Movie theater seats, pt.3

Well, after an extended bout of plague at our house, we finally managed to get the theater seats done.  We drilled holes at the marks and used a counter sink to make sure the bolts wouldn't be touching the floor.  Unfortunately I didn't get an action shot of this.  We then brought the wood back inside and I used carpet glue to... well, glue the carpet on.

I insist on animals being in all my shots.

Once the carpet glue had set overnight, we flipped it over and cut of the corners of the rug, and glued the overlap down.

No books were harmed in the gluing of this carpet.

Obviously we needed some weight to hold the overlap down, but fortunately we have a few books lying around.  Again, after a 24 hr cure, we removed the books and used a screwdriver to poke holes in the carpet for the bolts.  At this point we discovered that the bolts we had purchased were too short (we had neglected to take the depth of the carpet into account) so Josh made a run to ace to get longer bolts.  Fortunately they had them, so we stuck them through the plywood, put some felt pads over them (for extra no-scratch insurance) and turned the whole thing over.  Then we carefully picked up the chairs and lowered (forced) them onto their bolts.  Then everyone took turns tightening.

Duncan ponders doing parkour on the installed seats.

After the bolts were well tightened (I'm guessing we'll have to go back with locktite at some point, but...), we moved the chairs into their new place of honor, just waiting for the next wrestling PPV or Packers game -- a little bit of the Cosmo Theatre in our own home.

The R-word (or, no, you don't need to say it)

When I was growing up I was taught never to say the word "retarded." It honestly still bothers me much more than the "s-word" or the "f-word"... because when you say the s-word or f-word you aren't using a word that is used to hurtfully describe a large number of people.  My uncle was developmentally challenged, my cousin has fetal alcohol syndrome (she was adopted from a rather horrible situation), my grandmother helped found the local Council on Retardation (as it was called back then), my mother was a special ed teacher, I have a friend that has a wonderful son who happens to have down syndrome.  I grew up in an environment where I just didn't say that word, because I understood how it could hurt.

I guess I just don't get why people get so angry about being asked to stop saying the r-word.  Using it instead of another word (obtuse, nonsensical, ignorant for instance - here's a lovely post on alternatives) doesn't help you communicate better, it just makes you look like kind of a jerk.  Now, before someone cries "censorship!" and "political correctness!", I'll say I'm not trying to remove the word from the face of the earth.  If I was going to write a book and wanted to demonstrate that one of the characters was ignorant, I might have them use the r-word.  But the fact is, no one NEEDS it to communicate, and the world would be a nicer place if people didn't use it as a catch-all.

The r-word is just one of many ableist words, and I'm trying to eliminate them from my vocabulary too, so I know how difficult it can be (my tough word is "lame").  Still, I'm trying, because I don't want to hurt people -- both people that I love, and people I don't know.

If anyone is interested, here is a list of words that could be considered ableist. Now, not everyone agrees on the words in this list, including people with disabilities.  Still, it makes for interesting food for thought, and has helped me try to pick my words more carefully.

Best crappy mac n cheese ever

Short post.  Today I made myself crappy boxed mac n cheese for lunch (I know, I know, the horror, the Yellow #5, etc) - forgetting we were out of butter.  Well, except for the truffle butter I had in the freezer for a special occasion.  But hey, beggars can't be choosers.  Oh, and I happened to have home grated parmesan in the fridge.  And sriracha (insert plug for To Your Health Market, as the sriracha was probably the healthiest thing in there).

Turns out if you add truffle butter and parmesan and sriracha to crappy mac n cheese, it tastes pretty good.

Movie theater seats, pt.2

So we got a little (hey, my husband is still recovering from pneumonia!) done on the movie theater seats.  Basically we got them put in the right spot on the plywood and marked the holes where the bolts will go.

They look much better sitting up, I think.

ACTION SHOT!

I marked all the holes for the bolts.  We're going to be using tapered head 1/4" x 1.5" machine screws.  Hopefully tomorrow we'll get to the drilling and countersinking stage; then we have to glue the carpet on the top, cut the holes through, glue the carpet on the back, make sure the holes also go through that, put the bolts in, and put the seats on the bolts.  So a LOT yet to be done.  Still, a little progress is better than none!

Movie theater seats, pt. 1

So we got four awesome, original seats from the Cosmo theater in downtown Merrill. These are the original art deco seats, refurbished about 10 years ago, so they have drink holders now.  With the size of our family, of course we could always use more seating, and with the history of this set it'll be awesome in our living room.

The seats

The problem, of course, is that movie theater seats are meant to be bolted into the ground.  So we've had to come up with an alternate solution: a nice big piece (4'x8') of plywood.  The seats themselves are 7 feet wide and two deep, so we'll be placing them near the center for balance and comfort.

Why are my animals always in my shots?

We're going to drill holes at the appropriate places, counter-sink the back so that the bolt heads with be flush with the plywood, and then add carpeting to both sides so we don't scratch up the floor.

Thanks to Menards we got a nice 12'x5 carpet remnant for 18 bucks for the top, and we've got some leftover grey felt/carpet in the garage to put on the bottom.  I'll update later with pics of the project in progress and hopefully the final result!

Judging people

I'm trying to stop judging people. For me this is a personal thing. I don't like being judged for being a woman, for how I'm dressed, for...whatever.  I'm ok with being judged for my ideas, my kindness (or lack thereof)... but I really dislike it when people judge without talking to me.

That person doing 50 in a 65 zone?  They're having car troubles.  The very overweight person in very small clothing?  They have a hormonal problem and can't afford new clothes.  That woman who's using food stamps to buy steak and talking on her iPhone? The steak is a special once a year treat for a birthday, and the iPhone was gifted to her.  That fast food employee striking for a raise? They worked in manufacturing and were able to support their family on that wage, and the place closed, and they don't have the skills for a different job.  That woman with tattoos?  She is a wonderful mother and volunteer for the humane society on a regular basis.  The woman in a business suit without tattoos? She loves punk and spends her weekends welding.  The man with six kids at the store, five of whom are screaming?  Half of them are adopted, two are foster children, and one is his stepdaughter - and he's holding down the fort while his wife works.

These are the thoughts I'm trying to keep in mind these days.  That how someone looks, or the situation they are in, are not necessarily what they seem.  That I should not be one to judge.

But still, when someone's doing 40 in the left lane on Hwy K.... it gets hard.