So, time goes on, more work goes in, and we're still not done. The progress is certainly apparent, but completion is still far away. So, what have we been doing? With 40+ (I think I've lost official count at this point), this little adventure of ours is still a job in the making. It seems that with each milestone we reach, the end goal gets further away. Well, not really, but sometimes it does feel that way. Anyway, the crazy task of removing the leaf debris from the yard is now officially complete. Angel finished up that task last week.
So, you might say, we've found our backyard. Umm, well, not quite. The years upon years of leaf debris has been relocated, unfortunately, the yard still appears quite disheveled. The next daunting task that has begun as of yesterday is to relocate the celluloid debris and major weeds from the yard. In the years of neglect the yard has experienced there is quite the collection of vertical and horizontal brush that needs to be addressed. I've spent some time in the yard with the bushwhacker chopping down anything that I feel the tool can handle. Instead of cleaning as I go, I have just hit everything that I can find at one time and will address the cleaning afterward.
Thankfully, this perspective has paid off already. With the amount of crumbled stone, ivy and other vine like growth, and other miscellaneous tree debris (branches, twigs, ect. [aka cellulose]) trying to clean-up the small stuff to find bare earth is much easier with the tall stuff out of the way. At this time, with the exception of the undergrowth at the creek bed border, any weed, vertically growing vine, wild bush and seedling tree has been eradicated from our yard. Now the cleanup of that chopping is well underway. We're using pure muscle to yank up the vine growth (that stuff is a pain in the ass), rakes to collect the debris, and shovels (with the wheelbarrow) for anything else that piles up along the way. I would estimate that about 5/8 of the target yard area is in a condition to call clear.
There has been one recent development that I'm less than happy about. Apparently with my yard work yesterday, I managed to find some poison ivy. I was wearing my issue brown gortex boots, jeans, gloves, and a short sleeve shirt. That being said, guess where I have it. Yup, you got it, on my arms. This time does not have the appearance that it is going to be a horrible condition to overcome. I know that as a scout and from playing in the Court School parking lot that I've had this much worse. I guess at this age that it will be just a minor annoyance as my time outside and spent sweating is kept to a minimum now. Nothing like when I was younger whereas almost everyday consisted some sweat developing activity that would absolutely irritate the affliction.
Anyway, we're making a lot of progress in the yard. However, if you think that getting the little debris cleared of the yard is as far as we're going to have to go, you would be wrong. Even with the leaves, major debris, trees and other vertical growth chopped down that we would be nearing completion of the yard discovery and ready to decide what we're going to do with this additional functional land. Well, unfortunately, with the yard in the condition that it is currently in, that is not the case. Yes, once the little debris is removed we will have "found" our back yard. Unfortunately, finding it and being able to tend for it are two totally different topics.
Once we get the little shit out of the way, our next move will be to prepare the land for maintenance. One of the key features/tools that will be required to be functional in this new area is the lawnmower. Well, our land is very rocky. There are rocks all over the place. Many of them are jutting up and out of the ground in such a way that will prevent safe operation of a lawnmower in this area. Therefore, we will need to manually pluck these rocks from the ground and relocate them. We're not going to toss the rock into the creek bed because we have some other ideas that will give them an opportunity to do some good.
At this time, regardless of the ground cover we choose to employ on our yard, we have 3 construction projects that we would like to complete in the yard.
We don't yet know where in the yard these guys are going to go, but before any new install landscape goes into place, we'll have to determine how we're going to address these new features.
So, lets examine the projects individually.Fire pit:
Well, Gwinnett County is unlike Allegheny County in that we are permitted to burn. However, typically burning is restricted to the non summer months. However, when you install a pit that is designed specifically for controlling the potential run of the fire, the restriction is all but gone. Since we are also trying to create entertainment features in the yard, the pit has potential for use all year round. The expectation for the creation of this feature will revolve around the use of rock that is already present in the yard. There is plenty of it all around the yard that I think I could create a functional pit with minor expense with what we already have.Horseshoe Pits:
My intention here is to create a single game area that is up to specification with official regulations for all ages. Based on the brief research that I have already completed, I will need to get some experience with concrete mixing and working. The other options for material include paving stones, wood planks, or some other ground covering and controlling device. Cost and effort will determine which approach we take. To fit specifications with the regulations for kids, women, and men at the same time will require me to create a throwing platform that extends well forward of the pins (13' to be exact).
In addition to the pitching lanes, the creation of the individual pits will be an engineering feat. From what I've read and what I intend on doing is to use a 3'x2' concrete rectangle of variable width with a minimum depth of 6" (variable to prevent water from standing on it, slanting out from center) that will have the pin pushed thru at the correct angle while it is still wet. This concrete slab should hold the pin stable longer than what a coffee can or other anchoring system would do. I am thinking of taking this design a bit further and wrapping the hole for the pins in a rubber sheath to absorb some of the impact before hitting the concrete. Another addition would be to include additional horizontal support to the concrete by adding segments of the uprights from the fence that I removed from the yard.
Above and around the concrete, I anticipate using #57 granite gravel to facilitate the drainage from the game playing environment. Above the granite will be a layer of weed blocking landscaping material and then topped with a minimum of 6" of sand. Based on the dimensions of a regulation court, 7'x3' I will require .69 cubic yards of sand and something less than that amount for the gravel for both pits. Thankfully, I have found a local bulk landscaping company that will deliver this bulk amount of material at a reasonable cost including the delivery costs.
Furthermore, I intend on including a backboard into the design. Therefore, rebarb, wood planks and lag bolts will be in my future. I have a feeling that once I get into this, the construction will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 including the purchase of the game equipment. Unfortunately, I foresee more than a single weekend to get this project completed as I think I'll be doing the majority of the work alone or with only Angel's assistance. I have heard of this project being completed in a day, but unlike some people (yeah, you know who you are), I don't have as extensive of a support chain to assist with the grunt work.Boccie Ball Court:
The last project is also going to be the most expensive, if done properly. As I'm sure to no surprise, I have done research on this topic also. A properly designed boccie ball court is 90' by 13' by international standards. However, in America it is acceptable to have a court as small as 60' by 10'. The court is to have raised walls to stop the balls from leaving the court. In my pursuit of examples of what some other people have done, I have found The Joy of Boccie and within their court design section, they've highlighted a few at-home court installations. I also found it interesting that one of them are in the Pittsburgh area. Anyway, seeing their design, implementation routes and final products, I'm not sure if I can afford any of these designs. Please have a look and see what I'm talking about.Carmine D'Agostino, Franklin, MA - Gold Seal Standard
Frank Scenna, Canonsburg, PA - The idea I'm thinking of replicating
John Scarpelli, Beavercreek, OH
Henry Salustro, Marion, MA
So, as you can see, the durable construction of one of these guys is quite involved and on a quite a larger scale in comparison to either of the other yard projects. The estimated cost of just rock material for a 60'x10' structure with 6" of each material (gravel & granite dust) is going to be close to $720 and that is not including the delivery costs or the other materials required for the build.
As an alternative, I am considering the less involved design to cut the rock requirements in half 3" gravel & 3" dust and then covering it with outdoor carpeting. However, due to the desire to complete this project in the most expedient period of time and cost being a factor to determine how quickly it can be completed, I am thinking that even at $360 for rock will be prohibitive.
Lastly, another alternative would be to build our court with the building materials (wood, bolts, rebarb, ground cloth) that either of the aforementioned designs would entail (to some degree or another) and then replace the displaced dirt back into the box. Mind you, this would not be a direct replacement. We would have to sift the dirt (I'm sure I can rent or borrow something to do that) to remove the rock and unwanted materials from the area to create a smooth surface. This concept would be the least expensive and quickest method to implementation over the other options. The only major drawback to this method would be the "mud pit" that would likely be created after a rain. However, if we were really hard up to play, we could turn the pit or something to create a usable playing surface.Horseshoes and Boccie Accents
One feature that I want to build to accent both of these projects is a score keeping location. My original though was to build pedestals at one end or the other of the courts that would be reminiscent of a miniature golf course. These pedestals would be topped with either a scorecard under plexi to be used with a china crayon or a whiteboard & dry erase markers with the score card outlined with pinstripes. However, after taking a lok at the "gold standard" court design for boccie, I am reconsidering this design. I think the cribbage centralized score card design is a nice design. I just might have to take his cue and make mine that way. I could use a centralized post for both scorecards that would face each court accordingly as I plan on the two courts to be parallel with one another.
Another feature that I want to put into place will not be immediate. I would like to add lighting to my courts also. I know that I hate it when I'm at a picnic and have to stop playing my game (either or) because of darkness. However, the requirement of cost will be prohibitive to get this installed this year with trying to get these 3 projects completed. That being said, will I get all three of these completed this year? I don't know. Will the finances be there to drop $300+ each on two different "pleasure" activities? I guess only time will tell.
I know that there are tons of details in here and I have high hopes. However, I wanted to document this information more for myself than for your information. As with anything else, once I've done the research on something, I don't want to loose it. With a topic like this, I guess here is just as good as any other. If and when we get ourselves involved in making this a reality, I'm sure you will hear about it.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Yet Again - Yard Work
Brief Update
This is just a preview post for a few topics that I will be posting following this one with further details. It has been a little while since my last contribution to my blog. I felt that some of the recent topics required a follow-up.
1. Workout - Well, since the back incident, the P90X program has not been resurrected as of yet. However, I pledged that I was going to start running & other preparation for my up coming PT test. Well, that hasn't worked out so much better either. Since my second run last week, I have yet to go again. This past weekend had much to do with that, which lead directly into a user conference for work and then more yard work. Hopefully, next week will bring more disciplined results.
2. Yard work - Yes, the yard work continues. We have well exceeded 40 man hours of work that has been invested in this adventure. Unfortunately, I heard a rumor that rain is expected this weekend and in the event that it does appear, that will thwart further progress there. I'm hoping for a poor meteorological read for the weekend outlook and that I might be able to call the "finding of the yard" complete. See the follow-up post for more information as to what we've done recently and some of the things we're planning.
3. Car Stereo - Well, I competed in my first MECA Sound Quality Competition this past weekend. Lets just say that based on my results I have something to be proud of in my car. However, my creation is not exactly "audiophile" quality yet. Unfortunately, the leap further into that classification will be long in coming. See the follow-up post on the topic for more details.
4. Alabama Trip days 1 and 2 - The early departure for Alabama was credit to the White's. We had been invited to share in the event of a friend renewing their vows. We took the trip and had some notable situations occur in route that will be contained within the follow-up post, but what it boils down to is that the trip was safe, fun, and enlightening. Just a quick note, southern weddings are distinctly from their northern counterparts. However, it doesn't diminish the special nature of the event or the enjoyment of participating, it is just different from what I've come to expect.
So, be sure to check out the additional details on the 3 topics that require follow-up and as always I hope you enjoy this little window into our life together along with our trials, tribulations, and events that we have the opportunity to share with you.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Learning Your Physical Capabilities
Once again, it is that time of year that I need to prepare for my APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test). The Army has a battery of three successive tasks to participate in that need to be completed to a specific standard to pass. The standards are established based on age and sex. In each event the standards correlate to a specific score. Each individual is to pass the test with a minimum score of 180 points in which each event must be passed with a minimum of 60 points. Just because you score more than 180 and one or two events are below 60 points, you will still fail. The score charts go to 100 points per event. However, it is possible to score above 300, although, you will be required to exceed 100 points in all three events, not just one. The score card can be found here. The three events are push-ups (PU), sit-ups (SU), and the 2-mile run.
I've heard of people scoring 259 points and still fail. This 259 represented two 100 point events and a 59 point event. In this example, the 59 point event was the 2-mile run. This has to be one of the worst ways to fail the test IMO. From what I recall, this was a 5 second difference that meant the difference between pass and fail.
I have experienced similar failures but my failures were never toeing the line to the extended scale. It has only been within the recent years that I have been able to consistently score above 200 after three events. The endurance required to completed each of these events to any exceptional level has never be something I've focused on. Granted, promotion points are gained by scoring higher on your PT test, but even then the points have not been motivation to do better since I was unable earn a promotion.
Anyway, I've started training for my 2-mile run just last week. Since December (and my back incident I have not worked out with the P90X program for multiple reasons). Anyway, since the P90X program I would have expected to have less preparation to complete. I have yet to test myself on the PU or SU portion of the test, but the 2-mile run is my greatest bane that I need to prepare for. Also, since P90X, I have a new training aid with which I can prepare with. The heart rate monitor.
I ran track in high school and have usually been able to bounce back into running condition pretty quickly. For the past few years, my running preparation has also started out with utter failure. Times above 20 minutes for 2-miles because of a walking requirement. For the first time I can understand why with a quantifiable reason.
Today was the second time that I've run for this training bout. The first run was in excess of 24 minutes and I had to walk 4 times. Today's run was less than 19 minutes and only walked once. I don't know exactly how long because I accidentally reset my timer. I saw 3:XX on my watch when I reset it and was at 14:31 when I finished. That could mean that I was at 17:31 thru 18:30. Well, I have figured out what is prompting the walking. Each walking bout has been matched with excessively high heart rates. By excessively high I am meaning 195 bpm or higher. During the first run I recorded a max bpm of 199. Today's run maxed out at 201 bpm before I had to walk.
You might be saying to yourself, OMG, if my heart rate was that high it would want to explode. You might be surprised. My issue was not my heart. Obviously my heart rate was accelerated, but I wasn't having any chest related pains. My issue was in my vision. I thought I was about to pass out. That high of a heart rate requires much more oxygen to keep your body happy. Well, mine wasn't very happy with me. I was starting to get light headed and seeing my peripheral vision turning black. I felt that it would be a bad thing for me to pass out in the middle of my route so I dropped to a walk and recovered to a more comfortable 17X heart rate before picking back up to a run. If I were to pickup my breath rate to accommodate my heart rate, I would likely have begun hyperventilating. I highly doubt that hyperventilating and running would have had good results.
Anyway, once I am able to complete a 2-mile run without stopping I will be able to establish what my target heart rate needs to be and set my watch threshold to accommodate that. The watch is setup to beep fast when over your training heart rate and beep slow when your heart rate is too slow. Well, right now I have the beep disabled because otherwise it would beep the entire time. During my P90X workout, it was approximated that my max training heart rate was to be approximately 180. During any of these training events my heart rate would spike above that number for some period of time. However, it did let me know how hard I was pushing. Now that I'm running and have a distinct standard that I am trying to accomplish, stopping or slowing down is not an option. Therefore, I will have to adjust my watch to the run requirements. Then, once I determine what the ideal max should be, I will know how hard to push or not to push once the test comes about.
However, for the first time, I think I will be able to train according to some variable distance with personal justification. Once I tackle the 2-mile run without peaking over the watch I will have a tracking device to let me know where/when I should stop running that will continue the conditioning that I've abandoned in the past. Historically, my training has been limited to 2 miles or just over that. My goal was to improve the 2 mile time but I never pushed myself to go further. Using the watch, I should be able to continue running after 2 miles and based on heart rate, know when I've hit my new distance threshold should be and strive to meet the standard at that distance. Rinse. Lather. Repeat. Therefore, my 2-mile time should be drastically improved and above the standard than just meeting it.
The only question is: how long will this process take? I don't know. I will be running every other day (weekends optional) until June. Is two months adequate to excel that much, I don't know, but this new biofeedback utility should provide interesting results.
As for the other two events in the test, I plan to follow a regimen on the alternate day (weekends optional) of push-ups. Not sure if I'll do either a free-form routine or utilizing the P90X program that requires the most push-ups and then the P90X Ab Ripper 15 minute sit-up routine. I don't like doing straight sit-ups. I don't have the resources to hold my feet comfortably and I know that the Ab Ripper kicks my ass as it is. We'll see how well this works out.
I doubt that I'll bring up my APFT training progress until after the official test, so I wouldn't expect any unless such a time that I might want to share with you a new bpm max.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Why Do I Want To Be An Army Officer?
Well, the answer to this question has some politically correct answers, however, I'm not going to only give you those answers. Oh, those answers are definitely part of my reasonings, but they are not the only ones. That being said, I do have to warn you that I have many reasons and this is not going to be a short and simple answer (when I do write anything that is short and easy?). Furthermore, due to INFOSEC restrictions I will have to obscure some aspects of my explanation. You will quickly figure out when I do this because the details will be nonspecific to any specific function or task. As you know, this is unusual for me. I typically go out of my way to be clear and concise in my details.
Also, this will not be provided in a list approach. The justifications of my intention to become an officer are frequently intertwined and do not lend themselves easily to a list. Therefore, without further adieu, let the explanation roll.
I am currently a Specialist (E-4) in the Army National Guard. I will have completed nine years of service in the near future. In order to earn a retirement from the Department of Defense, I will have to complete 20 years of service. I will have 15 years of service completed at the end of the contract I have just signed. In my current job assignment (MOS), I am unable to be promoted to a higher rank. Unlike the active duty Army, the National Guard has a slot system for promotions. Not only do you have to be worthy of the promotion, but you have to have a slot available to be promoted into. As it stands right this time, I represent the top of this MOS promotion list for the state and I have been for the past six or so years. That being said and experienced by me, I know I can't be promote for slot reasons.
Therefore, you might ask, how can I get promoted then? Well, as long as I keep my current job, I can't. In order to obtain a higher rank, I will have to change my job. This is fine by me. There are other jobs in which I am certainly qualified to satisfactorily (or better) execute and contribute a valuable service to a team. However, due to Army regulations, I would have to attend an Army school or other approved qualification path to be awarded this job. Well, I am insulted by this requirement and will not bend to do what the Army wants. I refuse to waste my personal time and be away from my civilian career to sate Uncle Sam. I know I can do the job that I want but, because I can't quantify it with my civilian education (there exists a small gap between the requirements and what I can quantify in my transcripts and my "official" job title). Attending one of these approved qualification paths require either a year plus of weekends attending a tech school or six months of active duty to attend the Army school. I refuse to waste my weekends for drill falling asleep in a classroom in which I don't belong and I refuse to be away from my civilian job for that time for something that I see as a waste of my time.
Also, my current job is not utilized during my drill weekends or annual training periods. I spend the majority of my time on these weekends looking for work from multiple sources. Many of the tasks that I do pickup are irrelevant to my job or even to the mission. I am tasked to do the menial things that would get assigned to the newbie Privates on active duty. However, since the National Guard is light on the lower ranks, Specialist is a rough equivalent. There are many reasons why my job is under utilized, however, I'm not at liberty to explain those in the detail I would like. Suffice it to say that I'm a peon on my drill weekends.
There is plenty of motivation available to me as you can see already to change my job. If I wanted to stay an enlisted soldier then becoming certified for another job would be the logical route. However, within my nine years of experience thus far, I can tell you with absolute certainty that unless you are a First Sergent or above, you do not have any power to influence anything about how the unit operates, details about the mission, or policies that we are expected to abide. All the way up the enlisted path, the level of responsibility to the lower enlisted remains at a even keel. You will direct them to do the things that you are tasked to delegate. I also see that the upper enlisted are always in a struggle to get the lower enlisted to cooperate. The lack of respect there from the lower enlisted if deplorable in the National Guard. I constantly hear from guys that were on active duty that some of the things that occur in the guard wouldn't fly in the active side of the house. I don't want to have to deal with that. I want to be an expert and have people listen to my advice and have the ability to mold how a mission is going to work in some facet, even if that contribution is something as a minor part of the mission. However, that minor part of the mission is critical to someone. I'm sure of it. I guess what I'm saying is that I want respect and control.
Respect and control are not something that come easily within the enlisted rank. Therefore, with my qualifications (real world experience, years of personal experience, and civilian education) I want to put myself into a place to put those skills to good use. The Warrant Officer (WO) tract will provide that satisfaction (assuming that I can get the job that I want). So, some details regarding the WO environment. Warrant Officers are a hybrid between the enlisted rank and the command officer tract. Warrant Officers are specialists in their field. These specializations are many and various. There are civil engineer WOs, quartermaster WOs, human resources WOs, IT WOs, pilot WOs and more. There are three such specializations that I feel that I can fill (excluding pilot, I am capable but unwilling).
Since WOs are a hybrid between the enlisted and command officers, they are also paid in the middle. I'm sure if you search on Google that you will be able to find a pay chart that will accurately quantify this for you. That leads us to the Officer tract. Officers have higher requirements for entry and are paid the most in the Army. However, they have the most responsibility and also carry the most respect. Also, officers that have gone from green to gold often earn more respect.
Do I know with absolute certain that I can be an effective leader? I'm not sure. However, I know I will give it my best and learn as I go. Becoming a command officer is not my first choice. However, it is the only alternative left if I am unable to enter into the WO tract. Becoming a command officer is the polar opposite of how I would like to participate in any work environment. In my civilian career, I don't want to be in management. I enjoy being in the trenches and having my hands directly in the environments that I am responsible. Don't get me wrong, officers are in the trenches, literally, when the time comes. However, they are the managers of the soldiers and are directly responsible for the actions that their soldiers take and/or lead to take.
So, the one thing that I have yet to address are the requirements to become one of these officer types. They have similar time requirements to commission (the act of acquiring the officer title). There are multiple phases with different titles per tract, but the time requirements are similar. I would be required to complete between six and nine months of training at different training facilities at different durations under different conditions. I believe that a minimum of two of the training excursions would be under zero/minimal contact orders. Meaning that I would be in training without being able to talk to my wife/family/friends at will. I know that one of these training excursions will be like undergoing basic training all over again and contact with the outside world would be minimal. Maybe on Sundays. That's it.
At this point, if you have yet to put the pieces together, you might be asking what is different between the time spent to get promoted as an enlisted soldier or the time spent becoming an officer? Well, there are many things. The officer ranks are thinner and promotions are easier to earn. The requirements to become promoted as an officer are more objective than those of an enlisted soldier. The money is better as a WO1 or a O-1 than that of an E-5. Also, from what I can tell, the job trading to get promoted are less intrusive as an officer. Once I obtain my officer specialty, I won't be forced to change from it again. However, if I remain enlisted, once I earn E-6, I will once again hit a wall. I can admit right now that I could retire as an E-6 if I were to get that high. Furthermore, I could comfortably retire as a WO-2 or a WO-3, or a WO-3 and I won't feel bad about my career. Another aspect to this decision is that the officer tracts are greatly new to me. I would have much to learn before I could claim that I'm comfortable in my job and have an opportunity to become bored. I can't say the same of the enlisted ranks. I've spent plenty of time looking up to know that I don't want to have to deal with that for another 11 years.
The last topic that I want to spend some time on is influence. The upper enlisted are certainly qualified to be respected de facto and the majority of them have the experience and face time to provide influence to their lower enlisted soldiers. However, the influence and ability to obtain control of a situation amongst soldiers is much easier and greater for those of brass. From the first day in basic, the Drill Sergents are immediately in control. However, even at the end of the time spent at basic, the fear and obedience soldiers exhibit towards brass are universal. Soldiers spend the majority of their time among those within the enlisted world. However, with minimal exception, their exposure to those of brass remain at a minimum. There are even rules regarding how and when officers can interact with enlisted at and away from the uniform. Therefore, by default, not only do officers have command and control over enlisted soldiers, but they also have influence. If you have the opportunity as an officer to interact with a single soldier for a long enough period of time, you can mold and shape them to make them a better soldier and/or person. That same ability requires much, much more time and effort for an upper enlisted to accomplish than that of those wearing brass.
Please keep in mind, all of my justifications provided above (minus pay, that is objective and easily supported) are my own opinions of the Army and how it operates. This is not to be used as fact as a documentation source for an argument that does not include me or my position in the Army.
So, after all of that, I'm sure you can see why I chose to make this another post instead of including it into the post that prompted this discussion.
Later all.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Signed on the dotted line.....
Well, as most of you know, that time has come again. Most of you are well aware that I have a second job. I am a proud member of the Army Reserve National Guard. Well, as I stated almost exactly three years ago, "This is the last time I will do this unless something goes horribly wrong." Well, nothing HORRIBLY wrong has occurred, however, my financial expectations of the last three years has not become that of what I was expecting. I am not saying that I'm not satisfied with what I have accomplished financially within the past three years, however, it is not what I had anticipated.
To make a long story short, a side project that I was anticipating to be live and making money hasn't yet entered into any solid development work. Therefore, a CTO I am not and I am still employed by corporate America. Therefore, since I am still an employed IT professional for someone other than myself and my business partner my income has not blossomed into what I had dreamed it would have been.
Between buying a new car, the move to GA, fixing my car, buying a house, getting married (none of which I regret and will not complain about short of the financial aspect), our finances are a bit strapped. Uncle Sam has provided a way for us to escape a large portion of our current debt.
This year I have found myself quite the windfall to put us into a more favorable financial situation.
None of these mentioned thus far were outside my expectations for this year. Let me explain why.
The tax return was the product of claiming Single 1 on my W-4 for the majority of the year and some other write-offs (such as medical). The performance bonus from work was expected, though I did get a bonus that was larger than what I had anticipated. Lastly from that list, is the second installment to my current contract. When I reenlisted in 2005, I was completely out of the Army and the contract bonus incentive dispersement method was split payment. 1/2 at the start and the remaining at the end. Well, that contract is coming to a close and I have been expecting that value.
Now, what I wasn't expecting was to re-up again. Uncle Sam's enticing proposal was three fold. The first (and most lucrative), is $15k for signing on the line for six more years. This bonus is taxed so you can deduce what I will be bringing home. Secondly, they offered an additional bonus in the form of a Student Loan Repayment Plan. Every three years, Uncle Sam will contribute 15% or $3k (taxable income) toward my existing student loans. Lastly, this is not related to my reenlistment but is worth mentioning, is another $10k bonus when I am awarded my commission when I become an officer in the Army. At this time I can't tell you if that will be a Warrant Officer or Lieutenant, but they both offer the incentive. However, that additional bonus will not be available for the minimum of one year out from my contract start date of 20080413.
For those who would like to know my motivations to become an officer, it is a long story and will need to be another post for another time. The reasons are numerous. Although, one of the single driving forces is that in signing this latest contract will take me over the 10 years of service line. 20 years are the requirement for a retirement. Within the job that I currently hold in the Army caps out at my current rank of Specialist. I refuse to remain a lowly Specialist for the next 11 years of my military career. (Don't ask why I don't change jobs, that will be covered in the subsequent officer motivation post.) Becoming an officer (either) will provide me a route to utilize the skills that I already possess to obtain advancement in the Army, provide service in a fashion that is productive and finally, will be fulfilling.
For those that are unhappy about the news, I'm sorry. I have evaluated my current and future situation and have found that it is in my best interest currently to do this again. As for my future situation, completing 20 years of service and obtaining a Federal guaranteed VA retirement with medical benefits is something worth working for. Also, I would venture to say that those of you upset with my decision to further pursue a military career and retirement have the worry about deployment. Yes, being deployed is a bad situation. Going to war means risking my life for my country. Yes, I could loose my life in my pursuit. That is the risk I am willing to take. I know MANY people that have gone to war, some of them several times, and have returned in once piece.
Please don't misconstrue this message as me saying that I want to go to war. That is not the case. I would have no regrets if I complete a 20 year career and never have to enter a war zone. Although, I have consciously signed on the dotted line and if my name or number is called, I will execute the job I have been training to do all of these years.
I AM AN AMERICAN! I AM PROUD! I WILL DO MY PART!
For those interested in our timeline for kids, this will expedite those plans. This financial windfall this year is going to go a long way in the removal of our debt which will subsequently allow us to afford to move forward with our family.
Please don't worry, what will be will be and what has been done is, in fact, done.
Peace!
More Yard Work
Well, this week has been interesting. Angel has put more time into the yard than I have. She is so thankful that our neighbor has lent us his backpack blower. She was just moving along in the yard with that thing. I have been limited to intervals between work and sundown. At most I have put 6 hours into the yard this week. The combined tally of time spent in the yard is ~28 man hours.
It is surprising that in a one and a half day span, the two of us put in 14 hours and it takes 4 days to put in the same amount of time. I guess that is what a 40+ hour a week job will do to housework.
Speaking of house work, the time not spent in the yard this week can be attributed to house cleaning. Angel's parents are currently on their way down to visit with us. We had to give the house a good straightening up. We had done some "spring cleaning" in the past few weeks so this wasn't a full scale scrub down this time. Yet, the living room, kitchen, bathrooms and the floors needed some attention. Therefore, Angel didn't put as much time into the yard as she could have. I did my house work contributions after dark so my yard time wasn't effected.
Anyway, I'll repost the slide show from the previous post (Yard Work) that now includes additional pictures toward the end to illustrate the progress we've completed. During this past week in conversation with colleagues and friends, it has been estimated that we're trying to clean up ~11,000 sq. ft. of land. Between the length of time it has been neglected and scale of land to be cleaned, this project timeline has well overrun my expectations for completion. Thankfully there is not a hard deadline to complete this task, yet I feel that the sooner the better. Once it starts getting too green out there, the project will be extended much further. Small trees, weed sprouts, and fallen twigs have a way of making progress slow.
The backpack blower has proven to be invaluable. I am about certain that I have one of these guys in my near future. Even with the removal of all of the minorly established brush and trees, the well established trees are still numerous and fallen leaves will occur again. Likely next time I want to undertake this cleansing project, my neighbor will be doing the same. Therefore, it is likely within my best interest to acquire one of my own.
Well, with the 'rents on the visit this weekend, it will be interesting to see how the project progresses over the weekend. I still hope to invest some time into the progress as after this weekend it will be three weekends until I can address it again. Next weekend is a drill weekend and the following weekend is a trip to Alabama. I would think that in a three week timespan, green stuffs in the yard will certainly be on the prowl. Therefore, it is in my best interest to put a dent into the yard work sooner rather than later.
Photos:
Obviously, there is more to come on this topic.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Yard Work
After 14+ man hours of work in our yard this weekend, it would appear that not much has been accomplished. Yesterday afternoon (a beautiful one that it was), I decided to start on our daunting task of reclaiming our yard. The prior tenants of the house and property neglected the yard so much there is about a one foot average depth of leaves amassed across the yard. From the shed to the property line looked like pure wilderness. Light brush, tree and branch debris, discarded junk, and of course the leaves. It is a total disaster. At one point, they had dogs and had a plastic mesh fence up in the yard. This didn't help matters any either. Along the fencing the leaves were the deepest. For the life of me, I don't know why they allowed the yard to fall into such disarray.
As for the discarded junk, I have found a dog bowl, truck leaf spring, a shattered mirror, rebar, several 2x4s, 2x6s, burnt wood, a Bic lighter, beer bottles, pop cans, and chicken wire. With the depth of the leaves and debris, it is almost a wonder that we haven't found dead bodies in the yard.
So, you may be asking yourself, with all of this stuff that covers about 1/8 of an acre, where is it all going? Well, at the back edge of our property line is a dry creek bed. At one point in time, it appears that this creek used to have some serious momentum. At points it is about two and a half to three feet deep and about two feet wide. I figured that this is my property and additional development in the area has left it barren. Sounds like a wonderful place to put all of my yard debris. Keep in mind, I mean the vegetation debris, I'm not going to put the metal and plastic debris back there. I will find a better home for those things.
To start off the process, I pulled out our brand new bush whacker. Yes, bush, not weed. This tool is a four blade metal disk instead of the string that a weed whacker would use. The cool thing about this tool is that it is a separate attachment for our weed whacker. Craftsman produced a "convertible" system. The motor and half of the shaft are stationary and the bottom end is interchangeable. The system came with a combo blower/weed whacker head. As a Christmas gift, we picked up the brush tool. I am very impressed with the power and efficiency of this thing. The manual indicates that it is capable of cutting brush up to an inch thick. I'm sure I was able to cut down a tree that was was approximately two inches in diameter with no problem. What a great tool.
After I felt that I had gotten a good start in chopping down the miscellaneous brush and trees from the yard, I felt it was a good time to start moving leaves. I began with the rake. I wasn't making big progress quickly, but I could see quite a difference starting. While I was doing this, Angel got home from work. Well, we only had one rake, so how could I give her to help? I attached the blower attachment to the weed whacker and sent her off and running.
Unfortunately, the blower on the initially provided head is not very powerful. It is great for what I believe is its intended purpose. I think this is to be used when week whacking and cleaning up the clippings. At least that's what I've used it for thus far. It worked well for that. However, with this compacted foot plus pile of leaves in the back yard, it has been proven useless. Angel tried to get it to work for a good half an hour before declaring it ineffective. Thankfully, my neighbor has graciously given me full reign to his tools and I took this opportunity to borrow his Stihl backpack leaf blower. (He wasn't home at the time or I would have asked him instead of just taking it. But permission had already been granted so I didn't feel so bad doing it.)
Anyway, Angel decided that she would take the rake and move on and I was using the blower. The tornado like force that this guy pushes out is just amazing. I am so sold with its power, I'm half tempted to get one of my own. This leaf issue isn't about to go away once we get the yard cleared this Spring. I'm not sure the blower is more effective than good old manual labor, but is sure is lower impact on me.
So, Saturday afternoon, I put in at least seven hours into the back yard and Angel contributed about four. Today, I got a late start in the yard, but instead of picking up any power tools, I took to using the wheel barrow and rake to do some cleanup in the area we were working on yesterday, moved all of the miscellaneous debris to a consolidated location, and did some major brush removal. I found yesterday that the more sticks and obstacles in the way, the more difficult it was to get the leaves to move in the desired location. I hope that the work I did today will pay dividends once I pickup the power tools next time.
Anyway, I've got pictures that will illustrate the before and after shots from yesterday and part of today.
Type rest of the post here
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Amplifier Saga Continues
As most of you know, shortly after buying our house, my 600W Class D amp blew in my car. Well, the timing was horrible. After buying the house, this had very little priority to get corrected. Well, after getting the component speakers installed in my car, I figured it was about damn time to take action to get my amp fixed. Thankfully, it was still under warranty and it would only cost me shipping to get it fixed. Shipping only is much better than having to pay retail for another new amp.
Well, if that was the end of the story, there wouldn't be much of a story, would there. Well, there is more. After they only had the amp for 2 days, they had repaired and shipped my amp back to me. Within the shipping, there was not a single piece of paper outlining what they had fixed. They told me that documentation would accompany the return. I'm worried, but optimistic.
Obviously, since not having it hooked up for the past 9 or so months, I'm excited to have it up and running. Once I got off of work, I didn't waste any time jumping into the job.
I did the general continuity testing. Turned down the gain on the amp, turned the volume down on my head unit and felt the speakers for vibration. The first time there wasn't any. I turned up the gain on the amp and still nothing. Well, this wasn't any response for good reason, while I was waiting for the amp to return, I installed the remote gain switch and it was turned all the way down. So I disconnect the switch and presto, speaker vibration. I took this as a good omen and reassembled my trunk.
Before I departed, I did the same test again. Speakers are still vibrating. So, I jump into the car with the volume low (residential area and late at night). When I get to 78, I turn it up. Immediately I can notice the difference.. I have a full bass channel again. Unfortunately, this was short lived.
Once I got home, I left the radio on and popped the trunk. Speaker vibration was gone and a faint waft of smoke coming from the area of my amp. I'm in a panic now. I quickly grab the drill with the Phillips head bit attachment in place and start removing my speakers to I can get my trunk floor out of the way. The first thought that ran through my mind was "My car is about to catch on fire in my garage, ahh!!!" Well, thankfully, once I got into my trunk far enough, I was able to find that nothing was on fire.
The smoke was coming from the electronics on my amp. Damn it!! Anyway, I am pissed now. The power light is flickering and the fault light is on solid. WTF? I thought this thing was fixed. Am I being screwed here? What am I going to do now. Well, knowing that my car was safe, I call it a night. As I am lying in bed, the thought occurs to me, what if there is something in my system causing the problem.
Well, I know that the power is clean. I reran all of the wires personally and know that all of the connections are good and all of the wires are in good condition. What else could blow my amp? Well, my speakers could. I'm running 2 speakers with 4 voice coils (VC) (each at 4 Ohms) to present a 1 Ohm load to the amp. If any of the voice coils are damaged and are not at their correct resistance of 4 Ohms, then that could damage the amp.
I pull out my (not so) trusty multimeter and try to get a reading on my speakers. Well, my meter just told me that there was continuity but not at what resistance. The next day I bought a new meter and it told me a very bad story. One speaker was well and good. 3.9 Ohms on each coil. The other speaker was not so fortunate. VC1 was 1.5 Ohms and the other VC was only presenting a 0.8 Ohm load. I did the math, with these 4 readings, the amp was seeing a .416 Ohm load. Much less than the 1 Ohm load that it was rated to handle. So, now that I know what the culprit is, when I get my amp back this time, I won't make the same mistake.
Unfortunately, with only one speaker and a shared box environment, I don't have a clue what this will do to my fidelity. I do know that I will have to leave the broken speaker in place to fill the hole so that the ported box will stay in tune, but I'm not sure how a passive driver will effect the sound. I do know that running my amp at a 2 Ohm load will drastically damper its capability. My 600W amp will now run at 300W (at 12 volts) I imagine that it will run about 440W at 14.4 volts. I guess that is plenty when I'm trying to enter a Sound Quality (SQ) competition. I don't need all of the extra power and "boomy" base for SQ.
As for my broken speaker, I have contacted the manufacturer (it is out of warranty) to see if they can repair the VCs at a reasonable cost. These speakers each cost between $125 and $150 brand new. Also, the manufacture has stopped making this line of speaker. I am not certain that they will be willing to fix it for that reason. If they won't play nice with me, then I guess I'll run crippled for a while until I can justify spending the money to get it replaced.
More to come in this saga once I get my amp back yet again.
Garage Work
Well, now that the garage has been cleaned out well enough to get both of our cars in it at once, I guess it has come to the time to get the doors working for us. Last weekend, Angel went to Sears to see about buying a new remote for the existing opener and while she was there, she put yet another Sears gift card to good use. She picked up another chain drive door opener for our other door.
As with most of everything that I get myself into, this turned out to be more complex that I had anticipated. I thought the major work was already done. I couldn't have been more wrong. I had thought since the header brackets (door and motor side) were in place and the bell wire and button installed that I'd just have to assemble and mount the new opener. Well, to my frustration, this was not the case.
So, I initially started working under this assumption. I got the system built, no problem there. I got the sensors installed and wired, no problem there. However, when I was ready to mount the system, I found that the header on the door side was the wrong width. I'd have to replace the bracket. No problem, the system came with one. I unbolted the existing header, installed the new one. The screw holes were off, but nothing a quick poke with the drill to get a guide hole made won't fix.
Once the door header bracket is mounted, I hook in the bar for the opener and then have to figure out how I can get the motor up, in place, and bolt it in by myself. The system did not come with prefab bars designed to attach nicely to the existing motor header system. Therefore, I take what was provided, L bars with alternating holes down its length and hammer it flat. However, these bars are about three feet long. How am I supposed to cut it? I don't have tin snips or a pair of dikes, so what do I have that will cut it? Well, from working in my trunk, I have a jigsaw that I borrowed from Ernie. This worked wonderfully (after I screwed the bar to a 2x4).
Before trying to hold and screw the motor, I mount the bar to the ceiling bracket. I pivot the motor close to being in place and begin to bend this bar so that it will line up with the motor. After a few shots at this I get the holes to line up. Wee.. now the system is mounted stable enough to see if I have enough clearance. The system is not mounted to the door yet, so I take and manually open the door. Anyway, to make a repetitive story short, I had to bring the system down and put it back up 3 times before I was able to get the door open without hitting the bar. The last time I even had to move the trolley (for manual operation in the event of a power outage) out of the way to reduce the clearance height requirement.
After having the system up and down 3 times, I was in quite the unhappy mood. Anyway, I braced the top of the door with the spare L bar and mounted the system to the door. Please keep in mind, up to this point, I only have the motor mounted to the ceiling with 2 hand tight bolts on one bracket. The other bracket hadn't been made yet because I was not sure the horizontal alignment with the existing bracket was even close.
Now that the door is mounted I gave the system its maiden operation. With some hesitation and excess noise, the door was successfully opened. The real challenge came when I couldn't get the door to close again. After some careful inspection, I found that the lag bolts on the left hand track were loose and the closing of the door was causing it to move and this movement was requiring too much force from the motor to move that it would just backup due to its safety system.
Thankfully, the lag bolts provided with the system were longer than those that were holding the track in place, it was a simple replace. After securing the track, the door would attempt to close and stop with about six inches left to go. Well, I read the manual and I had to increase the closing power of the motor. Several attempts and many adjustment screw turns later, I got the door to close without stopping short or hitting the ground and backing up again.
Now, let me tell you the a couple key details that I left out throughout this entire process. During the mounting process, in order to get the door to clear the bar, I had to put the mounting bracket partially in the ceiling. As I'm sure you can conclude, this also meant that the bar was partially in the ceiling and the trolley was also hitting the ceiling. Therefore, I had to cut a hole in the ceiling close to the bar everywhere things were hitting it. I still have drywall dust falling on my car at this point.
Here are some photos of my craftsmanship.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
US Economy
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.
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.
