Thursday, July 9, 2009

Alright, I think I'm back this time. I have many stories to tell, but I've already forgotten them. I'll start with this ...

Short story, if you have a dripping shower, follow this post.
Long story. The shower head was dripping for a week or two, so I figured I should look into it. For some reason, I assumed it was a bad O-ring on the classic pull out handle. First I turned off the water supply from an access panel. After prying the cover on the handle off with a screwdriver, I took off the handle by removing the single screw. I then banged on the pipes a bit, turned the water supply back on, but surprisingly it was still leaking. Booted up the internet, did some research, and learned I needed to replace the cartridge. That was Monday.
Tuesday, I went to Menards to see what I could learn. I found out that there are many different models of cartridges, and at $40 a piece was not about to buy one to experiment. At the suggestion of a 14 year old, I bought the "universal" cartridge remover, plastic variety. Yeah, that crumbled when I set foot in the bathroom, just as in every other post on the internet. Went back to Menards and picked up a die and tap set. I screwed in the 1/2 inch but had no way to get a grip on the tool to pull the cartridge out. Passed out after a bottle of wine.
After work on Wednesday, I bought a vice grip pliers, a crescent wrench set, and a 1/2 inch hex bolt. When I got home, I screwed the bolt in and used a 2x4 and crow bar to pry the rest of the cartridge out. Celebrated like a predator not greeted by Chris Hansen. Newcastle mini keg gone.
Took the mangled cartridge to Menards today after work and bought one that looked similar, along with some water proof lube. Popped it in the pipe in less than 15 seconds, CLR'd the water spotted parts, and caulked everything back together. Turned the water supply back on and thus far, no dripping. Calling it complete. Finished another Newcastle keg and now onto some Crown Royal and Coke.

At 30 minutes each night, this project took about 2 hours.
$5 - Universal Replacement Kit (worthless)
$28 - Tap and Die Set (used one of the 30 bits and will probably never use the set again)
$11 - Vice Grip Pliers (didn't really need, but padded this project to get another tool)
$11 - Crescent Wrench set (only needed the 3/4 wrench, but that was $4 alone)
$1 - 1/2 inch hex bolt (now in the pile of other bolts)
$15 - Moen Cartridge (the price tag said $40, but I didn't complain)
$2 - Water Proof Lube (probably overkill, but fuck it)
$4 - Beef Jerky (I actually didn't buy any, but after this second Crown, I wish I had)
$77 - Total Cost

At the beginning of this project, I estimated $175 for a plumber to do this. I suppose if I estimated the liquor during the week, it would be about $98. The project plus liquor equals a plumber.
So, somehow, we're even.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

I'm testing the mobile Blogger app right now. And it appears to be working! Maybe I'll start posting more regularly.

Saturday, February 28, 2009

I spent the entire day sleeping off yet another illness. I don't know how you feel about being human, but I think it sucks.

Friday, February 27, 2009

I worked from home today ... and yes, I actually worked. It's amazing how much you can get done when you really like what you're doing. I spent a solid 8 hours coding in SQL. The amazing thing is, I was able to produce an application that we asked IT to develop last year. They said it would take 6 months and cost over $200,000. Needless to say, I'm now working on an email to my boss.

Also saw Reign Over Me tonight and I'm still processing it.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

I've been struggling to decide if I should stay with Blockbuster Online or switch to Netflix. I've been a long time Blockbuster customer and get currently get more than the highest tier offers for half the price. I've been holding out for when they get free online streaming similar to Netflix. My thought was that once they get it (and I've been waiting a long time), I'll still be a "valued customer" and get some greater service than the common folk. But then I was thinking ... even if Blockbuster finally gets free streaming, it most likely won't compare to Netflix's service. Blockbuster will need to fix bugs and release the first version with limited features.

In conclusion, for the same price I pay now, I can switch to Netflix and have the convenience of streaming to the Xbox 360 and on my laptop when I travel. While I'd be losing the in-store trades and being a valued customer, I think it's worth it.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Alright, it's no excuse, but I finally got my MacBook back running after the power cord snapped in half. So we'll see if I can keep up with the blog this time.

The two projects of greatest concern to you are probably my beginnings into Cocoa (for the purpose of making millions in iPhone apps) and developing a web application that Google will want to purchase.

But first, I have to take out the trash, pay the bills, vacuum the floors, clean the litter box, hang new gutters ...