Crazy Idea # 147: The glass-roof house

I have a lot of crazy ideas early in the morning. daydreams mostly. I figured it might be fun to write them up and post them for your enjoyment/feedback. Just so you know, these are just crazy ideas I’ve had, I have no intention of actually doing any of them.

Crazy Idea # 147: The glass-roof house

1. 
   Find a trailer home in an isolated area like on the edge of the city or in the middle of a corn field.
   


2. 
   Aqure several used glass doors.
   


3. 
   Apply caulk around the edges of glass where the glass meets the frame.
   


4. 
   Re-enforce the glass by welding a bar accross the middle.
   


5. 
   Mask off the glass and paint the metal frame ane reenforcement bar.
   


6. 
   Wait until the end of Tornado season.
   


7. 
   Erect a large tent over the house.
   


8. 
   Remove the old roof.
   


9. 
   Add a frame for the new roof: a grid of several 2x4s with larger pieces of wood across the ridge and around the edges.
   


10. 
    Glue felt to the areas of the 2x4 grid that will come in contact with the doors.
    


11. 
    Lay the doors into the grid, screwing/glueing them down.
    


12. 
    Add a second layer of glass doors over the first, again using felt to eleminate noise from the two doors rubing against each other.
    


13. 
    Use liberal amounts of caulk and/or expanding foam to seal up any cracks around the doors.
    


14. 
    Lay down a second grid of 2x4s on top of the doors to hold them down. and ad a finishing touch.
    


15. 
    Seal up any remaining cracks and paint all the exposed wood.
    


16. 
    Remove the tent.
    


17. 
    Project complete.
    

Uses for the glass-roof house:

Indoor marajuia farm with very little overhead (use natural sunlight instead of expensive and attention-attracting electic light) Of course this is highly illegal and when you get caught you’ll be sent to Federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison. Please don’t take this seriously.

Indoor farm for legal plants: Tomatoes, peppers, etc. (Obviously a much more viable use, though not as profitable, but profitable nontheless.)

A sunny winter getaway.

An enviromentally-friendly house. (Watch for an upcoming Crazy Idea post where I write about my crazy idea for an off-the-grid, self-sustaning house.

New post

I've added a new post to my new blog. I think I'm going to use this new one more often. I like the presentation better—it's much easier to add photos.

I'm also going to make my blog posts less personal and more professional. I'm going to take more time in writing them. Hopefully they'll be good enough to get a job sometime in the future. Feedback would be helpful.

I've created a new website in Apple's iWeb.

My New Website

I've know I've announced this before to a select few, but I've made some major changes recently. At first I created it as a quick online portfolio. I started tinkering with it because I didn't really like the way iWeb created the navigation bar (an automatic process). It was helpful at first but I really wanted more control over it, so I created my own navigation system. Then I added a blog and a photo album page.


I'm not sure where this leaves Concretebox. I haven't decided what kind of blogging I'll be doing on the new site. Right now I feel like keeping it professional, I hope to use this site to get a job in the future.


Oh, I haven't thought of a name for it yet, so if you have any suggestions let me know!

SIUC

I'm thinking strongly about returning to college. It's a bit of an intimidating prospect. I'm 26, quite a bit older than most college students. At the same time though, I'm not that much older than most seniors.

I'm in Carbondale now visiting the campus. I'm really impressed, except for the fact that I missed the tour of the Art and Design college.

Tuition is another thing that's a bit of a worry. One the one hand it's going to be money well spent, and I was thinking buying a car very recently that would cost about as much.

I want to become a better, more hire-able designer, and I like the outdoor activities available at this end of the state. Ultimately thought the motivation is increased earning potential.

I just typed in a google/blogger word varification that was eight characters long. At what point does it become rediculas? Suddenly I feel like the characters on Lost, pushing the button every 108 minutes.

Competing Fantasies

I’ve had this fantasy of living in Chicago. I’ve never lived in a big city before. There is a certain level of “toughness” associated with living in a big city. If I could survive there, I could survive anywhere. There is also an appeal to living on a smaller scale, no yard to mow, no sidewalks to shovel.

My plan would be to apply for jobs there, then after getting one, selling the house in Champaign and buying a small condo in the city. I would sell the car and would rely on the CTA. This will save me money by not having to pay for parking, insurance and fuel. More importantly I’d be a better environmentalist.

I feel though that just like in Champaign, any job I can get without a bachelor’s will barely pay for my living expenses. I may be living in an exciting new city, but without any disposable income to enjoy it with. This brings me to my other, competing fantasy.

---

I want to make more money. I don’t feel I can do that without becoming a better graphic designer, and more importantly without having a bachelor’s. I could apply to the U of I but I feel like leaving Champaign. I want to escape the cold, snowy weather. For a while I considered applying for schools in Florida and other southern states. I don’t want to pay out-of-state tuition. That’s why I’m showing interest in SIUC again.

SIUC offers a Communication Design degree. From the trends I’ve seen and read about, a print-only designer is becoming a thing of the past. If I am going to succeed I need to have skills in all forms of media.

In this scenario buy a house in Carbondale, get a few roommates and maybe a part-time job. I don’t want work to distract me from concentrating on my education. I go over-the-top with the quality of my work. I get involved in clubs and socialize with other students. I seek out internships and study abroad programs. I would enter my work in contests. The campus is also close to many outdoor recreation spots. I would love to visit those too.

Paying tuition is the biggest barrier to this fantasy. I would apply for scholarships and grants but I’m sure I’ll have to take out student loans. I’d graduate owing tens of thousands of dollars, but at least I’d have increased earning power, a better education and a much better portfolio.

Look at this thing I did

I've been studying the newest version of the Apple iLife suite of multimedia applications. I just finished an exercise on creating a short video using iMovie. It's not the most creative thing ever but it's something I accomplished nevertheless.