Game Table Project

One of the most important items for any nerdy gamer like me is a good game table. I have had several variations over the years, but none that I would consider ideal. I have made a few plans to build an ideal table, but when it comes down to it, I've never had a dedicated spot to put one, and so I make due with what I have. The current setup I have now is a 4X6 sheet of plywood. I have attached some pieces of wood to the bottom of it so that I can set it on top of my dining table without it sliding around. I also have attached some felt pads so that it doesn't scratch up my table when I'm putting it on and taking it off. And I have painted the top of it to resemble a grassy field. I'm not totally happy with the paint job, but it will do for now.


As I have recently pondered a better game table, I have instead opted to improve the one I have now. The problem has been that it is rather warped. It's pretty much been warped since my good friend Mike gave me the board, but I think it is getting worse over time, so it's time to do something about it.

The plan: Attach 1x3 boards to the underside of the 4x6 sheet in hopes of straightening it out a bit. I bought some high quality 1x3's because I wanted them to be as straight and splinterless as possible. Total cost about $20 for 2-6' lengths and one 8' length that they cut in half for me at Home Depot.

No project would be as fun without my lovely little assistant Klowi. She loves to get involved with stuff like this. Forgive the Christmas mess in the background.


I start by clamping the 1X3 board to the underside of the 4x6. I perfectly position one end to the corner while Klowi helps hold the board. I drill pilot holes for the screws and then countersink the holes so that the screws will not pop up above the surface of the table. I want them either flush or slightly under. I can fill in later for a smooth surface. I carefully work from one end to the other making sure the board lines up just right as I go.



Once the first long side is done I proceed to do the next long side in the same manner. Once the long sides are done I have to measure the gap for an exact length of the shorter pieces. Klowi was instrumental in helping with holding the pieces while I marked them for the cut. She begins to tire at this point and rests on the ground underneath the table. It's pretty hard work being such a good helper.

Once the end pieces are cut to length I attach them. The table is still not perfectly straight, but it is significantly better and I am excited to play some more games on it.


And here's a look at the table topper with all the boards attached, sitting against the wall in my office. Fun project, not too difficult. Ughh! Now it's time to clean up all my mess.

Fitness

I've decided that my first post will be about my fitness goals. Fitness is important to me. I am not as fit as I would like to be, but I do try to exercise and be active when I can. I have always held the belief that our body is a temple. I believe it is my responsibility to take good care of my body. Do I take as good of care of my body as I should? Probably not, but I would say that I do ok most of the time. I admit I have a love of certain foods, and at times I go a bit nuts pigging out on good foods (oreos, chocolate chip cookies, and ice cream mostly). I think this is ok on occassion, but not ok to make it a regular occurance.

When it comes to my fitness goals, I made a goal a few years ago to be in the best shape of my life by the time I turn 30. When I made that goal at the age of 27 I weighed in at 206 lbs. That was the heaviest I had ever been up to that point. Since that time I have lost almost 30lbs. I've been weighing in at just under 180. I was doing pretty good with my goal until a stress fracture in my leg kept me from running, or any other exercise that would put stress on my legs. I am just starting back into running now. I think it would be pretty cool to run a marathon someday. I will for sure do at least a half marathon.

I think the ideal fitness regime is Crossfit. Gil Hollingsworth, a friend of mine from work, has introduced me to it. I cannot afford a membership for a crossfit gym, or the time to go back and forth to one. Instead I invent little crossfit style workouts that I can do at home. The only equipment I have is a pullup bar and some dumbells. I have plans to build boxes for box jumps someday.

My workout today was 10 sets of:
10 pushups
10 airsquats
4 pullups

I should have timed myself so I could measure progress later on, but I didn't. The workout went pretty good except for the last couple sets of pullups were a struggle. I scared my youngest daughter Sofi to death as I grunted through them. She had this scared look on her face watching me, and then as I really went for the last rep with everything I had she started crying and ran off.

Usually she likes me to hold her during my air squats too. So I guess they're not really air squats, they're Sofi squats. She also likes to sit on my back when I do pushups, but she didn't do that today.

A few hours after my workout I noticed my elbow was sore. Kaitlin says I was hitting it against the door frame on the last few reps when I struggled to get my chin over the bar. I didn't notice it at the time.

Tomorrow the plan is to kill my abs with some Ab Ripper X from the P90X program, and then hit the treadmill for a couple miles.

If I ever get around to it, I'll post some pics of my before shots, and how I'm looking more recently. We'll see if it's too embarassing or not.

For Why?

So I've decided to start a personal blog. For why you ask? Well I must admit that I was inspired by a fun blog that I've been reading called Mik's Minis. My blog will probably not be nearly as interesting, but what the hek! I'm willing to give anything a shot.

What in the world does Aaron have to blog about? Too many things actually. I am someone with an interest in a great many things. For one I am a gamer. I enjoy Role Playing games (i.e. GURPS, Pathfinder, etc.), Table-top wargames (Bellicose Fantasy Battles mainly), and a great many board games and computer games. I am art director for Sanity Studios, a gaming company started by myself, and good friend Nik, with much creative input from my uncle Travis. We recently purchased the extremely cool paper miniatures website, Onemonk Miniatures. So there's a ton going on there to blog about. I also have many other things going on and interests to blog about including my family, our fixer-uper home, model rockets, guns, backpacking, camping, fishing, fitness, etc., etc.

And so I will begin to capture my life experiences and projects here for posterity, and so that anyone wanting to know what's going on with me, they can just look here and get a pretty good idea what kind of trouble I am up to. Most items specifically relating to Onemonk or Sanity Studios will be blogged about or written somewhere on those sites and I'll link to those posts from here if it is needed.

I hope you enjoy reading my blog. I'll try to keep it interesting and updated often. Laterz!

Aaron