The thing about it

So Thing-a-day is already a bust.  I don't have the time or projects to sustain this adventure right now.

I really should be studying.

Another time.

Nice Rack

I aquired this little AV half rack from work a couple of months ago and have slowly been consolidating my tech into it ever since. It's not a perfect fit for everything, the PE 1950 sticks out the back about 8" or so and is sitting on a shelf because Dell rails don't fit threaded holes. The printer is too big.

The Cisco gear is:

• Catalyst 2950 switch
• Catalyst 2960 switch
• Cisco 2600 router

It's a beginner CCNA lab. I'd like to have at least one more router and another switch but this is working for now. It's nice to walk through the CBT Nuggets videos with and that's what matters.

The before picture is no gem, but the after picture is not much better.  I reorganized the shelf but to what end?  

a clean desk is a sign of a sick mind

Thing a Day v2 begins.  An easy first one because I'm already balancing several large projects in life and at work.

My desk has two monitors! Yep, that's a mismatched Samsung 226BW and a Dell 2007FP in portrait. A Dell keyboard with media controls, the audio knob being its best feature, as the two USB ports on it are only 1.1.

I cleaned paperwork that was 3 months old. The only remaining paperwork is taxes which will be sent out in the next few days I guess.  The Cisco book can't go far as I'm knee deep in studying for the ICND2.

Thing a Day pau

All photos (and many more) are available in .NEF format. I started this project with 12 ideas on my calendar. I managed a few new ones during the first two weeks but every day afterwards I was struggling to come up with someone. I highly recommend a couple of weeks to plan, or at least define the scope of what you want to do.  For me blogging and photography were the project. I generated a lot of content and of that I am proud of.

Making fudge was a first for me and I talked to my brother about it which led me to an epiphany of a desert my mom made years ago but never taught me how to make. Making lebne is a family tradition that I am able to continue.

All of the food projects were great because I got a direct return on them. Wife really enjoyed the fudge and so it'll become a frequent occurrence.

Changing the differential oil was something I'd been waiting to do since before Xmas. Combined with an oil change the car runs like it's brand new. I really enjoy working on my car because it's the most dangerous thing I expose myself to, and keeping it running well lowers the risk.

This was a really fun project. It forced me to blog and photograph almost every day. I discovered new settings on my camera. I cleaned a lot of stuff. I changed my routine and created a new one.

I'm glad this is over.

Photoset

We have a copy of the C&H Tenth Anniversary Book that we've been reading the last few weeks. I really identify with Hobbes more than Calvin, who strikes me as spoiled and kind of a jerk. Hobbes makes the most sense to me, as someone who's always down for whatever and is pretty forgiving.
Bill Waterson is the real hero of the comic, never merchandising or selling the rights. How great. I'm sure he was often offered a lot of money to sell out and he managed not to. 

This is great Sunday morning activity with someone you love. You have an activity, you create something beautiful and create a shared memory.

Removing wallpaper pt 2

Being useful

My fancy services were called in again for additional application. This time we cleaned up the remaining areas, thin strips between the door and the wall. Then we used a strange detergent to remove any adhesive, wallpaper and dirt, followed by a rinse with warm water.  Finally, we emptied all of the cabinets in preparation for their replacement.

Fudge

 I came across a Rage comic the other day which was actually a recipe for making fudge. So I did. I don't like that alcohol is a staple ingredient in vanilla extract so I found some that is alcohol free and I couldn't tell the difference. I'm not sure about the benefits of organic sweetened condensed milk but I'll take it anyway. I forgot nuts, nuts! I considered granola but did not want to get too fancy on my first time out on the fudge train.

Folder redirection

The battle continues about how to manage data on my network. I recently had to format my HTPC and I used that as an opportunity to enable folder redirection for Wife's desktop and docs. One goal was to allow Wife's data to be centralized, when she's on the netbook she'll have the same stuff as on the desktop.  I think Roaming Profiles might be a better choice.
Every night SyncCenter has errors, usually regarding .tmp files and it's pretty annoying. Otherwise it works alright. These errors might be related to how WHS duplicates data. I'm not sure and I don't know how to find out. I enabled redirection on my account on my desktop and it also had with errors, I save stuff and it doesn't match what's on the server for some reason.  This is stupid, there should be a straight forward solution for this


Pic unrelated. It's where I work, Deepwood. you can see where every generation built an addtion. I work in the basement, with no windows or heat.

Camera stabilizer

There's a pretty straight forward tutorial on how and why to make this. Despite being an Eagle Scout, he still doesn't understand the value of a good coil before putting in his pocket.

A coworker moonlights at a hardware store and she picked up the parts for <$2. I assembled it after coffee break and before lunch. Ideally the parts would be brass for aesthetics and because it doesn't rust.

A bird heard I had a beard.

Perhaps that last note was a little violent, here's how I actually marked the tumble into the new decade.

Operation: Dinner Out

My IT dept has been struggling with team building and social activities since I started.
We've had Silly Hat Day, NDCHGaRC, pizza party for a birthday, on Friday we celebrated my birthday. Everybody gave me very thoughtful gifts and I ate way too much meat.

A note about turning 30:

Having shed the yoke of youth, I am now poised to own the future. I have the path for victory in front of me, and like the Romans, whatever I cannot dominate I will destroy.

Rain X

Sunday I applied Rain X to the windows and side view mirrors of the Forester. I highly recommend it. It took me 30-45 minutes to wash & dry the windows and then apply and buff the Rain X.

I found these little bootsies at the thrift store. They don't smell like rain.

Worms eat my garbage

Vermiculture allows active and aggressive composting and most importantly in a small space.
I think about 50% of my waste is organic and goes to the worms. We generate so much organic waste that I can't generate enough shred to compensate. Last fall I subsidized with leaves and pine needles. I just enlisted a friend's help and am now receiving his shredded paper. It makes all the difference. I have two bins now and I think I could handle a third.

There is a 3:1 ratio of paper shred to organic waste this helps keep the moisture level down as that makes it stinky. Bins need ventilation holes to breathe; we drilled a connect-the-dots picture of a giraffe wearing a sombrero. This spring I will harvest the castings and give my aunt the richest soil around for her garden. She grows garlic which she gifts to us, we eat it and the shells will go back into the bin.

There is a nice lady in my office. We were talking about trash and said she generates very little, only 2 bags / week. Wife and I empty one bag about every 3 weeks and that's generally more because of smell than filling to capacity. A good recycling program and vermiculture allows us to generate 1/6 of the waste that a single person does. I think that's pretty great.

Worms are pretty great. They don't complain, they dance, they eat my trash.

Dinner

Overhead kitchen halogen

I made a simple, but delicious dinner tonight. I marinaded a salmon steak in a sweet & sour and shoyu. I baked for 10 minutes on 250F then broiled for 5.  I also included rice made with shrimp broth and chopped up lettuce.

"Long" exposure in the kitchen

Making Yogurt

Yogurt making is easy:

• Warm milk
• add starter
• let sit for 12 hours
• ????
• profit!

Wearing a hat

tl;dr - I have a lebneh starter from my aunt. I warm 1/2 gal. of whole milk in a pan until I can't keep my pinky in the milk for more than 10 seconds. Then I add the starter, cover it with a blue cloth and let it sit on my stove. My stove has gas pilot lights that keep the temp a little warmer than the rest of the house. I leave it for about 12 hours and then strain it using a reusable coffee filter my grandmother picked up in Sweden. A lot of whey is produced which I often try to find other uses for, usually mixing a little bit with my eggs in the morning.

Snow Cones

New England Snow Cones:

• Snow
• Maple Syrup

I'm saving these for a friend in NC. She'll be back in about a month. Maybe it'll still be snow.

Snow walk

Sunday night I walked in the snow and ice barefoot. Just for the experience. I've always been warm blooded and loved to frolic in the cold weather but since moving to New England I've been very cold. I just wanted to see if I could.

Removing wallpaper

My Aunt's kitchen is being redone. I went with some friend and we spent the afternoon scraping it away. She has an old house in New England, the walls are plaster and haven't been touched since she moved in over 10 years ago.
We brought scrapers, vinegar and professoinal stuff called DIF Wallpaper Remover. The vinegar was much more effective than the DIF. We scored the paper using a special tool, then sprayed on vinegar and let it sit for about 15 minutes.  The vinegar wasn't perfect but it did a decent job of dissolving the adhesive.

Shoe maintenance

I tossed my slippers in the rubbish bin in the airport as I left Hilo. Work only asked that I have foot wear, I wore sandals. Mainland work asks that I look professional despite crawling under desks and around filthy wiring cabinets.

Wife forced me to purchase these shoes last summer, I resisted but she found some nice shoes. I wanted something that I could be very comfortable in. A lot of dress shoes lack functionality and I hate them. 

I wiped off the dirt with a wet cloth, then rubbed in Lexol that I got from my leather guy.  This will keep them strong like bull for a while longer.

 

Shrimp broth

When we eat shrimp I save the shells. When we eat fish with bones, I save the bones too. When I have enough I:

1. add them to a pot
2. add water
3. boil for 10 hrs.

Today I made it in the crock pot, I put it on low before I left for work, when I came home I added water and put it on high. When we were sick of the smell I put it in a pot on the stove and boiled it on high for 20 minutes.

It smells a little unpleasant, but I get shrimp gold as you can see. It's a little weird saving chitin for months in the freezer but also a little macabre in a fun-house kind of way. I hope the shrimp appreciate that I am getting as much nutrition from them as possible and wasting as little as possible. I sub the broth for 25-50% of the water in recipes. It definitely gives rice a nice flavor and some variety because I still am having trouble making nice coconut rice.