For months now I’ve been saying I need a new helmet. It’s been more like a year I suppose. I’ve looked online and just can’t afford the $225 + for the ones I like. They’re all name brand and with nice artwork on them. Since I can’t afford one of those, I’ve decided to make my own one-of-a-kind helmet. All it takes is a blank canvas (cheap matte black helmet), a thought out design, and a few metallic markers and pens.
With those items, a little time, patience, and a steady hand, I was able to produce a helmet I think would go for $200. And it’s mine. All mine.
Author Archives: Michael McIntosh
Blue Angels
This weekend was awesome! On Friday, I did something for what I hope will be the last time. I picked up Gavin and Leif up from the airport. Holly brought the kids over packed with 2 suitcases full of clothes, one suitcase full of toys, and a cat. Although I have to return Holly yet one more time on Tuesday, the boys get to stay here. They are officially back. To celebrate, I took Gavin and Leif out to get the car inspected. Ok, that wasn’t all that awesome. The car failed and we had to de-haze the headlights, thus taking up our morning and not allowing us to go ice skating with the cousins. We were eventually successful though, and did get the car to a passing state. And it was time we spent together. After eating lunch and returning back home, the cousins and auntie came over to enjoy the boys and Holly being here. The kids played hard all afternoon and wore themselves out. We even got a little show as the famous Blue Angels practiced for a big show, making frequent flyby’s directly over our house. Gavin, unfortunately, got a little bit of an airport virus and slowed down quite a bit in the evening.
Not satisfied with the amount of viewing time we had of the Blue Angels, we decided to take the kids to the air show on Sunday that was going on at the Kaneohe Marine Corps Base. I’m so glad we did. The boys had so much fun. Gavin was still a little run down from the previous day and being a little on the sick side, but that didn’t stop him from having a good time. The first thing we did was get in line to let the kids get in the cockpit of a plane. While waiting in line we got to watch local and national pilots spin and twirl and do death defying stunts in their various aircrafts. It was totally mesmerizing. Then it was our turn to hop into the cockpit. Leif’s face just lit up when he realized he was going to be allowed to sit in the pilots seat and push buttons and flip switches and pull and turn the yolk. Gavin was equally impressed, but showed it in a more grown up way. By taking pictures with his ipod.
Also at the air show, we ate chicken strips, pizza, chocolate malts, and brownies, wandered through a giant C-5 Galaxy aircraft, browsed the souvenir shop and picked up little models of the Blue Angels’ Boeing F/A-18 Hornet, and oohed and ahhed at all the awesome aircrafts and parachuters doing tricks in the sky. Writing it doesn’t sound like much, but it was a really fun outing. And the kids were so happy. And sitting there watching the planes fly overhead, looping, spiraling tail over nose, and spinning, I too felt like a kid.
Life’s Music
Sometimes you wish your life had a soundtrack. Sometimes you think your life does have a soundtrack. Sometimes, you want nothing but the comfort of your old favorites. And sometimes you find new music that just seems to be right for where you are in life. I’ve recently come across “Mumford and Sons”, which seems to fall into the last category. Somehow, it’s just right for me at this time. Almost all their songs invoke some kind of emotion in me that relates to my life in the past year or two that I want to hold on to. And when the next song starts playing, it gently carries me over to another emotional mind set that, by the end of the song, I then want to hold on to. When the next song starts, the cycle repeats. And it continues like this throughout the entire album. When the album ends, its like just after you’ve had a big crying session and you start to see things clearer and feel that things are a bit better now. And if I put the album on random order, the experience is slightly different, but with the same results. I know it won’t be the same for others as it is for me while listening to these songs, but I thought I’d share a few of them just the same. This is the music that is just right for me at this time in my life. It’s not my soundtrack, but just right just the same.
Life Stuffs
Time seems to be flying by. I started this post over a week ago. So I’ve deleted my previous random sentences and am just going to give a recap.
I finally received my desk at work. I can stop working off my work bench and be proper. Now it’s time to start drinking coffee and answering the phone with “Computing Services, Mike speaking, can I help you?”
It’s hard to see, but there is an orange glow around the rim of this cloud. I’ve been appreciating the beautiful skies we’ve been having here.
Last Saturday, I set up shop out back to brew a Blueberry Sweet Stout. All the while playing guitar and sampling some of my previously made hefeweisen. Deeeelicious.
And this, my view from a stop light on my way to work. Beautiful, but a warning that I’m about to get soaking wet. Something you learn to accept when you choose a motorcycle as your main mode of transportation.
The end of a beautiful and therapeutic day of painting at Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon. Can one ask for more?
Ahh. Aloha Tower Market place. The home of Gordon Biersch and my weekly destination for a delicious beer, great jazz music, and an over-all good wind-down during mid-week.
And when you feel like you need an outlet, you can rip up a wall and remodel it. Actually , it just needed replacement. Plus, Gavin and Leif are coming back next week and Mary and I are trying to prepare the house. Plus, knocking out and re-building a wall is a great stress relief and meditation activity.
Job loss, separation, moving, kids on a different island, new job, therapy, family dramas, new job stress, yadda yadda yadda. I now have grey hairs. Whatevers. I’m older and wiser now. And all the things that make me grow grey, allow me to grow stronger.
Update: Gavin and Leif will be moving back permanently this coming week. Holly will be moving back come Halloween. Things are on the right track and will just get better from here. I’m enjoying life and all it throws at me. Bring it on!
Much Needed Stay-Cation
Sometimes you just have to get away. And sometimes you just have to fly to another island to see your family. The original plan was to fly Gavin to Oahu for Labor day weekend. Leif didn’t want to be left out though. He missed his dad. Plus, Holly needed to get away for the weekend. So we changed our plans and decided we needed a mini family vacation. The new plan? For me to fly to Maui and spend the weekend with Holly and the kids at the Aston Maui Lu in Kihei doing fun things. The list of activities included a day at the Maui Ocean Center, mini golf and bumper boats at the Maui Golf and Sports Park, swimming and bbq-ing at the hotel pool, perusing the shops of Front St. in Lahaina, eating lots of unhealthy things like ice cream, shave ice, brownies, cinnamon buns and chocolate bars, finding and eating at different cafes, diners, and restaurants, and taking advantage of all the fun hotel amenities such as free movies, video games, and just plain lounging around the hotel room. It was really quite the perfect getaway. The kids were so excited to be spending time with me. We did everything together. The kids had so much fun and were thoroughly wiped out after every outing. They fell asleep almost every time we got in the car. Holly and I were able to spend some time together and talk about life, the universe and everything. We don’t have it all figured out, but we’re pretty sure the answer isn’t 42. But we do know that this mini stay-cation was just what we needed to bring things into focus and get things moving in the right direction. There’s a lot of waiting involved, and that is going to be hard, but if we’re patient and keep focused, things will work out for the better and happiness will ensue. One way or another.
So when you are in need of a weekend getaway, I highly recommend spending it in Kihei with your family. It will make you feel like the world has melted away and time belongs to you and your family and nothing else matters more at that moment than the people you are with. It’s a good feeling and I am lucky to have had it for 3 whole days with Holly, Gavin, and Leif. My family.