If there is anyone who reads this who knows anything about writing widgets for OS X’s Dashboard, could you take a look at this widget and let me know why it’s not working?
I really, really just don’t know why.
Or, I guess if you just want to try it and see what happens, that wouldn’t be a bad idea either… For me it just.doesn’t.work.
Thanks!
http://www.nuxx.net/files/Liz%20and%20Steve.wdgt.zip
…so while talking to
Well, for some reason I decided to make another, and proper, CAT5-based flogger. So, thanks to some boredom and a random burst of creativity, an hour and twenty minutes later I had it done.
Thirteen tails, each twenty inches long, comprised of six grey pieces of CAT5e, and seven of blue CAT5. In order to make them softer, more flexible, and lighter they have had the conductors removed. They are bundled together inside the handle with three large cable ties and friction-fitted into a six-inch metal (aluminum, I believe) handle. A blue / blue & white conductor pair from inside the cables is wrapped on the ends of the handle for finishing. The strands were straightened to eliminate the curling typically found in network cable.
In the end it turns out to be rather solid, with the strands having a texture like that of tanned leather. The strands are very solidly seated into the handle and will withstand a decent tug. It can also be swung with all the force I can exert and nothing budges.
In order to see the other pictures of the completed assembly, either click the photo above or take these links:
· Flogger with measuring tape showing it’s length.
· Detail of the handle and wire wrapping.
· Detail of the strands of cable.
Hmm, so it looks like I’m going to need to take my car in for the weird clicking / squeaking suspension issue. It appears that I’ve got a problem with the driver’s side strut, as if I open the hood and bounce that corner of the car by pressing down on the portion of the car where the upper strut mount attaches, a clicking sound can be heard from the center shaft of the strut.
So, I’m thinking that it’s a strut issue… At least I know it’s safe enough to drive to Cedar Point and for the next little while. I wouldn’t mind doing the work myself, but because of the need to compress the springs and ensure that things are torqued to spec, I’m not going to do it.
Now to find a place that can be trusted who can get the car done in a reasonable amount of time…
For now I think I’ll just get an oil change and tire rotation, and maybe tomorrow I’ll do the rear brakes. Those have never been done, and I imagine they are getting close.
Thanks to
Now I’m going to go have a quick test drive, coupled with returning an unneeded part (cupped drill-mount wire brush which I thought I’d need to remove rust) and cash in my pocket change at Farmer Jack.
Yay!
Gee, it appears that the bolts holding the non-moving part of the caliper is not removable. It should be, but I was unable to move the bolts AT ALL. I gave up after tapping the wrench (socket and box) with a 3lb sledge, but both wrenches kept caming off.
Uhm…. Yeah. I guess I’m keeping the same rotors.
Well, it seems that I can get all the stuff I need to do my brakes for about $115. That’s a floor jack, pair of jack stands, new OE-spec pads, and new rotors. I was thinking of taking the rotors to get turned, but buying new ones are $18/each, and I don’t think the hassle of taking them to be turned is worth it. I’ll probably get a new pair, then get the old ones turned before doing my brakes the next time, then pull the same swap in reverse.
Two things…
One, new icon.
Two, I need to do the brakes (well, front brakes) on my car. I think that since I don’t really have a way to get to the shop, I’m going to skip having my rotors turned. They don’t appear too grooved, and they were replaced the last time my brakes were done. The problem I’m having is figuring out what pads to get. I guess the OEM pads were ceramic, and OEM will cost $80.06. At AutoZone I can get a set of Morse-brand ceramic pads for $42.99, although I can’t find much info on the brand.
Can anyone recommend a moderately priced decent pads and some place to get them? I think that tonight after work I’m going to go pick up my dad’s floor jack and stands, and wash the dust (best I can) off the wheels. Tomorrow I’ll swap the pads… If I remember right, it’s only a couple hour job.
I think I also might have a suspension issue with the driver’s front wheel, but I want to at least get the more immediate need of an oil change and tire rotation (I’ll pay someone for this) and brakes (I’ll do this myself) before I go looking at the suspension issue.
UPDATE: Per the recommendation of a friend who’s brother is a mechanic, I think I’m going to go with some Wagner ThermoQuiet pads which are OE formula partial-ceramic, at $41.31 a set from a local non-chain auto parts shop. Now I just need to get the floor jack.
Oh, yeah. Check out the car that was in
[Cross posted to
In case anyone is interested, I’ve finally added some beers to the recipe section of my website. While I’ve now brewed five beers, there are only two recipes. This is because I only plan on posting recipes for beers that I (and others) really liked. The crappy / experimental / currently unfinished ones will not be posted. As I acquire or come up with other good recipes, they will be posted.
These have also been changed a bit from my personal notes into more logical steps. The wording isn’t the greatest, but hopefully they are good enough to follow.
Here’s the current recipes:
So for the last while, I’ve been wanting to make the Baked Macaroni and Cheese recipe from the Good Eats episode For Whom the Cheese Melts 2. Well, today I went and picked up the ingredients, and
I took the recipe, substitued Clancy’s Fancy Hot Sauce for the paprika, and made it. I really do think it came out good, even if I didn’t brown the bread crumbs enough. In addition, the aforementioned recipe seemed to vary slightly from my memories of that particular episode of the TV show, so I ended up reading a transcript of it to fill in the details.
I’ve also got two other pictures of it, one of the whole dish and another looking down into the dish after a scoop had been taken out.
Beyond the macaroni and cheese, it seems that the krausen has mostly fallen away, so tonight was also supposed to be the time for racking the Rochefort 10-ish Clone that I’ve been brewing. After moving the carboy to the counter and propping it to facility racking, it seemed to be releasing a bit of CO2. One can even see the trails of bubbles in the full res shot of the carboy from behind. To be certain it’s not from yeast, I’m going to let it sit until tomorrow and rack then. After that point, the secondary fermenter will be relegated to the basement for at least a month and a half of aging and clarifying before being bottled and allowed to age for a further ten weeks.
Hopefully it’ll be good… I’ll also check the density tomorrow so I can see how far along the fermentation has gotten, how alcoholic it is, etc. That will also require me to take a taste. < crosses fingers >