I’ve never had a problem with my plethora of cords, or what they looked like, beside my couch, bed, desk, whatever.  Since getting married, everywhere we live, that seems to be our biggest problem.  A problem that, apparently is on me to solve.  So, in lieu of inventing wireless charging, I had to get my creative juices flowing.

I jokingly Instagrammed this picture, with the subtitle “The Problem and Solution.”  It was a bit misleading, because where that pile of devices, and cords, was also the red chest in the bottom half of the picture, and everything was stacked up on top of it.  Everything.  Again.  Didn’t bother me all that much, but it did bother me that my wife seemed to mention it on a semi-regular basis.   So what do I do about this?

That’s where things get kind of fun.  A couple of days ago, it occurred to me that we don’t keep a lot inside this chest.  Some electronics, some of the original boxes, and a few extra nik-naks we could probably relocate somewhere else.  So it hit me.  I’m a handy guy, with enough tools to be dangerous.  I can fix this.

So came the solution.

I decided I would drill some holes into the back of this chest, set the power strip in there, and run cords from the back of it.  Thus, eliminating the visible clutter, and hopefully creating a happy spouse.

The first thing I had to do was go to a hardware store and buy some spade bits, to be able to drill big enough holes.  Measure some of your plugs before doing this. (Read more in the lessons learned below)  After that, I just had to drill some holes.  I drilled 1 for the power strip, and then I drilled one for each plug the power strip offers, which, for me was seven holes.

I drilled all of the holes in the back, so the chest could still be opened and function as it's original design....A Chest.

After I drilled the holes, I decided I could mount the power strip on the inside to offer a little bit of organization on the inside.  So I got a couple of screws and mounted that bad boy up.

Pay attention to where you mount the power strip. You may wanna leave some room on the end for 'L' shaped plugs.

Then I started wondering.  What are the cords going to do as they come out of the chest.  just dangle there?  Would the wife be happy with that?  Out of caution, I had another creative moment, and attached hooks beside each hole.  Maybe they’ll come in handy.

So, now comes the application.  How is this going to work.  I started to plug in all of my cords, and running them through the holes.  This is where I found out that I probably should have measured all of my plugs before drilling the holes.  I know that probably sounds really obvious, but I work in IT, so it was an after thought to me.

You can see in this image where I had to go back and make some of the holes bigger.

I put everything else back in the chest, and opened and closed it a few times to see what the cables would do.  For the most part, they stayed put.

I closed it, and put everything back to how it would go, minus the cord clutter.  I think it looks pretty slick.

You can see I left the big hunker part of my laptop charger out side of the chest. That's because it gives me more mobility with my laptop when I need to charge. That's really just a matter of preference, and I'm hoping my wife will side with me on this.

So that’s my solution.  Sure.  You have to have a chest, and a similar setup for this solution to work, but really, my hope was to spark your creative side.  Are there places you can hide your cables and cords?  Do it.  It will make people who hate cords happy.

What about all the cables I am not using?

I’m glad you asked.  After the spark of genius I had with the hooks, I went a little bonkers.  I attached hooks inside the closet to house cables, chargers and wires that aren’t necessarily being used ‘all the time’.

Everyone has a closet with junk in it. What's the harm of attaching some hooks?

Mistakes and Lessons Learned:

I made a few simple mistakes along they way.  So, if you want to copy this, read this part too.

1. Measure.  Measure. Measure.  Seriously.  Plugs are bigger than they look.  Seriously.  Measure the plugs before you drill the holes.  It’s a lot more difficult to make a hole bigger.  (At least it is with a spade bit.)

2. Position.  If I had to do it again, I would probably position the power strip more towards the center and with more lift. Plugs are big.  If you look at my pictures, you can see that I actually had to block one plug, because of the shape of one of my charger plugs.

3. Leeway.  I drilled all of my plug holes at 3/4 inch.  If I had it to do again, I would have made all of the holes a little bigger.  (Because I just don’t know what plugs may end up needed in the future.

So.. that’s it.  What do you think?  Any questions? Comments?  Go ahead.  Leave them below.

We started to get closer and closer.  Eventually, it came out that we were hanging out. I am pretty sure that was followed by a large amount of drama.   I don’t remember when Andrea told me she loved me, but she didn’t have to say it.

It was her birthday, so I had worked with some of her friends to all get together and go out.  So, we did.  We all went to Atlanta.  We went to several different bars, and chilled.  At the end of the night, we went to Krispy Kreme, and had a donut picnic in the middle of the night.

I think at this point it is safe to say we were dating.  From this point things went fairly well.  With the occasional argument, we were super happy.  She pushed me to do better, and I accepted the challenge.  I got a job in a warehouse/assembly room and quickly got promoted to IT.  Andrea got hired at a highschool teaching ESOL.  We began to (together) discover our talents, dreams, and passions.

We talked late into the night about what we wanted to do.  We dreamed.  Never realizing that one day, our dreams may become an reality.  Things were going great…..

The question that was always in the back of my mind was, what am I going to do to screw this up?

To be continued……..

It’s coming up on Easter.  Andrea and I are talking more often and her heart seems to be softening a little bit.  Her fear of commitment is still there, and honestly my hunger for commitment is to cover up deeper seeded scars I’m afraid to confront.

One night I’m laying in bed, and I felt something overcome me.   Out of no where, I started to feel weak, broken, worthless.  I was Asking Andrea about her God, and she talked to me about Him.  Not the, “Accept or Perish” I was so used to hearing, but the relational side of Christ.

I broke down.  I said something to the affect that God could never love me, I’m worthless.  I’ve done things that can never been forgiven.  I’ve seen things that should never be seen. I was pretty much convinced I was going to hell.

Andrea quickly replied by telling me about the disciples, and what they had done before they met Christ.  I was in awe.  I couldn’t believe it!

The next day she invited me to her Wednesday night service.  I believe this was Ash Wednesday. Chris Seay was the guest speaker.  It was amazing.  It was actually really awesome.  It hit my heart pretty hard.  Of course, Sunday I was invited to Easter service and I went.  I was nervous about meeting Andrea’s family.  We went out to lunch afterwards and her family was really nice.  I felt at home.

about a week later, I accepted Christ in to my heart.

Andrea and I were still just ‘friends’, but I could feel we were growing closer.  We spent more time together, and I was starting to learn her heart, know her thoughts.  I was starting to love her with all of my heart.

I don’t know if she will admit it today, but I think she was falling for me too.

To be continued…..

Fast forward to St. Patrick’s day. (2006)

Andrea had to work.  I hung out at her apartment all day, waiting for her to get off.  I started drinking early.  really early.  So, by the time it was time to go out, I was well on my way to being drunk. 

A huge group of us started on our way to the local hangout.  We were having a blast, but Andrea and I couldn’t show our affection towards one another, because no one knew.  Her friend who was interested in me sat next to me, and we all were having a good time.  There was a radio station there giving out prizes.  One of the prizes was tickets to the Jamie Cullum concert.  Andrea looked at me and said, “I want those tickets.” 

The question was, “What does Budweiser stand for?”  I immediately darted to the front.  Years prior, an old man named Billy sat me down and explained the history of Budweiser to me, so I knew that, in fear of copyright infringement, Anheiser Busch had decided that Budweiser stood for, “Because U Deserve What Every Individual Should Enjoy Regularly”.  I run to the front and answer the question.  Boom!  Tickets to Jamie Cullum!  I was so happy, and again, I couldn’t celebrate with a hug or a kiss.  As a matter of fact, I think the question was in the air of who I was taking.  To me… it wasn’t a question.

As the night went on, another one of Andrea’s “Friends” showed up.  I was not thrilled.  Not sure why, nor do I remember the circumstances, but I look over at one point and Andrea was kissing this tiny man.  I couldn’t take it.  I got really upset.  I went outside.  I few people followed me, and that’s when I let the cat out of the bag, that I had feelings for her.  That didn’t make the night go any smoother, which, was fine by me, because at that point, I blacked out.

I’m not exactly sure what happened from that moment forward, but I do know we all headed back to Andrea’s apartment.  Apparently Andrea and I were arguing and I said I had to go outside to have a cigarette.  (She was on the second floor, so I stepped out on her balcony.)  Again, I don’t remember, but apparently, I leaped over the balcony, and on to the ground.  But, I didn’t land on my feet. 

I’m not sure how or why I did that, but I did.  I ended up in the ER.  This is where I start coming out of my blackout.  Andrea was there.  And the girl who was interested in me was there as well.  But, Andrea was back in the room with me.  They had to run X-rays on me and all sorts of stuff.  I was really drunk, so was acting silly.  I do remember looking Andrea in the eyes and saying, “I love you.”  She didn’t reply.  I don’t think she thought I meant it.  Turns out I wasn’t severely injured, and the Doctors said that if I hadn’t been drunk, I would have really injured myself.  I remember thinking, “If I hadn’t been drunk, I wouldn’t have jumped off a balcony.”  There were some other events that happened in the ER that I am not going to talk about today, because it’s a little above PG.  But, trust me, it was probably one of the most awkward moments in my life. 

That’s the night I think Andrea realized I had a drinking problem.  (Not that I did anything about it for quite some time) 

So, now the cat is out of the bag.  Everyone knows I like Andrea.   And, from what I can tell, everyone was telling Andrea that I am NOT the kind of guy she wants to be with.  I’m a recovering drug addict, alcoholic, mentally unstable.  They were right too. 

There’s still a lot more to this story.  I hope you keep reading.

My wife knows better than anyone.  I can be the nicest person in the world.  I can also be the meanest, pitbull-esque person on earth.  It’s easy to be negative.  I think that’s why it’s so easy for me to slip back to that place.  It’s easy for me to get mad, hold grudges, stay angry, pick on people.

It’s hard for me to admit that I hold them.  It’s hard for me to confess the plank in my eye.  It’s hard for me to say things like, “you’re right.” or “I’m sorry.” 

I struggle with it daily.  But, I am making the effort to say those things.  I am making an effort to apologize for things I’ve done wrong.  I am working on improving my temper, and in turn my relationships one at a time.

I do not want to sit here and make ‘goals for 2010′.  That’s not my bag.  I do want to say though, that life is a continuous effort, and my effort is going to be focusing on love.  Focusing on sharing that love with anyone I come in contact with.  My effort is to be the husband, father, friend, stranger that people look at and strive to be like.  My effort is to be Love. 

Happy new years folks.  Don’t make resolutions.  Don’t make goals.  Be the change you want to see in others.