Category: around the house

Television in the Living Room

Published October 6, 2012

It’s been a bit over nine years since I fixed up the living room in my condo, and since then (and with Danielle now living here) the room’s needs have changed a bit. I’ve had a nice tube HDTV in the basement and it’s been well used for movie watching and playing games, but up until now there hasn’t been a TV in the living room. Danielle really has been wanting one there, but being oddly shaped I’ve been hesitant and somewhat resistant to trying. After last night’s fiddling with the HTPC and thinking a bunch about how much Danielle would probably use it, I decided to give it a serious look.

By pulling one of the love seats away from the wall and flipping it around I was able to create a nice space for a TV while still leaving the doorwall accessible. The recliner was moved to the basement, the coffee table moved into service as a TV stand, and the end tables kept doing their thing. This setup doesn’t clutter the room so walking through is still easy, and it doesn’t feel like one is sitting awkwardly in the middle of an open space.

This experimentation and talking it over with Danielle resulted in our purchase of a Sharp LC-52LE640 LED-lit flat panel LCD TV. Sears had them on sale for a quite reasonable price with a bonus $100 in-store gift card for a total of $953.99 after tax. This seems to be one of the nicer non-3D models available in this price range, and being in stock locally was a nice treat as it allows an easier return option if necessary.

Beyond the TV there was only a need to purchase one spool of speaker wire to get everything set up. Everything else came from either spares in the basement or things moved from the previous setup. I do need to pick up two replacement front channel speakers on eBay, but the model that I have is both good quality, relatively cheap, and fairly available so this likely won’t be a problem.

The end setup has the television with all devices connected to it via HDMI, except for the Wii which uses component + analog audio. The TV then re-ouputs the audio via TOSLINK to an AMB γ1 DAC that I built a few years ago which is the input for a NAD 705 stereo receiver that feeds a pair of Energy Take speakers and a Yamaha YST-SW160 subwoofer. I hooked the speakers up to the B channel of the amp, leaving the original Gekko GK-1824 flat speakers which I use for room-filling audio while working in the kitchen on the A channel. An original Airport Express also remains connected on one of the other inputs for times when I want to play synchronized audio throughout the house.

Here is a head-on view of the whole setup. I may do a better job of bundling the wires, perhaps replacing some of them with black versions, and I might stuff all of the visible bits inside of split tubing to make it nicer looking. It’s not bad as it is, though, especially for not having a large mass of wired network gear, power supplies, and all hookup cables bundled under the bottom of the table.

Thus far it seems to be working out well, and Danielle seems quite happy with it. I’m really glad.

1 Comment

Lost 3mm Ball End Hex Wrench

Published September 22, 2012

Today while in the parking lots of either River Bends or Stony Creek with my brother in law Josh I lost my 3mm ball end hex wrench. I was carrying it along with the 4mm and 5mm wrenches in case I needed to adjust the dropouts on my single speed (specifically, to tension the chain). But, it appears that when getting out one of the wrenches so I could press my fork’s dust wiper back into place I must have dropped this one, leaving it in a parking lot.

Hopefully I can get another one without buying a full set.

Leave a Comment

Hammer-based Water Bottle Repair

Published September 3, 2012

The water bottle seen above was given to me during a Fun Promotions race at Bloomer a couple years ago when I was on a team with Nick, Marty, and I believe Kristi. It’s a rather nice stainless steel bottle, and I’ve regularly used it since then, quite frequently while working on mountain bike trails. Finding itself stuffed in bags with tools and tossed on the ground in the woods it has become quite scratched.

When out at Addison Oaks a couple weeks ago doing some mapping of the new connector trail it slipped out of my bag a couple times, landing on corse gravel. Dents from this are visible, and they resulted in the bottom becoming so domed that the bottle was more like a Weeble.

With a couple of carefully placed blows from a dead blow hammer flattened it back out and now it’s as good as new. I’ve got half a mind to remove the remainder of the finish and have a brushed stainless steel bottle, but for now I think I like its distressed character. I also prefer this bottle over SIGG and other similar bottles, as the inside can be scoured, and the threads are very large and round. SIGG (et al)’s fine threads scrape my upper while drinking, and I don’t like having to worry about not scratching the liner.

Leave a Comment

Quick Sandal Fix

Published September 2, 2012

The toe of my most-frequently-worn sandals became detached a few weeks back, and had started peeling back and getting things stuck in it while walking. Instead of buying new sandals I decided to try patching them up with Shoe GOO. I was unable to get the sole to wholly sit in place so there’s a slight gap, but over the course of a few days I was able to fill this in and provide a decent cap. It’s not the best looking, but hopefully it’ll hold up. I should probably get some new (and more attractive) sandals as well.

Leave a Comment

The Circle of Life

Published August 16, 2012

This is the scene on the sidewalk near the front porch: a group of ants eating the remains of a squished cricket full of orange pulp-looking eggs. I wonder if this is the cricket that I’ve been hearing at night when falling asleep.

Nature takes care of its own.

Leave a Comment

A Place For Stinky Clothes

Published July 12, 2012

With a few minutes to spare at lunch today I tackled a problem that has been bothering Danielle (and me, to some degree) for a while: stinky bike clothes. After riding I’ll hang up my sweaty clothes in either the bathroom or basement so that they can dry. This keeps them from becoming too pungent, but even after drying they still have a lingering funk until they are washed.

Since the smell in the bathroom is a bit unpleasant and Danielle has been spending a fair bit of time in the basement on some weekdays (it’s darker and cooler down there), another place to hang the clothes was needed. The solution? Hang them up in the garage.

By purchasing $7 worth of shelving brackets from Home Depot and using some PVC pipe and fasteners that I had sitting around home I had everything needed. Now there is a 58″ long rack in the garage, right above where our bikes are kept, perfect for hanging up clothes. It’s also large enough that I’ll probably be able to use it for drying clothes and blankets after they are washed.

I think I may add a end cap on where the Headsweats cap is hanging and add a pair of hooks for the cap and my hydration pack. This’ll keep these out of the way and give them a place to hang and dry as well.

1 Comment

Improvised Lock Picking Tools

Published June 27, 2012

Walking out of the house to the Wednesday Night Stony Creek Ride I realized that I didn’t have my keys seconds after pulling the locked door shut behind me. After running through a number of ideas (most of which involved calling for help and missing the group ride) I ended up fashioning a half-diamond pick from a cable tie, then using it along with and using a plastic sword toothpick (as a tension wrench) to pick one of the house locks and get back inside.

I have a set of lock picks and while they were (unfortunately) locked in the house with the keys, experience playing with them in the past let these tools be used successfully. The white nylon pick was quite flexible and too thick to easily use, but I was still able to use it to rake the pins and open the lock in a couple of minutes. I then made it to the group ride on time.

This shows just how easy it is to pick the cheap house locks from Schlage, Kwikset, and the like.

1 Comment

Almost-Lost Phone

Published June 24, 2012

Today I almost lost another phone. While heading out to Addison Oaks I set my phone on the top of the car, put something in the trunk, then apparently forgot the phone on the car before leaving. By the time I reached 23 Mile and Schoenherr I wasn’t sure where my phone was, and thinking I’d left it behind I turned back and looked around the house for it. Being unable to find it I called it, only to hear a ringing outside where my car was.

So, where was it? Just as seen above, sitting on the windshield of my car, down against the wiper, positioned just where I couldn’t see it. (Yes, I had a second camera handy, which is a good thing because I didn’t want to move my phone before I took a picture of it.) Apparently it slid down from the roof at some point, then stayed where it landed even in 50-55 MPH winds and through a couple of stop lights.

I’ve been feeling a bit out of it today and this seemed to be right in line with that. Even riding today just didn’t feel right…

Leave a Comment

Coat Hanger Muffler Hanger

Published June 3, 2012

After work on Friday I noticed that Danielle’s muffler was hanging off her car a bit more than normal and that the support strap had broken. I finally had a chance to take a look at it this evening, and I ended up hanging it back up using two extra thick coat hanger segments (from hangers for a comforter) to hold it up. I hope (and suspect) that this’ll hold until she gets a new car.

1 Comment

Don’t Let Your Silverware Nestle

Published May 31, 2012

If you’ve ever pulled out a spoon out of the dishwasher that just didn’t seem like it got as clean as everything else there’s a good chance it had nested with an adjacent spoon, blocking the dirty part from being directly sprayed with water / cleaning solution.

When placing silverware in the basket in a dish washer, set pieces so they alternate back and forth in the tray and they will be highly resistant to nestling together when jostled around by water. The result? Cleaner silverware!

Leave a Comment