it if you need to refer to it to make your own set of hinges.

I used fluted trim on the face of the bookcase.  I cut the trim on an angle along one of the flutes.  When the bookcase opens, the trim separates.  The fluted design helps hide the small gap that was needed to allow the bookcase to swing.  Here’s a closer look at the trim.  You can also see the lock I installed in the top of the bookcase.

The lock was an afterthought, but because of it’s location, it’s nicely hidden when the key isn’t in it.  I used a cabinet lock, made some linkage out of steel flat stock, a lock pin out of steel bar and a guide out of a block of plastic.  Here’s the locking mechanism…

I’m happy with the outcome.  Now, I need to stain the bookcase and paint the patched areas on the wall.  I’d also like to cover the back of the bookcase with some black material of some sort.  I think the finished product looks much better than that boring old slab door that was there before.

Technorati Tags: Hidden, door, passage, secret, disguised, rixson hinge

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I’m always looking for interesting articles and blogs to read. I was surprised to find out that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad maintains a blog. I haven’t read much of it, but bookmarked it to visit later. Maybe I can ask him for a link.

Technorati Tags: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, blog, blogger

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I love the North Carolina Coast. My family has vacationed at Emerald Isle, NC for the better part of the last twenty years. I learned to fish and boat in the waters from Bogue Inlet to Beaufort Inlet. If we didn’t live as close to relatives as we do, I’d move down there in a heartbeat. I love the quaint towns, friendly people and beautiful beaches and waterways. I remember as a young boy begging my parents to take me to visit Fort Macon every year. I also remember being drawn to the pirate and ghost stories focused on this “Graveyard of the Atlantic“. I may have outgrown the ghost stories, but I’m still fascinated by North Carolina’s rich coastal history.

A couple of days ago, I had to travel to Swansboro for work. Swansboro’s just a tiny town, but it is a real gem that you could easily spend a couple of days exploring. If you happen to find yourself there, make sure you check out Yana’s Restaurant, which is full of 1950s memorabilia. Check out all of the antique and curiosity shops downtown. Carve out a morning, afternoon or entire day to take the ferry over to Hammock’s Beach State Park located on Bear Island, one of the most unspoiled beaches on the Atlantic Coast.

Before leaving, I had to have a fresh seafood dinner. A local turned me on to T & W Oyster Bar and Restaurant located on Hwy 58 in Cape Cartaret. The food and service were both excellent. I had, of course, oysters. I also tried the grouper, which was some of the best I’ve ever had.

On my way home, I couldn’t miss stopping by one of my favorite cities in North Carolina – New Bern. The downtown homes are beautiful. I wish that Tryon Palace had been open to visitors when I got there. I still managed to snap a few decent photos. I took several pictures of Centenary Methodist Church. I love church architecture and this is one of the most beautiful churches I’ve seen in North Carolina. I also stopped by Union Point Park. My wife, Lauren, and I found Union Point Park on a stop in New Bern Last year. This is a wonderful spot to take your kids for an afternoon or evening. It overlooks a broad span of the juncture of the Neuse and Trent Rivers.

Check out these photos that I took…

Technorati Tags: Fort Macon, Bogue Inlet, Beaufort Inlet, Graveyard of the Atlantic, Emerald Isle, Centenary Methodist Church, New Bern, North Carolina, Swansboro, T & W Oyster Bar, Tryon Palace, Union Point Park, Yana’s Restaurant

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In 2002, I had an awesome car, a Firemist Green 1995 Cadillac Eldorado. I’ve owned quite a few vehicles before and since then, but none of them have been as nice as that Cadillac. Unfortunately, I sold it a few months after getting married. As a full time student with a child now on the way and mounting expenses, it seemed like getting rid of the monthly payments and high insurance (like I said, I’ve owned quite a few vehicles – some of which suffered untimely demises) was the responsible thing to do. Being the responsible, newly married guy that I was, I took the advice of one of my trusted buddies who said, “I know where there’s a 1966 Fairlane that wouldn’t take a lot to get back on the road, just scuff up a little, shoot some fresh paint and you’ll be ready to ride. you ought to get it.” So, in the middle of the winter, my buddy and I squeezed our pregnant wives into our cars and drove out to the middle of nowhere to look at this prized find. To this day, I’m not sure why I bought it. I’d like to think I bought it because I’m endowed with creative vision and can see the possibilities for beauty in anything, but it’s more likely that I’m just out of my mind. We did manage to get it cranked up and I drove it home…without headlights…or brake lights…or turn signals…or a driver’s side door. So, that’s how I ended up with a 50 year old hunk of rusted steel. At least there was room to park it in my parent’s driveway!

“Scuff it up”, he said. “Just a little surface rust”, he said. Have you ever heard that you shouldn’t purchase a vehicle that you went to look at at night? That’s good advice. Oh, and let me add to that advice – don’t purchase cars that don’t have all of their doors. There was quite a bit more rust than we first thought. Do you know how many hours it takes to completely sand all of the paint off of a car? I do. It’s ten times as many hours as you think it will take. With all the time I spent with her, we got to know each other very well. Maybe I even started to fall in love with her. But all wasn’t well with our relationship. She never came out and said it, but I think she hated me.

She did teach me how to do paint and body work, or rather, how not to. It was a tremendous learning experience that I wouldn’t trade, but that I don’t want to repeat. It was around this time that I decided to ditch the metal hood and order a fiberglass one with a nifty ram air scoop off of a 427 Fairlane. I figured that, if I was going with a fiberglass hood, I may as well get some fiberglass fenders. Turns out, large fiberglass auto body parts don’t ship very well. One of my fenders arrived chipped and cracked. The folks at Crites Restoration made good on it and sent me another. It was actually looking like this project might turn out all right. At least she was starting to look like a real car. Little did I know, there were all kinds of problems lurking beneath the hood.

Even after having been parked for years, she ran when I got her. I was just less than a year into the project. There wasn’t any reason why she shouldn’t run when we dropped the motor back in. After all, we didn’t do anything to the engine except clean it up and put on a fresh coat of paint. I was so excited when we got her fired up and took her for a ride around the block to show off her brand new paint job, but what was that clacking noise. Turns out it was a cracked piston. My project came to a screeching halt. I was already in deeper than I wanted to be. Those car payments didn’t seem so bad anymore. Did I mention that the Fairlane was at my parent’s house in their driveway? That’s because we lived in an apartment, there’s no way they would allow that mess to sit in the parking lot.

Now, you would think the voice of reason (my wife) would step in and call for a time out on this project. Maybe she didn’t care or maybe she just enjoys watching me suffer because she didn’t put a stop to it. She let me head off to the engine builder’s along with my buddy who’s voice still rings in my head…”if you’re going to have the motor built, you may as well do it right!” The meek little 289 was bored and stroked to 331 and outfitted with all of the go fast goodies I could put on the Visa card. After all, “you may as well do it right!” Summit Racing loves me. Again, I was happy as a lark when the motor was finished. You’d think this project was approaching an end, but you’d be wrong, this car hates me. We never could get the engine to run. She’d tease us a little. Roaring to life and then sputtering out. This went on for days as I tried everything I knew and consulted every person, book and website I could find. She never would run right, so she sat in the driveway, abandoned. My wife and I eventually bought a house up the road from my parents and finally pushed the old fairlane up the road and into our garage where she sat neglected for a year or so. I’d go out and tinker with her occasionally. I finally felt sorry for her and made an extra effort to get her running. After some more frustration, my father and one of his mechanic friends took pity on me and tore into the motor to find the problem. The camshaft was destroyed. Everyone else says they can’t figure out why. The builder says that it’s probably my fault – overtightened valves. The cam company says it’s probably the builder’s fault – blocked oil passage. The mechanic says it’s probably the cam company’s fault – a bad cam. There are two that really know what happened. I know. SHE knows. She hates me. Back to the engine builder’s. Remember, if you’re going to do it, do it right! This time, the builder got instructions to shave a little off the deck and port and polish a set of roush racing heads. This was going to be one hot ride. Nevermind that gas prices were just beginning to hit at the outrageous prices we’re paying now. If I had only known, I would have restored a VW. The hiatus from getting the engine running gave me the time to figure out how I was going to stop this sled on those old drum brakes and ragged suspension. It’s only money right? New tires, shocks, springs and bushings all around! The engine’s back on the stand in my garage now. It’s been sitting there for over a year. The voice of reason finally took over and I waited to work on her as time and money allowed. She’s sad, but I hope she’s not angry. Maybe she’ll accept a new transmission as a peace offering. It’s the last piece she needs to tear down the highway for the first time in half a decade. She’ll be better than new when she’s finished. She should be – I think she’s already cost five times what she did when she was new! Check out my flickr photo gallery of this project:

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