Wednesday, March 28, 2012

March 25th

We met Vince for brunch (it takes him forever to get out of bed in the morning), where we chatted about converting the YSR to 12v - basically I can't get my head around how it's supposed to ever work with 6v.  So, in the afternoon I tinkered with some stuff.  The engine seems to put out ~10v (AC) at tickover, so it would seem that I just need to replace the regulator, horn, bulbs, battery and flasher relay to get to 12v.  It's an interesting idea, so I'm going to start collecting parts and see what I can make happen :o)

Saturday, March 24, 2012

March 24th

I wasted the day doing stuff like cutting the grass (it's supposed to rain, and the gathering cloud would suggest that tomorrow's not going to be be dry enough to cut the grass) and vacuuming.  Yay me.

I did try and fix the centre button on my "work" mouse - it sometimes sticks.  I took a lot of fluff out, but I had to glue the case back together.  It might be time to find a new mouse.

March 21st

After work, Vic was at some artist's meeting thing, so I refitted the box for the fan switch (it had got caught up on one of the wires already in the hole, so wasn't lying straight), and painted some marks and suchlike on the wall.  Of course, now it's all refitted, it looks like I might need to put some spackle on the wall there, and repaint it again.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

March 20th

Tillamook woke me up early, wanting to go out, so I got up and hit Warcraft.  I finally finished enough Firelands quests to get the Flameward Hippogryph before starting work.

In the afternoon I went to the dentist, and had my teeth picked at with sharp pieces of metal.  No problems though, which is nice.

I rode the DRZ, and the new fairing vibrates a little a lower rpm in top gear - basically when the bike wants to be  in 4th, so it's not that big a deal.  It looks a little weird from the saddle - the mudguard is shorter and wider, and it looks higher up.  I'll get used to it, no problem :o)

March 19th

I had my eyes tested, and as Vic drove me there, they dilated my pupils.  I spent the afternoon looking like an Anime toon and hiding from the bright lights, but don't need new glasses this year.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

March 18th

We headed over to the California Auto Museum for a meeting of the Vans - there's an exhibition of VWs at the moment, and the air cooled mob had an informal show in the overflow car park.

 

We parked a bunch of vans together, then went for a wander around the air cooled show.  We left, leaving everybody else to go into the museum, and met Vince for lunch.

In the early evening (it doesn't start to get dark until 7ish, now the clocks have changed), we watched Dale and Tucker vs Evil, a silly and funny film.  It was quite enjoyable :o)

March 17th

It's been raining pretty much all week in Roseville, but despite the ground being waterlogged, I cut the grass - it needs it.

I've bought a Supermoto appearance kit for the DRZ on Fleabay, but it wasn't new (as sold) and is missing a couple of fittings.  I came to an arrangement with the seller, then went and found some fittings that'll do and mounted it.  It doesn't look half bad.

I think it'll probably make the bike a little more stable, as it's stiffer than the Acerbis supermoto mudguard that was on there before.  When if stops raining, I'll take it out and see :o)

March 16th

I got to drive home in the dark and the rain, crawling around accidents and rubberneckers.  Truly, I need armaments on the van.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

March 14th

After work, we went go-karting.  I managed to qualify for the final, but it was hard work - Neil crashed me out at one point (and even got black flagged, but pulled out of the sin bin before I was back around), and by the end of the 15 minute race I was having trouble holding the steering wheel tight enough to get around the corners.  So, I came in last :o)

March 12th

I was in San Francisco for work, and in the evening we went and learnt how badly I could make a margarita.

March 11th

I kind of kicked around the house, thinking I had loads of time, until I remembered that the clocks had gone forwards.  So, I spent a while updating all the clocks in the house.

Then I packed the van up and headed off to San Francisco for the Tech Summit with work.

I put the van in a parking lot near where I thought the hotel was, but it was actually about a mile and a half away, so I lugged all my luggage across town.  Oops.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

March 10th

I went and got, and fitted, a timer for the whole house fan.

In the evening, we went to the local BMX track to watch Bud race.  There were 24 races, with 2 heats and the final in each.  It took like an hour :o)

Friday, March 9, 2012

March 9th

Got the hole cut in the ceiling, and modified the vent to fit (it wasn't quite right, but it is now).  I must say, when it's charged, I'm quite impressed with the little saw.  I cleared up all the wreckage and plugged the fan in - no electrical fire.  I turned it on, and it's not as noisy as I thought it was going to be, so I don't think we'd use the slower speed.  Rather than get a High - Low - Off switch, I think I'll get a timer, so we can turn it on and walk away.

The bad news is that Tilly's frightened of the noise and the wind rushing past her.  She's not listening to me saying she's unlikely to get sucked into the vent.  Still, I'm sure she'll get used to it when we start using it more often :o)

Thursday, March 8, 2012

March 8th

I finally bit the bullet and started cutting holes in the ceiling in the hall.  I say "started" because the battery to my little reciprocating saw went dead part way through, which seemed like a good enough excuse to go and fly instead - it's the first good day this week.  So, I did 10 circuits, mainly because I couldn't be bothered to close the hangar doors - they're not as bad as they have been, but it's not like they flow nicely.

March 7th

We decided to do a late lunch with Vince, but Vic was going to be doing a critter class at the SPCA.  So, she said, we can take 2 cars.  Ah, I said, but while it's windy, it's not snowing, so he'll be on the bike.  So we got the bikes out, and when he arrived, we all rode to the restaurant.

I spoke to Russ, who's in hospital in Singapore with diverticulitis - Google it, or, on second thoughts, don't.  Anyways, he's feeling a lot better.

March 6th

Vic watched Footloose.  I was aware of it in the background as I played Warcraft :o)

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

March 5th

I've taken the week off to kill vacation time, so I needed to do something useful.  I got the grass cut, Tilly played ball with, then went up in the attic and finished the wiring for the whole house fan.  I've decided to just wire the On-Off switch up, as we can't find a High - Low - Off switch locally, and cut a hole in the wall with my little reciprocating saw.  The switch is all wired in now - I just need to have the courage to cut the big hole in the ceiling now.

March 4th

I spent the morning wasting time and playing Warcraft - for some reason I woke up thinking it was Monday, so the whole day is a bonus.

In the afternoon, we went to Scott and Becky's for Scott's birthday.  We hadn't really planned it, so we couldn't stay too long - animals needed feeding and so on.

March 3rd

It was a quiet day, so I just caught up on small things around the house and played Warcraft.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

March 2nd

After yesterday, I've managed to pull muscles in my back and arm, so we sat in the hot tub for a while in the evening.  We watched some TV, but as I got more tired, my arm started to play up again, so it was off to bed early again.

March 1st

I had a really bad night's sleep in the hotel - well, it was pretty much just hours of tossing and turning.  The guy in the room next to me seems to have the bubonic plague, and spent a lot of time coughing his guts up, and the guy in the room above me took a long shower at 1am.  Joy.  I wasn't in the best of shape for a day in the office, but the joy of Advil managed to get me through it.  On the way home, I got to watch a guy trying to push in line from the car pool lane as we joined the Bay Bridge getting a ticket from a motorcycle cop who happened to chance upon him.  I'm sure I wasn't the only one grinning as I drove past.  Other than that, it was a miserable drive home as the Advil wore off, and by the time I got home I looked like I had a combination of Parkinson's and Tourette's.  I took a bunch of drugs and went to bed.

Oh, new month, so here's the electrickery stats:
Electrickery billed
Electrickery generated