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Power Games
Last night, Dave, Richard and I whipped up a new Gaming Table for use when we play D&D at Richard's place. It turned out pretty good, for less than 5 hours of work.
Dan and Emily were here today, we went to lunch at Mimi's Cafe, which was pretty good. I described it to Dan as "an upscale Village Inn". We checked out a few things on his Jetta, including measuring the timing belt and reading codes.
Yesterday, at 6:53am, my UPS decided it didn't want to work right anymore. Some things on the UPS seem to work fine, like my VMWare server. Other things, like wireless access points, switches, etc, dont work at all. Those devices work fine, plugged directly into mains power. A volt meter put on the UPS' output shows about 50vac. As my meter isn't True RMS, and I don't have a scope, I wonder if that's really the peak-to-peak voltage, or if it's miscalculating somehow. In any case, I'm done fighting it, and it'll be decommissioned and scrapped yet this week.
Posted: 2008-11-15
Campaigning
On Saturday night, we finished up the first of 3 "campaigns" in Dave's Eberron game. 13 sessions. It was a blast. Anyhow, on a gaming note, Richard and I are going to be doing some construction, building a gaming "table topper", as he doesn't think his table is large enough. I've found a few links with ideas:
- "The Avenger"
- Tabletop Projection (Not likely to try this...)
- "The Sultan"
Posted: 2008-11-10
Projects
Been crazy busy lately with work, work, and stuff around the house. The Carputer has tested beautifully, and now just needs final installation. My "bike" has been the sink for most of my spare time lately, but I've accomplished a ton. I expect to be finished with the major mechanical aspects within 2 weeks. In the meantime, check out my progress.
Posted: 2008-11-4
Starting Up
With the Carputer in final testing, I've turned some attention to my power assist "bike". A friend got me the hookup for some "junk" bikes at a local bike shop; In my opinion, they're not such junk, with a bit of work. I've completed most of the disassembly and a mockup of how the finished vehicle might work.
Posted: 2008-10-21
5 Years of Fusselman.org
Last Friday was the 5th anniversary of my owning the Fusselman.org domain name. I did some looking back and there doesnt seem to be any Archive.org pages for it, since, until it started mirroring my "Real" site Fozzee.net, it didn't really have any content. Next year, for the 10th anniversary of Fozzee.net, I'll be chronicling a bunch of old content from there.
In other news, I've just about completed work on the Carputer and am in final testing, pending a permanent installation, As soon as I'm sure it's stable. Right now, it's just rattling around in my trunk. I just don't want to have to rearrange everything if I discover another issue like the power holdup issue I'd had.
Posted: 2008-10-20
Tying up Loose Ends
It's been an insane week, attempting to tie up some loose ends in the shop. I'm attempting to implement some "project management", to help things actually get finished, instead of partially done forever, and then discarded. The projects I've been focusing on are my Digital Photo Frame and the Media Laptop for the car. The first project ended in (relative) failure, since the display quality is so poor. I'm sure something will come of it, but it's just unfortunate that it didn't come out better.
The carputer project is faring significantly better. I discovered that my DC-DC power supply sucks quite a bit of juice, even at idle (ie laptop and car off), so I whipped up a controller circuit to let the laptop power it off when it's shut down. Now, I'm just waiting on a part from VW Germany to give me a switch on the dash for this thing.
Other things in mind tonight:
- Saw a TON of kids tonight with electric scooters. Makes me want to finish (start?) mine.
- Many people commented on Freecycle today about the same things I've felt for some time. It's nice to be agreed with.
- Synergy rocks!
Posted: 2008-10-10
Into the Fray
Spent a few hours this week (like 10) fixing my brother Justin's Jeep's power windows and locks. It's a cool ride, if a bit silly as a daily driver. Anyhow, we found the problem, and it's better now. Hopefully, the next project will be more fun.
Posted: 2008-10-02
Tons of Fun!
We've been comparing cruises and ships recently. It got me thinking about Cruise Ship Tonnage relative to the number of passengers aboard. Heavier ships fare better in rough weather, and carry more amenities. Smaller ships seem to have better routes to the places we want to go (must be that we go places that less people want to go). Anyhow, enjoy the writeup. Amazingly to me, smaller ships seem to have more tons per passenger than larger ones.
Improvements
I'm currently working on a number of improvements to the website, mostly in the form of various useful MediaWiki templates. In particular, I'm working on a widget using Parser:XML that will allow me to render dynamic XML content directly into the site's pages. In related news, the site is pending a redesign, to look less MediaWiki-ish. That's an "As Dan has time" sort of thing, though, so we'll see when it happens, as he's a busy guy. I'm also considering templates for "Currently Reading", as well as a Twitter-esq thingi, except geared toward Mobile Web, instead of SMS.
Resolved!
Finally got the UPS back into service, having finally assembled my battery string. Built a Rolling Worktable for the shop, which I'll be detailing here soon. Also, finally put into writing my knowledge / feelings about Monitor Resolutions. Hopefully I'll be doing some more useful projects in the near future; I just really had to get caught up on some housekeeping stuff, which included actually working on the house. Let's just say I'm not cut out to be a painter.
Untitled
Not much doing tonight; Got my UPS back in action, mostly... I'm still having some trouble finding a 48v battery string that all works. Testing batteries from my pile is slow business, as I have only one charger, and want to charge at 2A to avoid damaging what I believe to be about 20ah batteries. To this end, I did throw together a Battery Load Tester as a sub-project to both my UPS and Light EV projects. I also did some updates and rearranging to the Jetta pages, mostly adding part numbers for my personal reference.
Dish'n it Out
So we switched to Dish this week for our TV service. The whole HD-OTA thing didn't quite work out, so far as integrating with Tivo. Tivo wanted us to buy new digital unit and some stuff, and we decided that it just wasn't a cost-effective option. We scheduled our install, and they sent out a guy (sorry, I don't remember your name!) from Blue Sky Satellite to do the install. This guy's work was amazing. He did a nice job hiding cable, and whatnot, and overall just did a very good install. Much better than I'd expected.
This morning, I called Cox to cancel our cable TV, and was in for quite a shock... As was expected, the rep (Who's name I'm withholding) ask all the usual questions. "Why are you leaving", "what does it cost", etc etc. He tried to tell me how their option was oh so much cheaper (in reality, we expect to save about $25/mo), how this was just a 6-month price (from Dish) and so on. I found it quite ironic that Cox, king of the 6-month promotion, would accuse someone of advertising a temporary price. Anyhow, my beef isn't with the fact that they tried to retain me as a customer (I expect that), but it was how they did it, trying to smear the competition, and in general acting very confrontational. I don't know if this is a matter of their policy, or a guy who just didn't have enough saves last month and was upset, taking it out on me.
In any case, it's done now. I'll be reporting back on this regularly. If you're considering signing up for Dish, drop me a line. I'll answer any questions I can, and they've got an awesome referral program, that benefits both the referrer and referee.
I Saw it Again
Another busy week. Did quite a bit of work rebuilding my UPS, which trashed a second set of batteries. I'm redesigning it to run only on an external pack, to help keep the pack cool. I also intend on adding a cooling fan or 2, and the case has been resized so there's no empty space where the internal pack used to be. I'm currently pending a second test, as the unit can't cold-start (IE start with no AC power), as the inverter wont stay engaged.
On a similar note, I acquired a miter saw. The Freecycler discarding it believed that it had a power switch issue (I dont think it does), but it definitely needs brushes... The motor sparks quite a bit, and I've already cleaned the comm... Anyhow, it works alright for now. I plan on dropping an abrasive blade in it, and running it to cut off metal stock.
Further down the junk collecting trail, I've begun to acquire materials for my light electric vehicle. Jason brought me a trashed wheel. It had a useful hub (which I will probably use as a jackshaft), as well as an aluminum rim, which will end up recast as something else.
Antiquated Technology
I was at Borders the other day and found myself a bit overwhelmed. There's something inexplicably emotional about a room full of ground up dead tree. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm revamping my personal organization system a bit, and was actually considering buying a hardbound, blank paged book. A bit more thinking reminded me that my handwriting is almost entirely illegible (even to me), so that even if I were to commit things to this stack of dead tree, my ability to retrieve that data would be severely limited. I was surprised again while browsing the business section (hey, I was there a while), which is laid out such that the books are stacked to the ceiling. There was something comforting about being in that narrow aisle, surrounded by all kinds of knowledge that I mostly didn't care about. Someday, when I have a real office, it'll have shelves of random books taller than I am. On a somewhat related note, Jason recently got my wife a shirt that reads "I don't need Wikipedia, my spouse knows everything"... I suspect this feeling has something to do with that. The book resembles an empty table, while the shelves represent a database, packed with relatively useless information... So I guess I can relate :)
In other news, the UPS Chop Job is going well... It's having all it's fuses replaced with circuit breakers, getting generally rewired, and possibly getting a rebuilt transformer (if I can find someone to do it, this beast is a bit hairy for me... too many taps...) Anyhow, I'll keep you posted.
Going Crazy
This week seems like I'm going crazy. Have spent more time outside (with the dog) in the last two weeks than I have in two years (not literally). On the upside, my laptop works great out here :) I've recently taken to reading David Allen's Ready for Anything
On another note, in relation to an ongoing debate with Dave, I was I was researching my phone the other night, when I found disassembly instructions, along with another site that uses Mediawiki as a blog/personal site. His format is a bit different, but the same general idea. Also of note, I've rearranged my left-nav bar, after seeing his site. I did this to highlight more of my projects.
The Dog Days of Summer
For those of you who haven't heard, Becky finally got her Dog!!! Lil' Molly is pretty cute, now that she makes less messes in the house. I did manage to rewire the TV and whatnot, and added an external HD tuner. Jason came over and we built a pair of HD Antennas (which are really the same thing as any other TV antenna, just tuned for the HD range... Tonight, I put in some time disassembling my UPS and doing some experimenting for Ron's Foam Cannon. Neither went so well.
On a more capitalistic note, my cousin (and her husband) are trying to sell their house. She describes it as "a great starter home in the Millard area". Check it out!
What doin'
Have some spare time on my hands this week. I've been working on finishing up some things that need done, household stuff, mostly, but also some garage projects. I'm slated to do a shop inventory, as well as rewire the entertainment center, both of which will have some information here.
I've also got my car's AUX IN working in it's entirety, though I have no laptop currently under control. Still mulling what to do with the Carputer, as well as some work to be done in the datacenter. My big UPS needs some work, as it's got some overheating issues in which it drops the load, and makes the closet like a million degrees. Perhaps Jeff will give me a hand with it.
Do'h! I'd spaced the entire purpose of this post. Check out this TDI Touran's acceleration: Linky
Dyson vs. Bissell
Per the previous post, Becky won a vacuum. Today, we had a chance to test it. Last night, I had a chance to finish some things up down in the shop. I got the grinder stand in order, and did some exploring of options for the bandsaw. Aside from that, I'm gonna have some free time next week, and am working on my to-do list for next week/weekend. If you have any great ideas, let me know.
Wow
As usual, it's been a while since I updated (about 10 days to be exact). Not a ton going on of late. Found out today that Becky won a vacuum she'd registered for a while back. It's a Dyson, and it remains to be seen just how awesome it is.
Found another interesting "project" site this week, cockeyed.com. It's a bit different than my usual interests; It has a focus on goofy activities, costumes, etc. It's a fun read in any case.
Of late, I've spent some time playing Anarchy Online with Caleb from work. It's a bit different playing an MMO in a "just for fun" capacity. I'll be the first to admit that, back in the day, Fru and I played Neocron way more than much of anything else (including sleep and work). This is really pretty refreshing. I suspect that, when it stops being fun, I'll be done with MMOs again for another 5 years.
Feeling Old
After being sweated out at the Jazz and Blues festival tonight, we went to see Wall-E. As usual, there was plenty of talking kids; One of the downsides to seeing kids movies so early in the evening. Anyhow, in one of the scenes, Wall-E is playing Pong, essentially with himself (the second paddle wasn't moving)... One kid ask (loudly) "Mommy, what's Wall-E doing with that remote?"... I realized, then, that there are kids that have never seen Pong... I understand that it was made before I was born, but it was a big part of my childhood, in the pre-NES days.
As for the bandsaw, I had opportunity to use it last night. It works pretty good. Still needs some work on the rip fence, and a good bi-metal blade, but it'll definitely do.
Busy
Received an email about the AUX box this week; The vendor claims that I can mix-and-match parts of the working aux-only unit with the PC control unit to get me what I need. I haven't seen the instructions for that, yet, so we'll see. Bought a Bandsaw off CraigsList today; Started setting it up.... Tracking on a cheap-ish bandsaw is a pain to set. Details to come.
Success at last (sort of)
Received (replacement) my AUX box (for the Jetta in the mail today. Got it all hooked up, and to my delight, my "Check Magazine" errors are a thing of the past. It works great, except for just one little detail. It's the wrong one. I'd initially ordered the USB Control box, and that's what they'd sent me, at first. When they sent the replacement, however, it was the non-control one. Either way, they're on the job (again), and we'll see how it goes. In the meantime, this thing sounds great. Crystal clear audio from my laptop, shuffle, etc. Perhaps tomorrow, I'll give it a whirl with the BT Audio Bridge and my phone, if I have time left, after building the Grinder Stand.
Dave ask me why I keep doing business with this place, after they've had so many issues (wrong cable, bad box, wrong box, long waits, etc), but the truth is, they've got a unique product and I'm willing to suffer a bit to get it.
Delayed
I've been meaning to update for some time. I've been busy with things like fixing Becky's bike, working on Dave's Van Seat and dealing with storm related things. In case you hadn't heard, Omaha got pummeled by hail and high winds last Friday night. We're all OK here, just some exterior damage. I was driving home at the time that the storm hit, but my Jetta seems to have survived without hail damage. On a related note, I had some time to clean my intake snorkel last week.
66 Cents
Today, patience paid off. For a long time, I'd been shopping for a lamp for the drill press; My criteria were pretty simple: It had to be halogen (To keep the head small) and it had to be cheap (preferably free)... I'd seen all sorts of little halogen setups at stores between $10 and $20, but the fact remained that I'm a tightwad, and really didn't "need" one... I could afford to wait for a deal.
Today, I found that deal at the new Target on West Maple. I made a wrong turn down the lamps aisle (whilst looking for a food scale...) and saw this ugly blue reading lamp that looked disheveled and out of place. It had a "NOT IN STOCK" tag taped to it, and a hand-written price tag on the bottom. "Was 2.34, NOW $.66"... I knew I'd found my lamp.
On work:I cant even IMAGINE not working. While my various jobs have occasionally been annoying and people, in general, often dumb, I LOVE solving problems; There's nothing like the rush of creation, solving a problem with just your mind and a small shell script.
Jackin' around with Dave
Last night, about 23:20, I was downstairs trying to finish up my Picture Frame project when Dave called. It seems that he'd had a blowout on his way to work and while changing the tire, he'd had the jack slip and had dropped the van. On my way over, it started raining (which always makes working outside more enjoyable) but it'd mostly stopped by the time I got there. It sort of looked like he'd picked up under the control arm, and (maybe) leaned against the side of the van and it shifted. Anyhow, it was resting on the side of the jack. We were able to resolve the situation by picking the van up from the front and slipping a jackstand underneath. Ironically, his spare was a bit low as well, though that's a whole lot better than flat.
New Things
This weekend's been pretty busy but none too exciting; Went to the farmers market downtown and to lunch with Ben and Jeremy and drove around Dundee briefly, looking at neat old houses. Today, I went down to Lincoln for Fathers' Day.
On another note, I've stumbled upon some interesting things recently. Sometime real soon now, I'm going to be working on Dave's van seat (it's a bit bent, and needs repositioned). I was looking for some photos of how it's assembled, and found out that AutoZone has an abridged version of the Haynes repair guide photos on their website. Very handy when maneuvering bits of car.
I often ramble on this site about various projects and link to sites like Steampunk Workshop where someone else does projects and writes about them online. Suffice to say, I've found another. I recently discovered Workshop.ca on /. and it turned out to be incredible. This guy is crazy with light vehicles, alternative energy, CNC machining and a ton of other things. Anyhow, Enjoy!
Passport to Hell
Tonight, I helped my friend Seth fix an elusive electrical problem in his car. He'd been going without for a few days, and was getting sick of hitching a ride to work. Anyhow, we finally got it worked out. Also, last night, finished up assembling the IKEA bookshelf. It doesn't quite match the ones we had before, but it's pretty darn close. Finally, and on an unrelated note, I finally am getting to uploading pictures of Dan and Emily's wedding.
Happy 0'th Anniversary!
Just got back from Minneapolis where we attended Dan & Emily's wedding. As mentioned, I was the "best man", though I'm unclear as to just what I was the best at. People said my speech was nice; I'll get my outline posted sometime, maybe. Anyhow, we hit IKEA as well, and got some fun stuff. Becky got to ride home in the front seat, this time.
Update: Dan was online checking his email (for shame) and sent these photos from the honeymoon.
Foiled Again!
After all the headache with getting my aux-box cable, I'm having problems making it go. The headunit reports that the Magazine needs Checked... Unfortunately, what the headunit doesn't know is that the interface box has no magazine to check. I'm still pending tech support, but it seems like this is going to be pretty slick once it works right. I sort of wonder if there's not something wrong with the box itself... Time will tell.
On another note, my Picture Frame project is hopefully moving ahead. I need to get a power brick back from either Dave or Andy... Unfortunately, that might be more work than the rest of the project. :)
2d6
After an open air concert tonight, we had Jason and Megan(sp?!) over for Settlers. Megan had never played, so Becky was explaining the rules. While explaining the resource-giving phase, she referred to the dice rolled as "2d6", which I thought was about the most awesome thing ever, since I thought she'd done it on accident, and that my D&D-ness was wearing off on her. Unfortunately, that was not the case, as she later admitted that she'd said it intentionally... Perhaps next time.
Box Day!
My interface arrived today, due to complete my Custom Input Jacks project. Unfortunately, my friends at InDashPC sent me the dash cable, instead of the trunk cable as ordered. Further unfortunately, IDP doesn't have a phone number listed on their site, or invoice, so I'm stuck with "1-2 business day turnaround" on their email form. We'll see how this ends.
Update: A guy named Dmitry responded VERY promptly to my request, and stated that they'd be mailing out the right cable ASAP. Not a bad recovery.
This didn't make the Feed?!
Last night, I sent Dave a link to my Custom Input Jacks. He seemed a bit apalled that it "hadn't made the feed", since he doesn't actually read websites, just watch their RSS feeds. I'd considered setting the feed up for the What's New page, but there's a lot of "details" type cruft on there. This is part of the reason I've avoided Wordpress or similar, because there's so much "back story" that wouldn't make the front page anyhow. In any case, here's the list of things I've been working on:
- Minor updates to my car's to do list
- Started a Perl resources page
- A rant about D&D's 4th Edition
- Travel Log: Europe 2007
Sunglasses
Becky and I were at Target on Saturday, shopping for new glasses. She was trying on like every pair of glasses in the store, and while (we) were waiting, the clerk offered to straighten out my seriously frakked sunglasses. To make a long story short, by some fluke, she managed to break one of the lenses. Thankfully she didn't cut herself, though she felt really bad about it. In the end, they made it right: Turns out Sunglass Hut and Target Optical are some kind of preferred RayBan resellers, and co-owned somehow. To that end, I was sent down to the Sunglass Hut at the mall to pick out a comparable pair, gratis. Can't say as that I mind a new pair of shades just for driving to the mall. Thanks guys!
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