Friday, September 26, 2025

TIME CAPSULE PROJECT NEW HOUSE UPDATE

 House progress is moving along, though we're at that point where we go out on the weekends and it doesn't seem like much has changed.  More pics coming but this one is important because it's kind of time sensitive.  You'll see at the end of the post.

It's a little short notice but it's something we just thought of last night and 2nd Man said "yes, put it out there and see if anyone wants to email a message to be saved for future generations.

You might be asking, what?

Let me back up.  We were watching a home remodeling show on HGTV before we started building and they were remodeling a house and found a space behind a wall.  When they put it all back together, they decided to put a plastic skeleton wearing a t-shirt and hat of the remodeling company to play a joke on someone in the future.  We looked at each other and said "we should SO do that!".

After the framing went up, we didn't have any space "deep enough" (between studs and drywall) to fit a full sized standing skeleton.  Then I ran across this:

An actual "time capsule".  It's waterproof and sealed up, can even be buried.  We thought about putting that behind the wall but then, as often does with our ideas, it expanded.  We bought one and started buying and gathering a few trinkets here and there to put inside.

We thought we'd find a place somewhere in the house.

We saw this spot during framing.  We looked at the model home pics and realized it's a dead space above the "built in" linen closet in the guest bath!  So we asked the build manager (who is awesome by the way) if he could put a "floor" on that for us and told him what we were going to do.


Here it is with the flooring on it.  It's sealed on two sides and the top by plywood and then they put a floor in for us.  We let them seal it up because it was easier to cut the hole later.


And they did that for us!  Too cool!


For the last couple of months we've been gathering up little things for the time capsule.  Seeds, stuff from my work and his work, business cards, a pocket constitution/declaration independence, something from all Houston sports teams, trading cards of our favorite NASCAR drivers, trinkets from big movies like Wicked, some lapel pins, bumper stickers, stamps, a 2025 dollar bill, and since pennies are going away, we got two proof versions (one from each mint).  Also, our auto insurance ID cards, even some hair samples from our last hair cuts!

There is more inside, can't remember it all, but then you will probably see a thumb drive (USB drive) in the picture?  We loaded it up with photos from around the internet, personal photos, 2nd Man's food, the cats, the house (the old one and the new one up to now).  Basically, we copied most everything from my hard drive on my computer, ha.  Oh, and copies of some of the blog entries (not all but many, in case the internet is not the same).


Then (a few days ago) we came up with the idea of a binder.  So, I began printing out many things and putting them in plastic sleeves. News articles, current events, top ten lists of music and tv shows and food trends and google searches, the complete set of plans for the house and a few printed pictures of us and the cats and memes and politics.  Of course, I also wrote the story of our life together, how we met, how we got the house, and how we went through this whole process. Even a couple of recipes.

We added a shoebox and added some other things, such as "scrub daddy sponge" (figured that was a crazy popular thing) and a lone star rubber ducky and other things.  Threw in a couple of our t-shirts and even a Day of the Dead mask. Oh, and a COVID test kit and some unused masks.  And after Hobart's passing, the cat bowl (we had several that were all the same) and they all ate out of them hundreds of times.

But wait, what about the skeleton?
Oh, don't worry...


We found a BAG OF BONES!  We have the space to scatter them around...

...and that's what we did!  Here it all is loaded in there.  Sufficiently spooky and the cool thing is (it was hard to get the picture because I was on tall ladder) the skeleton hands are holding the time capsule.  Someday, someone will be shocked and/or surprised but hopefully after a good laugh, and then they will have a little glimpse of life in the year 2025.

Now here is where YOU come in.  I should have thought about this weeks ago but forgot about it.

If you would like your words of wisdom to be carried through into history in our time capsule space, send us an email.  Here is my email:

houstonray@gmail.com

Don't feel obligated, but we just thought it would be our way of sharing you all with someone in the future. 

You can be serious, or you can be silly and tell your favorite joke.  So maybe list your hopes for the future, what you'd like someone in a generation or two to know.  Who knows, in 30 years, 50 years, someone will find this and maybe search your family name and let them know they "heard from you" across the vastness of time, as well.

Again, no obligation. I'll be going back out there Sunday to add some more stuff.  I can print out whatever you email, and I'll put it in the binder to be sealed up for who knows how many years.


10 comments:

  1. This is really so cool!! Someone is going to find a treasure chest of the past in years to come.

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  2. That is the coolest idea I've seen in ages. One day, for some reason, my stepfather went up into the attic, which was accessed by the outside of the house we were living in. It was his family's home that he grew up in. It was probably almost 100 years old at the time, and he found some old washed and ironed flour sacks and sugar sacks that were stored up there. It was a farm house and I can remember his mother talking about how hard it was living through the depression. I can't imagine what the reason was to store something like that. The house originally had very high ceilings that had been lowered a couple of times as it was renovated through the years. I wonder if he found something else there that no-one ever knew about. :) Galestorm

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  3. What a fantastic (and shocking) trick to pull on the next residents of your home when you two gentlemen are a memory! Well, most of your readers will be long gone, too! I'm 82, so who knows how many years I have left!
    I saw that show on HGTV, "Home Town" with Ben and Erin Napier and they put the plastic skeleton behind a bookcase! Ben is always up for a good joke! They are so fun to watch!

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  4. Sounds like a fun and a meaningful project.
    Listed below is a few things you might want to add if you haven't already.
    Will you be storing these items in 1 of your extra totes / storage containers so that everything is protected in some way?

    A receipt from the grocery store showing prices of products in 2025 showing common items like gas, milk, eggs, bread; etc.
    a magazine of sorts; Time, Newsweek, Readers Digest
    entertainment magazine; People, US
    your favorite, empty soda can
    10 top music hits
    TV guide
    Photo of the construction workers that worked on your house with name of contractor and year
    Photo of the both of you when you bury / seal up your capsule
    ticket stubs
    A bottle of champagne or a bottle of wine
    Old cell phone; batteries removed.
    favorite toy of some sort
    small, meaningful notes written on note cards
    copies of your favorite home cooked meals recipes)
    Enjoy your fun project
    Enjoy your weekend & Blessings to you both

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    Replies
    1. If planning on having a 'safe' room I would store important items/documents, etc. in that safe room. After all, Texas is known for tornadoes.

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  5. I've always left behind a photo album of the construction or remodeling process. It is so handy to know what is behind the drywall and fun to see what the place used to look like. These days it would probably be a thumb drive of photos. We have also written notes in the walls as we close them up. We have found names and dates when we tear into something and that is fun. A time capsule is a great idea.

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  6. When we left the house we built I left in the attic space all the photos of the building process and the architectural plans. I wrote on the wall the dates we lived there and our names. We didn’t hide anything away though.
    I think I’ll pass on sending you something. You’ve got it covered very well.

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  7. What a fun project!

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  8. Wonderful idea. Before we put up some wallpaper we drew a heart with our names in it on the wall. Nobody likes anybody else’s wallpaper, so whoever lives here next will find a surprise when they strip it.

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  9. Such a wonderful idea! One thing not to do,, is put any photos in any plastic sleeves! Have our daughter's wedding pictures from over 38 years ago in an album. Wanted to make copies for our grandkids. Couldn't get pics out, stuck to plastic! Tried to take pics with my phone, not clear enough. The plastic breaks down. Things get dusty. Might be good to make sure everything is waterproof. Also maybe not so hidden! Or instructions about if deed changes down through the years>

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