Vacation Daze

The vacation had to come to an end eventually. It is a magnificent day, sunshine and 30 degrees Canadian Celsius, or 86 degrees American Fahrenheit. I can't complain about the day, I will complain about returning to work on Monday. The two weeks off were truly enjoyable. I rested, relaxed, and did what I wanted. It is not enough. I want a third week. Now. Unfortunately, I will have to wait until November. Fortunately, I have another week coming to me, and it is not all that far off. And just as the cold hits the north, I will be hitting the south. Aside from rest and relaxation, my vacation was filled with chores, errands, alcohol and lists.
I made a list of things to do on my vacation. I have since added to it and removed a couple items.

• Shave my head. - Done.
• Don't shave my face. - I lasted 10 days. What with a funeral and a date, I had to clean myself up. And no, the date wasn't to the funeral.

• Finish building my bar - Almost there. Need one more item. 99% complete. I need a curtain. It looks awesome. And even at this early stage, my drinking efficiency has gone up by 17%. The photos are below. The photos of the bar, not of me drinking.
• Buy and Install curtains - Done! When your windows are 72" wide, curtains are not easy to come by.
• Plaster and paint my bathroom - my bathroom doesn't really need it. I don't where I got this idea.
• Go to Toronto - Yeah, well, that didn't work out. It's the five and 1/2 hour ride that keeps getting in the way of going. Yes, I will have to make some apologies.
• Go to Ottawa - It was only two hours away and it is family. And I ate at The Works (a review on Monday).
• Go mountain climbing - That didn't work out either. But I did walk a lot. And I can see Mount Royal from my balcony.
• Write for my Blog - With more time on my hands I was able to be more consistent and, I got started on some stories and came up with a few ideas for those times when I hit a creative wall.
• Ride my bike - I found it. Cleaned it. Rode it. Not enough. It's a start. Rode it this morning in the sweltering heat. 
• Buy a new car - I forgot about this. No, really. Getting into my piece of junk every day should be a proper reminder. Better conduct my research.
• Make a list - Didn't get around to it. Oh wait, this is one. Actually I made a couple. Some lists only had one item but lists nonetheless. 
• Repair my car stereo. I guess I forgot about everything to do with my car.  I will Google the instructions. I've already got the tools. Hammer? Check. Screwdriver? Check. Another hammer? Check? Um... what the hell is this? A wrenchy looking thingy? Check. 
• Build my bar - 99% complete. I used my knowledge of tools. My knowledge of bars. My hard earned skills in alcohol disposal, my possession of wood (I was going to write 'I've got wood', but chose not to.) Here are the photos.



Step 1 - Open Closet Door

I have tons of closet space. Too much for a single guy. Why not convert the one in the den into a bar? No reason not to.

Wood from an old Bookcase

Put it together, bolt it to the wall, cover the wood. Hang the shelves. And stock the bar...

Built-in Wet Bar

The wine rack won't end up at bottom but it looks good there until I put on the final touches.

I need to install the curtain on the bottom shelf.

Prior to putting the bar together I conducted some research. Mostly, to look for ideas on an ideal layout. Unfortunately, not too many people had much in the line of closets converted to bars. Rather than starting from scratch, I took apart an old bookcase and rebuilt it to my specifications. Refinishing the wood ended up being the easy part, I just had to find the ideal material. All done. And technically my vacation ended yesterday, today is just the weekend.