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Post by CampKohler on Jan 30, 2016 8:11:38 GMT
Notice that that belt has a screwdriver bit labeled "flathead." A flathead screw is one whose head top is flush with the surface into which it is driven; it has nothing to do with the driving means, which is what they should have labeled "slotted." It is a common error, but one anyone selling tools should know better. ---- I picked up the audio cabinets today. I found something that I missed at GW: one of the cabinets had been in contact with oil of some kind on the floor and it wicked up into the crapical board for about a half a foot and is a bit swollen. Rats! I will have to cut this out, graft in new stock, and re-glue the vinyl covering, but that is a project for later. At GW, I bought a tape machine for 6 USD: Click to enlarge. Click Back to return.These cost about 300 USD new. You pull the lever and it wets and cuts reinforced gummed paper tape to a selected length, which is then applied to a cardboard box, etc. Most machines are made of steel and aluminum, which corrodes over time, but this one is mostly plastic. In this case, plastic is a good thing. I will have to clean the water brush, etc. and remove the crud of the ages, but it is otherwise in good shape. ---- After calling the company that makes the musical side table, I was told that the charger is no longer available from them, but is the same one used for the Samsung Galaxy 3 (or lesser number). I found a Galaxy USB cable at GW for 1 USD, and it works, giving a blooping sound when power is applied to the USB end. That means the table is communicating with the charger (or at least its jack) just like a cell phone would. Inside the table, you can see the five wires that connects the power jack to the printed circuit assembly, so my original idea of using an standard two-wire 5 VDC charger was all wet: Click to enlarge. Click Back to return.Note the zigzag pattern in the upper-right-hand corner of the PCA. That's the Bluetooth antenna that receives the audio feed from the cell phone. It wasn't too long ago that the functionality of that PCA would have taken enough electronics to literally fill an entire church uh, house.
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Post by CampKohler on Feb 4, 2016 6:54:01 GMT
I found a major dump out back a GW of stuff that looks like it came out of someone's very damp garage. An Igloo wheeled ice chest, a small HP PC, a 1/2-size VHS recorder (for portable use with a camera?), an over-stove microwave oven, a subwoofer/amp, and a 3'-square guillotine-type paper cutter, which has rusty blades and a slightly wavy cutting surface. And all of this had to go in the car which was "full" at the time. Lotta rearranging. All except the microwave had their cords cut off (ahem!).
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Somehow, I lost my cell phone going from the car to the house last night. I borrowed another and called myself, but not a peep from the car or house. Did the batt die? Well, more looking tomorrow. Meanwhile, I've borrowed the bro-in-law's phone, which he rarely uses. I have a new iPhone 4 (99¢ with renewal of contract), but haven't transferred all the crap I have in the 3GS yet.
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I tripped today on a piece of electrical conduit I didn't put away properly and landed on asphalt on my knees and right forearm. Nothing broken or sprained, but that was several hours ago, and the forearm has gotten so sore I could barely brush my teeth. On the same kind of trip before, I sprained my back and it took over a month of being in bed to recover, so I count myself lucky this time. I hope it gets better after a nights rest.
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Post by floppycatlovingbunny on Feb 4, 2016 10:04:23 GMT
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Post by CampKohler on Feb 5, 2016 4:32:41 GMT
I've got my bro-in-laws phone for now. After three days of dog sitting I'll go back on the hunt for the 3GS.
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I just lazed around today, napping and recovering from my spill. I took a couple of liquid-gel Ibruprofens and that helped a lot. I'm more stiff than sore now. I must remember to not fall over!
My bro-in-law and I tackled two LED flashlights that wouldn't work, a dresser drawer that was too wiggly on its guides to suit my sister, and two garage door opener remotes that won't work. No joy on the last yet.
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Post by eliseharris on Feb 5, 2016 22:10:48 GMT
Yesterday I made a load of David Bowie playlists. If you don't like Bowie you are out of luck! I am feeling a bit winter-bluesy so can't really think of much in the way of original video (plus the light in my house is bad and without a bright sunny day nothing looks any good!) (I hope you are recovered from your spill, CampKohler).
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Post by CampKohler on Feb 6, 2016 2:44:16 GMT
Thanks for the good wishes, Elise. I am so much better after reading that, you miracle worker, you. The knees and left arm are back to normal, but it will be a few days more before the right arm doesn't feel the strain when lifting something with it, or putting my pants on. (Talk about putting one's pants on one leg at time. ) ---- I wrapped up some presents for my 3-year-old grand niece's birthday, which my sis and bro-in-law will carry up to Reno to her BD party. What with the snow up there, I got her a knit cap and first-class, really thick mittens. Knowing that, in a kid's mind, clothing items don't really qualify as presents, I also got her a nice little tikes kid's activithy bench at Goodwill: Click to enlarge. Click Back to return.It is taller than she is, but the gray legs are removable—and have been removed for transport—so she can play with it that way if desired and the legs can be attached later. The yellow slant top pivots up and goes down into a slot, revealing a flat work surface with pockets for crayons, etc. I polished it up all sparkly and it looks like new (I hate to spend big bucks on something made out of plastic that both nieces will just outgrow in a couple of years. Ok, Ok, so I'm cheap.) This is an older model. The newer ones from the same company are over 130 USD. That kind of money will buy actual furniture (although the plastic of the kid's version may actually be better than the crapical board used in typical Chinese furniture nowadays)! ---- I am sitting Molly, the dog, until they get back. I think I stand a good chance of actually getting the car empty and vacuumed out all of those glassicules from the broken window episode. I'm hoping it will also reveal my lost iPhone, but I'm not betting on it.
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Post by CampKohler on Feb 7, 2016 6:32:29 GMT
The sis and bro-in-law have returned from Reno, and report that the activity table was a big hit with the grand niece (no mention of the first-class mittens, of course). ---- This being the second Saturday of February, it is Free Museum Day in Sacramento. I spent about three hours at the lAerospace Museum of California, caressing Pratt & Whitneys, Allisons, and some other heavy metal. I only took a few pix of specific things as my batts were close to dead (lost track of the charger a few months ago). (I will edit them in tomorrow.)
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Post by CampKohler on Feb 11, 2016 2:43:03 GMT
The sis and bro-in-law and niece took off for a visit to his relatives in the hills of Virgina for a week, leaving me to sit Molly, the dog.
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I got the iPhone 4G in service to replace the still-misplaced 3GS. I had to start from scratch with the contact list. When I find the 3, I'll have to transfer everything over.
Apple got real cutesy with the 4; all the fonts are drawn with skinny lines, which may appeal to some designer, but sucks for legibility and readability. Instead of the home screen having a big battery filled (or not filled) with electricity, there is a little bitsy thing in the corner. Everything in my mind is definitely not an improvement. At least it seems to run faster and the phone jack won't get stuck in the phones mode if I try to use it. They even came up with entirely new lists of the dozens of sounds that can be chosen. I couldn't find my old sounds until I realized that one of the sounds on the list is "Classic." If you select that, it switches to the old list of sounds. Is that entirely insane or what?
The Otter Box rubber cover is on the old 3, so until I find it, I have to use it "bare back." The plastic is soooo slippery that I lost it twice in car from sliding off my lap. Hate it! The Otter Box cover feels like skin and stays put. If your finger touches it, you know exactly what you are touching.
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I picked up a 4-way speaker that a lady I met at Goodwill wanted to get rid of. The woofer's surround was entirely disintegrated, but the other three drivers are OK. On the way back from that, i spied a lady setting out a bunch of free household crapola from cleaning out her garage. I snagged it all to help her out, including a front door that was strong (and heavy) as heck. (My front door is a very-heavily-weathered hollow core type that could be kicked down by an asthmatic mouse.) The new door has an orange-peely paint job, but is otherwise structurally perfect. On the way back from that, I found someone else's garage cleaning in a dumpster behind GW. A huge stainless commercial baking oven, a small microwave oven and misc. bits and bobs. On the way back from that, I spied a road-side trash dump with a printer in it (for the parts) and an empty socket-set case. On the way back from that, a roll-around plastic step stool in the middle of the highway. Traffic had to drive around it until I collected it. One of the three roller feet was intact, one was destroyed and one was missing. And then I finally made it home to the dog, who is moaning for a walk at this minute.
So now I settle down for a week of Netflix, etc. while sitting the dog.
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Post by CampKohler on Feb 18, 2016 2:36:29 GMT
My week of dog sitting is done. And naturally it starts raining today.
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Post by CampKohler on Feb 18, 2016 22:22:23 GMT
I am at the library downloading IOS 9.2.1 to the "new" iPhone 4S. It estimated an hour more of downloading and then crapped out. So I re-started it with fingers crossed, and it finished. ---- I am finishing up research on the 30 acres surrounding my friend's properties. There are three ten-acre lots (1911) with thirty to forty properties in each (2016). I have most of the chains of title from the original Spanish land grant up to the '50s; I just have to get the latest owners on each property and then I can cookie-cutter an Excel file for each. ---- Last week I had a great day at one Goodwill: Click to enlarge. Click Back to return.
The red Craftsman tool chest was 30 USD (like new). The gray one was 7 USD, the Husky tool set was 15 USD (like new) and the double wall aluminum baking pan was 1 USD. I don't often get this lucky.
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Post by CampKohler on Feb 20, 2016 1:39:18 GMT
I finally found my old iPhone 3GS. It was 2' from my head when asleep. It was a black phone in a black skin in a black hole. I was reaching down for something else, and the moment I touched it, I knew by the feel. The first thing I did was transfer the skin to the 4, so it won't slide off into oblivion in the car. The next thing I did was put the 3GS on charge to preserve the contents. I think it had shut down due to lack of power, and that's why I couldn't find it by calling it. The 4 is a lot faster when using the GasBuddy app. I had always assumed that after posting prices for one station, the grinding away doing something before being ready for the next station's prices was due to the app. Well, it probably was, but at least now the grinding is done so quickly that I don't notice. Now I have to tediously transfer all my contact info from the 3GS to the 4S, but at least it is doable. Two minutes 'til my library PC session dies. TTFN
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Post by CampKohler on Feb 24, 2016 0:51:51 GMT
This morning out back of a GW, someone had dropped at the Dumpster a fairly late model and quite large RCA projection TV (with remote). Due to it having HD on it, even though that it is an analog TV and not a digital one, it might have been worth saving. However, at some point, someone broke open the front of the speaker areas and removed the speakers. When I say broke open, I mean with a bicycle tire iron or something similar. The whole thing was put together with a zillion Torx screws, the driver for which is not normally kept at hand by tweakers and others roaming the streets, but is by me. I stripped the whole thing, reducing it to pieces of plastic; the typical crapical board construction of the base of the cabinet was absent. It must have cost an absolute fortune for the dies to make all those parts, even in China.
The most striking thing about the unit is the first-surface mirror. In projection TVs, in order to make them acceptably compact, the CRTs (3, one for each color) are mounted vertically and then redirected to the front by means of a mirror. For best clarity, the first surface of the glass is mirrorized (unlike a viewing mirror, where for purposes of protection, the back of the glass is mirrorized). Such a mirror, when used to reflect sunlight does an absolutely terrific job. In this case I was surprised that the mirror was not made of glass; it was a stiff frame surrounding thick cardboard and covered with mirrorized plastic film. Well, that works OK unless you touch it with the slightest thing, in which case the plastic stretches and the picture image now has a defect. However, for signalling between mountaintops, its lightness is very much a plus and you don't have to worry about shattering the thing. I wonder how long it took for some engineer to pitch to management that they ought to switch to sandwich bags instead of the traditional glass?
The second strange thing is that there were iron bars mounted in the bottom to increase the physical stabilty of the TV. One was 2"W x 3/8"T x 2'L and the other was 6"W x 3/8"T x 1'L. Both were bare steel like one would buy at a steel shop to make some kind of project, and very smoothly cut. Sooo nice.
Due to the fact that projection CRTs are driven so hard to get good brightness, the space between their faces and their associated lens assemblies are surrounded by a rubber boot and filled with a cooling fluid that resembles water. When I strip a projection TV, I save this fluid in plastic jugs. I have not yet figured out what it could be used for. I mean, what could be better to absorb heat than just plain water? Perhaps I will find a use for it someday. (Nobody can say I am not forward looking.)
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Post by CampKohler on Mar 1, 2016 21:42:45 GMT
A whole week and no Elise and no Floppy. Oh, the humanity!
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I found a nice tall task chair with a footrest ring (rare) last week. Yesterday, in the same place, I found a similar chair, except no foot rest. The upholstery for the rear of the back is missing, so it will probably just be reduced to parts.
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This morning I noticed a scritching sound from the front disk brakes of the old Saturn. My bro-in-law helped me replace the pads on the brakes last summer. There was a rumbling sound at times, which because I didn't have the rotors turned, probably caused premature wear on the pads. Now I suspect it is time to pay the piper (again). I have to dog sit on the 8th, so we'll take a look at them again. The rear (drum) brakes were a bear to replace, but the front pads were fairly easy, so I am not dreading it.
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I foolishly put something wet in the rear of the car without realizing there were three library books at the bottom of things. They got wet. I saved them by interleaving every page with a paper towel and letting the moisture slowly wick out, but it won't be acceptable to the library. Six months ago, that would cost me 35 USD each, but the fee has been reduced to 24 USD each, so the bill will be 72 bucks. But at least all the books are ones that I would want to keep (even if a bit wrinkly), so just another of life's bumps.
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Post by CampKohler on Mar 4, 2016 1:19:18 GMT
In the same place where I found the chair, 3 more chairs! But these had cracked plastic covers on the backs and streaky finger marks of paint on the bottoms, so they were used while painting a room by people with paint all over their hands. Luckily, the rest of the chairs were clean. The bro-in-law needs some roll-around stools at his duck hunting club, so if I toss the backs, these will do. At least the price is right. ---- Yesterday, at yearly cleanup pile, I found a complete HP 3-in-1 printer with power supply and manual and several DirectTV boxes (with hard drives inside I hope). Today at another, I found a 10" speaker, a huge coil of RG-6 coax (for cable TV) and some nice 2"-wide strap iron. Even if the speaker is burned out, the magnet is just right for gluing to the bottom of stainless dog bowls to make parts bowls to be used when tearing apart something like the lawnmower so the screws don't get lost. Speaking of which, I got out the old (very) lawnmower as the grass has sprung up to a foot high after the recent rains (which we don't have due to the drought here). Normally I have to get water out of the carburetor, but it was dry and clean. However, the pull starter wouldn't, so I started tearing the top off. After going into it for about ten minutes, I figured out why the motor wouldn't turn easily, namely, there is an automatic brake that grabs the motor and stops it if you let go of the big handle. I had forgotten this entirely, and so tore into it for nothing. I put it all back together, put in gas and it started on the first pull. Dumb, dumb, dumb! ---- I just got a call from my Russian buddy, who owns and operates West Coast Granite and Flooring in Portland, Ore.. I used to work with him when he and his brother ran a similar business here in Sacramento. He is at this moment in the SFO Bay area, buying granite, cabinets, etc., and will be here in a couple of hours. We have dinner at Brookfield's restaurant in Rancho Cordova, Click to enlarge. Click Back to return.and he parks his pickup with 5th-wheel trailer at the hotel immediately behind, staying overnight and returning tomorrow. I would think that would get boring after about the eleventieth trip. Brookfield's has a nice turkey dinner and I am salivating already.
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Post by eliseharris on Mar 6, 2016 23:54:08 GMT
Recipe video coming soon, though I am having technical difficulties so it is not going to be immediate.
I have been a bit unwell lately and too achey to do much stuff. Hopefully better tomorrow.
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