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Archive for July, 2009

I need another project like I need another hole in the head…

21 Jul

I bought a Land Rover Discovery back in February as a toy. It needed work since you put water in it and it pours right back out. No big deal, I’m familiar with swaps so I’ll just toss a 4BT Cummins diesel in it and have a fun truck to goof off in, right? Eh, not so much. I started researching the swap and found out that I’d have to install a 3″ suspension lift or else the oil pan would hit the front axle. Oh, and if you’re going to put a suspension lift on it you HAVE to get new wheels and tires… right? Needless to say, the costs were adding up at a ridiculous pace so I let it stay parked behind the garage.

Fast forward to last week. I grew tired of seeing the Land Rover killing grass so I put it on Craigslist. A few somewhat interested people came by to look at it, but nobody bit. Oh well. After mulling it around and reading some forum posts, chances are it’s just a blown head gasket. Of course, if it’s really bad the cylinder sleeves could have dropped but it could very well just be that it needs the heads worked over and put back together. That’s the plan now. The parts are way cheaper than I remember them being and if I get it ripped apart and find out its a total loss – who cares? It didn’t run before! I’ll find a crate motor for it and toss it in to get it running.

Speaking of projectscover, the book is finished! Well, almost. I had to fix some image registration problems and add a little more last minute details, but for the most part its ready to go. I have already decided to label this one “First Edition” and begin on the second iteration of this book. There is SO much I want to add to it, but I have pre orders that were promised that need to go out. I had a limited number of pre-orders available and they all sold out! Others are wanting to know when it hits the market so they can get their hands on one. That, my friend, is pretty dang cool!

A couple of quick updates on the tech projects: The 1957 RCA Victor Flat Panel is 90% complete. The speakers are mounted, the IR receiver needs to be mounted and I need to cut out the area hidden behind the access panel to install the DVD drive. Once those two items are complete, it’s time to ventilate the back panel, and start using the heck out of it! It sounds great and looks awesome to boot.

The Multi Touch table took a paralyzing blow this weekend. I was getting ready to take measurements for the table I was going to insert the display in and wound up taking some tape off a little too harshly and destroyed a teeny ribbon cable – a teeny ribbon cable that’s definitely not replaceable. After my gut settled down from destroying a 23″ flat panel, I took some more measurements and it looks like I may need to step down to a 19″ or 20″ panel to fit the table properly. Blessing in disguise I guess.

New business cards were delivered today, but I don’t have them in my hands just yet. Pictures soon… they’re AWESOME!

 

Random Updates

07 Jul

I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated… things have been quite hectic lately. I’ve rolled out some cool stuff at work that required a bunch of time and we’ve been pretty busy with Search and Rescue as well.

We’ve used Terminal Services for quite some time at work for our employees that work from the road and this past month I’ve configured them to use a new feature in Windows Server 2008 called Remote Apps which allows the user to launch a single application remotely instead of having to log into the full remote desktop. Along with rolling out Remote Apps, I’ve also brought a fax server online to handle all faxes for the company. Lots of money saved, but the confusion makes my phone ring a lot!

In the SAR world, we were called out for a few missions and had patrol duty at Arkabutla Lake this past weekend. Speaking of SAR, I’ve got a new pup I’ll be training to be a SAR dog. Her name is Zoe and she’s currently pretty dang spoiled.

zoeI mean, look at those eyes. It’s unpossible to not spoil that cutie.

She’ll be trained in either German, French, Dutch, Czech or Portuguese. I haven’t made up my mind on the language yet. She sits, lays down and stays very well on command, but she’s got so much more to learn.

I took her to the lake with me this weekend and camped out for the long weekend. She enjoyed every minute of it. She was able to see, sniff and play with all sorts of bushes and trees not found at home.

After reflectiona few laps around the lake in the boat she wanted to run and play in the water. She was able to visit other dogs and people in the campground and she had a blast.

I haven’t taken any photos lately with my Canon 20D. It’s been in the truck waiting for me, but I’ve been so hands on with everything that I haven’t had an opportunity to step back and take some shots. That will change. As life goes on, things get busy and they slow down. I’m over the hump and waiting for things to slow down a tad so I can step behind the viewfinder again to frame up some awesome shots!