What did you accomplish recently?190 responses total.
We went over to work on some metal stud framing in the house we have been building since 1986, started by going over to try out the neighbor's new pool (about 8" short of knee-deep but refreshingly cool, and full of all sorts of toys that squirt), and ended up building a house complete with a door and a window and a chimney and porch, plus a fort next door to it. Lincoln Logs. This is the second day this weekend we got distracted. Nice to actually finish a project once in a while. Also demolished it.
I did about six hours of work in the garden today. The major physical labor was getting the collection of dahlia tubers in the raised bed; more dahlia tubers survived the winter than we had thought. I also disinfected tomato cages and pots with a bleach solution, caged the tomatoes and cucumbers, planted three last tomatoes in containers. Also planted the first half of the pole bean crop, and the corn. And watered, watered, watered.
corn? Are you growing at least 200 plants?
No, we grow 4 each, of two varieties. Usually I try to pollinate it manually. Some years we get a few ears to eat, but mostly we grow corn as an ornamental plant.
Finished routing the rabbets, cutting the miters and gluing the reinforcements on the corner shelves I've been working on for (mumble) weeks now. The second shelf of the pair is all clamped up on my kitchen floor as I type this, and I've already cut the support pieces that will mount them on the wall (but they need to be shortened a bit to be loose enough to be installable). Bit of sanding and some finish, and they should be good to go.
I built shelves in my closet yesterday. There's no storage for my apartment complex aside from the closets. It's a large closet, but was awfully cluttered. I put up 5 30"x48" shelves, and now can find all of my tools, camping gear and holiday stuff. The shelves are 19/32" plywood mounted on 2x6 boards; strong enough for my 7 year old to sleep on if he wants to. (He'll probably try it.) I only have to dread when I move out because of the damage I've done to the walls. It is very satisfying to turn a bunch of wood into a solution to a problem.
Cleaned the gutters. Now, no more Niagaras pouring over the edges (until Fall...).
I cleaned my gutters too, but still have a Niagra. Turns out there is a half inch gap between on gutter and the house, and the Niagra is going down that. Need to get some screws and caulk and spend more ladder time, preferably not breaking another pair of glasses.
resp:4 i didn't know corn could be an ornamental plant. . .
We had our servants clean the gutters. If i accomplish anything this week, I'll announce it here.
The only kind of ornamental corn I've seen is Indian Corn; The kind with the different colored kernals. I had my gutters replaced altogether. They were bent in place, gaps in others, missing downspouts. Now the water flows the way it's supposed to. Another accomplishment is /finally/ getting 'round to cataloging my book collection. Since I have several hundred, this'll probably take awhile.
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re 4 you can get inbreeding depression if your plants, well, inbreed
It's "Niagara Falls", Jan, not Niagra (regardless of how you say it). Has anyone any experience with self-cleaning (auto non-clogging) gutters?
I probably will after this year. I have a lot of trees, which drop leaves, "cotton", needles, and twigs.
I havent accomplished anything around the house recently. I havent even finished my list of things to do although after reading this item, I might add "gutters" to the list. ;)
resp:11 : once, long ago, got a catalogue of my books together, but never got (much of) it computerised. . . someday maybe i'll get a round tuit.
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Got the second pair of mounting brackets routed to thickness, then cut to length and mitered to proper angle. All four brackets sanded (shelves were sanded yesterday), and all the wood is slathered with stain. It is all now sitting outside, bleeding off petroleum fumes. The morning will tell.
Got new glasses. Valerie actually made an appointment with LensCrafters before reading the item in spring agora, so while I thank you for all your advice, we didn't actually use any of the doctor recommendations. Valerie's eyesight checked out just fine. I got a new perscription with a little extra bifocalish stuff for reading. Since the reading correction was pretty small, the optometrist, Dr Lutz recommended progressives - the distortion isn't going to be that great with a small correction. I was very satisfied with Dr Lutz (in the Briarwood Lenscrafters). I wasn't especially impressed with the glasses-selling part of Lenscrafters, but they weren't outright bad either. I did end up with a fairly expensive pair of glasses. Might have been possible to get the equivalent cheaper someplace, but I don't feel bad about that.
Mailed stuff to mom & brother, installed AC as mentioned in Happy item, and have purchased and boxed up/addressed birthday present for bf. If only I were this good at getting research done!
Patched a hole in a window screen, and chemically balanced a swimming pool.
Yesterday, I took away some belongings of mine from my folks' house. They are downsizing from their California split to a one-story rambler.
Completed cataloging my ST book collection. Final tally: 515.
I have given some thought to mowing the lawn ;)
Finished mowing the front lawn. Not that much taken away, so out with the sprinkler to make sure it gorws more in the next week. Somehow does not seem logical. Enough to cause a Vulcan to laugh.
Why didn't you wait for the grass to grow more?
Obtained a small Lincoln wire-feed arc welder, with a nearly full spool, for a reasonable price.
You water a lawn? You seem to know that makes it grow more, and yet you do it. I never water my lawn. Unforunately, though, I still have to mow it (though I am not sure why).
You don't water it, you have unsightly dry grass
Just cover the lawn with plastic to keep the rain off, and you'll greatly reduce mowings. Eventually you won't need to mow at all. ;)
Unsightly dry grass is the price we pay for trying to grow northern European lawn grasses in places they weren't meant to live.
I've let my lawn go wild. I'd rather it were native, but I'll take what I can get.
I have let a good chunk of my yard go wild. It looks better every year.
Dry grass is a lovely brown color, as attractive as green. And it doesn't require mowing or anything else. It revives every year too, when wet weather comes again. I also let my grass go wild. There are a lot of interersting tiny flowers in it in the spring, and something other than grass has taken over under the trees, apparently better adapted to permanent shade. The one thing I do do annually, is "superseed" - just reseed the whole lawn in the spring. This fills in between the non-grass plants very nicely.
My yard is mostly creeping willie. Grass needs sun. What does wild yard consist of in Ypsi?
I dont mow about 50% of my back yard. All kinds of wildflowers are growing there now. I dont know what kinds
Since lawn grass came here from France, I've been waiting for the freedom fries/freedom toast crowd to rip up their lawns, send the sod to France, and plant their yards with native ground cover.
resp:35 Lovely brown? Oookkay. resp:38 Xeroscaping? Not a bad idea, actually. Said to conserve water.
What is "creeping willie"? We search shows nothing by that name.
"Creeping Charlie", perhaps.
Yeah, I have lots of "creeping charlie" in my backyard. I figured that is what she meant since it is so common here.
"Creeping Charlie is the bane of many lawn enthusiasts, because it tends to grow no matter what you do to stop it. It has small, scalloped, dark green leaves that may turn red or purple in full sunlight, and grows in long stems along the ground. Flowers are purplish to blue. You can make positive identification by breaking a stem, which is square in cross-section, identifying it as a type of mint" (http://www.riverwestcurrents.org/2002/November/000254.html). It'd probably annoy the neighbors as much violets would, and more than the current crop does.
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I have heard that putting that "20 mule team borax" on the lawn kills creeping charlie. You just have to be careful not to overdo it. Personally, I think it looks cool and I am happy that it is taking over the lawn.
Are your neighbors thrilled as well?
Yes, what's wrong with Creeping Charlie? It grows better than grass under our trees, and I really like seeing its flowers. Also, why should the neighbors care" It doesn't create airborne seeds like dandelions - it just....creeps.
Well, I havent asked my neighbors what they think of the "creeping charlie" in my lawn. I dont see why they should mind. It is *my* lawn after all. I also decided this year that I didnt have enough dandelions so I got a bunch of the ones that had gone to seed (while out walking the dogs) and then blew them all over my lawn. It didnt work though. I must not have the right conditions for dandelions.
I'd think the reason they might mind is that it's a very invasive plant. If all your neighbors wanted to have it throughout their lawn, gardens and flowerbeds, no problem. But when you intentionally allow it to thrive and don't contain it on your property, then you're maybe giving them a problem. Just because you like it doesn't mean everyone else does or should. Do you make any attempt to keep it on your property?
No. But I think I have a right to grow anything on my property that I want to. I mean why should their desire to not have this plant trump my desire to have it? Especially since they can get rid of it in their yard if they dont like it. Anyway, none of my neighbors have complained. If they did complain, I guess I would consider putting borax around the perimeter if they were nice about it. That would probably contain the creeping charlie. Cant help them about the flowers with airborne seeds though. I think that is how some of my wild flowers seed. I enjoy those flowers too much to get rid of them. One time when some friends and I rented a house, one of the neighbors complained about the dandelions in the yard. They wanted us to put chemicals on the yard but I didnt want to because I would rather have dandelions. I pulled the dandelions but that wasnt enough for them but that is all I was willing to do. Those neighbors were always mean to us anyway. We never should have bothered with the dandelions especially since dandelions are beautiful.
Not allowed to grow anything on your property. The ramifications of doing so with certain plants is obvious. I guess using good judgement about what you allow to grow should also be tempered by a "good neighbor" policy. Otherwise, irate neighbors will absolutely have property values affected, and some may be inspired to vigilante-ism. Seems like being a contrarian is a great way to build a consensus against you. JM2C.
Aside from marijuana, I cant think of any plants that are actually illegal. I dont see any harm in growing wildflowers and such on my property. It's only the back yard that I let grow wild. But, I checked with the city and I am not violating any ordinances. They do have an ordinance that says that a person cannot have "weeds" in their yard. I asked them what they consider a weed and what they consider a flower. They said, "a weed is something you dont want there, therefore if you want it there, it isnt a weed" The ordinance only applies to "weeds" that are above a certain height though. Once that creeping charlie does it work and chokes out all the grass back there, I wont have to worry about it because this stuff just grows low to the ground. There are only 7 houses on my block. One is for sale so no one lives there and the other is owned by a guy who collects cars and has a band that has loud practices. I have kind of a deal with the car collector. He doesnt complain about my dogs barking or my yard and I dont complain about his cars or his band. I am worried that someone will move into the house between us who cares about such things. I will deal with that if it happens. One of the other houses has a yard that is all weeds but they mow it sometimes. The other 4 are rentals as far as I know. They dont really have yards, they have parking lots so I dont imagine they are worried about the weeds from my yard. I generally believe in "good neighbor" policy. But only to a point. I dont believe in chemical weed killers for instance. I also have to say, though, that it is not really being a "good neighbor" to go bitch about plants a person has in their yard. Or their paint color. Or their window treatments. Or the political signs they have in the yard. etc. My parents have neighbors that do that. They get bitchy about everything that all the neighbors do. They dont like the dogs off leash. They dont like that people let their yards go wild. They dont like the 30 broken tractors a neighbor keeps (even though they were there when they moved in). They dont like the new siding on one neighbor's house. *shrug* I guess there are just a lot of folks who are overly concerned with what their neighbors are doing. So, yes, if one of my neighbors didnt like my plants, I would be accomodating to a point. I would pull things like dandelions and those pretty blue flowers that I dont know the name for but I wouldnt get rid of the creeping charlie. I would put borax around the perimeter though which probably would keep it from going off my property. But, I would think very low of the person. I have to admit, I would think of them as being very rude.
(MY only concern was the plants growing beyond the perimeter. BTW, a web site I found on creeping charlie noted that borax is not approved as a herbicide. That may have been only in their state, though.)
Just out of curiosity, I took a look at my neighbors yards. It seems like the plant that has been most invasive is the grapes. I guess animals eat the grapes and then poop the seeds. There are grape vines growing all over the place in the yards on both sides of me. Oh well. The grape vines have been here longer than this house (which was built in 1925). I am not going to get rid of them.
Whoa. What you said is "...if one of my neighbors didn't like my plants, I would be accommodating to a point. But, I would think very low of the person." Why? Do your neighbors not have the same right to enjoy their property as you do yours? Why would they be rude if they didn't like the same plants you do? On their property? The problem I'd have with letting this particular weed force out grass in my backyard would be that come late fall, winter, and early spring, a 100% creeping charlie yard will be zero foliage and all dirt or mud. Not an easy space to enjoy for either people or pets. But that's just me, so I'd be one of those neighbors who'd hope someone next door would at least try to keep it in their yard. To minimize my use of chemicals. But a neighbor's creeping charlie has never led me to dislike or disrespect them. And we had a neighbor who let it take over. Borax doesn't work. But there are targeted herbicides that will kill it at specific times in the growth cycle. For those who care to do so.
I planted grass seed in my yard. After a few years the creeping charlie took over most of it. Grass does not do well when shaded by two houses and a large tree. The next door neighbor also has primarily creeping charlie. She is ignoring the fact that my yard has not been mowed for a month or two and I am taking in her mail. I wage a constant battle in my front yard to remove invasive grass, which grows in the middle of my ground cover. The seeds are probably blown over from the neighbor's yard. I don't complain. I remove thistles and nettles and tall plants that do not flower.
Mary, honestly, how would you feel if a neighbor came over and complained that your grass seed was getting over into her creeping charlie and then asked you to remove your lawn? Wouldnt you think that was kind of rude? I am not telling my neighbors that they MUST grow creeping charlie. I am just growing it. I think it looks nice. IF they dont like it in their yard, they dont have to grow it. IF they want to put chemicals on it, that is ok. I just dont want chemicals on my lawn. Luckily for me, the diluted chemicals that might end up on my lawn when it rains dont bug me.
Marijuana is certainly *not* the only drug that's illegal to grow in your yard. I think opium poppy patches are the latest local fad... It'd be interesting to hear about neighbor's reactions to growing female gingko trees...but not in my neighborhood.
What's the deal with female gingko trees?
lets sneak over to walter's house and plant female ginko trees!
There are a few streets in Ann Arbor full of them. The fruits stink, but the nuts are supposed to be edible. Trying to remove the mushy part to get at the nuts cost me a fortune - I ended up with a mysterious rash on my hands and mouth and a rheumatologist friend in another city said to check it out since it might be herpes, which got me a large doctor bill and a misdiagnosis. The two interns looked at the brown stain on my hands and told me I was allergic to black walnut. I looked in a textbook and told them they were wrong. Gingko nuts contain the same or nearly the same chemical as poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac. Black walnut fruits contain tannin. I dyed some sheets and underwear with brown spots one year when the clothesline was under a walnut tree. Light tan, good at hiding other stains on sheets.
So the nuts are toxic?
If I had an invasive plant that was moving into my neighbor's plantings, and they asked me if I could maybe do what I could to keep it on my property, I'd do what I could. That's part of being a good neighbor.
The nuts are edible. The fruits cause rashes. Mango skins also cause rashes.
when i'm back from spain i plan on growing a marijuana plant or 2. i think we can legally grow 12 or something. i have a sun room that they'd thrive in. poppies are beautiful flowers, i can't believe they've been outlawed. it takes like 10 pods to get one person high. i mean, c'mon, this ain't the wizard of oz.
My former in-laws used to get annual letters from the county, telling them to remove "noxious plants". They'd have to do it or the county would. I don't know what plants these were. Maybe they were just talking about mowing the area near the road. In the country, you have to keep the area near the road mowed, or the county will charge you for doing it. (This is so people can see around corners at intersections, thus preventing accidents.) Anyway, it seems from this that there are other plants, beside marijuana, which are at least controlled, if not actually illegal, in Michigan. I'm not very familiar with the details, though.
Really Mary? So what would you do to keep your 'non-native to Michigan' lawn grasses from getting onto your neighbor's property? Would you get rid of your lawn or would you continue to "allow it to thrive"? If a neighbor of mine complained about the creeping charlie. I would do the borax thing around the perimeter. But, that wont stop any of the flowers that have airborn seeds. Also, if the borax thing didnt work, they would be out of luck unless some other solution could be worked out. If I had a neighbor that had a plant I hated, I might consider talking to them about it. I might even offer to do all the work to get rid of it and I would offer to pay for a replacement. For instance, I wouldnt think it rude if a neighbor came over and told me that they really hate my creeping charlie but are willing to replace it with some other ground ivy that they find less offensive. I would think it was rude if a neighbor came over, called my yard plants "weeds" and then demanded that I keep them on my own side of the fence. *shrug*. I think that there are probably some good reasons for banning non- native plantings. Sometimes imported plants start to take over and crowd out native plants. I think the world would be a better place if people just got rid of their lawns and let their yards go wild. Think of all the water that could be saved!
Re #66: When we lived out in the country, my dad kept an old beat-up lawnmower around specifically for mowing along the edge of the road. He didn't want to ding up the blade of the good one with all the rocks and gravel.
Michigan law defines a number of "noxious weeds". They include poison ivy, wild carrot, canadian thistle, and various mustards. Poison ivy is obvious. Canadian thistle is also obvious if you've ever stepped on one with bare feet. The others are way less obvious; I can't help but wonder if the people who drafted this law were thinking of ww1 mustard gas. In any event, the local weed varieties are harmless. Wild carrot is also perfectly harmless, although it is an invasive european import. There are several other easily confused plants though some of which are poisonous (but aren't classified as "noxious weeds".) The state law is no longer funded, so it's extremely unlikely you'd be prosecuted under that. Most suburban and urban areas have local ordinances about lawn care & mowing. In Ypsi twp, it's basically by height, and the people who enforce it aren't trained or capable of recognizing "noxious weeds" in any event. In michigan, "wild lawns" don't stay lawns for long. Shrubbery and trees sprout up pretty fast, and vines even faster. Basically, if you *want* a field or open area, you have to mow it at least twice a year, and anywhere that can't be mowed will turn into a forest. Even a fence is vulnerable -- look at the number of trees on property lines.
I am hoping that my lawn will become more forest like. there are some young trees back there and some cool bushes that have thorns and purple flowers. They look like rose bushes.
Perhaps a seperate thread on lawn care is in order.
I know an Ann Arbor resident that maintains a native prairie plant "lawn". He has permission to burn it annually, as prairies require. The real problem with non-native invasives has nothing to do with lawns, but concerns the survival of ecological diversity of both plants and animals. Some non-natives take over so completely that ecosystems lose almost all their native plants and animals, which then upsets the balances of even the native plants nearby. In the end whole ecosystems approach monocultures. An example is Purple Loostrife, which has been invading wetlands, changing the ecosystems not only for native plants, but also birds and other wildlife. The solution has been to bring in a beetle found in the native locations of the plant, which eats it (and, apprently, doesn't eat stuff you don't want eaten, which has been a problem with some other introductions of other non-native insects).
Well, wild carrot has probably been here 400 years, and can be found in most any meadow in NE USA. It's probably already done all the damage it can. The american squirrel in europe, now, that's a different story.
Well, creeping charlie is a non-native plant but the only site I was able to find that said anything about its impact on native plants says that it isnt a threat. http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/herbaceousplants/creepingcharlie.html
Per that site, I live in a "degraded" place! Bummer! I wish they had said more about "It is know (sic) to have medicinal properties. Can't beat a lawn that can cure your whatever.
Thorns and purple flowers sounds like it might be spiny locust, which spreads underground by suckers and is very difficult to get rid of. Jim had a yardful of it for a while after the neighbor planted just one near the border. Locust flowers look like bean flowers, not roses.
I dont know what bean flowers look like
They are axially symmetric (one side is a mirror image of the other side) and there is one lower part that sticks out and two side parts. Rose flowers have five single petals or multiple petals all the same shape and they tend to smell like roses.
Nailed some visible-from-the-street house numbers up over the garage.
I like the dandelion that is growing at the side of Herb David's right now.
Yes! John and I have noticed it too. It's that odd combination of huge and perky.
Sometimes I feel inadequate because I cant get dandelions to grow in my yard. Oh sure, I get one or two in the spring but that's it! Anyhow, I cleaned my room including under the bed.
I think dandelions need sun. They never grow in my back yard, which is shaded by my house to the south, the neighbor's house to the west, and two trees (one at each end).
Got a start on a hack to model the monocoque plydome idea. I just happened to have a stack of 3x5 cards on the table, and the drafting gear nearby.
Built a space ship out of lego. Not great, but good enough to impress Arlo.
Launch it. That'll /really/ impress him.
Have finally gotten the beginning of the troublesome scene in the novel to go right.
I helped out in another department at City Hall today-- Utility Billing-- in mailing, stuffing envelopes for budget program billing. This, I hope, will continue to show my worth to the City and increase my chances for getting a job. I have also begun helping the Cable Communications Coordinator with updating the Calendar on CityView, Richland's public access channel. I've been using PowerScript to make the updates. I've worked on them before, but I will be working on this endeavor on a weekly basis now.
PowerScript? The Videonics titler software? If so I may need to chat with you....
Love Videonics gear. I have their switcher, titler and controller.
I collected significantly improved fluorescence microscopy pictures, conducted metal-ion selectivity and binding dissociation constant expts on esterase-treated compound, finished and folded laundry, and tidied my room. Now ready to settle into a four-day visit from boy. :)
One of the shelves is up. I think the installation method can be considered proven.
I just slept from 1 to 9 pm. !
Got the second shelf up and the gear stuck on it in more or less the final positions.
Using a laser rangefinder (cool!), I determined that the width of the screen at TOP is 29' and the distance from the screen to the projection booth is approximately 100'.
resp:89 yep, Chris, that's the one. Mike Charboneau is basically a broadcaster, and I'm just doing basic screen titles for city updates (calendar information).
Got the leaking coolant bottle swapped out of the Vdub, and the cooling system at least partly flushed out and new coolant in it. I think it's set for summer. (It damn well better be; there isn't anything old left in the system to spring leaks.)
Got a new RH install put on my much-neglected new machine. Built out my dome model to a full 5/8 sphere.
"RH?"
("Red Hat", a linux distribution.)
Ah yes, I'm familiar with RH. I'm using Mandrake 9.1 now. Been thinking about checking out Plan 9 I've heard about.
Re #97: What model Veedub do you have, russ? I can't say I'm fond of Volkswagen's philosophy of cooling system design. I've never really gotten comfortable with the idea of plastic jugs holding 15 psi at 200 degrees F.
Re #102: It's a 1985 Jetta GL, and still goes pretty nicely; I'm trying to wear it out before I get rid of it, with a notable lack of success thus far. Aside from the stress cracks (which appear to have come from an impact), I've had no problem with the bottle - the radiator and heater core are also half plastic, as on a great many modern vehicles. Or at least the new ones are, I replaced them earlier.
My '82 diesel Vanagon still has the original 21 year old coolant bottle, so I guess I really can't complain too much about the durability. They are known for cracking (or, on rare occasions, exploding) at awkward moments, though.
i did a 50 butterfly tonight.
Does that mean you collected 50 butterflies, or did 50 butterfly strokes?
or the lengths of the swimming pool (assuming a 25 yard or 25 meter pool)
q
50 yards butterfly stroke. i dont typically do butterflies.
invested five continuous hours with a partner of the law firm representing this damn retirement community that is trying to toss my mother out into the gutter. we removed a substantial portion of the bad-faith rubble regarding my mother's circumstance and appeared to create the fooundation for a future (soon) agreement on living conditions. finally, we are dealing with an adult, it would seem. parachutes are in place regardless.
While on vacation I fixed several major pieces of musical equipment for my brother & his wife.
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Found & mostly fixed the the big problem with the mixer at the Ark, plus a couple other lesser problems.
One thing I've wanted to do with my PC is video editing. To that end, I hooked up a 120 gig SATA HD (M-O-U-S-EEEEEEE!), a Pinnacle DC-500 videocapture board, Premiere 6.0 and my Canon GL1 camcorder. I captured three tapes of video and now the fun begins!
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Found a few odd things in my storage locker, and was able to stack things a bit better than they were.
Uncovered the septic tank lid, in prep for THe septic guy on
tuesday or wednesday.
(and there are random holes all OVER the back lawn...)
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Took my e-mail box from 500 messages down to 80. PUrge purge purge.
Yesterday, I took a hacksaw to an iron plate welded onto the gatepost at the Sailing Club. It used to be needed to support the gate when it was closed, but the gate was replaced years ago. Now, the plate just made a handy thing to open the side of a car, if the driver misjudged the turn. So I removed it. Today, I tore down and rebuilt part of the planter wall on the side of the Sailing Club boathouse. It had been cinder blocks capped with rocks, and now it's just rocks. I also made progress in leaarning to windsurf. Didn't make a lot of progress in actually sailing the board, but I got my feet properly placed, for the first time, and so should do much better next time.
Windsurfing is hard. I've tried it a few times, since my dad went nuts for it a few years ago. I suspect that at least part of my problems, though, had to do with light and shifting winds, rather than lack of skill.
Got the intake manifold pulled off the Taurus, which makes it feasible to clean out the EGR passage. (Now I know why it costs so much to pay someone to do this job.)
Got the Taurus put back together and it seems to be working great. (I'll never again buy a car where you have to pull the manifold to change spark plugs.)
Not much. <sigh> Found my dining table. Now I have to decide what to pack up, from the dining room, what to leave for whoever rents the house, and what I really don't need. How come, whenever you get set up to paint, the weather changes toward rain?
New brakes mostly installed on my bike, just taking a break to rest my back. Probably I should get a repair stand one of these days.
Almost finished installing the new front brakes, when I realized that the chain would be running right in the same space (it's a recumbent, if you're wondering why the chain wouldinterfere with the front brakes). So I cleaned up the old front brakes, stuck on a new set of pads, and rode over to the bike store. Turned out the newer models with the V-markes have an extra chain roller/guide to clear the front brakes.
Er, "V-brakes", not "V-markes". This crazy keyboard has sort of a spelling-model correction system to compensate for finger drift, since it has no physical keys. STill learning to type properly on it. The mouse functions are awesome, though.
I just did a performance of improvisational lighting for a surreallist performance called "Fabula Rasa" at the University of Michigan Musemum of Art. (The equipment was planned, the color scheme was picked out just before the show, and the cues were improvised as the show happened.)
I've heard of improv acting, poetry, etc., but not lighting. How does that work?
I adjust the lighting manually (as opposed to by preprogrammed cues) based on how the performers are using the stage, and what they're saying and doing.
(Smartass comment on how manual lighting control is sure to be a radical new invention) ;)
Speaking of accomplishments, how was work today, Scott?
Work was fine - spent most of the morning straightening out the audio patchbay and then the rest of the day on cabling. We had to ditch your "audio cables are numbered 100-199" scheme, though. Wire markers are a finite resource, and it's not that hard to tell them apart from video cables anyway. This evening I installed a new chain (2 and a half chains, for a recumbent!) on the bike, along with much cleaning of gears. By the time I was done it was too dark for a good ride, so I went running instead.
So you just assigned paralleled runs the same numbers? I had thought about that, but concluded it would be better for longer term flexibility to use separate numbers.
Did you have a plan for getting more '1' markers, though?
Finally got a fancy collar of sorts done for my chainmail shirt, and have started stitching the shirt back together.
Arrived in Bar Harbor, Maine, after being completely soaked for about two and a half days. It will be so nice to put on dry boots tomorrow!
I replaced the batteries in the large APC UPS at work. This was a lot harder than it should have been. Someone needs to point out to APC that when sealed lead-acid batteries fail, they tend to swell and bulge outward. Since APC designed the compartment to just barely contain the batteries with almost no extra space, they were firmly wedged in place.
I finished chainmail shirt #3, actually the simplest one so far. And I've got a truly devious weave planned for the next one, although I still need to make a test swatch. I think it'll work, and if it does I'll something truly extraordinary.
I have killed about 150 fruit flies in the past couple of days. For the most part, I have no idea where they're coming from or why they're there. The kitchen was bad, but cleared up after taking out the garbage, spraying everything down with bleach-containing cleaner, and smacking a lot of the remaining. My roommate and I were amused to find that if one can find an er, a fruit fly sitting on the wall (or even flying close to one), a quick spray with the cleaner killed them nicely. What's very puzzling is that I had a huge population of fruit flies in my room. I don't really eat in there and there was no food--not even any water. But two days ago I was in a hurry to get to work, left my contact case open without dumping the old solution, and came home to *nine* dead fruit flies floating in the two little wells. I've put away all the girly-smelly stuff I own (bath and body works candles and room fresheners especially), wiped everything down with the same cleaner (including hardwood floors but not including antique furniture) and spent hours smacking and spraying. The number of fruit flies is way down, but there are still at least five or six around. Fo r some reason no one seems to carry fly strips anymore. I'm still rather worried because there's no obvious source for the stupid things--which is the usual tactic to get rid of them.
Maybe duct tape or double-sided carpet tape?
Fruit flies can be controlled by removing the moist organic debris. There are two causes that are most likely to be the source of breeding... - left over beer fluid (usually in unrinsed bottles) - fruit peels (banana peels are major sources) After gettting all the causes out of the way, it still takes diligence in not rebuilding the resources for egg laying. Without resources, your fruit flies will likely die off within four to seven days. If they don't, you've missed something or they are coming from somewhere out of your control (a nearby dumpster?).
Try the hardware store for fly strips.
Thanks for the info on life span. However, there was no moist organic debris in my room to begin with. Candles and deodorant (now put away) were the closest to the description...I did manage to find fly strips at the local hardware store, so those'll be going up shortly. I've been wondering if the AC unit has something to do with it--the flies seem *very* interested in anything damp (e.g., towels, aforementioned contact lens solution). Sigh.
I had a fruit fly problem last year. After seeing sno's comments, I would guess it's because I was keeping my beer bottles for longer than I should have and not rinsing them.
Might want to clean out the AC unit - moisture does come frow the condensation.
Fruit flies are not named "Drosophila" (dew lover) for nothing. If you want to trap them, take a small bowl and put some soapy water in it. Add a little vinegar to the water, cover with plastic wrap, and punch a small hole near the middle. Fruit flies will be attracted to the scent of vinegar (a metabolite of some yeasts) and will hit the water, which will drown them due to the soap. End of fruit flies.
Another place to check will be drains that don't get water through them regularly. Also, hidden repeating leaks may be forming sufficient rot to assist the larval development.
They seem to have dwindled greatly. It's quite satisfying to see them stuck on the fly traps, and I made a point of not running the AC last night. Hopefully this evening I'll get around to putting a little bleach in the AC unit to prevent further outbreaks. At least it made me thoroughly clean my room. :)
In the past 2 weeks, I have managed to put a cab on the road for my boss. I have 2 things to get done today; pick the cab up from the paint shop, and get the meter and radio installed. After that, it goes to the city to get inspected along with the meter. By this time tomorrow, we should be on the road and making some money.
Finished making a new bike bag for my recumbent. Much better than the last one I made - I'm actually getting pretty good at this,despite how little sewing i do.
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I can walk 20 feet unaided and sit up for 1/2 hour and eat a whole meal without falling asleep in the middle, and breathe without oxygen. I slept 10 hours straight. Life is wonderful.
Of course you CAN breathe without oxygen, BUT YOU NEED OXYGEN TO LIVE?!
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All I know is that even Sindi Keesan needs oxygen. We all do.
re #156: I would've guessed that an intelligence the caliber of dah's own could survive on CO2.
Well, CO2 has oxygen in it.
Not breathable oxygen - in fact, "breathed" oxygen.
carbonized, man!
I can sit in a chair for half an hour and type at the computer, instead of flat on my back wondering where the number keys are. I can listen to music instead of medical equipment. I can eat without falling asleep in the middle and getting woken up and told to walk in circle and 'open your eyes'. I can get woken up by garbage trucks and power mowers instead of people shining lights in my eyes and asking how I feel today and what is new.
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Congratulations on getting back to your house, Sindi.
Perspective makes those garbage trucks and power mowers less of a nuisance, doesn't it :) Welcome home Sindi. The fiance sends his best wishes also.
Re. 159: Are you saying human bodies can't do decomposition reactions?
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Not in a position to carpool just yet-- but I would consider it a great achievement if I did do it.
re 161 wtf happened to you?
My 7 year old learned to ride a bike today. There are pictures (and a couple of movies) available at http://jep.tonster.com/photoalbum/bike if you're interested.
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Jim cut my hair so I can wash it faster while trying to stand up long enough to shower. I stood up long enough to shower - don't need to bathe with wet washcloths. We determined the best thing to sit on while drying is a thermarest seat - quite a lot of padding in 1.5" - so it is now also on the chair (it was on the toilet seat and shower seat) Finally found something comfortable to sit on when I have none of my own padding. Jim found a way to make the futon couch lie flat as a couch.
John rode 2-3 miles on a bike trail today, with me following him. He has certainly taken to his bike! Great, great weekend.
This sounds like he switched from the trail-a-bike. I am impressed with a kid his age riding that far. Hope to join you on the trail again next year (probably not sooner). I never would have imagined what a nice place Tecumseh is before we visited - lovely 12 mile bike trail, perfect swimming hole (quiet park with a clean pond in it). I wish Ann Arbor had the same.
I learnt to balance on a bike at the ripe old age of 26 :P I finally got some pictures on my web-site. They're of my cat. They can be viewed at http://www.themynx.com/images/Mynxie/mynxiepics.html. Click on the thumbnails to see bigger pictures
Yes, John's adventures on a bike this weekend were on his own bike, not on the Trail-a-Bike. Maybe by next spring I'll be looking for a new home for the Trail-a-Bike.
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I accomplished completion of the "Lopsided Boomerang Tour 2003" today.
Jim has accomplished what we thought we would never accomplish - found a home for our three best top-tube (men's) bikes that he decided he does not want to ride because he cannot get on and off them with things piled up behind him. Our doctor friend took the one with the shock absorber for his teenage son, and the Cannondale 700 mm touring bike and the aluminum frame Raleigh bike. He bikes to work at the hospital and had an old cheap bike. The Raleigh is better on the sort of road surface currently between here and the hospital (wide tire). Jim also has a Gary Fisher to put together for him. We could not find a buyer for any of these in the Freebies (all no-shows) and are delighted they went to a friend. (He tried to insist on paying!). This is the doctor who put me in the hospital recently, none too early. So I now no longer have a building site full of bicycles (just computers and other junk). Two more bikes to go to Kiwanis, one for a neighbor, a few frames to give to someone else who does what we were doing, and we are down to three usable bikes each and some free space. Except Jim found another bike at the curb (for Kiwanis) and a battery operated electric power mower and a nice stainless sink with a built-in drainboard so there goes my back yard again. And yet another HP 500 series printer that works.... (for the book list). What I need for him to find is a well padded chair with back support and no fleas.
I wish I had fix-it folks like you in my area. The gaming organization I am a part of (the Camarilla) is doing a Children's Drive for the Regional Drive this month. We'll be donating children's items. Since I was working on a list of non-profit organizations people here in the area could donate to for waste management purposes at work, I had some specific organizations I was able to recommend to my local domain.
I successfully performed MacSurgery today, replacing the broken hinges on the lid of my PowerBook G3. See http://upstageleft.net/g3hinge/ for some details and pictures.
Bike ride yesterday from Stadium & Liberty out to Dexter-Huron metropark, probably around 20 miles but I can't find my big Ann Arbor map to check.
Yesterday after sitting around (as opposed to lying around) for a few hours at the cancer center I stayed on my feet for 20 minutes (a quarter for parking) at the public library and walked at least 500 feet. Not quite ready to bike but I can feel the muscles that I used. I should try walking outside between here and the corner some day soon. I can walk to the kitchen and feed myself pears (my hands are cooperating enough to core them now). I can thread a needle on the 10th try and mend things if you don't care what they look like. I can put clean laundry away if it does not involve a hanger (best to leave one hand free to grab at the wall if needed).
i uploaded an actual foto with me in it to the grexergallery thankyouverymuch. ;P
um, okay. Cool. What about your privacy?
..wait for the foto.
I've accomplished coding and adding hte GuestBook and Email form to my site. After over a year of existance, I can finally get feedback. Check it out at http://www.themynx.com when you get the chance. (Don't forget to sign the guestbook1)
(I signed it. Nice site.)
Thanks :)
Modified a chair to fit me much better - an Ikea chair with a tendency to dig a back support through the cushion became a chair with a removed back support replaced by laced cord. Much more comfy, and I can put the piece of plywood I was using back in the shed.
You have several choices: