Month: May 2013

Categories
Family

A Quiet Morning

The Wife noted this morning for what it didn’t have: drama. There was no arguing over breakfast. No weird looks that started a fight. No complaints about feeding animals. No complaints about getting lunch ready. No yelling about hair or clothes. No whining about one child or the other doing something the other didn’t like.

It was peaceful.

I could get used to mornings like this. In fact, it would be nice if mornings like this were unremarkable.

That said, it’s because mornings like this are remarkable that I know the odds are somewhere around zero they will become the norm.

Categories
Misc Notweet

Highs Near 80!

The local weather guy is bragging about hi’s getting near 80, some time next week after the cool off from the rain passes. It’s going to be mid-May shortly. I’m having a hard time remembering the last time we had a May this cool. Usually we’ve had numerous 80 degree days by now.

I’m beginning to wonder if we really are experiencing “climate change”, just not in the way expected.

Categories
Misc

Murphy REALLY Sucks

Yeah. Remember that starter that supposedly went bad?

Well, I went and picked up a new one this morning, as well as a couple of 3 ton lifts so I could get under the car without fear of it falling on my chest while I was pulling the old one out. Spent just shy of $200.

I was getting ready to start the whole repair process, which was going to be not uninvolved. Since I couldn’t start the car, I was going to have to jack it up in place, then use the 3-ton lifts I’d purchased to stabilize it. Probably wedge the wheels in the process. The last thing I wanted was to have a 2-ton car drop on me while I’m working on it.

Once it was securely propped up, then the fun would begin. Finding the starter, pulling it out and replacing it with the new one. Having done this once before, I was prepared for the fact the it would take most of the morning. Last time, the starter was in a tight spot and getting it off was half the battle, getting it out of the car was the other half. I was prepared for a similar experience.

With the prospect of crawling back and forth under a car on a gravel drive looming, I opted to try the Hail-Mary of auto repair and attempt starting the car one more time. I placed the key in the ignition, turned it ON and something seemed… different. Were the dash lights a little dimmer? Did it seem like the starter was trying to fire but just couldn’t? Was it just the 2nd cup of coffee coursing through my veins?

Was it possibly a drained, but not dead, battery?

Cutting to the chase, I hooked up the jumper cables between the cars and lo-and-behold, the car fired up. Drained battery it was.

I was elated and pissed at the same time. I wasn’t going to have to replace anything at the moment. But I still had to get the other car to the mechanics and I’d spent nearly $200 in prep this morning for work I, suddenly, didn’t have to perform.

Murphy was a mad genius.

Categories
Misc

Murphy Sucks

Apparently, I displeased the car Gods in some way. I’m not really sure what it was. I took care of the car window on Friday. Today, we were supposed to drop off our other car for some maintenance from the local mechanic. I thought I was being a good car owner.

I said “supposed to drop off” because when we went to do so, our second car wouldn’t start. It seems like the starter croaked since I don’t get anything at all except lights when I turn the key. We’d had the car out earlier today, but apparently we weren’t going to get it to run again.

I tried to run out and get a new starter, but the auto part stores were all closed by then.

Good ol’ Murphy.

Categories
DIY Notweet

How to Fix a Window Regulator

I didn’t want to fix our cars window. I’d even called a “professional” to come do it. I’d done all the hard work for them, figured out the problem and procured the part. I explained what needed to be done and they were supposed to come out Thursday.

They no showed.

Actually, I ended up calling them late in Thursday afternoon and telling them not to come because we needed the cars at that point in the afternoon, so it would be a waste for them to show up. They assured me they would come by yesterday, in the morning.

Again, they no showed. To make matters worse, they have yet to call.

Not that it will matter at this point. I’ve already done the job.

After the jump is a description of the process I went through to change out the window regulator for a Toyota Matrix. No pictures though. I don’t think they’d be very helpful.

Prior to the instructions, for the curious, the window regulator is the mechanical portion of the window lift. It is basically a scissor with one of the arms fixed to the door so that the other, which is connected to the bottom of the window glass in some way, can raise and lower the window. A motor is attached to the “handle” side of the lifting arm. I believe the scissor arrangement also gives some mechanical advantage to the motor for lifting purposes.

Click Here for Instructions “How to Fix a Window Regulator”
Categories
Computers

Whoa

Just got the latest upgrade for my Nook HD. It now has native access to the Play store and I was able to bring in all my apps from my rooted Nook Tablet that I hadn’t been able to bring over as yet.

In addition to access to the Play store, it also installed the Chrome browser and a number of other apps like Maps, Facebook, Gmail, Google+, Spotify and a few others.

In short, my Nook HD is now pretty much a tablet with all the capabilities there in. Even the standard Calendar application has properly synced up with my calendars.

It’s almost certainly too little, too late. But I appreciate the move at least.

Now I’ll have to see what other goodies might be lurking.

Categories
Family

A Crime Scene

The scene of the crime. That’s not some new Spring Fashion 2013 outdoor decorating idea. It’s mud- or a crazy brand of mud wasp. Looks like a fair amount of low-to-medium velocity spatter. Appears to have been close range as well, perhaps within 10 feet of the wall. It’s possible the target area was the door, but the aim was so poor it’s hard to be sure.

My guess is the perps thought it was a lot of “fun” while they were in the act.

Supporting evidence of my thesis. The perps didn’t even bother to clean up the evidence. They left the hose and the water trail and resulting ditches right there to be found. Sloppy all the way around.

The real crime in all of this? Stuffing the deadbolt lock on the door full of mud. Again, the key bit here is the afore mentioned poor aim. Notice that around the deadbolt area, there is little mud spatter. Thus, the only way mud could have found it’s way into the keyhole was via a deliberate act of stupidity: stuffing the keyhole.

I currently have 2 suspects: one aged 8, the other aged 7. Neither is considered armed or dangerous. Their current whereabouts are the local school. Upon arrival home, they will each be formally accused and charged with 1 count of “Having fun and not cleaning up afterwards” and “committing acts of stupidity while having fun.” I would inform them of their rights, but they have none.

They will then be subject to a speedy trial by their parents. The evidence will be presented, fingers will be pointed. I expect them to crack in short order, each blaming the other and pointing out whose idea the whole thing was. The whole “Prisoner’s Dilemma” thing is lost on them.

Their sentence is yet to be determined.

Categories
DIY

If Your Lawnmower Won’t Start…

I have a few caveats before I proceed:

  • The lawn mower should be relatively new, no more than 10 years old.
  • The engine in this particular case is a Briggs & Stratton.
  • If you don’t know what “Briggs & Stratton” is, you should just bring your mower to a repair guy.
  • The mower should be in relatively good condition.

OK, throat clearing complete.

On the lawn mower is a fuel tank. Connected to the underside of the fuel tank is a little black piece of rubber hose. That little black piece of rubber hose leads to a little metal bowl. On the bottom of the bowl is the head of a bolt.

It is a very special bolt. Not in the “on a very special episode of the Big Ban Theory…” sense but in the “not a normal bolt” sense.

Unscrew that bolt from the bowl. Then look at the threaded side of the bolt. There will be a hole through the tip that comes out the side. It is a tiny hole, but it must be absolutely clear of debris. Blow through it to clear it out. Not just a puff either- so you can almost hear it whistling.

Reassemble the bolt and bowl onto the lawn mower and try starting it again.

You’re welcome.

Bonus wisdom: If you don’t like gas all over the place, drain the tank first. Don’t tip the mower because the lid is not liquid tight and the gas will flow through the lid and drip. Also, don’t do this on the grass.

Categories
Cub Scouts

Rocket Kids

There are actually a fair number instructions on the web for this project. That’s where I got the idea for the project. I gave the kids the option of bringing in their own kit, or we’d make a home made model rocket. The boy had his own rocket kit as did one of the other boys. The rest got to assemble their own.

It took a little convincing to get the boy to decide to assemble his kit. Seems he was afraid of losing it. I asked him which was better: to launch the rocket once and lose it or to never launch it at all? Unbelievably, he initially said he’d rather never launch it than lose it. Makes for a boring rocket. The Wife and I were able to convince him otherwise without too much trouble, which makes me think he didn’t think about the question too much in the first place.

As for the homemade rockets, I used PVC, some cardboard, some string and a piece of a garbage bag for the parachute. The basic gist is to cut fins out of the cardboard which we attached to the main tube using hot glue. The main tube is 3/4″ PVC that I cut to 11 inch lengths. To create a nosecone, I used PVC end caps for 1/2″ PVC, which turn out to be about the same outer diameter as the 3/4″ pipe. I then cut pieces of 1/2″ PVC to fit into the caps, then reamed out the 3/4″ tube so it would accept the 1/2″ PVC.

I drilled a small hole near the top of the main tube to insert string through, then knotted it so it wouldn’t pull through. Finally, I attach the other end of the string to the nose cone using a friction fit and another knot.

As for the parachute, we cut a square piece from a heavy duty garbage bag, then tied 2 strings to opposite corners. Finally, I just attached the loops from the parachute to the middle of the string with the nose cone on it.

I don’t know how well the parachute arrangement will work. The boy’s model has a “shock cord,” a long rubber band, to attach the main tube to the nosecone. But it should be fun to find out.

My final, unexpected puzzle, it to figure out how to attach an engine to it. I used the 3/4″ pipe because it would supposedly accept a D sized engine with little fuss. Unfortunately, the PVC I have access to is not sized properly for that. So I’ll have to use the smaller engines and figure out how to mount them in the pipe. Perhaps some tape and rubber bands will do the trick.

Not all of the boys finished their rockets today. Most of them have to install the parachutes. Once that’s done, I figure we’ll set up a final den meeting on a weekend to finish things up with a bang.