Category: Projects

January 18, 2024 – Should Have Done This 15 Years Ago

January 18, 2024 /

I decided to take MLK day off. Everybody else in my house had it as a holiday and my account had it off too. I really I would be marking time in order to preserve some carry-over time off that I need to spend before April. I really needed the time off, I had been going three long weekends straight without much rest.

One of the projects that I have had on my agenda was to move the HVAC ducts into the floor joist bay. It was part of my space preparation for the wine cellar. But also, every since my I have built my office, it has become an unconscious limbo to get there. I can’t say how many times I have smacked into it because I wasn’t directly focused on where I was walking. Fortunately, it was a flexi-duct.

In total, I think the project took my son and me about five hours to complete. It was mostly spending time together and me teaching. I didn’t necessarily need the help. Without him, it may have taken me an hour or two more but it is something I need to do. The result is phenomenal, I can’t wait to do the next one.

To start out, I stapled the string that runs perpendicular to the joists. The string provides some additional support for the bats in the joist bay. I wanted to do this because I was going to cut the string on the bay that I was removing the insulation and after fifty years, some of the staples are a little dodgy.

Once the insulation was removed I was pleased to see that the joists were 2x10s. Since the entire floor has been done, I have never seen the framing before. This gave me the minimum amount of compression where the duct needed to run between the joist bay and cross beams.

There were a couple of things I didn’t expect. One was that the floor joist had some bridging. Only one of the two members was actually connected. Had I known it was there, I would have only removed insulation to that point and used that to place to begin the decent to the trunk duct. It is something to watch for when I do the next one. I don’t want to be removing a bunch of structural members because it makes my project look better. But since only one has been connected for the last fifty years, I figure the decision was already made and I used the pieces to block the bottom of the joist and provide some additional support.

The second thing I didn’t expect is that I was going to run the duct through the joist space into the future wine cellar space. I didn’t realize that the joists were terminated and that there was a rim joist. I couldn’t exactly cut a 10″ hole in a 2×10 so that meant that I had to re-route the duct through the wall. It is not where I wanted it but I will take solace that it no longer runs through the door way where it has been the entire time I have lived here.

My exploratory work has told me that my initial plan for the wine cellar will have to be modified. I have some structural members that I did not anticipate but that is OK because I can’t be happier with the results of this work. I will figure it out later, when I get there.

End Your Programming Routine: When you do things like this, you wonder why you have lived with them for so long. I spent $50 in materials, some of it I didn’t use but bought because it was icy and I didn’t want to make another trip tot the hardware store. Plus, I have more ducts to do, having some options make sense. Not only does it look better and the space more usable but the feeble lighting does a better job illuminating too.

January 11, 2024 – Snow Is a Comin’, Are You Ready?

January 11, 2024 /

Every part of the country has some weather. Even places where it snows, sometimes they get so much that it cant be handled. I worked with a guy from North Dakota who said that they kept an emergency kit at awork. If it was too windy, then they were not able to leave the plant due to visibility of the roads. Everyone would have to stay put until it was possible to get replacements.

That meant they kept some cold weather gear, a pantry and some bedding. We are expecting about eight inches of snow tomorrow with temperatures that will remain below freezing all day for several days. Thanks to the foresight of our ultra woke government pushing climate change agenda, they have not collected enough gas tax revenue to fund only the necessary road maintenance. This means plowing the highways that are east-west corridors.

What I am saying is expect an ice rink on the roads for a few days. That means the smart money is preparing now, while there is still time. It is not forever, just a couple of days. But, that is the point. If it is going to be a zombie apocalypse, then there is nothing to be done but accept the fate. But, as long as a couple of days we might as well limit the interruptions.

So, what does that look like? I think that you are smart enough to figure it out but nevertheless, I am going to put out some reminders.

  1. Have a menu planned for the duration of the event. Purchase things to fulfill that
  2. Pickup prescriptions early if you can or at least ensure that you have enough to span the event.
  3. Instead of snow it could be ice and with ice comes potentially larger problems like power outages. Sometimes for weeks. It is a great time for fuel for heaters and generators.
  4. If you have generators and fuel make sure your extension cords are in good repair, you have enough and can reach what you would like to power.

If you must travel, make sure your vehicle is prepared. It is possible to drive in the snow and ice. I personally have snow chains just in case. People that often drive in this weather like snow tires because they are a large improvement over regular tires and not near the hassle of chains. That being said, the tire shop will be a mad house, budget hours more than normal. Speaking of vehicles, here are some more things to consider.

  1. A weak battery is a huge liability. If you have been struggling with one, expect the worst.
  2. I have an ice scraper in the car. I use it from time to time here. The best ones for snow combine scraper with a snow brush.
  3. I am assuming that I am talking with infrequent winter travelers. Other vehicle preparations are many but it having a tow strap, shovel, traction media, flares and the capability to leave the vehicle if the situation warrants. This goes without saying that other winter preparations like antifreeze, etc

The decision to leave or stay with the vehicle is complicated. Generally speaking it is better to stay with it unless you know where you are going and it can be safely and successfully navigated. Walking home because your car is in a ditch, walking home out of the woods for days is not a good plan.

Careful for slips and falls. I have a shovel to clear paths and a bucket of salt at the ready. Speaking of the outside, be mindful of pet’s water freezing or anything else for that matter. For goodness sake, disconnect your garden hoses from the source. I have frozen pipes twice because of that.

I also need to be mindful of my sump pump. The outlet will freeze causing the pump to deadhead. That needs to be unplugged until the temperatures go above freezing. Be ready for the thaw because all of that formerly frozen water is coming but if the pipe is not clear, here comes the flooding. This requires thinking on your feet when this happens. So, the freeze is one thing but preparing and handling the thaw is another.

End Your Programming Routine: Hopefully, this is just a sledding opportunity and a some cabin time. But if not, then it never hurts to have situational awareness and the ability to do something about it before that decision is made for us. And maybe if you are not already into preparedness, this is a small taste to a better life.

October 18, 2023 – Origins of Technical Gear

October 18, 2023 /

We all know the brand names like North Face, Columbia and Patagonia. Today, they are as much a fashion brand as they are/were technical gear manufacturers. But, what is the origin of those brands? They started out as somebody trying to do something better. And when I say somebody, I really mean a person making or modifying a piece of gear to suit their needs. When I was on my hunting trip, I saw this sleeping bag that my dad was using and it triggered me to memories from the late 1970s.

I don’t think that it is a secret that I grew up in a family of traditional values. That also include stereotypical roles and interest as well. My mom was a sewer, she still dabbles a little today but nothing like back then. Somewhere, somehow she ran across this company called Frostline. The premise was that a consumer could purchase a kit and sew their own technical gear.

I was pretty young, but I remember taking a trip to Spokane to pick up this kit. Spokane was about eight hours away. I am pretty sure my dad was working there as well. We picked up a pair of cowboy boots that he had made out of elk hide and went to the Frostline store. We also went and saw where he traditionally elk hunts along the way. It was a long, three day weekend of driving basically.

Frostline offered kits to make sleeping bags, tents, parkas and other things. This was the days where the transition was being made for wool and canvas to nylon and Gore-Tex. This sleeping bag wasn’t the only thing my mom made. She made rain gear for my dad, vests (I still have mine, but my 2nd grade me quickly outgrew it) and sleeping pads that I used my entire youth in Boy Scouts.

By today’s standards the gear was heavy and maybe even sub-standard in performance. It was however revolutionary for the time. Obviously, it was good enough to still be around today. I was surprised at how many recent articles were around praising the kits. I think it is pretty niche subject but there was certainly staying power in people’s minds.

There are two primary motivators to make your own gear. One would be to save money and the other would be to have something unique or custom. Of course, our side of the fence was to save money. But, the truth is some of this stuff was stuff I had never seen. We had one sporting goods store in town and this was my first synthetic, mummy bag.

That’s not to say that if we lived in Jackson Hole or Vail or some other outdoor oriented town that type of stuff wouldn’t be so unique but I think that this was a way to get stuff that really wasn’t on the market. You have realize that before the internet, if you didn’t know something existed and where to get it, it wasn’t exactly easy to find.

Today, I am not sure people would put that much effort into building their own gear. $150 might seem like a lot of money to pay for a sleeping bag, but the truth is by the time you put 20 – 30 hours into it, it doesn’t seem that insane to pay that amount of money.

There are definitely parts of me that wishes this company was still around. I think that it would be cool to go on a trip with a backpack that you have made. I still occasionally noodle the idea of what it would cost to build my own gear brand since I can never find exactly what I want. Like, I want a backpack that holds my laptop, fits under the airplane seat, has a sunglasses pouch and holds a water bottle with full access to the bag interior and not a lot of extra pockets and zippers that add bulk, cost and little functionality.

My current bag has most of that, it doesn’t fit under the seat well and it has tot many small pockets. It seems like the more pockets you can claim, the more the price goes up but the less value that they have. All of those protrusions and separations diminish the overall capacity of the bag itself and then it turns out you can add much less stuff then the size would indicate. I have other thoughts on other items like range bags and such, but that’s a topic for another day.

End Your Programming Routine: This is a little known piece of Americana that I thought would be fun to share. It is neat that it is still getting used today. This country was built by people wanting to build the better mousetrap and this is one example. Why do you think I have a sewing machine in the first place? It gives me ability to do some of my own modifications if I ever spend the time to figure out how it works.

October 10, 2023 – Talkin’

October 10, 2023 /

As part of my recent deep dive into technojunk, today I am writing about GMRS (General Mobile Service Radio). You know, those inexpensive walkie-talkies that advertise a 20 mile range. But, before that I am going to update my status with my other endeavors in this arena.

Since I am coming back from a long weekend of hunting, I am writing this ahead of time. At least at the time of writing, I have successfully installed the driver for my SDR (Software Defined Radio). I can hear consistently broadcast FM stations. I am still working on installing the program that I want to run on Linux called SDR++. Eventually, I will need to add a second SDR in order to make the scanner work.

I also purchased a CB last week. This is a great tool if you are going to be in the woods during the week. The reason is that it helps you stay in touch with what is happening. Log trucks are on the CB frequency and I don’t know if you have ever seen the roads, but you don’t want to come head to head with a semi truck. This will be my entry into CB because you know it takes two to communicate. I have plans to add more radios. One final reason that I did it was because my dad has a CB and so I think it offers communication is an area that phones will not work.

When you buy these inexpensive walkie-talkies and read the instructions, it says that there are some frequencies that require a license. FRS stands for Family Radio Service and I already said what GMRS stands for. But what does it mean? Well, FRS frequencies are from 462.5625 to 467.7125 MHz and GMRS is 462.55 to 462.725 MHz. And what it really means is that these walkie-talkies can operate on both spectrums. Furthermore FRS is open like CB whereas GMRS is supposed to require a license.

As far as I know, no one has ever been prosecuted for using a GMRS frequency without a license but you should know before you use those channels what the expectations are. I am not entirely sure why they actually require a license to use, but regardless it is a pretty low bar of entry. The license only requires paying a fee and it is good for ten years. I am thinking that I will just go ahead and get the license.

I have been aware of this requirement for a long time. My frugal solution was to stick to channels on the FRS band. Over time, I don’t have all of those channels and frequencies memorized and I don’t remember what I should and should not use. I think that the cost of entry is pretty cheap and if I am thinking of going further into radio I might as well be above the board.

In case you didn’t get the title innuendo, you have to go back to the mid-2000’s to the song Ridin’. “Try to catch me ridin’ dirty.” I heard this phrase when I lived in SC and it means driving without tags (or legally). That is what it is talking on GMRS without a license. Anybody can buy a radio and in theory start using it. This is also true in the ham radio band in the 144.0-144.1 and 219-220 MHz. That is the honest truth, while it does require a license to use these radios, there is nothing stopping you just like speeding.

Generally, I am not for most sorts of regulation. In this case, it probably isn’t a bad thing. I don’t know if you noticed, but GMRS and FRS overlap in their frequency range. What if you started broadcasting over the cell phone range? We have collectively agreed that there should be some boundaries in use of the electromagnetic spectrum for purposes of safety and privacy and even exclusivity.

I know that it is strange to hear, but not all government rules are useless. It is the purpose of the federal government to setup rules when common interests overlap. Some of the intent of the mission is to keep noise off of frequencies used for safety and security. I think that we all want the ambulance to arrive in our time of need. They lose their way when it comes to administrative power and enforcement and move beyond scope of purpose.

I realize that I went kind of technical today. For me, I am learning so much about what things use what frequencies, it is kind of like assembling a puzzle. I will try to keep the jargon down to a minimum in the future, but I may do a more technical post so that I can refer to that as a baseline.

End Your Programming Routine: In the end, I don’t really care whether you use the GMRS frequency without a license. I feel like the radios are so inherently limited in range and usefulness that it really doesn’t hurt. I have had trouble using them from car to car on a road trip, so it is a really localized problem and whatever harm can be had by improper use is pretty well contained. That being said, I feel like it is my duty to investigate the process, benefits and drawbacks.

October 3, 2023 – My Technojunk is About to Go Overdrive

October 3, 2023 /

I may do some YouTube videos on some of this stuff. It is amazing how bad some of them are. I am smart enough to get the gist and read between the lines. But, I can rely on all of my technical background to supplement the bits of information I get from others. I strongly suspect that if you are not a computer geek or electrical engineer then a lot of this help is just Greek to most.

Since I built my office, I have been contemplating getting a PC tuner card to play broadcast TV on my computer. I planned for it by running antenna wire into my office. I even bought a card that I thought was a steal at $10. I am the one that got stolen from because I didn’t realize that it was a tuner for the old analog broadcasting (and cable and satellite) which kind of defeated the purpose. Ten dollars was a pretty cheap lesson and now I know that the broadcast format today it ATSC Version 1.

I was reading an article that ATSC Version 3 is on the horizon. This effectively means that all of today’s current TV tuners will become obsolete as this new technology. But it also means higher resolution and mobile capability. Probably at some point, this will be integrated technology into everything. But for now, I will settle for just the TV tuner that works.

Looking at used cards, I was wondering about how to get the software. My research has informed me that it is the software that matters unless your computer is frozen in time (disconnected from the internet). The reason being is that you need manufacturer support to ensure these devices keep working as the operating systems continuously upgrade. So, I was reading that I can buy the software as well as a bare card and hopefully get this system working.

The thing that really sold me is that the latest version of the software gives its own IP streaming capability. This means that I can have this program running on one computer and access it from any device on the network. This should mean that I can access live TV from all of my devices which is what I am going for to augment this football season. I don’t really want to sit down and watch a game as much as I want to have it on in the background while I am doing something else.

I am hoping that installing this card is nearly a slam dunk. My next subject is going to raise the roof on things. About three weeks ago, we got a text saying that there were some armed suspects of a stolen car on the loose and running from the police nearby. It turns out that there were five juveniles in a stolen car being chased by the police. Their path took the chase around our house and ended in the neighboring city.

The day after, four were caught and one remained at-large. It turns out that the driver shot at sheriff’s deputies while the foot chase pursued. But, the fact remains that if it wasn’t for that text, we would have not known anything that was going on. That seems to be ignorant. I have been wanting to get a police scanner for a long time but I don’t know or understand all of the technologies.

I have known for a long time that many of these frequencies are streamed on the internet. I was thinking, why don’t I setup one of those old computers that I setup to run Linux just have it streaming the scanner broadcast. The computer is just sitting there and it is even on. It would be my own scanner base station.

I started looking around and I have heard of this term Software Defined Radio, but I didn’t realize how simple it was. It is actually a radio receiver that is plugged into a USB port and the computer does what a radio does. In essence, the USB dongle is the radio and the software does all the work. An even better plus, drivers and software can run on Linux so now I can repurpose that computer into something useful. My own software defined radio, hopefully for scanner purposes at a very cheap opening cost.

I am going to take it slow. The one video I half watched said that I actually needed two USB radios to make a scanner. I am not sure why yet but I am going to start with one to get it installed and see if I can pick-up anything. I will work my way up to two and more radio stuff.

Despite my lack of desire to talk to strange people over the radio, I actually think that radios are a perfect blend of technojunk, science and preparedness. I don’t know how deep I really want to go with this but I would like to add CB radio to my pickup to monitor logging traffic if or when I am in the woods on a week day. I also think that it is miles more reliable that the handheld walkie-talkies so talking with others in a hunting party would be much better as well.

End Your Programming Routine: I am doing it. I am taking a baby step into radio communications. I am probably starting on a different end than most people do because the technology wasn’t available when they were learning. That being said, this is a much cheaper entry point for me. I know that cheaper often leads to less satisfaction and more struggle, but I also don’t have much to lose. Stay tuned for more technojunk in the near future.

September 27, 2023 – Summer is Over, Officially

September 27, 2023 /

September 23 is the first day of Fall. So we can now officially declare it to be true. Major rain has come and the daylight has hit the less than 12 hours per day. For several weeks I have been working to clean-up things in order to prepare for the season. To me that means brining in the outdoor furniture, hoses and things and get everything off the floor of the basement.

Last week, my wife hired an organizer to redo storage in the kitchen pantry. This of course drove more stuff into the basement that I had to find a home for. Before we hosted the German exchange student and before my son went to Taiwan, he packed up his entire room and brought all that stuff into the basement. Also, moving my gun safe into the shop moved a lot of my tools that I had in the shop into the basement. Consequently, despite all of my efforts last year to get organized, I need to start over.

I think that I mentioned in August that I was gathering stuff to go to the dump. That is still true. I took an entire car load to donate and I am getting close to another. I just feel overwhelmed with stuff. I of course have my specific items but then there are other things. I have to keep thinking that if we do decide to move then we are are going to be needing to do this anyway.

I have decided that the lynchpin to organization is two pronged. One is purging things that we don’t want like the second vacuum, baby gates, coat tree etc. But the other is building the wine cellar. I can not only clear shelf space but also consolidate like items like brewing equipment, the keezer, kegs, carboys, etc.

I need to move the brewing stuff because my seed starting station is in the way to bring in all of the outdoor furniture. I didn’t say that but that is where my tools went when I had to move them to accommodate the gun safe in the shop. Can you see how exhausting all of this is?

There are a number of things that I would like to get rid of. To be fair, we all share the space so as much as I would like to get rid of things, I have to consider others opinions as well. Some things silently disappear while most end up in a conversation about the value and disposition. That makes this process a delicate dance of compromise. All that being said, If or when we move, the changes will more likely go my way then they are going now.

What can we learn from all of this? Well, I am starting to get to the point of thinking before purchasing. I need to know that I have room or a place to put something before I convince myself that I want something. I have also started considering that it is so much easier to buy things than it is to get rid of them. I hate to throw away things that have value, so I want to consider the lifecycle of items.

If you have missed the boat and already have too much stuff like me, then apply the litmus test of usage. Have I used this in a year? Do I have plans to use this? I have three brand new crab traps that I got for my birthday in 2007 when we had a boat. I hold on to them thinking that I would like to have a boat again. But, the boat that I want and the boat that my wife wants have two different purposes and I don’t want to buy a boat that I wouldn’t take crabbing. That being said, I really need these crab traps out of my way and 16 years is way too long on a hope. I do want to get a couple dollars for them though.

You don’t want this process to take all year but you don’t have to do it in a weekend. Set yourself some milestone goals. For instance, I am putting stuff to go to the dump in the back of my pick-up. I need that to be empty before I leave for deer hunting in about two weeks. So, either I will be done with this part of the process or I will be moving more stuff around before I go. Ideally, I will have everything identified and disposed of by that date.

End Your Programming Routine: This is the second time around that I have declared this project to begin. This will be a marathon, not a sprint. I may have other projects start before this is finished. My wife is pushing me for several woodworking projects as well. But, believe it or not I needed to clean-up in order to get to my wood pile. I have so much to do.

September 7, 2023 – Underestimated Project Costs

September 7, 2023 /

I have heard it said that one of the most underestimated costs of a building project is the cost of fasteners. And, I do believe it. I think about a pound of specific Simpson Strong Tie nails cost $5. According to the packaging, it contains 120 nails. Each bracket is supposed to have all the nail holes filled. That means that one pound nails about 10 brackets. You can see how this all adds up.

I recently (and finally) completed my keg manifold. The whole goal was to make the process of flushing the line easier to do. I came up with this idea after finding a little mold growing on the spout at the end of my first keg.

At first, I was ignorant. I thought that if I kept the line full then everything would be alright. That was before I realized that the spout was not full. Since I started flushing the line, I haven’t really had a problem. I will say that having to flush the line does give me second thought about actually using the keg. I have to balance the ‘Is it worth it?’ equation.

Then, along came our anniversary party and I realized that there is another kind of keg that real breweries use. While I did have most of what I needed to dispense for an event, I was ill equipped to handle the leftover volume. So, now my manifold needed to accommodate both my homebrew kegs as well as the occasion where I would have a leftover keg. This meant more connections and fittings.

I don’t really know if I made my life any easier. I can say that I spent of $150 on fittings. With that, I can say that I should be able to move my CO2 cylinder from the keezer to an event without disassembly of the setup. And I can move the flush keg over without completely disassembling my current dispensing setup. I can swap keg styles without replumbing everything. Maybe not easier, but at least better.

There is a dizzying array of fitting types. Some are for air, some are for liquids, some contain lead and others not. I have talked about my pantry mentality in other aspects. Even here, I feel like I should order one more than I need. But, when I tallied the cost for my order, I took a step back. I don’t really need a spare of each type. It added another 30% to my order cost.

If you do your design right, order spare plugs or the male part of the fitting. That way the female and more expensive part can stay in place and you can swap different configurations in and out of the setup much more economically. This is what I did.

End Your Programming Routine: I have loved these projects since I was a chemist. In fact, my favorite part of the job was building the apparatus to do the work, not the science part. It is kind of like a Lego kit for adults. So, I have been acquiring parts for months and now it is finally done. I actually have room to put more kegs in, maybe expansion is in the future?

September 6, 2023 – 3, 2, 1… ???

September 6, 2023 /

There is a subplot that happens in the movie National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Clark spends a ton of time unwinding, testing and hanging Christmas lights. He calls everyone together and makes the final connection and nothing happens. Then he checks and rechecks everything with the same result. Finally, he gets so mad that he runs around and kicks the reindeer setup on the ground.

That pretty much describes my AM antenna experience (without the audience). This has been going on a long time with a lot of effort put out by me over time. I have tried to research this topic, I have built prototypes that didn’t work. I tried to extend the existing loop antenna outside, all to no avail.

It was about a year ago that I got up on the roof to install the antenna I purchased online. I after fishing the cable through the wall, I tested it. While not what I would like, it got the stations that I was looking for and it was much better than the loop antenna that came with the radio or the other solutions I tried.

The last piece of my stereo installation in my office was to get the AM antenna wire to the receiver. Of course to do that, I needed to move all of the Christmas decorations out of the corner to get proper access. Second to that, my basement is such a mess since my son moved out for our exchange student this summer. Stuff is piled anywhere there is space, I really had no where to move stuff. Somehow, I managed precariously pile up all the bins and boxes and retain a small isle for travel.

Reorganizing is something I do every fall. With this being a wet basement, I almost always spend time tidying up before it is too late. I am just as guilty at not putting things away properly in the summertime knowing that I will eventually pay the price in the fall. But, it does feel like the basement is where things go to die and I deal with the bodies.

I tied, fished and stapled the cable to my office without tripping or breaking something. The antenna is marketed for radio, (like ham) so it has a rather unique connector that looks like a miniature coax connector. If I was hooking it up to a radio, than easy peasy. But no, I had to devise a way to convert from coax to bare wire which I eventually found a device that I could modify to do that job.

I plugged it into my receiver and nothing. This was the moment that I almost started breaking stuff. I turned off the lights knowing that the fluorescent ballasts interfere with AM signal, no improvement. I sat back in my chair and thought, well I can stream anything that I want anyway. I guess that was a lot of work for no good reason other than I wanted it to work.

As I sat back in my chair, I thought how could this have gone wrong? This was the whole point of testing this setup before I moved it. I did add an extension to the original cable, was this a bridge too far? I started thinking about the connection. I put red into the signal and black into the ground. At least in electrical wiring, black is the neutral. But maybe it was the other way around, this is low voltage. Low and behold, I got signal.

End Your Programming Routine: This is finally complete, it feels good. I do regret that I have a hole in the wall with wire sticking through but I don’t know about these small radio connections. I don’t have the tools to terminate nor if any wall plates exist. It is hidden behind the couch anyway. The point remains that it is installed and complete with the results that I was looking for. Now on to the hundreds of other things I want to get done, like tidying up the basement.

August 17, 2023 – Accessorizing Your Safe

August 17, 2023 /

One of the first lessons I learned when we moved into this house was that keeping firearms in the basement, left unattended started to rust. I looked into several options. The one I eventually chose was long term storage bags (kind of like giant ziplock bags). Each time I handled a firearm, it would get a heavy buff with a silicone product called Barricade. That seemed to protect them once I started doing it.

With this new safe, I didn’t want to use the storage bags. My safe has a a power strip inside of it and I wanted to take advantage of that. I do still plan on wiping them down after handling. I took a very poor picture to highlight some of the accessorizing that I chose.

You can see how bright it is. This is because I installed some LED strip lights. These are multi-purpose light kits that can be used under cabinets or even gun safes. I don’t think lights are really necessary unless there is a lot of stuff in there. Then it starts to get a little more helpful. But, I wanted to pimp out my safe.

The black caps on the floor are covering bolts that I drilled into the concrete. The safe manufacturer recommends at least two bolts. I did four. Now, I thought that I was already paying for this with delivery and installation. As I pointed out last week, nope.

Aside from keeping valuables safe, you also want to protect them from the environment. You can barely see it at the lip of the door, but I added a heating element. This is supposed to drive air circulation within the safe. And with circulation, there is less chance of rust. I will be testing that out for sure.

The white item on the upper left is some rechargeable desiccant. The balls within absorb water vapor. They have some kind of magic that changes from purple to pink when they need to be recharged. To do that, there is a plug on the back of the case and you plug in the device until it is dried out.

The tiny sliver of black you see at the top/middle is a remote hygrometer/thermometer. You probably know that I am a data junky. I want to see what it happening with temperature and humidity more so to get a sense about how the heating bar and desiccant are working. I already had one in my shop so I swapped this new unit in for the old one and now I have a monitor in the basement.

It is already yielding interesting data. It is typically a degree warmer inside and a couple of percentage points higher in humidity. It could be that the sensor for the inside has a different calibration for the sensor on the outside. Or, I suspect that this moving air and desiccation is actually drawing moisture into the safe. I am going to keep an eye on that.

These were the accessories that I chose. There are other variations of lights and moisture measurements. I have even heard of motion detectors to alarm you if someone is trying to access the safe if you are not around. You can purchase various pistol racks and over the door hangers as well. Mine comes with a factory door hanger so I didn’t need that. But that is it.

End Your Programming Routine: If it is cars, boats, computers or safes accessorizing is the way to make things our own. Despite the fact that I am no where close to filling it up and probably never will, it gave me a lot more breathing room in my former cabinet. Since I have been reloading, I have run out of room to store all those plastic boxes and shotgun shells for trap season. Not just storing them but getting to specific loads is a chore having to pull everything out to find something. This day was a long time coming.

June 14, 2023 – What Do Kitchen Ranges and Cars Have In Common?

June 14, 2023 /

I was thinking about how to say this but the number one thing that I value is value. I know that is ill written but I think that you get what I mean. It is the reason why I have never leased a car. There are reasons to do it, but none of them actually fit into my life. Consequently, the smartest thing to do is buy a car and drive it until it doesn’t make sense anymore like too many repairs, too frequently.

On our Memorial Day fishing excursion, the tail light fell out. The plastic has become brittle and broke. I knew last fall that there was a problem, I guess I didn’t think that it would just fall out. Sometimes I don’t realize problems until they happen even though the warning signs were visible. That is called experience, now I know.

I wanted to order a new taillight since the plastic is brittle. It makes more sense than buying a used one with likely the same problem. Guess what, finding a new taillight assembly is nearly impossible on a thirteen year old car. It turns out that there is not enough market demand I guess.

At one time, I was doing work for the company that makes carbon fiber layups for the F-22. They told me that they only make enough to satisfy orders and once that order was closed, they will never make another part again. That means that the parts that exist are the only parts that will ever exist. On one hand, that kind of makes sense because how many body parts on an F-22 will ever be replaced?

Also during Memorial weekend, my wife wanted oatmeal for breakfast. Her version is boiling in milk which I hate to do. Primarily because it often burns on the bottom of the pan but I also forgot that milk has a tendency to quickly boil over. Of course I was distracted with all of the breakfast tasks and that happened. So, now I had to take the stove apart to clean up the mess.

I so happens that this range is a 1990s vintage. It has been well used and in fact there are also irreplaceable parts on it as well. Even the burner cassettes are no longer for sale. The appliance repair guy told me that they have to rebuild them because they cannot get replacement parts. Spilling milk and wort on them does not help.

Better is clearly a matter of perspective. Plastic taillight assemblies make the overall vehicle lighter and therefore more fuel efficient (maybe even safer). That is better, but it doesn’t make them more durable. I suppose electric ranges are going toward induction or instant heating as a technology. But induction doesn’t work with aluminum so no canning for me and that is not better. I would dearly like gas but that makes this change a $20,000 endeavor because we would have to run a connection. Plus, how would the climate change warriors feel about that switch?

Every since Eli Whitney pioneered interchangeable parts, it has helped productivity. It helps build things faster and more reliable and makes the cost ultimately go down. That model starts to break down when parts are no longer interchangeable because they don’t work with all things. Those of course are negatives to manufacturers. When parts become commodities then there is little margin or incentive to innovate.

As complex things age, they start to break down. This of course is a negative when you are multiple model numbers removed because most people will replace things rather than repair them. Or if you are leasing something like a car, you don’t even care because you never have anything less than current. Intellectually, I understand the landscape but it is a bitter pill to swallow when you are looking to play the value game.

A couple of things to consider here. First make sure that you are taking care of your stuff. Things like routine maintenance and cleaning go a long way to making expensive items last. Second, look to buy the most popular models. Part of my taillight problem is a limited number of Navigators were produced. Look for the non-limited edition models for longer term support.

I suppose the older I get, the more crochety I get about change. If I had never had the ability to can on my range, I would have looked for a different solution from the beginning. Ultimately, I could use a propane burner or some other mechanism if I have to but why would I compromise from the start?

End Your Programming Routine: This is a place where I really can’t fight the system. I am not going to change how car parts or appliances are made. But it is also a warning sign. There will come a day when I can’t work around all of the problems. It would be better to think through what my potential options are now while I still have time to plan and react rather that after something is broken. We have a little shopping of both, I don’t really like the price ranges so I am crossing my fingers that things can hold on.