The Life of Kevin Hauge

My own cornhole set that is!

After getting addicted to the game at a friend’s bonfire, I’ve wanted to build my own for quite a while. Depending on others to bring a set or trying to borrow them for an event gets to be quite a pain. This past weekend I decided to give it a go and build my own set (featuring my alma mater, the MSU dragon).

There are variations of the boards and regulations to go by, but given that I’m used to the “tailgate” sizes (24″x36″) instead of “regulation” (24″x48″) I went with the smaller. Plus they fit in a trunk easier! For the rest of the specs though, I went with what the official sizes were (hole size, pitch, height, etc). To make it a little more sturdy, I also opted for the 3/4″ thick OSB board on top and 2×3″ lumber for the frame … gives it a little less bounce.

After picking up supplies it took me probably a couple hours of actual work to construct the boxes. I decided to go a little nicer and miter the corners instead of the butt-joints … also had to add some flare with the painting … can’t just paint them one solid color! Given my girlfriend liked the dragon logo as well, we went with the alternating color scheme … one black, one white. I drew the logo in Illustrator and printed it out, used a charcoal pencil to trace around it and then onto the board. From there it was just paint and poly!

As for the bags … if you don’t know how to sew (which I don’t) definitely rely on someone who does. My only knowledge is to use duck cloth and heavy-duty thread to make sure it holds. They will get beaten and you don’t want one breaking open! As for filler, they say to use feed corn, but even going to Fleet Farm I couldn’t find any bags of it so we opted for some of the crushed corn. It seems to work pretty well so far.

There are already a couple other board ideas in the works (gotta have enough in case of a tournament). My ultimate goal is to create a nice oak set, multi-stained wood for that natural feel … but I have to work out a few kinks first.

Anyone else build a set for themselves? Or anyone want me to build them one … for a price?

Looking at the television show selection these days you would never guess that we are currently in one of the worst housing markets in years. TLC and A&E pack their line-up with shows like: Property Ladder, Flip This House and Flip That House which follow a single flipper during their quest for “quick cash” in the housing market. They buy a cheap (read run-down, outdated and falling apart) house, set a budget to renovate and give themselves a timeline to finish it all before putting it on the market to sell for a huge profit! Sounds like a great idea right?

Not in this slouching housing market!

Yet these shows are abundant and apparently people are believing they can follow in the same footsteps (even though many of those footsteps are headed over a very tall cliff). Many of the flippers are “new” to house flipping and find out the hard way that budgets, contractors and knowing your audience are vital for success. These flaws make for great TV, but surely can’t be encouraging the wanna-be-flipper to try it for themselves, would it?

I’m actually starting to wonder.

When you watch these cocky flippers on TV, making mistake after mistake, you start to think how differently you would handle it. You would surely get a home inspection before buying the property. No way you would leave your contractors on the job site by themselves while you went to play golf. And you surely wouldn’t budget $300 for an entirely new set of kitchen cabinets! You’re smarter than all of these flippers … and that’s the problem.

These shows don’t glorify house flipping to make you believe it’s a quick and easy path to riches, instead they rely on reverse psychology to draw you in. The hosts will tell you that there are major risks and that flipping is not for everyone, but at the same time show you a successful transaction for the last person in the world that should be flipping a house. If that dolt can do it … why can’t I?

Being the handyman that I am, I’ve considered being one of those dolts in the past … but now that I have my own house to work on, those urges to renovate will be better spent on fixing up my own home. Not to flip mind you, but to live in and enjoy. The housing market has no control over those results.

Seen it twice, kicks ass … that is all.

So if you are a fan of Office Space (like I am) … find out just how big of a fan you really are by taking the 100 question Office Space Quiz. Some are pretty basic but there are so toughies in there as well.

If you take the quiz, post your score in the comments and prove you truly are as big of an Office Space freak as I am.