I cut the grass, and pretty much killed time until the MotoGP race from Laguna Seca. The race wasn't bad, but could have done with being a bit closer.
After the race, I went out into the garden to look at cutting back a shrubby thing that we want to replace, and ended up managing to take the whole thing out. It's on top of a pile of rocks, with roots feeding through them, which makes me think that it was never really supposed to be there. Well, too bad, it's not there any longer.
We were pottering around organising stuff when Larry called to see if we were going to the airfield - we were, and we pulled up not long after he did - he'd got the hangar open, bless him. He was there with his son Trevor and his son's new girlfriend, so Larry took her up, and I took Trevor, and we went and flew over the lake.
After getting home, Dave and I hit Ahn'Quiraj in Warcraft, and managed to kill the old god at the end of the raid, so it's done and done. Finally.
Monday, July 30, 2012
July 28th
Vic got up early and went to buy some canvasses for the art stuff. There's been a sale on, where you buy one canvas and get another for 1c, but they were selling off some that they didn't want at 80% off. She managed to then get a second one of those at 1c too, so she got ~$2000 in canvas for ~$200. Sadly the rear hatch release on the van didn't work, but when I looked at it, it was because the wires for the relay in the hatch had been pulled out. Probably during the AC work. Doy - I then got to spend a couple of hours pulling bodywork so I could get to the inside of the van and redo that connection, and tada, it works again.
In the evening, we went ton the airfield and did an hour of pottering around, then of circuits.
In the evening, we went ton the airfield and did an hour of pottering around, then of circuits.
July 27th
We went and picked the Van up from Stephan's - there had been a few challenges in replacing the evaporator core, and then the expansion valve, but it's all charged up and ready to go now. The traffic was absolutely terrible on the way there, so we went to a little Mexican place that Stephan had recommended for dinner, and to kill time on the way home. I even had cold air on the way home, but it was only 90F out there.
Monday, July 23, 2012
July 22nd
I got the grass cut for the first time in 2 weeks - it needed it.
We took the bikes out for a run - I rode the YSR, with a couple of the cameras on it. The rear doesn't seem particularly interesting, and the front's battery went dead pretty soon. Doh. Still, the ride was fun, and we'll just have to do it again some time. Hopefully leaving earlier, as it was bloody hot.
In the evening Dave and I hit Ahn'Qiraj in Warcraft, and killed the twins. Sadly we then wiped on the final boss, so we need to get our heads around how to kill that. Before my subscription runs out at the end of the month :o)
We took the bikes out for a run - I rode the YSR, with a couple of the cameras on it. The rear doesn't seem particularly interesting, and the front's battery went dead pretty soon. Doh. Still, the ride was fun, and we'll just have to do it again some time. Hopefully leaving earlier, as it was bloody hot.
In the evening Dave and I hit Ahn'Qiraj in Warcraft, and killed the twins. Sadly we then wiped on the final boss, so we need to get our heads around how to kill that. Before my subscription runs out at the end of the month :o)
July 21st
I started the day washing to solar panels for the first time in ages.
I sat and fiddled withe the YSR, and got the fairing to fit - I still think the top is a little too high, but that involves more bending of things to fix. I washed it, and when that didn't clean it very well, used some paint thinner to strip off the worst of the accumulated crap.
In the evening we went to the airfield and went flying - it was a gorgeous evening to fly. We had been planning to fly a friend of Vic's, but his mother's sick. Due to Shaun using 33, we took off to the North, so we went and flew over the lake for a while. On coming back, there was some guy on a long, long final to 33 while I was downwind for 15, which upsets me as I never know exactly what's happening.
I sat and fiddled withe the YSR, and got the fairing to fit - I still think the top is a little too high, but that involves more bending of things to fix. I washed it, and when that didn't clean it very well, used some paint thinner to strip off the worst of the accumulated crap.
In the evening we went to the airfield and went flying - it was a gorgeous evening to fly. We had been planning to fly a friend of Vic's, but his mother's sick. Due to Shaun using 33, we took off to the North, so we went and flew over the lake for a while. On coming back, there was some guy on a long, long final to 33 while I was downwind for 15, which upsets me as I never know exactly what's happening.
July 20th
We watched Lockout, which is Escape from New York on a space station. Oh, right, spoilers.
Friday, July 20, 2012
July 15th
I spent the morning finishing editing the go kart race videos from the TS summit.
Vic and I bent back the fairing mount on the YSR by using a big screwdriver and levering (carefully) against the engine. Looks like it'll work when I run out of things to do and get back to fitting the fairing.
In the evening, we went to the airfield and played with the fuel level sensor again (it was reading high, which is a pain - now, if anything, it reads low) then took the plane out for a while. We've been playing with a few cameras mounted to it, as I'm supposed to be taking a friend of Vic's up for a flight next weekend.
Vic and I bent back the fairing mount on the YSR by using a big screwdriver and levering (carefully) against the engine. Looks like it'll work when I run out of things to do and get back to fitting the fairing.
In the evening, we went to the airfield and played with the fuel level sensor again (it was reading high, which is a pain - now, if anything, it reads low) then took the plane out for a while. We've been playing with a few cameras mounted to it, as I'm supposed to be taking a friend of Vic's up for a flight next weekend.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
July 14th
While poking around online looking for people who've fixed problems with their Microsoft Arc Mouse, I found that there was a known problem. I posted the mouse back to Microsoft - hopefully it won't be too long, as it's a pain moving my remaining mouse from system to system :o)
I spent a while on the computer, getting Star Wars: Revisited all sorted out and burnt to DVD, and working on videos of the go-kart practice from way back at the TS summit.
I tried to fit the fairing lower back on the YSR, but there's no way it'll fit. I poked around and looked at stuff, and one of the fairing mounts is bent. Bummer. I'm hoping I won't have to drop the engine to get to it and straighten it up.
In the evening, we went to the airfield and took the plane out for 30 minutes. The sky's full of smoke from the fire up at Forest Hill, but it was a nice evening to fly, even with the 6mph crosswind. We did a few orbits on the dead side to let the skydivers get down, but other than that the airfield was pretty much all ours.
I spent a while on the computer, getting Star Wars: Revisited all sorted out and burnt to DVD, and working on videos of the go-kart practice from way back at the TS summit.
I tried to fit the fairing lower back on the YSR, but there's no way it'll fit. I poked around and looked at stuff, and one of the fairing mounts is bent. Bummer. I'm hoping I won't have to drop the engine to get to it and straighten it up.
In the evening, we went to the airfield and took the plane out for 30 minutes. The sky's full of smoke from the fire up at Forest Hill, but it was a nice evening to fly, even with the 6mph crosswind. We did a few orbits on the dead side to let the skydivers get down, but other than that the airfield was pretty much all ours.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
July 13th
We went to dinner at the Chinese buffet place with Vince, and to tempt fate, we took the bikes. Nothing untoward, other than catching pretty much every traffic light, both ways. Doy.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
July 8th
Dave and I wiped at Ahn'Qiraj, but we were _so_ close. Oh well.
We met Vince for lunch - he's still talking about getting an R1150GSA, so I've make encouraging noises. He's fixed so much on his old R1100GS that a complete systems failure can't be that far away :o)
We watched the excellent MotoGP race from Germany.
I've wired the rev counter in to the YSR's loom - I found that there's actually a lighting circuit that had been cut back. I've wired that in too. I still need to get the bodywork to fit back on again. Then patch it all up and look at maybe painting it :o)
We met Vince for lunch - he's still talking about getting an R1150GSA, so I've make encouraging noises. He's fixed so much on his old R1100GS that a complete systems failure can't be that far away :o)
We watched the excellent MotoGP race from Germany.
I've wired the rev counter in to the YSR's loom - I found that there's actually a lighting circuit that had been cut back. I've wired that in too. I still need to get the bodywork to fit back on again. Then patch it all up and look at maybe painting it :o)
July 7th
Dave and I wiped in Ahn'Qiraj a couple of times, so we stepped down to the 10 man raid and killed every living thing in there.
The van's going in for the air conditioning evaporator to be changed, so I tried to get the old one out. Nope, not happening. Oh well, I guess I get to pay for that to be done.
I did a little tinkering with the YSR - I was sure that the rev counter would work on 12v, rather than constantly draining 9v batteries. It did, so I've started wiring it into the loom.
In the evening, we watched "Wrath of the Titans", which Vic enjoyed, but I thought was a mash up of a lot of little bits of story - it didn't seem to flow very well to me.
The van's going in for the air conditioning evaporator to be changed, so I tried to get the old one out. Nope, not happening. Oh well, I guess I get to pay for that to be done.
I did a little tinkering with the YSR - I was sure that the rev counter would work on 12v, rather than constantly draining 9v batteries. It did, so I've started wiring it into the loom.
In the evening, we watched "Wrath of the Titans", which Vic enjoyed, but I thought was a mash up of a lot of little bits of story - it didn't seem to flow very well to me.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
July 6th
I got up at around 5am, got sorted and headed to San Francisco for work. It was a long day, but the trip wasn't too bad, other than me carrying 2 laptops (I was taking the old one back) and a docking station in my backpack. Dan's taking ~2 months off, so we took him to lunch and wished him luck.
Seeing as I left on time, and didn't hit too much traffic, we watched "World's Greatest Dad", one of Vince's films. It's really good.
Seeing as I left on time, and didn't hit too much traffic, we watched "World's Greatest Dad", one of Vince's films. It's really good.
July 5th
After work I checked the oil level in the DRZ - it's a dry sump, so a complicated process - you basically run the bike for 3 minutes, then turn it off for 3 minutes and then check the level. It's at the top mark, so I'll call that good.
We watched "Safe House", then I packed up all my junk to go to work tomorrow.
We watched "Safe House", then I packed up all my junk to go to work tomorrow.
July 4th
Today's a holiday in the US, where they celebrate the end of civilisation by going shopping.
Dave and I wiped out on the 40 man Ahn'Qiraj raid again, several times, and eventually went and killed every living thing in the 10 man raid just to achieve something.
In the evening we watched "Big Miracle", which is based on a real story that Vic vaguely remembers.
When it got dark and Tilly was already hiding under the bed from the kids sparklers, we went up on the roof to try and take pictures of the fireworks at the fairgrounds. Sadly there's a tree in the way, so we gave up after watching several explosions filtered by the leaves.
Dave and I wiped out on the 40 man Ahn'Qiraj raid again, several times, and eventually went and killed every living thing in the 10 man raid just to achieve something.
In the evening we watched "Big Miracle", which is based on a real story that Vic vaguely remembers.
When it got dark and Tilly was already hiding under the bed from the kids sparklers, we went up on the roof to try and take pictures of the fireworks at the fairgrounds. Sadly there's a tree in the way, so we gave up after watching several explosions filtered by the leaves.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
July 2nd
We started the day with the excitement of me seeing a yellow lab running around the road in front of the house. I was working, so Vic went and grabbed him (he was very happy to see her), setting Tilly off into frantic yowling as she could see all this unfolding through the front window. As he had no collar, she called animal control as they carry microchip scanners. She was waiting for John to show up when the Comcast guy arrived to hook us up to their internet service, which is cheaper and faster than Surewest. Vic called to check on John, and he was going to be a while as they were having a lot of calls. She loaded the dog into the van (he was quite scared of this) and took him to the SPCA to use their microchip scanner. He has a microchip, his name is Boomer and he lives in the close over the road from us - she took him over there, and it appears he's being house sat by people who were unaware that he was even missing. We got the Comcast stuff all finished up, and everything converted over to it.
I've been getting annoyed with my little weather station PC, as it hangs up from time to time. I've had it restarting every day, but occasionally the restart fails to reconnect to everything, so it stops sending data until either I realise it's not working, or until it restarts. I think a lot of that is that the software isn't really designed to work over the USB-serial connection, which is a bit of a hack.
Aaaanyway, I decided to try running a Linux release on there, as that natively supports the USB-serial connection. I started out with Ubuntu 12.04, the latest release. I got that installed, along with Wview, and it all works. Sort of. You have to install Apache and PHP to administer the thing, and by the time everything was said and done, I had basically no disc space left - the EEE 701 only has a 4Gb SSD. "Aha", I thought, "I'll just throw an SD card in there, and move /var and suchlike to it". "No you won't" said life, as the EEE doesn't support SDHC, and I can't find an SD card > 64Mb. Doy. So, I installed Xubuntu, which is a lot smaller (and seems to have installed a bunch of crap that I didn't ask for, so I might be able to get even more space back). It's all set up and working now, and I can ssh to it, rather than trying to use the 7" screen, and connect to it over the network to see what it's reading. Yay.
In the evening we watched "Ray", which Vince has lent us - it's a very good film, and doesn't seem to hide his dark side.
I've been getting annoyed with my little weather station PC, as it hangs up from time to time. I've had it restarting every day, but occasionally the restart fails to reconnect to everything, so it stops sending data until either I realise it's not working, or until it restarts. I think a lot of that is that the software isn't really designed to work over the USB-serial connection, which is a bit of a hack.
Aaaanyway, I decided to try running a Linux release on there, as that natively supports the USB-serial connection. I started out with Ubuntu 12.04, the latest release. I got that installed, along with Wview, and it all works. Sort of. You have to install Apache and PHP to administer the thing, and by the time everything was said and done, I had basically no disc space left - the EEE 701 only has a 4Gb SSD. "Aha", I thought, "I'll just throw an SD card in there, and move /var and suchlike to it". "No you won't" said life, as the EEE doesn't support SDHC, and I can't find an SD card > 64Mb. Doy. So, I installed Xubuntu, which is a lot smaller (and seems to have installed a bunch of crap that I didn't ask for, so I might be able to get even more space back). It's all set up and working now, and I can ssh to it, rather than trying to use the 7" screen, and connect to it over the network to see what it's reading. Yay.
In the evening we watched "Ray", which Vince has lent us - it's a very good film, and doesn't seem to hide his dark side.
Monday, July 2, 2012
July 1st
Wow, half the year's gone already.
Being the first, here's the solar / electricity graphs:
I plonked around the house, changing the oil on the DRZ (although I think I might have put too much in) and cutting the grass, then we went to the airfield and took the Flightstar out for an hour. Mark was there, and is moving to Oregon. We swapped a TinyTach for an easel for Vic :o)
Being the first, here's the solar / electricity graphs:
 |
| Electricity billed |
 |
| Electricity generated |
I plonked around the house, changing the oil on the DRZ (although I think I might have put too much in) and cutting the grass, then we went to the airfield and took the Flightstar out for an hour. Mark was there, and is moving to Oregon. We swapped a TinyTach for an easel for Vic :o)
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