Sending Love to Afghanistan

A buddy of mine is in Afghanistan right now and I like to send him care packages every once and a while. Meet George. I know, I know good name right? Please excuse his creeper 'stache. I'm chalking it up to being in the middle of no where.

      

I met George the summer of 2005 while I was working at Virginia Tech. I was running rugby drills half ass attempting to stay in shape for the coming Fall. Out of no where here comes George and some other rugby guys. Let's just say my half ass attempt went to a full ass attempt trying to keep up with them. That Fall I went from a Loose Prop to an Outside Center.

Anyway, that's how I met George. After VT he decided to up and join the Marines. Even though we are a Navy family, I like to send George care packages when he's on tour. It's what friends do.

This last package I sent was a little late for Christmas but it arrived safe and sound. I shoved as much shit in this box as I could. There was the normal cleaning supplies, Kleenex, hand sanitizer and such. There was a bunch of food, cookies, crackers and the much requested Twizzlers. A movie, magazine and goodness. I included miniature bows on everything and tucked notes on almost everything.

It's not any fun being away from family during the holidays, so you have to make sure they know how much they are missed!

If you don't know someone serving overseas but would like to send a care package, there are a lot of organizations that send packages all the time.

Operation: Hang Huge Whiteboard

Whiteboards are how I keep my life together. If I didn't make lists, I would probably be running in seven different directions trying to figure out which way to go. Whiteboards give me the flexibility to scribble things down, erase and see the bigger picture without wasting paper or needing a charged iPad.

When I worked at Y&R we moved to the 9th floor while our 8th floor was being remodeled. After moving back to the 8th floor, they allowed us to scavenge the 9th floor and take furniture that would otherwise be disposed of. I found a giant whiteboard that was a little beat up, along with some other things.

Now that I have purchased my own house it was time for that whiteboard to find it's permanent position in the office. There were a lot of screws taped to the back along with some funny looking fixtures. Everything I've ever hung either used a good old nail or those ridiculously expensive removable sticky tabs.

Enter YouTube. This is where I find the best how-tos so that I can do it right the first time and not waste a lot of time. Here is the video I used to learn how to correctly hang a whiteboard. It's not a great video, but it completely did the trick. I had the fixtures they had in the video and then smaller hooks for the top.

I used a Zircon Stud Finder to find my wood studs because it was too hard to tell the difference in my walls. It was quick and a lot easier than drilling/filling a bunch of holes. 

Mark the center of your studs next with a pencil. A white rub eraser will get the pencil off your wall the cleanest. 

These are the hooks for the top. I was nervous about them not being strong enough but once they are screwed into the wall I was fine. They weren't going anywhere.

I use masking tape instead of a chalk line. I have a light tan carpet and do not need any colored chalk all up in that. Too messy. Measuring from the ceiling ensures a straight and level mount.

Time to secure the bottom brackets. Make sure to measure where the holes are on the bottom of the board so you only have to drill one hole.

Make sure not to secure the screw too tight, the fixture has to be able to be scooted up to the bottom of the board.

Once the whiteboard is on the wall, push the bottom mounts up to the whiteboard and screw the secure screw into the bottom. This makes sure the board doesn't rock and ruin the walls.

Ta-Dahh, a beautiful and securely mounted 60 inch whiteboard for all my organizational pleasure.

Happpppy New Year!!

This holiday season has been incredibly busy for us at the agency, but the one thing I have learned and am incredibly grateful for is the team work in this place. I know that if I need something or nothing, there is going to be someone on my team right there with me.

You hear a lot about how creatives and account people don't get along, that couldn't be farther from the truth at this place. We eat lunch together, we make fun of each other and we laugh together. Soon we will be playing ping pong together. We are one big family.

To my office family, thank you for making me feel so welcome in such a short amount of time. I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for us.