So there is a pattern here and instead of getting better, my detarmination to update seems to be worse than ever.
I have been working hard to make our house a home here in TX. The guest room is in good shape now. It even has a mirror on the wall. No pictures yet but soooooon. My printer is working now and I have been printing and mounting pictures on the walls. 13x19 to 2x3 sizes. The bed in the guest room is reported to be one of the most comfortable beds. Mom and Dad loved the bed.
There is a make shift TV that at present that can only display what is on the DVR in the master bedroom. So limited selection. Mostly Fox Friends etc.
The Garage is actually getting straightened out, and at some point I think we could put 2 cars in it. But we only have one car so if you drive to visit us you can put your car in the garage.
It is fun putting personal pictures on the walls. We had our house staged so long in CA, like 3 or 4 years, that generic images on the wall becamse the norm.
Projects seem to stay in front of me, I am puting up window dressings at present. Famly room is done with valances only. The master bedroom will have curtains which are laying over a chair in front of me. The rod is standing in the corner. Soon to be on teh wall. Now if I could only figure out how to get the wrinkles out. Maybe I will lay them on the floor and run the steamer over them. What do you think? Good idea... Bad idea...
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Monday, December 20, 2010
Attic my third home.....
Ya know, I would think that builders these days would be savy about computers. They use them daily. So why is it that they don't put in network wiring when they do the phone and coax wiring? Do they assume that everything will work using wireless. NOT!! I have just spent the past two weeks crawling around the attic through the mounds of cotton, identifing where wires, water pipes, wall headers and the like.
This house had no wiring to speak of, there were three wires sticking out of the bricks outside to bring telephone into the house. Two were cat5 and one was cat who knows. The cat5 wires went to phone jacks in the kitchen and the master bedroom. There were 4 coax lines there as well, one to each bedroom and the entertainment center. When AT&T installed our DSL service they put a box on the house and terminated the three wires for phone service.
After hours on the phone with AT&T, I ended up with the DSL modem connected to the phone line in the kitchen. Centrally located yes, good place, NO.
From the kitchen, I proceed to string up wires using pvc utility poles to provide network access to the various areas that I needed service. Bedroom, Family room both ends, master bedroom.
Along with these wires I decided to put my dvr security cameras up to evaluate the location I wanted to place cameras. So now my home is starting to look like a ruarl road with wires running everywhere.
There are lots of devices that want to chat on the internet for updates etc., not to mention my computers. I decided to make my network center in the master closet. It is where the security alarm system is centered and there is a phone line there so I can connect the DSL modem. Behind this wall is the family room entertainment center. Also this was the place I determend I wanted my security cameras. They can see the entry doors front and back.
I cut a hole 14+ x 14+ inches for the wiring box for my network. I got a good look at the dropped ceiling area over the entertainment center. It was a nice area wide open for wiring. I took advantage of that and installed 4 network drops in the entertainment area. I could also mount my cameras and run the wires through this area. A great start for networking.
It took two days to get my dsl modem to work correctly in the closet. I ended disconnecting the wires running to the kitchen and master bedroom to get the service stabilized. While I was at it I tied the wires from the kitchen and master bedroom together to use as a network drop between the two. One of those, I did it because I could, for no particular reason.
After several weeks of having wires strung around the house with pvc pipe holding them out of the way of a certain grandson and some old folks shuffeling feet, It was finally time to get wires in the walls and disassemble my temporary wiring.
I scanned for studs in the walls, I think I used two batteries in this process. I was amazed and dumbfounded to find fireblocks between every stud. This is not normal where I lived for 35 years. I finally decided to drive over to another community where my builder was actively building. I wanted to see what a house in the tooth pick stage looked like. Maybe it would answer some questions. I found one and jumped out of the car and camera in hand started snapping pictures. I was half way throu the house before I realized that the floor plan was our house. I slowed down and started taking more detailed pictures. Since these are cookie cutter houses, I figured it would be worth while.
Early the next morning, like 4 AM. I was going thru the pictures using an application that allowed me to quickly zoom to 100% and even 400% size. I was evaluating the structure. The more I saw the more I wondered if I could get wires inside the walls in some places. I finally had a plan in my head and had made enough trips to Lowes, Home Depot and Frys to collect enough stuff to do the job, I THOUGHT.
My plan, after consulting friends around the country, was to place some plywood flooring around the attic so I could make many trips with ease. I purchased 4 4x8 sheets of ply wood and had them ripped into 2 x 8 sheets. It took me one whole day to get all that into the attic. I was thinking 16 inch centers and 8 feet long would work well. I then found out that our house is built with 24" centers, not 16". I proceded to rip the 8 foot boards to 4 feet. A lot easier to manage when in the attic.
I took a simple broom and started moving the insulation out of the way. New problems arrise. Power wires run over the top. Putting plywood down would pinch the wires, I was not going to do that. So back to the hardware store. I picked up some strips of wood to place on the rafters so the wires would be protected. Now I start laying my yellow brick road. Very slow going. lots of hazards along the way. Can lights in the kitchen were the first. I had to shift my path about 12 feet into the process when I ran into an AC duct. Fortunately the AC ducts are attached to the rafters so I could go under them. Several days later, I finally reached my primary destination, the closet in the master bedroom. I had already cut a hole in the wall and mounted a box to hold all my nice wires.
Another handy recommendation from my cool friends was to poke a wire through the ceiling where I needed to run wiring. This worked great. I put 4 wires through and when I got into the attic I started spotting the wires. It made my job of finding wall headers and drilling a lot easier.
The work begun but still I was concurned about the ability to get wires down the walls with cross bracing. My first hole was into my box. No problem there as the box is mounted at the ceiling.
Now the fun begins. The easiest wire to run is in Cameron's room. It backs up to the master closet. I cut a hole in the wall to mount a low voltage wiring frame. I sat a lamp next to the hole hoping that when I drill the hole in the attic I would see light. I stretch over from my yellow brick road and drill a hole in the header. Light was visible, but not directly. The stud in the wall half way up was there. I figured I would have to use a long drill bit extension to drill through the block. I put it in the wall but never hit the stud. This was baffeling as I expected it to be 4 feet below me. My drill shaft was 5' long. I pulled it out and then put in a rod that was 10' long. it went down until I had 2 fee showing. I was at the floor. I put my wire down the hole and it went down 8'. Piece of cake.
Now the challenging holes were to come. Across the family room where my computer desk is setup and down the wall in the master bedroom is for the tv in there. The master bedroom has 3 walls which are outside. Fire breaks and insulation for sure. The 4th wall is full of doors and other stuff. After studying the pictures above, I though I may have a chance in the corner of the inside wall but it meets a hip joint in the roof so space would be limited. I pre-cut holes in the walls for the wire termination, made my way across the attic to the remote areas using temporary plywood steps and was able to get the wires down the walls. It is amazing how the insulation seems shallower then before I started.
It took days but finally I was able to tear down my utility poles in the house. I have one more drop to pull in the guest bedroom. I have two more security cameras to install for the outside so my work is on going.
The house is returning to normal slowly and now I can start thinking about my next mission, should I choose to accept it!
This house had no wiring to speak of, there were three wires sticking out of the bricks outside to bring telephone into the house. Two were cat5 and one was cat who knows. The cat5 wires went to phone jacks in the kitchen and the master bedroom. There were 4 coax lines there as well, one to each bedroom and the entertainment center. When AT&T installed our DSL service they put a box on the house and terminated the three wires for phone service.
After hours on the phone with AT&T, I ended up with the DSL modem connected to the phone line in the kitchen. Centrally located yes, good place, NO.
From the kitchen, I proceed to string up wires using pvc utility poles to provide network access to the various areas that I needed service. Bedroom, Family room both ends, master bedroom.
Along with these wires I decided to put my dvr security cameras up to evaluate the location I wanted to place cameras. So now my home is starting to look like a ruarl road with wires running everywhere.
There are lots of devices that want to chat on the internet for updates etc., not to mention my computers. I decided to make my network center in the master closet. It is where the security alarm system is centered and there is a phone line there so I can connect the DSL modem. Behind this wall is the family room entertainment center. Also this was the place I determend I wanted my security cameras. They can see the entry doors front and back.
I cut a hole 14+ x 14+ inches for the wiring box for my network. I got a good look at the dropped ceiling area over the entertainment center. It was a nice area wide open for wiring. I took advantage of that and installed 4 network drops in the entertainment area. I could also mount my cameras and run the wires through this area. A great start for networking.
It took two days to get my dsl modem to work correctly in the closet. I ended disconnecting the wires running to the kitchen and master bedroom to get the service stabilized. While I was at it I tied the wires from the kitchen and master bedroom together to use as a network drop between the two. One of those, I did it because I could, for no particular reason.
After several weeks of having wires strung around the house with pvc pipe holding them out of the way of a certain grandson and some old folks shuffeling feet, It was finally time to get wires in the walls and disassemble my temporary wiring.
I scanned for studs in the walls, I think I used two batteries in this process. I was amazed and dumbfounded to find fireblocks between every stud. This is not normal where I lived for 35 years. I finally decided to drive over to another community where my builder was actively building. I wanted to see what a house in the tooth pick stage looked like. Maybe it would answer some questions. I found one and jumped out of the car and camera in hand started snapping pictures. I was half way throu the house before I realized that the floor plan was our house. I slowed down and started taking more detailed pictures. Since these are cookie cutter houses, I figured it would be worth while.
Early the next morning, like 4 AM. I was going thru the pictures using an application that allowed me to quickly zoom to 100% and even 400% size. I was evaluating the structure. The more I saw the more I wondered if I could get wires inside the walls in some places. I finally had a plan in my head and had made enough trips to Lowes, Home Depot and Frys to collect enough stuff to do the job, I THOUGHT.
My plan, after consulting friends around the country, was to place some plywood flooring around the attic so I could make many trips with ease. I purchased 4 4x8 sheets of ply wood and had them ripped into 2 x 8 sheets. It took me one whole day to get all that into the attic. I was thinking 16 inch centers and 8 feet long would work well. I then found out that our house is built with 24" centers, not 16". I proceded to rip the 8 foot boards to 4 feet. A lot easier to manage when in the attic.
I took a simple broom and started moving the insulation out of the way. New problems arrise. Power wires run over the top. Putting plywood down would pinch the wires, I was not going to do that. So back to the hardware store. I picked up some strips of wood to place on the rafters so the wires would be protected. Now I start laying my yellow brick road. Very slow going. lots of hazards along the way. Can lights in the kitchen were the first. I had to shift my path about 12 feet into the process when I ran into an AC duct. Fortunately the AC ducts are attached to the rafters so I could go under them. Several days later, I finally reached my primary destination, the closet in the master bedroom. I had already cut a hole in the wall and mounted a box to hold all my nice wires.
Another handy recommendation from my cool friends was to poke a wire through the ceiling where I needed to run wiring. This worked great. I put 4 wires through and when I got into the attic I started spotting the wires. It made my job of finding wall headers and drilling a lot easier.
The work begun but still I was concurned about the ability to get wires down the walls with cross bracing. My first hole was into my box. No problem there as the box is mounted at the ceiling.
Now the fun begins. The easiest wire to run is in Cameron's room. It backs up to the master closet. I cut a hole in the wall to mount a low voltage wiring frame. I sat a lamp next to the hole hoping that when I drill the hole in the attic I would see light. I stretch over from my yellow brick road and drill a hole in the header. Light was visible, but not directly. The stud in the wall half way up was there. I figured I would have to use a long drill bit extension to drill through the block. I put it in the wall but never hit the stud. This was baffeling as I expected it to be 4 feet below me. My drill shaft was 5' long. I pulled it out and then put in a rod that was 10' long. it went down until I had 2 fee showing. I was at the floor. I put my wire down the hole and it went down 8'. Piece of cake.
Now the challenging holes were to come. Across the family room where my computer desk is setup and down the wall in the master bedroom is for the tv in there. The master bedroom has 3 walls which are outside. Fire breaks and insulation for sure. The 4th wall is full of doors and other stuff. After studying the pictures above, I though I may have a chance in the corner of the inside wall but it meets a hip joint in the roof so space would be limited. I pre-cut holes in the walls for the wire termination, made my way across the attic to the remote areas using temporary plywood steps and was able to get the wires down the walls. It is amazing how the insulation seems shallower then before I started.
It took days but finally I was able to tear down my utility poles in the house. I have one more drop to pull in the guest bedroom. I have two more security cameras to install for the outside so my work is on going.
The house is returning to normal slowly and now I can start thinking about my next mission, should I choose to accept it!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Longer between post. How can it BE.
Hay, now that everyone has given up I can post here and no one will know.
We are back in Texas. It was a smooth trip. Since we had a lot of stuff from the Pod that needed to get to Texas, I had to rent a trailer and tow it back with the RV. This meant that the Ford got a break in not having to be towed, but Linda had to take on a long drive. It took us 3 days to make the journey. Wellllll, not really. We left in the late afternoon on a Thursday, like 3PM. We got to Nashville and kicked back in a road side rest area. I pulled between a bunch of semi's. I left the parking lights on so a semi would see us between the trucks. It was a dark night. Unfortunately I did one other thing that I did not think about. I left the key in the ignition. Most vehicles this is not an issue. In the RV when the key enters the ignition there are a number of things that take place. Anyway by morning the lights were dim. Dim enough to keep the engine from starting. I started the generator so it could start charging the battery. I don't have jumper cables. Evidently they departed my company in the move, like so many things have. Anyway we ended up calling AAA and waiting for a jump. By the time he got there we had been charging for a couple of hours. I was just about to try to start the engine when AAA arrived. He used a little hand held battery to jump us and it worked. So we didn't get on the road until about 8AM. We traveled thru the rest of TN and into AR. Most of the day was spent there. Along the way, a log hauling semi that was empty entered the freeway at a high rate of speed, whiped into the lane in front of me and was dumping all knids of wood chips. They were bouncing all over the road and off the RV. Along the way, the truck kicked up a rock that smacked the windshield. Yep, left a small crack.
We wrapped up the day in Texarcana, TX. We found a KOA campground and checked in for the night. Texarcana is being rebuilt all around Interstate 30 so we had to find our way to the campground, not and easy thing. We spent the night which was great after a night in the Road side rest area.
All refreshed, we headed out about 9AM and made our way to Austin. I immediately started unloading the trailer. First thing was I found a small dead mouse under the trailer door. I wondered what that cat in TN was doing diging at the door of the trailer before we left. I thought it was about the mouse that I found in the trailer after I had loaded it. I suspected the cat had put it there. It didn't take long to unload, but back in the trailer I found several little mice, all dead. I was getting suspicious. The couch we brought to TX had been in the garage for several months. I checked it over before putting it in the trailer and didn't see anything. So I got rid of the mice. I tried to get rid of the trailer but it was just after closing at the drop location. UHaul said they had a night drop. How d0 you night drop a trailer and know it won't be ripped off? So I held on to it. Next day we had some shopping to do, so we went to Sams Club and got several large items since I had the trailer. We went to load the stuff and guess what I found in the trailer when I opened the door? Yep! We loaded everything took it home.
Anyway that was our trip. It was great seeing the kids and Cameron had grown so much. he was a kick. We have had time to take care of Cameron a few days. He is a lot more work these days but such a joy. He is such a happy boy. NO BIAS applied, he is the best grandson ever.
We have been working on making our house a home and are really close to being there. We finally have internet which really makes us feel in touch. Unfortunately there are no network wires in the house so I am working on plans to install wiring in the house. I will soon be in the attic drilling holes and running wires. So many pieces of equipment need access to the network, TV, Blue Ray, Sat Ctlr, etc. Family room, bedroom, etc. Just don't understand why they don't do that while building. So much easier at that time.
One thing got lost in the move from TN to TX, my camera. I could not believe I would forget that. I brought the tripod, monopod, even the caring case for the tripod. I could not use the tripod or monopod as the heads were in the camera case. I looked all over and the camera was not here. I went to the storage lot and checked the RV twice. I finally looked at the security video at TN and could not see the camera sitting where I normally put it. I finally figured I had left it in the van in TN, that was the only place it could be. I remembered seeing it there just after Dave Smith's visit to TN. I also remembered thinking I need to remember to get this out of the car before we head out. I figured I had left it there. Ken picked up the mail in TN and gave a call while taking it to the house. After dealing with mail, I asked Ken to check the van. To my surprise it wasn't there. He then checked the rest of the house and no camera. It was fun watching him look for it as I connected to the security system. I finally bought a new camera as I had kind of planned on doing that anyway, but I was not happy at the loss. I finally went back to the rv and checked again. I found the camera. It had slipped behind a chair and it was so dark I could not see it there. I didn't see it even this time when I checked. I finally stuck my hand back there and there it was. Black case in the shadows! Still I am happy to have found it.
Well here we are. I have been off work since Oct 9th last year, so one year already. As of the week of Christmas we will have been out of our home in CA for a year. That will be soon. Then early Jan, 2011 Linda will have been off work for a year. Then Jan 20th or there abouts we will have been out of CA for a year. WOW! lot's of anniversaries for us.
The sad part is we miss all our friends we haven't seen for a year. We pray you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We do have guest rooms in TX and TN. They have comfortable new beds. We would love to have you visit.
We are back in Texas. It was a smooth trip. Since we had a lot of stuff from the Pod that needed to get to Texas, I had to rent a trailer and tow it back with the RV. This meant that the Ford got a break in not having to be towed, but Linda had to take on a long drive. It took us 3 days to make the journey. Wellllll, not really. We left in the late afternoon on a Thursday, like 3PM. We got to Nashville and kicked back in a road side rest area. I pulled between a bunch of semi's. I left the parking lights on so a semi would see us between the trucks. It was a dark night. Unfortunately I did one other thing that I did not think about. I left the key in the ignition. Most vehicles this is not an issue. In the RV when the key enters the ignition there are a number of things that take place. Anyway by morning the lights were dim. Dim enough to keep the engine from starting. I started the generator so it could start charging the battery. I don't have jumper cables. Evidently they departed my company in the move, like so many things have. Anyway we ended up calling AAA and waiting for a jump. By the time he got there we had been charging for a couple of hours. I was just about to try to start the engine when AAA arrived. He used a little hand held battery to jump us and it worked. So we didn't get on the road until about 8AM. We traveled thru the rest of TN and into AR. Most of the day was spent there. Along the way, a log hauling semi that was empty entered the freeway at a high rate of speed, whiped into the lane in front of me and was dumping all knids of wood chips. They were bouncing all over the road and off the RV. Along the way, the truck kicked up a rock that smacked the windshield. Yep, left a small crack.
We wrapped up the day in Texarcana, TX. We found a KOA campground and checked in for the night. Texarcana is being rebuilt all around Interstate 30 so we had to find our way to the campground, not and easy thing. We spent the night which was great after a night in the Road side rest area.
All refreshed, we headed out about 9AM and made our way to Austin. I immediately started unloading the trailer. First thing was I found a small dead mouse under the trailer door. I wondered what that cat in TN was doing diging at the door of the trailer before we left. I thought it was about the mouse that I found in the trailer after I had loaded it. I suspected the cat had put it there. It didn't take long to unload, but back in the trailer I found several little mice, all dead. I was getting suspicious. The couch we brought to TX had been in the garage for several months. I checked it over before putting it in the trailer and didn't see anything. So I got rid of the mice. I tried to get rid of the trailer but it was just after closing at the drop location. UHaul said they had a night drop. How d0 you night drop a trailer and know it won't be ripped off? So I held on to it. Next day we had some shopping to do, so we went to Sams Club and got several large items since I had the trailer. We went to load the stuff and guess what I found in the trailer when I opened the door? Yep! We loaded everything took it home.
Anyway that was our trip. It was great seeing the kids and Cameron had grown so much. he was a kick. We have had time to take care of Cameron a few days. He is a lot more work these days but such a joy. He is such a happy boy. NO BIAS applied, he is the best grandson ever.
We have been working on making our house a home and are really close to being there. We finally have internet which really makes us feel in touch. Unfortunately there are no network wires in the house so I am working on plans to install wiring in the house. I will soon be in the attic drilling holes and running wires. So many pieces of equipment need access to the network, TV, Blue Ray, Sat Ctlr, etc. Family room, bedroom, etc. Just don't understand why they don't do that while building. So much easier at that time.
One thing got lost in the move from TN to TX, my camera. I could not believe I would forget that. I brought the tripod, monopod, even the caring case for the tripod. I could not use the tripod or monopod as the heads were in the camera case. I looked all over and the camera was not here. I went to the storage lot and checked the RV twice. I finally looked at the security video at TN and could not see the camera sitting where I normally put it. I finally figured I had left it in the van in TN, that was the only place it could be. I remembered seeing it there just after Dave Smith's visit to TN. I also remembered thinking I need to remember to get this out of the car before we head out. I figured I had left it there. Ken picked up the mail in TN and gave a call while taking it to the house. After dealing with mail, I asked Ken to check the van. To my surprise it wasn't there. He then checked the rest of the house and no camera. It was fun watching him look for it as I connected to the security system. I finally bought a new camera as I had kind of planned on doing that anyway, but I was not happy at the loss. I finally went back to the rv and checked again. I found the camera. It had slipped behind a chair and it was so dark I could not see it there. I didn't see it even this time when I checked. I finally stuck my hand back there and there it was. Black case in the shadows! Still I am happy to have found it.
Well here we are. I have been off work since Oct 9th last year, so one year already. As of the week of Christmas we will have been out of our home in CA for a year. That will be soon. Then early Jan, 2011 Linda will have been off work for a year. Then Jan 20th or there abouts we will have been out of CA for a year. WOW! lot's of anniversaries for us.
The sad part is we miss all our friends we haven't seen for a year. We pray you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We do have guest rooms in TX and TN. They have comfortable new beds. We would love to have you visit.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Fall without falling.
Well, we are seeing Fall all around. Trees are changing daily. Still slight in Bristol but up in the mountains, things are well on the way. We visited a place called Grandfathers mountain. It was a beautiful place. We got to the top of the mountain and found a swinging bridge one mile above sea level. Only about 80 feet above the ground though. You can see for miles. It least that seems to be the case. My sister and brother-in-law came down for the weekend, they arrived Friday evening and we went out all day Saturday visiting the beautiful Fall colors and mountains. They left this morning at 7AM. So a whirl wind visit, but a lot of fun. We went sight seeing with Ken, Teddy, Wayne, Kathy, Linda, Lizzie and myself. That was a care full of fun.
I have been installing a camera security system in the house. Three out of 4 cameras have been installed and wires run. Only one more camera to install and some power and network lines to run to finish the physical installation. Then I have to figure out how to get the images out the firewall. Seems small boxes end up being big projects. I have a couple more boxes out in the garage that will be projects soon. Then there is the yard!
A retirees' work is never done? Is that a saying??????
I have been installing a camera security system in the house. Three out of 4 cameras have been installed and wires run. Only one more camera to install and some power and network lines to run to finish the physical installation. Then I have to figure out how to get the images out the firewall. Seems small boxes end up being big projects. I have a couple more boxes out in the garage that will be projects soon. Then there is the yard!
A retirees' work is never done? Is that a saying??????
Monday, October 4, 2010
5:30 AM up since 3:00 Doggie had to go out.
Well we had a busy weekend. We took a drive Friday to cement that I knew how to get to some of the places we have been over the past several weeks. Then Saturday we went to the Apple festival in Erwin TN, The place was packed. We topped of the Erwin trip with a stop in Jonesboro TN at a quilting shop. We had Breakfast at Pardners in Piney Flats and then Lunch in Jonesboro. Jonesoro has quite a history. It was the capitol of the State of Franklin. Did you know we had a state called Franklin? Named after Ben Franklin. It emcompased Eastern TN, part of Western NC, and Part of Western VA, maybe even some of Eastern KY. Jonesboro was the first town, and so it is the oldest town in TN.
After church today, Linda and I drove out a road we had not traveled and found a beautiful park with a busy stream running by. It has lots of mini rapids. I need to return and take some pictures.
Then we stopped at subway and picked up lunch and headed home so I could watch the Nascar race. We missed the first few laps but caught most of it. Hay a Ford won. That doesn't happen much lately. I don't understand why though. There were some interesting dynamics starting to play out on the track with the drivers in the chase. Trend starting????? Huh Nascar???
Companies coming. Kathy and Wayne are coming this next weekend and at the end of the month Dave from CA is heading here. Love having company. Room's a waiting.
Lots to get done here so I have to knuckle down and getter done!
TTFN~ed
After church today, Linda and I drove out a road we had not traveled and found a beautiful park with a busy stream running by. It has lots of mini rapids. I need to return and take some pictures.
Then we stopped at subway and picked up lunch and headed home so I could watch the Nascar race. We missed the first few laps but caught most of it. Hay a Ford won. That doesn't happen much lately. I don't understand why though. There were some interesting dynamics starting to play out on the track with the drivers in the chase. Trend starting????? Huh Nascar???
Companies coming. Kathy and Wayne are coming this next weekend and at the end of the month Dave from CA is heading here. Love having company. Room's a waiting.
Lots to get done here so I have to knuckle down and getter done!
TTFN~ed
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Hi, I am Ed. ... It has been a long LOOOOng time.
Well we have been busy. My mom and dad stopped by on the way back to Florida and spent a couple of days. It was great spending time with them. We have continued our quest to get the house basically completed. The den is looking lots better. It will be the last to complete, I'm sure. We picked up a couple of area rugs for the great room. One in the family area and the other under the table. Lizzie has given this her whole hearted approval. Running on wood floors is tough for a dog. She streatched out on the carpet and rolled around. She is a happy doggie.
My workshop in the basement is finally shaping up and I have been working on computers for the past 2-3 weeks. My sister's computer died while mom and dad were there so they brought it by. I have it rebuilt with a new hard drive. Strangest hard drive failure I have experienced. Drive spins up but doesn't respond like a drive. I suspect circuit card failed.
I fired up my test computes two of which were loaded with pre-release Windows 7. So the update time had expired. I had to re-install the OS on both systems. My multimedia system is getting close to functional with some strange recovery problems and my multi-touch table system is back together. Now I have to build a table again. I trashed my table I was building in CA. I broke my home grown first serface mirror while packing and as we got the pod loaded it was clear that there was no room for the table. I pulled it apart and it ended up in the trash. All that experience was all I brought with me and the projector.
My R1900 large format printer is not loving the move and i am having trouble getting it cleared out and printing. I need some cartridges and none are available locally so I guess I need to order some online.
Linda's computer from CA is being a problem, so I am trying to fix it. I updated drivers on the mother board from the MFG (MSI) and went from bad to worse. The sound was not working. Now the onboard sound, onboard video, and onboard network are not working.
I have a mother board from Fry's I had purchased several months before we moved and tried to use it but the Pentium D processor would not work in it. So..... I ordered another processor from Tiger direct and hope to get it working so I can get Linda on line with sound.
I have been having a bug problem in the basement not related to the PC's that are full of bugs.
It stated with worms coming in and having to clean them up every morning. I used foam sealer everywhere I could find and the worms were gone. Now I am having crickets by the bucket load. I found that the mat I put outside the door on the grass, was a breading ground for them. It seems that the area is having more crickets than old time locals have ever seen. They were coming under the door. I adjusted the door jam up to seal better but they are still getting in but only a few each day. I sprayed all around the basement for bugs. Got a few spiders who decided thay didn't like the spray so they have been showing up belly up. Now I see that stink bugs are in abundance this year. I have only seen two or three outside.
Now for the yard. Or should I say the weed garden. The front yard is all weeds. I sprayed a weed killer a couple of weeks ago and it killed the weeds. Guess what, No green exist in the front yard after that. The back yard has only a few weeds and I sprayed it. It looks much better. I have a mess for sure. I need to get out there.
I have a camera system I bought to put in the house. It will allow me to monitor the house over the internet which will be great when we are gone. It will send emails along with pictures when motion takes place. I turned it on and got a couple hundred emails in about 6 hours. I think it works. Now I have to install it. THE HARD PART.
Ken, Carmen and Linda and I went to DollyWood. That is a great park. We really loved it. Awesome music groups and shows. Steam train ride that is really cool and a bold eagle bird of prey recovery facility. Carmen and I topped it off with a wood roller coaster ride. We headed to local communities that Linda and I remembered as kids. They look a lot different now. Grown up these past 40+ years. Serierville and Gatlinburg areas. There was an old car evet going on in Gatlinburg. We crawled down the main strip and thousands of people were sitting along the road watching the activity. Every parking lot was full of old cars and muscle cars. Ken and I were drooling all along the way. We wrapped up our day with dinner at 10PM in Johnson City.
The same weekend was an event in Bristol called Rhythm and Roots Reunion. This is a full weekend of bluegrass. Bluegrass has it roots in Bristol. We attended the event Saturday until after midnight and then Sunday after church until it ended at 6pm. As with the Nascar event they shut down State Street, the VA, TN state line road and set up venue's on side streets, in theaters, and in local shops. There were lots of groups of verious tallent performing. It was a great weekend.
This past Tuesday, after bible study, Ken and I went to a Bluegrass jam session that is around the corner from Bristol Motor Speedway. The place only holds bout 30 people. It was awesome. Different people show up there and they just jam. Some professional players and others new to music like one young man who is in high school was playing. It was really fun being there and listening to the music and having people share their tallents like that. All accustic instruments. Ken pointed out how as people left as the night wore on that the accustics of the room changed and got crisper. When we arrived I noticed the bass was very soft and almost hard to hear and it was only 10 feet from me. By the evening the bass was crisp, rich and vibrant.
Along with all the other computer stuff I am trying to get going, I purchased a program to identify duplicate files so I can clean up my pictures and file system in general. It found that my notebook had about 60 percent of the files duplicated, some several times. I am cleaning that up in the mornings for an hour or two before I get out of bed. I have a long way to go. Thousands of files are duplicated.
So if you have seen Collin's post on FaceBook of the picture of Lizzie and I crashed out on the couch with surround sound and remotes and drink you will understand that it was a well deserved nap!
My workshop in the basement is finally shaping up and I have been working on computers for the past 2-3 weeks. My sister's computer died while mom and dad were there so they brought it by. I have it rebuilt with a new hard drive. Strangest hard drive failure I have experienced. Drive spins up but doesn't respond like a drive. I suspect circuit card failed.
I fired up my test computes two of which were loaded with pre-release Windows 7. So the update time had expired. I had to re-install the OS on both systems. My multimedia system is getting close to functional with some strange recovery problems and my multi-touch table system is back together. Now I have to build a table again. I trashed my table I was building in CA. I broke my home grown first serface mirror while packing and as we got the pod loaded it was clear that there was no room for the table. I pulled it apart and it ended up in the trash. All that experience was all I brought with me and the projector.
My R1900 large format printer is not loving the move and i am having trouble getting it cleared out and printing. I need some cartridges and none are available locally so I guess I need to order some online.
Linda's computer from CA is being a problem, so I am trying to fix it. I updated drivers on the mother board from the MFG (MSI) and went from bad to worse. The sound was not working. Now the onboard sound, onboard video, and onboard network are not working.
I have a mother board from Fry's I had purchased several months before we moved and tried to use it but the Pentium D processor would not work in it. So..... I ordered another processor from Tiger direct and hope to get it working so I can get Linda on line with sound.
I have been having a bug problem in the basement not related to the PC's that are full of bugs.
It stated with worms coming in and having to clean them up every morning. I used foam sealer everywhere I could find and the worms were gone. Now I am having crickets by the bucket load. I found that the mat I put outside the door on the grass, was a breading ground for them. It seems that the area is having more crickets than old time locals have ever seen. They were coming under the door. I adjusted the door jam up to seal better but they are still getting in but only a few each day. I sprayed all around the basement for bugs. Got a few spiders who decided thay didn't like the spray so they have been showing up belly up. Now I see that stink bugs are in abundance this year. I have only seen two or three outside.
Now for the yard. Or should I say the weed garden. The front yard is all weeds. I sprayed a weed killer a couple of weeks ago and it killed the weeds. Guess what, No green exist in the front yard after that. The back yard has only a few weeds and I sprayed it. It looks much better. I have a mess for sure. I need to get out there.
I have a camera system I bought to put in the house. It will allow me to monitor the house over the internet which will be great when we are gone. It will send emails along with pictures when motion takes place. I turned it on and got a couple hundred emails in about 6 hours. I think it works. Now I have to install it. THE HARD PART.
Ken, Carmen and Linda and I went to DollyWood. That is a great park. We really loved it. Awesome music groups and shows. Steam train ride that is really cool and a bold eagle bird of prey recovery facility. Carmen and I topped it off with a wood roller coaster ride. We headed to local communities that Linda and I remembered as kids. They look a lot different now. Grown up these past 40+ years. Serierville and Gatlinburg areas. There was an old car evet going on in Gatlinburg. We crawled down the main strip and thousands of people were sitting along the road watching the activity. Every parking lot was full of old cars and muscle cars. Ken and I were drooling all along the way. We wrapped up our day with dinner at 10PM in Johnson City.
The same weekend was an event in Bristol called Rhythm and Roots Reunion. This is a full weekend of bluegrass. Bluegrass has it roots in Bristol. We attended the event Saturday until after midnight and then Sunday after church until it ended at 6pm. As with the Nascar event they shut down State Street, the VA, TN state line road and set up venue's on side streets, in theaters, and in local shops. There were lots of groups of verious tallent performing. It was a great weekend.
This past Tuesday, after bible study, Ken and I went to a Bluegrass jam session that is around the corner from Bristol Motor Speedway. The place only holds bout 30 people. It was awesome. Different people show up there and they just jam. Some professional players and others new to music like one young man who is in high school was playing. It was really fun being there and listening to the music and having people share their tallents like that. All accustic instruments. Ken pointed out how as people left as the night wore on that the accustics of the room changed and got crisper. When we arrived I noticed the bass was very soft and almost hard to hear and it was only 10 feet from me. By the evening the bass was crisp, rich and vibrant.
Along with all the other computer stuff I am trying to get going, I purchased a program to identify duplicate files so I can clean up my pictures and file system in general. It found that my notebook had about 60 percent of the files duplicated, some several times. I am cleaning that up in the mornings for an hour or two before I get out of bed. I have a long way to go. Thousands of files are duplicated.
So if you have seen Collin's post on FaceBook of the picture of Lizzie and I crashed out on the couch with surround sound and remotes and drink you will understand that it was a well deserved nap!
Friday, September 3, 2010
Lots to share. Still getting it together.
Well, LouAnn spent a weekend with us. It was great having her here.
We continue the quest of making our house a home. Linda has been working on the Den. It actually has the floor open. Things are appearing on shelves and it won't be long before it is functional. At least it will be when I rebuild her computer. It seems to have an issue that developed prior to moving out of our CA house. It is time to resolve the issue... As soon as the basement is ready, YEA that's it.
Speaking of the basement, I finally finished out the extra circuit I had run. It only had one plug in the basement, so while having the circuit run for the rv, I had them pull another circuit for the basement. There are two drops, so I have a 20 amp circuit to run my computers on. While I was at it I picked up a couple of light fixtures and mounted them. the basement has 4 individual light bulbs in the celing. One switch down in the basement to turn them on. Strange arrangement. I added a florscent light fixture and replaced an indivigual bulb fixture with a three light arrangement that is directional. I have also run some more wires up through the wall into the master bedroom and the family room so we have more options for our tv viewing and computer stuff. Seems that a number of devices require network connectivity in the tv area these days.
I also did a tour of duty in the Attic over the garage. Fortunately there is an entrance to the attic in the garage. No insulation so it is relatively easy to get there. At my age and conditioning, attic's and easy are not something that belong in the same sentence.
I put a full sized antenna in the attic. Spreading out the radials amongst the rafters was an expierence. I pulled a coax and a computer network wire through the wall in the garage to make connections. the coax for the antenna and the cat6 wire to drop a network connection to my computer in our family room. That little project is still in the works. Not as easy as I had hoped. Yep another trip to the attic. Should be cooler in the next couple of days. Maybe I can spend a few more hours up there without having to come down and cool off as often.
So it has been a busy time since our last blog. We are expecting more company, the sheets are clean, so make your way here and we will enjoy some hugs and a good time. Hope to add some pictures before long. Time for the second half of my nights sleep. Good night.
We continue the quest of making our house a home. Linda has been working on the Den. It actually has the floor open. Things are appearing on shelves and it won't be long before it is functional. At least it will be when I rebuild her computer. It seems to have an issue that developed prior to moving out of our CA house. It is time to resolve the issue... As soon as the basement is ready, YEA that's it.
Speaking of the basement, I finally finished out the extra circuit I had run. It only had one plug in the basement, so while having the circuit run for the rv, I had them pull another circuit for the basement. There are two drops, so I have a 20 amp circuit to run my computers on. While I was at it I picked up a couple of light fixtures and mounted them. the basement has 4 individual light bulbs in the celing. One switch down in the basement to turn them on. Strange arrangement. I added a florscent light fixture and replaced an indivigual bulb fixture with a three light arrangement that is directional. I have also run some more wires up through the wall into the master bedroom and the family room so we have more options for our tv viewing and computer stuff. Seems that a number of devices require network connectivity in the tv area these days.
I also did a tour of duty in the Attic over the garage. Fortunately there is an entrance to the attic in the garage. No insulation so it is relatively easy to get there. At my age and conditioning, attic's and easy are not something that belong in the same sentence.
I put a full sized antenna in the attic. Spreading out the radials amongst the rafters was an expierence. I pulled a coax and a computer network wire through the wall in the garage to make connections. the coax for the antenna and the cat6 wire to drop a network connection to my computer in our family room. That little project is still in the works. Not as easy as I had hoped. Yep another trip to the attic. Should be cooler in the next couple of days. Maybe I can spend a few more hours up there without having to come down and cool off as often.
So it has been a busy time since our last blog. We are expecting more company, the sheets are clean, so make your way here and we will enjoy some hugs and a good time. Hope to add some pictures before long. Time for the second half of my nights sleep. Good night.
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