- The Competitor - Sports
- Mr. Muscle - Fitness and Health
- Your Ride - Cars
- Greenbacks - Career/Money/Finance
- Toys - Gadgets (i.e. boys toys)
- Tasty Licks - Music, Movies, Books and other Entertainment
- Arguing - Politics
- The Great Outdoors - hunting, camping, extreme sports
- WWWD? (What Would Ward Do?...think about it, it'll come to you) - Family
- Black Socks & Flip-Flops - Personal Appearance
- Honeydew - Home Improvement/Tools
- The Wide World - Travel/Vacation
- Eye Candy
The Competitor – Sports
You’ve probably heard the news but in case you haven’t, it seems Congress is taking up the issue of the college football BCS. While I’m not a big fan of the current system (I mean c’mon, how can either Texas or Alabama in good conscience lay claim to the title of “National Champion” when at least one other team will finish the season unbeaten? – TCU or Boise St and possibly Cincinnati), I think lawmakers in Washington have bigger issues to deal with. But who knows? Maybe it’s their way of blowing off steam with all of the pressure they’ve been under to right the economy but not too sure what President Washington would think of this...more on him below.
Greenbacks - Career/Money/Finance
While it’s not as though Princeton University is hurting for cash in the way that many Americans are, its endowment took a significant hit over the past year falling nearly 23% between June 2008 and June 2009 to $12.9 billion (I should be so lucky to have such problems) . Considering that almost half of its operating budget comes from its endowment that can put a crimp in its style, especially the style of one of the higher-flying universities in the country.
However, the university reported this past week that its returns for the fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2009 rose a modest 5%. What does this mean to you or me? Well, for starters it’s hopefully yet another sign that both the domestic and world economy is on the mend. You might also be able to take a few lessons from some expert investment professionals who, as caretakers of large sums with a very long-term view, allocate and choose differently than many other investors.
That being said, I’ve just added to my reading list When Markets Collide: Investment Strategies for the Age of Global Economic Change by Mohamed El-Erian (who also happens to have run Harvard’s endowment for a year just prior to the market collapse). It’s won numerous awards, including the 2008 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award as well as being selected as a 2008 Best Business Book of the Year by The Economist.
Tasty Licks - Music, Movies, Books and other Entertainment
If you’ve got young boys (or even girls) amongst your brood, you might want to check out G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra on DVD. While there are certainly better action movies out there, I’d be willing to bet that the majority of the 5-15 year old set will find the 118 minute high-action adventure quite smashing – I know my three guys did. The special effects were great, especially the sequence where the G.I. Joe team is racing through
As an adult, the movie was ok (don’t look for any Oscar-worthy performances) and I’m not quite sure it matched my expectations with regard to the G.I Joe I grew up with – the big ones from the 1970’s, not the smaller ones popular in the 1980’s which is the G.I. Joe the movie is based on. And while I’m a big fan of action-adventure, sci-fi and fantasy movies and more than willing to suspend disbelief as needed in terms of technology and/or magic; I have a harder time when movies decide to blatantly ignore the laws of physics – really basic ones at that. Without giving any plot away, let’s just say that if you blow up parts of an ice cap, big chucks of ice are not going to sink and potentially crush whatever is below them – there is a reason the Titanic sank: icebergs float.
Arguing – Politics
While I like to keep The Balanced Guy as politically neutral as possible, I can’t help but recommend you read (and not just listen to) the entire text of President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech no matter which side of the aisle you align yourself with. While there will always be those at both ends of the political spectrum that will criticize any president no matter what he says, in this case his speech is garnering praise from such Republicans as Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich. You can find the text in full here.
While extolling the virtue of reaching for “the world that ought to be”, he asserts the right of a country to defend itself and aid and assist other nations and people while reminding the world that for the past 60+ years, the
WWWD? (What Would Ward Do?...think about it, it'll come to you) – Family
Looking for something a bit off the usual path to do with the family on Christmas Day? If you’re in the NJ/PA area why not try attending the Annual Christmas Day Crossing at
The reenactment opens (fortunately for us and the actors) at 11 AM with the crossing commencing at 1 PM. This allows the kids to wake up (at 6 AM or sooner no doubt), find that Santa has visited and open their presents before you get them dressed and take a drive to watch the Crossing. Washington and his men were not so lucky as they crossed during the dead of night in a storm – we should feel fortunate they were so committed to the ideals many Americans today unfortunately often take for granted.
Honeydew - Home Improvement/Tools
Tiling – Part II. Last time around I discussed installing a tile backsplash in your kitchen between your countertop and cabinets. I took you through installing the tile, cleaning up and grabbing a beer. In the second part I’m going to discuss the really “fun” part – grouting. Now I know you’re thinking to yourself “There’s nothing I’d like to do more on a Friday night than grout tile except maybe read about grouting tile”. So, since you’re looking forward to this, settle back, grab (another) beer and read on.
Your tile is up on the wall (level and flush), the mastic has set, and you’ve cleaned up. Great. Now prepare for one of the biggest messes you’ve ever made in home improvement. Grouting is a messy job, no way around it. While professional tile guys will usually do the job with minimal mess, face it – you’re not a professional tile installer and neither am I despite having installed quite a bit of it. A few pointers before starting: 1) WEAR GLOVES!!! Grout is very caustic, having a fairly high pH level (meaning it’s an alkaline) so it will burn your hands if you don’t protect them – I speak from painful experience…2) Cover your countertops with heavy plastic, butcher paper, cardboard or something else you can tape down and then throw away. Don’t use a tarp or paint drop cloths you want to use some other time.
As I briefly mentioned last time, there are many color choices for grout and the one you pick will significantly impact the finished look of your project so take time to thoroughly investigate your options. Your standard white grout will certainly brighten the look but will also simply look wrong in many cases. A contrasting or brightly-colored grout may look snappy at first, but make sure you can live with it for the long run. Depending on the size of the job, you can sometimes buy grout pre-mixed in tubs but it is much more expensive than grout you mix yourself. There are also usually more color choices in grout you have to mix. Depending on the joint size between your tiles you may want to use either sanded or unsanded grout. There are also varying types of grout such as cementitious and epoxy. I won’t go into the performance differences here but the main one is that the cement-based ones are mixed using water and the epoxy ones with an additive. Finally, I recommend buy a tube or two of matching caulk. Most grout manufacturers make it so be sure to buy from the same company. You’ll use this in places like where the tile meets the bottom edge of the cabinets or after you’ve cleaned up and the grout has set, there will be those small spots where grout is missing.
The tools you’ll need to do the grouting are mainly a rubber float (to spread the grout on the tile), a large bucket to mix the grout in (buy a cheap one you won’t mind throwing away), a source of clean water (assuming you picked a cement-based grout), a mixing paddle, an electric drill (cordless if it’s fairly high voltage, otherwise a plug-in one) and lots of elbow grease. You can mix the grout by hand but I strongly encourage you to buy a paddle to use in your drill – it saves time and energy. I can’t emphasize enough to follow the directions for mixing on the bag/box of grout in terms of quantity of water, time to mix, standing time, etc. Usually you have to add the water, mix the grout, let it stand for a bit, and then mix it some more before applying it. Pay attention to the working time indicated in the directions otherwise you may have a lot of grout that hardens before you can use it (meaning: don’t mix the whole bag at once!) When properly mixed, it should be roughly “mudpie” consistency – not runny but not so firm that you can make a ball out of it. You have to be able to spread it without it falling out of the joints.
OK. Your first batch of grout is mixed. Now what? Using a wide putty knife or trowel, pick some out of the bucket and while holding your rubber float rubber-side up, plop the grout on the float. Bring it to the tile on the wall and in an arcing motion apply it to the wall in a rainbow shape. Keep the leading edge slightly off the wall while applying pressure to the trailing edge to force the grout between the tiles. Don’t worry about following the grout lines; just go right across the tiles. Once you make the initial pass and your float is empty, go back over the area from a variety of directions to ensure the grout is evenly distributed between the tiles.
As the shampoo bottle says “Rinse and repeat”. Not that you need to rinse but keep on repeating. You’ll find that a lot of grout will fall down onto the countertop; feel free to pick it up and keep using it (unless it’s dried out). Before you get too far along, rinse off the float and go back over the just-completed area while pressing very hard. You want to remove any excess grout from the surface of the tile as well as ensure the grout in the joints is set at relatively even widths (you don’t want to look at a grout line between two tiles and see that it gets thicker and thinner as it runs between them). Discard the excess grout that comes off at this point as it’s been too overworked to use elsewhere.
I’ll jump to the end because the rest is simply doing that over and over until it’s done. When you are finished with initially applying the grout you’ll want to go back and, using a fairly damp cloth, wipe down the newly-grouted tile to remove any excess and even out the joints. There is no secret to it other than having a critical eye and your tolerance for (or intolerance of) of imperfection. However since the grout has still not cured don’t wipe too hard! You’re not trying for a final, clean surface at this point, just one that isn’t covered in scads of extra grout.
Now, stand back and look at the utter disaster of a mess you have created and feel proud of yourself…and grab a beer because you’ve got a lot of cleaning to do. While cleaning up, revel in the wisdom of having used a disposable cover on the countertops. Let the grout cure for 24-hours or as indicated on the directions before a final cleaning. Be warned! The final cleaning is not a one-step process as it usually takes 2 or 3 or even 4 cleanings before it looks good. To aid in the cleaning process, buy some grout haze remover and have plenty of old rags on hand. Finally, you’ll want to seal the grout and if you used stone tile, I recommend a sealer/enhancer for the stone not only to prevent it from being stained but it gives it a “wet” look and brings out the natural color and beauty.
Last but not least, reinstall the outlets, light switches and covers (make sure the breaker is turned off first). Do this before using the tube of matching caulk to spot-fill the inevitable holes since you may also find a switch cover or two where the grout just doesn’t quite look right around the edges.
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