Category: Fun Stuff

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*sigh* Looks Like It Has to Be This Year. . .

. . .when I get serious about finishing up electrical work here at twc central.

*profound sigh*

I do so very much dislike doing electrical work, but the only electrician I really trust here in America’s Third County retired a couple of years ago, and I really, really, really don’t want to pay someone to just screw things up, so that leaves me, my “consultant” (“Hey, X, can you tell me what to do/where to go for parts/etc., for such and so?”) and my several references on electrical work, codes, etc.

See, there are several ESSENTIAL circuits. Some I’ve already reworked, and they’re OK, but there is one seriously, majorly [messed up] circuit that serves stuff all over the house in ways that make no rhyme or reason that I’ve been putting off simply because it is the single weirdest electrical circuit I’ve ever run across. It serves parts of serveral rooms and one room entirely–the small room I have used as an office that is now pretty much simply a computer junk room and place with my most comfy chair for sitting at a computer.

(Yeh, yeh, I know, whine, whine, whine.)

Well, that circuit decided today was the day to go crazy. Dead. Live. Dead again. No, the circuit breaker doesn’t pop. It’s the live bus bar in the main box. *sigh* Yeh. Best solution is simply to replace the main service panel. *groan* I do NOT want to do that. Second best: call the manufacturer and order a new bus bar. Now, while that’s nearly the cost of a completely new circuit panel and still involves working around the live mains, I can do that. (Good insulation all over, including properly insulated tools, gloves, shoes, etc., then terminating the live mains with appropriately-sized insulators; still a PITA and still a bit scary. *shrugs* I have life insurance. :-)) But that, of course, will still leave me with rewiring to do, since circuits wired by a jackleg electrician and added to later by someone’s retarded pet monkey still need to be cleaned up (*cough* rewired completely *cough*).

Ah, well, in th meantime, I can bring in those three (or four–there is room in the box) circuits someone added to the house in a box outside about 30 years or so ago (going by the manufacture date of the circuit panel outside). . . coming straight off the mains! *sigh* I suppose I could cut off two of the rooms on this bad circuit and use one circuit apiece from the outside box for them. That’d (temporarily, in a hash-up sort of way) solve a world of ills. Another for an appliance circuit that I think is overloaded, although it’s never had any problems. I could almost do that recycling the conduit that’s outside, although I’d want to use new wiring.

Looks like my Spring task list has pretty well filled up, cos I do electrical work v e r y s l o w l y.

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Fun lil mini-project

Mini-project: Cleaning up and configuring a used, but otherwise nice, older Vaio desktop for use by a (very nearly*) first time computer user who’s nearly 90. Purpose of the computer? “I want to be able to do email with my children and grandchildren.”

A worthwhile use for a computer, but it doesn’t require all that much. So. notebook or desktop was the first question. (Tablet or “smart” phone? Nope. Nixed by user.)

There were several barriers to a notebook: cost, screen size, cramped keyboard and any kind of touchpad were some of the stated barriers. But size mattered, in some senses, as well because of limited living space.

Nice discovery: a nice-sized, high-resolution (1080p) TV with an analog video computer input that sits within pretty close viewing range from the user’s most comfy chair. Desktop that’ll fit into the user’s entertainment center? The right fit.

Internet access. Limited, fixed income. Relatively high medical expenses (relative to fixed income). But. The assisted living facility does sport a wireless network with Internet access, and the wireless password is in my password book. . . Now, if only the user can access it from her apartment, Internet access is solved. Hmmm, a small parabolic dish to improve reception and transmission from a 5db base antenna on a wireless adapter? Could be.

Other minor concerns:

Would have preferred a Linux OS with desktop links to Internet/Email, but (sort of computer literate) adult children would not be all that comfortable helping the user with that OS as an environment, so some sort of Windows environment. Oh, dear. It is a slightly older computer. Only 512 MB RAM, and only room for expansion to a max of 2GB (one pair of expansion slots effectively X-ed out, because one of them is has a small issue: broken clip). That’s not all that bad, since the computer’s limited to a 32-bit OS, anyway. Maybe Win7 wouldn’t be best, though. So, WinXP Pro, 32-bit it is. (Hmmm, seems to run very nicely with the 512MB it has. With installation of software blocked, it might just do as is! But. . . another 1GB would only be about $25. Decisions. . . ) Fully updated, WinXP Pro SP3 will certainly serve the user well enough and be familiar to family who may want to mess the computer up. *heh*

After those trifling concerns were met, the rest has been easy-peasy.

Necessary software:

A decent browser (Opera) configured with useful extensions (WOT, LastPass, Adblock Plus) and Speed Dial selections (the user’s webmail address, several sites fitting user’s stated interests, etc.). Links on desktop to Internet/Email.

Basic security software–Microsoft Security Essentials.

OpenDNS set as DNS resolver, and free account set up for customized filtering.

Irfanview–better for viewing family photos than the XP built in viewer.

TeamViewer8 for the most computer-savvy relative to use for remote management.

. . .and a few other little details, like the mini-manual with outlined user tips.

With a little luck on the Internet connection (via the assisted living facility’s existing wireless network), I think this will serve the stated needs pretty well.

Fun lil mini-project.

(Kudos to JDS and MES for the donation of the computer.)

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Zero Movie

When the movie about The Zero’s reign is made (and, oh, it will be!) themes and titles need to be ready. What would you propose?

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Running Lat(er)

*heh* So “Spring Cleaning” got out of hand and has run on into “Summer Cleanup” with bags of clothes and unused furniture making their way to charity and boxes of “stuff” still being sorted with discoveries of tools, electronic equipment, as-yet unread books and scads of other stuff floating to the surface out of storage areas to be sorted into Keep-Give Away-Toss piles. Oh, and meanwhile tons of lil (and some not so little) landscaping/yard jobs that’ve been *cough* “deferred” for some time resulting in more summer sun than I’ve seen for a few years… and bunches of home made charcoal, etc.

But it’s kinda fun to turn up lil gems like this from time-to-time:

Of course, I don’t really use the mouse pad attachment–or some clumsy wired mouse–with the device, but the picture is otherwise a decent representation.

Beats the socks off the other labeling measures we’ve been taking. The thing’s been packed away for more than a decade, unused–never used! (Ordered it just before a major “event” in our lives and just never got around to using it. *shrugs* Casio is still selling the thing and has even updated the software for 64-bit Windows.)

What with all the “lost” tools I now have to integrate with some tools gleaned from a barter deal earlier this summer, the garage cleanup is also looking more and more urgent. *heh*

Need to get all this sorted out before things cool down enough to put on a new roof and paint the siding, though. Now those lil chores should be loads of fun!

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Fun Lil Micro-Mini Project

To make a short story longer…

I have an area of our back yard* I’ve mentally designated for a future backyard* garden. Right now, I’m burning wood trash there, in a small pit I’ve dug–limbs, small trees I’ve removed and even good sized logs from a mimosa tree I’ve long hated.

Oh, the lil micro-mini project? Making charcoal in (very) small batches. I get a good fire going and then when it’s burned down a bit I shovel dirt and ashes over the burning wood until I blanket out even traces of smoke. Next day, I uncover the charcoal that’s been created and put it in a steel container until I’m absolutely sure there are no live coals still left, then into a covered plastic bucket.

Oh, the charcoal? For a very small earth-sheltered forge I plan on putting in the same small pit for use turning some old files and lawnmower blades into knives. (I’ve already annealed the files/lawnmower blades to make them soft enough to work… in earlier woodpile burns. :-))

Waste not, want not.

🙂

 

 

 

 

Note the difference. While I may seem (or even be) pedantic, it’s for good cause. I keep reading things on the web–and even in books that’ve been through the whole nine yards of traditional publishing, including editors, proofreaders and the like–that use “backyard” and “backseat” and other such adjectives as though they were nouns. It chaps my gizzard. The distinction is a useful one and should not be abandoned by the illiterati of contemporary writers simply because they’re too butt lazy to be well-read.

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Is Too Exercise!

Well, sorta.

Short story made long(er), I’ve been thinking (in a very desultory, lackadaisical, downright unserious manner) of getting a wee tad more exercise–you know, beyond my typical couch-and-desk-potato exercises with occasional bursts of yardwork. I’ve thought of building a treadmill desk for either my desktop or laptop, but… I’m reluctant to spend the $$ on just adding more unused clutter to the house.

Still… primary hard drive on most-used computer is making funky noises, so it’s powered down until I get a new hard drive in, and, yeh, looks like I’ll have to double its capacity *drat!* since 500GB hard drives are becoming less, common and I can install a 1TB drive for little over a $10-$15 upcharge. *shrugs* Why not?

But… I need another “change of pace” computer. (No, I don’t really, but I’m used to moving around to different workstations and doing different things on ’em, so… ) So…

Enter lil netbook with a real mouse and keyboard attached, sitting on the “bar” on the dining room side of the kitchen counter, right about here:

Those stools are gone–replaced them with some neat ones that have padded seats, backs and built-in pullout step stools. I’m not using seating there, anyway. By using it as a standing desk, I at least get some “exercise” benefits, and by having it there, the coffee’s handy! Sweet!

*heh*

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“Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make Do, Do Without”

Perhaps it’s because I was in awe of my paternal grandfather’s inventiveness, resourcefulness and all around handiness, but every time I see a dumpster, trash pile, yard sale or just something sticking its head out of the corner in the garage, I begin wondering what I can do with whatever is available, what treasure is hiding in other people’s (or even my own!) trash.

OK, an example from today: for the life of me, I couldn’t find my sunglasses. Not where they belong, so I’d obviously taken them off and laid them down somewhere they don’t belong. Duh. But it was a bright day today and my eyes just do NOT like too much sun. So?

I had an older pair with broken temples. Bummer. One temple broke and I (naturally) repaired it, but when the other temple broke and I didn’t have time to repair it before going out, I simply picked up another pair (cheapos, but surprisingly nice to my eyes). So… repaired the other temple, right? Wrong. I did something… different.

    1. Trimmed both temples to same length–the length of the unbroken piece on the most recently broken side–and sanded the broken/trimmed bits smooth.
    2. Attached a cheap eyeglass retention chord–you know, the kind that you imagine librarians use to hang a pair of reading glasses around their necks. (*heh* Don’t tell my librarian Wonder Woman about that imaginary librarian, mmmK?) It’s adjustable via a bead, so that’s handy. Used some self-curing natural rubber tape to tidy things up.

Hmmm, these things now stay on better than they did when new, and I didn’t have ’em fall off my hat once (the place I normally store sunglasses when inside somewhere or whatnot), cos they hang around my neck. The lil bead also keeps ’em firmly in place when I need them, nice and tight, just right.

Hacking discarded stuff to be better than new, at least for some uses, is just too much fun, you know?

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“A Day Late…

Forty-six years ago, I purchased a set of books, the Great Books of the Western World as compiled by Mortimer J. Adler, et al. The 54-volume set was a tad expensive for a high school kid (twice what I paid for my first car, in fact; nowadays, USED copies of the set run from ~$350 to ~$1,200 on Amazon), but has been a great resource for decades. Sadly, the bindings are in rough shape (largely the result of toddlers getting their hands on ’em a couple of decades and more back, as well as simple wear from use), and some volumes are in downright raggedy shape.

Fast forward to today. I picked up 40 of the 54 volumes in excellent condition at a library books sale of donated books. Most appear completely unread, untouched, although volume 1 of the complete works of Shakespeare is well worn (though still not as worn as my original copy). Glad to have ’em. Oh, why only 40 of the 54? Well, volume 2, the first of two volumes comprising the “Syntopicon” was missing from the donated collection, and 13 other volumes had been purchased by one person before I purchased the rest.

I’ll probably print up some book covers for the “raggedy” copies in my original set and place them in among the “new” set for use, as I still use them for reference, although I have re-read few of them entirely in the last couple of decades. I may also add volumes from the 1990 “second edition” of the collection, at least some works that I don’t already own in other editions as separate copies–who doesn’t already own at least one copy of Kierkegaard’s “Fear and Trembling” for example, or “Waiting for Godot” [Beckett], Animal Farm [Orwell], etc.? I think I may skip volumes 59 and 60 (heavy on 20th Century) from the new edition. I despise Joyce, detest Faulkner and Ftzgerald, and Virginia Woolf gives me a rash. The ones in the collection that are worth anything, IMO, I already have, usually in multiple copies (Brecht, Beckett, Chekhov, Eliot, Shaw and others), anyway.

The recent “classes” via Hillsdale College dealing with the Constitution (thanks for the tip, Diane) have already gotten me re-reading background the Founders drew on in the discussions that formed our national government, so this is a timely find for me.

So, I worked a little bit tonight on some bookshelves. *heh* I may actually get our books organized more sensibly this year. Hey! It could happen! At least I have plenty to read and plenty to re-read (and plenty that’s worth re-reading) handy.

BTW, from that great *cough* reference work, Wikipedia (which nevertheless does have a few good articles), this:

“The scientific and mathematical selections also came under criticism for being incomprehensible to the average reader… “

Well, boo-hoo. Literacy is more than just puzzling out weird hieroglyphs on a page. Other criticisms of the collection are on a par with that one. *yawn* Yes, it’s incomplete, but hey, “Great” used to mean something more than simply “good” or “trendy” or “makes feminazis and multi-cultis feel good”.

Addendum 2: It’s interesting, to me at least, that this work was compiled and the “Great Conversation of Ideas” (largely via the tool of the Syntopicon–a monumental work in and of itself, IMO) fostered as a project sponsored by the University of Chicago, and yet The Zero, that soi-disant “constitutional scholar” who (mis)taught as an adjunct prof at that institution, seems completely unaware of the works (and ideas) contained in this collection except in a sort of weird, twisted mythological manner, since he never seems to get references to Western Civ (history OR concepts) anywhere near right.

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Consider the Lilies…

“Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Luke 12:27

OK, so the picture isn’t of “lilies of the field” but another, as beautiful and even more useful, flower.

Consider the dandelion, cursed by dunderheaded, tasteless American enstupiates who deem it a weed simply because it can enrich their dull, boring, monochromatic lawns with glorious color and beautiful textures. This flower gifts those who aren’t too dull-witted to see with both a beautiful, slightly variegated green and a stunning, joyous yellow. Moreover, its leaves, roots and flower are all highly nutritious and, when properly prepared and served, delicious as well. Not only that, but if one were to perform a simple search for medicinal properties of dandelions, one would quickly discover that the plant has multiple medicinal properties above and beyond its nutritional values.

And the stem even has uses beyond nutritive and therapeutic values. Perform a search for “dandelion latex”. Surprising, no? (Those in the know have answered, “No.” *heh*) Moreover, the latex produced from dandelions causes far fewer allergic reactions than the common rubber plant latex.

And this wonderful plant is exceptionally hardy! Just ask any idiot who’s tried to eliminate it from their ugly, boring, monochromatic lawn. Oh, and self-propagating!

What more could one ask from a beautiful ornament of nature? Beauty, utility, hardiness and easy propagation! This wonderful flower has it all! I rejoice that my dandelion crop is so very full this year, so far, and am doing everything within my power to help my neighbors’ yards experience the same bounty.

*heh*

Oh, and my wild allium “crop” is also doing well. Happy-happy-joy-joy!

🙂

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Me: Scairdy Cat

Just finished up some interim fixes on our main electrical service panel. Breathing normally again. *heh* I’m not particularly ashamed to say I’m uncomfortable working around the mains to our home. When I was a very stupid young boy, I managed to shock myself breathless–and even more senseless than I was before contacting 110 volts at 15-20 AMPs–on a few occasions just “messing around” (no, not the proverbial forks in outlets; not even I was that stupid as a child) with still plugged in radios, etc. Now, as a Certified Olde Pharte, I take more precautions than I’m sure are needed, but at least I’ve steered clear of any more 110 Volt (or 120, now) shocks. I especially don’t need the 100 AMP mains coursing through my body.

So… yes, I have replaced main circuit breakers on service panels without having the electric company pull the service temporarily, contrary to ALL advice from EVERYWHERE. *heh* But. I do

  1. Wear a long-sleeved cotton shirt and
  2. Rubber gloves with protective over-gloves (to keep the
    rubber gloves from being damaged, maintaining their protective
    nature    ) and
  3. Stand on a rubber mat with rubber-soled shoes while
  4. Using insulated tools

I also may add additional eye protection beyond just my glasses.

Scairdy cat? Maybe, but I have managed to stay alive… 🙂

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