Month: January 2023

First Rug Completed

Posted on by Josef Havelka

After a couple of weeks, my first rug was completed yesterday.

Now, it doesn’t take a couple of weeks to make a 16”x30” rug. But in that time I had to buy yarn, build a frame, order a power supply, figure out how to get an image projected from my iPhone, draw the image, tuft, glue, cut out, shave, shave some more, trim, shave again… in the end, the work required to do this rug took me about three to four hours.

A solid start. I learned what I need to do to be better. I also got a feel for the gun and the materials used. I’m hoping that my next few rugs will take about three to four hours but would have more details involved. The next rug I make is for me.

After a slow start on the rug My New Hobby turned out pretty good. I made it for my wife: Lee-Anne. She loves “L” from the anime “Death Note” and this was his symbol. Fitting since it’s the first letter of her name as well. Maybe after I make a few more rugs I will retry this one to perfect it. I know all the flaws I created and it will bother me for ages. But still, a solid first rug.

Low Fuel

Posted on by Josef Havelka

For the first time in ages, both my wife’s car and mine were at near empty tanks. I finished driving my son to school and made it into the gas station with under 10km until empty.

Then I went home and took my wife’s car out and got fuel for her as well. Hers was at 42km until empty by the time I stopped. Getting back into routine after winter break had us forgetting to get gas. I have never run out of gas in my life in any of the vehicles that I have driven. Today was the closest for me.

When I was younger, my father took my sister and I on a road trip from Edmonton, Alberta to Vancouver, British Columbia. As we entered Jasper, he ran out of gas. He literally coasted in neutral into a gas station and had to get out and push the last few feet to a pump. This was in the early 80’s and he was driving an Oldsmobile. He loved that car- at least until he bought his 1977 Mercedes 450SL. The Benz was his baby. But I digress, the Oldsmobile was an extremely comfortable vehicle to travel in. But in today’s world- it would be quite the gas guzzler.

My wife’s car gets 650km on a tank of gas. I get 550km. I put in 54 liters into my car. My wife’s car took 40 liters. Her car is clearly far superior on gas mileage than mine. Plus it takes longer until she needs to stop for gas.

One day we will most likely own an electric vehicle and just need to worry about keeping it plugged in. Much like a cellphone I guess. At least then I shouldn’t be as worried about being dead in the water, right?

The Roy

Posted on by Josef Havelka

An ongoing gag in our home is teasing one another and joking about names. Every one of our kids have had their names changed into various nicknames or puns.

Random has been called

  • Dom
  • Randy Candy
  • RahRah

Darwin has been called

  • DarDar
  • Dar-b-cute
  • Dardvark

Theory has been called

  • Theor Bear
  • Bear Bee
  • The Roy

There are plenty of other names, but these have stuck.

The Roy is probably my favorite. It came about at a speed skating meet when he first started about ten years ago. Someone had misspelled his name on the race sheets. Today I was handed a picture from his speed skating club with the same mistake. This is funny because they don’t know about this nickname.

Theory will always have the alter ego- The Roy. A speed skater extraordinaire who talks about himself in the third person. I find it humorous and hope it sticks for years to come- especially in the Speed Skating community.

Recaptured 80’s

Posted on by Josef Havelka

I love nostalgia. It’s the one thing that I am often thinking about. I always share stories of my youth and seek out ways to relive those memories.

I follow a fantastic Instagram account that really taps into my 80’s desires. Recaptured 80’s. I love that there is new images added daily along with videos and polls. Following along has sparked memories I didn’t even know I had until I saw them once more.

My 80’s PJ top with iconic cartoon characters.

I’m just a big kid who loves his 80’s. From cartoons to movies; toys to video games; books to candy- it all brings me joy. Sometimes I put on some old cartoons in the background, like GI Joe or Transformers and enjoy the sounds as I live my life. In our pool I’ll play some 80’s favorites and rediscover some lost classics.

Our kids have also grown a love for 80’s films. So much so that they both bought rather expensive Lego sets for themselves with some of their Christmas money. The Delorean and Ecto-1. Both iconic cars from a couple of great 80’s films.

I’m glad that my passions have become my kids’ passions as well. They have even taken to loving music my wife loves. Our middle has taken over my wife’s records and has a love of the same music as my wife. Not to mention that our kids also steal our sense of amazing clothes and wardrobe style.

Have you passed on what you love to your kids? I know I’ve seen some pictures and stories from a few of you. I love it all.

Recaptured 80’s

Posted on by Josef Havelka

I love nostalgia. It’s the one thing that I am often thinking about. I always share stories of my youth and seek out ways to relive those memories.

I follow a fantastic Instagram account that really taps into my 80’s desires. Recaptured 80’s. I love that there is new images added daily along with videos and polls. Following along has sparked memories I didn’t even know I had until I saw them once more.

My 80’s PJ top with iconic cartoon characters.

I’m just a big kid who loves his 80’s. From cartoons to movies; toys to video games; books to candy- it all brings me joy. Sometimes I put on some old cartoons in the background, like GI Joe or Transformers and enjoy the sounds as I live my life. In our pool I’ll play some 80’s favorites and rediscover some lost classics.

Our kids have also grown a love for 80’s films. So much so that they both bought rather expensive Lego sets for themselves with some of their Christmas money. The Delorean and Ecto-1. Both iconic cars from a couple of great 80’s films.

I’m glad that my passions have become my kids’ passions as well. They have even taken to loving music my wife loves. Our middle has taken over my wife’s records and has a love of the same music as my wife. Not to mention that our kids also steal our sense of amazing clothes and wardrobe style.

Have you passed on what you love to your kids? I know I’ve seen some pictures and stories from a few of you. I love it all.

January 3rd

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Just another day it seems. Work is work. Family back to their routines. Now much going on to report. No real progress on my new hobby as I don’t have a lot of time to work on it today.

But life is good. And I kind of like that it’s just passing by periodically without much action. Not every day needs to be momentous or exciting. Some days have to be just another day. That way you can appreciate those “out of the ordinary” days.

I enjoyed my quiet time at home for my Christmas Vacation. The food was good, not rushing around was pleasant, and just relaxing with my family is what I needed. A few days back to work and my mental health battery is still recharged. That’s good. Only one more work day and then some time to myself while the rest of the family does their thing.

I’m feeling good. Life is good.

How are you doing post holidays? Is your battery level okay?

Twelvetide

Posted on by Josef Havelka

January 2nd. Back to work. Kids are heading back to school tomorrow. Christmas season is over, right? Not if you follow the idea of The 12 Days of Christmas also known as Twelvetide. That ends January 6th.

Respectfully, that is the date at which we take down our Christmas Decorations, the trees, and lights. Our home will once again feel open and clean. As a bonus, our electric bill will go down since lights won’t be sucking power for hours on end.

Half of our neighborhood has already been taking down lights and decorations until next December. I won’t be the first, but we also won’t be the last.

Do you follow the Epiphany? Or have you already taken down the feeling of Christmas in your home? Or perhaps you leave the decorations out a bit longer.

Day One of a New Hobby

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Today I finally saw some progress in My New Hobby- Tufting. After getting My Little Corner ready the other day, I have been frothing at the mouth to try making my first rug.

It started with a design. I wanted to try something elegant and easy. I chose “L“ for my wife. Besides it being the letter of her first name, it’s also from one of her favorite anime shows- “Death Note”. I took the image, reversed it, shone it from my projector onto the back of the fabric- where I traced it out with a sharpie.

Then came the fun part! Using the tufting gun. It was a neat process and once I got going, my confidence grew. I started with the outline of the letter, then filled it in.

It wasn’t necessary to keep the lines or yarn touching as it filled out pretty good. My wife gave a couple of tries as well. I think she may want to tuft in the future as it is a very satisfying sound and feeling.

The way the yarn comes out thick a full makes me happy. The rug is already feeling very soft and looking pretty. Obviously I hope to see some progress and get better at it.

After a couple of hours, I had made quite the mess and used two full things of yarn. I had to call it quits since it was getting late and I have work in the morning. There’s still a few more steps to go in the process before I can say I have made a rug. Like gluing the back to prevent the yarn from being pulled out. Or trimming the front so that everything is smooth and even looking. The final step is giving it to my wife to have.

Stay tuned for an update by the weekend on the final results.