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AgentOrange
05-19-2014, 07:16 PM
The "CatBird" area is my bird blind, music place, beer garden, and general fuck off area.

I know few understand or care, but like Ed doing his Pergo floor, it is fun to believe/imagine someone in the World gives a crap. (I wish more posted more crap like this so when I log in I could read/share what my friends are up to.)
This week some of my friends were gathering donations for a friend with Cancer who wanted to visit her exchange kid in Belgium. All tales that move us don't need to be sad, not saying this one is.

Remodeling the "CatBird" is a happy one, sorta. I know for a fact it is unimportant.
In life we do things important for us and the people around us we care about. If we are lucky, we also get to do selfish things just for ourselves. In my case, I like to put "silly" emphasis on something "unimportant". That is why I was a good foot racer. I put all I had "giving no quarter to anything else in my life" to gain another second over 5 miles. Keep in mind I am not crazy (scored a solid 26 on the YBOCS scale). Other people raised families or tried to get ahead in their career. As a displaced geezer, I just gave all I had for another second. It was a good choice.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yY4bNCx9TY&feature=kp


This is a tale of another such endeavor.
Before yall were born, I discovered my back porch. I lived in a nice (crime free) development and my back porch was about 3'X8'. My backyard was small too, maybe 75 foot to the rear line. After 20 years of living there, discovered paradise was alive and well in my backyard. That changed my life as it was a shift from searching for another second.
CC

Being obsessive (not crazy as I have been tested at only 26 on the YBOCS scale) I tend to over do when my attention locks in.

I need to rebuild out here and incorporate upgrades that one can only discover from years of constant use. All is well, but WTF, need a tiny project as my mind is getting crowded lately:courage:.
My space here is 6' by 10'. The CatBird house is 2nd story and built on top of a screen room I built in 2004 on top of a 10X10 deck I built in 2001. How this stands at all is a mystery. Normal rot and my inexperience as a carpenter should have brought it all down years ago:ghost:.

Yet here I am typing this from the CatBird house, and it still has a "solid" feel.

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Chuck Farley
05-20-2014, 12:03 PM
I've had the privilege to sit in the main catbird chair. It's such a nice way to experience the outdoors.

TNRabbit R.I.P.
05-20-2014, 12:33 PM
I've had the privilege to sit in the main catbird chair. It's such a nice way to experience the outdoors.

I did the same! Quite.an experience~

AgentOrange
05-23-2014, 04:58 PM
I've got my audio rack made and a couple coats of stain on it, but the big chair I ordered is silent as to shipping. I just emailed, will call on Monday. It is extra large so The Beagle can fit better.

AgentOrange
05-25-2014, 05:34 PM
In Feb '95 I bought a truck I drove until last year. My first truck haul was a chair from a road side seller. I have spend most of my better days in that chair. I have rebuilt it, changed the design as lately as last month. I have retained and "cherished" it for years. I believed it would see me to the grave, but I messed with it too often.

To start the rebuilt, ordered a new chair to adapt to my preferences. It is an over sized as two sit in my chair:dog:.
http://http://www.thebestadirondackchair.com/products/369-grand-adirondack-chair.aspx
$285 dollars shipped and no taxes is still kinda high but it is big.

It pains my mind to move to a new chair, but did trade the truck for a Jeep this past year, so I am not completely lost in the "old days".
I will have to alter it, but spent weeks searching the web for the "best" for my needs. This is not a decision I made without pain.
I got a big one, so when it arrives, will need to rip out old crap and rebuiltto fit it into this small Catbird space.
Stay tunes for photos.

I like my porch seat. It has value to me.
On any day it contains thousands of dollars in gear.
I suspect few invest on hobby level as to the audio, bird, and optic gear that lives out here with me and Rosey:hopelessness:.

AgentOrange
05-25-2014, 05:44 PM
I suspect before I get my new chair, I will get pissed and cancel:GB_bonesrock:.
I can't get a delivery date beyond 4-6 weeks now that they have my $$. I thought the web site shipping was in 2 days. My last email before they closed Friday was offering the girl who runs email a hundred dollar bill in a "personal" envelope just to ship the damn thing.

Monday I will tele and if they can't do better, will say "CRAP" and move on. I hate that about me, but I have always lacked patience and hate being "played".

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AgentOrange
05-25-2014, 06:45 PM
I ripped out the old crap and expanded the space. I got my new audio rack/box mounted and lost some stair space:uncomfortableness:. I was unsure as to height, so may have to adjust if in the unlikely event I get the big chair:nevreness:. Not a big deal as I own 5 Adirondack chairs, all comfortable.

Hooking back up my gear has been a puzzle. One needs to be an engineer with audio experience (like Ed) to do this.
I hooked my volume control back in just for the sub. That has not worked.
Like many of yall, I have a million wires and connectors, but of course never what I need:chargrined: .
I got it hooked up and tried Bella and now my favorite audio set up guy - Phil Collins.
I do like his crap, he is a versatile artist.

Feed back in the sub was present. It was slight, but I don't want slight as this is not a $100 set up. I try to uphold RedNeck porch audiophile tradition here.:loyal: I tried phase shift and WTF, but? My volume control is a PYLE pro thing where you have to covert interconnects. I just took it out and the problem is solved.:biggrin-new:
My sub has a remote, but I want a knob near my hand as I often adjust bass if I "shuffle" artists. Does any one know of a small, volume control with RCA?

I am in a sling chair now. I moved the sub over to directly behind the chair firing forward. When I get a permanent chair here will zero it in. This POLK has microphone automatic adjustment build in, but my DSPeaker does a much better job. Before I go there, need the permanent chair and walls. You sit, with a mic beside your ear and hit "go". The sub groans and you need ear plugs. Everything shakes like an earthquake and eventually, the sub is dialed into its environment.

Here is today, but it will look better when finished. I have just a small area to work with.
The chair will sit in front of the Sub. If one request, that big sub can shake out the filling in teeth or blend in to soft music. On the deck floor is 1" rubber, then a heavy concrete block and then rubber over 1/2 Sorbothane. This sub plays into the air, does not rattle the deck except with air waves. It is a 12 inch Micropro.

Behind the sub is the Carver Amplifier sealed behind the patchwork scrap wood. It is mounted underneath the main deck. That sounds like a bad idea, but has been working for years so WTF?
To the left is my new audio/computer rack. On the floor beside my Sub is the computer that runs my CaTBird seat. It will go in the rack.

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TOAD
05-28-2014, 04:29 PM
I've had the privilege to sit in the main catbird chair. It's such a nice way to experience the outdoors.


I did the same! Quite.an experience~

Aye! You have a great spot to watch nature there, :adoration: not sure why you are fixing what's not broken. :confused:

Very comfortable spot once you get used to a 100+ pound beagle sitting in your lap.

I was in your area a few weeks back on the way to the casino.
I see your neighbors have finally accepted the fact that you are there to stay.

Was it really necessary for you to shoot up their new sign? :highly_amused:

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AgentOrange
07-10-2014, 06:04 PM
Damn, after only about a hundred years, my new chair arrived today. I had believed they were not shipping after my last tirade complaining to them after I drank a beer or 40.

I believe the link above was bad, here is the chair:
http://www.thebestadirondackchair.com/products/369-grand-adirondack-chair.aspx

Of course I opted for the unstained version as I am cheap and $150 to stain a chair seemed extreme.
I got it assembled, not an easy chore in our 200 degree Summer heat. It does require assembly so shipping does not kill them.

Then a storm came up and I moved it into the screen room and got a coat of stain on it.
I will get a second coat on it tomorrow and try to get it into the CatBird House on Saturday. I am using Miniwax w/poly called Polyshades to stain it. I like that stuff, used it on most everything in my Redneck bar. This chair will not be in Sun or rain.

It is big, and it is well made as it should be at that price. Actually $285 shipped with no taxes is not a bad price for a big cedar chair. I have to say they did an excellent job on it. It is very solid.

It is big, much bigger than the one I am in as I write this update.
I measured and it will fit into the area (see above) I carved out for it.
Rosey is going to be very happy to have all this extra room come Fall. To be honest, this year Summer heat is too much for her fat self and she prefers to lay inside on days like this with the Bride.

AgentOrange
07-12-2014, 11:30 AM
If Bill closes down YC, I'm going to steal his porch chair! :p
And leave behind a milk crate!

Got it in place, will restain the floor when Fall arrives.
Here is the temporary small chair:
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Here is the BIG chair for me and the Beagle.
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Note it fills the entire area:
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Now I have to get off my lazy ass and run the weed whacker for an hour or so before it hits a hundred out here. I would rather just sit here in the shade, play tunes, watch my critters, and maybe drink a cold one.
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SteveK
07-12-2014, 04:05 PM
Boy that is an idyllic setting.. I'm jealous.
Steve