I give you fair warning now. This is a rant.
Last time I checked, we live in a capitalistic society. Last time I checked, the stock market is a place to make and loose large amounts of money. Last time I checked, the backbone of a capitalistic market is a medium of the survival of the fittest. Last time I checked, if I bounce a check, the US government is not going to help me. Last time I checked, my dollar is loosing its value.
In the past few months, I have been quiet on the topic of the economy. However, I have seen enough that I need to get some things off of my chest.
Why does the Federal Reserve (Fed) think that it is its place to bail out the stock market because the county has done itself a disservice and set itself up for this failure. Greedy companies decided that giving money away to those that could not afford to do what they wanted under normal means to create this deceptive program (a cleverly concealed gamble) called Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM). This system is not bad by itself as for the people that were lucky in their gamble are reaping the benefits it was designed to provide.
However, once the housing market started to boom, these credit companies decided that the more houses they could get people in, the better it would look on the market or some such nonsense. So, now when the rates start to go up instead of down and the people who took this gamble can't make their payments and put the lenders into a position of diminishing returns, it suddenly becomes the Fed's role to fix it? I don't think so.
Please don't get me wrong, I am not demonizing the people that took this risk, I'm holding the lenders culpable for the damage for which they setup themselves. I am sure that the ARM was a ray of sunshine from the heavens that would permit them to fulfill a dream such as homeownership. I feel sorry for them. I don't know if they were duped into an ARM (didn't exactly understand the risk) or if they took a calculated risk and got burned. Either way, like with anything else that depends on the market, it is risky business and I have to think that they were duped more often than not into thinking that a housing bubble didn't exist. Well, we know for certain that it did.
So, back to the Fed. So, due to poor decision making in companies has led to the utter meltdown of the stock market. The stock market is not linear. It is known to ebb and wake and the severity of these movements are, for the most part, unpredictable. Well, this one is becoming predictable. A recession is imminent.
I know that recession is commonly a bad word, however, based on the economic experts, so far within my lifetime, I have experienced two such events. As a country, we've been thru numerous. The stock market is like a human in many ways. The market cannot continue to go up everyday, otherwise, what would be the point. Any one person cannot have a good day everyday. It is a fact of life. Also, since the market is based upon the performance of other companies this good day/bad day dynamic happens everyday. Why can't the market be left alone to fix itself out of the situation that is beginning?
Ok, I feel bad that individuals are going to be personally effected by an imminent recession. Companies are going to go belly-up. People are going to loose their jobs. These people that loose their jobs are going to loose their personal effects, particularly homeowners with mortgages. Recession stirs up a multitude of negative images and I can see why the avoidance of one is such a good intention. However, the road to hell was paved with good intentions.
I'm ok with the Fed cutting interest rates to support the effort to quell the effects of a recession, however, what good is ti doing? The market goes up on the day of the cut and then just gets flushed the following days. It just feels like the rate cuts are just a bandaide for a wound that would need a tourniquet. Furthermore, I have a problem with them taking money to bail out companies that set themselves up for just this situation. Furthermore, back in February the government decided that a way to quell the market was with a stimulus package. Does anyone know where this money comes from? I do. The Fed prints it. The US Dollar is no longer backed by gold. If it were, with gold being in the neighborhood of $1k per ounce, our dollar should be getting stronger. Instead, the dollar is a figment of our imaginations. A dollar is only worth what people are willing to give you for it. This dynamic exasperates in the international market. Therefore, if more dollars are printed and circulated the value of it goes down. Inflation is a byproduct of a fiat monetary system.
Please, take the hour and watch this video. If anything I've said thus far makes any rational sense to you thus far, take the time and get the full story as to what is going on in our economy as far as the devaluation of the dollar.Fiat empire
If I can't sway you to think that what they are doing is wrong and you won't give the video a portion of your time then please don't cry to me when we're at the base of the totem pole of the international market. I think something needs to be done to revalue the dollar based on a physical precious metal like gold. In doing so, the Federal Reserve will have to be removed.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
US Economy
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Tornado's
Hey All,
Just wanted to give an update for those who may not have heard. Yes, we had a tornado actually go through downtown Atlanta this past Friday night (03/14/2008). There is a lot of damage and injuries but fortunately no fatalities. Which is completely amazing seeing that there were thousands of people at the Georgia Dome and Phillips Arena attending games.
I have to admit that I was glad to hear that the Hawks game went into overtime. That was the only thing that helped those in Phillips arena from getting injured or worse. The SEC game had to be post-poned because of wind damage.
This tornado was classified as an F-2 with winds reaching about 130 miles an hour. (WOW). And an F-3 tornado hit north of us that did cause 2 fatalities. And as many people know that there was a loss of power in area's that the tornado's went through and the loss of home's. I saw picture's of where a house was and you didn't even see a pile where the house once stood. It just looks like a bunch of garbage that was scattered on the ground. And the car that was in the driveway was literally down the street and looked like a pancake.
Our area was very fortunate with not getting hit with anything near that severe. Just constant lighting, hail and high winds. It was still a little scary to be in the house and just seeing what we were getting. I could not imagine what it was like in these other area's.
The tornado that hit town was the first one in history to ever go through downtown Atlanta.
To see some picture's that have been posted you can go to 11alive.com. They have a photo gallery of all the damage and stuff. They're pretty amazing.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Fuse Block Installation
I'm not going to bore you with the details. Have a look at the innards of my setup within my trunk.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Right Place - Right Time
I was made an offer today that was just interesting. Amazing if it turns out to be true, but interesting none-the-less. Ever since completing the component speaker installation in my car, I have been looking into possibly competing in a sound design (quality) competition. I think that the performance of my stereo is noteworthy and I would be interested in entering my car into a competition just to see how it is appraised. Don't get me wrong, the quality of my car is likely not going to be award winning as it is now. The guys that compete in the MECA circuit take their audio very seriously.
I have taken the time to read the rulebook for MECA and don't think I'll place highly at my first go of things. The things they are looking for in the performance of the system are very specific. So specific in fact that I don't think I have enough time, money or proficiency yet to be on their same level.
Let me quantify for a moment as to why I say this. Some of the aspects of the system they are looking for is realistic representation of the sounds being played. They are looking for correct locational representation of the sounds (front, back, left, right, center). Location of the sound is what is called the soundstage. The soundstage is supposed to represent being in the presence of the group to which you are listening. The difficult part of this is the generation of the mid, low mid, and low frequencies. Typically (and in my car) these frequencies are dedicated to the back and trunk speakers. How in the world do you manage to put those sounds in front of the listener? That I don't know and am anxious to find out.
Interestingly enough, one of the things they are looking for (which I do have) is an explanation of the equipment and purpose of the equipment in the system (as you can see from the folowing list).
Once I have my system completely reassembled, my system will comprise of:
On top of all of that equipment, I also have a CompuStar 1W900FMR security system installed with the remote starter (noted because I am driving a 5-speed). A custom built and installed sub box with 1 cu foot of volume per speaker and a rectangle port tuned to 60 hertz (I think, I'll have to double check that one) in conjunction with an amp rack. In reflection, this is a ton of after market equipment in my car. I can't and won't deny this claim. Thankfully, I didn't try doing all of this all at one time. This has been a project in the making for several years and I'm not certain now that my dream design is complete that I'm done.
If the competition bug sticks this time and I take up these MECA Sound Quality competitions, I can see additional equipment in my future. The first two things that come to mind include a massive amount of Dynamat and an external equalizer. I was looking around today at EQs, while I was out, and wasn't able to find anything exciting, however, the prices seemed promising. Although, I was just looking at Kicker and Clarion. I have a feeling when I do find that which I'm looking, it will be higher grade and more expensive.
Anyway, enough about my car. Lets get on with where this story was headed.
Well, regarding the rulebook, I realized that my wiring didn't meet the requirements. There were not any fuses between my secondary battery and my amps. This was not my fault. When TNT installed my custom box, they removed the fuse block that I had in place. I don't know why, but they did. Therefore, if you look at my list above, I have purchased and will be installing a new block & fuses into my car. This purchase is what prompted this discussion.
So, I was doing some online research about the block that I wanted to purchase. During this search I kept finding StreetWires as the manufacturer that created a product hat I could use. Using their dealer search, I found a shop over by our old apartment that might carry what I needed. After making a call to the shop and finding out their hours, I reluctantly made the trip over there. As I had expected, the shop was less than useful for the parts that I needed. However, while I was over in that area, I decided to stop over at a shop that I swore that I wouldn't again patronize.
The last time I went to this shop, the guy running it was so rude that I never wanted to go back there. For instance, I asked them if they carried Crossfire and he said no, but go check at Best Buy to see if they carried it. I wanted to scream. There is no way that Crossfire would ever certify the installation shop for Best Buy to install their equipment. Also, Crossfire is too expensive for the typical shopper to purchase at Best Buy. Crossfire is just too high end. To further my aggravation with this shop, I had inquired about getting my fog lights installed. To my surprise, the guy claimed that they don't get into electrical work. I was floored. It is a stereo shop which is natively electrical. Also, I didn't bother pushing the point because his attitude was so bad, I was done with them.
However, I decided to give this shop another chance and am I glad I did. They had everything that I was looking for today and more. I purchased the 1/0G wire, battery terminal, fused distribution block and fuses from them. While I was there, I got to talking to the guy. I came to find out that he's the owner of the shop. I was asking about any known local competitions though he didn't know of any. I also mentioned my intention of attending one of these competitions in Alabama and apparently the wheels started spinning for him. He also agreed to check out my car. After checking out my trunk (not hearing it) he made me the offer. After hearing my interior 6 speakers he emphasized the offer again.
So, Victor from eXtreme Car Audio (5045E Singleton Rd. Norcross GA 30093) said that he would do some Dynomat work just to put a sticker on my car at a future point in time. If he is serious about doing this that would be some crazy expensive work done on the cheap. I don't know if it will come to being, but only time will tell. Also, I'm not certain the extent that he is willing to Dynomat for me in this deal. Regardless of just the truck or my trunk and interior it will certainly save me some serious dough. With how friendly he is and if he keeps his word, I can certainly see a mutually beneficial partnership here.
Anyway, any future interaction is purely speculation at this time and how "deep" his discounts are will greatly sway what I can and will do with him. I'm not looking to spend another $2k on my car stereo but there are several things I can see myself getting into depending how this comp goes. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the way my system sounds right now, but better is always good. An additional constraint will certainly be the checkbook. More equipment, features, perks, or modifications to my car will all cost money. I have to make sure that we're focusing on our futures before I can play with anything more. My bonus with my re-enlistment with the army will make that decision almost immediately.
Edit: 3/9/2008 5:15 PMRead More......
Reorganized the parts inventory and added the Monster RCA cable set.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Gaming's Godfather
I just discovered some very sad news. One of the co-creators of the gaming genre that I have come to enjoy has passed on. E. Gary Gygax was a name with which I was not previously familiar. Upon perusing my typical comic strips for my latest fix in RPG comedy, this name was presented very reverently. Well, at this time I haven't even finished my comic reading when two of them made distinct references to him. Therefore, I had to find out who this guy was and why he was important.
I'm not going to bore you with the details as to who he was, you can check out the Wikipedia link if you want all of the details. Suffice it to say that he created role playing gaming as we know it today. He co-wrote the predecessor and first couple versions of Dungeons & Dragons. To this I am grateful for his existence and am greatly saddened at his loss.
As being involved in the pursuit of a piece of this genre myself, I think that it is pretty likely that I will one day reap benefits from this market that he loved so much and worked so hard to create.
R.I.P. E. Gary Gygax
I have to say, I love the illustration that was so tastefully created by the guys at Penny Arcade.
A direct quote from the Wiki page on Gary:
Read More......
Gary Gygax was commemorated in webcomics series xkcd's comic #393 "Ultimate Game", penny arcade's "Bordering On The Semi-Tasteful" and Dork Tower's "Thanks for the Worldbuilding Rules", on Order of the Stick and in GU Comics' "The Journey's End".
Monday, March 3, 2008
AAR - Component Speaker Installation
For those of you that are not militarily minded, AAR means "After Action Review". I would like to break down the good, bad & areas that would require improvement in the future (should I ever do this again for whatever reason). This is meant more as a message of closure than a true AAR, but well see how it turns out once I'm done.
So, there you have it, a quick & dirty summary of what occurred and what I thought about the process.
Now, let me tell you about the results.
The acoustic difference is amazing. I told Exile about it and came up with this comparison.
A set of headphones gives you a centrally located sound stage, there is not a front or back, just side to side. This is how my car was previously setup. The soundstage was tat the center of the car, right about the location of the front passengers. I thought it was a good layout until I finished with this install. The soundstage is now at front like that of being at a concert or within the field of a properly setup surround sound system. The difference is night & day. I am so happy with the results. The only thing left to do is get my sub amp replaced (got my RA number today) so I can get it repaired.
Once I get the sub amp back I will have to re-tune the entire system but I think I will be able to call my system complete until I get the drive to install a preamp or EQ. Only time will tell, but I'm feeling pretty damn good about what I've got setup right now.
I will eventually (maybe only once) enter my car into a Psychlone comp. I would love to see what people think when I pull a convertible up to a SPL competition (pretty unusual to say the least). However, the comp is new for this year and it may take a while for it to catch on locally. Time will tell.
Peace!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Too Many Answers
Well, as usual... I done screwed something up. The speaker installation is complete but there was a much easier answer stareing me in the face. If only I had talked it thru with someone I would had detected this issue much earlier. Programming is not the only arena in which a single problem can have multiple solutions. However, just like programming there are usually solutions that are ill advised or better done otherwise. If you hadn't guessed it yet, this is about my component speaker installation.
Let me explain where my head was before I tell you what I did. The tweeters are best installed as a flush mount (cone being on the same plane as the surface to which it is mounted). However, after evaluating all of the options that I had available to accomplish this task, I was unable to successfully find an acoustically friendly and physically safe to do so. These locations included the A pillar (the vertical structure that supports the windshield and acts as a part of the door frame) or on the doors.
In my car, my A pillar covers do not contain enough space between the covers and the pillar and the pillar is also rounded off, therefore, a flush mount would not be possible. Subsequently, the door was also not an option because of the presence and location of people in the car will interrupt the signal. Also being a smoker, the door was not an option because of the potential of water damage due because of smoking while driving in rain. Having a window open to vent the smoke & ash permits water to enter into the car and potentially to the cone of the tweeter because of its direct exposure that the 6.5" mid-range driver does not exhibit. The location entertained for this placement was between the door lock indicator and the unlatch handle for the door.
Another option that I considered was to have Car-Speaker-Adapters.com create another custom adapter to house the 6.5" speaker and the tweeter. However, in doing so, the separation of speakers would have been nullified and I might as well have bought a 3-way 6x9" speaker with an adjustable tweeter direction. Also in putting the tweeter in the same location as the 6.5" mid-range speaker would have introduced major interference with people sitting in the seats. With the passenger always getting an interrupted signal and the driver being interrupted anytime there is a passenger. This was just unacceptable.
Provided with my component speaker set was an angled mounting bracket. One of the keys of this bracket is that it is surface mount. However, all of my focus had been on the surface mount options for the speaker. Therefore, unfortunately, with this tunnel vision in mind I made a poor decision. I decided that I would manage a way to surface mount (or as closely as possible) the angle bracket housing for the tweeters. The action that I intended to take was to cut a hole in the dashboard that would be just big enough for the speaker to pop through.
Well, when the time finally came to cut the hole and try to find that perfect fit, I got impatient and measured too wide (about 1/2 the width of a sharpie all the way around mounting bracket. So, instead of a close fit I've got a gaping hole in the dashboard that allows the insulation, wires, mounting spring to be visible from outside the car. the aesthetic view of the installation of this speaker is piss poor. I will have to revisit this one in the future.
It wasn't until I was done completely screwing up the first speaker I had a revelation. I realized that this mount was inteneded to be a surface mount and I would have just needed to drill 3 holes (1 for the wires & 2 for screws). The second speaker has thus been mounted this way.
So, if you have a look at the following pictures, you can see the disparity between the heights of the speakers (BTW, I prefer the "submerged mounting" appearance from the seat but I don't like it when looking down on it). I might replicate the efforts of the lower speaker on the surface mounted one, but not until I figure out a way to make that method blend better with the dashboard. I have an idea how to accomplish this right now, however, am not sure where to obtain the materials to do so.
(BTW, please take the time to view all of the pictures, I just added more pictures to the photoset from the first post on this topic. Therefore, the pictures regarding the final installation will be at the end of the slide show.)
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Little Things
It is amazing how the little things are the ones that get you. Take for instance what I did today. Angel had asked me to install her new seat covers that she picked out the other night while out buying items for my component speaker installation. That purchase was on Wednesday. We had company on Thursday and was working on my car last night. Therefore, her anxiousness got the better of her today and wanted to get them installed. Well, I guess it was improper of me to think that this would have been a simple thing to complete.
The whole thing started with installing the new windshield wipers that her car needed. While we were out there and the weather was nice, she decided that she would take it upon herself to install the new seat covers. Well, she quickly learned that she would need my assistance in completing the install. The instructions provided did not line up with the materials provided.
The instructions indicated that there were elastic loops on each of the left & right sides and two in the front. These loops were supposed to reach from the sides of the seat to the rear to thread thru a grommet that would secure the bottom of the seat and then extend forward and link up with the front loops.
There were two major flaws in these instructions. The links to connect the side and front loops were not provided with the installation kit and the loops were not long enough to cover the distance it was indicated that they should. Missing pieces and not enough material posed an interesting quandary. What would we do now?
Well, my first reaction was to go back to the store and buy bungee cords to travel the distance required. Well, this idea was shot down when I realized that he retention loops the affix the cord to the hook would not fit through the grommet. Therefore, it was time to get more creative as to how to deal with this.
Since working on a seat while it is mounted in the car gives you a difficult environment to work in, I decided that I would remove the seat to see if I could convince it to work as the instructions indicated. This was a no-go, even with the seat removed it would not work as advertised. However, now that it was out, it was easier to get more creative in the retention process.
I decided that I could use some 12g solid core wire that I had lying around in the shed to run the route required for proper installation. This was the ticket. Using some pliers and careful consideration for the tensile strength of the materials involved, I was able to successfully get the covers properly installed.
One thing to note during this process is that my car is still in the garage in pieces with the component speaker installation still underway. Therefore, my car is still unable to be driven since the passenger seat is still not installed, instrument cluster missing, driver's side door unable to be closed and so on & so forth. Then today took Angel's seats out of her car. For a time period, neither vehicle was in a state to be used. It was something worth a chuckle when it was brought to my attention.
Have a look at the pictures we took during the process. Sorry, I didn't take detailed installation photos for you, but I think the description is more than enough to get a picture of what I did.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Found the garage floor
I know that some of you have seen our garage. It wasn't too bad when we first moved in. Just the normal boxes that are placed there to be moved later.
Well, those boxes were never moved plus we have picked up things for the house along the way. Plus, we had received decorations from family and friends. (Also from moving sales and garage sales.) And to add to the clutter of the one side we still have Clark sitting in there. (Our Christmas tree.)
Bob and I have been talking since we've moved in that eventually we would straighten up the one side so we could use the whole garage as it was meant to be. A two car garage instead of a one car garage that came with storage space. And I've been getting frustrated for the fact that Bob has been able to put his car in there and not me.
And if you have read his post yet then you know that he is taking up the one side right now with his car. Which is fine and dandy but we still have clutter in the garage and plenty of storage space elsewhere.
Granted I did have Monday off from work. But, I did some extensive spring cleaning to the house that day. Wow, you never realize how big your house is until you pull out the toothbrush. Besides the point. I was off again today and didn't have anyone trying to call me to pick up a shift. Which is nice. I've been working 6 days a week for almost a month straight now with being nice to people. So, after about 5 hours the garage is clean. Now all we have to do is remove Clark and find an opener that works for that door. I can't tell you how nice it is to know that I'll finally be able to pull my car into the garage. Not that we get the cold weather like in Pittsburgh. But, just for the fact if I want too. It would also help out after grocery shopping.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Paranoid
Hey Peeps,
As some of you know Bob travels here and there with work. Usually for at least a few days if not close to a week at a time. Well, this month he was gone for what felt like at least half the month. I swear the cat love's it when he's gone but that is besides the point.
Seeing that this isn't the first time being alone in the house and won't be the last time either. This last time that Bob went out of town I got really paranoid one night for some reason. I heard every little noise possible in and out of the house. The cat scared me and fear of the dark came over me. It could have been that there was a full moon that night plus the lunar eclipse on top of it. I don't know. But, essentially I had to turn on every light in a room and that didn't help. At time's I would have a flashlight in hand. I kept thinking that someone was in the house with me.
Now, I'm 29 year's old. I should not be feeling like this. And I know that there are a lot of you that know me and know that this isn't the first time that you have heard of me doing something weird like this. And I kept trying to remind myself that I'm a big girl now and I've lived on my own alone before. So, why can't I deal with just a few days of being in the house by myself. After one of the many times of telling myself that I heard a noise and went running upstairs and hid under the blanket. Practically in tears I called my Mom. Why? I felt like I was 5 again. Yes I felt stupid doing that but I had to hear someone's voice telling me that everything was okay. And no this was not the same night that the tree broke. That was the first week this month that Bob went away for work.
I did get over this whole ordeal the next day. I can't explain why this happened after almost a year of being in the house. I could have seen this happening the first time of being alone in the house. But, I know that I'm just weird like that. It's like burning myself on the stove when I was around 20, or running into my parents bedroom after having a nightmare at 19. And I can't forget the time that I set my hair on fire from candles when I was around 21. So, this is just one of the many things that I have done as an adult that should have been about 20 years ago and not now. You can just call me special.
Tree Down
Hey Everyone,
Please forgive me if for some reason this sounds jumbled or whatever. This is my first blog posting out our site.
I felt that this has a lot of significance with being homeowners now and having our very first tree fall down in our yard. As quite a few of you know that we have a good amount of tall trees in our back yard. Well, a few weeks ago we had some pretty high winds come through. One day the winds were close to 50 miles per hour.
It was on the second of these days that Bob was getting ready to leave for his weekend away with the National Guard that I heard a noise in the backyard. I didn't think anything of it seeing that the winds were high speed, plus having the neighbor dog running through our yard sometimes, and squirrels that love to make a ton of noise.
It wasn't until the next afternoon that I noticed one of the tree's was broken. It hadn't fallen yet but it was obvious that it was broken on the trunk. So, I looked from a safe place to see where it would land when it would fall and noticed that it wouldn't hit anything or do damage. So, it didn't phase me any to tell Bob at that point. Then about an hour later I heard a loud noise. When I looked out the back door I noticed that the tree was now laying down on it's side. Calmly I sent Bob a text message letting him know that it fell. Looking back I'm surprised that he just didn't call me back about it. But, he did respond to me asking if there was damage. Thankfully there wasn't.
I later went out to look at our other trees. Seeing that if it was any of the others we would have had some good damage done and I would have been on the phone to see how to put our homeowner's insurance into effect. Seeing that we could have had broken window's or had our shed completely taken out with one of the other trees.
Bob has started cutting the tree into pieces. But, it's only half way done at best. We have a few idea's of what to do with this thing once it's completely cut. The one idea that I like the most is to sell it as firewood. At this point we can't really do that. It's pretty close to spring and we have yet to get through hell weather of summer.
I'm sorry that I don't have picture's to add to this post. I wasn't thinking about it before the tree fell. It could have been that I was to afraid of when it was going to fall that it didn't cross my mind.
I have to admit that this did remind me of growing up and seeing tree's that would fall because of lighting and stuff like that. And seeing what my parents had to go through with getting tree service's in to get them down. Welcome to home owner was one of the first things that ran through my mind with this.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
How Many Licks Does It Take To Get To The Middle Of A Tootsie Roll Pop?
Well, as some of you know, I've been working on an additional project as of late. I've been working on a new website for a friend's business. To see the difference between what he had to what I'm working on, have a look at the following links:
Anyway, I'm not going to talk about the development of this site. Instead I want to tell you about a new project that I've found as a result of this project.
I took on this project with the aspirations of helping out a friend. If you have a look at the progress of the site & compare it to what already exists, you will see that there are improvements in leaps and bounds. I did not take this on to make money. However, it was made perfectly clear to me that I would not do this without payment.
While I was in Portland a package arrived at my house. It was from this friend I'm working with on the website. I wasn't expecting any packages from him and was very intrigued as to what had arrived. Thankfully, I only had to wait one day to discover what was delivered. When I got home from the airport and before I left for Columbia, SC I had couple of moments to check it out.
To my surprise it was the first payment installation for my work on his site. He purchased & shipped to me an automotive component speaker set, Powerbass Extreme 3XL-6C to be exact.
I've been wanting to buy & install these speakers for some time now. I had picked these guys out when I purchased my subs a couple of years ago. The only thing that has stopped me to this point was I couldn't justify the cost of them in comparison to everything else I've had going on. I couldn't have asked for anything more appropriate for the work that I've done with this site & its content matter.
Well, I've decided that since I'm going to finally replace the only factory speakers remaining in my car that I would also go the extra distance to replace the factory speaker wiring. This has proven to be an interesting decision. The factory wires appear to be 20g wire. Based on the research that I've done thus far, for the distance the wires are running, this is an appropriate gauge. Unfortunately, I don't trust the auto industry to have taken the care and consideration in running the wires in an intelligent manor to produce the best sound.
There are many things to take into consideration with signal carrying wires. Signal wires should be kept away from power wires whenever possible. Power wires can introduce noise into the signal. Signal wires should be as close to the same length all the way around the car. The distance the signal needs to travel should be as close to the same as possible to ensure that the sound reproduction occurs at the exact same time. To install wires to speakers of distinct difference lengths will introduce a minor but detectable dissonance within the soundstage. These two considerations are the ones I plan on mitigating with the installation of my own wires.
There is another reason why I've decided that I will install my own speaker wires. The factory system is comprised of a 6 speaker setup (two tweaters and four coaxial 6x9's). The Infinity 6x9's installed by the factory were just poor quality drivers OR the prior owner just abused them. Either way, they were ideal candidates for replacement. I'm happy to be replacing the final set of 6x9's in the car. However, since the installation of my own 4 channel amp, the factory tweeters have been bypassed. This is all fine & dandy since the factory tweeter installation location was in the dashboard pointing directly at the windshield. Pointing any speaker at the windshield is poor soundstage design. I refuse to re-use this installation point. Therefore, since I need to run new wires to relocate the tweeters anyway, I might as well finish the job for the rest of the car.
This is where the title of the post comes into play. In order to properly prepare the environment for the accessibility required to run the wires to all of the locations that I will require access has deemed dissection of my car a necessity. I've taken doors apart before, I've taken segments of a dashboard apart before, but I've never tried to completely disassemble the dashboard. Well, as far as I can see, right now there is only a single vinyl component installed on my dashboard (not counting the steering wheel or driver's kick panel.
I could not believe all of the screws, panels, layers and mess that all of this would create. There are dashboard pieces all over the garage & in my car (not where they belong) that it is just humorous. Between Angel & I working on this together, it took us about 2 1/2 hours just to strip down the car to where it is at. Check out the following slideshow to see exactly what I'm talking about.
(In case you are curious, yes, removing the passenger seat was required to access the factory line level amplifier. I also removed it so I could assess why it stopped sliding on the adjustment track.)
Well, I'm sure there will be more to come on this topic as I make progress getting the new speakers & wires installed in my car. Tomorrow we plan on buying the speaker wire & doing the wire installation (aka, the fun part).
Later.
Read More......
Friday, February 22, 2008
Fishing in Portland
Well, my boss has finally gotten me out to Portland for a visit. To show his hospitality in my first visit to this area, he scheduled a off-site excursion for our team. We went fishing instead of working on Wednesday.
For most of you, fishing doesn't sound all that noteworthy. Typically it is construed by those of you in PA as a leisurely waste of time. This fishing trip was completely different from anything I have experienced previously.
My past fishing trips consisted of tackling up and heading to the local stream, river, or lake. Take a few minutes to find a nice place on the shore and cast out some line & sit and watch. This trip was amazingly different than that. The tackle was some heavy duty stuff. The rods were longer and thicker than anything I've ever owned, the sinkers alone were time and again larger and the reels were a minimum of two times larger in diameter. This was some serious gear. The line test was rated for 40lbs but is "tough line" and is designed to not break unless under the most extreme stress. Anyway, enough about the tackle.
Even the bait was of note. We were fishing with bait the size of a small blue gill or suckerfish. We were using smelt & squid. We were in pursuit of sturgeon. I had been told that these fish can get large, but it wasn't until much later in the trip did I have a chance to fully appreciate the size of these fish. Anyway, sturgeon fishing is as different from the PA fishing in which I am familiar as small game and deer hunting are. They are completely different sports.
Anyway, to facilitate the best chances at catching these dinosaurs of fish, we were fishing from a boat. This was a serious boat too. One of my coworkers is a coast guard accessory member and is an avid boater & fisherman. And serious at his craft as I've ever seen. We were in an 24' Alumaweld Formula Vee outboard fishing boat. This thing boasted (from what I can tell) the best of everything available. He had a combo sonar/gps/fishfinder unit, a radar system, 2 VHF radios, and a CB radio. The power house for this vessel was dual 115HP motors with the optional off-shore rig. This was just simply the most impressive privately owned fishing craft I've ever seen. However, being from an inland city this is not too much of a surprise.
We took a trip up and down the Willamette River. Being from a city that boasts 3 rivers, I thought I knew what I was in for. The 3 rivers in Pittsburgh are a joke. The Willamette River and Columbia river are simply huge. No joke. The commercial vessels that use these rivers would not have a chance on the Ohio, Allegheny or Monongahela Rivers that Pittsburgh boasts. Despite the width of the rivers, thanks to the fishfinder/sonar unit on the boat, I was able to discover that this river ranges from 45-80' deep. Absolutely amazing to think about.
Anyway, enough background on the day. The parties in attendance includes Tim (my boss), Holly (our only female participant this day), Brian (the fish at heart), and myself. The trip of course started out with getting the boat prepped (I didn't have a clue what he was doing & was more than happy to leave that in his capable hands) and then launch. Being somewhat familiar with boating (from boy scouts) I was able to assist somewhat with this activity.
Once the boat is ready to rock & roll, we have a quick safety briefing as to the standard review of the boat's capabilities and safety equipment locations (thankfully, we didn't need them). Once we get away from dock, I was simply impressed by the power this machine was putting out. We were doing 40+ MPH down the river. What an experience. We rode the river all the way down to the junction with the Columbia River and headed back upstream. We finally get to our fishing location shortly after the turn-around.
Once we stop, drop anchor, & get stable in our location we start prepping the rods for casting & getting the fishing event underway. I had an opportunity to take a look at the fish finder and see that the amount of fish available was plenty. Excitement started to take over. While stringing up the rods, I was finally provided an opportunity to understand what a leader is and what it is used for. Also, it was interesting to see the weights were not attached to the swivels but were on a sliding jig instead. It was just absolutely ingenious to see these rigged up as they were. It was very similar and very different all at the same time. For example, we were using 6oz weights. I was previously used to measuring sinkers in grams. The scale is incredible and it didn't take long to find out why.
It didn't take long after getting the bait in the water to start seeing action. These fish were hungry and hitting the rods like I've never seen or felt before. In my fishing experience, the fish were caught not by skill but rather by hitting the bait. This was completely different. There is a skill at getting these fish to be caught on the hook. The bait is so large and arranged in such a way that just by taking hits doesn't mean that there is a fish on the end of the line. You've got to catch it on the end of the line. It was amazing to hold the rod in my hand and feel the fish taking bites of the bait. These are not the little bass or small game from back home.
Well, after what felt like for ever, Brian was able to finally hook a fish. I tried many a time but I guess my technique was fundamentally flawed. Anyway, once it was hooked, he handed the rod to me. When I get the rod, I can feel the size of this thing immediately. This thing had to have been multiple times larger than anything I've ever landed before. To further exemplify this idea was when it started pulling line out of the reel. Mind you, at the same time, the rod was in the shape of a U, well, upside-down. Anyway, I was getting excited. It fought very well, but not so much that I was overwhelmed in the strength fight. It took a good 5-10 minutes to get the 80 some feet of line back on the reel and the fish on the surface. This thing was HUGE!!! 42 1/2 inches!!!
If we had gone fishing a day later, I would have been able to keep it. The minimum keep size for sturgeon is greater than 42" and less than 60". Can you imaging pulling in a 5' fish from the 3 Rivers? That's unheard of. Anyway, it was simply amazing. When I get home I will post the pictures that I have of the species that better shows how ugly they are, but here is a shot of my fish, Brian and me.
I can't imagine how many fillets and dinners this guy would have served. Simply amazing.
On the day, between the 4 of us, we landed 5 fish. This first one was the only one of keeper size. It was a blast.
Ironically, later in the day on one of the smaller fish, Holly was able to set & reel in a fish all on her own on her very first attempt. The 3 of us were totally stunned. :)
With fishing that was this exciting, I could certainly see myself picking the sport up again in the unlikely event that I would move to an area like this or to a coast. However, in my current financial state, I doubt that I would be able to afford the sport anyway, as the boat, rods, reels & tackle at this scale is quite an investment. Although, I would recommend to anyone to take an opportunity like this one if it ever made available.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
RTFM - In The Kitchen
There are times when you should truly take the advice as provided in the title. "Read The Fine Manual". Well, in this case, it was a recipe. I had to have read this thing 3 or 4 times before I started cooking. Each and every time I read the instructions, I came to the same conclusion. It wasn't until it was WAY too late did I realize my mistake. Thankfully, I didn't ruin dinner into the trash can. I got lucky this time.
For this episode in the kitchen, I was attempting to make Island Pork Tenderloin. I thought I had everything covered, until the first set of instructions were improperly completed. After getting the dry rub mixed up and applied to the tenderloin, the instructions said to "brown, 4 minutes".
Well, I managed to mistake the meaning of this entry. I dropped the tenderloin into the skillet and set it down for 4 minutes on EACH side. It was only until later that I realized it was to brown each side and this should only take 4 minutes. Anyway, part of the confusion that I ran into was that this tenderloin was roughly in the shape of a square or cylinder. I only later realized that there were 2 pieces of tenderloin that were frozen together. The defrost cycle didn't do as well of a job this time around and they were pretty convincingly tied together. Therefore, after the 16 minute "browning" time I had put forth did I realize that 4 minutes was total, not per side.
Well, after this is all said & done, I come to pray that the remaining step of baking a marinade into the tenderloin would render it as edible. This time I was lucky and it was moist and delicious.
One of these days I'm going to ruin an entire meal. I dread that day.
8 bit Video Game Revival
I happened to stumble upon this website today. I don't even remember how I found it, but I had to share it with you.
Someone has decided to take a few of our favorite 8 bit video games and recreate them into a human stop motion video. Have a look over at Project GAME OVER.
If you would like to have a look at the specific projects they've completed thus far, I have them listed individually for you.
Tetris
Pole Position
Space Invaders
Pong
Now that you may have reviewed their projects to date, I would like to share my take on the project. I think it is hilarious. To think about the effort that they put into getting these accomplished inspires quite an interesting mental image. Think about it, on a couple of these, they have quite a few complex constructions to make. People, left and right move from one chair to the next and sit there for a photo to be taken. And they do this for a few hours. I think the max time was 6 hours. That's craziness, but cool.
It sounds to me to be a labor of love for the guys producing it and the extras, known as "pixels" have just got to be good friends or really enthusiastic about the completion of this video.
Once they get the video/photographic process complete, they take it one step further to voice record the audio. That's amazing. It's fun & a perfect fit for the apparent goal of the project.
Well, enough of that for now, I hope you find this as fun and interesting as I have.
Peace.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
How NOT To Install A New Hard Drive
Late last year Angel presented to me a problem. She was out of hard drive space. She was working on school projects, transporting them to and fro and since her projects are audio related (some of them video too) they take up some serious space.
When I built her computer, I had taken this possibility into consideration. I got her a 75G SATA hard drive for nothing but project work. Well, it just so happened that when she moved to GA before me, I was having difficulty with my rigs at that time. I took the liberty of using some of her project drive as a backup location. Even after I moved down to join her, there wasn't much motivation to get that data off of her machine. Well, at this time it was needed. I took my files back to my computer and uninstalled some games from her computer. Between these two activities, I managed to free up somewhere in the neighborhood of 15G of space. Well, it wasn't but moments later that she consumed a good portion that space.
This all took place right before the wedding. We really didn't have the money to be spending on either of our machines and time was a premium too. Even while we were on our honeymoon, we had discussed buying her a new hard drive shortly after we got home. Ironically, this didn't happen. It became a low priority and all but forgotten.
It is pretty well known that as a couple, I'm the big spender of the two of us. That's saying something significant. I'm pretty conservative with what I'll spend money on and she's even more so. Amazing, how did I find a woman that doesn't like to shop? Anyway, since I am the spender and I know how to curb my spending (by not going to stores or temping myself), it took quite a while for me to be in a place to peruse the prices of hard drives.
Then, before we knew it, it was Christmas shopping season again. In our shopping, we visited Fry's a couple of times. I even managed to go alone. Well, on my solo trip to Fry's I took an opportunity to check out their hard drive selection. I was amazed. I was able to find a .5 Terabyte (Western Digital 7200 RPM SATA 3.0 16MB buffer) hard drive for a mere $100. That was a deal I was not willing to walk away from.
I initially had intentions of giving it to Angel as a Christmas gift. However, once she caught wind that I "might" have bought her a piece of computer hardware as a gift she wasn't happy. After some additional consideration, since we'd already discussed the purchase, it wouldn't have been much of a gift. We both knew she needed more space and the purchase was already consented, so, as a gift, it would not have been fair. Anyway, it wasn't like it was going to be her only gift. So I broke down and told her what I had found.
Well, part of the low cost of the drive was that it was an OEM model. It didn't come with the data or power cables included. I wasn't concerned about this because I knew that the motherboard for Angel's computer came with two sets. Well, after a few weeks of the drive sitting on the desk, Angel began to question when it was going to be completed. Well, once I found the motivation to search for the cables amongst my collection of parts, I came up dry. To get this guy installed, I would have to return to Fry's again.
Saturday, when we got out of bed, we went shopping. Of course, one of the places on the list was Fry's. The rest of the shopping was unexciting unless you want to hear about the snow and lack of eggs at the grocery store, but that's a completely different story.
Once we get home, Angel throws the bag with the cables in it and says to get to work. She didn't want me to help with the groceries, she wanted me to get it installed. I see her resolve to get it done was much bigger than mine. One of the additional tasks I had to do was swap our video cards because apparently Pro Tools does not like the g-force line or needed a driver update or something. Since I was tearing into the computer, swapping the video cards was easier since I knew that the ATI card that was in my PC worked like a charm.
Back to the hard drive.
Well, the SATA controller in the computer is configured to be a hardware RAID. With all of my experience with RAID on SCSI, I made an assumption regarding how this was supposed to proceed. When I booted the computer, I immediately jumped into the controller BIOS application. Since I didn't want the two SATA drives to be in a single RAID array, I thought I would have to create a new RAID 0 specification for the new hard drive. As I immediately found out, this was not the case. When I selected the RAID 0 option and said, "Yes, I am sure", the controller placed the two drives into a single RAID 0 array. This is so not what I wanted. I removed the RAID 0 definition from the two drives, but the damage was already done. Assigning them into a single container blew away the MBR on the existing drive.
I booted the computer and initially discovered that the drive letter definition for the old drive was gone. When I opened the Disk Manager, it immediately prompted me to initialize both drives. I knew I had trouble at this point. I don't know what the initialize command would do to the existing drive so I didn't do it. At this point I also wasn't about to play with the new drive so I canceled out of the process completely.
Now that I have definitive knowledge that I trashed the drive, my options have become quite limited. The phone was my only line of attack left. They typical sources (Exile & Darkace) were scouted first to no avail (no answer). Then I gave FloydMonk a call. He was available, but after I explained the situation, he didn't have any direct answers to provide. HOWEVER, he did make the recommendation to talk to his dad.
That idea was a sunbeam that shattered my black cloud. Ever since we were in high school, I have had tons of respect for his dad. Thankfully, I was able to reach his dad. Once I was able to accurately portray what had gone down, he was immediately able to point me in the right direction. He sent me to download GetDataBack. This is not a free product, but was the one that carried his highest recommendation. There was a free alternative, but in this situation, better was better than free.
Once I got the application downloaded, installed and fired up, it was the time of reckoning. Will the application find my data (well, Angel's data)? This was very important. Three plus years of data to include all of her AI school work was on this drive. If I lost the data, she would have strung me up in the backyard from a tree by my balls, naked and lord only knows what else.
Well, immediately the application was able to find the MFR (Master File Record) and started to spew out filenames and sector locations. We're in business. So, I let the application run for an hour or so. When it was complete, it said that it had found 64G of data on the drive. According to Angel, this was right on the money. Speaking of money, it was also time to spend some. Granted, this was ultimately my fault, but I was both relieved and frustrated that I had to spend $80 to restore the data.
Much of that data was literally irreplaceable, eighty dollars is nothing in comparison to the value that Angel placed on her work. And rightly so. I would be crushed if I were to loose a hard drive, but life would go on. Conversely, Angel still needs all of that data to complete her degree and to have a portfolio to assist her with getting a job. The damage would have been immense.
To shorten the remainder of the story, I setup the new hard drive wrong the first time. Avid software is very particular about the setup of the equipment it is to use. Pro Tools will NOT use a dynamic drive in windows. So, even after I finished the data restoration, I had to format the drive again and re-restore it to a basic drive configuration. As it turned out, I didn't want a dynamic drive anyway, but I didn't clearly understand what a dynamic drive was. Dynamic drives are a software RAID. Clearly not what I wanted. I was glad the software stopped me from moving forward.
So, in summary, boot your OS after installing a drive before thinking you know what to do. Wait to see if the OS acknowledges the new hardware before trying to take lower level configuration steps. I honestly don't think I would be here today if I had irreparably lost that data. The good news is, the new drive is configured correctly, Pro Tools is working beautify (even better now that it has its video card back) and the data that was on the damaged drive was restored without issue. All is good in the world again.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Disposable Computer
The days of the disposable PC are finally here. You can buy a machine that intentionally prevents you from storing data on it and costs little enough that the entire system becomes plug & chuck. I have just discovered a brand new laptop (technically a sub-notebook) from Asus will cost you between $250 and $500. Really, even a $500 machine and is fully functioning out of the box machine is almost unheard of today.
I was poking around in my book marks today and found a link that I hadn't looked at in a very long time. I was about to delete it because I remember why I marked it in the first place. I was impressed that some online company would custom paint your computer for you. Anyway, since I have no use for this, I was about to circular file it. Well instead, I checked out what was on the page. I happened to come across a sticker for a website that I wasn't familiar, Virtual-Hideout. So, I was intrigued. I hit up the website and found this mod that they referred to as " One Eee to Rule Them All".
After reading this post, I was curious what in the hell a Eee was and why did it have so much modding interest. I Googled Eee but I wasn't finding anything that would answer my question. I resorted to the next best research tool for technological acronyms, Wikipedia. A simple search for Eee delivered me promptly to ASUS Eee PC documentation page.
I was quite amazed that an Eee mod was a modification made to this specific model of machine. I won't bore you with the specs and details of this machine, you can read that for yourself on the Wiki site. But the most interesting aspect to this machine is its cost, intentional lack of storage space, and it runs Linux with KDE.
From what I can tell, this machine is a small form factor. There are people complaining out there that the keyboard is too small and it only has a 7" diagonal monitor that runs 600 X 480. The boot time is pretty impressive also. Anyway, if someone is looking for a dumb internet terminal, here it is. I don't think that you'll be doing too much gaming on this system and the small form factor might cause eye strain if used for long periods of time. However, if you are only using your full size desktop computer to browse the internet or are willing to store all of your personal information on thumb drives or carry a portable USB harddrive with your machine, this is an easy sell.
I was recently thinking about getting my hands on such a machine. My work has me scheduled to do some traveling in the near future and being machineless is less than desirable, yet manageable. For personal reasons, an internet machine for my drill weekends and trips to Pittsburgh, to have my own machine handy would prove useful. However, my search has ended, even before this came along, as my employer has decided to upgrade my work PC and I was subsequently able to talk them into a laptop. I won't be getting it any time in the near future, but the fact it is in the works is promising. I think I'll put a personal i-net machine on hold until I have the extra money to invest in it, right now debt management is key. Though, it is nice to know options such as this are available when I'm ready.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Friends & Conflict - A Reflection
Friendships are an amazing thing when they work. No one can tell you how or why you choose your friends, but they come into your life for a reason.
Working thru any design process is rough. It is even more compounded when the people you are designing with are a few of your closest friends. Differences in viewpoint, opinion and forethought can cause a multitude of issues. Within the past year and a half, I have come to know how much stress friendships can weather.
Since the beginning of a project that will remain nameless, Exile & I have been working in our free time trying to design a web application. We are now in our second design phase since we've managed to complete the first iteration of the project life cycle with blackjack. Anyway, we are now engulfed in our second round of design debates & decisions regarding the transition from blackjack to hearts.
Design work is tedious. There are many details (large and small) that need to be ironed out. I just with the ironing process was not so difficult. There are many reasons why ironing is difficult. There are those, like me, that will hold on to a notion until the issues and justifications that it will not work are beyond a shadow of a doubt. I don't know why I'm this way, but I am, and I am striving to make progress forward to attempt to investigate the alternatives further before denouncing them. I guess I feel that I want to contribute more during the project in more than just getting the implementation working for the design. I know that I'm as much of a contributer to this project as the rest of us involved, but the majority of the major components seem to originate from a single source. Although, the designs are sound and do work where my designs or suggestions are certainly lacking. Anyway, enough about me. That is not what I was intending on discussing here.
The other personality at play here is one that has consistently generated superior designs that have been exhaustively examined, manipulated, and reorganized until they are a polished & completed idea from start to finish. Therefore, when presenting these ideas, the ability to be confident without a doubt that the design plan is superior is easy to maintain. However, the lacking area is the conveyance of the message.
There have been many times where one of two things happen. Either we both have the same idea, we debate the topic for an hour just to realize we're both saying the same thing. These are frustrating when they happen, however, resolve themselves and permit progression to other topics. However, the alternative isn't so innocent at times. We've had a couple of issues that have caused some serious conflict. This usually occurs when we have to distinctly differing opinions as to how something should function and why. We debate back & forth rehashing many of the same points for both sides and yet, somehow, a couple key points for one side of the proposal are not conveyed well. These usually end when I have an epiphany regarding what was said and what it meant. Unfortunately, reaching the epiphany usually takes a couple of days from the time the conversation took place. During this time a great sense of frustration begins to emanate from each of us. Although, once this roadblock, whatever it might be, is hurdled, the frustration ceases, the project moves on, and is then later forgotten. The way it should be.
I can't remember before this project when either of us have had these major problems. I am starting to think that the lack of visual communication is making these conversations so painful. We've historically have had some medium of drawing available. Whether it is a notebook and pencil, whiteboard, or a Kings napkin & a crayon. Regardless, the visualization of the advanced concepts that we've been needing to discuss seem to require more than words and other text based communication.
Anyway, I've deviated once again. Now that I've got all of the background out of the way, the message I was trying to get to is that regardless of how many times we've hit this wall or bicker back & forth on our project related issues, our friendship has weathered it all. I have found it to be interesting that even during these times that we can drop any project talk, talk personally and it's like nothing has ever happened. It is almost like a well established separation of work & personal life with co-workers.
Exile and I have weathered our share of these situations and our friendship couldn't be better. With the number of years that we've been friends, I would certainly hope that a hobby project (regardless of our shared excitement and intimacy with it) would not be enough to destroy what we've got as friends. I can't promise that the aforementioned situations will not happen again, nor can I say that I will be able to prevent them all. However, what I am sure of is that the relationship that we share shall again weather those.
Exile, thank you.
A quick lesson in communications for the masses; the process of communication takes place in 5 distinct phases.
When trying to get the exact idea across, phase 2 & 3 have just as much bearing on how phases 4 & 5 are completed. Regardless of the intention of the message, if 4 & 5 are wrong due, or not, to phase 2 & 3, the communication attempt fails. Remember, the road to hell was paved with the best of intentions. It has become quite apparent to me that when I'm phase 4 & 5 in these scenarios, I'm not getting the idea clearly. Therefore, I will attempt in the future to accept the message I've been provided and search for the meaning within to ease this process. Although, it very well may add time into the equation, but I'd rather take more time than to risk damage or loss of this friendship.
Snow & Fire
Well, I've finally broken down. It has gotten pretty damn cold down here. It even snowed the other day. Not just a flurry either. The stuff actually stuck to the yards, not the roads, but it lied down for a little while. It only lasted overnight but it was more than enough for me.
Anyway, the snow isn't the point here, however, it is the cause of the conversation.
Since fall I've been meaning to get a chimney sweep into the house to take care of our flues. Well, that hasn't yet happened. Technically, we've got 3 of them to be concerned about. We've got the furnace flue, the dryer exhaust tube and the chimney flue. Since we've moved in, the dryer has been functioning (though I suspect that I need to get that cleaned by spring); the furnace is working without a hitch, and well, the fireplace had yet to be employed.
The fireplace is the one I've had the most concern about. I think it has more to do with a shady usage description from the previous owners of the house more than anything. The fireplace has an exposed flame that is truly a potential hazard if the flue isn't clean. All of the commercials about chimney fires and everything has had me greatly concerned. I was told by the previous owners that the fireplace will support either gas or real wood. If it has just been used with gas, the carbon deposits don't bother me as much, however, wood will leave creosote deposits. Creosote is the element present in the chimney that is most liable for fires.
For this reason and this reason alone, I've been very fearful about using said appliance. However, snow coming down and the largest room in my house is freezing. I didn't want to turn up the furnace, so I stared to do some research into my firebox. I was sifting around thru the "sand" and stuff below the logs. I was unable to locate any evidence of cellulose present in the box. This seemed to indicate to me that wood either has not been used or has been long since cleaned up. I don't want to speculate on this too much.
The next concern I've had about using the fireplace was the lack of knowledge with its use. I've never had a fireplace, real or otherwise, before. Therefore, since it is a potentially dangerous appliance both to my house and my health, I had some research to complete. I had questions regarding concepts like the following:
So, I hit the online research tool that I know best, Google. I was able to find out that my gas logs are of the vented variety. This really isn't relevant, but it did help me find an owners/user manual online and understand how they work. However, armed with a manual (not for mine, but one none the less), I was able to determine what was safe, what do to with that shit in the firebox.
So, now armed with the usage understanding, it was time to see if the thing worked or not. I got the "sand" setup, logs setup, lit a stick and hit the gas (mind you it didn't really go in that order or end this way exactly, but I thougth I'd spare my stupidity for another time). It was a beautiful site. It caught the light and has been working beautifully for the past two nights.
Angel was all surprised because I lit it. She was at work while I was doing all of this. She came home to a dark house, but when she came in, she quickly noticed why. Of course the 20 questions followed, but I had expected that. She knew how adamant I was about not using it until it was cleaned, but the weather saw to it to expedite the time line with the use of it.
So, in summary, I love the fire, it might be inefficient, but it is effective. It looks nice and warms the room. I would recommend having one to anyone. I will further quantify this message with leather gloves will NOT adequately protect you from the heat of a hot log. No matter how quick you are, the heat will travel quicker. That is all I'm going to say about that.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Ideas
For those married guys out there, read this, it might save you some headaches.
I'm not saying that my example has been a headache, but it did happen to change some of my priorities for me. if you have ever said to yourself, "Wow, it would be a good idea to do .... [Fill in the blank]" and if this was in reference to something for the wife/significant other/girlfriend, then you should know all about this.
There is a time & place to present ideas that the wife might be interested in. As I have recently learned, it should only be AFTER all of the things you want have been completed. I had two objectives to accomplish today.
Well, due to my big mouth, these priorities were altered. Granted, neither of my objectives for the day truly had a deadline, therefore this was not a big issue. However, for future reference, this is what did occur and why.
Yesterday, we did some shopping at Sears. We both had a few things that we wanted to get for the house and had some giftcards to use. Therefore, we picked up the following:
Well, when we returned home with our booty, it was time to find homes for what we purchased. Well, as you can imagine, we now had more pots & pans than we had homes for. I had already devised an idea as to where to put them, but had yet to have presented the idea to Angel. Well, it would seem that now would be as good of a time as any. I presented to her that we create a pots & pans rack to put on one of our walls in the kitchen. So, I explained my vision to her and apparently this was too good of an idea. Once I was motivated to start working around the house today, Angel asked if Home Depot/Lowes was on the agenda. Well, as of that point, it became an overriding activity for us today.
We took our giftcards for Lowes with us and headed out. We picked up the supplies for the construct and returned home. It turns out the rack supplies came to the exact amount that we had in giftcards, man, was that ever nice. :) The items we purchased for this rack included the following:
Notice that the cable is not mentioned, it wasn't forgotten, we just happened to have some at home in the shed.
So, when we get home, I test fit everything together and we're good so far. Once I take it a back apart, do a test fit of the closed S loops to see if then will fit on the pipes. No-go! Damn. There are 15 of these things and I have to unbend each one of them. So, once I get them unbent to fit the pipe and the other end open to hold the pots & pans, I tape the threads on the pipes and head to the shed to do some painting. the parts were all different colors and conditions, therefore, we wanted to make it uniform. I get to painting the parts, which didn't take to long.
At this point, it occurs to me that I should have dealt with the closed loop S hooks after applying the paint. The paint will take 2 hours to dry (due to the temperature, our high today was around 45). Unfortunately, by the time the paint application is finished, it is already 5 PM. This
does not give me too much time to work in the yard. Oh, well. I will get what I can completed. So, the fence is down now, and the front three vertical supports are out of the ground. There are only 4 posts left to deal with and I'll get to them eventually. Also, note, that Angel did do some cleaning while I was working, so I can't really complain too much that my objectives were not met, as they were hit to some degree or another.
Once I'm done with what I can get to today in the yard, it is now 6 PM and I still have an hour to kill. I putz around on my computer for a bit and realize that it is now 7:15 PM. Time to return to work on the rack. I check the parts by flashlight and to my surprise, they are dry. I take them down and into the house to finish. It is too cold to be subjecting myself to working outside for no reason. Once the tape is taken off of the threads, the assembly begins. The actual assembly of the rack is completed in much shorter time than earlier because I already figured out the tricks of the system.
Keep in mind, threaded pipe is not designed to be joined into circles with itself. Thankfully, water will not be traversing this thing, one of the pipes is not completely tight because the threads are opposing when trying to get it into one fitting and then into another. Therefore, a comprise was struck, tightened one side real well and then loosen it to thread it into the other. The important part is that it works.
Once the structure is constructed, I start working on the cabling. This took longer than I had expected, but then again, what does? My first and second trial with this process resulted in cables that were WAY too long to suite the need. Finally, the third attempt got it to the length required. If it hasn't been obvious yet as to what the cables are for, it is to prevent the pots & pans from ripping the bracket off the wall if it were to get too heavy. Pictures will be provided at the end to clarify how they play into the system.
Now that the cables are in place, I mount the "floor fittings" to the wall. Now, I was lazy and didn't bother looking for studs (thus the additional cable supports), so I used screws that were designed to act like drywall anchors and screws in one. Also, since I wasn't looking for studs, I put the screws in last so not to tempt the structure from pulling itself off of the wall.
So, I did get something accomplished today. I think it even turned out pretty well. Although, it wasn't on my list of things to do, although my to-do list for the day wasn't vital, so I didn't mind doing it. Although, next time I have any thoughts about a home improvement project, I will wait until my to-dos are done first before presenting it. :) Just a word to the wise that just because you offer an idea for the future, the future might be closer than you anticipate.
As promised, here are the pictures:
