Thinking outside the box

I have always been a creative person. In high school I took my creative energy and expressed it in photography. I took that craft and majored in Photojournalism in college (along with a dual major in Sociology....that and $1.08 will get you a McChicken). Problem solving has also been one of the skills that I excel in. Where am I going with this?

With our TV now mounted on the wall, I mounted the front three speakers on the wall as well. I pondered mounting them on the ceiling....but there was waaaay too much work involved. Instead I mounted the speakers directly on the wall on three sides of the TV. The rear speakers will eventually go on the ceiling as I can't figure out where else to place them. When I do place them on the ceiling I will likely have to run the cables through the attic and down to the receiver....which will suck. I could run the wires along the wall....we will see.



With the speakers on the wall I had to figure out a way to hide the wires. I ran the wires up the wall and then to each speaker. I was initially going to buy plastic speaker concealers and tape them to the wall. The problem I ran into being they are kinda bulky....and kinda expensive. I went to three stores today and could only find speaker concealers that run along the floor and none that are designed to be attached to the wall. I was about to give up when one of those creative thoughts popped up.

What are two tools that no proud Texan would rather die that be found without? WD-40....and Duct Tape! No I didn't use the WD-40....but I did use Duct Tape. I remembered a month or so ago I bought black Duct Tape to help secure the backup camera in my car. The camera is mounted inside the rear hatch on the roof. I needed the tape for reinforcement. I bought white Duct Tape today for the walls.

I straightened out each cable and then taped it to the wall with the Duct Tape (I have no idea why I am capitalizing Duct Tape). I then painted the Duct Tape using the existing paint color already on the wall. The result? The wires are barely visible.

Digital cameras. I use them often. I lose them often. Most of the time I find them. I lost one this time last year when I was drunk at a Denny's. Our current one has been missing for about two weeks. Last time I saw it was after I got back from a trip and before we went to Vegas. Whenever we go somewhere Kelli get's in this cleaning whirlwind and all of my stuff ends up all over the place. The camera disappeared in this time frame. I have looked for it for a few days...no dice. I might have to pony up and buy another one. I used to take it with me on trips because my camera phone sucked. Now that I have a decent camera phone I won't need to do that anymore.

401K. Most people are upset that their 401K values are tanking. I am not...because I don't have one! I do now! I finally opened an account. Now that I am on 2nd year pay at work (I got an $8 an hour raise Oct 29th) I can afford to fork over some dough for my future.

I might look for a camera on eBay. Bleh.