Categories
Armoire Woodworking

The Armoire Continues

I can honestly say that I’m glad I didn’t really get much done in the shop today.

Not that I didn’t try to. I was actually hoping to fit some of the stretchers into their mortises; with an outside shot of doing a little glue up. In the end, all I really got done was trimming the tenons on the stretchers for the front and back, and getting the rails for the sides cut along with their tenons.

I thought I had marked the layout lines on the posts for the mortises. After I had finished the third attempt and realized I had gotten it wrong again, I decided it was time to call it quits. How did I get it wrong 3 times? Because I’d forgotten the details involved that I had so meticulously thought through a week or two ago and I didn’t thoroughly inspect the notes I’d taken at the time.

After the first markup, I realized I’d forgotten to account for the shoulder cuts. Having remarked everything for the second time, I then forgot to allow 1/4 inch for spacing around the drawer. So I marked it up a third time. When I finished, the last tenon was too close to the end of the post; I knew I had left a margin for error. Finally, I went back to my notes. I figured out that instead of starting the layout at 4″ from the bottom of the post, I should have started 3″ from the bottom of the post.

Man, was I glad I hadn’t cut any mortises like I’d considered doing. Next time, I’ll make a story stick when I’ve worked out those details for a non-trivial layout.

Categories
Family

Con Games

“The other boys said I was wearing a purple shirt and that it was a girl color and laughed at me. None of the girls said anything, just the boys. I told them to stop and they didn’t.”

For the record, the shirt in question is a nice rugby shirt which is maroon and white striped. It’s perfectly suited for the boy, or any boy. I would wear a shirt of its like without a seconds hesitation.

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Categories
Misc

Brakes Done

I had the keyed lug nuts replaced this morning by a garage- I just didn’t have the ability to get them off. With that, I was finally able to replace the front brake pads. The boy proved interested and willing to help with the project. No description of the process- it’s too tedious and boring. Plus anyone who’s interested is probably already capable, so why bother?

Now I get to do the rear brake pads. Luckily, they are disc brakes too so the operation shouldn’t be any more traumatic than replacing the fronts. Assuming I don’t strip a lug not or something…

UPDATE: The rear brakes still had better than half their pads remaining. No need to replace them. Too bad I had to jack the car and pull the wheel off to find out.

Categories
Bread

Chleba

I finally got around to using that rye starter. Actually, I’ve used it 4 times so far. The first time, I used it on a recipe from a favorite book of mine. The results were a little disappointing. So I tried again. Having gotten a feel for the recipe, I made some minor alterations. The results were much better. I then made the recipe 2 more times to make sure the results would be consistent. As a result, I enjoyed 3 nice loaves of rye.

Chleba is a simple Czech rye bread. It’s been good eating with stew, or as a sandwich bread, or in the morning with cream cheese. My recipe for it after the link.

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Categories
Family

A Fall Day

Today was breezy with rain. Leaves and pine needles that is.

The day was actually quite spectacular. It started with some actual rain. By mid-morning it was clearing. By noon, it was bright, sunny and breezy.

Before today, most of the trees still had leaves. After today, the trees were noticeably lighter.

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Categories
Woodworking

Props to Rikon

I just wanted to give credit where its due. I have a 14″ bandsaw from Rikon, the 10-325 model. I think highly of the saw, for what that’s worth. My problem is the lower guide bearings had frozen up and are heating up the blade. I was thinking of replacing them with guide blocks instead so I contacted Rikon’s tech support to see what they recommended.

The gentleman’s name I spoke with is Rod. He convinced me that the guide blocks probably aren’t the way to go because of heat build-up, though he did say the the Coolblocks might be a possibility if that’s what I wanted to do. In addition, he’s sending me a complete set of replacement bearings, for free. It sounds like they were aware of the potential for problems and that these newer bearings should be an improvement. We’ll see.

Rod was friendly, knowledgable and left me a happy customer. If he is representative of their support, then I’d say this is one more reason to go with Rikon products, certainly the 10-325.

Well done, sir.

Categories
Woodworking

Tool Review- Tite-Mark Marking Gauge

The Wife recently gifted me with a Tite-Mark marking gauge from Glen-Drake Tools. Mainly, I was looking for such a tool to help me with laying out dovetails on drawers. After getting a chance to look over the Tite-Mark documentation, I realized that the uses for a marking gauge were much greater than I had previously thought. With that in mind, I knew that the armoire project would proved a good testing ground for it’s all-round usefulness. Is it a uni-tasker, or is it truly as universally useful as claimed?

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Categories
Computers

Awesome and uzbl

I spent a little time and finally came up with a fairly simple start to integrating Awesome with uzbl. I created a file called favorites and put it in a suitably obscure location. The file format is simply 2 double-quoted fields per line. The first field is a site name, the second is the url. The fields are space separated. For example:

"Mutt"    "www.mutt.org"

Lua pattern matching is fairly restrictive, so this was the simplest way to get a lot of possibilities for the name and the url fields.

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Categories
Computers

uzbl

I’ve installed uzbl on my EEE today and have to say that I really like it.

Now, uzbl isn’t for everyone. If you like you’re full featured browser that manages all things browser, then stick with what you got. If you want a minimal browser that renders pages fast, fast, fast, then you might want to give it a look. By the way- when I say minimal I mean minimal. No buttons. No menus. No bookmarks. No address bar. No scroll bar. Barely a status bar.

I’m currently running Opera but I’ve also tried Iceweasel, Epiphany, Chrome, Safari and a few others that I’ve forgotten. Opera has been the best one for me to date, but uzbl is so much quicker than Opera on my EEE, I’m going to have to spend some time getting to know it. Even though the uzbl home page claims alpha status, the functionality is a very high level. It easily handles most of the sites I go to. The only trouble I ran into is accessing a site with ssl where a link opens a new page. That may just be a config issue- something I’ll look into.

The novelty of a minimal browser has me hooked for the moment. We’ll see how long it lasts.

Categories
Misc

H1N1

Just got word from the Wife that a co-worker has contracted H1N1. It sounds like he exposed co-workers to the virus since he started getting sick earlier in the week and then was out afterwards. Unfortunately, the Wife was at corporate HQ and it’s quite probable she was exposed, as she was in this individual’s presence just prior to his absence.

Upon hearing the news, I opted to do a little research.

Now, before making the following statement, I’d like to state that I don’t get sick. Ever. In the last 20 years, I have been sick a handful of times. I can’t even remember the last time I got a flu shot.

Based on that, it probably won’t be a surprise when I state that I don’t see the big deal here about H1N1. Also called “swine flu” because it was initially believed to have a lot in common with pig flu strains, it turns out that it really doesn’t have much in common. Just a couple of genes. It also has genes in common with bird flus. You can go read more about it here. The link also makes it clear that the deaths which have occurred involved other high risk medical conditions. It does not indicate that H1N1 is an nastier than the typical seasonal flu.

Apparently the big concern is that it could mutate into something worse, like in the 1920’s. So I guess the logic is that if we can kill it in its crib, so to speak, we can prevent it from having the opportunity to mutate. To which I say, how do we know it hasn’t already mutated? Are there hard and fast rules that we know of regarding flu virus mutation? I mean, really, what makes people think we have ANY control over this thing? I know this may sound heretical, but perhaps people contracting H1N1 is the best defense against any mutation.

Having cavalierly dismissed the disease at this point, I’ll also say that the appropriate action here would be to take your normal precautions. Contrary to my tone, I’m NOT hoping people get sick. If getting the vaccines makes you feel better, then do so(although, from my reading, it sounds like the effectiveness of flu vaccines is questionable). The usual suggestions regarding cleanliness are also appropriate. Beyond that, I’m not sure that life has to, or should, stop because this thing is out there.

Categories
Family

The Manipulation Dance

I was folding laundry after dinner when the boy toddled in and declared that he was going to help me. He proceeded to start pulling clothes out and attempting to fold them. Unfortunately, he still doesn’t have the required coordination for the task, so he settled for pulling clothes out and handing them to me. Which was fine, now I didn’t have to bend down to pull things out. Even so, his behavior was odd.

Then I recalled that after dinner, he had taken his plate and cup and placed them in the dishwasher. Making it more remarkable is the fact that I didn’t ask him to do it. So as I finished folding the shirt I was working on, I realized what was going on.

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Categories
Bread

Rye Sourdough Starter

Since I had no luck getting a normal sourdough starter going, I figured a little experiment to test the rye flour might be worthwhile. What better way to test it than to make a rye sourdough starter? A rye starter is much more sour than your typical white flour starter, and very active. The flavor is a tangy sour one and the odor is very strong. Almost as strong as smelling salts.

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Categories
Family

They Grow Up So Fast…

Louie went home today. Back to school that is.

The boy and I brought him back for his afternoon class. The boy had another surprise for me. Once he saw his friends he didn’t want anything to do with me, barely acknowledging my goodbye.

I knew that this behavior was coming, I just didn’t think it would be here so fast! I laughed and mentioned it to his teacher on the way out. I also said maybe I should do something to embarrass him. She laughed as well and told me there would be plenty of opportunities for me to do just that.

Fair enough. I can wait.

Categories
Computers

BloGTK2

I’ve been searching for a decent blog client for Linux. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a go to client that everyone is fired up about. Scribefire seems to be the closest, but I don’t like Firefox on my system- it’s sluggish compared to Opera. From my poking around, it looks like Linux people tend to role their own in many cases which obviously reduces the demand. That said, I’ve downloaded and run QTM but it’s too temperamental. It gives me a lot of trouble posting and I haven’t taken the time to figure out why. I saw that BloGTK2 was available now, so I downloaded BloGTK2 last night and decided to try it.

First impression- holy crap there are TON of dependencies. I put it on my EEE and it seemed like I was installing Gnome in order to get it to run. But now that it’s up and running I’d say it has a lot going for it. The interface is intuitive enough that I didn’t have to refer to documentation. I did run into a bug using the account “auto-detect settings.” After I had setup my first account, the app crashed when I tried to use it to setup the second account. The feature worked when setting up my first account. I just manually setup the second account and I was able to post and refresh both accounts without issue. Which was good- I was expecting it to give me fits posting after the setup problems.

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Categories
Armoire Woodworking

The Armoire Begins

wood

Believe it or not, that pile of wood is going to be an armoire. Well, that’s not completely correct- I actually need to get more before all is said and done. Mainly the cherry. Hopefully I won’t need anymore maple. I’ll need some plywood as well so I can close up the back.

But still, can you see it? Those pieces of cherry on the left are the 3 drawer fronts. The wider maple boards on the right are the drawer boxes. The 8/4 maple will be the posts. The 12″ wide pieces of cherry will be the panels for the sides of the armoire. The narrower pieces of maple are the stretchers between the drawers and rails on the sides.

The details are what always get me in these projects. The bigger the project, the more important the details. Typically I draw complete plans prior to buying the wood. That way I have an idea of what width boards I need as well as what lengths I can cut them to so that I can get them into a vehicle. (Most boards that are roughcut are 10’+ in length. They’ll let you cut them, but you have to buy the whole board.) I’ve already been bitten by details in this project. Since I didn’t know the details regarding lengths, some of the boards that are cut are an inch or two short.

Of course, I had my reasons for doing it this way. Having plans is no guarantee against mistakes either. At least, not for me. Many of my plans that I’ve done have had flaws in them for one reason or another. Those flaws don’t become apparent until I get to a point in the project where they do become apparent.

In this particular case, I saw the cherry board and new it was the drawer fronts for the armoire. I wanted to maximize the usage of the boards but I couldn’t tell for sure what the dimensions would end up being. Thus, I had to guess at lengths for the maple, but I was a little off. In particular, I didn’t allow extra length for the tenons on the ends of the wood that is to become the stretcher. Bummer. Still, I should be able to make it work.

At this point, I’ve got the drawer fronts sized and I’ve cut the four posts for the lower portion of the armoire. I’m making it as an upper cabinet portion and a lower dresser. The top of the dresser will serve as the bottom for the cabinet. I’ll pin the front posts of the cabinet into the top of the dresser for alignment, but this will allow the dresser top to move without stressing the cabinet. I don’t have all the details figured out For instance, I’m still trying to decide if the door frames will be maple or cherry. I’m leaning towards cherry, thus making them all cherry doors, but I’m not completely decided. Also, the top of the cabinet is a bit murky. Will I mill some cornice? or put some kind of crown up there? The biggest question mark is the interior of the cabinet. I want to put more than just some shelves in there. But I’m not sure of anything beyond that.

There’s plenty more to come on this project. I’m looking forward to it.

Categories
Family

Louie the Rabbit

I picked up the boy and Louie yesterday after school.  Ever since, every third word out of the kids’ mouths is “Louie.”  The lass walks around chanting “Louie the rabbit, Louie the rabbit.”  The boy wants to feed Louie, and pet Louie, and hold Louie, and brush Louie, and… I’m sure you’ve got the idea.

The dogs are FASCINATED with Louie.  For his part, Louie seems to have taken them in stride.  The boy’s teacher has a Shepherd as well so Louie is used to the attention.  The birds weren’t too impressed with Louie- though he was quite curious about them.

I’ll post picks when I can.

UPDATE:  Everyone, Louie.

Louie,  Everyone.

Louie

Did I mention that he poops constantly?

Categories
Computers

Denyhosts

I finally got fed up with the attempts to crack my ssh server.  I’ve taken the usual precautions with its configuration- I just don’t like the idea of unimpeded attempts at cracking it.

I looked at a bunch of different ways to deal with it but most seemed too complicated for my purposes.  All I really wanted was something that would shut down an attacker after some number of consecutive failed attempts.  I found Denyhosts today and liked what I saw, particularly its simplicity.  So I decided to give it a go.

It didn’t disappoint, shuting off a new attacker this evening.  When it started for the first time, it also scans the logs for previous attempts and shuts them down as well.  If I had more complicated access needs it might not be quite the thing.  But given my fairly straight forward needs, it looks like it’ll be just fine.

Categories
Family

Who Says You Can’t Go Back…

On the BUS that is!

The Wife got applause from all the other kids on the bus today for her heroic efforts in awaking the boy, who was out once again. He was extremely groggy and dazed when she finally did manage it, sort of a “the lights are on but no one’s home” moment.

His fellow travelers will doubtless be disappointed tomorrow since he won’t be on the bus for the ride home. I’ll be going to pick him up along with Louie.

Who’s Louie? You’ll have to wait ’til tomorrow to find out.

Categories
Bread

Honey in Bread

If you get bored making bread recipes with cane sugar or prefer a healthier alternative, honey can be substituted with a couple of minor alterations to the recipe. Essentially, think of honey as 3/4 sugar and 1/4 water. So if a recipe requires 1 cup of sugar, then you’ll use 1 1/3 cups of honey (1/ (3/4) = 1 1/3) and reduce the liquid by 1/3 cup. Please note that I’m only talking with regards to yeast bread baking. Honey is acidic, which might cause issues with quick bread recipes (those leavened using baking powder), so this substitution could cause problems in those recipes.

For the recipes I’ve posted here, the amount of sugar is small. Therefore, the amount of extra water added is negligible. For instance, a recipe that calls for 1/4 cup of sugar would use 1/3 cup of honey. The extra water there is 1/12 of a cup- that’s a little over a tablespoon of water. If using a high-gluten flour like KA, clearly substituting honey in these amounts is not a problem.

As to why bother substituting? Well, honey is a natural sugar versus the highly processed white stuff that comes in a bag. There are all sorts of health benefits that come along with that difference. There’s a nice (long) article about the benefits of honey over sugar here. Personally, I can’t taste a difference when using honey but my taste buds aren’t the most discerning out there. I switch them up just for a change of pace in how I make the bread, simple as that. Although after reading that article, I may use honey more often.

UPDATE: Well, that article I linked is pretty screechy. I guess that’ll learn me for linking before reading the whole thing. At least the first half isn’t bad. At any rate, I don’t think I’ll get too much argument about the notion that honey is healthier than cane sugar, which was my main point.

Categories
Misc

Fall Premieres

Well, Bones, NCIS, Criminal Minds and CSI: NY were all pretty good for their season openers.

If you haven’t seen them yet, then stop reading, NOW.

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