I Hate Hiccups

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The other day my wife wrote an article about wanting to lose weight. A couple of days ago we talked about my weight problem, which is the opposite – after a few weeks of not eating properly I’m going from being at the bottom of my healthy weight range to being unhealthily underweight. We considered an interesting challenge for each other – could she lose 15lb’s in a healthy manner, before I can gain 15lb’s in a healthy manner?

I know she wants to lose more than that, but I’d be happy to top out at about 200lb (I’m arount 180 atm). She also mentioned weighing herself regularly, and I probably should too. It’d be cool if we could both document our weight changes in photo/video/other forms.

Funnily enough I had a fruit salad for dinner on Sunday night, and on Monday I finished it for lunch. Also picked up some bananas and kiwifruit (from California – no NZ ones at food lion when we went) to snack on. Do not worry my friends, all hope is not lost – we got a 12 pack of coke too.

NZ Roads are Better than VA’s

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New Zealand roads. They’re often considered not great by New Zealands inhabitants. The tar and gravelled roads are poor on tires, the purely tar-sealed roads are slippery in wet. Most peple can think of something bad to say about them until they drive overseas.

Having lived in New Zealand since birth, and driving regularly since I was 19 or 20, including two trips from Wellington to Hamilton and back, I consider myself fairly experienced. I’ve lived in Virginia in the USA since April, and if there is one thing that scares me more than anything, it is driving at night in the rain.

catseyesSee, in New Zealand we have cheap little things all over the place called reflectors. Red ones either side, and white or yellow ones in the middle (signifying whether you can or can’t pass, respectively). Here? There are just lines painted on the road. That is perfect on fine days. It’s even pretty good at night. Sometimes during the day when it’s raining. Couple together darkness and road surfaces, and the paint is almost invisible. There are NO reflective markings whatsoever, unless you happen to be driving on a major road like the interstate. We regularly drive on a Virginia highway (VA-42) but there are no reflective markings on this road. I’m also not aware of any reflective markers in Harrisonburg, either on US-33 or US-11. I really don’t know how people here manage to not have serious accidents more often.

The other reason I say NZ’s roads are better, and this one may not be so fair as the reflective markers, but the Interstate roads in parts of Richmond, and in parts of Washington DC the road surface changes from tar-seal to concrete. I understand concrete may be cheaper and quicker to set on such busy roads etc, but is it REALLY that hard to CLOSE A LANE to reseal it properly? I would hazard a guess that they don’t need to be resealed any more than once a year, I’d suggest they take a summer night to reseal a lane at a time in 100 yard stretches. Close a SINGLE LANE between say, MIDNIGHT and 6AM. You could probably even have it closed another hour or two if it was facing away from rush hour.

So, New Zealanders, be very happy with your roading system, and be patient when Tranzit or the local council decides to close a lane of road during the off-peak so that you can have a more pleasant driving experience. Cliche as it is, there are people in other countries who have it worse off than you, and I don’t mean in the 3rd world.

I Have Come to the Realization..

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USCIS CSR’s are deaf.

Kelly, my wife, spent about half an hour on the phone with an idiot at USCIS the other day to firstly enquire about my status, and secondly to change the address associated with our cases. This was done for 1 reason – she has an accent. Last time I called I spoke with a woman with a Southern Accent and at times it was difficult to understand her, and I feel like a ditz asking people to repeat things 7 times. Kelly doesn’t have the same problem, because she understands the accent more readily than I.

Anyway, we received a piece of mail today, addressed to me (with a minor name mispelling). It announced that on the correct date, “Holly” had called and done all the stuff.

It also has my A number listed incorrectly (one digit off), fortunately the case number was correct.

I am beginning to seriously wonder whether we can trust anything that USCIS tells us at all.

Following on..

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Following on from yesterdays modelling talk, last night I opened up the Bachmann Spectrum loco I have again. I’d opened it shortly after receiving it when I bought it to see how it looked inside and the prospects of putting a DCC chip in it. I was slightly dismayed to learn it had a solid split chassis, and little space to put a chip, not forgoing the solid metal chassis being almost impossible to isolate the wiring.

I opened it again today to have another look, and having taken it even more apart I learned two things. Firstly, it’s not as bad as it looked. there may be space to place a chip if I try hard enough. Secondly, I can isolate the motor in one of two ways – either by isolating the pickups on the wheels from the chassis, or by isolating the motor from the chassis. Both are fairly easy (could probably be done with just electrical tape), although after looking at the condition of the pickups, they may be the better option. I could also isolate both and leave the chassis neutral. The problem then is placement of the chip itself, as there isn’t a lot of space (at all) to work with. Possibly taped to the chassis directly above the motor. There is also a small space at the back that it might fit into.

When I actually put a DCC decoder in, I’ll write a more comprehensive guide as to what I’ve done.

I still need to figure out how to open the Walthers loco, and then I can work on how to put a chip in that too. It’s a 4 axle, so I’m not so worried about that one (I like 6-axle locos ;-))

I also fixed my father-in-law’s reading glasses last night. This resulted in a small burn on my thumb from touching too-hot solder… my mistake..

Mail yesterday involved a capo for my guitars, and a desoldering tool. Now I can begin working on the laptop again.. Will update later!

Modelling

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I currently have 3 active model railroad projects going that are all at 3 different stages.

Firstly, my coffee-table N-scale has all the track required, but nothing to put on it, nor anything to put it on. I know I need a baseboard of approximately 24″x40″, but this has not been purchased, nor has any other framing or electrical equipment.

I have two HO scale layouts still in planning, despite having a large amount (I cataloged it today, more later) of HO scale rolling stock.

I have basic track plans for both of these, the first is based on an Atlas track plan that my Dad and I started work on several years ago and never really got far with. I’m going to modify it a little to allow some mainlines on the front (that can connect with something else when I get that far), and connections from said mainlines to the yard area. I still need to work on how that part is going to work – I’m thinking block-sectioned DCC to allow signaling and automated running.

The second layout is based on an old standard, the Timesaver. This will likely be modified in the same way as the yard above, to allow mainlines with connections. The timesaver would still be able to run either independently or as part of the wider layout (again, when I get that far).

Both of the above would be built on a pair of modules each, and I’ll look at building framing for them both to allow for safe traveling.

What are the next steps? The N scale needs a base-board and rolling stock. I also need some wiring and other wood to build a real table for it to sit in the bottom of. A friend of the family has some cherry wood for free, I need to see what I can do with it.

The Yard layout, I’m awaiting the plans to be sent to me, so I can plan the appropriate modifications, and I can start buying the set-track to complete it, and appropriate sized lumber.

The Timesaver I need to finish the track diagram and purchase the appropriate track and timber. I’ll also probably do this layout with flex track.

Oh yeah, the catalog. On Google docs I made a catalog of all my HO scale rail-bound vehicles (IE, not the containers). I have 14 locos – 12 Norfolk Southern, 1 Union Pacific (Desert Victory!), and 1 Tranz Rail (Bumble Bee DC). I have 9 Passenger cars – 7 B&O, a Union Pacific and a Renfe (Spanish). I also have 19 freight cars, counting the 2 5-unit articulated well sets as 1 each. I’m trying to get a hold of some flat cars (mostly for the time-saver) and a lot more Norfolk Southern/Norfolk Western/Southern branded hoppers (covered and not). I also need a bogie-side for my GP38-2, and a bunch of Digitrax chips. About 7 British Rail Mark 2 cars wouldn’t go amiss either, so I can paint them in the Capital Connection colours.

New Years Day

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I could give a boring diatribe about my goals, my resolutions, all the things I plan to accomplish this year. I don’t have any.

Instead I’m going to update a few things.

Firstly, I’ve run into problems with the VPS already – a 256MB RAM limit with no VPS-side swap. I’ve sent a message to their support, but I don’t know if it will get me anywhere. That leaves me changing the direction and purpose of that server, and I may resolve to selling cheap eggdrop shells. TBA..

I’m still feeling a little under-the-weather. Since Christmas Eve I’ve had congestion and a headache (that comes and goes as it feels). It seems it peaked on the 27th/28th, but is still making its slow spiral away from me. I think Kel will be glad when it is gone too, as I am apparently snoring rather loudly and keeping her awake at night.

That too is ironic in and of itself, since I’m hardly sleeping at night. Not being sleepy until 4am has a lot to do with that, so when I do sleep (at 4am) I get my 8 hours sleep and rise at around 12 or 1pm. Maybe tonight I’ll just stay awake and go to bed at 9 or 10 tomorrow.. Will check plans for tomorrow first.

My immigration status still hangs in the balance. Need to chase up who is doing or waiting for what, and if anything can be done about it. I know we’re waiting for a birth certificate for Kelly’s mom, but I’m not sure where that is at. We also need to chase up the lawyer that Kelly heard about that does free consultations. We can also pray that we can find a lawyer prepared to take our case pro bono.

UCCN seems to be growing, albeit slowly. There is another channel joined late in 2008 with a few users who mostly keep to themselves.

DailySerene recently moved from Ed’s old server to his new server, and seems to be going well. Still looking for photographers who would like some free exposure (ha) of their work, whether it be amateur, professional or some mix in between.

I-aL is still taking vague shape, now more in the form of “Infinitech” – this will likely be the name undertaken if I ever start hosting anything beyond my own sites.

My Ticket Management System came back onto the planning board, and I wanted to kick myself when I realised I didn’t need to code part of the interface as it’s already part of PHP.

I don’t have any goals for the year, however I do have some for the short term future:

  1. Get my sleeping track back on schedule. Down by 12:30am at the latest, up by 9.
  2. Start ‘Working’ during the day. Whether it be working on a PHP project, administrating a server, writing a song or weeding the garden, I want to be working for myself from at least 10 till 3 or 4. I will take a break at around 12 or 1 to talk to mum when she gets up, and for lunch, but beyond this it will be work.
  3. Finish setting up Rizzo in addition to formulating a website and real plan regarding its usage and purpose.
  4. Scratch that plan. Formulate a plan regarding the usage and purpose of all my systems and servers, and arrange the processes on each accordingly.
  5. Eat and drink better. I haven’t been eating lunch most days, and I’m also not drinking nearly enough water. Perhaps this will go in hand with my working during the day.

Those are all things I want to accomplish by the end of JANUARY.

I have very few projects lined up for the rest of the year as yet. The only one that comes to mind is my model railroad, the first project being to buy some timber/lumber and build the coffee table. Considering using purely hand-tools for this, and still mulling the table design over in my mind.

I’m still available for computer repairs, which reminds me. I started work on fixing Kelly’s mom’s old laptop, and found I needed an extra tool. So I bought a new desoldering tool on eBay for under $10. Will let you all know how it works out (as if you really care :-P)

In Keeping With Regularity

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This is another boring post. Just for your warning.

Today my 3com cards arrived. These are two identical network cards (linux compatible) that I will be putting in my new Compaq that should arrive Friday.

“Ah, my birthday. Normally I’d put on a festive hat and celebrate the fact that the Earth has circled the Sun one more time; I really didn’t think it was going to make it this year, but darn it if it wasn’t the little planet that could all over again.” — Gregory House M.D.

No, it’s not my birthday, just working on the first two seasons of House, currently on season 1, episode 7. Last episode was House’s birthday, and had several amusing quotes – only that one related to his birthday.

“Turns out your best judgement isn’t good enough. Next time, use mine.”

“He’s really talking to a patient?” “I don’t know who I am anymore..”

“Clearly you’re not interested!” “Oh, I’m interested, I’m interested in how voices in the head are affected by mal-position of the uterus.”

Rizzo

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Tonight I started the process of renting a VPS (Virtual Private Server – in short it’s a server on the internet). To be named Rizzo, it will fit in with my muppet-names nicely.

Plans? Nothing specific. Mostly vague surrounding eggdrop shells, and web/mail hosting. Will also be hosting two IRCd’s, one on each of the networks I help admin. I’ll also shut down the IRCd on Telly.

The VPS will be running Debian, and I’m looking at writing a control panel for webhosting at least.

In other news, I started working on my ticket system for fault management etc again, this evening was mostly consumed in that area with drawing diagrams on paper and playing with the XML-RPC functions in PHP. Still trying to decide how to do user authentication and security options and such, but that all runs through a security function (which returns ‘yes’ or ‘no’, depending on whether the user has access or doesn’t, respectively) so would be trivial to change to LDAP or a proprietery authentication system. If I write a control panel, it’ll likely use the same database, and I’d try to tie in with FTP and such for user-accounts on the VPS too.

So, if you’re interested in webhosting (with or without domain) or an eggdrop/BNC (no interesting vhosts, sorry) account, let me know. They won’t be free, sorry.

I Love eBay. Perhaps a Little Too Much…

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Today I have a headache. It has been growing since Christmas day, but a sore throat emerged yesterday and I’ve spent most of today in bed pretending I didn’t exist. It didn’t make it go away 🙁

I’m growing to like eBay a lot. Having started in New Zealand with Trademe, eBay had a lot to live up to. Especially having used it once or twice from outside the US and not being able to buy anything useful – be it due to shipping costs, or sellers not willing to ship overseas.

That being said, I’ve bought 10 items in the last 6 months. The first was a power inverter, to take 110V current that is standard here, and convert it to 240V for my imported DVD player from New Zealand (I brought it with me). Surprisingly cheap, works really well. Now I just need to find a cheap PAL to NTSC converter so I can utilise it.

In the last week, however:

  • A Pentium 3 933MHz, due to arrive Tuesday. This will comprise a new firewall/router for this house, and will leave with me and Kelly when we move out. It also is physically identical to my P3/866MHz server, so they should look nice stacked together.
  • Two additional identical network cards to allow the router to route.
  • A CompactFlash -> IDE converter, to go in the above PC and allow the router information to be stored on a compact flash card instead of a hard disk. This will use less power and be quieter also.
  • A 1GB Compact Flash card, to use as described above.
  • A 4GB Compact Flash card, to use in my digital camera (upgrading from the current 1GB xD card – don’t worry, it supports both formats).
  • A capo for my guitars.
  • A small loop of Atlas N-scale settrack, to use in my coffee-table railroad project (probably some time this year).

I’m also trying desperately to get my hands on one of these (5 or 8 port), and one, possibly two of these (A G, a GL or a GS, just not a Gv7. Would take a WAP54G too, they’re just typically more expensive). I’m trying to get us to a point where when Kelly and I move out we can take the equipment we have and set up straight into an internet connection, not bothering with buying another wireless access point or anything on top of all our other expenses involved with moving – in addition to putting this house back the way it is now. Also wanting to utilise the 2 gigabit network cards I have (one in the Macbook and one in the desktop).

The last things I’m looking out for are a clip-on guitar tuner, a radio scanner, cheap video cameras (the tape isn’t important, so long as it can output composite/s-video), and a cheap video mixer.