Duane's little web log

Just some space where I can rant and express myself, and share come cool links!

Monday, May 28, 2007

Happiness in 32MB 

This video just makes me smile.

Duaneo
posted by Duane  # 6:03 PM

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Water again!!!! 

Last night, I was nearing the edge of "enough" clean clothes. Time to break down and do laundry again. As I discussed in my previous water post, I had done some creative plumbing to allow both the washer and the cat genie to drain properly. It was a disaster. I had removed the drain tube for the washer, leaving the cat genie drain in place. (No, I didn't run the washer without replacing the drain tube - nice try) While putting the drain tube in place, it cracked. Given that the tube is at least 20 years old, I'll give it that. No laundry last night.

Today I stopped by the hardware store and purchased some new plumbing parts, and a new tube. I set up the new plumbing parts, and attached the tube. It looked good. I started a load of wash and noticed a quickly growing puddle coming out from below the washer. Crap! I unplugged the washer, and moved it out of place to find a good deal of water coming out of the back of the washer where the new drain tube attaches. It turns out that on this model (I can't speak for others) there is a pump to pump water out when draining, but there is no valve to keep the drain closed while it's filling. The system relies on the tube running higher than the water level of the washtub before hitting the drain (thus explaining why the drain tube is a good 4 feet off of the floor, rather than a more attractive 2 feet off of the floor.)

When fitting the tube, I noticed that the end was too big and too loose fitting. Fortunately the tube is tapered every inch and a half, so all I had to do was cut off the first larger ring, and it fit better. Apparently I should have cut off the first two rings. So here I am behind my washer with a tupperware dish (the only thing I could find that holds water on short notice) catching water as it drains out of the back of the washer and throwing it out the window onto the plants. All the while, I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do next. Dejavu. I let it drip for a bit and run into the kitchen to look for something to plug it with. A cork? About 1/8th of an inch too narrow. My thumb works well, but It's hard to do any work with one of your thumbs plugging a leaking drain tube.

I grabbed a small towel and stuffed the drain for a while. In the meantime, I needed to cut another ring off of the drain tube, and with pliers make the spring loaded clip smaller so it would hold the tube in place. It's amazing how hard it is to use tools when your hands are covered in soapy water.

Well, now it's fixed (again) the plumbing is working brilliantly and not backing up. The floor of the sunroom is wet again, but I figure that as hot as it has been back there in the afternoon, it will be dry in no time tomorrow.

Sigh. At least I got a couple of loads of laundry done tonight.

Cheers,
Duane
posted by Duane  # 10:22 PM

my wrinkled baby... 


posted by Duane  # 9:11 AM

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

welllllll shit 

On my way home tonight, I got in a hit and run accident. Front right corner of my baby is all mangled, and as we speak, she's on her way back to the dealer to get all fixed up. On the bright side, I'll have a new hood and bumper free of rock chips. Too bad I didn't get hit on that little ding I have on the roof so I could get that fixed too. If they could have mashed up the worn out windshield, that would be cool too.

I'm fine, no injuries, not sore. I guess if that's going to happen, it'll happen later. :^)

On the downside, I have a $200 deductible to pay and I'll be driving a rental car until it's done.

le-sigh. Poor little car.

Duaneo
posted by Duane  # 8:48 PM

Switcher 

I've been a PC guy for ever. I haven't been anti-mac, I just haven't seen the point of switching.

For the last couple of years (yes years) my PC has been acting up. Sometimes when I open files or launch apps, it takes 2 minutes or more to open the file/app. I have tried numerous things including replacing most of the hardware, and refreshing the OS multiple times. No joy. A couple of Sundays ago I decided that enough is enough. I need to buy a new computer. Not build a new computer, buy one, that someone else built, and that I can get on the phone when it's not working. As I was thinking of who to buy from, I thought to myself, why not buy a Mac? I couldn't think of a reason why not to.

I contemplated this idea some more on Monday and decided on Monday evening that I was going to give this Mac thing a shot. I went to the Mac store in Emeryville and picked up the cheapest box they had. A Mac Mini for about $600. Apple has a 14 day return policy with a 10% restocking fee. I figured that if I didn't like the Mac in 14 days, or came up with a showstopper issue, that I'd take it back and it would have only cost me $60 to try it out. There aren't too many places you can "rent" a new computer for 14 days for $60.

Over the course of the week, I downloaded some apps, and tried things out. I verified that my bluetooth keyboard and mouse would work, and that in general it was going to suit my needs. I was talking to my workout buddy Doug, and was contemplating that if I was going to return the mini for a bigger mac, that perhaps I could talk the store manager into waiving the restocking fee. It turns out that Doug knows the manager of another nearby store, and he introduced me to him later that day.

On Saturday I decided to pull the trigger. I went into the Mac store, and had them assemble machine. (A dual 3.0GHz dual-core machine with 4GB of ram, bluetooth and wireless) I had to go home and get the mini to trade it in, but in addition to waiving the restocking fee, he gave me the friends and family discount. VERY cool. After about a week of using this shiny (well matte, really) new mac, I decided that my two 20" widescreen displays weren't going to cut it anymore. I opted for the 30" apple cinema display. Since I hooked it up, I have been enamored. The screen is SO detailed and the colors are SO bright and vibrant.

It is sad (and very geeky) to say that I think I'm in love.

To continue the geekiness, I'm still waiting for the raid array to come in the mail, so I haven't completed the great data migration yet. I am looking forward to consolidating all of my disparate data storage, and get things cleaned, organized, and backed up. It's a lot like waiting for a new filing cabinet to come in the mail so you can finally see your desk again, and find the things you want to find, speaking of which, I need to do that too. :)

Anyway, that's the update. I've switched from a windows PC to a Mac. It's doing everything I want it to do. It's significantly faster, and the display is absolutely beautiful. Of course I still have other windows machines around, and use them on a regular basis, but my main machine is a Mac.

I will do my best to be an enthusiastic user, but not a zealot. If become one, smack me.

Cheers,
Duane
posted by Duane  # 3:06 PM

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Road trip pictures 

Published
posted by Duane  # 1:19 PM

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Long time, no post 

It's amazing how much harder to post it is when I can't do it from my phone. :^( The night I spent in Vagas, I didn't plug the phone in because I was feeling so ill. When I put it on the car charger in the morning, it came up with the message "Invalid SIM card" Considering I bought the phone unlocked, it shouldn't ever give this message. Since the phone wasn't made for the US market, Nokia US won't support it. I have yet to figure out what to do with it.

The new job has been great! At the end of the first week, I actually got to do some REAL work. Pretty good for being green and knowing nothing. Now I'm getting pulled into work on one of their bigger accounts, who I hear can be ... challenging. No problem, I've dealt with challenging customers before. :^)

I read this article this morning, and found it very inspiring. On a related note, Costco is partnering with a company that sells and installs solar panels. I'm having a consultation on Friday with the installer to draw up a proposed system. I'm excited. In the end it's going to be like replacing the starter on the car, or getting the foundation work done. It'll be a whole lot of work, and wholly unimpressive when it's finished.
posted by Duane  # 12:06 PM

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