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I went looking (just to Staples) for black dry-erase boards. I swear they exist… you use fluorescent dry-erase markers on them. I found one at Amazon.com and another at DickBlick.com, but the prices seem a bit extreme. 18" x 24" is probably all I need, but are they really $45.99? Or $77.99 for a 24" x 36"? That seems extreme.

Anyone out there with any ideas or suggestions? I'd like to get one to put on the wall in the game room.

P.S. I'm wondering if simply framing a piece of glass (the walls in the room will be dark green) would work. I'd still use bright markers. Hmmm…

Question: If you could choose the gender of your child, would you?

My Answer: Yes. It'd be a boy, but that's because I have a girl already (kinda). If I had no kids, I think I'd prefer to leave it random. Nah, that's BS - I'd choose to have a boy then too. All of that being said, I wouldn't trade the little gal I have the pleasure of spending my days with now because she's far smarter and funnier than just about any kid I've ever known, boy or girl.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Question: What's your favorite movie theater candy?

My Answer: Anything I can sneak in. 😉

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

My latest game room audio idea: build a small box into the wall with a glass front. Put a Mac Mini inside and run speaker wire behind the wall to two speakers. Mount an LCD display of some kind above the Mac Mini should anyone want to watch a DVD or the iTunes visuals. Total cost: $1250 or so ($400+ for the Mac Mini, $500 or so for an LCD I can mount to the wall pretty flush, and $250 or so for two halfway decent speakers and wire.

Yah? No?

Question: What was your best subject in school?

My Answer: Applied math - i.e. physics, some parts of chemistry, etc. I also liked biology and straight math. I despised English and history. I did reasonably well in French, but most of my enjoyment in that class was because Carey sat in front of me. 😉

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Question: Did you touch a computer today (Christmas Day)?

My Answer: Not really. I touched my PowerBook, which was running a fireplace screen saver on my TV, but that doesn't really count.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Question: At what age did you stop believing in Santa Claus?

My Answer: Between the ages of four and five.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

If this thing (Tunatic) worked, it'd be pretty neat. As of now, it doesn't identify very many songs at all.

The Lennox guy came today to look at our furnace/A/C needs. Our furnace, he said, is just fine. Our air conditioner needs replacing, but we knew that.

He said he would not warrant or guarantee a furnace or air conditioner in a zoned setup. The game room would always be calling for a lot of heat or cooling, and it'd stress the units. Instead, he recommended a wall heating unit made by Rianna (I think that's the name, but Google seems to disagree) and Mitsubishi split-ductless air conditioner. We'd probably put them above and below the window.

I'm not sure (and I'll edit this later to reflect this) whether we'd even run ducts to the room and use the heat/AC as a supplemental source of heating and cooling or whether we'd can the idea for ducts and just use the units. This guy, the Lennox guy, is the first of the three people we've had over to discuss our heating and cooling needs to recommend units in the room.

So now I'm not so sure. 🙂

I don't think I've yet participated in Apple Bug Friday, but here's one that bugs me: I'm in iTunes, clearing out some podcasts. I choose "move to trash" when I delete one. When I'm done, I control-click (right-click) on the trash to empty it… and can't, because iTunes hasn't properly notified the Dock that the trash contains files. So I click to the Finder, wait a second, and then empty the trash.

Other applications now properly update portions of the Finder. That functionality needs to extend to the Dock as well.

Question: Do you have work today? How long is your Christmas Break?

My Answer: I work for myself, so the answer to both is "It depends on how I feel." 🙂 I plan to work on some side projects today, for the most part. Like the one mentioned in the previous QotD.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Pergo flooring at Lowe's and Home Depot seem to run about $3.79/square foot. That's around $1750 for just the flooring itself (though I realize we can install it ourselves, yes). I'm wondering if our contractor can't get Pergo flooring (or something as good) for less and then install it rather cheaply… We'd put an area rug under the pool table itself.

Specifically, this Pergo: the "American Cottage" line's "American Red Oak" color. It has a 30-year warranty… so if it lasted 20 we'd be happy. Laminate flooring over regular wood or veneer because it'll see a lot of wear and tear, and balls jumping off the table might dent or crack softer floors.

That, or we may just do carpet. The ones Carey and I looked at the other day ran about $2.79/sq. foot. I think (fake) wood floors, dark green walls, and a nice wood table sounds pretty elegant.

Question: What's the last domain you've registered?

My Answer: billiardsdrills.com, and I'm still working on getting it ready. Sometime in early January it should be good to go.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Turns out these drawings may be for naught: the room may only be about 18' to 19' wide. 18' leaves literally no room for a stroke on a cue ball against the head or foot rail and 19' leaves only six inches (100" playing surface, 58" standard cue). That re-revised image is after the jump.

I went to Lowe's today to pick up an ice chipper and I swung by the paint chip section. I picked out the ideal green and only when I got home did I notice that it was called "Billiard Room." 🙂

I'm thinking that it might be pretty nifty to go with one of the fake wood floors. Wood + dark green + white slants and a ceiling might look pretty snazzy. The only problem I foresee there is perhaps too much "wood." My pool table is oak, too. Anyway, the decorating is largely Carey's call.

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Carey and I are likely buying a new air conditioner and furnace in the next, oh, week or so. We've been working with a Trane guy (Schneider) here in Erie, PA and we have an offer on a Trane XR-12 A/C unit (3.5 ton, 12 SEER, 4TTR2042A10000A) and a Trane XR-90 two-stage furnace (TUX100C948), installed, for $5k. I'm not sure if we should do it or if we should push the existing furnace and A/C another year. The furnace would probably make it, but I doubt the A/C would.

I think that the $5k is a good price, but I'll find some way of doing some research on this in the next day or two.