I had a dream ... (is how I should have started yesterday's post)
...which involved me driving a shiny red car with the top down today. I did drive the car but the top was up. Rain interfered with my plans. Perhaps tomorrow will hold more promise.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Not So Handyman
OK, I got around to the oven today. Long-long-long story short, the oven now works though I tried really hard to mess it up. Now that the oven is functional, I believe I will be making some biscuits in the not so distant future (Saturday).
And in other news, I put the freshly charged battery back in the Miata today and it started just fine so I went out for a while. And then when I got back home, I left the headlights on. Doh! I discovered this about an hour later. Hopefully it will stick crank on ... Tuesday.
All the signs indicate that today was a very bad day for me to try to be useful. Indeed, I did not try to fix anything else. I believe this was a prudent move on my part.
OK, I got around to the oven today. Long-long-long story short, the oven now works though I tried really hard to mess it up. Now that the oven is functional, I believe I will be making some biscuits in the not so distant future (Saturday).
And in other news, I put the freshly charged battery back in the Miata today and it started just fine so I went out for a while. And then when I got back home, I left the headlights on. Doh! I discovered this about an hour later. Hopefully it will stick crank on ... Tuesday.
All the signs indicate that today was a very bad day for me to try to be useful. Indeed, I did not try to fix anything else. I believe this was a prudent move on my part.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Errh, Errh, Errh
...is the sound your car makes when the battery is mostly dead.
Sunday afternoon the Miata needed to go out for a while. It hadn't moved in a couple of weeks but I was still a little surprised when I put the key in and turned it only to hear the motor go errh, errh.
Being determined to roll, I jump started the Miata and all was good, that is until Friday morning when I tried to start it again. This time it only went errh. Since I was on my way to the office, I left it be and drove the Charger in that day.
So this morning it occurs to me there aretwothree things I need to do today: 1) replace the battery in the Miata, 2) install the oven element that finally arrived, and 3) take a nap.
Replacing the Miata battery turned into a magical mystery tour. It turns out the battery is different. Three stops and I had not found one. At the third stop, they did offer to test it for me. According to the technician, the battery was just under charged. A good trickle charge and it should be ready to go. Hmmm.
I assumed the battery was dead and needed to be replaced because it is old. This is the battery that was in the car when I purchased it almost 6 years ago. I also assumed the recent cold snap had finished it off. It also probably didn't help that the car had only been run about once a week for the last month or so.
So I brought the battery back home and put it on the charger, which I probably should have done in the first place if it hadn't been so old, and so cold. Tomorrow I will put it back in the Miata. Hopefully next week it will still be fine. If not I will have them order me a battery.
Only two of the three items on my list got tackled today. I got my nap in as well.
...is the sound your car makes when the battery is mostly dead.
Sunday afternoon the Miata needed to go out for a while. It hadn't moved in a couple of weeks but I was still a little surprised when I put the key in and turned it only to hear the motor go errh, errh.
Being determined to roll, I jump started the Miata and all was good, that is until Friday morning when I tried to start it again. This time it only went errh. Since I was on my way to the office, I left it be and drove the Charger in that day.
So this morning it occurs to me there are
Replacing the Miata battery turned into a magical mystery tour. It turns out the battery is different. Three stops and I had not found one. At the third stop, they did offer to test it for me. According to the technician, the battery was just under charged. A good trickle charge and it should be ready to go. Hmmm.
I assumed the battery was dead and needed to be replaced because it is old. This is the battery that was in the car when I purchased it almost 6 years ago. I also assumed the recent cold snap had finished it off. It also probably didn't help that the car had only been run about once a week for the last month or so.
So I brought the battery back home and put it on the charger, which I probably should have done in the first place if it hadn't been so old, and so cold. Tomorrow I will put it back in the Miata. Hopefully next week it will still be fine. If not I will have them order me a battery.
Only two of the three items on my list got tackled today. I got my nap in as well.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Of things unspoken I shall now mention. Our oven decided to stop functioning in a normal manner on Thanksgiving day. Fortunately or unfortunately we did not notice until the next day. By that statement I mean that the oven did not impede Thanksgiving in any way whatsoever so we had that going for us. Something to be thankful for, yes.
At this point your eyes should begin to glaze over just like my wife's when I begin to explain how something works. Here goes: what happened when the oven quit functioning normally is that when it was turned off, it did not turn off. By that, I do mean the controls indicated the oven to be turned off, but the oven was hot, indeed very hot because the broiler was on - on at about 450 or 500 degrees.
My first guess was that a relay had welded itself shut. Way back when this happened I disassembled the oven and after looking at the main control board, decided to simply replace the entire control board rather than trying to replace a single relay. I made this decision because the relay in question did not appear to be stuck shut when power was removed from the oven. I believed that was the correct call then and I stand by it. Even though replacing the main control board did not fix the oven and has thus proven me wrong. (I now have a spare controller board in the event one quits!)
After that did not work, I took another look at what could possibly be the cause for the oven broiler being stuck on. (This is what you would the shot gun approach to trouble shooting an appliance.) On all the time that is. Well, not really all the time - if you unplug it, it does turn off. Or if you turn off the breaker. But anyway, after checking all the obvious stuff, I was just sitting around on the cold-hard-tile floor behind the oven trying to decide what to do next. Perhaps a walk in the park. Since I had a schematic and nothing was making much sense, I decided to check anything and everything I could based on the diagnostic information available on the schematic. - It turns out there are several interesting diagnostic modes built into the stove that working by pressing a super-secret-sequence of buttons. .
I eventually discover that the lower element in this oven (it is a dual oven) was open. By that I mean it measured zero ohms between the terminals. The schematic indicated what the resistance should be, but it was not. This did not make sense to me. One element is out, so the other one is on all the time. How can that be?
So anyway, even though it makes no sense whatsoever, I decided to go head and replace the faulty element (it really is bad, unlike the controller board). Once the element arrives I will install it and we will see if the oven magically starts working correctly. I don't really believe it will so therefore it probably will just to spite me.
To recap. The oven quit ON over a month ago. My first attempt to repair it was costly and a miserable failure. My second attempt to fix it is not so costly thought I don't expect it to work. And it has taken me about a month to get around to ordering the part which is not available locally. Why did it take me so long to order the park? Because I don't believe it will fix it. Why am I trying it anyway? Because the oven hasn't worked in almost six weeks.
And because the other oven is not cooperating with my homemade biscuits. :(
At this point your eyes should begin to glaze over just like my wife's when I begin to explain how something works. Here goes: what happened when the oven quit functioning normally is that when it was turned off, it did not turn off. By that, I do mean the controls indicated the oven to be turned off, but the oven was hot, indeed very hot because the broiler was on - on at about 450 or 500 degrees.
My first guess was that a relay had welded itself shut. Way back when this happened I disassembled the oven and after looking at the main control board, decided to simply replace the entire control board rather than trying to replace a single relay. I made this decision because the relay in question did not appear to be stuck shut when power was removed from the oven. I believed that was the correct call then and I stand by it. Even though replacing the main control board did not fix the oven and has thus proven me wrong. (I now have a spare controller board in the event one quits!)
After that did not work, I took another look at what could possibly be the cause for the oven broiler being stuck on. (This is what you would the shot gun approach to trouble shooting an appliance.) On all the time that is. Well, not really all the time - if you unplug it, it does turn off. Or if you turn off the breaker. But anyway, after checking all the obvious stuff, I was just sitting around on the cold-hard-tile floor behind the oven trying to decide what to do next. Perhaps a walk in the park. Since I had a schematic and nothing was making much sense, I decided to check anything and everything I could based on the diagnostic information available on the schematic.
I eventually discover that the lower element in this oven (it is a dual oven) was open. By that I mean it measured zero ohms between the terminals. The schematic indicated what the resistance should be, but it was not. This did not make sense to me. One element is out, so the other one is on all the time. How can that be?
So anyway, even though it makes no sense whatsoever, I decided to go head and replace the faulty element (it really is bad, unlike the controller board). Once the element arrives I will install it and we will see if the oven magically starts working correctly. I don't really believe it will so therefore it probably will just to spite me.
To recap. The oven quit ON over a month ago. My first attempt to repair it was costly and a miserable failure. My second attempt to fix it is not so costly thought I don't expect it to work. And it has taken me about a month to get around to ordering the part which is not available locally. Why did it take me so long to order the park? Because I don't believe it will fix it. Why am I trying it anyway? Because the oven hasn't worked in almost six weeks.
And because the other oven is not cooperating with my homemade biscuits. :(
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Finished up Bri's bookcase today. I can't believe I spent more time painting it than I did building it.
We had some snow Thursday and Friday. The schools shut down so the kids got to stay home.
I walked out by the creek in the backyard today. There was some ice along the edge of the water. I walked on it, so technically I was walking on water.
We had some snow Thursday and Friday. The schools shut down so the kids got to stay home.
I walked out by the creek in the backyard today. There was some ice along the edge of the water. I walked on it, so technically I was walking on water.
Monday, January 04, 2010
Someone finally did it. They created a sarcasm font. Now if you could just explain to me how to use it in my post.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Whew!
Where did 2009 go? I have been remiss in blogging for a few months. Let me catch you up. I will start with December.
Had I been writing recently I would have mentioned helping my neighbor Tom remove the V8 from his 1966 Mustang convertible. (Yep, there are two old convertibles on my street.) Why is it always cold outside when an engine is being pulled?
I would have also mentioned a couple of hiking trips - a few around Rainbow Mountain and a trip to Sipsey. The Sipsey expedition explored a few trails I had seen in quite a while. We visited Happy Rock and Ship Rock as well as locating a couple of great camp sites for possible use in the near future. We also successfully located an alternate route for returning home after leaving the trail. Some would say we got lost. I would disagree. Those were some of the nicest dirt roads I have ever driven and the GPS was quite aware of their existence. I will stick to the route I know next time though.
Progress on the '72 GMC truck has been pretty much non-existent since August. Hopefully I will get the dust and cobwebs cleared off in the not so distant future.
The Tuesday evening woodworking sessions did see us all (David, Danny, and myself) complete some nice little boxes this fall. As usual, I have not taken any pictures. Worse, I don't even know where the camera is right now. It has been MIA for better than a week. I am also in the process of finishing up another bookcase for Bri. And I started some benchwork for a model railroad that J and I will be building.
Time to make some biscuits.
Where did 2009 go? I have been remiss in blogging for a few months. Let me catch you up. I will start with December.
Had I been writing recently I would have mentioned helping my neighbor Tom remove the V8 from his 1966 Mustang convertible. (Yep, there are two old convertibles on my street.) Why is it always cold outside when an engine is being pulled?
I would have also mentioned a couple of hiking trips - a few around Rainbow Mountain and a trip to Sipsey. The Sipsey expedition explored a few trails I had seen in quite a while. We visited Happy Rock and Ship Rock as well as locating a couple of great camp sites for possible use in the near future. We also successfully located an alternate route for returning home after leaving the trail. Some would say we got lost. I would disagree. Those were some of the nicest dirt roads I have ever driven and the GPS was quite aware of their existence. I will stick to the route I know next time though.
Progress on the '72 GMC truck has been pretty much non-existent since August. Hopefully I will get the dust and cobwebs cleared off in the not so distant future.
The Tuesday evening woodworking sessions did see us all (David, Danny, and myself) complete some nice little boxes this fall. As usual, I have not taken any pictures. Worse, I don't even know where the camera is right now. It has been MIA for better than a week. I am also in the process of finishing up another bookcase for Bri. And I started some benchwork for a model railroad that J and I will be building.
Time to make some biscuits.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
This weekend G and I celebrated our 15th anniversary. We drove up to Nashville for the weekend. On Saturday we drove even further north. G surprised me with a trip to the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY. That was a very nice surprise.
Funny thing happened there. I saw a Hawaiian style shirt that I liked. Obviously it was covered in vintage Corvettes. I walked over to check the price. Zowie! $75. I have a rule when buying those shirts and it goes something like this. It must be somewhat tacky and it should cost less than $10. It doesn't hurt if it has an old rusty truck on it as well. No way I am paying $75 for any shirt, much less an Aloha shirt.
Saturday evening we drove over to the Opryland Hotel and viewed the sights. While inside we enjoyed a pleasant meal at an Italian restaurant.
Funny thing happened there. I saw a Hawaiian style shirt that I liked. Obviously it was covered in vintage Corvettes. I walked over to check the price. Zowie! $75. I have a rule when buying those shirts and it goes something like this. It must be somewhat tacky and it should cost less than $10. It doesn't hurt if it has an old rusty truck on it as well. No way I am paying $75 for any shirt, much less an Aloha shirt.
Saturday evening we drove over to the Opryland Hotel and viewed the sights. While inside we enjoyed a pleasant meal at an Italian restaurant.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Songs of Ascent
It is a widely known that fact when U2 releases a new album, I put it in my CD player and leave it there. For a very long time. I don't remember how many years All that You Can't Leave Behind stayed in the CD player. I put that one in the day it was released and it was still there when the next one was released. It had spun around so many times some of the 1's were starting to look like zeros. Well times are a changing. No Line on the Horizon may not get the extended play that How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb received and All that You Can't Leave Behind before it.
What sayest thou? How fore can this be? U2 has already announced the release date of the next album. 2010. Bring it on I say.
Full disclosure: The CD changer in my car currently contains by NLotH and HtDaAB. I imagine there is room for one more U2 album without removing either one of these. Actually it contains 5 U2 CDs at this point. This was done a few weeks ago in preparation for the concert.
It is a widely known that fact when U2 releases a new album, I put it in my CD player and leave it there. For a very long time. I don't remember how many years All that You Can't Leave Behind stayed in the CD player. I put that one in the day it was released and it was still there when the next one was released. It had spun around so many times some of the 1's were starting to look like zeros. Well times are a changing. No Line on the Horizon may not get the extended play that How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb received and All that You Can't Leave Behind before it.
What sayest thou? How fore can this be? U2 has already announced the release date of the next album. 2010. Bring it on I say.
Full disclosure: The CD changer in my car currently contains by NLotH and HtDaAB. I imagine there is room for one more U2 album without removing either one of these. Actually it contains 5 U2 CDs at this point. This was done a few weeks ago in preparation for the concert.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
No school this week
This week was Fall break. The kids and I hung around the house most of the week, with the exception of the concert trip on Tuesday. Now that the week is almost over, I can't recall what I did this week. I suppose that is a good sign.
My plan for the week was to do nothing over the weekend, followed by nothing on Monday and the concert on Tuesday. Having gotten that out of the way, my schedule was all clear to do nothing on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. More of the same was planned for the weekend.
Saturday was Brianna's Birthday. She is now nine. She had a busy day between Girls Scouts and going out for a nice B-day dinner.
This week was Fall break. The kids and I hung around the house most of the week, with the exception of the concert trip on Tuesday. Now that the week is almost over, I can't recall what I did this week. I suppose that is a good sign.
My plan for the week was to do nothing over the weekend, followed by nothing on Monday and the concert on Tuesday. Having gotten that out of the way, my schedule was all clear to do nothing on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. More of the same was planned for the weekend.
Saturday was Brianna's Birthday. She is now nine. She had a busy day between Girls Scouts and going out for a nice B-day dinner.
U2 - 360 Tour
Tuesday night Jordan and I went to Atlanta to see U2 at the Georgia Dome. We rode over with Ken and his son. Upon arrival we met up with my sister and his daughter.
Muse opened followed by U2. I had never heard Muse. They were quite loud. I must be getting old, because I did not comprehend a single word from their performance. Not even the speaking parts. Actually this probably had very little to do with my age and more to do with the fact that the volume was so loud the amps/speakers were being over driven.
U2 was great. This part of the show was not as loud. The show was easy to see thanks to the 360 degree overhead screen.
After it finished we drove back home. This was bad planning on our part as we did not get back home until after 3 am. Next time we will definitely spend the night.
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Tuesday night Jordan and I went to Atlanta to see U2 at the Georgia Dome. We rode over with Ken and his son. Upon arrival we met up with my sister and his daughter.
Muse opened followed by U2. I had never heard Muse. They were quite loud. I must be getting old, because I did not comprehend a single word from their performance. Not even the speaking parts. Actually this probably had very little to do with my age and more to do with the fact that the volume was so loud the amps/speakers were being over driven.
U2 was great. This part of the show was not as loud. The show was easy to see thanks to the 360 degree overhead screen.
After it finished we drove back home. This was bad planning on our part as we did not get back home until after 3 am. Next time we will definitely spend the night.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
So I was driving along in the zoom-zoom today when I noticed the climate was approaching ultimate camping weather.
Early in the day when I was walking about 100 yards in the rain with a heavy backpack on my back, I had the same thought, Hey this is camping weather.
Yep, the next camping trip is in the planning phase.
Early in the day when I was walking about 100 yards in the rain with a heavy backpack on my back, I had the same thought, Hey this is camping weather.
Yep, the next camping trip is in the planning phase.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
U2 - 360 Tour
Ever since last May when I heard U2 would be in Atlanta this Fall I had been thinking I would like to go to the concert. Unfortunately it was scheduled for a Tuesday night and that would require me to miss at least part of one day of school, probably two.
About two weeks ago I decided I really-really wanted to go and started trying to work through the logistics: transportation, a sub, etc. And then today it was pointed out to me that the concert was the week of Fall break. Well that makes it so easy!
I just finished ordering 3 tickets: One for me, One for J, and one for my seester. I'm ready.
Now I need to start saving my dimes for a t-shirt.
Ever since last May when I heard U2 would be in Atlanta this Fall I had been thinking I would like to go to the concert. Unfortunately it was scheduled for a Tuesday night and that would require me to miss at least part of one day of school, probably two.
About two weeks ago I decided I really-really wanted to go and started trying to work through the logistics: transportation, a sub, etc. And then today it was pointed out to me that the concert was the week of Fall break. Well that makes it so easy!
I just finished ordering 3 tickets: One for me, One for J, and one for my seester. I'm ready.
Now I need to start saving my dimes for a t-shirt.
Monday, September 07, 2009
Mundane Post #1109
A nice three day weekend. School has been keeping me busy.
Today I tried to catch up on some of the chores that needed to be done. Really exciting stuff like replacing a toilet and a door frame. The plumbing task is complete but the door still needs a little work.
The oil and plugs in the Miata were replaced this weekend, the odometer reading 111k miles. Filling up the tank today produced a a result of 31 mpg.
The garden is still producing tomatoes, peppers, okra, and cantaloupes thought it is mostly unattended.
I just completed a nice box made from black walnut and cherry sapwood. Perhaps that is premature, it still needs to be oiled.
A nice three day weekend. School has been keeping me busy.
Today I tried to catch up on some of the chores that needed to be done. Really exciting stuff like replacing a toilet and a door frame. The plumbing task is complete but the door still needs a little work.
The oil and plugs in the Miata were replaced this weekend, the odometer reading 111k miles. Filling up the tank today produced a a result of 31 mpg.
The garden is still producing tomatoes, peppers, okra, and cantaloupes thought it is mostly unattended.
I just completed a nice box made from black walnut and cherry sapwood. Perhaps that is premature, it still needs to be oiled.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
I have been busy for the last two weeks. I have had several thoughts in that time I wanted to share here but they have escaped me. Oh well!
Something odd happened with the odometers last week. On Sunday G's Tahoe rolled over 100,000 miles. On the same day, my Charger rolled over 20,000 miles and then on Tuesday the Miata hit 111,111 miles.
Something odd happened with the odometers last week. On Sunday G's Tahoe rolled over 100,000 miles. On the same day, my Charger rolled over 20,000 miles and then on Tuesday the Miata hit 111,111 miles.
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
Life is a Beach 2009
We hit the beach this week (Sunday-Thursday). Per our normal routine, we went to the Destin/Fort Walton area of Florida. We stayed at the Island Princess on Santa Rosa Blvd again.
We had nice weather for the week - one rain shower and temperatures in the 80's. It couldn't get much better.
Our diet consisted almost entirely of seafood the entire week. Sunday upon arriving in Destin we went straight to the Back Porch for a late lunch/early dinner. Monday we dined at Pompano Joe's, Tuesday we visited Louisiana Lagniappe, and the Wednesday was Graffiti's. Ginger's favorite was definitely Graffiti's.
Jordan was pleased to visit the water park and The Track (go carts) while in town. Brianna got to drive a go cart on the family track all by herself. She did very well and even passed a few carts. Go Bri!
It would have been nice to have stayed a few more days, but I had to return to HSV. The Summer of Rick is officially over. I started back to work today.
We hit the beach this week (Sunday-Thursday). Per our normal routine, we went to the Destin/Fort Walton area of Florida. We stayed at the Island Princess on Santa Rosa Blvd again.
We had nice weather for the week - one rain shower and temperatures in the 80's. It couldn't get much better.
Our diet consisted almost entirely of seafood the entire week. Sunday upon arriving in Destin we went straight to the Back Porch for a late lunch/early dinner. Monday we dined at Pompano Joe's, Tuesday we visited Louisiana Lagniappe, and the Wednesday was Graffiti's. Ginger's favorite was definitely Graffiti's.
Jordan was pleased to visit the water park and The Track (go carts) while in town. Brianna got to drive a go cart on the family track all by herself. She did very well and even passed a few carts. Go Bri!
It would have been nice to have stayed a few more days, but I had to return to HSV. The Summer of Rick is officially over. I started back to work today.
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