May 31, 2007
Fix This Replace That VIII - POWER TOOLS & STUPID EQUIPMENT
I could barely see what I was doing through the dirt covered goggles. My mask helped filter out all the fine particles floating in the air. The sound of the grinding wheel was not as deafening as I thought it would have been. Yet, the grinding wheel cut through the concrete floor almost effortlessly. I bought a new angle grinder the other day. In the basement I've pulled out the carpet where it had been stained repeatly from patients spilling liquids on it. Growing tired of constantly having to hire someone to come in and steam clean the carpets, I've finally decided to install tiles on the floor instead. First I looked into getting a diamond disk concrete grinding machine to grind the concrete floor smooth. The problem with that is that the concrete floor under the old carpet is too uneven. The concrete grinding machine can only remove a maximum 1/8 of an inch of material. Thats where the new handheld angle grinder comes in. I spot grinded one or two small areas but for one area, I grinded away quite a bit of material. It felt good too using this power tool, like an artist carving concrete freehand. The giant concrete grinding machine was totally different looking like one of those huge steam vac machines you rent except that it's for concrete. When all was done, the whole basement was filled will a cloud of fine concrete dust so thick that I could barely see through it. Everything was covered with the dust including me.
The next day I poured on twenty two kilograms worth of self-levelling compound to makes sure the floor was flat before the tiling process could begin. The new concrete topping looked good enough on its own but not all that desirable.
Today I went to buy the tiles that I had chosen a while ago. The only problem is that it was not in stock. So now I must wait or choose another tile somewhere else to my liking. And what will it be? Ceramic or porcelain?
One of the headlamps on my truck burnt out. So the other day, I decided to fix it. Previously I had been using some rather expensive light bulbs which are brighter than the standard replacement halogen bulbs. The problem is that the fancy, more expensive and brighter bulb doesn't last as long. My first pair of bulbs burnt out within hours of each other. This time just one side burnt out. Changing to a sealed headlamp instead should increase the life but decrease the brightness as its still cheaper than the really fancy stuff while being better than the regular stuff. The whole headlamp unit is also cracked, so in order to do so, I need to remove the whole front grill assembly. This used to be a really painful process until I figured out how to undo all the little plastic clips. When I finally got everything off and went to test the remaing light, it also burnt out. Now both of the fancy, bright and expensive lights are gone.
After getting the new lights installed, I decided to see how they compared to the lights on my mothers ford contour. The comparison was a no brainer. The new lamps were still much brighter than the standard halogen bulbs in the ford contour. But before declaring this settled, I looked at the molded headlamp unit in the ford contour more closely and noticed how dull, scratched up and unclear they looked. Then I tapped them with my fingers. It appears that not only has Ford chosen to use cheap plastic parts on the engine itself but also the headlamps. A regular regular lamp is made with glass and will remain clear as long as it is kept clean unlike cheap plastic. No wonder domestic vehicles have such a horrible resale value as long as they keep putting in cheap parts. My fourteen year old truck has almost the same resale value as a domestic vehicle half its age.
So thats my rant. Good night.
May 23, 2007
Days Gone By
Two weeks ago I came home and found this person in my basement hiding in my doctor Octopus lamp. I was stunned and bewildered. What did he want? Who was he? After a lengthy discussion which lasted a number of hours as well as an offering of some square dishes for his house back in japan, he left my basement. His name, is Tsubame.
Things haven't been going so well lately. Snowboarding season is done and so am I. Going off one of the medium sized jumps I hurt my left knee. As a result, l'm back on the bottle again. Driving around the UBC golf course for the annual faculty tournament, everything looked blurry. Everything but the glass of beer in my hands. Nobody caught me drinking and driving...
To pass the time, I decided to go out on the town and take in some sultry jazz. An old friend of mine was performing belting out his greatest hits in that old style jazz.
I went to Gun Lake during the long weekend. It was a good time to see some wildlife and take in some nature. I saw a couple of deers but they all ran away. Not sure why they'd be afraid.
It doesn't matter if its humans or animals, you always manage to get a picture of them with their eyes partly closed.
Playing fetch with the neighbors dog at Gun Lake. Leggo the stick...
