July 20th

- Dude, why is everybody upset that the lead singer of Limp Bizkit died?
- Not Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park
- Oh man...

I went over the the airfield and tidied up a few bits and pieces and some wiring to the new motor.  I figure there are only a couple of things to do before firing it up for the first time :o)

July 18th

Today I discovered that the fridge is leaking water.  I pulled it out, turned the water off then cleaned everything up.  It's amazing how much dust collects under these things.  I took the back off the fridge and cleaned out everything I could get to.  One of the water pipes was cracked about 3" from where it goes in to the valve, and luckily what was left was long enough to plug back in.  It looks like I'll end up having to tear the whole thing apart to replace the hose next time this happens, but for now we're good.

July 17th

When we were watching Game of Thrones, there was a lot of stuttering, so I spent a while getting the network to talk on 5GHz and 2.4GHz.  It should be easy, as the router / cable modem supports both bands, but not at once.  We have some older devices that require 2.4GHz, so I've set up an older 2.4GHz router to cover those.  Now (hopefully) everything should be working correctly.  We watched the Game of Thrones episode again, with no stuttering, so hopefully this is fixed, but I'm going to get a new, faster router and set the router / cable modem to just pass through.

July 16th

I went to the airfield and did some circuits until it got too busy, then put the plane away and started disconnecting the Rotax 503 engine.  Ken and Todd got back from breakfast just in time to help remove the prop (I'd loosened the bolts, but had been bothered about dropping it) and then unbolt the engine and take it off.  We then got the 582 installed on the engine mounts.  Ken modified one of the exhaust mounts and got the exhaust manifold installed while I tightened up the engine mounts.  When he went to meet his brother for lunch, I installed things and stuff, including running new wire for the coolant temperature sensor, then gave up and went home.

In the evening, we watched the series premier of Game of Thrones.

July 15th

I started the day picking Vic up from the Jeep dealer - it was in for a recall on the airbags.  This meant I didn't get to fly this morning, but we went to the airfield to drop off the new (to me) Rotax 582 engine and gubbins.  I had been hoping to fly the gyroplane with Don, but he had a lesson at Cameron Park (where he's based), so he wasn't coming over to Lincoln this weekend.

I tinkered around the house until it was time to pick up the Jeep again.  By this time, it was too hot to do anything, so I didn't.

The Raspberry Pi that I use as a DHCP / DNS server took a dump on Friday, so I played with that a bit.  I think it's the SD card, as the original 8Gb wouldn't install a new operating system, but a new 16Gb card worked just fine.  Now I just need to get around to configuring it and reconfigure the router to no longer do the DHCP stuff.

July 14th

I took the day off, due to a "use it or lose it" type of thing.  Obviously Tilly didn't let me sleep in, so I got up, got on the roof and washed the solar panels (after Jim posted about them being dirty on Facebook).  When I got down, Caroline and Kathy were coming past, and said they'd been concerned because the garage was open - well duh, I was on the roof :o)  Unfortunately, this distracted me from what I was doing, and I left the side gate open, which Tilly found shortly afterwards, and took herself on an adventure.  When I figured out the door was open, and she didn't come when I called her, I figured the dogs barking was where she was, and hopped on my bicycle to go and see.  I was on my way over when she came gamboling over from somebody's front garden, so I clipped her to the bicycle and walked home.

I had a guy come over to buy an old monitor from me, which was nice - more space, more money, what's not to like?

I got out on my bicycle, which is something I rarely do when I get a day off, then went to sell off an old graphics card.  Yay!

I even got time to get some work done on the EAA website.  I should take time off work more often.

July 9th

I got up early and went to the airfield, where it was quite windy.  I did circuits again (not wanting to be too far away when it starts warming up and it gets too bumpy), and chatted to Ken when I got back.

I put the toilet together again when I got home, and it seems to be holding fine now, so I called that done and headed out and changed the oil in the van.

I had thought about going to the airfield and flying again in the evening, but it was 105F and I couldn't face fighting with the hangar doors again in that heat.