Date: 2009-11-28 15:58 Subject: Thanksgiving weekend Security: Public

We headed for the northlands on Wednesday, as we had planned on Thanksgiving with Maggs' parents. We left early afternoon, leaving all three cats loose in the house, with snakewyfe checking up on them - Snuffy seems to be doing ok with the other cats, so we're hoping things go well while we're gone.

The trip was long, but uneventful. Thursday we cut some wood, had Thanksgiving lunch, cut more wood, split some wood, had dinner, and then played cards and generally hung out for the rest of the evening.

Friday we cut some wood, split some more wood, and then hung out for the evening. Saturday my R (Maggs' dad) had to work, so we only cut wood (we're trying to keep ahead of him so that he can split wood whenever he has free time, but doesn't need to cut any). We put about a cord of split wood into the woodshed, and cut and stacked another cord by the splitter, as one of the neighbors is going to help with the splitting (they traded time - wood splitting for computer help). I need to sharpen the chainsaw again, but that can wait for a while, as we're probably done with it for the weekend (I also need to mix more gas and buy more chain oil, too).

In between the lumberjacking, we also drained the waterbed so that the headboard could be attached (and then we moved it back into position, reset all the legs, and filled it back up), installed a new drive on B's computer (Maggs' mom has a faster computer than I do), fixed R's computer so that the Add/Remove programs control panel wouldn't crash it, and now I'm working on figuring out why R's printer only prints part of a page (I think it's a driver issue).

We also may have broken the four-wheeler - it may have backfired, the muffler may have died, we're not sure, but it got really loud as we were pulling up to the woodshed, so we're leaving it for R to check. Everybody up north has at least one four-wheeler, and they get used for everything.

Date: 2009-11-02 14:43 Subject: This could be interesting.... Security: Public

Later today I'm going to kill my web file archive.

CAE is doing some upgrades, but, at least in the short term, they'll mean that I have to get rid of my current webspace.

They may not bring back web hosting because there are so many other alternatives (when they started 20 years ago, there wasn't much else for options).

I'm currently archiving all my stuff in preparation for deleting everything.

Date: 2009-10-13 09:14 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public Tags: computer, work

I came in this morning, and my computer is showing a large mass of error messages, all related to "Dude, your D: drive is hosed."

A quick trip to DoIT for a new 1TB drive (which is going to take ~3 hours to format), and I'm back up and running.

I plugged the old drive (a 2yr old WD) and it started clicking, so it's in the fridge cooling down, and when the new drive is done formatting, I'll pull it out and see if anything is recoverable.

Date: 2009-10-11 15:08 Subject: It's been a while since the last update.... Security: Public

Last weekend we did the Stronghold Olde English Faire. It rained on Friday, so when we got there, all we did was put up the tent roof and unload the tables, because more than that was likely to have everything be completely wet in the morning. Saturday we went to set up, only to find that the tent had sagged just enough that it was retaining water. We dumped it, and then started setting up in the mud hole that was our booth space (we weren't the only ones, it'd been raining for several days, and, fortunately, we were near the top of the hill).

We sacrificed the big tarp as flooring for the booth so that we weren't standing ankle-deep in the mud, as not only was there rain, but they have a mole problem, and right behind our back table was a large set of tunnels which only made the mud deeper there. It rained on and off all day Saturday, but since the site is basically a clearing in the woods, there wasn't much wind, and we didn't put up any of the sidewalls (except the back one, which was mostly to control the water dripping off the roof). Maggs did demos all day (under a patio umbrella). There were a reasonable number of people there enjoying what I kept explaining to everyone as a "realistic recreation of an English country faire."

Sunday it rained briefly in the morning, but then the sun came out. This, and the large amount of hay they were spreading all over the muddy spots both days kept everyone from sliding around too much, but didn't really help keep anything clean. It did, however, let most of the tent and booth stuff dry off enough that we could pack up without too much mess. Overall, business was similar to last year, but we did a lot more sales on Sunday than usual (Saturday was down by almost half but Sunday was more than double of last year). We loaded everything up Sunday night, but started packing earlier, so we did it all when it was still light enough to see, which was good, as I need to fix the lantern, since it seems to have a plugged fuel feed line.

Monday morning I backed the camper into the driveway (it's easier to leave it on the street Sunday night and then put it away the next morning when it's light enough to see), and I drove in with Maggs since she had a doctor appointment just off campus. I finally finished with all the laundry yesterday. Now everything needs to be sorted back into the right bins (tent and booth, as opposed to the current clean&dry vs wet&dirty), and I still need to wash tent ropes.

Yesterday I put another light up in the basement so that there's more light on the finished side of the wall I'm still working on. I also removed three light switches from upstairs. When the house was wired last, they took one outlet in each bedroom and put it on a switch, but instead of putting one socket on the switch, they put both, and, on the one I checked, didn't leave enough wire to make it easy to fix. One is the outlet that has the clock in the guest room, and another is the outlet or the phone base station in the office, and the third is behind my dresser, and doesn't get used. I pulled the switches and spliced the two switch legs together so that the outlets are now always on, since I had been occasionally accidentally turning off the power to the phone. Then, after picking Maggs up from the Market, I mowed the lawn.

Today we did the Northside Farmer's Market, and then stopped at the hardware store because Maggs was looking for skeleton keys (if you have any that are iron or steel, and don't need them, send them to her). They had just put the leaf blowers I had been looking at on sale ($40 instead of $60), and we had a $10 rewards coupon and a $10 birthday coupon, so we bought it (for $20). I tested it out on the ground around the two trees that are currently dropping leaves, and while it's not as quiet or as neat as a rake, it's a lot faster, and easier on my back.

Maggs is currently taking her second nap of the day (the first one was while she was out at the Market), and I'm off to work on dishes.

Date: 2009-09-16 12:30 Subject: Technology Security: Public

I just got a new cell phone (same number as the old one).

There's nothing wrong with my old one - it still functions properly and has a good battery.

It does, however, have a "feature" that I dislike.

The Nokia 1112 (and, from what I've seen online) has the ability to dial emergency numbers even when the keypad is locked. It's got 5-8 preset code numbers installed (it apparently depends on the service provider).

Yesterday I pocket-dialed 911, and, as that's not the first time that's happened, I decided it was time for a new phone. The new one is a flip-phone, so that shouldn't be a problem again.

Date: 2009-08-29 15:03 Subject: Vacationing Security: Public

We're in the general vicinity of Fredericksbug, VA today.

Thursday we left home and drove to Dayton, OH, and stayed overnight with M&J. Friday we drove to slave2tehtink's house, getting there late enough that we all crashed for the night. Google says the stop in Dayton added an hour to our drive time, but it also splits the drive in half and lets us visit friends we hadn't seen since last weekend (we normally don't see them that often, but M was in town for a class reunion).

Today we went to Fredericksburg and wandered around town, mostly window shopping, but we also stopped in at the Fredericksburg Area Museum, where, from the number of helpful people who were happy to see us, we were probably the only people in the museum.

Tomorrow we're heading farther north into Virginia to Maggs' aunt's, where we're going to stay for a few days while we wander around D.C.

Date: 2009-08-18 20:23 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public Tags: work

I'm at work still (it's almost 8:30).

Why am I still at work? Well, it started out as a plan to do some side work, but after the third time that the sample I was grinding grabbed wrong and flew across the lab I gave up on that plan and decided to take a break.

Called a friend, and went out for chinese, and then went back to try it again. Two hours later, three computers are fixed, one minor flood has been contained, two people have been told that they should be wearing safety glasses, and I still really haven't gotten anything done on the side project.

Date: 2009-08-15 13:52 Subject: It must be a cat thing.... Security: Public

I was out shopping today, and stopped at Mounds for cat food.

The cats normally eat Nutro Natural Choice, and they get Eukanuba as treats (they think it's a treat, it's not that expensive, and it's probably better for them than real treats are).

I picked up a bag of Mound's Purrfectly Natural to try it out, since it was on sale. Eukanuba Indoor hairball (what they're currently eating as treats), as their "highest quality ingredients" lists Chicken, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Grits, Dried Beet Pulp, Powdered Cellulose as the first five ingredients. Mound's lists Duck, Chicken Meal, Pearled Barley, Rice, Salmon Meal and lists no by-products meal at all, so it's probably better for them, too.

The real question, of course, is will they eat it?

Marley says it's really good and she'd like more (she does, however, say this about most things, including gravel, if you put gravy on it). Jackie says it's OK, but the brand new catnip toy that Marley just dropped is better, so the jury is still out on that one.

Date: 2009-08-09 21:47 Subject: More Weather Security: Public

We got an inch of rain yesterday, and today, so far, we've had (officially) only 0.05".

That's about to change:


Unfortunately, this also means I'm going to have to mow the lawn one of these days.

Otherwise, it's been a slow weekend. We're basically staying home and not doing much.

Date: 2009-08-08 09:32 Subject: Weather Security: Public

I got up this morning, and it was raining and thundering, but went about getting things ready for market (turned the truck around so I could hook up the trailer, packed Maggs lunch, etc.).

Maggs decided that the weather was too crappy, and she was tired from this weeks' conference at The Vinery, so we didn't go.

It was probably a good thing. Here's the radar from 7:30 this morning, when we would have been starting setup (if it hadn't been actually pouring rain at the time):

Date: 2009-07-29 18:47 Subject: Cats Security: Public

Why is it that as soon as the cat doesn't feel well, she heads to the top of my monitor before starting to throw up?

And then, when I grab her before she makes a mess, and put her down in the middle of the vinyl floor protector, she makes a beeline for the white carpet to throw up there, anyway?

Date: 2009-06-27 16:06 Subject: Garden Pictures Security: Public

The garden is going well so far this year. We weeded yesterday, so that's done for a while.

We also just bought a flag for the house. Then I discovered that the bracket from the previous owners is screwed into the corner trim, and one of the screws is completely stripped, and another is mostly stripped. The question, then, is Where do I have something solid enough to put up the flag?

If you attach the flag bracket to the frame that holds the screen up around one of the planting beds, do you then have a Victory Garden? (Maggs gets all the credit for this question)

(here is a closeup of how the frames are built)

Date: 2009-06-27 06:19 Subject: Teeka asked for it Security: Public

teeka asked for more optical illusions, so here's another:



Which way is the dancer spinning, and can you get her to spin the opposite direction?

Date: 2009-06-26 23:17 Subject: Projects Security: Public

Can somebody build me one of these kits?

Date: 2009-06-24 16:02 Subject: My brain hurts Security: Public

From my flist:


The green and blue bands are actually the same color (R:0 G:255 B:150)


Squares A and B are the same shade of gray (R:120 G:120 B:120)

Date: 2009-06-14 21:17 Subject: Stainless Steel Welding Security: Public Tags: neighbors, projects

Anybody good at welding stainless, or know anyone who is, and is willing to work for homebrew?

Todd (neighbor across the street) has a line on 1 gallon stainless kegs (that take a standard tapper).

The problem is that they've got burst disks milled into the body of the keg, and the disks were milled too deep, so they rupture really easily. He figures that if he can find someone to over-weld the milled area, he can use them for homebrew, but right now, they seem to burst the disk at only a couple PSI.

His only concern is that the weld be fairly smooth on the inside, as a rough weld will be too difficult to keep clean.

Date: 2009-06-14 18:46 Subject: Weekend firsts Security: Public

Yesterday for dinner we had the first BLTs of the season. Eventually, we'll have the first BLTs with home-grown tomatoes.

Today, Maggs thinks it is the first time she's riced potatoes (for certain, it's the first time she's done it at our house). And then she did it a second time, to the same potatoes. We're trying to make lefse from scratch for the first time (her Mom made lefse a while ago, and then Maggs found a lefse stick at the hardware store, so now we're trying it).

Other than that, today I mowed the law and sprayed the yard for mosquitoes.

Tonight I have some work to do on a consulting project.

Date: 2009-06-09 16:11 Subject: Technology Security: Public

Some days, technology doesn't seem as helpful as it should be.

Yesterday I had to buy a USB to RS-232 adapter for my notebook so that I could reconfigure a brand new temperature monitor.

Yesterday I also got a new PDA. There really is no good way to switch from PalmOS to Windows Mobile. The easy way would be to change palm conduits (did that), and sync to Outlook (did that), but that doesn't help if your WM PDA has Office Mobile without Outlook.

I found a freeware tool that will restore a .CSV database to the new PDA and have transferred the contact list, but I've got to wait until I get home, because I don't have the Palm Desktop add-on at work that will let me export the calendar to a .CSV.

Mobipocket and HandyShopper were easy (there's WM versions of both, and HS uses the original Palm .pdb file with no changes), and the rest is minor accessories and games.

Next I need to figure out how to get all the passwords out of that database.