How old were you when you first started tinkering, building, fixing, etc.?
Unless Legos count, In high school I ended up with a car because my grandpa died and no one else wanted a green '78 Delta 88 with over 200K miles and a bad transmission and I wound up with it. If the car didn't run I had to take the bus and it took an hour to get around to my part of the county. That's pretty good motivation to keep the POS alive.
First thing you ever tried/had to fix, re-do, remodel, paint, improve?
Either one of two things... A year after I moved in to my first place I got an eskimo dog named Snowy. My parents had a crate left over from when they had two dobermans so Snowy has a cage that's a lot bigger than what he needs and his paws easily fit through the bars. I left it against a wall in the living room, went to work and came home to a big gouged out area in the drywall where he decided to dig into it.
Or, in the same house the kitchen light quit for the same money I could either buy a new ballast and keep the crappy fluorescent light, or buy something that wasn't ugly. I went with option 2.
Best HI/DIY thing you've ever done?
Probably designing and rebuilding 1/3 of our house nearly from scratch.
Kitchen, Family, Living Room Before/After
Biggest HI/DIY disaster you've ever had?
Not caused by me: Idiot roofing contractors not following the contract when reroofing a craftsman we own, causing the roof structure to collapse. Caused by me: snapping off a bolt flush with one of the cylinder heads on my car, then having to fab up a tool to drill the thing out.
HI/DIY activity you really love doing?
Finish work is great - installing hardwood, stone or tile. It goes fast and there's an obvious difference at the end of the day.
HI/DIY activity you really hate doing?
Drywall. It takes forever and there's always something I missed.
I learned most of what I know about HI/DIY from ______?
Somehow I figured out all of this from experience, Google, and the John Bridge forums. If something doesn't feel right go figure out what you're doing wrong.
You reach the Pearly Gates and St Peter says you'll be assigned to a trade crew to help keep up the place. For better or worse, since you're pretty good at it, we're gonna put you in _____ .
Stonework, as long as they've got a good wet saw.
What's your preferred jam while HI ensues?
I listen to trance and progressive and the occasional drum n' bass. Give me a 2 hour set from Markus Schulz, Solarstone, or Armin and I'm happy.
Favorite burger joint and usual order?
It's a tossup between a couple of local places - Triangle Char and Bar or Moe's Tavern. At Triangle I always get The Nap - a cheeseburger with grilled cheese/bacon sandwiches instead of a bun.
How do you like your steak cooked?
I'm good with medium - give me a better cut instead of something huge.
HD or Lowe's
Amazon or build.com? Lowes for consumables, HD for supplies, Southern Lumber and Millwork for specialty stuff and online for everything else.
What state would you reside in if you weren't able to live in Texas?
I live in Charleston, SC, but miss the PNW. Mrs. Fife hated it there so maybe Colorado.
Favorite/least favorite beer?
Favorite - either RJ Rockers (Brown Eyed Squirrel), Terrapin (Liquid Bliss). If I had to pick something available in TX I'd go with Goliad (Presidio la Bahia).
Drink of choice?
Not beer? Probably something random like Big Red. What can I say, I grew up an hour from San Antonio and that stuff goes with everything.
Current project?
Either the baby, to be induced May 5th if not already here by then or the master bedroom / bathroom remodel project.
Next project?
Rebuilding our house the idiot roofers screwed up once the state and National Park Service approve of the plans. Or put in a tankless water heater. What could possibly go wrong?
How many JCI chili cheese dogs can you eat in one sitting?
Right now probably 3 or 4, I'm starving!
Preferred city for getting crunk?
Right here where I know everybody and downtown is 5 minutes away. My crowd in San Antonio and Seattle all have kids now and would probably need to be home by 9 anyway.
Origin of user name?
Wish I knew but I'm not even sure any more. Something that sounded good at the time but not so much now?
Current hometown?
Charleston, SC. Actual Charleston inside the loop, not some lame suburb.
Original hometown?
The closest city was either San Marcos or Hunter, TX.
Occupation?
Engineering group lead for a large aerospace company.
You just got a monster bonus from work which includes two additional weeks off and $20,000 in gift cards to blue or orange. What do you do with it?
Boring answer: I'd be a whole lot closer to finishing the master bathroom + have enough cash left over to swap out our fridge for Thermador columns and have fronts that match our cabinets built. I could probably also put A/C in the garage since we already have the equipment and I know a guy.
Bonus: Pictures of Mrs. Fife since I took too long.
Our last anniversary at The Biltmore.
7 mos. Pregnant
Previous GTKYN Threads
Ryan the Temp
Unless Legos count, In high school I ended up with a car because my grandpa died and no one else wanted a green '78 Delta 88 with over 200K miles and a bad transmission and I wound up with it. If the car didn't run I had to take the bus and it took an hour to get around to my part of the county. That's pretty good motivation to keep the POS alive.
First thing you ever tried/had to fix, re-do, remodel, paint, improve?
Either one of two things... A year after I moved in to my first place I got an eskimo dog named Snowy. My parents had a crate left over from when they had two dobermans so Snowy has a cage that's a lot bigger than what he needs and his paws easily fit through the bars. I left it against a wall in the living room, went to work and came home to a big gouged out area in the drywall where he decided to dig into it.
Or, in the same house the kitchen light quit for the same money I could either buy a new ballast and keep the crappy fluorescent light, or buy something that wasn't ugly. I went with option 2.
Best HI/DIY thing you've ever done?
Probably designing and rebuilding 1/3 of our house nearly from scratch.
Kitchen, Family, Living Room Before/After
Biggest HI/DIY disaster you've ever had?
Not caused by me: Idiot roofing contractors not following the contract when reroofing a craftsman we own, causing the roof structure to collapse. Caused by me: snapping off a bolt flush with one of the cylinder heads on my car, then having to fab up a tool to drill the thing out.
HI/DIY activity you really love doing?
Finish work is great - installing hardwood, stone or tile. It goes fast and there's an obvious difference at the end of the day.
HI/DIY activity you really hate doing?
Drywall. It takes forever and there's always something I missed.
I learned most of what I know about HI/DIY from ______?
Somehow I figured out all of this from experience, Google, and the John Bridge forums. If something doesn't feel right go figure out what you're doing wrong.
You reach the Pearly Gates and St Peter says you'll be assigned to a trade crew to help keep up the place. For better or worse, since you're pretty good at it, we're gonna put you in _____ .
Stonework, as long as they've got a good wet saw.
What's your preferred jam while HI ensues?
I listen to trance and progressive and the occasional drum n' bass. Give me a 2 hour set from Markus Schulz, Solarstone, or Armin and I'm happy.
Favorite burger joint and usual order?
It's a tossup between a couple of local places - Triangle Char and Bar or Moe's Tavern. At Triangle I always get The Nap - a cheeseburger with grilled cheese/bacon sandwiches instead of a bun.
How do you like your steak cooked?
I'm good with medium - give me a better cut instead of something huge.
HD or Lowe's
Amazon or build.com? Lowes for consumables, HD for supplies, Southern Lumber and Millwork for specialty stuff and online for everything else.
What state would you reside in if you weren't able to live in Texas?
I live in Charleston, SC, but miss the PNW. Mrs. Fife hated it there so maybe Colorado.
Favorite/least favorite beer?
Favorite - either RJ Rockers (Brown Eyed Squirrel), Terrapin (Liquid Bliss). If I had to pick something available in TX I'd go with Goliad (Presidio la Bahia).
Drink of choice?
Not beer? Probably something random like Big Red. What can I say, I grew up an hour from San Antonio and that stuff goes with everything.
Current project?
Either the baby, to be induced May 5th if not already here by then or the master bedroom / bathroom remodel project.
Next project?
Rebuilding our house the idiot roofers screwed up once the state and National Park Service approve of the plans. Or put in a tankless water heater. What could possibly go wrong?
How many JCI chili cheese dogs can you eat in one sitting?
Right now probably 3 or 4, I'm starving!
Preferred city for getting crunk?
Right here where I know everybody and downtown is 5 minutes away. My crowd in San Antonio and Seattle all have kids now and would probably need to be home by 9 anyway.
Origin of user name?
Wish I knew but I'm not even sure any more. Something that sounded good at the time but not so much now?
Current hometown?
Charleston, SC. Actual Charleston inside the loop, not some lame suburb.
Original hometown?
The closest city was either San Marcos or Hunter, TX.
Occupation?
Engineering group lead for a large aerospace company.
You just got a monster bonus from work which includes two additional weeks off and $20,000 in gift cards to blue or orange. What do you do with it?
Boring answer: I'd be a whole lot closer to finishing the master bathroom + have enough cash left over to swap out our fridge for Thermador columns and have fronts that match our cabinets built. I could probably also put A/C in the garage since we already have the equipment and I know a guy.
Bonus: Pictures of Mrs. Fife since I took too long.
Our last anniversary at The Biltmore.
7 mos. Pregnant
Previous GTKYN Threads
Ryan the Temp
