There's Something About Harry

I’ve been working from a WiFi Cove on Lake Wylie for more than a year now.  All that time, I thought about setting up my projector out on the dock, but never got around to actually doing it.  Then I flew out to Vegas on Sunday to meet with my friend/business partner Joe Klein of New Media Creative.  On the way out there, I watched Jim Carrey in ‘Yes Man’ which was a damn good movie from a motivational perspective.  Damn good movie anyway, but perfect for watching just before going to a brainstorming meeting with a business partner. 

So a few days later I return home from my trip, I sleep for about 14 hours to recover from Vegas and a bit of an allergy thing I had going on before I left, which totally leveled my voice on Tuesday while I was in Laughlin at Joe’s.  So I get home, setup my computers on the dock on Friday, and get down to the business of setting up my projector on the dock. 

My father-in-law received an old projector screen from a friend a few months back and its been sitting in the shed/barn/guest cabin(three rooms, 2 down and one loft above, that is finished, so its actually all of these things combined.  The screen was too small to use inside, but putting it outside on a 10 x 10 covered dock, it is about perfect.

Now, I have a few challenges with the projector on the dock setup. 

1. First and foremost, I need to insure that the screen does not block the view which kicks ass. 
2. I need to make sure that the light from the sun doesn’t wash out the picture through out the various times of the day. 
3. I need to make sure the elements don’t trash the screen with rain, wind, dew, bugs etc. 
4. I the projector has to be able to hit the screen without impediments like chairs or people casting shadows.

All of those things were mostly easy to cover.  I used some rope to tie the ends of the screen down on the lower corners.  I re-angled my high top bar desk in one corner and position the projector off of one corner aimed at the screen.

Of course I completely screwed up with the screen and pulled it down too far the first time I opened it.  That means, I’ll have to take the thing apart and fix it later.  lol I love projectors and the ability to work on a computer with a screen several feet away (great for not burning out your eyes and working with groups of people) but retractable screens, can give you a run for it sometimes.

The angling over everything turned out just great for afternoon sessions when the sun angles down from the other side of the dock.  The brightness works for everything from mindmapping to movies (currently playing Yes Man while I type this).  Its a little darker than I’d like, but my bulb on my projector is about 400 hours past the time when it should have burned out.  Its about one third as bright as it was when it was new, but still bright enough that it works, so I haven’t replaced it yet, and keep hoping for the day when it blows out on its own so I can justify spending $400 to buy a new one . . . but then again if I keep watching this movie, I’ll probably just buy one anyway!

Now for the record, the movie trailers for Yes Man, don’t really do it justice.  It is very funny, as much as you’d expect from a Jim Carrey movie, but its also got a great plot, story, and acting as well from all the actors involved.  So if you haven’t seen this movie, yet, I highly recommend it, especially if you are on a plane for Vegas heading to a brainstorming meeting.

If you are going there to gamble, well then, this may not be the best movie for you after all….