Downtown Aquarium Denver

What we did to celebrate the last week of Summer?
We went to see sharks...!

We spend the last day of summer at Downtown Aquarium.
I felt I just found a gem in the middle of the town. I can't help noticing the very attractive brick work outside the building. Inside, it's filled with fish and more fish and tigers. Yes, tigers from Indonesia lives there.
I only saw 1 tiger, but they said they have 4.

In addition to those, we saw "real mermaid", swimming, singing and even a photo opportunity. Wow, what a great place to end the summer holiday.

What do you think?

Team building game idea

Looking for a team building game? How about Egg drop? Here's how it works.

You'll need at least 2 teams.. It could be a random team or men vs women, or adults vs kids or anything...
Materials needed paper, plastic bags, tape, egg and scissors. You could add some items such as string, rubber band or any material you think could help with the game. You can limit the quantity such as 6 papers, 2 plastic bags... etc ( in a real life, we have to live with budget) or you can give unlimited material and choose the most creative one... or anything depending on your objective. .

Location needed: at least one floor high. The assignment is to design a "vehicle" that would help protect the egg from cracking. Time allowed to design and build the vehicle would range between 15-20 minutes. Before the vehicle is "launched" the team needs to explain their design concept. Then, the egg ( = the passenger) will get in the "vehicle", then the vehicle is dropped from at least a one floor high. If no egg cracks, the more creative team would be the winner.

Last week, I decided to do this game between a group of men, women and kids. It is very interesting to see how different each team come up with.
The men, came up with "air bags" idea to reduce the impact on the egg. The women, came up with "stuffed bag" idea, which is similar with the kids but with different design. All uses "parachute" idea.

No eggs cracked on the first drop. Then, we decided to take the "parachute" away... Still no eggs cracked during the test. However, the men's egg cracked due to mishandling and not so much due to the impact. And the last egg standing was the kids design.

It's amazing how creative each group solve the problem. What do you think?

Installing Sommer garage door opener

Did I tell you I've been naughty? Yes... instead of making jewelry, I've been doing something else... like installing a garage door opener by ourselves?

Well... as you probably can guess, after moving, there are a lot of things that needs tweaking to make the house, our home. After living in the house for 2 months, we really think we need a garage door opener. 


I did some research in the internet and found this item that I've never heard before. It says it's made in Germany and many comments said it's easy to install. After careful consideration, e.g price, noise, installation, I chose Sommer garage door direct drive. We ordered from Home Depot, thinking that if all things fails, I could ask them to install it. 


 Hubby is so not handy. After looking at their installation video, I'm pretty sure we can do it. After we open the package, we inventory everything. There was a couple washers missing. 
The manual is pretty clear. With online video and manual, we were able to put the garage opener in less than an hour. But, the harder part is finding the studs, centering, testing and connecting the cables.

There are 2 perforated strips that come with the opener. We use that for "hanging" the opener from the ceiling. We need to buy extra angle steel to connects to the studs... Well.. on second thought, may be not necessary... but we did it anyway.

It's amazing quiet (compare to chain drive) and easy to install. I must admit that I'm pretty impressed with my hubby (even though he's not handy, he could do it).
May be, the "weird" thing is the remote control. It does have a clip for our visor but I think it's designed for a "key chain".

Other than that, I have no complaint. It's quiet, the price is competitive with others... perhaps the best one is we save some money by installing it ourselves...
Besides, it's a good project to impress your inl aws or may be future wive? :)
What do you think?

DaVinci Machine Exhibits

DaVinci Machine is on exhibits in Denver Pavillion. Yes.. I just have to see it.


He invented machines using the basic physics like using pulleys, gear, wedge, lever... etc. I think one that caught my attention is the Da Vinci self supporting bridge. 

At first, it looks very complicated. It's looks somewhat similar to weaving a basket using pieces of woods. And it's amazingly strong enough to carry weight. I love the guided tour. Who would have thought that he has invented a bicycle a long time ago...

The exhibits in Denver will end on September 2012. http://www.davinciexhibitdenver.com/
I think it is a great experience to be able to see the genius work.

How to put downspout underground

I have been naughty... I have been doing some landscaping instead of making jewelry... I thought it worth blogging... According to our design, the two downspout at the back of our yard will be in on top of a walkway... so, that's a no-no

My task... to put the down spout underground.  I learned with Colorado rains, 3" pipe is good. Hubby already dug with a trencher. The trencher size... 3". It's a bit too snug for the pipe so I have dug it wider.

I use the black flexible downspout pipe I got at Home Depot ( or Lowe's). I need a connector from 2x3 downspout to a 3" pipe, a strainer (to prevent unwanted critter from coming in). Not tape or glue required.

There is groove in the pipe that you can attach the pipe and the connector easily. 

Perhaps, the hardest part is digging the trench and making sure it's sloped away. I use level to make sure that the pipe is sloping out. 

Here's the picture of the almost final result. It took me a day to work on 2 downspouts and a day to dig the trench. What do you think?

Need a quick fundraising? How about wrapped name bracelet?

Inspired by Unite4Peyton program, Bigib is offering a fundraising option for organization.

The wrap bracelet is made from sterling silver and leather cord. You can customize it with your organization name or person name. Minimum order required for fundraising bracelets.

To learn more about this, you can visit https://www.etsy.com/listing/102029704/name-wrap-bracelet-custom-order-for-gift

Bigib reached a milestone...

Bigib reached 130th sales today....  Thank you for those our customers... Look forward to reaching another milestone...