Warning: I get a bit nerdy about home repairs in this post...
Our house is about 60 years old, and while I love it, there are some things about it that occasionally need tweaking. The good thing is, I love tweaking things around the house*.
Most recently, I basically took apart the inside of the toilet. I've done some minor plumbing stuff in the past (replacing nobs, handles, flapper valves, etc.), and I thought this would be another routine replacement to fix a drip.
I initially replaced the old flapper valve, but upon testing my fix, I realized that while I had fixed the drip. I had apparently created another issue: the water wouldn't shut off all the way. This was no bueno, and I had definitely not fixed the problem.
I proceeded to do some googling, and found that I should probably also replace the whole valve. However, we've been a bit busy lately, so I didn't get around to fixing things in a super-timely manner (Amar had to bug me a bit...but the delay gave us a clear signal that we would not do to well in a 1 bathroom living establishment for too long).
Today, I (finally) stopped by the hardware store on my way home today and got the necessary parts (keeping my fingers crossed that this was the root cause...). After a few minutes of wrestling with the existing fixtures, I was able to replace the valve and tada - no more dripping toilet!
On the next episode, I'll finish painting the baseboards!
*Note: I do have a tendency to get in over my head at times, but never to the point where we need to call emergency services...at least not yet ;)
Monday, August 31, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Problem Child
For those of you who have met our dogs, you know that they have very different personalities.
Zoey, for instance, is shy but dominant. She is devoted, loyal, and she smiles. She also tends to be the more obedient of the two.
Bella, on the other hand, is a bit of a ditz. She has very expressive eyes, but there's not much going on behind them, if you know what I mean. She is very stubborn, very curious, and very food motivated.
At night, after they play in the yard for a bit, we call them into the house. Nine times out of ten, Zoey is the first one in. Prompt and willing to please her owners, she comes running around the corner and into the house without much delay.
Bella, however, is a different story. Sometimes she comes right away...other times she sees a shiny object and totally forgets what she was doing.
Being the curious one, Bella also tends to hop after things that hop. If she sees an interesting bug, she follows it around. The same goes for frogs. They hop, she hops right behind them.
And we have learned the hard way that dogs have a strong reaction after they come into contact with frogs: they foam at the mouth. Apparently the frogs have a very bad taste, which causes dogs to salivate uncontrollably and then the foaming commences.
The idea behind this, I'm sure, is to discourage dogs from licking frogs.
But Bella doesn't quite see it that way. She sees a frog, and is thus compelled to lick it.
This happened again tonight.
I noticed that she was taking her sweet time getting back into the house. So after a few minutes, I went out to check on her and reprimand her, only to find that yep, she had been licking frogs again tonight.
This happens about once a week at this point.
Cute? Yes. Smart? The jury is still out...
Here's to you, Bella puppy!
Zoey, for instance, is shy but dominant. She is devoted, loyal, and she smiles. She also tends to be the more obedient of the two.
Bella, on the other hand, is a bit of a ditz. She has very expressive eyes, but there's not much going on behind them, if you know what I mean. She is very stubborn, very curious, and very food motivated.
At night, after they play in the yard for a bit, we call them into the house. Nine times out of ten, Zoey is the first one in. Prompt and willing to please her owners, she comes running around the corner and into the house without much delay.
Bella, however, is a different story. Sometimes she comes right away...other times she sees a shiny object and totally forgets what she was doing.
Being the curious one, Bella also tends to hop after things that hop. If she sees an interesting bug, she follows it around. The same goes for frogs. They hop, she hops right behind them.
And we have learned the hard way that dogs have a strong reaction after they come into contact with frogs: they foam at the mouth. Apparently the frogs have a very bad taste, which causes dogs to salivate uncontrollably and then the foaming commences.
The idea behind this, I'm sure, is to discourage dogs from licking frogs.
But Bella doesn't quite see it that way. She sees a frog, and is thus compelled to lick it.
This happened again tonight.
I noticed that she was taking her sweet time getting back into the house. So after a few minutes, I went out to check on her and reprimand her, only to find that yep, she had been licking frogs again tonight.
This happens about once a week at this point.
Cute? Yes. Smart? The jury is still out...
Here's to you, Bella puppy!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
An anniversary, of sorts
I stumbled upon this article, alebit a day or two late, and thought it was an appropriate anniversary to celebrate.
The article is about COBOL, a pretty ancient coding language by technology standards. It recently celebrated it's 50th anniversary.
The author states that though most people have never heard of COBOL, it accounts for about 80% of of the world's active code. To put that into context, you need a lot more lines of COBOL code to do the same thing that Java or C could do in about 2 lines.
The author also states that he has never met an active COBOL programmer in his life.
So why did I take note of this anniversary?
Because I was once a professional COBOL programmer. Yes, I was a pitifully awful COBOL programmer, but nonetheless, it was my job for the first 2 years of my professional experience.
Amar actually hates it when I mention that I was a programmer, because he doesn't really think that my "experience" counted. But I beg to differ.
I was a business major in college, and for some reason, my employer thought it best to put me into a very technical role. I floundered for quite awhile and asked pretty much anyone I could find if they could assist me. I wrote my first algorithm in COBOL. I ran my first batch job in COBOL. I performed my first 20 installs for COBOL projects.
And I hated it for the most part.
But looking back, I can see how has contributed to my current job as a Project Manager. In short, it has helped me be a better Project Manager.
Anyhow, sometimes you have to go through some messy stuff to get to the good stuff. It was just funny to realize that it's a 50 year old programming language that gave me my first foot in the door to corporate America.
The article is about COBOL, a pretty ancient coding language by technology standards. It recently celebrated it's 50th anniversary.
The author states that though most people have never heard of COBOL, it accounts for about 80% of of the world's active code. To put that into context, you need a lot more lines of COBOL code to do the same thing that Java or C could do in about 2 lines.
The author also states that he has never met an active COBOL programmer in his life.
So why did I take note of this anniversary?
Because I was once a professional COBOL programmer. Yes, I was a pitifully awful COBOL programmer, but nonetheless, it was my job for the first 2 years of my professional experience.
Amar actually hates it when I mention that I was a programmer, because he doesn't really think that my "experience" counted. But I beg to differ.
I was a business major in college, and for some reason, my employer thought it best to put me into a very technical role. I floundered for quite awhile and asked pretty much anyone I could find if they could assist me. I wrote my first algorithm in COBOL. I ran my first batch job in COBOL. I performed my first 20 installs for COBOL projects.
And I hated it for the most part.
But looking back, I can see how has contributed to my current job as a Project Manager. In short, it has helped me be a better Project Manager.
Anyhow, sometimes you have to go through some messy stuff to get to the good stuff. It was just funny to realize that it's a 50 year old programming language that gave me my first foot in the door to corporate America.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Camp Braveheart Pictures
Hey folks,
Here are some pictures I took at Camp Braveheart (see my last post for details).
I'm still getting used to my new DSLR (a fantastic Nikon D90!). And as usual, I had some fun in Picasa with the originals.
I uploaded some of my favorites to the link above, rather than post all 2,400+ of the original shots.
Enjoy!
P.S. Upon posting, I'm realizing that Blogger is not a fan of publishing my pictures in any way that looks good on this entry. So, just go to the gallery link above :)
Here are some pictures I took at Camp Braveheart (see my last post for details).
I'm still getting used to my new DSLR (a fantastic Nikon D90!). And as usual, I had some fun in Picasa with the originals.
I uploaded some of my favorites to the link above, rather than post all 2,400+ of the original shots.
Enjoy!
P.S. Upon posting, I'm realizing that Blogger is not a fan of publishing my pictures in any way that looks good on this entry. So, just go to the gallery link above :)
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Back from "vacation"
Amar and I have been volunteering with the Youth Group at our church since about February. Most recently, we got to go to Summer Camp (aka Camp Braveheart) over the last week, and we had a blast.
The theme was Saul and David, and subsequently, we were asked to be characters that represented each of those figures (I was Saul, General McKinsie; Amar was David - General Callahan). Our roles mainly consisted of leading groups of students during game time. We each led our team like Saul or David would have led their army.
Amar was victorious occasionally, followed the rules, sought guidance from God and was generally pleasant to be around.
I, on the other hand, apparently scared the 8th grade boys.
I won most of our face-offs, not due to the talent of my team so much as due to my ability to cheat, be ultra-competitive, refuse to accept defeat, and focus on giving playing time to the known athletes. Also, I did a lot of screaming.
All in all, it was a ton of fun. But I was quickly reminded by about day 3 that I'm now an "old person" and thus, can't play 3 hours of volleyball in 100 degree heat like I used to.
I'll post some pictures soon, but wanted to blog because it's been, well, eons since I last posted.
Much love to you all. And if you have a rag-tag group of teens that you need motivated, don't hesitate to call!
The theme was Saul and David, and subsequently, we were asked to be characters that represented each of those figures (I was Saul, General McKinsie; Amar was David - General Callahan). Our roles mainly consisted of leading groups of students during game time. We each led our team like Saul or David would have led their army.
Amar was victorious occasionally, followed the rules, sought guidance from God and was generally pleasant to be around.
I, on the other hand, apparently scared the 8th grade boys.
I won most of our face-offs, not due to the talent of my team so much as due to my ability to cheat, be ultra-competitive, refuse to accept defeat, and focus on giving playing time to the known athletes. Also, I did a lot of screaming.
All in all, it was a ton of fun. But I was quickly reminded by about day 3 that I'm now an "old person" and thus, can't play 3 hours of volleyball in 100 degree heat like I used to.
I'll post some pictures soon, but wanted to blog because it's been, well, eons since I last posted.
Much love to you all. And if you have a rag-tag group of teens that you need motivated, don't hesitate to call!
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