The Hundred Dollar Beach Hot Tub

After reading about a wood-fired ocean hot tub made by False Profit Labs, I was inspired to create my own. With $100 and the help of a couple friends' minds and muscles, we constructed a working hot tub in a few hours of manly fire building, ditch digging, and water hauling. Below you'll find our construction details and a few points on how we hope to improve on our design.

Things you'll need to buy (all can be obtained at your local hardware store):

20ft. 3/8 in. ID copper tube $37
hose clamp x2 $2
7/8 in. OD x 5/8 in. ID x 20 ft. plastic tubing $16
5 gallon paint bucket x4 $20
10x12 ft. heavy duty tarp $24

It goes without saying that you'll also need plenty of wood to keep the fire going as you heat and use the hot tub. We also brought along a few bricks laying around the yard that turned out to be pretty useful suspending the heating coil over the fire.

Construction:

Carefully bend the copper tubing starting about 18 inches from one end and spiraling outward. Make sure NOT to kink the tubing as this will constrict the flow of water through the tube. You should end up with a pancake shaped coil and the two ends of the tubing coming away from the spiral. These ends should be far enough away from the coil so they will be clear of the fire.

Attach 10 ft. of plastic tubing to each end of the copper tubing using hose clamps. Make sure to tighten them down well to create a good seal. That's it! Now grab your firewood and head off to the beach!

 You'll want to begin by excavating your tub next to where your fire will be. The 5 gallon buckets come in handy for hauling out loads of sand. Given the size of heating coil and tarp, your tub should be relatively small (we're brainstorming a larger design). A two person size worked well for us, but I'm confident we could have dug it to fit at least four given the amount of excess tarp and more than sufficient heating.

Line your tub with the heavy duty tarp and begin adding water, making trips to the ocean with the 5 gallon buckets. Before the tub is full, or as your help is filling the tub, you'll want to begin to heat the water. Heating the water can take quite awhile so it's best to start even if the tub is not all the way full.

Begin by elevating one of the 5 gallon buckets about 5 feet above the water level of the hot tub. This can be done by stacking buckets/milk crates/ice chests etc. Fill the top bucket most of the way with water. Submerge one of the free ends of plastic tubing in the filled bucket.

 Place the other free end of plastic tube into the hot tub. Start a siphon of water out of the top bucket and into the hot tub. This can be done by sucking on the free end of the tube in the hot tub until the flow of water has started. Careful you don't get a mouthful of salt water! Every minute or so you will need to refill this top bucket to maintain the flow of water. It is IMPERATIVE that this water continue flowing once you place the copper coil in the fire. Failure to maintain the flow of water will allow the copper to overheat and melt.

Start your fire and place the copper coil within the flames. We found bricks useful to keep the coil supported over the fire. Be sure to keep the plastic tubing away from the flames. It will not be able to withstand direct exposure.

Continue filling the tub from the ocean and allow the water to heat. Our roughly 100+ gallon tub took an hour and a half before it was steaming (we'll bring a thermometer next time for better temperature comparison). As the tub heats, the heated water coming from the fire will reach steaming hot temperatures, much hotter than what is fed into a normal hot tub. Though it quickly dissipates to heat the tub, be careful not to burn yourself on the incoming water feed.

Improvements:

• Manual bilge pump for easier circulation of water
• Line outside of tub (between tarp and sand) with cardboard to improve insulation/heating time
• Increase the size of tub and include a bench along the outer edge
• Bring lots of food and beer next time

 Props to Brian Poon and Will Shields for all their help!

A Few High School Memories

Sailing after the prom boat and launching water balloons at it | Running the mile | Prom with no dancing | Class favorite: "desert island dream" | Circus Club | Biking to school every day | Physics homework at Will's house | Going from no uniforms to polos | Juggling in the talent show | Stop motion video projects | Europe trip with my Spanish class | APs | Juggling in the fashion show | Slip-n-slide | Chapel | Lunchtime conversation | Failed Sr. class prank and the fundraiser party after | Proposals and marriages | Campus lock down from gunman across the street | Night games | Homecoming floats | Only going to one football and one basket ball game | Spirit Day | Flour babies

Some videos from my high school days:

• The LAB film festival in which my brother and I submitted the only entry of "Unirama"
• "Contents of the Dead Man's Pockets" an English video project
• "Jesus Clears the Temple" a Religion video project
• Practicing for the Physics egg drop
• Class of 2005 marriage ceremony
• More ceremony at the end of Marriage and Family

Cassette recording of Dr. Teague performing "Iguana Man" and talking about Hydrogen bonding

Ninjaneering

nin·ja
–noun, plural-ja, -jas. (often initial capital letter)
a member of a feudal Japanese society of mercenary agents, highly trained in martial arts and stealth (ninjutsu), who were hired for covert purposes ranging from espionage to sabotage and assassination.

en·gi·neer·ing
–noun

• the art or science of making practical application of the knowledge of pure sciences, as physics or chemistry, as in the construction of engines, bridges, buildings, mines, ships, and chemical plants.
• the action, work, or profession of an engineer.
• skillful or artful contrivance; maneuvering.

nin·ja·neer·ing
–noun

• the art or science of making stealth practical application of the knowledge of pure ninja sciences, as ninja physics or ninja chemistry, as in the construction of ninja engines, ninja bridges, ninja buildings, ninja mines, ninja ships, and ninja chemical plants for covert purposes ranging from espionage to sabotage and assassination.
• the action, work, or profession of an ninjaneer.
• skillful or artful contrivance; maneuvering.

Ninjaneering forms a union of innovative design and super secret arts to create deadly useful tools that can, on occasion, be useful for everyday tasks. Take the scenario below for example.  At first glance you might observe one individual standing on another; the purpose of which is not very clear.  However, because I have taught your mouse pointer special ninjaneer skills, it can reveal how a ninjaneer interprets this scene.

Here, the stealthy eradication of Musca Domestica is taking place while simultaneously evading the imminent danger of poison gas inhalation.  All this is done while precisely calculating the centroid of each ninjaneer to allow for a perfect balancing of forces on the nimble ninja bodies. The beauty of this so perfectly executed task can only come with a well trained nimble ninja mind and nimble ninja body.

Highlights from My Trip to the Winter Games

My adventure began February 11th as I departed the Burbank airport for Seattle, Washington.  Upon arriving in Seattle, I connected with friends and spent the day exploring Seattle, seeing Pike's Market, the original Starbucks and the Space Needle.  We feasted on a Thai food and later that evening drove to Bellingham (just south of the border) to spend the night.  In the morning we drove across the border and took the Skytrain into downtown Vancouver.  The torch made it's way through the city not long after we arrived and that night we watched the broadcast opening ceremony only a few blocks from where it was actually taking place!

Over the next few days, we explored downtown Vancouver, Stanley park, Granville Island, Gastown, and the Vancouver Live Cities, having a fantastic time taking in the sights.  It didn't take long to master the light rail transit and learn our way about town.  A bit dismal at first, the weather improved over the course of the trip with the last days being sunny and warm (warm for Canada anyways).  We stayed in a rented house in Langley, about an hour's drive outside the city (my last night in Canada though I spent couchsurfing in Coquitlam).  After the Canadian adventure, I returned to Seattle where I spent one more night before flying home.  While my budget didn't allow for me to see any events live, I didn't feel as though I had missed any of the Olympic experience.

Vancouver is a beautiful city.  I recommend traveling there if you're looking to explore the Pacific Northwest.  I'm glad I had the chance to visit the Winter Games and would recommend making the trip if you have the opportunity.  Someday, I hope to visit the Summer Olympics as well!

Can guys and girls be friends?

Photo by CakeFace Originals
Those Who Say It Can't Be Done

Some will argue that in a guy/girl friendship, one individual will always develop romantic feelings for the other. They believe it could occur early on, or take years to surface, but eventually when those feelings emerge, the friendship must come to an end.  Often, these same people believe that for a guy/girl friendship to even begin, there must be some level of attraction in one of the individuals.

Why It's Possible

Despite what some may say, there's no reason why guys and girls can't have a truly platonic relationship.  If romantic feelings do develop, they should be addressed honestly, but those feelings don't have to end the friendship.  It ultimately depends on each person involved, and how they respond.

An acquaintance once said, "It's natural for friends to fall for each other, but what it takes is that level of maturity and responsibility to be able to understand when you shouldn't take the friendship in a romantic direction. It's one thing to be sexually attracted to a member of the opposite sex, especially your friend, but it's necessary to be able to tell when a romantic relationship would not be not be wise.

Love is an uncontrollable emotion, to try and control it, you are harboring yourself. Don't make any rash decisions, but interpret your friendship."

Reflections on my time in Davis Christian Fellowship

Sunset over lake Berryesa

More than any professor, class, club, sport, or hobby, my involvement with Davis Christian Fellowship has made the most impact on my life during my time at UC Davis.  I was first introduced to DCF my freshman year when a high school friend of mine, Jason Pope, invited me to his core group he co-led with Will Klier.  I didn't attend Friday night worship gatherings or go to many events, but I was connected to the small group in the Tercero guys core.

The DCF house at 312 A street

When I began looking for housing for Sophomore year, I was introduced to Jason Conklin who was then apart of a Segundo core group.  Together, along with Matt English, who was in my Tercero core group, we began looking for housing and found a place at Sundance, apartment 216.  Sophomore year I continued to infrequently attend Friday night gatherings and other events.  Towards the end of my sophomore year, Jason, Matt, and I began looking for a fourth roommate to help share the cost of rent.  Unable to find another person, we signed the lease anyway to live there another year.  Just after this, Jason Pope, asked if the three of us would like to live at 624 Villanova.  Wanting to move to Villanova, but having already signed our lease, it seemed as if our timing could not have been worse.  It was then however, that fellow DCFers Gabby, Shannon, Joanne, and Caralee contacted us hoping to take our apartment.  The transition went smoothly as we signed our lease over to them and moved into our new place at Villanova where Jason Conklin, Matt English, Jason Pope, Ian Dick, Marc Madrigal and I lived Junior year.

Dinner with the girls of apartment 216 and the villanova boys

Junior year I became more involved, attending Friday night worship, weekly core group, winter retreat, and many other events.  I felt apart of the community, able to contribute in a meaningful way and grow spiritually as I was encouraged by those in the community.  Jason Pope married his high school girlfriend and left Villanova to live and work in San Diego.  Senior year came and Jake Hosier, Harry Jin, and Tim Oldenkamp joined our house.

Villanova house fiesta to discuss a few items on the house agenda

Senior year I was continually blessed with the love, guidance, and support of my roommates and friends in DCF.  The more I gave, the more I was able to receive.  It wasn't the activities, or places we went, or things we did that influenced me so much as it was the people, with their concern, generosity, and love.  Their concern for my spiritual growth, selflessness in time and attention, and love that wasn't afraid to confront or admonish.  I have never seen or experienced this kind of love anywhere else.  Davis Christian Fellowship is a Christ centered community where the power of the Holy Spirit is alive and active, working in and through the lives of those in the community.  I am thankful to have been apart of this community and hope that I will be able to show others the love of Christ that was so selflessly shown to me.