Not really a project but still work getting done

The gate wasn't the only thing I got done before class started, and this might be my favorite. It's not as fancy as redoing a basement or building outdoor furniture, but I convinced the wife to get a small tv to put over the treadmill in our third garage, and holy hell is it great having it up.

The TCL in the basement has worked great, so when the price on this 32" model dropped I thought we had a good candidate.

And a small enough tv that I wasn't too worried about using an extending bracket on one stud.

The tv bracket hangs on this, which can be adjusted accordingly.

All I had to do was line it up.

Attach the bracket to the tv,

And viola, on the wall.

It's kind of liberating to not worry about cord management right now too. Of course, getting it straight (enough to not be distracting) took a little finagling with tightening the bracket, but I could not be happier to have this up in the garage. I'll clean it up at some point but by getting home early on a day where no one else was home, even the dog, I was able to get this on and run before anyone else was even home. 

Just in time for GoT to come back too, no, that timing wasn't suspicious at all.

It's a palomojito, I guess?

After a 12 hour day at work yesterday, but before going back to work Saturday morning, I thought I'd come home and spend a pleasant night drinking and enjoying some family time. I was planning on having a few mojitos, since I could have a couple and not wake up feeling horrible on the way into work tomorrow. Unfortunately I was an ingredient short; my club soda supply was non existent.

However, I did have some grapefruit-focused soda around, and since I really wanted a (more than one) drink, I thought I'd give it a try. It wasn't half bad, and would definitely do in a pinch. I make home mojitos a little off recipe anyway, so tossing in some different soda isn't really that much of a departure for me.

Here's my usual recipe:

-One healthy scoop of sugar. Refined if we've got it, if not regular is good.
-Half a lime, halved again. If they're big limes I use whatever ratio gets me the same size.
-Handful of mint leaves. My plant looks really good right now, so it's all good.
-Two jiggers of rum. Yes, jiggers. I don't know how much this really is.

The mint looks really good right now. 

Start with the sugar, and squeeze the lime bits over it. Drop the rest of the lime in, and add the mint. Give it a good muddle, really getting the lime busted up. I use a single-drink shaker since it's tin and can stand up to it. Add the rum, and if it hasn't been in the freezer it never hurts to add an ice cube or two either. At this point, you can add extras if you're going for other flavors. This is when I typically add coconut. And yes, since I use a shaker I give everything a good couple shakes. I like it frothy.

Dump everything in your vessel of choice, and top it off with the appropriate amount of club soda. If you've got it. Which I did not. But other soda ended up working fine. B/c the kids are in bed and I'm on my third one of these tonite, so mission accomplished.

Tomorrow at work should be fun. This recipe is not perfect; it's a good mix of practical technique and short cuts, but still close enough to a mojito recipe I feel alright calling it that. It took a lot of trial and error to get it to something simple enough to replicate each time but complex enough to be close in flavor profile to solve a craving. But even with club soda it still doesn't quite capture the pure awesomeness that is well-made bar mojitos. Adding different soda took it a step further away from that but these are definitely still palatable. Maybe it I have some tequila around next time I'll toss that in too.

1/2 inch vs 9/16

Well, turns out it's harder than I expected to find the same trim twice. A trip to the same Lowes and then a second one didn't end with any results, even if they were in-stock online. So I bought them online for pick up with a scrap to compare it to, and the new stuff was a little bigger. Whether I bought the wrong kind, got the wrong kind the first time and didn't know it, or was handed the wrong size picking them up I don't know. And it doesn't really matter either, since an 8-foot length was on-sale for $.63.

I wouldn't want to blend the two but they look pretty similar.

So the room is done in two different sizes, but fortunately I bought enough the second time to completely do three walls and stop at a doorway, so there isn't a wall with both sizes on. I almost had one behind the media stand but the extra meant I could peel off the 1/2 inch stuff I had just put on. Turns out a 1/16 inch size difference really isn't that noticeable as long as they're not next to each other.

Thank goodness for that extra piece.

A little more caulking, a round of paint, and I think we'll be good to call it done.