Want to learn how to build a fire pit? The colder season may be closing in, but I'm sure you still want to extend your outdoor hangouts. Learn how to build a fire pit easily on a budget, and enjoy your time outdoors! How To Build A Fire Pit For Cozy Outdoor Times It's no surprise that the latest trend in garden design gives emphasis on a cozy outdoor stay. My own family loves the outdoors; our home has both a front porch and a backyard patio. With the colder seasons just around the corner, a fire pit should be perfect to keep us warm. I find this guide on how to build a fire pit feasible, even I can DIY it. It's easy to follow, plus it's got cooking grates for grilling and cooking outdoor meals. You too can check this guide out and get to building your own fire pit soon.   Let's Start Building! Materials: Curved precast concrete blocks Fire pit ring with grills A cotton cloth Adhesive for concrete blocks Tools Wheelbarrow Pointed shovel Square shovel Hand tamper Rubber mallet Torpedo level Caulk gun How To Build A Fire Pit Step 1. Start With The Base First is to identify the perfect location for your fire pit where you and your family can conveniently gather. We will be using curved precast concrete blocks designed for circular outdoor structures. These custom designed blocks will allow for an easy and quick building, like for our fire pit here. Now, lay down the curved blocks on the ground and piece together to make a circle. Mark three inches from the concrete base or outline with a pointed shovel. Hold the shovel down and dig all the way around the ring to make an outline. Step 2. Dig A Hole Next is to get the blocks out of the way so we can dig a hole in the outline. If you are building your fire pit over your grass lawn, you might want to save it so you can patch the area around the fire pit. Using a square shovel, slide it underneath the grass and save as much as you can of it. Now dig a hole a foot deep into the ground and tamp it up a bit. If your soil is a hard clay, you can dig another hole in the center so rainwater can drain through. Fill it with crushed stones for drainage. Step 3. Form Foundation via GIPHY Pour over the crushed stones in the hole and spread it evenly to about an inch or two thick. Take the hand tamper to pack and level it down. Lay another layer of crushed rocks of the same thickness and repeat the process. This will allow you to properly tamp and level the crushed rocks. Repeat the process until you've reached the level of about four inches to the surface. Take in mind that the first layer of blocks is going to sit in level with the grass. Make s'mores to munch on, while bonding around the campfire! More tips here, homesteader #HomesteadActivities https://t.co/rgoxLdXwyA — Homesteading (@HomesteadingUSA) July 18, 2017 Step 4. Stack Blocks Take your steel fire-pit ring with cooking grates and place it in the middle of the foundation as a guide to set the blocks around. Take the precast blocks and start leveling them out around the ring. Lay your first block and set it tight against the ring. Use the rubber mallet and tap the block down to set. Use a leveling tool to make sure the structure will be leveled. Set the other blocks tight around the ring following the same steps. Step 5. Add Layers With the first level of blocks set, take out the ring so you can work on the rest of the levels. Take out your caulk gun and concrete adhesive and apply a small amount of it on either side of block's joint. Set another brick on top of the first layer making sure it sits centered on the joint. Continue with the rest of the blocks and add two more layers. Step 6. Add The Fire Pit Ring Get the steel fire pit ring and place it over the fire pit. Pour crushed rocks over the pit, filling it up to the baseline of the steel ring. The rocks will protect the base blocks from the heat of the fire. Use your shovel to rake the rocks to the sides so that it has a low spot in the center for making fire. Lastly, take some of the soil you've dug from the pit and fill the sides around the pit. You can also take the grass strips and replace it around the firepit. Fire Pit In Action! There you have it, homesteaders! An easy and budget-friendly fire pit your family can spend time around. Waste no time testing your finished fire pit and plan a cookout under the stars!   Follow the step-by-step guide on how to build a fire pit in this video: Now you can spend more time outdoors even in this chilly season with a fire pit. You won't have to go far also to get a campfire going and you can get your camping fix in the safety and comfort of your backyard. Learn how to build a fire pit and get to building this added feature for your home for fun family outdoor activities this chilly season! How did you find this guide on how to build a firepit? Share your thoughts about it in the comments section below! Up Next: How To Make A Fire Starter At Home | Homesteading Skills   Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook!   Editor's Note: This post was originally published on October 2014 and has been updated for quality and relevancy.

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Ketanji, take a bow. You’re no biologist, but your cameo in a bold, nonbinary musical proves you’re not without talent. In fact, KBJ’s Broadway debut poses an urgent question: How much more untapped star power languishes in our nation's congressional offices, governors' mansions, and NGOs? Sometimes art requires sacrifice. And nobody knows more about making other people make sacrifices than Gavin Newsom. For far too long the Great White Way has perpetuated a system of performer privilege, in which only those with highly developed acting, singing, and dancing chops stand a chance at getting the most coveted roles. (Also: "Great White Way"?I? Yikes.) All of this is to say that the lineup for the upcoming revival of David Mamet’s Pulitzer-winning "Glengarry Glen Ross" is woefully predictable. Ever since its iconic 1992 movie adaptation, Mamet's tale of macho, foul-mouthed real estate hustlers fighting for their jobs in a brutal, winner-take-all sales contest has been a magnet for seasoned, professionally trained actors. This new production is no exception, enlisting the likes of Bob Odenkirk, Bill Burr, and Kieran Culkin. What a missed opportunity for alternative casting. An all-female version? Don't be ridiculous — everyone knows that intra-female competition is far more vicious than anything even Mamet could dream up. What I have in mind is ceding the spotlight to some of our most brilliant public servants. As former Bud Light marketing head Alissa Heinerscheid once said, it’s time to “be inclusive” and “shift the tone.” Well, Alissa: Hold my beer. Anadolu/Kypros/Getty Images Bernie Sanders as ... Shelley "The Machine" Levene (Jack Lemmon) “Just give me a hot lead. Just give me two of the premium leads. As a ‘test,’ all right? As a test. And I promise you …” "Glengarry Glen Ross" opens with two men arguing in a restaurant booth. The older one is bent forward and repeating himself, clearly begging for his life. The younger man sitting opposite has the power to make or break him. Ladies and gentlemen (sorry, I meant "dreamers of all ages"), meet Shelley Levene, the first fellow in that equation. Broke, wrinkled, and hounded by trouble, Levene nonetheless harbors hope that he's still got it. A symbol of washed-up cold callers everywhere, he’s also a choice acting role — "King Lear" light for thespians over 50. Jack Lemmon played Levene to crooning, anguished perfection in the movie, and he lives on in pop culture as "Old Gill," the raspy, collar-tugging salesman from the "The Simpsons." Is "Better Call Saul" star Bob Odenkirk the clear choice for this fast-talking, aging warrior with something to prove? I object! If it please the court, I call upon Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont. To say nothing of range, Shelley Levene requires battle scars. With 16 Senate years and two popular but ultimately doomed presidential runs, Bernie’s got it. Plus, what better angsty, grandstanding lefty to drive home the play’s anti-capitalist undertones? Net worth aside, Sanders is notoriously frugal, and Mamet quipped that he wrote "Glengarry" when he "didn’t have two dimes to rub together." Sanders’ best-selling book "It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism" couldn’t say it any better. And nothing puts butts in seats and money in producers' pockets like hating capitalism. Washington’s full of geezers, but let’s face it: Only old man Sanders has the drive, doggedness, and "brass b***ls" to move these lots … before confiscating them for the workers. Understudy: Anthony Fauci Ron Galella/Ethan Miller/Getty Images David Hogg as ... John Williamson (Kevin Spacey) “You start closing again, you’ll be on the board.” The other man in that restaurant booth is office manager John Williamson, played on-screen by a 30-something Kevin Spacey. Keeper of the leads, Williamson shoulders the whole operation, including the sales contest that will see two bottom performers axed. When the office is ransacked and the leads are stolen at the end of act one, this guy in charge (who looks like an intern) finds himself in way over his head. Vandalized property, angry bosses, contracts to re-close … and older, jealous employees circling him like vultures. Talk about reverse ageism. For this less showy but demanding acting lift, I nominate a real up-and-comer — anti-gun activist and recently confirmed DNC vice chair David Hogg. If Hogg looks the part, he’s also got the resume. Harvard pedigree. As a 24-year-old power broker, he’s already working on that look of forlorn determination, the resigned stare of baby-faced execs who get no respect (or stock tips) from the old guard. If he’s eager now, put him in a room with Pelosi and give it time. Plus, going by the title of his book "#NeverAgain: A New Generation Draws the Line," Hogg sounds like the kind of guy who stands his ground … if standing said ground means abolishing ICE and persuading people to give their guns away. On that fun-ruining note, I can see David hugging a pile of leads to his chest and refusing to share. Understudy: Former San Francisco D.A. Chesa Boudin Sunset Boulevard/Mario Tama/Getty Images Gavin Newsom as ... Ricky Roma (Al Pacino) “Where are you going …? This is me … this is Ricky, Jim. Jim, anything you want, you want it, you have it. You understand?” When we first see Ricky Roma, he’s leading a bogus philosophy conversation with a man he just met, James Lingk. The spiel ends with Roma sliding a pamphlet across the table; he’s selling land, of course, and Lingk is the easy mark. Speaking of easy marks, millions of California voters can’t be wrong. If you’re looking for a slick, confident, high roller who believes — and possesses the strange ability to make others believe — every word he says, look no farther than Gavin Newsom. Need I say more? With his soulless good looks and just the right note of gravel in his voice (all the better to lend credence to empty promise after empty promise), Governor Hair Gel is a shoo-in. With more family connections to wealth and power than a British royal, he’s more than prepared; he’s Ricky Roma — winner of this month’s sales contest — to a T. Here, with Newsom taking his place beside Al Pacino, Liev Schrieber, Aidan Gillen, and Joe Mantegna, the play casts itself. While I won’t give too much away, watching this Temu "American Psycho" flail around in act two to stop James Lingk from taking his money back would be too good to miss. Where there’s fire, no water, no power, and nothing to show for some $200 billion of bullet train, Gav Man’s there, perfecting his flail. Is he vain and abrasive and hard to work with? Sure. Will he try to nail his castmates' wives and girlfriends? You bet. But sometimes art requires sacrifice. And nobody knows more about making other people make sacrifices than Gavin Newsom. Understudy: Andrew Cuomo Ron Galella/Andrew Tate Andrew Tate as ... Dave Moss (Ed Harris) “That’s right. It’s a crime. It’s also very safe.” When corporate suits downtown turn up the heat, jilted salesman Dave Moss (played with fangs by Ed Harris) doesn’t take it sitting down. Instead, he strikes back — just like kickboxing champ, influencer, and patron saint of brooding, teenage males everywhere Andrew Tate. Not long after we first meet him, Moss has all but convinced co-worker George Aaronow that they have to rob the office that night. His plan involves turning the place upside down, making off with the leads, and selling them to rival Jerry Graff in an act of revenge. Alpha. Boastful. Unusually cool when discussing or confessing crime. Throw on a tie and Tate’s perfect. Nothing like Tate's smooth, simmering, performative fury to bring Mamet’s snake of an antagonist to life. And hey, with people everywhere wringing their hands over Tate’s toxic reach with the he-man-woman-haters crowd, the stage might be a healthier outlet for everyone. Buck the system, mate. Rant and black-pill all you want, because it’s all made up. When you’re finished, you even get to take a bow. Understudy: Destiny Ron Galella/Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images John Fetterman as ... George Aaronow (Alan Arkin) “Why are you doing this to me, Dave? Why are you talking this way to me?” There’s a touch of Mr. Magoo to clueless, hand-wringing George Aaronow. Thinking he’s just blowing off steam with a co-worker, Aaronow stumbles into Moss’ plan to rob the office. By just listening, Moss tells him, "you’re an accomplice." Aaronow is appalled, but by the end of act one, we’re fairly certain he’s gone and done Moss’ dirty work. When act two rolls around, we’re not so sure, and "Glengarry" takes on the flavor of a crime procedural. Who better than the faux-blue-collar Dem turned crypto-conservative after a massive stroke to keep us guessing? If you think John Fetterman, the senator who wore shorts and a hoodie to a presidential inauguration, won’t don a suit for the role of a lifetime, think again … and then get ready to think outside the box, costume-design-wise. Either way, and in spite of his occasional stammer, Fetterman’s gentle-giant vibe and loud revulsion of progressive brands Hamas and Tren de Aragua give him an ingredient this play and this charactr really need: a functioning moral compass. Understudy: Mitch McConnell Ron Galella/Bill Clark/Getty Images Jamaal Bowman as ... James Lingk (Jonathan Pryce) "I can’t negotiate. I don’t have the power.” If this seems like an odd choice, then back off, friend — we’ve got five white men cast already. A hapless, stammering NPC who takes Roma’s bait and signs over his family's nest egg, Lingk stumbles back in act two to pull the fire alarm on their deal. Call it instinct, but something tells me Jamaal Bowman is just perfect for that. Understudy: Jussie Smollett C.M. Miller is a writer and editor in Los Angeles, where he publishes the Shelf of Crocodiles Substack.

It seems one of the only sources of bipartisan agreement in the culture today is that diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are how black people get jobs. In what will be yet another example of people stretching a term past the point of no return, the pushback against DEI is well on its way to the same rhetorical ash heap as “racist,” “fascist,” and “Nazi.” One conservative influencer with three million followers on X called Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance a “DEI halftime show.” Another right-wing commentator with more than one million followers linked a Black History Month event at the White House to DEI — and, for good measure, blamed DEI for Michelle Obama’s decision to wear long nails. The truth is that both the left and right seem intent on using 'DEI' as a euphemism for 'black' when it suits them politically.If things continue at their current pace, conservatives will need to update the popular meme “Everyone I don’t like is a racist” to reflect their current DEI bugaboo. Anyone with common sense can admit that separating and prioritizing the population along identity lines violates our founding principles and is a recipe for social unrest. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan, the lone dissenter in the landmark Plessy v. Ferguson case, famously remarked:In view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here. Our Constitution is color-blind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law.This message holds as true for white people today as it did for black people 100 years ago. DEI is dying a quick death because far too many institutions thought they could use historical wrongs to justify present-day discrimination.The former DEI chief at Johns Hopkins University Hospital sent out a New Year’s message last January with a list of “privileged” identity groups, which included white people, heterosexuals, “cisgender” people, and Christians. Progressives see this type of rhetoric as perfectly normal, but I’m not sure how many lives will be saved at a hospital just because doctors believe it’s a privilege to be white.Companies and government agencies that thought they could set aside programs for blacks, Asians, Hispanics, women, and LGBT-identifying people without any response from straight white men don’t understand human nature. It’s an iron law of human dynamics: Providing special benefits to one person in a group automatically triggers the other members to ask, “What about me?”Exposing and rooting out the excesses of the DEI industrial complex from public life marks a positive step. However, like all political movements, the temptation to swing the pendulum too far remains ever-present. Overcorrection often becomes the rule rather than the exception in politics.The irony is that conservatives never assume black people on the right are DEI hires. Justice Clarence Thomas served on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals — his only experience as a federal judge — for a little over a year before President George H.W. Bush nominated him to the Supreme Court in 1991. For comparison, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson served close to nine years in the federal judiciary before her appointment. Conservatives cheered when President Trump selected Dr. Ben Carson to be his secretary of Housing and Urban Development during his first term. Prior to entering the political arena, Carson was a world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon doing cutting-edge work at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore. But somehow the man who led a team that separated conjoined twins was deemed qualified to lead HUD. Charlie Kirk floated Carson’s name to lead the Department of Agriculture in the second Trump administration — one week after he claimed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was a “DEI pick.”Nothing undercuts the conservative push to rid the culture of the identity-obsession created by DEI programs more than arguing that a four-star general who spent decades in leadership is unfit to run the military while a decorated surgeon is qualified to rightsize the Section 8 program. It’s clear that the left has its own DEI blind spots. Progressives spent years making skin color, sex, and bedroom activities the most important qualities in public life. Now, they lament the loss of DEI programs in corporations, government agencies, and other institutions as if they were the only thing keeping black people from suffering Jim Crow-style discrimination at the hands of employers. The truth is that both the left and right seem intent on using “DEI” as a euphemism for “black” when it suits them politically. Using the term haphazardly distorts its meaning and drains it of political potency. Conservatives should resist that temptation because nothing hardens a group more than overusing the terms used to police its behavior. It’s the reason many right-wing pundits stopped caring about being called “racist.” Doing the same with DEI is the blueprint for breathing life into identity obsession, not what you do if you want it to die.

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The smarter AI programs like ChatGPT and Gemini become, the more we'll want to use them as the virtual assistants they can be. For that to happen, we'll need the AIs to access information about us from all sorts of apps and remember details about us. We'll also need to be able to trust companies like OpenAI and Google with increasingly more personal data. OpenAI was the first to bring memory features to ChatGPT. It happened with Custom Instructions, a feature I've used since it became available. About a year ago, OpenAI also added a Memory feature to ChatGPT that allowed it to remember things about users from chats beyond the scope of Custom Instructions. All of this happens with the user's knowledge, and memories can be deleted at any time. Also, they don't train the AI if you set your ChatGPT privacy preferences correctly. Gemini needed more time to get memory features similar to ChatGPT. Google rolled out the first memory features in November, but they're available to Gemini Advanced subscribers. ChatGPT Memory features are also available to paying ChatGPT users. However, Google has now improved Gemini's memory in a way that OpenAI hasn't. You can tell Gemini to recall information from your previous chats with the AI on a similar topic, which can be handy for picking up a conversation on the same subject. Continue reading... The post Gemini AI just got a new feature ChatGPT can’t match yet appeared first on BGR. Today's Top Deals Best Apple deals for February 2025 Today’s deals: $99 AirPods 4, $19 3-in-1 wireless charging station, $33 Blink Video Doorbell, more Today’s deals: $99 AirPods 4, $200 off eufy X10 Pro Omni in white, $30 Crest 3D Whitestrips, more Best Apple Watch deals for February 2025

Following the devastating wildfires that have ravaged the area, Los Angeles, a once-vibrant and bustling metropolis, now stands as a gloomy shadow of its former self. Aside from the loss of lives, the fire outbreak has reduced millions of dollars’ worth of property to ashes, causing unheard levels of destruction. As the city continues to face the horrors of the tragic incident, residents, and politicians are faced with the difficult process of rebuilding and healing. Joining the league of celebrities who have weighed in on the wildfire issues is Full House star Candace Cameron Bure, who also lives in the city and has several of her friends living a new reality they would not have thought of. The actress  shared her biggest fears about the aftermath of the devastation,n which she feels will have a ripple effect  Candace Cameron Bure says rebuilding the city of LA will be a long and difficult journey following wildfires             View this post on Instagram                         A post shared by Candace Cameron Bure (@candacecbure)   Speaking with Fox News Digital, Bure revealed that she was short of words to describe the massive inferno. Despite being a victim and still reeling from her loss, the actress is committed to helping people get back on their feet. She is using her social media platform to promote organizations that are accepting donations and offering free supplies and amenities for the LA fire victims. She explained that life has been very difficult for the victims, and the process of rebuilding and moving past the tragic incident will take a very long time due to the high level of destruction that occurred in the area, as well as the mental toll it has taken on the people. Candace Cameron Bure/ImageCollect Cameron Bure is not the only celebrity supporting LA fire victims Despite Bure’s tight schedule, which has led her to be absent from the city, she ensured that her store remains open, serving as a hub for the collection of donations and supplies for affected people. The actress is currently on a filming set for her upcoming movie.             View this post on Instagram                         A post shared by Candace Cameron Bure (@candacecbure)   Among other celebrities who are raising awareness about LA fire victims are the Dutch and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Even in the face of backlash and earning the moniker, disaster tourist, the royals are not concerned, Next up: Ozzy Osbourne Breaks Silence On Parkinson’s Battle Ahead Of Black Sabbath Reunion The post Candace Cameron Bure Warns It Will Take Very Long Time To Recover From LA Wildfires appeared first on DoYouRemember? - The Home of Nostalgia. Author, Peace A