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lsh3rd
Aug. 20th, 2008
10:00 pm - Florida vacation pt 4
Time to head home. We all had a bit too much sun, so we explored a bit in the car after check out. We visited the state park at the easternmost side of Perdido Key and sat in the pavilion. The kids sketched on canvas for later painting. I took a walk along a nature trail and fantasised about canoeing in the bay.
We headed to Pensacola Beach on the way out. Kai wanted to look for shells which we saw last time there. We had lunch at our favorite restaurant in the city of Pensacola, then bought seafood at Joe Patti's again. We packed the seafood in our cooler and headed back to ATL.
Aug. 19th, 2008
10:00 pm - Florida vacation pt 3
Today we headed back to the same beach as yesterday, but equipped with snorkel gear. We explored around the jetty they are building. I was able to spot many fish and about 8 crabs hiding amongst the rocks. Some fish were even a bit tropical in coloring. Yumiko and I altered with a single set of gear and the kids also played a bit too with varrying degrees of success.
Later that day we headed back to the condo and hung around the pool. I talked to a retired Gentleman who was also from NJ and lived in Duluth, GA for a while. Yumiko went for a walk and reported crabs in the shallow water.
Everyone headed back to the condo and I headed out with the kid's bucket and net and netted 10 golden crabs which we steamed for dinner. Delicious!
Aug. 18th, 2008
10:00 pm - Florida vacation pt 2
Today we headed to the beach in Orange Beach, AL. The kids played in the inlet near the bridge connecting the island where Perdido Key lies with the rest of Alabama.
We were pretty tired in the afternoon, so headed back to the condo to relax before heading off to dinner.
Aug. 17th, 2008
10:00 pm - Florida trip
Today we left early for Perdido Key, FL. Yet another FL mini vacation. We wanted to try somewhere new and based this decision closely from our past expierence with Pensacola Beach.
We arrived too early to check in yet again. We are staying at the Palacio Condos. We decided to drive west until we reached Alabama, then turned around to find a place for lunch.
We stopped at the Flora-bama which is known as the last great American roadhouse. It was early and deserted, but interesting place that turns out had been partially destroyed in Hurricane Ivan. The food was great and we sat in the lower section in the air conditioning.
I started to think of the name and recalled hearing it mentioned in a Jimmy Buffet song. Later I scanned my collection quickly and realized it was mentioned in the song "Ragtop Day" toward the end.
After this we headed back to the condo and attempted early check in. The condo wasn't ready, so we headed for the pool and beach. It remained not ready until about 4:30pm, but no problem, the beach was beatutiful.
Aug. 9th, 2008
11:24 am - Give me a break
Last Monday I noticed the rear brake rotors on the Mustang were getting scored on the outer edge. Looking in it seemed the pads were getting worn, which is interesting because the fronts had not even yet been changed. (I bought pads already for the front but never needed to put them on.)
Last night I yanked the wheel and inspected. I pulled the caliper and sure enough a rivet that holds a retaining clip started to cut into the rotor.
I got pads from AutoZombie yesterday morning on the way to work. The counter guy said "vented or solid rotor" and I stupidly said solid. When I pulled the wheel, I saw the car had vented rear rotors, but the pads looked like they would work.
They didn't. They fit, but they were just too thick. It turns out the 94-04 GT calipers take the same pad, but with more material. The Cobra takes a thinner pad of the same design to make room for the rotor. They shouldn't have asked the question because it turns out all Cobras had vented rotors.
I returned the pads this morning, but they didn't even have the correct ones. Off I went to Mustangs Unlimited, but they didn't have a single Cobra rear pad in stock - not even the Motocraft ones. Since I was already part way to Lawrenceville, I went to Advance Auto on 120. The retards at there said they'd need to special order them. Off I went to Lawrenceville to Main Auto Parts and they had a set of decent quality pads, so I got them along with a new set of spark plugs. I was going to zip into Pep Boys, but bypassed them for an old school parts house. I shall go back there.
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frustratedJul. 27th, 2008
09:10 pm - Can you canoe?
Today, the Shoji family, which will return to Japan gave us a canoe. We met for lunch and then headed to the Chattahoochee. We dipped the canoe in and Nobu (Shoji-san), Keita (his son), Kai and I set off. The girls went shopping. We canoed from State Hwy 120 to Medlock Bridge Road.
We mostly just kept the canoe straight and relaxed. Paddling wasn't explicitly necessary. The river was very calm for the most part. The boys mostly behaved themselves and we stayed upright. The water was surprisingly chilly and I'm guessing it was only about 60 degrees F.
The canoe is a bit heavy. I could just barely get it off the roof of the Toyota myself. It is also very big at 16 feet. I put it in the basement and it is taking up pretty much my whole shop area. It just barely fit through the door at the angle necessary to get inside. I need to get some hooks and pulleys to get it up into the rafters when not in use.
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calmJul. 18th, 2008
11:00 pm - DTV Part 2
I got another Channel Master tuner at Fry's. This time I really lucked out. Fry's put them on sale for $59.99, so with my Government money it was only $19.99. The tax was based off $59.99, so even though the feds are giving me a break, the state collects on the full amount still.
This one plugged right up and worked great upstairs. I also got a few wall adapters, so I can plug 3 things in simultaneously. Downstairs we had it on a switched outlet and it kept loosing its channels every time someone switched the switch off.
Jul. 11th, 2008
11:00 pm - Digital TV transition.
We have been using rabbit ears for TV since the beginning of time. When I was single, I decided that I'd forgo paying for cable TV and put the money saved toward a VCR. After a few months I eventually bought the VCR and never missed cable, so I just kept the antenna.
With the upcoming transition to Digital TV, I was nervous about picking up anything at all. Our TV reception in the Duluth house has always been very spotty and a bit annoying. We've been on the fence about getting cable, but we don't really watch enough TV to justify it.
Well, I finally sent off for my $40 government subsidized coupons for a digital tuner. The coupons came Monday and I went off to Fry's today to grab a Channel Master CM-7000. They had an open box for $76.95, so I walked out the door for under $40 after tax.
I plugged it in and it scanned for channels automatically and did an EXCELLENT job with picking up channels. Some channels that are problematic downstairs come in very nicely. Our local ABC affiliate on ch 2 wouldn't come in at all and now is crystal clear. (Oh Babwa what did I ever do without you?) The FOX affiliate on ch 5 was marginal before and is now also very clear. Some channels require messing about with the antenna to tune, but most of the available channels come in well with just the rabbit ears. I was a bit concerned based on the poor analog reception, but I should have made the transition sooner.
If anything this should keep the family happy for now and keep the cable guy away. February 17th will be just another ordinary winters day next year.
Jun. 29th, 2008
06:30 pm - Laundry room cabinets
I promised Yumiko that I would put up cabinets in the laundry room for our anniversary present. It has been months since then and we finally followed through last weekend to buy the cabinets at IKEA. They are so-so quality, but look nice. The price is very reasonable, so we grabbed 6. I planned to arrange them in a 3x2 matrix with the top row pushed all the way up to the ceiling.
Friday night I assemble them. At least the base cabinets minus the doors. They went together pretty easily, but it always seems to take longer than planned. I staged them in the garage.
Last night they went up on the wall. Being European they aren't designed to work with 16" center studs, so I resorted to hollow wall anchors rated 100lbs each. The cabinets aren't heavy and they won't be loaded full, so I think that'll do. They haven't fallen down yet!
Once they were on the wall I affixed the doors and put the shelves in. The cabinets and wall surface aren't perfect, but I was able to adjust the doors so they line up better. The stacked arrangement made things harder to align and I should have used a framing square when I assembled them. The doors take up the whole front of the cabinet. I'll be much more prepared if we do a kitchenette later in the basement.
Today after a quick trip to Home Depot I added a closet rack below the existing shelf on the opposite wall. I moved the old wire shelf to the garage so we can put "stuff" on them that normally clutters our entrance way. The kids sure bring a lot of clutter in with them and it will be nice to get some of this put away in cabinets and up on shelves.
Jun. 27th, 2008
11:00 pm - Mustang Electric Fan Part 2.1
I decided to test the fan switch that I installed last time. It's not connected to anything yet, so after work I pulled into the garage and clipped some test leads to it. I do have continuity from the switch body to the thermostat housing as well. I was concerned about this, but I guess I broke through the Teflon tape well enough.
I sat and let the car idle a while until the temperature climbed. I just topped off the coolant so it stayed down until I turned the A/C on. When the temp gauge reached the "o" in "Normal" the switch closed! Cool! This is going to work great.
I really need to work on the wiring next before doing the fabrication work.
I've been trying to track down a relay socket unsuccessfully. I guess I'll have to mail order for one. I was surprised to find Fry's no longer had one in stock and none of the big box auto parts stores carried one. I found the selection of electrical connectors to be vastly inferior to what I found in the past. Bummer.
Jun. 20th, 2008
06:56 pm - Bike again
Today I rode the bike again to work. Today it was cooler than last week, so much more pleasant and I had the forethought to wear a t-shirt and bring a polo shirt in my backpack.
The ride home was equally pleasant, but hot as one might expect in June in ATL. I followed a different route when entering the subdivision. I chose to cut through McDaniel Park, then take a short off-road trail over the sewer easement. This easement is kept clear by the county so roots don't grow into the sewer pipes, so a nice hard packed and fairly smooth dirt trail is the result. My road tires went over it without issue.
I think my return trip was only about 25 minutes. I pushed it harder because last week I didn't feel any pain the next day. I think I'm stronger with just two trips and I need to keep this up through the summer. Perhaps when the kids are out of school, I'll do it more days.
Jun. 14th, 2008
11:11 pm - Toyota brakes
The front pads were looking a bit worn when I did the 60k service, so I ordered a set of brake pads off the internet along with 10 oil filters. The pads were about $40, which is great because retail on them is over $60. Even with shipping I'm money way ahead.
Tonight I got a few spare moments. I intended to do this work with the 65K oil change, but I don't have oil and the car is just under 64,900 miles now. I decided to tear into the front.
I popped the driver's side front wheel and tire off. Everything is very conventional. Two bolts and the caliper is off. The old pads could have gone another 5-10K and looked better off the car than on. The little metal backers swapped over easily to the new pads and I dropped the inner pad in place and took a my biggest C clamp to compress the caliper cylinder into the bore. The brake line is very short and this made me wish for a third hand since the caliper was surprisingly heavy. The pads popped right in and the caliper slid right back on.
Do the other side and even with washing the front wheels the whole job was one hour. Not bad.
Jun. 13th, 2008
07:11 pm - Jitensha
Today I decided to bike to work. I've been meaning to do this for a year now. In fact last father's day I picked out a bike helmet and today was the first time I used it.
It went pretty well. I stuck mostly to sidewalks, but arrived at work pretty sweaty. I had a shower just before I left and the sweat dried quickly so I didn't stink up the place. It took about 30 minutes. I arrived very refreshed in spite of this and the exercise was good both physically and mentally. The high gas prices aren't really a good enough reason to do it even though it was a motivator. The one way trip probably saved just $1.50, but took 30 minutes. My hourly wage is significantly higher!
The ride home went equally well. I worked a bit late and just arrived home... VERY sweaty.
My goal would be to do this every Friday if possible. It's not really practical during the week with tight schedules.
rejuvenatedJun. 6th, 2008
11:24 pm - Tanuki
We've been having a problem with a raccoon. Since kicking Clawdia outside, I've had to keep food and water outside as well. I was a little concerned about attracting wildlife, but it didn't seem to be a problem at first.
In the winter, an opossum was first attracted. I managed to scare it off several times fortunately without having it "play
'possum". That seemed short lived since those things are big chickens.
Later on I noticed food disappearing out of the dish at an alarming rate. I naively figured she was just extra hungry. It was disappearing even during the day. At one point I caught a raccoon stealing the food and this must have become a habit. Once it was so brave that walked up on the deck in broad daylight one Sunday morning when I was in the kitchen.
I started putting the food in the house when were gone at at night, but it is easy to forget. At one point Claudia got angry with it and jumped on top of it and chased it away.
On Wednesday it came up to the house before dark and Yumiko chased it off. It came back and I got out the slingshot and get a few shots off from the upstairs window, but only hit it once. It's tough to aim it properly. Yesterday he made another appearance and I hit it yet again, but I'm worried about having one of the glass slingshot balls ricochet back and break a window. Sometimes I need to fire almost straight down.
Today I went to Dick's Sporting Goods over lunch. The network went down at work, so I took an early long lunch and shot up I-85 to the Mall of GA. I picked up an airsoft pistol that is a very convincing (other than the requisite orange tip) replica of a Sig 2022. I chose this one because it is CO2 powered and will provide powerlet compatibility with a CO2 pellet gun should I buy one of them later. Some airsoft guns use "green gas" which I didn't want to mess with. I wanted a semi-auto as well which would mean using some sort of gas or electric springer. This one has a pretty neat design in that the CO2 powerlet slips into the magazine. The magazine drops exactly the same way as the real Sig and 15 plastic 6mm BBs can be fed in.
I fired off a few shots in the basement at some targets. It seems reasonably powerful, but the accuracy doesn't hold a candle compared to my Crosman 1377 pellet pistol. It is very quiet for a CO2 gun, though. The sights are fixed which is a shame because it seems to shoot right. The trigger pull is long, but fairly light. The long pull is due to being double action only, meaning it needs to cock the hammer for every shot. Some of the more expensive gas blow back designs are single action. On this one the "slide" doesn't move at all.
Ergonomically it feels great in the hand. It has some mass to it and balances well. The magazine is particularly heavy. Overall it feels nicer in the hand than the Crosman which is very front heavy with its 10" barrel.
The idea here is to fend off any wildlife with the airsoft gun since it will only inflict pain and not injure it. I really don't want to hurt the wildlife, so the pellet gun is out. Now that I'm armed and ready, he hasn't shown up, though. I'll be waiting!
Jun. 1st, 2008
03:58 pm - Ballet
Today we attended a ballet performance for Riona at the Gwinnett Civic center. On any Accord we Piloted over there for our Odyssey. (cough, cough... sorry)
Previously she had been involved with a different group for this. The teacher was wonderful, but I was honestly not so fond of the recital and style. It was a bit too contemporary for my tastes and really more modern dance than ballet. This teacher had left Atlanta and the venue was a bit far from the house, so we decided to shop around for a different group.
We came across Duluth Ballet which is just a few miles from the house. It's on the way back from the kids' school, so all the better. The area where the building sits is just slightly dumpy, so it turned off Yumiko originally. When we walked in the place during an open house last fall, we were both immediately impressed with the atmosphere and professionalism of the staff. We signed up Riona without hesitation.
The recital was superb. There were lots of older high school aged girls performing and it was about as good as it could have possibly been in my mind. Granted I'm not a ballet fan, but it would have been less worthwhile for me to attend a professional performance. They did a nice job of integrating in the younger girls and I though Riona did a wonderful job. Probably the best thing was that it was proper ballet with only one segment a bit more contemporary. This is a level up from before.
Yumiko said they should have some other performances open to the general public and charge admission. I think it is a good idea.
I look forward to re-enrolling Riona as long as she is interested and we are living nearby.
relaxedMay. 30th, 2008
11:59 pm - Mustang Electric Fan Part 2
Tonight I had to change the oil in the Mustang. It rolled over 213,000 miles on Thursday. There was a slight exhaust leak that I suspected was the X pipe to header collector joint, so I put the car high up on jack stands so I could get under it to inspect all the exhaust collectors both front and rear. I sprayed the studs in the front with a little PB Blaster and proceeded to change the oil. Yumiko and the kids pulled up after I had done this, so I got distracted for a few hours doing family stuff.
I had painted the E150 van thermostat housing I got a few months ago at Pull-a-Part. This one had the boss that's normally filled on the mustang already drilled and tapped with 3/8 NPT for some vacuum switch. Presumably this was some 1970s era emissions thing, but it was perfect for the 3/8 NPT temperature switch I got from JEGS. Weeks ago I had cleaned and painted it, but never got enough round tuits to put it on the car. Now that it is getting warm, it is easy to remember I need to get cranking on my fan install.
I finally decided to install it, so off came the old one and I cleaned the gasket surface. I put the new housing on with a new gasket and a light skin of RTV. Everything was buttoned up fairly quickly. I was not able to test if the switch worked, but I am concerned about it being able to ground through the teflon tape I used to seal it. Hopefully theres some metal to metal contact after I tightened things down.
Next I'll pre-wire things for the fan so I only have mechanical work left to do. I was hoping to do some pre-fitment of the fan, but it was getting late.
I was able to crank the header collector bolts tight after the PB Blaster did its trick and it seems to have quited things a bit. I've had to do this before and I think it is partially due to the catalytic converters hanging low enough where tall speed bumps whack the bottom of them.
May. 3rd, 2008
10:00 pm - Piano
Tonight was another piano recital for Riona. She had a solo this time and did the theme from "Beauty and the Beast". She did very well, though she has mostly memorized the song rather than learning to read the sheet music. I am trying to encourage her to learn to sight read melodies, but I think honestly this was too difficult. In fact I was worried that she couldn't play it at all.
Before I left on my business trip, I played it into one of the Yamaha's memory banks, so she could listen to the melody.
There was quite an impressive array of talent at the show. Some of the younger ones just blow me away skill wise. It was impressive enough to inspire me to print more sheet music - that is music that I think fits my skill level.
I've been mostly focusing on Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata Movement 1. I also looked a bit at Movement 2. Movement 3 is right out! Too difficult - I'll consider myself lucky to ever play that one. Movement 1 I'm getting pretty good at - especially since it is fairly slow. I haven't quite mastered it, though, the best I can do is no fewer than 5-6 mistakes during the whole song. Interestingly it was performed tonight - one of the younger student's mothers is also taking lessons and she played it.
I was playing Mozart's Turkish March, but it is just a bit too difficult to master at this time, so I've shelved it. It is a fun piece, but the difficulty has become frustrating and counter productive.
I also tried some Joplin. Again this stuff is fun to play, but very difficult and most people that play it well just simply memorize what to do rather than sight read it. I can do some of "The Enertainer", but most of the rest is just far past my abilities.
Tonight I downloaded:
1. Chopin's Prelude "Funeral March". Sounds depressing, but I love the grandiose chords. I think I can master this easily and it sounds quite impressive. It's very "meaty" without being overly difficult.
2. Chopin's "Waltzer Nr. 10 h-moll". Very beautiful melody and I'm sight reading and playing the first page already. Not perfectly, but there's light at the end of the tunnel.
3. F. Silcher's "The Loreley". Nice and fairly simple. Just don't ask me to sing since it does have words.
4. Sousa's "Liberty Bell March". How can you argue with the basis for the "Monty Python's Flying Circus" theme? Always a fan of the show, so I had to give it a try.
5. Strauss's "Blue Danube Waltz". I sight read it on the first try. Not sure if this is a dumbed down version, but it is very easy. I can master completely in probably 10 runs through.
May. 2nd, 2008
10:00 pm - Shrillary and oil.
It amazes me that she is still in this race. The fact that she is hanging on shows me just how darned ignorant the American populace is regarding the topic of economics and is only a testament to how lousy our choices are in this race. To set the record straight I consider myself to be fiscally ultra conservative and my political views are probably influenced by economics more than any other topic. I could really care less about social engineering muckety-muck so long as it doesn't impact me in any way. When all else fails I'm pro-freedom. There's simply no viable candidate in the race now for me to get excited about.
Anyway, back to Shrillary. Her position on oil companies just amazes me and should scare any economist silly. She wants to "take profits" from them? Really? And this will somehow not cause the price at the pump to go wild? For the companies to be viable they must make a certain profit margin. She only speaks about gross profits, never margins.
I suppose we could:
1. Price fix. Nope, the supply will dry up. Why would a company provide a product with no incentive? Oil companies aren't public services, they are for profit businesses. I work for an incentive (paycheck). If my company stopped paying me I wouldn't show up. Oil companies are no different - they just operate on a larger scale.
2. Take profits. Sorry, the profits belong to the shareholders, not the government. Beside, taking profits will force the price higher.
3. Reduce the gas tax. And build roads and bridges with what? The gas tax is a tax I am comfortable paying so long as the proceeds are used to build the very roads I use when I pay at the pump. I favor consumption taxes over any other form of tax and feel we should base our tax code around consumption not production.
4. How about deregulation? Only this can reduce prices. I WANT oil companies to make profits. Private industry will eventually develop alternatives to petroleum and do so by investing these profits. After all, the supply is limited and presumably they want to exist after crude is no longer viable. People will demand cleaner energy and big oil will eventually deliver without government involvement. I think consumer demand will also eventually influence this.
It's time for Americans to learn a bit more about conservation. This crunch will change the way people live and I think for the better. Personally, even as someone who drives a gas hog, there's a side of me that's grateful for the price increases. I consider myself a conservationalist and less so an environmentalist. Unfortunately the socialists have largely hijacked the environmental movement as an assault on capitalism and Shrillary is all to happy to appease on any dubious front she can.
May. 1st, 2008
12:18 am - Dangersoft
I just attended lots of meetings for the Microsoft acquisition. The meetings were hosted in Mountain View, CA, so I made a quick trip out there. It was a packed week, so no time to visit friends I have in the bay area.
There is quite a bit of uncertainty surrounding what our upcoming projects will be and due to confidentiality I can't really iterate much of that here. I'll thus speak in more vague terms, but I must say they've got some enticing new ideas that are a logical extension of Danger's previous products and mission.
The plus side is that it seems that they are enthused about acquiring our talent pool. They seem to have made it worth our while to stick around and find out. That is in the form of pending bonuses and stock option payouts. I'd have to be a real fool for leaving without testing the waters for the next two years.
Ultimately I enjoy working with the people I am surrounded by and the work relates to the career I've built. So, my anticipation at this time is that I could be working for Microsoft for a long time to come. Thus far it seems pretty hard to beat the company perks and benefits. I had come to love the small company feel, but I'm willing to give a large company another try. Not to belittle the Japanese companies I've worked for in the past, but I'm somewhat proud that it is an American company this time.
My biggest anxiety is keeping interesting work in an office located in the Atlanta area. I am anticipating quite a lot of work for the radio sw team in particular.
Apr. 10th, 2008
11:21 am - Free America not Tibet.
I seriously doubt the Chinese government really cares about what the protesters write on a sign, so what do they propose we do? Boycotting the Olympics isn't the answer since this event should be politicized as little as possible.
The way I see it is that it boils down to overly invasive governments that have no regard for human rights and freedom. Yet most of the sign wavers don't seem to care much about the increasing invasiveness of our OWN government. In fact I suspect many are the type to favor it. I say wave a sign that says "Free America".
Yes, a free Tibet would be a better place. As would a free Iraq, free Iran, etc... but I don't hold the answers on how it is possible to accomplish these impossible goals without creating world war, so I'd like to focus on maintaining our own freedoms that were so hard fought by our founders. This we can accomplish IF the American spirit has not already died, but when I look at our presidential candidates, current leaders, and political climate I have great despair about the state of our own republic.
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