tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239240842024-02-07T20:09:48.853-06:00The Brighter SideA journal of positive thinking and uplifting commentary where the glory of God is revealed through the oft-overlooked majesty of the mundane.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.comBlogger424125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-35684786592930391642013-07-19T23:07:00.003-05:002013-07-19T23:07:46.899-05:00So here's the dealI figured that since it's been such a long time since I posted an update here on the ol' blog, I might as well explain why. It's not because I've lost interest--far from it! But a host of other things has consumed my time, and writing blog posts has not been my first choice of mental refuge when I do have spare time. And let's face it, like most people I actually do have plenty of <i>spare time</i>. It comes in the morning before I leave for work, or in the evening after our son goes to bed, or on the weekend when he's napping, or even when my wife is out running errands. Having time is not the issue, since I've got plenty of it. But how I choose to spend those minutes and hours, now that's the kicker. But I digress, and lest this post turn into a temporal treatise, I will simply close this thought by saying I'm still here, filling a tiny corner of the internet with whatever happens to come my way. God is good, and His blessings are many--should we only choose to see them. And I'm not going to stop posting about it any time soon.<br />
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However, in the past several months I have started doing a lot more photography and a lot less writing. I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but for now I'll just say it's a <i>different</i> thing. I'm learning to be creative in new ways, look for things I would never see before, and try to capture images I never thought I could. Not that I'm any good, mind you, but I have found something I really like doing in my off hours. To that end, I have been active in updating my <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sringsmuth/" target="_blank">Flickr account</a> (especially now that Yahoo has actually updated Flickr!) and also taken on the challenge of posting one photo each week to a new site I set up called <a href="http://www.weeklyfifty.com/" target="_blank">Weekly Fifty</a>. The idea behind Weekly Fifty is to force me to get out and take pictures, and use the website as sort of an accountability tool to make sure I actually do it. And thus far it has worked quite well, as I have not missed a week since I created the site back in March. Lately I have started writing more in-depth descriptions of my photos, as a way to make sure I keep those word-generating muscles exercised too.<br />
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So what will happen to The Brighter Side? Nothing, really. What I'd like to do is find a way to get all my new posts on Weekly Fifty to show up here as well, and then still add new entries to this blog from time to time. For now I hope you'll follow my work on Weekly Fifty, and of course keep checking back here for updates as well.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-68845932071618774732013-02-04T01:00:00.000-06:002013-02-04T11:31:30.243-06:00A Lapse in TimeOne kind of cool function on my Nikon D200 camera is something I almost never use: the built-in intervalometer. It's a setting that allows the camera to take pictures at specified intervals during a given time range. This is what people use to create <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/timelapse" target="_blank">time-lapse videos</a>, and even though I <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDuy_0VCLhg&feature=share&list=UUPdr9eILwoJuBH1Bn2DuZYw" target="_blank">tried my hand at this sort of thing last Spring</a> I haven't really seen the need to do it again. That changed a few weeks ago, when my wife and I decided to bite the bullet and get a <a href="http://www.flatsafe.com/" target="_blank">storm shelter</a> installed in our garage. I thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to give the ol' intervalometer a whirl, and am fairly pleased with the results:<br />
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The video contains around 1800 pictures shot at 14-second intervals throughout the course of roughly eight hours. But this post isn't so much about the movie or the tornado shelter, but how I went about creating and editing the final video.<br />
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For starters, I knew I had a couple of issues to deal with up front. The first was the issue of power, or lack thereof. My camera battery lasts a while, but there is no way it would have done a shoot like this without losing power after an hour or two. At first I thought I would ask a coworker if I could borrow his <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-MB-D200-Multi-Power-Battery-Digital/dp/B000BY52O4" target="_blank">battery pack</a>, and he graciously consented. But shortly thereafter it hit me that even the mighty battery pack would only last three or four hours, which meant I was going to have to buy a power cord. <a href="http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product/Power-Adapters/25408/EH-6A-AC-Adapter.html" target="_blank">Nikon sells one</a> for $128, but I found an <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058OETAA/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00" target="_blank">off-brand model</a> on Amazon for about $25. If someone is doing these sorts of projects on a regular basis it would probably be wise to get the name-brand adapter since other companies can use substandard electronic components that might not be good for regular use, but for the occasional project it's probably fine.<br />
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Next up was the lens. Regular readers know I'm a huge fan of the 50mm f/1.8 lens, but it just wasn't going to cut the <strike>concrete</strike> mustard on this project since the field of view on that lens is so narrow. I wanted a wide angle of view to capture all the installing action, which meant I needed a lens that could capture most of my garage from my camera's vantage point in the far back corner. Fortunately, another coworker had just the thing: a bare-bones no-nonsense <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-18-55mm-3-5-5-6G-AF-S-Nikkor/dp/B0009HN57E" target="_blank">18-55mm kit lens</a>. It was ideal for this type of photo shoot for a couple reasons:<br />
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• 18mm wide angle meant it could capture as much of the garage as I needed<br />
• 3.5 maximum aperture would be fine since the photoshoot was outside in the daytime, which meant plenty of available light<br />
• It's not incredibly expensive, so if it got broken or cracked by a piece of flying debris I could buy a replacement without breaking the bank.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWg3WpdFUhJEn-hQwtNWni-b_T4zAK5F0ydzS6qJD2UeZSOKW_iRuJoUsVl0UEIrt5Ws1OR0eLhRc-Ld473hepaMlexoKmDn8MlYmwvIXGcV6wzOp9kvuxiKV-hJp27dAjixrk/s1600/0201131011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWg3WpdFUhJEn-hQwtNWni-b_T4zAK5F0ydzS6qJD2UeZSOKW_iRuJoUsVl0UEIrt5Ws1OR0eLhRc-Ld473hepaMlexoKmDn8MlYmwvIXGcV6wzOp9kvuxiKV-hJp27dAjixrk/s400/0201131011.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Behold, the kit lens! Sometimes it's all you need to get the job done.</td></tr>
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With the power supply and the lens checked off my list, the only thing left to do was prepare for the photo shoot itself. I found a corner in the garage that was as far back and out of the way as possible, and spent a while playing around with various settings on the camera in order to facilitate an 8-hour shoot. Because the lighting conditions would change throughout the day I decided to let the camera control most of the exposure, but I wanted individual pictures to be clear enough to people would be able to discern what was happening. After some fiddling I arrived at the following settings:<br />
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• Lens zoomed out to 18mm, to capture as much of the garage as possible.<br />
• Focus distance set manually to infinity. Autofocus would have been a mess, because the camera would have focused on all kinds of different things throughout the day. Manual focus ensured that every picture was focused exactly the same.<br />
• Aperture opened to f/3.5, to let in as much light as possible given that the shoot would start before there was much daylight.<br />
• Shutter speed set at 1/60, which would capture movement without much blur. In hindsight I could have set this a little slower, like 1/30.<br />
• ISO set to 800. Normally I don't like going up to 800 because the D200 gets a little noisy, but I was trying to get the early morning pictures to be properly exposed.<br />
• Matrix metering, since I needed a good overall exposure. I often use Spot metering if I want to make sure a certain point on the image (usually the focus point) is properly exposed, but Matrix metering basically looks at the entire photo when adjusting exposure rather than just one point. This would be much more useful given the nature of this photo shoot than Spot or Center-Weighted metering.<br />
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I shot in Shutter Priority mode, which meant the camera would be adjusting the aperture throughout the day in order to maintain proper exposure. That was preferable to setting one aperture and letting the camera adjust shutter speed, since I wanted to minimize blur in the photographs.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcr4baY3g64Rf_v-kON7PhotE4DSCbzHVXI5d1yHVqdIl1CQKRYiedyS0kxq5BDTv_SjmYDcEFd-kTmfmcfHLasUpjqd4MypFebOr8izEEvNj4mkJ6JFm3wYGYnxoGMBmPV-Wc/s1600/0201131227.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcr4baY3g64Rf_v-kON7PhotE4DSCbzHVXI5d1yHVqdIl1CQKRYiedyS0kxq5BDTv_SjmYDcEFd-kTmfmcfHLasUpjqd4MypFebOr8izEEvNj4mkJ6JFm3wYGYnxoGMBmPV-Wc/s400/0201131227.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Setting the intervalometer on my Nikon D200</td></tr>
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One other thing to consider is the interval for shooting, which involved a bit of math. The intervalometer on my D200 takes up to 999 photos per session, but I knew that would not be enough to document the entire day for a time-lapse shoot. I was also going to be at work most of the day, save for one hour when I usually come home for lunch, which meant that I could essentially break the shoot up into two four-hour sessions. At 14400 seconds per session, taking 999 pictures would mean 14.41 seconds between shots. Because of this, a 15-second interval would have been ideal, but since it was morning and I wasn't thinking clearly I set the interval for 14 seconds, which it turns out was enough to capture about 3 hours 53 minutes--just shy of four hours. Fortunately, I went home for lunch a tad early and was able to reset the intervalometer a few minutes after it hit 999 pictures, so I didn't really lose any shots. The guy doing the installation was also out dumping a load of dirt, so the shots I did miss weren't even important.<br />
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<i>If you are setting up for your own time-lapse shoot, you might try this online <a href="http://americandslr.com/2010/10/time-lapse-calculator/" target="_blank">time-lapse calculator</a>. It will help you figure out which intervals to use and how many pictures to shoot given the constraints and conditions of your photo shoot.</i><br />
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Before I went back to work I reset the timer again, which resulted in a total of 2160 pictures taken throughout the entire day. I will be posting a tutorial of how I turned those into a 2.5-minute video in a few days, but suffice it to say it was much easier thanks to some of the innovations Apple introduced with FCPX compared to their previous offerings like Final Cut Pro 7 and Final Cut Express.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-2593511630691119042013-01-23T03:00:00.000-06:002013-01-23T07:43:25.880-06:00It's called oil, and it gets a little slickChanging the oil in your vehicle is one of the easiest maintenance procedures a car owner can perform, and also one of the most important. While most people take their cars in to a shop and have a mechanic do it, this procedure is simple enough that most people can do it at home in their own driveway. But unless you know what you are doing the prospect of changing the oil can seem a bit daunting. There are also a few tools you need to do the job properly, and without those it might seem well-nigh incomprehensible as far as how to actually get the old oil out and the new stuff put in. But fear not! When I changed the oil in our 1998 Corolla this past weekend I used the opportunity to take plenty of pictures with the goal of putting together a little tutorial on how exactly to do this kind of thing.<br />
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So why should you bother changing the oil in your car when you can drive to a shop and have someone do it for $30? I'm not saying that method is bad, but doing it yourself has some benefits. First of all you can choose the kind of oil and filter you use, whereas the shop down the street might be using low-grade materials that are designed to be cheap but not necessarily the best for your vehicle. Using higher-quality materials can help your car run better and last longer. Doing it yourself can also be a great way to save money, as the price for a few quarts of oil and a filter is often much less than what a shop charges to change the oil. (Check the ads too. Most auto parts stores run regular sales in which you can get oil and a filter for a discount when purchased together.) Finally, learning how to change the oil in your car is a fantastic way to educate yourself about how your vehicle works, and help demystify some of the mechanical aspects of an automobile that might seem strange and incomprehensible. Learning to do basic auto maintenance like this doesn't take a lot of time and isn't very complicated, and can be a great gateway drug too: pretty soon you might find yourself with enough confidence to tackle changing the air filter, battery, tires, muffler...the sky's the limit!<br />
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To change the oil you'll need a couple of things before you get started:<br />
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• <b>Oil</b>. I use Quaker State or Castrol, but anything is fine as long as it's not the cheapest possible. All oil has to meet minimum standards of quality, but some brands have additives and detergents that help them lubricate better and last longer. The cheapest possible oil isn't necessarily bad, but it's not going to be the best either.<br />
• <b>Filter</b>. I like Purolator filters, but anything is fine as long as it's not a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRRgw4B7R-I" target="_blank">Fram</a>. They used to be great, but have declined significantly in quality recently. If you are unsure, just go to your local auto parts store and ask the guy at the counter what he recommends.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2C7sREFDTs2yt4g_Dw41zw2ciS-PF80Sj886Lr0wWZrBJDar0narLDCGyqpU4qyYIl-vUWYBkgbPvw0Y_cjx7tlEfuIH2kRTgcSrhHSSAH7eSrVkqBOUchTsvDWe6g9-KTL84/s1600/P1120180.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2C7sREFDTs2yt4g_Dw41zw2ciS-PF80Sj886Lr0wWZrBJDar0narLDCGyqpU4qyYIl-vUWYBkgbPvw0Y_cjx7tlEfuIH2kRTgcSrhHSSAH7eSrVkqBOUchTsvDWe6g9-KTL84/s400/P1120180.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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• <b>Ratcheting Wrench</b> for removing the drain plug and possibly the old filter. If you don't have one, I recommend<a href="http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-evolv-55-pc-mechanics-tool-set/p-00910023000P?vName=Hand+Tools&cName=Tools+Sets&sName=Mechanics+Tool+Sets&prdNo=9&blockNo=9&blockType=L9" target="_blank"> buying a socket set</a> since it will have the wrench along with any sockets you would need.<br />
• <b>Socket </b>the same size as the drain plug. A 14mm socket is probably what you need, but there's no telling until you are actually underneath your vehicle.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_mN5W7_BansSRWOaV8EYXZv7XmTnJvKs-TE0qaAaby-McPUsYR-bAH3GZCO1VI67yj9qsBFCGyHTmVW6QCIpm4N5f74gdk1u5q4zOxusYuAOWnOy6zKzQisdtJ4KerQPq3xkj/s1600/P1120165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_mN5W7_BansSRWOaV8EYXZv7XmTnJvKs-TE0qaAaby-McPUsYR-bAH3GZCO1VI67yj9qsBFCGyHTmVW6QCIpm4N5f74gdk1u5q4zOxusYuAOWnOy6zKzQisdtJ4KerQPq3xkj/s400/P1120165.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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• <b>Socket wrench extension </b>if you need to use the filter wrench. This comes standard in just about every socket set.<br />
• <b>End Cap Oil Filter wrench </b>if your filter is stuck on really tight. These are a couple bucks at any auto parts store.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitUZSO4Cr1aO1hcYT7W-Z7Ax5qW8-pDxBqdCRCD9zaJG7gD8LFIUnBBwhIJa0iwh1tPPRWfMBsdfcqelDZmdfBpE5b9oJ6dZuJcg5NJaSBLeDt_kou9n2Hk6kxT4Mi396-dq_c/s1600/P1120167.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitUZSO4Cr1aO1hcYT7W-Z7Ax5qW8-pDxBqdCRCD9zaJG7gD8LFIUnBBwhIJa0iwh1tPPRWfMBsdfcqelDZmdfBpE5b9oJ6dZuJcg5NJaSBLeDt_kou9n2Hk6kxT4Mi396-dq_c/s400/P1120167.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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• <b>Tub </b>for holding the oil.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihSwhFqP48YYyq9siSZqxPkQzpt9S6PajCIg2ZD0WDP6YHqewrXA_r1BcQr6n6CwFOsao8qLuB8_NyS6xE3LI0h-6vFik0sDCjjkH8WFPOT8AW_GkCQ6203VNEu0xs6cIBK7mF/s1600/P1120164.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihSwhFqP48YYyq9siSZqxPkQzpt9S6PajCIg2ZD0WDP6YHqewrXA_r1BcQr6n6CwFOsao8qLuB8_NyS6xE3LI0h-6vFik0sDCjjkH8WFPOT8AW_GkCQ6203VNEu0xs6cIBK7mF/s400/P1120164.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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• <b>Ramps </b>to get your car off the ground, unless you have a pickup or SUV that is already high enough for you to get under it and work. A jack and jack stands will work too, but they are a little more cumbersome and expensive than buying ramps.<br />
• <b>Paper towels</b> to clean up any spills.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvSj-Kx7Q4aHiCqPV045M4FeSyBwoPfT2gj48AcrkqpXs-JhSrl_eAx_gl0JpGJ3U1LA7WAlH2ULvpNsXNpS92Zu_NTEMkpLWF5p5MjJ8FXkCItIPSq81aap4CWL6pj2NN9qn7/s1600/P1120168.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvSj-Kx7Q4aHiCqPV045M4FeSyBwoPfT2gj48AcrkqpXs-JhSrl_eAx_gl0JpGJ3U1LA7WAlH2ULvpNsXNpS92Zu_NTEMkpLWF5p5MjJ8FXkCItIPSq81aap4CWL6pj2NN9qn7/s400/P1120168.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">C'mon, it's paper towels. Do you really need a picture? :)</td></tr>
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The first thing to do is get your car elevated. I use a set of <a href="http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Blitz-2-pcs-Rhino-Ramps-12000-lbs-plastic-service-ramp/_/N-261j?itemIdentifier=89618_0_0_" target="_blank">Rhino Ramps</a> I've had for years, and they work great for this kind of project. It can help to have a spotter tell you when your car is at the top of the ramp, but if you're by yourself that's fine too. Just drive up smooth and steady, and hit the brake when you feel the car plateau at the top of the ramps. Avoid short bursts on the gas pedal, since your car will lurch forward and could fly off the end of the ramps if you're not careful.<br />
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The next step is to locate two key objects underneath your car: the oil filter and the oil drain plug. The former is a cylinder that is about the size of a pop can, but maybe half as tall. The latter is probably in the middle of your car on one end of the <i>oil pan</i>, or basically the bottom of your engine.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEk_hvZkOIvsRuh-U-1yoI_bCBDmjgtJdiluxfLfwVJ3b8OGeX8_KuiPpYSWW0Y1v0S-1xSs3bz9AvzO7ecm3ZyORruuf0bvXpSQwCZpkadxk3-dARQ_Vnv9S6xe7SQi-B2538/s1600/P1120170.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEk_hvZkOIvsRuh-U-1yoI_bCBDmjgtJdiluxfLfwVJ3b8OGeX8_KuiPpYSWW0Y1v0S-1xSs3bz9AvzO7ecm3ZyORruuf0bvXpSQwCZpkadxk3-dARQ_Vnv9S6xe7SQi-B2538/s400/P1120170.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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These two things are critical, and if you can't find them a quick internet search should help you identify their location on your particular vehicle.<br />
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The next thing to do is remove the drain plug, but make sure your oil tub is in place or you will get oil all over your garage floor. Use your ratcheting wrench and socket to get the plug out, and the oil will immediately start flowing into the tub. It's a bit tricky to do this without getting oil on your hands, so just be prepared with some paper towels standing by. Also, if you have recently driven your car the oil might be hot so I usually don't drain the oil until my vehicle has been sitting for an hour or two.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHkIaxo8x32Kwn1Lx3pH8HTshppGEtlcTIbSIrjI4GNyK97aI3ZybCQSXIYoVnf6EKsK83BQx-aVMNqkpfbte7_hWHox97i32-hOp1iO5lK5XLg325X6UysaEi7MDUtenmHlBs/s1600/P1120172.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHkIaxo8x32Kwn1Lx3pH8HTshppGEtlcTIbSIrjI4GNyK97aI3ZybCQSXIYoVnf6EKsK83BQx-aVMNqkpfbte7_hWHox97i32-hOp1iO5lK5XLg325X6UysaEi7MDUtenmHlBs/s400/P1120172.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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After the plug is off, it takes at least 10 minutes for the oil to drain but if you have spare time, it never hurts to let it go longer. My dad used to let the oil drain for a couple of hours to ensure that <i>every last drop</i> of the old oil was gone. This probably isn't absolutely necessary, but the moral of the story here is that the longer you can let the oil drain out the better it will be for your car.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3uEpqjADYNfkoHYVKfLEcY7yzqhlV9qfhG98Ii2XQmLRIGF1M9AxIbKk-Mo_v_geExJ8XVp4mErZ7R8TWrglh0xBSw-cIdAF-1stMjNpgYvyWF4CUzGTYuFvnmSzP2DMVkA5T/s1600/P1120176.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3uEpqjADYNfkoHYVKfLEcY7yzqhlV9qfhG98Ii2XQmLRIGF1M9AxIbKk-Mo_v_geExJ8XVp4mErZ7R8TWrglh0xBSw-cIdAF-1stMjNpgYvyWF4CUzGTYuFvnmSzP2DMVkA5T/s400/P1120176.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Once the oil is draining it's time to get the filter off. It shouldn't be on all that tight, and you might be able to get it off with just your hand. If not, you will need to use the end cap filter wrench to wrest the filter from its post like so:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMjClnN5OYodQQQs-pY3VHztift-8sdCli5RZo6By_TFP8NRAaVFh8Ai84LiK1zoMRQWd4giJrekE0Pm-CZMMnkM7ov6fSZHzCEHTjp60utpA8Wm3T6ebwj0gh44uL6UOeF_5/s1600/P1120174.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMjClnN5OYodQQQs-pY3VHztift-8sdCli5RZo6By_TFP8NRAaVFh8Ai84LiK1zoMRQWd4giJrekE0Pm-CZMMnkM7ov6fSZHzCEHTjp60utpA8Wm3T6ebwj0gh44uL6UOeF_5/s400/P1120174.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
There will be some oil draining out from where the filter was attached, so make sure the tub is positioned such that it can catch both sources of oil: the drain plug and the filter.<br />
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After the oil is finished draining, it's time to put everything back together. First you will need to clean the post where the filter attaches. Use a paper towel or rag to wipe off any excess oil from the metal ring around the filter post before screwing on the new one.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzNdfAFkuSAe79hvpApLaBpX4E6-pKXijp24lPXGW3KrtOrWCJ7Y5XO6VNmQhRCptdjl4bUBo012yolDho6Lw67kqDRdKyiNP2sScfbYJBABurLx3tI9mON1EnOLDSjwiQtgZv/s1600/P1120183.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzNdfAFkuSAe79hvpApLaBpX4E6-pKXijp24lPXGW3KrtOrWCJ7Y5XO6VNmQhRCptdjl4bUBo012yolDho6Lw67kqDRdKyiNP2sScfbYJBABurLx3tI9mON1EnOLDSjwiQtgZv/s400/P1120183.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
You're just about ready to attach the new filter, but before you do take a bit of oil from one of the new quarts and put a thin bead around the rubber gasket on the filter. My dad taught me to do this years ago, and he claims it helps create a better seal. I'm not sure if it does or not, but on things like this I figure it doesn't hurt so why not do it? Just dip your finger in one of the quarts of oil and smear it on, and remember that you don't need very much. A very thin bead is all you need.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbvwX9E7WmDKjDtmj_HemW1oHB4-HLdMJgFTgP4hOHT1lliLM2ukLc3_1NXqEmux3nmAvgCTiPXkyWHkt5X7YsBoQKQPYxTcOiJOHDa4D6Qkz90-CaJ6oIHfE4W6o67M213k8/s1600/P1120181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbvwX9E7WmDKjDtmj_HemW1oHB4-HLdMJgFTgP4hOHT1lliLM2ukLc3_1NXqEmux3nmAvgCTiPXkyWHkt5X7YsBoQKQPYxTcOiJOHDa4D6Qkz90-CaJ6oIHfE4W6o67M213k8/s400/P1120181.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Now it's time to screw the filter on to the post. Just grab it in your hand, reach up to where you removed the old filter, and screw it on. Tightening by hand is plenty sufficient to get a good seal, and you will certainly not need the end cap wrench here. In fact, too much tightening could damage the filter so just get it on good and tight by hand and you'll be set.<br />
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After the filter is on, the next step is to put the drain plug back in. Wipe off any excess oil and make sure the gasket around the plug is intact and free of cracks. If there are cracks, you might want to get a replacement gasket from an auto parts store where you can find a package with several in it for a couple bucks. Don't put the plug in too tight either, or you could damage the threads where it screws in. Just give it a good snug tightening with your ratcheting wrench and you can be on your way.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVd2q2BvgeluU3H_PrxATPwq0NdIyXOjbLPAO1JKpwlSSlGi1dVyzVcaR-u75KGlEiqDNw0vN39x6atjNf24dMVqSfesG9wffaWLYn3K2Stleyhx21ZWvD3dO9j7WBV-SPKsbq/s1600/P1120186.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVd2q2BvgeluU3H_PrxATPwq0NdIyXOjbLPAO1JKpwlSSlGi1dVyzVcaR-u75KGlEiqDNw0vN39x6atjNf24dMVqSfesG9wffaWLYn3K2Stleyhx21ZWvD3dO9j7WBV-SPKsbq/s400/P1120186.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfbOrVYpQGKGQO-c9DyXsLNZP9Me76lhkszKmAWKsChGkz9NvMz3ytm5qKZG6khkpRuL9HGqJd-Caz07ka46Wstmfb-oyLWj65TArXXVwhVM-tcLru2D9bfzi86Xp-1XziytxP/s1600/P1120191.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfbOrVYpQGKGQO-c9DyXsLNZP9Me76lhkszKmAWKsChGkz9NvMz3ytm5qKZG6khkpRuL9HGqJd-Caz07ka46Wstmfb-oyLWj65TArXXVwhVM-tcLru2D9bfzi86Xp-1XziytxP/s400/P1120191.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now you've got the drain plug and filter in place, so the only thing left is to add oil. If you have never opened up the hood of your car, don't worry. It might look scary but there's only one thing you need to look for, which is the oil fill hole where you actually put oil into your engine.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGmVyjiUWktRI2M1GS_R3aqe9n79WQ6KK2xHH9AqoS0AyzA350WVJ4raYVp7gkdrWoxIuqfug66H9nJOkRo-bKViCl63QWLsv0f-LVaNwRacxfXnHqB10ptsWYJgi8ixM2kIab/s1600/P1120193.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGmVyjiUWktRI2M1GS_R3aqe9n79WQ6KK2xHH9AqoS0AyzA350WVJ4raYVp7gkdrWoxIuqfug66H9nJOkRo-bKViCl63QWLsv0f-LVaNwRacxfXnHqB10ptsWYJgi8ixM2kIab/s400/P1120193.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The exact spot of this hole is different on every car, but you should be able to see a cap with some information about the type of oil your vehicle requires. Our Corolla takes 5W-30, and if you are not sure check the owner's manual or call a local auto dealer. The manual will also tell you how much oil to add, which is critical: too little or too much and you could easily cause premature wear and damage to your engine! Don't guess on this step--find out exactly what kind of oil your vehicle needs, and how much, or you're doing more harm than good.<br />
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To fill the oil, remove the cap and just start pouring. Most oil quarts are lopsided on top with a long neck, which allows you to pour them easily without spilling. If you do get a bit of oil on the engine, don't worry. Wipe it up if you can and then just go about your business--it won't damage anything if you get a bit of oil on your engine instead of in it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibYH1wmemALMZCwkrPNRwi2y3mWBBnH1Uyq6qQGiZj8Vx8qXuV8NTdtpkchanHgBuakcsDEiQg6qSvakuhaEKRPy7xGZcY6F0u0OWZHuVCU3Eda8yKU9QOJm-Fds2-7MFKrrTh/s1600/P1120197.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibYH1wmemALMZCwkrPNRwi2y3mWBBnH1Uyq6qQGiZj8Vx8qXuV8NTdtpkchanHgBuakcsDEiQg6qSvakuhaEKRPy7xGZcY6F0u0OWZHuVCU3Eda8yKU9QOJm-Fds2-7MFKrrTh/s400/P1120197.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
And....that's it! You're all done changing the oil in your car. Give yourself a pat on the back, fire up the engine, and listen to it purr knowing that you personally have given your vehicle a new lease on life.<br />
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Of course that leaves just one problem: the old motor oil sitting in the tub. You can't use it for cooking and you can't put it back in your engine, so what do you do? Whatever happens, don't dump it out or pour it down the drain. That's bad on many, many levels. Instead, pour it into a milk jug and take it in to an auto parts shop to be recycled.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkMnyPpEXlQZMzhyphenhyphen82WhmTqlDkeIVT26shgp6bHvFz2kwW42kwex9_t3RDjq1bB7PmoMR-iLNm56d0SzXqtgg6UOqB-Oegwa_djlNI7E3sfZTbnqpnW2i3YF0XCKnLW2Vp1C1Y/s1600/P1120199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkMnyPpEXlQZMzhyphenhyphen82WhmTqlDkeIVT26shgp6bHvFz2kwW42kwex9_t3RDjq1bB7PmoMR-iLNm56d0SzXqtgg6UOqB-Oegwa_djlNI7E3sfZTbnqpnW2i3YF0XCKnLW2Vp1C1Y/s400/P1120199.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
You might need a funnel for this step, but if you are careful you can pour it by hand too. And when you take it in, it is literally recycled and used again either as engine oil, heating oil, or who knows what else. But it is the best and cleanest way to dispose of your old motor oil. There might be some left in the tub after you are done, and if so just let it drain into a small container and then dump it into the jug.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-lHIECounK8ygYhiipaT-f9bYvZbs7YuwY5snbwdxrMew9vtdYOJ-QiEyhYy5TXCzoIHazE-zFtyS5Qp_OoFuflmv5gedzdaATvqEXjAhueZHt-sG53Rss6Lwr5plUCqCo6k_/s1600/P1120200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-lHIECounK8ygYhiipaT-f9bYvZbs7YuwY5snbwdxrMew9vtdYOJ-QiEyhYy5TXCzoIHazE-zFtyS5Qp_OoFuflmv5gedzdaATvqEXjAhueZHt-sG53Rss6Lwr5plUCqCo6k_/s400/P1120200.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
This entire process can take as little as 20 minutes once you get the hang of it, and depending on how much you want to let the oil drain out of your car. There is an old adage that you should change the oil in your car every 3,000 miles, but this is one of those old misconceptions that refuses to die. Most modern vehicles can go at least 5,000 miles between oil changes but like my dad says it doesn't hurt to do it more often than that. Check your owner's manual for a recommended mileage between changes, but it wouldn't hurt to call a local dealer and see what they recommend too. Climate and driving conditions can impact how often the oil should be changed, and the locals might have a better recommendation for you than a generic number from the manual.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-50742919280982587172013-01-15T16:22:00.002-06:002013-01-17T20:10:12.850-06:00Shutter Speed Explained<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSbl_uvtNSE" target="_blank">Let me be clear</a>: I am not a photography expert. I'm not even a photographer. I'm just a dude with a camera who likes to learn stuff. I don't know much about photography or taking pictures, but I like to try out new things and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDuy_0VCLhg" target="_blank">see what happens</a>. I also enjoy teaching, and since one of the best ways to learn a subject is to teach it, I figured it would be cool to write some blog posts about photography as a way of helping others learn while at the same time advancing my own skills as well. I have already covered, to some extent, <a href="http://sringsmuth.blogspot.com/2012/11/mockingbirds-photoshop-and-miss-maudie.html" target="_blank">depth of field</a> and <a href="http://sringsmuth.blogspot.com/2012/11/apertures-explained.html" target="_blank">aperture</a>, and this post will be about shutter speed with hopefully another post to follow about ISO. Since this article builds on concepts discussed in those articles, I would advise you to give them a look-see before reading further. And if you're not the reading type, here's a video I made that kind of explains things too:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Bgdzqj4qCBg?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>
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As one of the three components of the <a href="http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/1462/the-holy-trinity-aperture-shutter-speed-and-iso/" target="_blank">holy trinity of photography</a>, shutter speed is an essential element to understand if you want to dig into photography a little deeper. In photography, a camera's shutter functions the same way as your eyelids do: when your eyelids are open, light comes in. When your eyelids are closed, no light comes in. This analogy doesn't carry a whole lot of weight though, because on a camera the eyelid, or shutter, is almost always closed (unless you are actually taking a picture). But on your eyes the eyelid, or shutter, is almost always open (unless you blink or go to sleep). Still, it's not entirely dissimilar and hopefully thinking about the shutter as an eyelid for your camera will help you understand what it does and why it's important to control it.<br />
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A digital camera works by allowing light to pass through a camera's lens and on to an image sensor, and exactly how much light is let in is determined by the aperture and the shutter speed. Think of a swimming pool with a plug in the side:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiwyDSa1m_lcJsQ6ZwhH-cRpNRIf13RTQDyMZJsu8rdNtM7fiUKD8ijc4BS0LTjKUQPiWfpkbhyeCvL992LxlnqcGKxpV4IU5Jpt729LNz0udVn-MmkjMu98GlqCAP9sN1ux9p/s1600/pool.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiwyDSa1m_lcJsQ6ZwhH-cRpNRIf13RTQDyMZJsu8rdNtM7fiUKD8ijc4BS0LTjKUQPiWfpkbhyeCvL992LxlnqcGKxpV4IU5Jpt729LNz0udVn-MmkjMu98GlqCAP9sN1ux9p/s400/pool.png" width="400" /></a></div>
Let's say you want to drain ten gallons of water. You have two choices:<br />
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1. Use a small plug but leave it open for a long time<br />
2. Use a large plug but leave it open for a short time<br />
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Both solutions will yield the same result, and the same principle holds true for photography. The amount of light hitting the image sensor is like the amount of water you let out of the pool. To let in enough light to take a proper photo, you have a couple of choices:<br />
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1. Use a small aperture but leave the shutter open for a long time<br />
2. Use a large aperture but leave it open for a short time<br />
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Another option is to use a higher or lower ISO, but we'll tackle that issue another time (for now, if you aren't sure what to do just leave your camera Auto ISO, or else use 200 for outdoors and 400-800 for indoors). Shutter speed does not work on its own--it have to work in conjunction with other settings on your camera like the aperture size. But understanding how to properly use the shutter will help bring you one step closer to mastering your camera. Whee!<br />
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Let's use a couple of case studies to help explain shutter speed. Say your kids are playing outside and you want to get good pictures of them on the swings, playing ball, or just running around. There is plenty of light to work with since it's a sunny day, so in order to take your pictures you have the same two options as before. However, since your kids are running around and making a great deal of movement, if you leave the shutter open for too long they will get blurry:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS-V_77Qyi1UZnTauqNXZH97DGRI1_E_MyORhJ7oIHnEfUSSyPT7ec2NehlowNi-FEBi91tIbTn2dnQD8Lu7uSQOCC9AHgHzep_W68RPVZFWIgW0rNun82HzIvfrSxaE0zhA6N/s1600/12-12-2012+3-24-25+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS-V_77Qyi1UZnTauqNXZH97DGRI1_E_MyORhJ7oIHnEfUSSyPT7ec2NehlowNi-FEBi91tIbTn2dnQD8Lu7uSQOCC9AHgHzep_W68RPVZFWIgW0rNun82HzIvfrSxaE0zhA6N/s400/12-12-2012+3-24-25+PM.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The couple stood very still while their kids ran around.<br />
Image courtesy of Flickr user <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevebremer/2589185244/" target="_blank">Steve Bremer</a>.<br />
Used with permission.</td></tr>
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In the above photo, the shutter was left open for one-tenth of a second. While that might not seem like much time, it is actually way too long if your goal is to capture your kids clearly in the middle of doing something. In the above photo, the one-tenth second shutter speed was used intentionally to create a pleasing artistic effect, but if your kid is kicking a soccer ball around or flying high on a swing, chances are you would rather have a clear picture without any blur. In this case, a much faster shutter speed would be advisable. But how fast? That's up to you to decide, and every situation will be different. A setting of one-two-hundredth (1/200) of a second would probably work, but most cameras today can go as fast as one-four-thousandth (1/4000) or one-eight-thousandth (1/8000) of a second--enough to capture even the fastest motion without any blur:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI1pg7WPbCZTwTU4VwAaG_9xzzWnmL-AihYvSo2viP2CyyivZ2fLVpEzmdxKhqjzYZfwto8rUDRXgLnBVSQWd2osQlWwqLXOOSF6oElUpyL126VPJcr5z0KjpGlWWQ4tCDwvGn/s1600/kids-swinging-300x199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI1pg7WPbCZTwTU4VwAaG_9xzzWnmL-AihYvSo2viP2CyyivZ2fLVpEzmdxKhqjzYZfwto8rUDRXgLnBVSQWd2osQlWwqLXOOSF6oElUpyL126VPJcr5z0KjpGlWWQ4tCDwvGn/s1600/kids-swinging-300x199.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image courtesy of <a href="http://overcomingbusy.com/2009/06/16/summer-unscheduled-yet-structured/" target="_blank">Overcoming Busy</a>. Used with permission.</td></tr>
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In the above photo there is no blur at all, even though the girl is clearly moving fast. The photographer used a very fast shutter speed in order to freeze the action, and was likely shooting with a DSLR camera because they tend to focus much quicker than point-and-shoot pocket cameras (and a quick focusing time is necessary, because the girl is moving so fast!).<br />
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But what about the aperture? Let's go back to the swimming pool analogy for a bit. On a bright sunny day there is plenty of light available, so you can use a large aperture for a small depth of field (if you want to focus just on one kid) or a small aperture for a large depth of field (if you want to focus on all the kids). Either way there will be plenty of light coming through to the sensor to make for a good picture.<br />
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But what if there isn't enough light? How about another case study to illustrate this.<br />
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Say you are out for a walk in the evening and want to snap a few pictures of your family. The sun is about to set, so there just isn't a whole lot of light available (i.e. the swimming pool from my earlier example is really low). In order to let enough light in to take a photo, you still have the same two options as before but the problem is that even a larger aperture like f/2.8 might not let in enough light for the picture to turn out. The only solution here (for our purposes, anyway--there are other solutions but they are a bit too complicate for this just-the-basics tutorial) is to use a longer shutter speed. This will allow enough light to pass through the lens and on to the image sensor, but the catch is you will have to tell your family to hold very still. When leaving the shutter open for a longer period of time, like one-half of a second, any movement at all will result in a blurry photo. This also means you will have to hold the camera very still too, and possibly even use a tripod. Of course you could always use a flash, but that might result in harsh light on your family and undesirable shadows too.<br />
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Leaving the shutter open for a <i>much </i>longer period of time, like one, five, ten, or more seconds can also produce some interesting and artistic results such as this:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmjTfS4k1q2dCgOMWJ4tZLg7QJOqsTWzEuyVO5bcupVFei5G6qe2X17QgtAwzVljZZIuhmh3UcbTFJmmpfWJg42yExQUOH3RPrMgWy2MFgmAPqUTxOhvqQ3jttzGEY6PdxRPMl/s1600/u0Trd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmjTfS4k1q2dCgOMWJ4tZLg7QJOqsTWzEuyVO5bcupVFei5G6qe2X17QgtAwzVljZZIuhmh3UcbTFJmmpfWJg42yExQUOH3RPrMgWy2MFgmAPqUTxOhvqQ3jttzGEY6PdxRPMl/s400/u0Trd.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image courtesy of Reddit user <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/ExposurePorn/comments/14q0vg/princes_street_after_dark_oc_2931_x_1681/" target="_blank">heisakukosawa</a>. Used with permission.</td></tr>
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If you want to try your hand at a similar type of photograph, simply put your camera on a tripod, point it at a busy street at night, and keep the shutter open for several seconds. Some cameras even have a "Bulb" mode which allows the shutter to stay open <i>for as long as you want!</i> This is really cool for taking pictures of stars moving across the sky or capturing lightning as it comes in with a springtime thunderstorm.<br />
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But what about one of the most basic questions: how on earth do you set your camera's shutter speed? On most pocket cameras, you can't. This is left up to the computer inside the camera, but if your camera has a dial that says "M A S P" or "M Av Tv P" you're in luck! All DSLR cameras have these options, and some pocket cameras do too.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">M = Manual.</b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> You have full control over the aperture and shutter values.</span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><b style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">A/Av = Aperture mode.</b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> You control the aperture of your lens, and the camera determines the appropriate shutter speed.</span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><b style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">S/Tv = Shutter mode. </b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">You control the shutter speed, and the camera determines the appropriate aperture setting.</span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><b style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">P = Program auto.</b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> The camera determines what it thinks are the best aperture and shutter values.</span></span><br />
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Turn the dial of your camera to S/Tv, and you will have the option to set the shutter speed, while letting your camera choose the best aperture. (If you are feeling brave, go ahead and use Manual mode in which you set both the aperture and the shutter speed.) Just remember that there is no one correct shutter value to use in any given situation. It's up to you to decide what to use, give the kind of photo you want to take. A word of warning though: The standard "Kit" lens that comes with most DSLR cameras won't let in enough light to take good pictures with a fast shutter speed in low-light situations like indoors or at night. So if you are trying this out for the first time, make sure you are outside or in a situation with plenty of available light. Once you feel comfortable setting the shutter speed on your own, you can start taking photos indoors or with less available light and you will have a better idea of what speed to use given the photos you are taking.<br />
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As I have said many times on this blog, I shoot with a 50mm f/1.8 lens which means that even on fast shutter speeds it lets in enough light to take decent pictures. I like to take pictures of my son, and since it's winter and we spend a lot of time indoors, I need to have a shutter speed that is fast enough to eliminate the blur of his movements but slow enough to let in enough light. As a result, I shoot most of the pictures of him using a shutter speed of 1/60, and let the camera figure out the appropriate aperture (which usually ends up being around f/2.8 or f/1.8 especially in the morning or evening when there just isn't much light to work with). Since I shoot in <a href="http://www.slrlounge.com/raw-vs-jpeg-jpg-the-ultimate-visual-guide" target="_blank">RAW</a> it's easy to lighten up the photo afterwards, but even RAW files have their limits and there really is no substitute for a properly exposed photograph. Any slower than 1/60 (such as 1/45, or 1/30) generally results in too much blur since my 18-month-old son tends to move around a lot, but any faster than 1/60 (such as 1/90) and the lens simply can't let enough light in to take a good picture. Most pocket cameras have image sensors and lenses that are so small they need to use a flash in order to take good pictures in low light, but it's certainly worth experimenting on the manual controls to see what results you can achieve.<br />
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So there you go! I hope you learned something, and if you have questions just leave me a comment and I will do my best to answer. Remember that the most important rule is to get out there and just start taking pictures!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-32847579859575693162013-01-08T02:00:00.000-06:002013-01-08T02:00:04.328-06:00Yoga attic crawlingIt didn't take long after my most recent <a href="http://sringsmuth.blogspot.com/2013/01/out-with-old-in-with-old.html" target="_blank">failed attempt</a> at resuscitating our bathroom heat/vent/light (HVL) appliance until my wife and I decided to just put in a new unit altogether. We had exhausted (har!) all avenues of repair available to us, and the fan was only getting worse so last Saturday we trekked off to the bathroom aisle at Lowe's and stood gaping at the lights and fixtures on display like some sort of Martha Stewart-inspired rock climbing wall. We really didn't know where to start, but thankfully the salesdude on duty was fairly knowledgeable and was able to answer most, if not all, of our questions to our satisfaction. After some deliberation we decided on a <a href="http://www.lowes.com/pd_95454-14-100HL_0__?productId=3047879" target="_blank">Broan 100HL</a> which was a little more expensive than we were hoping for, but one of only two models in stock that actually had a heating element. Since this was one of our purchasing criteria, and since the cheaper version was pretty wimpy for our master bathroom, we bit the bullet and got the mamma jamma one instead. Normally we like to shop around when making purchases, and we knew we could get the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Broan-100HL-Directionally-Adjustable-Heater-Incandescent/dp/B001E6LBRU" target="_blank">same unit on Amazon</a> for about 25% less, but in this case we decided it was worth it to buy from a store in town so we could get help if we needed or return it if it was broken. We also didn't want to wait for it to be shipped to us, because we were hoping to take care of the installation that same day. We were really itching to ditch the old unit and get a functioning model put in right away :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBA5riey8yxIZ70D4V5G91pZxqLK-hOcs8Nt_0NK-_B3vDYR4ppJ_5AbFJYM3QI6MQ3yHb8i4H0qVAHGSM1Cqyrtd3q6EKBtoNcZRSanZiYveN0dVugZi1GW0r756gNm04vuLt/s1600/OldVent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBA5riey8yxIZ70D4V5G91pZxqLK-hOcs8Nt_0NK-_B3vDYR4ppJ_5AbFJYM3QI6MQ3yHb8i4H0qVAHGSM1Cqyrtd3q6EKBtoNcZRSanZiYveN0dVugZi1GW0r756gNm04vuLt/s400/OldVent.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This thing is so old, Carson originally installed it in Lord Grantham's bathroom.</td></tr>
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I knew, for the most part, what the installation would involve and wasn't all that concerned. In this order, here's what would need to happen:</div>
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0. Flip circuit breaker off (this is step zero because it kind of goes without saying)</div>
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1. Un-wire existing unit</div>
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2. Remove existing unit</div>
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3. Cut ceiling drywall, if necessary, to make room for new unit</div>
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4. Install new unit</div>
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5. Wire new unit</div>
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I honestly didn't think it would be all that difficult, especially since I had some experience with this kind of thing after putting in a ceiling fan with my dad a year ago. I knew my way around the attic and I had a general idea of what would need to happen with the new unit so I thought I could get everything done in one day--hopefully while our son was napping. What I forgot to pay heed to was that "Everything went according to plan" is a phrase that has not been uttered by an amateur handyman since the invention of the hammer.<br />
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The first thing when doing any project like this, as my dad taught me years ago, is to say a prayer. So I did, and even though not everything worked out how I hoped it would there were many times during the replacement process that I was sure I felt guidance and peace from the Lord. After closing with a hearty "Amen" I made sure I had all the necessary tools, but since I wasn't sure exactly what all I would need I just brought in a bunch of stuff from the garage:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnS6cMCMMSYB8d8_HtO3EFj6eP6z96WQSo6jCV155pcB82WPbstbUUk807mTrABo_g0gBeEC_PKZNa_SBsjr7Xn0GoNAtq1wyZO0LxSlqH3MYSDbD65-ieX3_o5XUef71YntMF/s1600/2013-01-05+at+13-45-28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnS6cMCMMSYB8d8_HtO3EFj6eP6z96WQSo6jCV155pcB82WPbstbUUk807mTrABo_g0gBeEC_PKZNa_SBsjr7Xn0GoNAtq1wyZO0LxSlqH3MYSDbD65-ieX3_o5XUef71YntMF/s400/2013-01-05+at+13-45-28.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New HVL unit, drill bits, socket set, hammer, drill, old shoes, extension cord. Not pictured: halogen light, mag-light, rulers, pencils, and face mask because breathing in attic insulation is no fun.</td></tr>
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I ended up using a lot more than this, but it was a good starting point. And of course any project like this requires some amount of liquid sustenance as well:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ka59xVfuKf6B6T5svchov2Y4B3b7Q2TjxQrQj3C8tcpsm2g_c8JrjvIhvzSTAorW5wDioUhDdE25urIXL00ZoqgbW7mmtFUHspZDz3OKzlaFqbzOoG1GPJTue9PJ-v11z9K2/s1600/2013-01-05+at+13-45-43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ka59xVfuKf6B6T5svchov2Y4B3b7Q2TjxQrQj3C8tcpsm2g_c8JrjvIhvzSTAorW5wDioUhDdE25urIXL00ZoqgbW7mmtFUHspZDz3OKzlaFqbzOoG1GPJTue9PJ-v11z9K2/s400/2013-01-05+at+13-45-43.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the most important tools of the trade</td></tr>
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Just so we're all on the same page, here's the inside of the existing HVL unit:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitvzDUmT9NSE4k-2YLYz6BBAbNzbqpukwASo4s6B4Ymhvqn-9YD4C7RoXTqRLF4ubCtEgvWy4-U6NhJaNwKws6FN4EqHqI023ZIzziYDXK9rLsj8KgPwKXfO4ats92RwoGay5x/s1600/2013-01-05+at+13-19-03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitvzDUmT9NSE4k-2YLYz6BBAbNzbqpukwASo4s6B4Ymhvqn-9YD4C7RoXTqRLF4ubCtEgvWy4-U6NhJaNwKws6FN4EqHqI023ZIzziYDXK9rLsj8KgPwKXfO4ats92RwoGay5x/s400/2013-01-05+at+13-19-03.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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On the right is the squirrel cage fan that I cleaned out and lubricated a few days prior but continued to defy me by rattling around like a crippled hampster on a rusty wheel. On the left is the heating unit, which has always worked pretty well but probably not as good as it did back in its youthful carefree days several decades ago. Taking the thing apart was fairly simple, and one of the easiest parts of the entire operation thanks to the discrete assembly nature of the overall package. The heater, vent, and light were each plugged in to what was basically their own mini-outlets inside of the box:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD0OkHEtsHjXfx_xanOrKQddfNitWodOYNjjfCNWScJLHfI5TPoAOmDlx54sjUPuSIIsgK4lEQb_YzNZxTOptGQNO4eHRkehxHtuUiUUJS_RDIfPs-5vs1PRf4oDk1G2T7X7lm/s1600/2013-01-05+at+13-20-24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD0OkHEtsHjXfx_xanOrKQddfNitWodOYNjjfCNWScJLHfI5TPoAOmDlx54sjUPuSIIsgK4lEQb_YzNZxTOptGQNO4eHRkehxHtuUiUUJS_RDIfPs-5vs1PRf4oDk1G2T7X7lm/s400/2013-01-05+at+13-20-24.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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To remove each individual component all I had to do was un-screw them from their mountings and unplug them from the box. After that I was left with nothing but a metal housing in the ceiling with some wires hanging out:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhntCaopbahYmK3F3it2ouDCFjqhnpz75QtrjlItgTP_THy_896yhsxuXOdK_PkQ172CePSBdGlK7UmLosiuCqoNI26LDtv_NdcCZeF6FCT93n8rjb72yg-bLfq4YAuBON_x1y7/s1600/2013-01-05+at+14-24-23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhntCaopbahYmK3F3it2ouDCFjqhnpz75QtrjlItgTP_THy_896yhsxuXOdK_PkQ172CePSBdGlK7UmLosiuCqoNI26LDtv_NdcCZeF6FCT93n8rjb72yg-bLfq4YAuBON_x1y7/s400/2013-01-05+at+14-24-23.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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On these HVL units there are two sets of wires: one for the heater and one for the fan and light. I grabbed some tape and labeled the wires so I would know which was which when installing the new unit:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwyzA3xtVnCNShSyTIUfyhxzNC6vU13nm3Fy01i2jcVR9VYpXLGuYGqAIeDZz_s-R1iNp3kThGQR70sao0OeHbPA88YVYEUZ-tnWan4I6qOFWT5xgdxVTL-MzCwJVFFKFdgk5j/s1600/2013-01-05+at+14-17-38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwyzA3xtVnCNShSyTIUfyhxzNC6vU13nm3Fy01i2jcVR9VYpXLGuYGqAIeDZz_s-R1iNp3kThGQR70sao0OeHbPA88YVYEUZ-tnWan4I6qOFWT5xgdxVTL-MzCwJVFFKFdgk5j/s320/2013-01-05+at+14-17-38.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The next step was to remove the entire metal housing, which basically just involved taking out a few support screws. When that was done I had a big ol' gaping hole in our bathroom that led right into the attic, and then it was time to start installing the new unit. Unfortunately, this is where things went south real quick and I stopped taking pictures since I was more concerned with getting the job done than documenting the process. Thus, I hope verbal descriptions will suffice :)</div>
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After the box was removed I climbed up into the attic through the entry point in the bathroom closet--the same method I used for my <a href="http://sringsmuth.blogspot.com/2012/07/board-sandwich.html" target="_blank">rafter repair job in July</a>. Right away I could tell that this job would be more complicated than the rafter work due to a number of factors:<br />
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1. The HVL unit was situated near the edge of the house, which gave me about 1 to 3 feet of vertical space in which to work. It was gonna be super duper cramped, and like some twisted form of a child's game, you can only step on the rafters when working in the attic. One wrong move and you can put your foot through the ceiling. A yoga instructor would probably have had a difficult time, and I am no yoga instructor.</div>
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2. There was a heating duct running right on top of the HVL unit. This was going to be tricky to maneuver around. Side note: do not apply pressure to a heating duct. It will collapse and you will be sorry.</div>
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3. The new HVL unit needed cross braces to support it between the rafters. I was going to have to put these in by myself. Somehow.</div>
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4. The old HVL unit had two sets of White/Black/Ground wires coming from the three-way switch in the bathroom. The new HVL unit required one White/Black/Ground for the heater and one White/Black/Red/Ground for the vent and light. I was going to have to do some re-wiring.</div>
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5. No way was I going to get this all done while my son was napping.</div>
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Like any linear first-person-shooter though, the best thing to do when faced with a series of obstacles is ti just start going and tackle everything one by one. So I took a deep breath and got cracking. I cut out the hole in the ceiling a bit more to accommodate the longer metal housing of the new unit, which was a few inches longer than the old one. Here's what our bathroom looked like after this segment of what was quickly turning into an episode of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HcWs8xg63rQ#t=121s" target="_blank">Tool Time</a>:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7rNkSQV23syKNIvovU5YqY55U-oMuy1sUoSbz8O_qb_1Ts_YJZ0AkYhO5SnoQ_1_terQrK63puzT-OvpO6-WKzFU-xPWxMGfnh0MC2um50UWHEVDlV5J-3fbPk8n32kk4GQOc/s1600/2013-01-05+at+20-09-55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7rNkSQV23syKNIvovU5YqY55U-oMuy1sUoSbz8O_qb_1Ts_YJZ0AkYhO5SnoQ_1_terQrK63puzT-OvpO6-WKzFU-xPWxMGfnh0MC2um50UWHEVDlV5J-3fbPk8n32kk4GQOc/s400/2013-01-05+at+20-09-55.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Then I went back into the attic and screwed in two support braces between the rafters that the new unit would be attached to. After this was done my wife stood on the stepstool and held the new unit in place while I was in the attic working on securing things...and we hit another snag. Things were not lining up properly and we were going to have to make more room for the new unit than I had originally planned. To do this the opening would need to be cut longer and the support braces would have to be moved. No big deal, right? Sure, unless the screws used to secure the support braces get stripped out and can't be removed. Which is, coincidentally, exactly what happened. (Though only on a couple places. Fortunately I used heavy-duty hex-head screws in a few spots, and those came right out). So we went back to Lowe's and got a <a href="http://www.lowes.com/pd_299780-41877-8430P_0__?productId=3031513&Ntt=grabit&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dgrabit&facetInfo=" target="_blank">screw removal tool</a>, a new three-way switch, and 25 feet of White/Black/Red/Ground wiring. Back at home and up to the attic I went, only to find that the screw removal tool only sort of worked. At this point I used the tried-and-true method of banging on things with a big ol' hammer, and sure enough the support struts eventually came loose. Woohoo! You can kind of see how this worked in the picture below, which I took by popping up like a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0n8N98mpes" target="_blank">whack-a-mole</a> through the hole that was cut in the ceiling.</div>
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We were now about four hours into the project and nowhere near finished, but it's amazing what can be accomplished with a supportive wife and a portable crib for one's child :) I climbed back up to the roof while my wife held the new HVL unit in place, extended the metal brackets on the unit, attached the support braces, and nailed the brackets into place. This whole process took about 30 minutes during which time my wife's shoulders weren't exactly having a field day and our son was busy dismantling the components of his portable crib. But we finally got everything up up which meant that the worst was over and it was time for dinner and then cleanup. Even though the new unit was not wired up, it was in the ceiling and ready to go.</div>
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The next day after our son was down for his nap I set about tackling Part Two: The Wiring. Basically I had to turn this into a functional switch:</div>
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The first thing to do was track down the wiring for the existing HVL unit, which was buried under six inches of blown attic insulation, and get it the heck out of there. Of the two sets of wires going up to the unit, only one would need to be replaced because the standard White/Black/Ground could be re-used for the heater portion. Back up in the attic I found the wire leading to the vent and light, cut it open, and spliced it with the new wire from Lowe's by looping the ground wires around each other and then duct-taping the whole thing up tight. This allowed my wife to pull the old wire out from the switch box while I fed in new wire through a tiny hole in the attic. Soon we had the new wiring in place, and I crawled back to the new HVL unit and hooked all the wires up to the box itself. Then I went back down, wired up the new three-way switch, sent my wife to flip on the circuit breaker, and...nothing. Well, not for the light and fan anyway. The heater worked but the other two were dead as a doornail.</div>
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Way bummer.</div>
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This was probably the worst part of the entire process because everything was, in theory, all hooked up properly. The old unit was out, the new one was in place, and the wires were hooked up right. I double- and triple-checked the wiring, but nary a fault was found. Everything was in place, but it just didn't work. I was seriously annoyed, and I'm generally the kind of guy who doesn't get annoyed easily. My wife was taking it pretty well though, and she calmly walked me through all the steps of the installation. (Tip for any do-it-yourselfer: make sure to marry a supportive and patient spouse!) After re-doing all the connections back in the attic and trying several things on the new switch, we came to the conclusion that the problem must be with the switch (which was unlikely) or the physical wires themselves (which was highly unlikely). Just by chance I happened to tug on one of the white wires that I had secured with a wire nut and...it came right out. Just like that I knew exactly what the problem was and how to fix it. I simply grabbed the white wires connected by the new switch, trimmed the copper a bit, screwed the wire nut back on, and voilà! <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xos2MnVxe-c" target="_blank">It worked</a>! Oh joy! Rapture! The new unit was functioning properly!</div>
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All that was left to do was secure the vanity plate to the wall, dig my tools out of the attic, and clean the place up.</div>
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The weird thing about the new unit is it's really not all that different from the old one, except it works properly. Home repairs can be like that sometimes: simply maintaining the status quo can involve more time and money than you would ever expect, and when you are finished you often find yourself in roughly the same position as when you started. The only difference, of course, is that whatever you fixed or replaced probably works a lot better or will last a lot longer, which might not be as fun as a new computer or home theater system but probably a lot more practical.</div>
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One other thing that helps when encountering home repairs like this is to have money already set aside so the cost of the repair doesn't break the bank. My wife and I have put money away for home repairs each month since we purchased our house, and we rarely dip in to this reserve fund. We keep it only for major repairs, and because of that when we had to absorb the cost of this new HVL unit we didn't really have to think about how to pay for it or what we would need to sacrifice in the coming months. We also did not have to get a cheapo unit because we couldn't afford the nice one. While setting aside money in a fund might seem unnecessary at times, I promise you it is worth it in the long run and something I highly recommend if you are not doing it already.</div>
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Of course the final step in all this process was a prayer of thanks, followed by a lot of horsing around with my son who didn't see much of his daddy this past weekend.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-6123137853691901862013-01-04T15:12:00.002-06:002013-01-04T15:12:52.441-06:00Out with the old, in with the oldOur house isn't super new, but it's not super old either. It was built in 1987, which means it's got enough history to have character, but enough modern features to not require remodeling or massive updating. In fact, except for a new stove and cooktop, there really isn't much in the house that could use replacing either. In short, the house suits us quite nicely which is great because we would rather not spend our time and money fixing things :) But at 25 years old the house is no spring chicken, and a few parts are starting to show their age. Case in point: the bathroom ventilation fan:<br />
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It's an old NuTone H965 heat/light/vent combo unit, which is probably as old as the house. Ever since we moved in, the vent motor has sounded somewhat clunky, though it does still serve its basic function of moving air from the bathroom out into the attic. In the past few weeks though, it has started to develop a new problem: it won't turn on. Or, rather, it turns on veeeery slowly. Sometimes it takes a few seconds for the fan motor to kick in, and sometimes more than a minute during which time it emits a low-frequency hum as the electric current struggles to turn the squirrel cage. Based on the parts list for the unit, we were looking at roughly $100 for a new fan assembly or we could just replace the entire combo unit entirely. Neither one was an enticing prospect, but that's part of the deal when you sign the papers for a home purchase.<br />
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However, I wanted to try my hand at a third option before plunking down a Benjamin on replacement parts and such. To that end I figured I might as well bust out the ol' air compressor and clean the fan and motor out just for ol' times sake. It was a fairly simple process...for the most part. First I shut off power to the unit in the circuit breaker box, and since most of these heat/light/vents have their own breaker it meant that everything else in the bathroom still functioned. The next step was to remove the fan motor, which was accomplished by taking out three screws and then literally unplugging it.<br />
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After that I brought the assembly out to the garage and blew it out with the compressor...and wow. Such a massive cloud of dust burst forth that one would have thought it was a July 4 firework! That thing was so incredibly dusty, presumably because it had not been cleaned in over two decades, that it was just <i>caked</i> with gray particles. After the dust was gone I took apart the motor assembly, oiled the drive shaft, and put the whole works back together. Then it was a simple matter of plugging everything back in and <i>voila!</i> Good as new, except for a bit of a rattle that was there before but not quite as pronounced anymore.<br />
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All in all I'm happy that things went so smoothly, and we saved $100 in the process. The only problem with this whole operation though is that it didn't really work.<br />
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Sure the fan sounded great...for about one day. After that it was up to its usual tricks again, and I think something is worn out in the motor itself that no amount of simple cleaning and lubrication can fix. Looks like we'll be headed to the hardware store after all! And if we do end up buying a new fan I promise I will take plenty of pictures for the blog :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-5032024431025800562012-11-28T08:29:00.001-06:002012-11-28T09:26:30.646-06:00Apertures ExplainedAs I re-read my <a href="http://sringsmuth.blogspot.com/2012/11/mockingbirds-photoshop-and-miss-maudie.html" target="_blank">recent post about a photo I had taken</a>, I realized that I might have left some people hanging with regard to camera apertures. I touched on what an aperture is, but didn't really tie it back to the 50mm lens I wrote about. Nor did I properly explain just what apertures have to do with photography other than making parts of the image blurry and others in focus. This, then, is sort of a follow-up to my "<a href="http://sringsmuth.blogspot.com/2012/11/mockingbirds-photoshop-and-miss-maudie.html" target="_blank">Mockingbirds, Photoshop, and Miss Maudie</a>" post but it's really just designed to be a tutorial on one of the basic functions of a camera. If you have not read that entry yet, I encourage you to do so as it introduces some concepts that will be covered here like depth-of-field.<br />
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Let's start at the beginning: cameras takes pictures by capturing light on an electronic sensor. Prior to digital cameras, this sensor was a piece of film but nowadays it's a microchip that essentially performs the same function.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kids today will have no idea what this stuff is.</td></tr>
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The light that hits the sensor is controlled by the lens of the camera, which is the big cylinder-like object that sticks out from the front. All cameras have a lens, even small ones like on an iPhone. The lens is what lets light come in and hit the sensor which is inside the camera body.<br />
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Every camera camera lens also has a mechanism that controls how much light is allowed to enter through the front and pass to the shutter. The size of this opening is called an aperture, and it is one of the three key pieces that, when put together, control much of how photography works (the other two being shutter speed and ISO, but we'll get to those another time). It's a lot like how our own eyes work, actually. Have you ever woke up in the morning, turned the lights on too soon, and had to squint or close your eyes quickly because things were so bright? That's because when it's dark, our pupils open wide in order to let in more light. And in bright light, our pupils shrink because there is so much light they simply don't need to be open in order to let enough in. For example, in the image below the pupil on the left is dilated and will let in a lot of light. The pupil on the right is contracted and not much light will be let in. At night or in dark conditions, our pupils open big to let in every bit of available light, but in the daytime our pupils contract because there is so much light around us that they don't need to let it all in for us to see properly.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.aurorahealthcare.org/yourhealth/healthgate/images/si55550379.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://www.aurorahealthcare.org/yourhealth/healthgate/images/si55550379.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image courtesy of <a href="http://www.aurorahealthcare.org/yourhealth/healthgate/getcontent.asp?URLhealthgate=%22165038.html%22" target="_blank">Aurora Health Care</a></td></tr>
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Camera lenses work in the exact same way: when the aperture is wide open, a lot of light is able to enter. And when the aperture is small, not much light will enter. But what does all this have to do with taking pictures? Good question. For what I hope is a decent answer, here's a video I made that addresses this:<br />
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When my wife and I were looking at DSLR cameras, I was surprised to find out that most of the standard lenses they came with could barely zoom in and out. A common <a href="http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product/Camera-Lenses/2176/AF-S-DX-NIKKOR-18-55mm-f%252F3.5-5.6G-VR.html" target="_blank">18-55mm "kit" lens</a> doesn't really zoom in that much, and this confused me. Our <a href="http://www.dpreview.com/news/2010/1/26/panazs7" target="_blank">Panasonic ZS7</a> had a monstrous zoom lens, so why wouldn't a fancy DSLR have the same thing? Because even though our ZS7, and most pocket cameras nowadays, have lenses that can zoom in and out, they make a critical compromise in order to do so: they can't let in very much light. And not only that, but the image sensor (or film) inside most pocket cameras is much, much smaller than those found in DSLR cameras.<br />
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When a lens goes from wide-angle (you can see lots of stuff) to telephoto (you zoom in), the physical elements of the lens's construction behave in such a way that the maximum aperture (or opening) of the lens almost always shrinks. It's just not physically possible to keep a really big aperture when zoomed in, unless you spend thousands of dollars on a mega-fancy lens. And in bright light situations, like a nature hike or backyard picnic or outdoor sporting event, this is fine because there is so much available light that the camera does not need a very big aperture in order to get enough light to take a nice photo. You can even zoom in on things, like a woodland critter or a single athlete, and take a decent picture because the camera has so much light to work with. But when taking pictures indoors or at night, it is simply not possible for the apertures on many small cameras to be big enough to let enough light in. This is why most cameras have a built-in flash: they have to create their own light in order to make up for their small lenses, which are incapable of letting a large amount of light through the lens to reach the image sensor.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Hanimex_110F_Camera_with_Flip_Flash_Cropped_Version.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Hanimex_110F_Camera_with_Flip_Flash_Cropped_Version.jpg" width="233" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A 110 camera with a stack of single-use flash bulbs.<br />
I actually had one of these when I was a kid :)<br />
Image courtesy of <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hanimex_110F_Camera_with_Flip_Flash_Cropped_Version.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></td></tr>
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Another way to compensate for a small aperture is to leave the shutter open longer, which gives the image sensor a longer period of time to collect the available light coming in. This is fine if the subject of the photograph remains still, but in most situations either the subject is moving or the camera is moving. Using a tripod can eliminate the latter problem, but if you are taking pictures of, say, your daughter's evening soccer game it's somewhat impractical to ask the team to freeze motionless in the middle of a play while you snap a picture. But like I said earlier, in bright daylight this sort of thing is not a problem. A camera with a small aperture doesn't need to have the shutter stay open very long in order to let in enough light for a picture to be captured, which is why a pocket camera with a long zoom lens is just fine in many circumstances. On the flip side, leaving the shutter open for a longer period of time can produce <a href="http://imgur.com/r/ExposurePorn/top" target="_blank">very pleasing photographs</a> given the right conditions.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ever wonder how photographers get shots like this? They shoot in low<br />
light with a tripod and leave the shutter open for a long time :)<br />
Image courtesy of user <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/ExposurePorn/comments/12t6q0/waterfall_at_vogel_state_park_near_blairsville_ga/" target="_blank">TuffTuffTuffTuff on Reddit</a></td></tr>
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Let's back up for a minute here, and take a look at the 50mm prime lens now that we have discussed various aspects of a lens aperture. <a href="http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product/Camera-Lenses/2199/AF-S-NIKKOR-50mm-f%252F1.8G.html" target="_blank">This lens</a>, and <a href="http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/ef_lens_lineup/ef_50mm_f_1_8_ii" target="_blank">others</a> like it, doesn't zoom in and out, but it does have a big maximum aperture of f/1.8 (for an explanation of how apertures are measured, check out the excellent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-number" target="_blank">Wikipedia entry on F-numbers</a> or the <a href="http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/Exposure/Aperture_01.htm" target="_blank">DPReview glossary</a>). This means that it captures a lot of light--enough such that a flash is rarely necessary, even indoors or in lower-light conditions. It is also capable of a very shallow depth-of-field, which I discussed in my <a href="http://sringsmuth.blogspot.com/2012/11/mockingbirds-photoshop-and-miss-maudie.html" target="_blank">Mockingbird entry</a> as well. These features make it an incredibly versatile lens, provided you are not trying to capture a wide angle of view. Let's compare this to the <a href="http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product/Camera-Lenses/2176/AF-S-DX-NIKKOR-18-55mm-f%252F3.5-5.6G-VR.html" target="_blank">kit lens</a> from earlier. While the kit lens does zoom in and out, it has some significant drawbacks that must be considered. When it is zoomed out all the way to 18mm, its maximum aperture is f/3.5. When the lens is zoomed in all the way, its maximum aperture is f/5.6. (For an explanation of what it means to say 18mm, 50mm, etc., check out the excellent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_length" target="_blank">Wikipedia entry on focal lengths</a> or the <a href="http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/Optical/Focal_Length_01.htm" target="_blank">DPReview Glossary</a>.) This means a couple of things:<br />
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• In order to make the lens let in as much light as possible (f/3.5), the lens has to be at its widest-angle setting of 18mm. Indoors or in low-light settings, a flash might not be necessary.<br />
• When zoomed in all the way to 55mm, the lens is not capable of letting in much light (f/5.6). Indoors or in low-light settings, a flash is almost always necessary.<br />
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These limitations are not necessarily a bad thing, but they are important to know when shooting. Also, a kit lens is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-18-55mm-3-5-5-6G-AF-S-Nikkor/dp/B000ZMCILW" target="_blank">relatively cheap</a>, which makes it a good choice for photographers who want a lens that, while not perfect, is decently suited for a variety of settings. For the sake of comparison, let's look at the <a href="http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product/Camera-Lenses/2164/AF-S-NIKKOR-24-70mm-f%252F2.8G-ED.html" target="_blank">Nikon 27-70mm f/2.8 lens</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn-4.nikon-cdn.com/en_INC/IMG/Assets/Camera-Lenses/2010/2164_AF-S-NiKKOR-24-70mm-f-2.8G-ED/Views/353_2164_AF-S-NIKKOR-24-70mm-f-2.8-ED_front.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="338" src="http://cdn-4.nikon-cdn.com/en_INC/IMG/Assets/Camera-Lenses/2010/2164_AF-S-NiKKOR-24-70mm-f-2.8G-ED/Views/353_2164_AF-S-NIKKOR-24-70mm-f-2.8-ED_front.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">*drool*<br />
Image courtesy of <a href="http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product/Camera-Lenses/2164/AF-S-NIKKOR-24-70mm-f%252F2.8G-ED.html" target="_blank">Nikon USA</a></td></tr>
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This lens, while heavier and significantly more expensive than a kit lens, has the significant advantage of maintaining a maximum aperture of f/2.8 across its entire zoom range of 24-70mm. This means that indoors or in a low-light setting, a flash is probably not necessary and the lens is capable of a very shallow depth-of-field. These properties make this a far more versatile lens, and ideal for an incredible variety of settings...provided you are willing to fork over almost $2000 for it.<br />
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Let's bring this back to the realm of pocket cameras, like my Panasonic ZS7, which I said had a "monstrous zoom lens." Keep in mind that in order to get a telephoto zoom lens on a little camera with a little image sensor, the lens aperture has to be (thanks to the laws of physics) super duper tiny. Compare that to the Sigma 200-500mm lens which really is a monster, and has an incredible zoom while maintaining a freakishly large aperture of f/2.8 for the entire range:<br />
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Kind of impractical to carry around to your daughter's soccer game, eh?<br />
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Before I wrap this up, I want to touch on one critical question that many people still have: how do you set the aperture on your lens? On many pocket cameras, you can't. Most of the time this is controlled by the camera's internal software, though many cameras have scene-specific modes such as "Sports," "Fireworks," "Beach," etc. that contain aperture-and-shutter-specific presets for a few given scenarios. Some pocket cameras do have manual control options that allow you to set the aperture, shutter, and ISO, but they are often hidden in various menus or control dials. If you have a pocket camera it's worth checking out, though, and some even have dials that say something like "M A S P" or "M Av Tv P"<br />
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<b>M = Manual.</b> You have full control over the aperture and shutter values.<br />
<b>A/Av = Aperture mode.</b> You control the aperture of your lens, and the camera determines the appropriate shutter speed.<br />
<b>S/Tv = Shutter mode. </b>You control the shutter speed, and the camera determines the appropriate aperture setting.<br />
<b>P = Program auto.</b> The camera determines what it thinks are the best aperture and shutter values.<br />
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To adjust the aperture, switch to A or Av mode (you can also use the M mode, but that's a tad more complicated) and you will then be able to set the aperture of your lens using a dial or series of buttons on your camera. Keep in mind that a smaller number means a bigger aperture, or more light coming in to the lens. A bigger number means a smaller aperture, or less light coming in to the lens.<br />
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So that's the basics, folks! There's a lot I didn't cover here, and a lot that I didn't really explore in depth, so if you have questions just leave me a comment below and I will be happy to help as best as I can :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-36202985122704318162012-11-14T16:43:00.000-06:002012-11-15T10:19:57.381-06:00Mockingbirds, Photoshop, and Miss MaudieOne issue that I was wondering about when we bought our <a href="http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product-Archive/Digital-SLR-Cameras/25235/D200.html" target="_blank">Nikon D200</a> camera a few months ago was the lens. Like most people, I wanted to be able to zoom in and zoom out because, well, why not? Our little pocket camera has a monster zoom, and I didn't see why a big ol' DSLR would be any different. But you probably know by now, if you have been reading this blog with any regularity, that we chose against a zooming lens and instead opted for a <a href="http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product/Camera-Lenses/2199/AF-S-NIKKOR-50mm-f%252F1.8G.html" target="_blank">50mm Prime f/1.8 lens</a>. It didn't take me long to realize that this was an outstanding choice, and after taking more than 6,000 photos with this lens and body since May I have come to realize why it really is such a fantastic lens. This morning, then, was sort of a case study illustrating exactly why.<br />
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I work on a college campus and we often have birds, squirrels, and other animals running around and staking their claims on various flora outside the buildings. Yesterday I noticed a pair of mockingbirds hanging out on top of a shrubbery across the street, and thought they were rather photogenic. So today I hauled my camera to work and managed to snap a picture of one of them. Fortunately, this little guy must have read my mind because he happily complied with my wishes and sat still long enough for me to snap his photo:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5yP7cKtAj3EAli6duyPjkWFntxWOCzN7lO8F4GGGJYZ1oKBEvAXKQgyJZvcuIcR_qW6NHXErke0poMAmE-QQB3FIqKz0-FPg_sXzXxn70zLLsedBEUwqfEmuvd3Mcc3jdlNOX/s1600/mockingbird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5yP7cKtAj3EAli6duyPjkWFntxWOCzN7lO8F4GGGJYZ1oKBEvAXKQgyJZvcuIcR_qW6NHXErke0poMAmE-QQB3FIqKz0-FPg_sXzXxn70zLLsedBEUwqfEmuvd3Mcc3jdlNOX/s400/mockingbird.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: left;">"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy." -Miss Maudie, To Kill a Mockingbird</i></td></tr>
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To take this picture I first had to figure out what angle at which to shoot. Too high and it would seem like he was buried in the bush. Too low and he would be obscured by the shrubbery. This is when the "sneaker zoom" feature of a 50mm lens comes in handy: it forces you to move around and seek out the best angle for a given shot. Not being able to rely on a mechanism to zoom in and out forces you to take in the surroundings and actively seek out the best angle and location from which to shoot. I spent a few minutes walking around the bushes until I found a good spot, and thankfully he waited patiently for me while I was doing it.<br />
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Another issue to consider when planning a photo is the <a href="http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2008/05/what-the-heck-is-an-aperture-part-one/" target="_blank">aperture</a> you want to use on your lens. The bigger the aperture, the faster the shot and the shallower the depth-of-field. Basically, this means two things: the lens lets in more light and the shutter doesn't have to be open very long, and the area that is in focus is very small. This made it possible to get only the bird in focus, and not the rest of the bush or the background (the blurry background is also called <a href="http://photo.tutsplus.com/articles/inspiration/bokeh-photography/" target="_blank">bokeh</a>). Here's an illustration of how this worked as I was taking the shot:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS0NIODiwTvPc_OwCZMD4gWLIXX9fTrVbjHORkLkYXZNkaMrpuQt7fM-pK8EnVXLPYdapj-Al3Aa_XMwUlKDGOI6eit41EtR6bMex3OfZJ_wPJdqdYh8uY_YpiIkOl-QAvxuhY/s1600/dof.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS0NIODiwTvPc_OwCZMD4gWLIXX9fTrVbjHORkLkYXZNkaMrpuQt7fM-pK8EnVXLPYdapj-Al3Aa_XMwUlKDGOI6eit41EtR6bMex3OfZJ_wPJdqdYh8uY_YpiIkOl-QAvxuhY/s400/dof.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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For this shot I used an aperture of f/2.4, which meant that given the available light the shutter was open for 1/350th of a second and the depth of field was very shallow. This helps draw the viewer's eye to the bird and not the surrounding area, which generally makes for a more visually pleasing photo. A smaller aperture would have meant that the bushes, and possibly even the building in the background, would have been in focus too. This isn't necessarily a bad thing depending on the type of photo you want to take, but for this particular shot I thought a shallower depth of field would be more appropriate. And that's the thing about photography: there's never one correct way to do it. As long as you find something that works for you and you're happy with it, you're all good. Most pocket camera lenses have smaller apertures, and kit lenses (i.e. the lens that comes with the camera) on DSLR models aren't a whole lot bigger. But again, it's all about what works for you and knowing how to use what you have.</div>
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Anyway, back to this shot for a bit. Since a 50mm Prime lens cannot zoom in and out, and getting too close would have probably disturbed my new bird friend, the original shot is actually quite a bit larger:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYRX_iPNOjCFfoTULkVSVS0vZryt3ol7brIQluHb4T62nJXNc7VJkOCHUL03t5caYaUosM5B5Q2F3QZN7AQAvVPmuOxP7I9f2TMgCVH2f6oAyrxSfWtmpIrAdyIsNqKTj2fP_O/s1600/mockingbird-original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYRX_iPNOjCFfoTULkVSVS0vZryt3ol7brIQluHb4T62nJXNc7VJkOCHUL03t5caYaUosM5B5Q2F3QZN7AQAvVPmuOxP7I9f2TMgCVH2f6oAyrxSfWtmpIrAdyIsNqKTj2fP_O/s320/mockingbird-original.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I thought the surroundings were a tad distracting, so I cropped the photo to be tighter and bring the subject (the bird) in closer. You might also notice that the colors of the original photo are not as vibrant as the one I posted at the top. This is due to some post-processing I did in Photoshop but the same thing could be done in just about any image editing program, even basic ones like iPhoto. I'm generally not a big fan of over-editing images, but I do think some degree of alteration is just fine. And like I said earlier, it's all up to you. Some people like to adjust everything in Photoshop, and some like to leave the photograph as-is. Other times it's about the purpose of the photograph: are you trying to capture a scene, present an emotion, manipulate the viewer, tell a story, or ask a question? Photoshop, as I see it, is just another arrow in a photographer's quiver to allow him to hit the target for which he is aiming. Anyway, for this picture I used Adobe Camera RAW to adjust the contrast and saturation of the original, and then Photoshop to crop it down and add a bit of <a href="http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/tools-tips/non-destructive-vignetting-photoshop/" target="_blank">vignette</a>. I am pleased with the final result, and I hope you are too :)</div>
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Finally, I thought I would mention one other thing: megapixels. For years I was under the impression that more megapixels equaled better pictures, but in truth this metric has almost nothing to do with the quality of the photos taken by a camera. <a href="http://youtu.be/l9nFs2PeWw0?t=2s" target="_blank">Don't take my word for it</a>, though--just do a quick search on "<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=megapixel+myth&aq=f&oq=megapixel+myth&sugexp=chrome,mod=0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8" target="_blank">megapixel myth</a>" and you'll see what I mean. But permit me, if you will, to use this mockingbird photo as a case study. Our camera has a maximum resolution of 3872x2592, which means it's just a tad over 10 megapixels. This is pretty low for cameras today, and even most pocket cameras have <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olstemplatemapper.jsp?id=pcat17080&type=page&qp=cabcat0400000%23%230%23%23dh~~cabcat0401000%23%230%23%233e~~cabcat0401001%23%230%23%232u~~q616263617430343031303031~~nf1103||46756e2026204261736963&list=y&nrp=15&sc=abCameraCamcorderSP&sp=-bestsellingsort+skuid&usc=abcat0400000" target="_blank">at least 14 or 16 megapixels</a>. It works fine, though, and if you download the full-size photo at the top of this post you might notice that it clocks in at just a hair over 3 megapixels at 2638x1536. Would a 15- or 20-megapixel camera have made the photo any better? Probably not, though having that extra real estate would have allowed even tighter cropping for the final image. Is a higher mexapixel number a bad thing? No, generally not. But I say all this to illustrate that lower megapixels on a camera doesn't mean it's a bad camera either. So if you have an old model that you think isn't worth using anymore just because it has fewer pixels, I would say don't worry about it. Instead, go grab that sucker and get out and take some photos!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-50278187150425630712012-11-05T15:38:00.000-06:002012-11-05T15:38:04.805-06:00Moving on upTwo weeks ago Apple held one of their famous big ol' press events, at which they announced several new products including an iPad mini and updates to their current computers like the iMac, Mac mini, and Macbook. They also updated their flagship iPad to its fourth generation which meant a faster processor, better screen, and better wireless connectivity. This flurry of new products also meant that some of their former devices were bound for the bargain bin, such as the third generation iPad which was released to an eager <a href="http://www.slashgear.com/new-ipad-review-3rd-gen-14218465/" target="_blank">tech-hungry public</a> only a scant seven months ago in March. That's not to say that the third generation iPad is somehow an unworthy technical device--far from it, in fact, with its zippy A5X chip and retina display which, when it launched, was a revolution in the tablet industry.<br />
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Almost immediately after the fourth generation iPad was announced, Apple started <a href="http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC705/refurbished-ipad-with-wi-fi-16gb-black-3rd-generation" target="_blank">selling</a> the former king of the tablet hill for the super-bargain price (as far as these things go, anyway) of $379. I already have an iPad, but saw this as a good opportunity for some people I know whom I thought would be able to make use of such a device. One of these individuals is my mom, who has been doing mobile computing on an aging Windows Vista laptop for the past few years. It works, but it's somewhat unwieldy and the battery life...well, let's just say my mom keeps her power cord close at hand at all times. So I emailed my mom to let her know about the iPad 3, thinking she might be interested in possibly upgrading. Much to my pleasant surprise, she was all in and ordered one that very same day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXA1fQgjTqm7I8byalU-Gj0ABKckR1coHIQr4sBRS7JrmJJSyWfB2R5sdXx4w2lbf5yfbt8l86GFv7VLW4TwFFYxdZOE68r8h1Tmfd4bj0df6j_k-2345sIkzW4yz7NYgHsFkd/s1600/Untitled-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXA1fQgjTqm7I8byalU-Gj0ABKckR1coHIQr4sBRS7JrmJJSyWfB2R5sdXx4w2lbf5yfbt8l86GFv7VLW4TwFFYxdZOE68r8h1Tmfd4bj0df6j_k-2345sIkzW4yz7NYgHsFkd/s1600/Untitled-1.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One is an iPad 3. One is an iPad 4. Can you spot the difference?</td></tr>
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It arrived a few days later, and as luck would have it the delivery man was a former neighbor who works for FedEx. Small world, eh? Soon my mom was busying herself with realtime video chatting, messaging, email, and internet surfing from a device about 20% the size of her laptop without worrying about battery power. She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying her iPad, so much so that we offered the same information to my wife's mother who followed suit and bought one too. In the space of a week both our mothers upgraded their technology by leaps and bounds, and we were thrilled to be along for the ride!<br />
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It has been about a week since they got their iPads, and in that time it has been so much fun helping them get acclimated to the various features and nuances of their new tablets. We are making liberal use of Apple's <a href="http://www.apple.com/ios/messages/" target="_blank">Messages</a> app, which allows us to send videos of our son to grandma and grandpa free of charge--and they are in turn sending videos right back to us. My wife's mother was so enamored of her iPad she gave it a name, Padi, and was thoroughly delighted to discover things like the Siri search feature and the built-in dictation too.<br />
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There have been a few hiccups along the way, but we are thrilled with how this transition has gone and looking forward to helping our parents become certified techno-geeks :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-40790309565953925672012-10-19T13:49:00.001-05:002012-10-19T13:53:20.560-05:00Photographically speakingOne thing I like to do, especially this time of year, is take our <a href="http://sringsmuth.blogspot.com/2012/06/whats-old-is-new.html" target="_blank">camera</a> with me whenever I happen to be walking around somewhere. It's sometimes a bit of a hassle, given that the body is rather large and conspicuous, but having a camera makes me look at things a little differently. Carrying a clunky DSLR often causes me to think consciously of different ways to look at the world around me, and think about what objects and designs would make good photographs. Not that I am a good photographer by any means, and certainly far from it by any objective measurement. But the secret to becoming a good photographer, like any skill or trade, is simply doing it repeatedly and refining your technique over time. One thing I am not very good at is finding things that would make for interesting pictures, though, which brings me back to the original point of this post: forcing myself to look for these opportunities. Rarely will a good scene just appear before my eyes, gift-wrapped and labeled as a Good Picture Opportunity. Instead, I have found that these times must be sought out and pursued, and even then the picture itself must be evaluated, planned, and composed. Of course there are exceptions to this, and many great photographers have taken many great photographs simply by being in the right place at the right time, but for me this is something that I have to continue to learn and refine by repeated practicing. Take this photo, for instance:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib1sUIkF8JXuXZ9YaAtZEbtIz2-JO9dZrniaOfEIpjW1mgwJc5WFx5iUeZNEa9JgppmAb8rXP0HTexcU82xehrJxn1860MhXr1bz_jgkjMyc2wZoHOgukiOWwrow-m1D-qcz5s/s1600/DSC_3714.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib1sUIkF8JXuXZ9YaAtZEbtIz2-JO9dZrniaOfEIpjW1mgwJc5WFx5iUeZNEa9JgppmAb8rXP0HTexcU82xehrJxn1860MhXr1bz_jgkjMyc2wZoHOgukiOWwrow-m1D-qcz5s/s400/DSC_3714.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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I was pushing my son in his stroller a week ago, and we were just walking through the neighborhood when I spotted this patch of flower buds next to a mailbox. It's the kind of thing that, normally, I would have not even noticed and simply passed by. But because I had my camera with me and was actively seeking photograph opportunities, I decided to park the stroller, sit down on the street, and snap a couple pictures. I didn't adjust anything in Photoshop, though perhaps I could have cropped it a little, but overall I am pleased with this picture. I like the shallow depth of field (I think it was taken at f/2.8) and the bits of purple that contrast nicely with the overall green and brown tones. I also like that the setting discernible but not distracting. There's a bunch of things wrong with the picture too, and I think I could have found a more interesting angle from which to photograph it, but these are the kinds of things that, hopefully, will continue to improve over time.</div>
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A few days later I happened to have my camera on campus with me during a bit of a rain shower. It wasn't a downpour, but there was enough water to make things interesting and the clouds were creating just enough of an overcast sky to allow for decent picture-taking. My boss and I were coming in to the building and she casually said "Hey, you should get a picture of the dogwood tree." She meant the whole tree, but with my 50mm lens there was no way I could have fit the entire thing in frame. So I went for the opposite approach and decided to try getting just a part of the tree instead:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCVShdOr3qgonKL0gaJVn96oGAvCdgdlvgqk6Am_PaYkHkMYbkQCkVVoPZAtDov_K5Dl4ajGvsr4KYkv4aHDa7Fa18Bi7RrFuPjPAEkpdW6QP5Rno_OZBeY7nUAMaSBaB2Ci3r/s1600/DSC_3771.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCVShdOr3qgonKL0gaJVn96oGAvCdgdlvgqk6Am_PaYkHkMYbkQCkVVoPZAtDov_K5Dl4ajGvsr4KYkv4aHDa7Fa18Bi7RrFuPjPAEkpdW6QP5Rno_OZBeY7nUAMaSBaB2Ci3r/s400/DSC_3771.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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I have taken other pictures of tree leaves and things like this, but I think the overcast sky and the wet leaves made for a slightly more interesting photo opportunity than what otherwise might have been. The drips on the leaf bring out the colors, and I like the way the tip is turning brown too. It's kind of a reminder that time is passing, and even beautiful things like this tree will fade over time. The curly leaf on the left side of the photo is kind of cool too, and like the previous picture I did not adjust anything in Photoshop though I did crop it just a bit. Originally there was part of a leaf on the right side, which kind of ruined the composition, so I just cropped the picture until it was gone. This photo could be improved in many ways too, and I'm not throwing it up here to showcase any type of photographic talent or skill. I just think it's fun to share pictures like this, and I also see myself getting better at this kind of thing over time.</div>
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I also enjoy learning more about my camera and lens through photography also, and finding ways to tame the <a href="http://www.photographybay.com/2009/08/04/4-reasons-why-everyone-should-have-a-50mm-lens/" target="_blank">awesome powers of the 50mm lens</a>. But I also like hearing from other photographers too. It's my favorite way of learning more about photography and picture-taking...so do any of you have tips or tricks to recommend? Or how about photos to share? Let me know in the comments!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-33275528811369742302012-10-11T14:32:00.003-05:002012-10-11T14:32:50.867-05:00Gems in the roughLast Friday I came home from like usual, to my wife and son were playing in the yard while waiting for me to pull up on my bike. We continued to let our boy explore nature for a few minutes, and as he played in the grass my wife told me about an estate sale she had seen that afternoon while pushing the stroller around the neighborhood. We have always been fond of garage/lawn/yard/estate sales, but the latter generally have the highest potential for finding some sweet deals (case in point: the mint-condition shop vac I snagged three years ago at an estate sale for $15). We decided to hold off on dinner for a little while and take a stroll to the neighbor's house a few blocks down to see if we might strike it lucky at this sale.<br />
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Once we got to the sale we found all the usual trappings and flotsam that such things usually entail: clothes, kitchenware, tools, old electronics, and of course a room full of knicknacks. It was fun to browse around and talk to the son of the owner about the house, which is slated to go up for sale in a few weeks. Clearly he was fond of the place, but also seemed like they were glad to be selling it and moving into a retirement home. While browsing through a collection of odds and ends in one of the back rooms, my wife stumbled across a few paintings she really liked, such as this one:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS3D0b4I3Cg6LuOotl-dQbbKzM3t7bSrCbZosyAHbB9aQ7gVzM1hVT3GSY9x9nve1CERyd8LZe5P5fAs7fta_mFK2djRDDxS9SnO-_qZ_XpBLuD1iFjPvOm-fNz9k1Tky7z-HJ/s1600/1009121952.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS3D0b4I3Cg6LuOotl-dQbbKzM3t7bSrCbZosyAHbB9aQ7gVzM1hVT3GSY9x9nve1CERyd8LZe5P5fAs7fta_mFK2djRDDxS9SnO-_qZ_XpBLuD1iFjPvOm-fNz9k1Tky7z-HJ/s400/1009121952.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(blurry picture taken on my old cell fone)</td></tr>
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She's a big fan of wall art, specifically nature scenes like this, and was delighted to find some paintings in really good shape that we could take home and hang up. There were a couple dozen paintings like this around the house, all for sale, and while they might not have been Rembrandts they were certainly worth buying for about $20 each.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieuFsYT_5aBrQjmwVLm-DTRJQJ3Dv7daRfyfax03tSXutt8CurKv4AbV8TXSa1yiGJyQHeavKLpHBwaXcqbCTzk-JGoHjnStt_ghmRbd6E6QoQjD36FA1XS5vU91cJ7GZZ8CLA/s1600/1009121951a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieuFsYT_5aBrQjmwVLm-DTRJQJ3Dv7daRfyfax03tSXutt8CurKv4AbV8TXSa1yiGJyQHeavKLpHBwaXcqbCTzk-JGoHjnStt_ghmRbd6E6QoQjD36FA1XS5vU91cJ7GZZ8CLA/s400/1009121951a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The second painting we found.</td></tr>
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The really cool part, though, was when we got to talking with the mother of the guy from earlier. Turns out she and her husband were selling the place and decades of their own personal possessions in order to move to an assisted living facility nearby. The woman, named Virginia, took up painting at a hobby several years ago and created all the works we were seeing throughout the house. It was an impressive display of artistic talent, and we were thrilled to get to meet the lady who had painted these works of art. She humbly dismissed virtually all our praise, even suggesting at one point that we might want to whitewash one of the paintings because it wasn't very good, but at least we would get a decent frame out of the purchase. We told her that such a concept was rubbish, and we were pleased as punch to be able to buy these paintings and put them on our walls at home. She smiled kindly, and we walked home with two paintings along with a stud finder, a fertilizer spreader, and some fabric. Yay for estate sales!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ljxdPosI-BDVC2bjEPDw8P8qYVAbFKaWAhZK5ElLe_DYIdHM-hC0VapHdzNsi5I60RUG91R_ZL1gT1WwzOzVGljdyFxrkFTLPPb1PbRrYnEoGGacF8nEV_NUnRj_DTq6jrq3/s1600/1009121951b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ljxdPosI-BDVC2bjEPDw8P8qYVAbFKaWAhZK5ElLe_DYIdHM-hC0VapHdzNsi5I60RUG91R_ZL1gT1WwzOzVGljdyFxrkFTLPPb1PbRrYnEoGGacF8nEV_NUnRj_DTq6jrq3/s400/1009121951b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another day, another painting</td></tr>
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The next day we went back to see if any of the paintings were still available, and sure enough there was a handful left. We picked up this winter cabin scene and again passed some time just visiting with Virginia and her other family members who were there to help out with the sale. Soon we went home with a third painting, thinking about where we might want to put it. But that's not where things stopped. On Sunday we went back one last time, and picked up this gem:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl48w9PDC-rfBMAxnxdWL8FNo4M-dsbM7V5YS8ZZIKn5OFT3OrddQGokQCgJWzeDIJPH7D29IynxfM_jjQo7tjuz7wpY2va54agLYs9KbgkAHk49jEVLufYUPF1-eCO34Ro2qb/s1600/1009121951c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl48w9PDC-rfBMAxnxdWL8FNo4M-dsbM7V5YS8ZZIKn5OFT3OrddQGokQCgJWzeDIJPH7D29IynxfM_jjQo7tjuz7wpY2va54agLYs9KbgkAHk49jEVLufYUPF1-eCO34Ro2qb/s400/1009121951c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Through all this, Virginia was just pleased that people were buying her paintings and happy that we came by with our 15-month-old son to see their sale and visit with her and her family. Through it all I got the distinct impression that this couple had lived life on their own terms, doing what they wanted and finding ways to be happy despite what circumstances befell them. Even as they watched their history get tagged and sold and carted out the door, they were happy. Through our talks we discovered that they were moving to an assisted living facility not out of resignation or poor health, but simply because they wanted to live life on their own terms. They did not need trinkets or tools or couches or fancy decorations to give their lives purpose and meaning. Just each other. I hope when these paintings adorn our walls we will appreciate them, but remember that in the end they too will pass away. And after all is gone it is the relationships that matter, and not the memories but the people with whom they were created.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-11843086578874886712012-10-03T18:00:00.000-05:002012-10-03T18:00:03.634-05:0010-Minute RestorationEven though I'm 32 years old, I'm a big fan of some tried-and-true basics when I need a quick lunch fix. Macaroni and Cheese (Kraft, mind you. Never the off-brand), Spaghetti O's with meatballs (ditto on the name brand), and Campbell's Chunky Soup often find themselves in front of me on my lunch break, often augmented with a pickle, some fruit, or a handful of <a href="http://www.fritolay.com/our-snacks/doritos-tapatio.html" target="_blank">Tapatio Doritos</a>. That's good stuff, man, and fifty years from now I'll probably be requesting Spaghetti O's with meatballs when I've got a couple of marbles rolling around upstairs and the nursing home staff has long since given up on trying to get me to eat healthy. I always make my Macaroni and Cheese in the same pot, too, but last week my wife discovered a bit of a problem when she went to get something in the kitchen:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Wt8Oe8kwMbDVgXS-ebRYhyirc4Y6YHCF_UG1YCKcpSmfF5TBNm_ZhqPlf_HEJczfCckJV3Vpt9Pwr7fPo8UX_ptOQJsqllHK7ICZ5BEKkkoygq4HKx9S-lpkc7EtPtpmmuaJ/s1600/P1120069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Wt8Oe8kwMbDVgXS-ebRYhyirc4Y6YHCF_UG1YCKcpSmfF5TBNm_ZhqPlf_HEJczfCckJV3Vpt9Pwr7fPo8UX_ptOQJsqllHK7ICZ5BEKkkoygq4HKx9S-lpkc7EtPtpmmuaJ/s400/P1120069.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
The horror! I left the stove on, and all the extra milk and cheesey goodness had been burnt and, I thought, permanently bonded to the pot. Say it ain't so! But for a while, it was. I tried scraping it, washing it, and boiling it while hoping in vain that something would work. Try as I might, victory escaped my grasp and taunted me each time...until this morning. As I was staring at the pot wondering how I could resurrect it to its once-storied status I remembered the little bottle of Brasso we had in the cupboard.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy_xEbg6FjGi2ikkqEnERiyORHE6Z8fwEOb1kmPIVEljK_uZZGaW5D-ziCaaTNZUTSBrq-SolBTErs6RkCMhRzFwSQyBrDYENmVi32GoR8WtDS-qxui3THnXeqcVBd8IhAsZjE/s1600/P1120070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy_xEbg6FjGi2ikkqEnERiyORHE6Z8fwEOb1kmPIVEljK_uZZGaW5D-ziCaaTNZUTSBrq-SolBTErs6RkCMhRzFwSQyBrDYENmVi32GoR8WtDS-qxui3THnXeqcVBd8IhAsZjE/s400/P1120070.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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For those of you who have never heard of Brasso, it's basically magic in squeezable form. It can clean almost anything, and I can't believe it took me a whole week to think about using it on the pan. It's kind of like industrial-strength Soft Scrub in that it uses a slurry of microscopic particles and cleaning solvent to remove the dirt from a given surface. A few minutes into the cleaning process my hands were getting tired but I was seeing some promising results:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNpyRQyUAgIn61tvZleQiMYA-U5QQHA-ZqhOnS2Tatp4Baj5N7-997C_GXOtJxzhDHqU9aTf-kErM56MuimW30Tl5oKUmyFtWKkuxZMcxTvRzkc1qko7jYDqO-SxMRpRX1Y-9-/s1600/P1120071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNpyRQyUAgIn61tvZleQiMYA-U5QQHA-ZqhOnS2Tatp4Baj5N7-997C_GXOtJxzhDHqU9aTf-kErM56MuimW30Tl5oKUmyFtWKkuxZMcxTvRzkc1qko7jYDqO-SxMRpRX1Y-9-/s400/P1120071.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3 minutes of scrubbing and all's well thus far.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJFm14-YR7MgpmpQoOzhRctEixoN4WwqL1r6C9jJuJ4fhlplxQOcaUMk-LOoxfB8dJoWLmE2AQdGCRbl0uYw5-PC6BCKVHue-_AWOSw0vmrayfPSN9OYIrVsj9HxAycvuAl_X8/s1600/P1120072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJFm14-YR7MgpmpQoOzhRctEixoN4WwqL1r6C9jJuJ4fhlplxQOcaUMk-LOoxfB8dJoWLmE2AQdGCRbl0uYw5-PC6BCKVHue-_AWOSw0vmrayfPSN9OYIrVsj9HxAycvuAl_X8/s400/P1120072.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lookin' good so far!</td></tr>
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I used an old T-shirt that I had in my rag pile out in the garage to do the actual scrubbing, and things went a little smoother when I started going in a circular motion instead of back and forth. All in all the process took about 10 minutes, and I was left with a pot in mint condition:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvXfaQkzy2x7TWPabVITC17_ua9ARanAUq10PBWlNLFHORRiMcZjxk77TplhexUA1Y3sjio-1EzRG4U2oQLP7WUtyeDOko_FpQ5Mg8qs1zKKYgiGgh_JgglmTdrkJTrk2FUZK0/s1600/P1120074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvXfaQkzy2x7TWPabVITC17_ua9ARanAUq10PBWlNLFHORRiMcZjxk77TplhexUA1Y3sjio-1EzRG4U2oQLP7WUtyeDOko_FpQ5Mg8qs1zKKYgiGgh_JgglmTdrkJTrk2FUZK0/s320/P1120074.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Now time to go grab some Spaghetti O's and get my lunch on...</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-61324301338696741392012-09-24T10:48:00.000-05:002012-09-24T10:48:56.136-05:00Goats At WorkI didn't grow up in a big city, but I didn't exactly grow up in a small town either. For much of my life I lived in an average-sized city of about 200K residents, but we were close enough to the edge that a 10-minute bike ride from home would put us on a dirt trail in the middle of cornfields. It was a great place to be, and even now when I go back for a visit it still feels just as much like home as it always did. After college I lived in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area for five years, and while the conveniences of a big metropolis were nice, I did miss the simplicity and uncomplicated living of my former residence. Not that it was bad, just different. Those five years were an incredibly valuable time in my life, and though I didn't always see it at the time, there was a reason the Lord brought us to that part of the country. Many reasons, in fact. But now that we live in what would be considered by most definitions a small town, I often have moments when I really appreciate this place. Moments like this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDm9rK0rifgGeSP43jGsnR4oPlr5KCrLkgBRS76w98whW4adwST_NS1XYbozVWK2kjYiuAAGNjtfAwsDxT-fJBVB89DsG9TU4f8P56ToqBF_lL9y8pWkAbdWQa6A1R6nARCQm5/s1600/0924120748.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDm9rK0rifgGeSP43jGsnR4oPlr5KCrLkgBRS76w98whW4adwST_NS1XYbozVWK2kjYiuAAGNjtfAwsDxT-fJBVB89DsG9TU4f8P56ToqBF_lL9y8pWkAbdWQa6A1R6nARCQm5/s400/0924120748.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
I don't know what these goats are doing or why they are here, but as I biked to work this morning and saw them munching on vegetation behind the Hobby Lobby, I thought of how this scene would never take place back in the Twin Cities. It's things that this that I really like about living here, and even though we have yet to get a Target store it's still a fantastic place to live.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-78495418763358664682012-09-11T16:05:00.003-05:002012-09-11T16:05:39.717-05:00Saving My Wrists (Part 2)For the past seven weeks I have been using a RollerMouse Pro2 at work, and while I am not convinced that such a device is good for everybody I can say that it has been a nice benefit for me--particularly with respect to my wrists. If you haven't read my <a href="http://sringsmuth.blogspot.com/2012/08/saving-my-wrists.html" target="_blank">initial impressions</a>, you might want to go ahead and do that as that blog post also contains some information as to why I wanted this pointing device in the first place.<br />
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• I mentioned in my original impressions that it did not take long for me to get used to the device, and after using it for six weeks I don't even think about how different it is anymore. Using the bar to move the pointer around onscreen is second nature, and I really like that I don't have to move my right hand over to the side of my desk and grab the mouse like I used to. However, when other people are at my computer to view demonstrations or look up information, they often get confused and I have to do the navigation for them. This could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your point of view, but it's not really an issue for me. I thought I would mention it anyway though.<br />
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• It is comfortable...for the most part. I am still using my old wrist rest (basically a super oblong bean bag) because the wrist rests on the RollseMouse Pro2 don't extend very far down. I think the manufacturer knows about this too, because they sell an <a href="http://ergo.contour-design.com/products/rollerwave2" target="_blank">extended wrist rest</a> for about $40. That's a tad expensive if you ask me, and I think the device itself should probably just come with more padding for people's wrists. Don't get me wrong, though--it is not an uncomfortable setup at all, but when paying $200 for what is basically a glorified mouse, I would have hoped it would come with the extended wrist rest too. At the end of the day my hands feel much better than they used to, and I guess that's what really matters.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbWEcSm9Udn_ob3SMH0c3sGTex41C-8NP4FEkuDHsNreHhEUgFWgnRT_K-VjQalkFpzEf2KDYcavDA-1hlSJCU9teZfN6SIpFtOKP4nmeNTZyyM8SjvqcSAmQspUn07_jRIxt/s1600/0905121636.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbWEcSm9Udn_ob3SMH0c3sGTex41C-8NP4FEkuDHsNreHhEUgFWgnRT_K-VjQalkFpzEf2KDYcavDA-1hlSJCU9teZfN6SIpFtOKP4nmeNTZyyM8SjvqcSAmQspUn07_jRIxt/s400/0905121636.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm still not sure why this thing extends so far to the right, but maybe it's to accommodate gigantic keyboards.</td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
• It works great for 95% of the tasks I do on a daily basis. Navigating the internet, answering email, working in Excel, even simple video editing tasks are just fine on this device. In some ways it is a marked improvement over a regular mouse, since the copy/paste functions are mapped to specific buttons and the double-click button really comes in handy far more than I would have initially thought. What it does not work well for is anything involving photo editing, which admittedly is not a large portion of my day, but any time I fire up Photoshop or Fireworks I start to long for my trusty ol' Logitech mouse. I would, however, venture to say that for most people it would be a great addition to their workspace.<br />
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• The seven buttons work just fine, but I think there is a bit of form-over-function going on. The concave layout of the right/double/left click buttons, with the scroll wheel in the middle, looks great on paper and in a catalog but in practice the buttons are a bit awkward and my hands even start to cramp a little. I'm not sure what would mitigate this, and most of the time it's not really an issue but I thought it would be prudent to mention this here anyway.<br />
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So was it worth $200? I dunno. My first instinct is to say "Probably," but it depends on your situation. I would recommend getting their 30-day trial to judge for yourself, but I suppose only several years of using this kind of device would be the only way to really judge its effectiveness. If you are a graphic designer or video editor, this is almost certainly not the right pointing device for you. But if your job involves pretty much anything else, it's worth a shot.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-62491256159897354562012-09-05T05:00:00.000-05:002012-09-05T05:00:09.188-05:00Ignorance, Bliss, and Electrical TapeI recently went back home for my friend's wedding, and since my wife and son couldn't come with I had to make the trip with only my trusty iPod and Garmin GPS as travel companions. I have made this drive before, and while it's not nearly as enjoyable without the human company, it's not really that bad as long as I can keep my mind occupied. And the best way to do that, in my experience, is to fill my iPod not with music but with podcasts. Specifically This Week in Tech, Mac Break Weekly, Radiolab, Left Right and Center, the Game Informer Podcast, and Focus on the Family's PluggedIn Podcast. Listening to music, especially songs with which I am already familiar, causes my brain to go numb after a few hours in the car. But listening to people talking, particularly if they are discussing ideas and news, keeps me interested and engaged. And so I set out on Interstate 35 with enough talking heads (not to mention a bag of salt and vinegar chips, and another bag of Jelly Bellys) to keep me awake for days. But I also had an ace up my sleeve: a modification I made to my car before leaving that, more than anything else I did to prepare for the trip, made all the difference between enjoying the drive and haggardly wondering <i>how much longer until I get there...</i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEYQbriQUMID4IqkPigSUmePAkWNAuzeEJD9VFjF6LVdzvSKmzO5ENc0594I6JXxYIavGwhdStbfnDELE_5Vzk9I6wWiRxOwhOiDQxRNXcdCskKHklgpTsgiKilaVPEC0hJtpX/s1600/0904121423a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEYQbriQUMID4IqkPigSUmePAkWNAuzeEJD9VFjF6LVdzvSKmzO5ENc0594I6JXxYIavGwhdStbfnDELE_5Vzk9I6wWiRxOwhOiDQxRNXcdCskKHklgpTsgiKilaVPEC0hJtpX/s400/0904121423a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's kind of hard to see in this picture...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnbUZRWn5liRoCFbbYvvztMJ9qxWvqD33eVfmhk1-2Xt3o4KobtebNUlLFVQEoh-w4o9DDxjefdPliRxgUbz5SRFqInXXVozlAjzA-ruIWAFmQ-YqKFlfS5imS92w9y7neT4NO/s1600/clocktape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnbUZRWn5liRoCFbbYvvztMJ9qxWvqD33eVfmhk1-2Xt3o4KobtebNUlLFVQEoh-w4o9DDxjefdPliRxgUbz5SRFqInXXVozlAjzA-ruIWAFmQ-YqKFlfS5imS92w9y7neT4NO/s400/clocktape.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ok, let's try this one instead. (click to view full-size.)</td></tr>
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In case the pictures don't make it clear, I took a piece of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/3M-Electrical-75-Inch-66-Feet-6132-BA-10/dp/B00004WCCL/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1346351759&sr=1-1" target="_blank">electrical tape</a> and covered up the clock in my car.<br />
<br />
What this did was remove any possibility of me being able to check what time it was. I knew that I left town around 5pm, but after that everything melded into one continuous journey with no timestamps by which I could gauge my progress. Normally on a drive like this one the clock is constantly visible right there on the dashboard of my car, telling me what time it is and providing a continual stream of information to my brain about how much longer it is going to be until I reach my destination. Any feelings of ambiguity are tossed aside so that I might be constantly made aware of how long I have been on the road and how much is left to go. If I cross a state border or go through a town, a quick glance at the clock tells me whether I am making good time or falling behind.<br />
<br />
But the thing I realized is that it doesn't matter if I'm making good time or falling behind. As Vash the Stampede would say, "Whatever happens, happens." I'll get to my destination when I get there, and in the meantime covering up the clock in my car helped me sit back and enjoy the ride.<br />
<br />
So how did it go?<br />
<br />
Fantastic.<br />
<br />
I took the same route back home as always, but had no idea if I was arriving at the usual landmarks when I normally would. I pulled up to the same Conoco gas station as always, but had no idea what time it was so I didn't worry about whether or not I could take my time. So instead I just sort of took it easy, and when I was ready to go I hopped back in the car and continued on. Later I had to use the bathroom, and normally I would question whether a stop would be worth it, given the precious minutes it would add to the drive. But since I had no concept of how long I had been driving, or how long I had left, it didn't really matter. Twice I pulled over just to take some photos, and once I stopped just to get out, walk around, and stretch for a while. Not having a sense of time made it impossible for me to gauge my progress, and instead I just got to enjoy the ride. Basically, it allows me to drive with the Spike Spiegel philosophy of "Whatever happens, happens." <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/QwvIp399JRo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<br />
I have since left the tape over the clock on my car, and though driving to work isn't the same as driving across three states, it has made a measurable impact on my state of mind while I make the 2.5-mile commute in the afternoon. I leave when I leave, and arrive when I arrive. And in the meantime there is no clock to tell me if I'm going to be late or not. In essence, that decision has already been made the instant I set foot into the garage, and by then it's too late to change anything. And if I do happen to be running late, the clock is not taunting me or daring me to run red lights and blow through stop signs. Thomas Gray proposed the idea that <a href="http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ode_on_a_Distant_Prospect_of_Eton_College" target="_blank">ignorance is bliss</a>, and while I can't say I entirely agree with him, I do know that getting rid of the clock in my has entirely removed one source of potential worry and stress in my life. And it sure is nice.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-79949793827826263792012-08-29T06:00:00.000-05:002012-09-04T15:18:45.536-05:00Adding a little sparkWe have two cars: a 2007 Toyota Matrix with about 80,000 miles, and a 1998 Toyota Corolla with about 140,000 miles. In some ways, the latter reminds me of Charlie Brown's <a href="http://cdn.instructables.com/FU7/9HFV/G33OQ7QC/FU79HFVG33OQ7QC.MEDIUM.jpg" target="_blank">Christmas tree</a>. It had a salvage title when we bought it in the late autumn of 2005, which meant that it was in a wreck but had been fixed up before being sold again. It was a big mistake though, because in the next few years we had more than our fair share of headaches due to a very poor reconstruction job. Thanks to a great deal of help from my dad, though, we have been driving it ever since and hope to keep it until something really bad finally goes wrong and it's just not cost-effective to keep it around. I change the oil myself ever three-to-five thousand miles, and we don't really abuse our cars with any crazy driving habits either, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that the Little Corolla That Could will go to 200,000 miles or even beyond. Last night, though, I finally checked something on the car that probably should have been looked at sooner: the spark plugs.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlfLheJdqMXmEYC8Eu_DICdkJY2jfP983E26v89-etNk1xqQf4BSZTvr5rdOJf1mkON27oDmwu3oSPLAPMpvyr9Xk2H2Rr2mjTVv4AJ2-o14qJmQ2oUuPsm20Cj0rxLALf2N7r/s1600/P1110998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlfLheJdqMXmEYC8Eu_DICdkJY2jfP983E26v89-etNk1xqQf4BSZTvr5rdOJf1mkON27oDmwu3oSPLAPMpvyr9Xk2H2Rr2mjTVv4AJ2-o14qJmQ2oUuPsm20Cj0rxLALf2N7r/s400/P1110998.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These suckers should have been changed about 20,000 miles ago</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsWbi44aNmukiig77XXjSWn-dorhTINQS7krfNpXnduTJ6-ccRvKny4jV_Y_weXcBAAFCOk3NJdcz5oeOl3ZgVbzVk4DNbe4eLbwUClJxcjBbpG4KxyzfaLXeGi3Ka2dyi1BSF/s1600/P1120002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
These little thingeys are responsible for igniting the gasoline during after the compression phase of a <a href="http://www.howstuffworks.com/engine1.htm" target="_blank">four-stroke engine</a>, and if they are worn out they can cause a misfire or make it harder for an engine to start. Ideally the gap between the electrode and the contact on these spark plugs should be about 0.04 inches, which you can test using a gap tester (the millenium falcon-like disc in the above photo) like so:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsWbi44aNmukiig77XXjSWn-dorhTINQS7krfNpXnduTJ6-ccRvKny4jV_Y_weXcBAAFCOk3NJdcz5oeOl3ZgVbzVk4DNbe4eLbwUClJxcjBbpG4KxyzfaLXeGi3Ka2dyi1BSF/s1600/P1120002.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsWbi44aNmukiig77XXjSWn-dorhTINQS7krfNpXnduTJ6-ccRvKny4jV_Y_weXcBAAFCOk3NJdcz5oeOl3ZgVbzVk4DNbe4eLbwUClJxcjBbpG4KxyzfaLXeGi3Ka2dyi1BSF/s400/P1120002.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Most spark plugs have one elctrode. These have two...for twice the craziness!</td></tr>
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On these worn-out spark plugs, the gap ranged from 0.05 to 0.06 inches, which might not sound like a whole lot but over time it can result in poorer engine performance, lower mileage, and increased emissions.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLJzGLlD48kATDym-OtS4JIsEg5kZxYYPMMpsrdqEoBTkCJ0DVc91XB55jWmFnz6lrwZj1P71_CUoCqyvwb8FeolBH7GOvIql-XGuFXh39c32iRjeMTj_dLTeFx7tvAhbm8Lai/s1600/P1120008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLJzGLlD48kATDym-OtS4JIsEg5kZxYYPMMpsrdqEoBTkCJ0DVc91XB55jWmFnz6lrwZj1P71_CUoCqyvwb8FeolBH7GOvIql-XGuFXh39c32iRjeMTj_dLTeFx7tvAhbm8Lai/s400/P1120008.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gap tester or movie prop? You decide!</td></tr>
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Testing these things is pretty simple: just stick the gap tester between the elctrode and the contact, and turn until it won't move anymore. I should also note that getting the spark plugs out of the engine is super easy, provided you have a spark plug socket. I have a <a href="http://www.sears.com/craftsman-94-pc-easy-to-read-mechanics-tool/p-00937094000P?prdNo=24&blockNo=24&blockType=G24" target="_blank">Craftsman tool kit</a> that includes such a socket, but I don't know if this is standard for these tool kits anymore. If not, you'll have to <a href="http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00943324000P" target="_blank">buy one separately</a> :( Basically it's just a longer 5/8" socket with a rubber insert to help pull the spark plug out of the engine once it's loosened.</div>
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Anyway, once the spark plugs were all out I popped in my new set of NGK's I bought for about $30, or around $7.50 each. There are less expensive options, but in the dead of winter when I'm trying to get my engine to turn over I'd rather have the peace of mind that comes from knowing I didn't cheap out on spark plugs.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRKzCs_Q-JvshJzu_NsCcB1cBmgMeaenZB7reEQP2MPdhfVBl_rf53W24IkNl38Bqtne6oldrh_Rk3tdWFHOyfAUSuBS6fE1EyzviBPCDfLlnhyKU1rDsWtaHt3kDep5ZORg0e/s1600/P1120001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRKzCs_Q-JvshJzu_NsCcB1cBmgMeaenZB7reEQP2MPdhfVBl_rf53W24IkNl38Bqtne6oldrh_Rk3tdWFHOyfAUSuBS6fE1EyzviBPCDfLlnhyKU1rDsWtaHt3kDep5ZORg0e/s400/P1120001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just to clarify: this is the box the spark plugs came in. Not the actual spark plug.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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All in all the operation took less than 20 minutes, which isn't too bad considering it saved a lot of future headaches down the road. Get it...down the road? Bwa ha ha!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-3285092969770473972012-08-23T16:07:00.003-05:002012-08-23T16:07:49.536-05:00Cleaning it outNote: Sorry for the lack of updates recently. I could give excuses about how I was out of town for 10 days, and then out of town for a weekend, and how the semester has been busy, and stuff like that. But instead I'll just blame my lack of updates on my continuing quest to beat Super Metroid.<br />
<br />
It hasn't rained a lot in our state recently, and by that I mean that the half-inch of precipitation we got on two separate days last week was the first time it has rained in months. But when the clouds gathered and the showers came, it was almost like Christmas morning. I stood in the living room and just watched the brown grass in our back yard soak up the water, and could almost feel our big ol' Chinese Pistache tree drinking it all in. Then I noticed that on one side of the window a small waterfall had formed, and realized it had been entirely too long since I had cleaned the gutters. So last night I busted out a couple of my trusty tools in the garage and set about making things right, so the impending precipation that is forecast for the weekend might drain properly and away from the house foundation.<br />
<br />
When we first moved in I must admit I had no idea how to clean the gutters. This sounds kind of dumb, but it's one of those homeowner things I never really thought about because it just didn't affect me. I guess when I was a kid my dad must have cleaned the gutters from time to time, but I can't remember helping him. And when we lived in an apartment up in Minnesota I didn't really have a reason to clean the gutters because the maintenance dudes took care of that sort of thing. So three years ago when faced with this situation I grabbed a ladder, some gloves, and spent an hour crawling around the roof just scooping dead leaves and muck out with my hands. It was crude, but it worked.<br />
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Then I found <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shop-Vac-9197000-2-5-Inch-Gutter-Cleaning/dp/B000YM9MPS" target="_blank">this thing</a> while browsing at Sears:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLQYCrCfDXm8qGVFCj6Ec2VCRfeyrf7ciFqkF4Mj2_nwU2VCnlL-QySIqZ9-Mta76cE6Mm1Y2EQSEVLnkMtv-TA9e3-2MrdE1oA9I3O22JNP5FHFSvEJO7Vs52YIRMwfhxwKdA/s1600/shopvacguttercleaner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLQYCrCfDXm8qGVFCj6Ec2VCRfeyrf7ciFqkF4Mj2_nwU2VCnlL-QySIqZ9-Mta76cE6Mm1Y2EQSEVLnkMtv-TA9e3-2MrdE1oA9I3O22JNP5FHFSvEJO7Vs52YIRMwfhxwKdA/s320/shopvacguttercleaner.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Shop-Vac gutter cleaner!</td></tr>
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I don't know if I have mentioned it on this blog before, but a shop-vac is one of the most useful objects a person can have in his or her garage. It's hard to explain exactly why, but there are all kinds of situations in which the best solution is "just get out the shop vac." I once used mine to find a screw that fell out when I was replacing a part on my barbecue grill--by vacuuming about a square yard of the lawn and sifting through the debris on the driveway. And it turns out shop vacs are ideal for cleaning gutters, provided you have an attachment like the one above. But if you do, don't use it like the guy in the picture, who is using it with his shop vac on reverse to blow flotsam and jetsam out of his gutters. I like to use mine to actually suck up all the muck and gunk, because blowing it out means a good portion will end up on the roof and then right back into the gutters during the next rain.<br />
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"But wait a sec," you might be saying. "Won't this ruin the filter of my shop vac?" No, not really. Not if you have a handy-dandy <a href="http://sringsmuth.blogspot.com/2012/07/pumping-air.html" target="_blank">air compressor</a>! Just take off the filter and blow it out real nice and good for a minute or two. It won't be as good as new, but it will get rid of much of the dust, grit, and particulate matter that accumulates after heavy use.<br />
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This gutter cleaning method isn't as fast as hopping up on the roof and scooping everything out manually, but when paired with an iPod and a fresh supply of <a href="http://www.twit.tv/" target="_blank">TWiT</a> podcasts, the chore can be done in an hour or so, and you might learn a few things along the way :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-33994709372055094462012-08-01T07:00:00.000-05:002012-08-01T07:00:11.745-05:00Saving my WristsSince I work in an office at a computer, my hands are constantly making small movements for typing and using the mouse. From what I understand, this type of repetitive motion over time can cause Repetitive Stress Injury, increase the likelihood of developing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, make your fingers fall off, exacerbate global warming, and all manner of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3ZOKDmorj0" target="_blank">mass hysteria</a>. So in an effort to make sure I don't kick the bucket in five years because of workplace hazards, I have tried to engage in some habits at work to keep the ol' ticker going a little longer:<br />
<br />
• I ride my bike to work. It's only 2.5 miles, but it's better than nothing. Usually I bike in the morning, then bike home for lunch, and drive back in the afternoon. With a summer of temps above 100 degrees, things get a little too warm to be biking to and from an office in the afternoon.<br />
<br />
• I drink lots of water. For years now, I have made a conscious effort to consume one 32-ounce bottle of water before lunch and another one after. I still drink a can of pop each day though :)<br />
<br />
• I use a <a href="http://www.geekdesk.com/" target="_blank">GeekDesk</a> that allows me to stand all day. Sitting, as it turns out, is <a href="http://mashable.com/2012/06/18/too-much-sitting/" target="_blank">way bad for people</a> so for the past year and a half I have basically stood up at work. Sometimes I lower my desk if I'm having one of those days were standing is just a little too tiresome, but that's generally about a half hour or less. I could write a whole post on how great it is to stand up in the office all day, but I don't want to get too sidetracked here. Suffice it to say, it's pretty kewl.<br />
<br />
• About a week and a half ago I started using a<a href="http://ergo.contour-design.com/products/rollermouse-pro2" target="_blank"> RollerMouse Pro2</a>, which brings me to the subject of this blog post.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard_images/roller_mouse_pro_2_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard_images/roller_mouse_pro_2_large.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The RollerMouse Pro2. Like I told the guy in their service department, "it looks kind of weird."</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ergojournal.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Contour_RollerMouse_Pro2_black_packshot_with_keyboard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.ergojournal.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Contour_RollerMouse_Pro2_black_packshot_with_keyboard.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here it is with a keyboard attached. Whee!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
For a while now I've had some minor aches and whatnot while at work, presumably from all the typing and moving the mouse. Back in spring we had an afternoon seminar on workplace health and how to improve our daily habits to stave off atrophy, and one of the things that was mentioned by the facilitator was to get a mouse like this one to reduce the stress of constantly reaching back and forth for the mouse. She could have been speaking directly to me, because this is exactly what has been hurting my hand for some time now. I talked things over with my supervisors and they agreed to get me this pointing device on a <a href="http://ergo.contour-design.com/buy-or-try/30-day-trial" target="_blank">trial basis</a> to see how it works out. So here's my thoughts so far...<br />
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• It didn't take nearly as long to get used to as I thought it would. Instead of a trackpad, you roll a little bar up and down and back and forth, which seems kind of goofy until you try it. Then something in your brain clicks and it just kind of makes sense.<br />
<br />
• It is very comfortable. Much moreso than moving my hand over to the mouse and back all day long.<br />
<br />
• There are seven buttons, which makes it super easy to do just about anything. I'm not kidding either, and they aren't paying me to say this. There is even a dedicated "Copy" button and "Paste" button. Why don't normal mice have this feature? (On my Logitech Laser Mouse I had to manually map "ctrl-c" and ctrl-v" to two separate buttons)<br />
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• I was a little concerned that the bar would not be able to accommodate a dual-screen setup like I have at my work, but it actually does quite nicely. Let's say your pointer is on the right side of the right screen and you move the bar to bring the pointer over to the Start menu on the left side of the left monitor. Pretty soon the bar hits the physical edge of its enclosure, and the pointer hasn't made it across the entire screen area yet. Not cool! Thankfully, the makers of this little device thought of a solution. Just keep forcing the bar to the left, and it will "click." Voilà! The pointer instantly snaps to the left side of the screen. It took me a day to figure this out, and it's a really nice feature that has already saved me many headaches.<br />
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• My hands don't hurt as much. In fact, my right hand is just fine and since migrating to this new mouse it has had none of the usual aches that it used to. Granted, it's only been a week or so but it's an improvement.<br />
<br />
So there you have it. So far so good, but we'll see how this thing holds up in the long run. Right now I am optimistic though, and my hands and wrists are already thanking me :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-6483400528060221582012-07-28T07:00:00.000-05:002012-07-28T07:00:07.589-05:00Stepping back in timeMaybe it's fatherhood. Maybe it's nostalgia. Maybe it's some sort of innate desire to recapture the glory days of my youth. I dunno. But whatever it is, something deep down inside has been inspiring me to get my collection of video games back.<br />
<br />
We didn't have much in the way of video or computer games when I was a kid, partly because we were too busy playing outside but partly because my parents (wisely) did not allow us to partake in those kinds of electronic distractions. They encouraged us to build things with Legos, play with rubber band guns in the basement, dig holes in the yard, ride our bikes down to the park, go to the local pool to swim...as long as we were home by bedtime the neighborhood was pretty much fair game. It was a great way to grow up, and I hope I can give my son a similar type of childhood too. As my siblings and I got older, and had something resembling disposable income thanks to paper routes and after-school grocery store jobs, we started to indulge in the electronic entertainment arts a little more. Over the years we had various incarnations of Nintendo consoles like the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Super Nintendo (we missed out on the original NES), Nintendo 64, Game Boy Pocket Color, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Advance SP, and on down the line. Put together a list of classic games from the early- to mid-90's era, and chances are we owned 'em: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YxRb4bKbMI" target="_blank">Super Mario World</a>, <a href="http://youtu.be/tzw3iHCgD3M?t=49s" target="_blank">Metroid II</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXVA_RDzxss" target="_blank">Super Metroid</a> (very close to the top of my list of All Time Favorite Games), <a href="http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/32436/chrono-trigger-the-best-rpg-of-all-time/" target="_blank">Chrono Trigger</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRNdnXN5n9E" target="_blank">Final Fantasy III</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6tFoIUyOdU" target="_blank">Super Mario 64</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAvZHyvc2NY" target="_blank">Pilotwings 64</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYlMc638Yq0" target="_blank">Zelda: Link's Awakening</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuEazJNUnEo" target="_blank">Zelda: Ocarina of Time</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8y9Sfav5v8" target="_blank">Super Return of the Jedi</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T5u9nD_I0I" target="_blank">F-Zero</a>, and the list goes on.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcZR46EMCPoHL0nb1Ja5bhKf5F47WYbJXRF43unxooyInSp1YZHUhswXgjUL0M0P3ZfYHc-8MH272DS0kp2ApZr2JlWCDEHl-nDmsBCRszozbBhKiXrv4NUr_JVO_LqclTA7XsZw/s1600/02+Origial+Game+Boy+Black+Front.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcZR46EMCPoHL0nb1Ja5bhKf5F47WYbJXRF43unxooyInSp1YZHUhswXgjUL0M0P3ZfYHc-8MH272DS0kp2ApZr2JlWCDEHl-nDmsBCRszozbBhKiXrv4NUr_JVO_LqclTA7XsZw/s400/02+Origial+Game+Boy+Black+Front.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My first Game Boy was black, and I spent many nights poring over Zelda puzzles on it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I'm now in my early 30's and still enjoy playing video games when time allows. I've got an Xbox 360 and enjoy games like Gears of War (own and have beaten all 3), SSX, Fallout 3, and recently, Oblivion (I know I'm way behind the times with this, but I missed it years ago and want to play through before I tackle Skyrim). But still, there's nothing like sitting down at night with a Mountain Dew and some classic SNES games, which brings me clear back to my original point here: lately I have been attempting to rebuild my collection because, over the years, a good deal of my video games have been lost, traded, or (*snif*) sold on eBay. Thanks to the <a href="http://www.nintendo.com/wii/enhance/#/virtualconsole" target="_blank">Virtual Console</a>, this is is much simpler than actually owning a cabinet full of physical video game systems and tracking down all their respective classic games (some of which can be quite expensive nowadays). We've got a couple thus far, like Super Mario Bros. 3, Ocarina of Time, Sonic the Hedgehog, and most recently, Super Metroid, but one problem with the Virtual Console is the controller. The standard Wii controller works, but not very well, which makes some of the games like Super Metroid very tricky. I have an old Gamecube Wavebird controller, but the oddly-shaped buttons make precision maneuvers very tricky to pull off in some of the classic games of yesteryear. The solution? A Classic Controller Pro, which I finally picked up last weekend.<br />
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Playing through some of the trickier stages in Super Metroid (can you tell I like this game?) was a breeze with the new controller, though it was a little tricky to get some of the jumps in Super Mario Bros. 3 just right. For some reason, Nintendo configured the Classic Controller Pro such that when playing original NES games, the a/b buttons are actually more difficult to press than on the standard Wii controller. On the Wii controller, as well as the original NES controller, the a/b buttons are situated right next to each other. But on the Classic Controller Pro they are angled upward, which makes it difficult to pull off maneuvers in which both buttons need to be pressed simultaneously.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHlZp7EibiQOG1m8Oqr8Beaj7Ruu6B3v4mYkJtANRm4EtaOPUHY1Mz0nIbvESe5PGGwpMJtj0BzNFS57KNXvnJQ71CE7vdSlFy2uQYvWxUZJ-zx6enMLS15-8sXpUmOHb98nK8/s1600/controllers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHlZp7EibiQOG1m8Oqr8Beaj7Ruu6B3v4mYkJtANRm4EtaOPUHY1Mz0nIbvESe5PGGwpMJtj0BzNFS57KNXvnJQ71CE7vdSlFy2uQYvWxUZJ-zx6enMLS15-8sXpUmOHb98nK8/s320/controllers.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
On the NES and Wii controllers, it is possible to press the left button (a or 1) with the top of your thumb, and while holding it down rock the joint of your thumb to press down on the right button (b or 2). This is very handy in the Mario games, where pressing a/1 makes your character run fast enough to get a boost when jumping with the b/2 button. In those situations, I suppose going back to the Wii controller would probably work but that means adjusting to the Wii's small d-pad and 1/2 (i.e. a/b) buttons. Still, these minor annoyances pale in comparison to the ability to revisit a vast library of classic games (the Virtual Console is <a href="http://gameinsight.net/2011/12/16/missing-virtual-console-games/" target="_blank">missing some of the great ones</a>, but hopefully one day they will add more) without messing with a pile of dusty cartridges and game systems. I hope my son will one day enjoy playing these old games too, but by the time he's old enough to do that we'll probably have <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodeck" target="_blank">Holodecks</a> and he'll be too busy with <a href="http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Parrises_squares" target="_blank">Parrises Squares</a> to pay attention to dad's crusty old collection of pixellated games from the stone age. And if that day ever comes, you know where to find me: sipping Mountain Dew while going head-to-head with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVfVRiYh96M" target="_blank">Ridley</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-64705679798008019902012-07-23T07:00:00.000-05:002012-07-23T07:00:24.893-05:00Pumping AirThis post is, somewhat serendipitously, a follow-up to my <a href="http://sringsmuth.blogspot.com/2012/07/this-one-goes-to-11.html" target="_blank">previous</a> garage-related post. While that one was all about speakers, this one is all about a bunch of hot air. Or cool air. Or whatever the air temperature happens to be at the moment. Anyway, the point is I finally got an air compressor. Whee!<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrzh4Kds4Ysjq-LKnLwwb1g16vZ7Ggt4Pt2HYtLagjGsCJsEeayAhrtgC91_w284zszeSMS_ltmkHRcfGczHKwklHlXtyGSS108v11BZGy7XGKFNQEpxYaJB5MxIBNkJcsOE0/s1600/P1110350.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrzh4Kds4Ysjq-LKnLwwb1g16vZ7Ggt4Pt2HYtLagjGsCJsEeayAhrtgC91_w284zszeSMS_ltmkHRcfGczHKwklHlXtyGSS108v11BZGy7XGKFNQEpxYaJB5MxIBNkJcsOE0/s400/P1110350.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two horses and four gallons of air-compression goodness</td></tr>
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I have wanted one of these for years, and way back in 2004 I even went out and bought a cheesy 1-gallon unit from Menard's. It took several minutes to bring its tiny little reservoir to maximum PSI, but it worked for filling up car tires so I didn't complain. I gave it to my cousin about two years later, and didn't really miss it that much until my wife and I bought the house we currently live in. The big attached garage sure is nice, but there have been a host of times since we moved in that I said a variation of the phrase "If only I had an air compressor..." And not just for filling up tires, either (though that certainly does come in handy). Here's a couple examples of why an air compressor is a great tool to have around:<br />
<br />
• Cleaning dirt and dust off the lawnmower and other small engine tools<br />
• Cleaning dirt and dust off engine parts under the car hood<br />
• Cleaning dirt and dust off kids' toys<br />
• Cleaning gunk and residue off old household items<br />
• Bringing new life to an old shop-vac air filter<br />
• Drying off wet objects<br />
• Quickly removing sawdust, dirt, and dead bugs from the garage<br />
• Working with pneumatic tools like <a href="http://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools/impact-wrenches.html" target="_blank">impact wrenches</a><br />
<br />
Until now I haven't had one though, which means any time a tire is low or something needs to be cleaned with a burst of air, I've had to take it down to the gas station or (gasp!) use one of those <a href="http://www.staples.com/Dust-Off-Duster-35-Oz/product_633699" target="_blank">little cans of compressed air</a> you can buy at Staples. I remember a time last February when my friend Jon and I actually had to walk our bikes a mile down the road to the gas station to fill up the tires, just so we could start our bike ride. Not cool :( The problem is, these things aren't cheap. A decent compressor runs at least $150-$200 new, and prices kind of skyrocket from there. Some are meant for different applications, some are bigger, some fill up quicker...yeah, you never thought compressed air was such a hassle, eh? Fortunately, my dad came to my rescue several months ago with this little gem:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg65SlzySa7Rx8QykqQvo8Urvr6-LPGVrMWuQS2QXyWMXTAEsKiWAA5cXOieUA_vGUJeJ5gSWrVW52BGdoOAJOghhQanx3aWbLm8upOyZMISE2E7TCyLM_jYr3Vrfnkr2nvpiZx/s1600/0720121258.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg65SlzySa7Rx8QykqQvo8Urvr6-LPGVrMWuQS2QXyWMXTAEsKiWAA5cXOieUA_vGUJeJ5gSWrVW52BGdoOAJOghhQanx3aWbLm8upOyZMISE2E7TCyLM_jYr3Vrfnkr2nvpiZx/s400/0720121258.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A medieval torture device? No, not quite...</td></tr>
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It's a <a href="http://www.harborfreight.com/5-gallon-portable-air-tank-65594.html" target="_blank">portable air tank</a> he made from an old propane canister, and is great for all the aforementioned tasks...except when it runs out of air. Fortunately there are several places in town, from tire shops to gas stations, which will fill it up for free. It's a nice stopgap measure but there's just something nice about having your own for-real air compressor :) But since the price tag was holding me back, I went to the internets for some help.<br />
<br />
I belong to a group on Facebook where people here in town post things they want to buy or sell--sort of like a less creepy version of Craigslist. It's a perpetual online garage sale of sorts, which is continually updated with all manner of clothes, tools, old electronics, nicknacks, and other tchotchkes that people in town and the surrounding communities want to trade. I posted that I was looking for a small air compressor, and less than two hours later someone responded that they had one to sell. The next day he and I met up on the university campus where we tested it out, and $55 later I drove home with this little blue fella.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpedexveWLUTm4l6ZP76ORgVSKjqb0vVTS-q8oM4YrVjh-uapye_erdmvnb24RYYHgxyZyMfiAuWSYfDil5AkujxIj3YFNycwkvfdebluwWRdda7Z3XjH2KNEmRf_5qLm-4wf7/s1600/P1110351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpedexveWLUTm4l6ZP76ORgVSKjqb0vVTS-q8oM4YrVjh-uapye_erdmvnb24RYYHgxyZyMfiAuWSYfDil5AkujxIj3YFNycwkvfdebluwWRdda7Z3XjH2KNEmRf_5qLm-4wf7/s400/P1110351.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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It's clearly not <a href="http://www.lowes.com/pd_346458-70-E810-4V_4294795218__?productId=3400030&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=" target="_blank">new</a>, but not that bad overall. The oil dipstick is broken off (it's the small circular protrusion sticking up from the solid grey motor), the oil needs to be changed, one of the pressure gauges doesn't work, and the tanks had a fair amount of brown condensate that had to be drained out, but <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087332/quotes?qt=qt0475979" target="_blank">other than that it's in great shape</a>. I also picked up a good rubber <a href="http://www.amazon.com/GOODYEAR-46504-8-inch-25-feet-Restrictors/dp/B004HL25J2/ref=pd_cp_hi_0" target="_blank">air hose</a> (tip: don't mess with the polyurethane or PVC air hoses. They're more of a hassle than they're worth) and sure enough, it works like a charm.<br />
<br />
Like a shop-vac or most power tools, an air compressor isn't one of those things you find yourself using every day unless your job depends on it. But the times when it's handy to have, it's <i>really</i> handy.<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-86150838915208433212012-07-18T07:00:00.000-05:002012-07-18T07:00:10.664-05:00This one goes to 11One of the things I like most about our house is the big attached garage. It's not gigantic, but it is large enough to park two small sedans and still have room for a workbench and an assortment of semi-rusty tools ranging from a hydraulic car jack to a reel lawnmower to, a sledge hammer. Like my dad, I enjoy going out to the garage and tinkering on things, though my version of tinkering usually means attempting to fix something small or cut up some wood, while my dad's version of tinkering often involves a welder, oxygen-acetylene torch, or rotary band saw. Clearly I have a long way to go. But last I finally got something put in my garage that I've wanted to get for a long time: speakers.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic-GsUeBPU-DmPn1op9w1gz_KPq6lMnle7pQQ71b1acLJaoltPp6lj7I5v1U_5SFBNogGVJn4p3n3sikss8h2foEOSXzWrd49-k5KKa8hq_cgrt_WCVtYx8R2VCyLks-8abrZn/s1600/P1110345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic-GsUeBPU-DmPn1op9w1gz_KPq6lMnle7pQQ71b1acLJaoltPp6lj7I5v1U_5SFBNogGVJn4p3n3sikss8h2foEOSXzWrd49-k5KKa8hq_cgrt_WCVtYx8R2VCyLks-8abrZn/s400/P1110345.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Behold the mighty speakers as they stand guard over a roll of soffit vent mesh</td></tr>
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When I'm on the garage I like to listen to something, usually NPR or a podcast, to keep my mind busy. Most of the time this involves turning the car radio on and rolling down the windows, but if my hands are dirty and greasy it can spell doom for the already worn-out upholstery. And if I have to disconnect the car battery, there's really no other option for listening to talking heads or tunes. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNnAvTTaJjM" target="_blank">Or both</a>.<br />
<br />
So for the past three years I have been engaged in an on-again-off-again search for something, anything, that would let me fill the airwaves with aural bliss when I'm working on something in the garage. We looked for radios and boom boxes at yard sales, and went online to see if we could find a radio or CD player or something that also had a line-in jack so I could play podcasts from my iPod. No dice. The ones we found were either too big, too small, or broken. Recently my wife told me, in one of those I-can't-believe-I-never-thought-of-this-before moments, that I might just look in to buying a pair of speakers. And sure enough, it seemed like the ideal solution since my <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/22/ipod-touch-review/" target="_blank">old iPod</a> plays podcasts as well as radio broadcasts and NPR programs thanks to the technological wonders of iOS apps. Only trouble is, I didn't want to shell out good money for new speakers that would just get all dirty and gross in the garage. Fortunately these sorts of things aren't too difficult to find, and sure enough when we were browsing at the Habit For Humanity Restore last weekend my wife spotted the above-pictured pair of old Gateway-branded Altec Lansings just waiting to be purchased. They sounded great, and the price? A measly $3. Cha-ching!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO8YmkEuEErkurjSje0i0dtdA0sqpQ_isw2gnOdISOSOwgMNkpGChHay_-2-E_fd5LppfSZ2-rJXMLoh5OeffK3HcUaF2ZFV8orz6x78OGbNFMRDO4Ovg0w_LTaPwjNZ5UXQ9Y/s1600/P1110349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO8YmkEuEErkurjSje0i0dtdA0sqpQ_isw2gnOdISOSOwgMNkpGChHay_-2-E_fd5LppfSZ2-rJXMLoh5OeffK3HcUaF2ZFV8orz6x78OGbNFMRDO4Ovg0w_LTaPwjNZ5UXQ9Y/s400/P1110349.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
Putting up the speakers also gave me the push I needed to finally get a power strip put up on the side of the workbench, so I can turn on the overhead light (and now speakers) with the push of a button instead of manually plugging them in each time. Now just I need to get head to Lowe's to get a some hardware to keep all those unsightly cords under control...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-60800107234524381722012-07-12T07:00:00.000-05:002012-07-12T07:00:12.161-05:00Vinegar and whatnow?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.quik-express.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Clorox%20Green%20Works%20Natural%20All-Purpose%20Cleaner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.quik-express.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Clorox%20Green%20Works%20Natural%20All-Purpose%20Cleaner.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apparently for a cleaner to be "green,"<br />
it literally has to <i>be</i> green.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We have tried all sorts of cleaning products for the bathroom and kitchen over the years, with varying degrees of success. When we first bought our house we used anything we could get our hands on, like Soft Scrub, Windex, Tilex, CLR, Comet...basically anything in the household chemicals aisles at Lowe's or Walmart. Even some semi-hippie eco-friendly cleaners from Seventh Generation and Clorox's "Green Works," which I think is really just regular cleaners dyed green. Some worked, some didn't, and some are still sitting on the shelf in our storage room. For the bathtub and shower we tried various incarnations of the classic <a href="http://www.salon.com/2010/01/06/against_lotr/" target="_blank">scrubbing bubbles</a>, including a particularly bad <a href="http://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Lemon-Scent-Foaming-Bathroom-Cleaner-22-Oz/12335103" target="_blank">store-brand version</a>, but nothing seemed to work all that well. Or rather, they worked but were far too expensive to use regularly. For a while we tried using a weird <a href="http://www.scrubbingbubbles.com/Products/Pages/daily-shower-cleaner-soap-scum-and-mildew-stain-cleaner.aspx" target="_blank">daily shower cleaner</a> but aside from leaving the bathroom smelling of ammonia and artificial flowers, it didn't seem to do all that much. It's not that these products didn't get our showers and sinks clean, but they just weren't that impressive when compared to how much money we had to spend on them. Particularly the shower cleaners, where taking care of the tub could use up a fourth of one bottle of cleaner.<br />
<br />
So a few days ago, after some encouragement by my wife as well as some <a href="http://www.vinegartips.com/scripts/pageViewSec.asp?id=7" target="_blank">checking online</a>, I decided to give plain ol' vinegar and baking soda a try. You know, that combination that kids used in 4th grade science fairs to make <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXLR7N3LubI" target="_blank">volcanos</a>? Yeah, that stuff. I had an empty spray bottle lying around that I managed to convert into a bottle of vinegar spray using nothing more than that jack-of-all-trades, the Sharpie marker:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFawhPTmY6Lt-Nx-l_jMY17ZG5CqroMoSsQrT1TLzuOqFqznSO0pJa-z9h2P4y5uqfKzbI1NBJPuCiQlWk4Naa8NsSrFwyA8HQ19g6rIxtLlG_Mfd6h7lOTCjV4BR6E57ShwY6/s1600/0711120655.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFawhPTmY6Lt-Nx-l_jMY17ZG5CqroMoSsQrT1TLzuOqFqznSO0pJa-z9h2P4y5uqfKzbI1NBJPuCiQlWk4Naa8NsSrFwyA8HQ19g6rIxtLlG_Mfd6h7lOTCjV4BR6E57ShwY6/s400/0711120655.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice how the bottle of cleaner has been cleverly transformed into a bottle of vinegar.</td></tr>
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I took the spray bottle into the bathroom, doused the shower floor with it, poured on some baking soda, and sat back to watch the foaming commence. And foam it did, for a minute or so, after which I scrubbed the whole works for a while, rinsed everything off with water, and voilà! One clean shower. The whole process was remarkably simple, and didn't leave me feeling woozy like often happens if I'm stuck in a small bathroom full of cleaner fumes. Though if you don't like the smell of vinegar, you might be out of luck with this method :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-82900769385558411292012-07-10T07:00:00.000-05:002012-07-10T07:00:08.777-05:00Following Up<i>This post is a bit technical, but since you are reading a blog, and this post pertains to reading blogs, I think you might enjoy it even if you are not a technically-minded individual. This post also has nothing to do with home repairs :)</i><br />
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I enjoy reading blogs, and many of my friends and coworkers keep online journals of some sort. It's a nice way to stay up to date with people, but things can get a little tricky when you ("you," in this case, referring to anyone who enjoys reading blogs) find yourself with more than a couple blogs to follow. It's a hassle to log on to various blogs and check up on things, and pretty soon you might find yourself with dozens of blogs to visit with no hope of staying current anymore. Sure you could put all those blogs in a Bookmarks folder in your browser, but you still need to visit each one individually and hope they have new content. It's so much to keep track of!<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.wnyc.org/media/photologue/photos/rss.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://media.wnyc.org/media/photologue/photos/rss.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Behold...the RSS Feed Icon!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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What's a confused web surfer to do?<br />
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The answer is simple: use an RSS reader. A family member recently asked me to help her set up an RSS reader, and in doing so I realized it might be worthwhile to explain things here on my blog too. I would be lost without my RSS reader, and find it incredibly useful when managing all the blogs I follow, so I thought you might find this information to be helpful too.<br />
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The basic concept goes something like this: RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. (or, Rich Site Summary. But it really doesn't matter.) Almost every blog has an RSS feed that anyone can subscribe to, and once you do, you can see each blog entry as a headline in a list. And the entries you have not read will be marked, just like unread emails in your email program. When you open your RSS reader you will instantly see all the blogs you follow as well as which entries you have not read. It's kind of a way for you to consolidate your blogs in one central location, and read them in a more efficient manner.<br />
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Confused? Oops. Well then, let's try a visual example.<br />
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My RSS reader of choice is <a href="http://reader.google.com/" target="_blank">Google Reader</a>, but it requires users to have a Google account. Many email programs have RSS readers built in, and Windows users have a <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5806995/the-best-news-reader-application-for-windows" target="_blank">host of options</a> from which to choose. Mac users need not fret though! There is the excellent <a href="http://netnewswireapp.com/" target="_blank">NetNewsWire</a> as well as a bunch of <a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/5-mac-os-x-rss-readers-worth-giving-a-shot.html" target="_blank">other programs</a> too. Most of these programs are free, which is always nice. I prefer Google Reader because I use Mac and Windows computers, and since Google Reader operates from any web browser I can access it anywhere. But no matter which RSS reader you choose, they all perform the same basic functions. The trick isn't to find the best one, but one that works for you. And if you don't know where to start, just try one and see what you think.<br />
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Here's what my RSS reader home screen looks like:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcAQvXjhnbr-Ne_azA1b_S6beBpciF0ilVEIVNl64PEmzvil1LxrU6G8r9aFWh02NljC4RRp_VjPJREpArItK_1JdAVC5VyMUFjZOhoFN2-oJGsb9yYb1shkPkh2e9A08lNw9H/s1600/7-9-2012+4-04-56+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcAQvXjhnbr-Ne_azA1b_S6beBpciF0ilVEIVNl64PEmzvil1LxrU6G8r9aFWh02NljC4RRp_VjPJREpArItK_1JdAVC5VyMUFjZOhoFN2-oJGsb9yYb1shkPkh2e9A08lNw9H/s400/7-9-2012+4-04-56+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(click for larger version)</td></tr>
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Does that kind of screen look familiar? It ought to--it mimics the layout of most email programs. On the left is a list of all the blogs I follow, and on the right is all the entries for a particular blog. When I logon to <a href="http://reader.google.com/">reader.google.com</a>, any blogs that have been updated show up on the left-hand side in boldface along with the number of new entries. Simple, eh? Google Reader has a lot of other useful features too, like sorting blogs into folders, renaming blogs (I rename all the blogs I follow so they show up as the first name of the author, rather than the blog title. Helps things stay a little more personal.) marking items as unread, marking individual blog entries as favorites, and other tools that help you manage all the clutter. And most RSS programs offer similar options, so if you don't want to use Google Reader chances are any of the RSS programs you will find are likely to have similar functionality.<br />
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So how do you get your RSS reader set up? This too is pretty simple. In Google Reader, you just click the Subscribe button and type the address of a blog you want to follow:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV79f1SP-KYmAM0vuoBf_qMXljB9D5rKFP1_sISjW549xj-3D3J6UJuYUc4CuGj3E2P1YCPBiGLdZgYBc34ssZhtsTz-5TStRGcwkK34uZeov0xAT77yOa36AUSNwzmpKhz_1Y/s1600/7-9-2012+4-13-27+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV79f1SP-KYmAM0vuoBf_qMXljB9D5rKFP1_sISjW549xj-3D3J6UJuYUc4CuGj3E2P1YCPBiGLdZgYBc34ssZhtsTz-5TStRGcwkK34uZeov0xAT77yOa36AUSNwzmpKhz_1Y/s320/7-9-2012+4-13-27+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
It will then be added to the left-hand side of your screen and you are then free to sort, rename, read, and organize to your heart's content. Easy as pie!<br />
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RSS readers are handy for gathering news as well as reading blogs. Most news organizations have RSS feeds for the stories they post, which can be read in an RSS reader just like blogs. For instance, the Washington Post has RSS feeds brown down into <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rss" target="_blank">dozens of categories</a>. So rather than logging on to their main web page, you can just subscribe to the RSS feeds that have news and information you care about. Then when you open up your RSS reader you will see not only the blogs you follow, but the news stories you care about. Nifty, eh?<br />
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Here's a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU&feature=player_embedded" target="_blank">short video</a> that explains things further, and even though it's kind of old it's still worth checking out. I hope this post was useful, and if you have any questions just leave a comment and I'll be happy to help!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-84742805612740022592012-07-06T07:00:00.000-05:002012-07-06T07:00:09.526-05:00A Board SandwichA few months ago my dad and I installed a ceiling fan in our living room, a process that was equal parts fun, fascinating, and sweaty since most of the work involved crawling around in the attic. Even though we put the fan up in March, temps were hot enough that more than a few minutes of attic-time resulted in sweat beading up on the sides of my safety goggles. The whole operation went remarkably smooth though, and to this day my wife and I continue to enjoy the cool breeze afforded by the ceiling fan--particularly when temps are consistently above 100 degrees outside and our air conditioner occasionally struggles to keep up. But as we were taking the final extension cords and hammers down from the attic, we noticed a problem that would have to be corrected someday. Behold, the Broken Rafter of Uncoolness:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYwfZ3lkRt71tV67Pig2t6e0MNTgegzjYeU0srBnOFfl-1CnOr4PSz23f7PP8r1Z51mH2C-KsOk8sCFG7rGcyClhjkKWGlOCekG7bO8DCNhW9o63sdYR72ynYw1unaT6gte56/s1600/P1110147.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYwfZ3lkRt71tV67Pig2t6e0MNTgegzjYeU0srBnOFfl-1CnOr4PSz23f7PP8r1Z51mH2C-KsOk8sCFG7rGcyClhjkKWGlOCekG7bO8DCNhW9o63sdYR72ynYw1unaT6gte56/s400/P1110147.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not shown: the single tear...I mean...drop of sweat rolling down my face</td></tr>
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Here's a close-up, just in case you're curious:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZWD9hNCgUZqat-mxvLIxyGTT0xELgjkxfGe3bVEV3isgR5T5A54-TM2zlTTz_s88_fD4596jOvcsdpsudrixB4IjthxsP2CK-_j2LIZdpse_18YhmExMwiGTg1YO9FafvxKY9/s1600/P1110144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZWD9hNCgUZqat-mxvLIxyGTT0xELgjkxfGe3bVEV3isgR5T5A54-TM2zlTTz_s88_fD4596jOvcsdpsudrixB4IjthxsP2CK-_j2LIZdpse_18YhmExMwiGTg1YO9FafvxKY9/s400/P1110144.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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And for the past several months this rafter has remained broken, always in the back of my mind as one of those projects I'll get to someday. My guess is that the rafter cracked not because of excessive load, but due to expansion and contraction over time. It's not mission critical, and for all I know could have been broken for years, so what's a few more months? Well, this past weekend I decided that someday had come and I would finally get the rafter all patched up. I waited until about 8pm when our son was in bed and things had cooled down slightly. Even though the attic would still be sweltering, I figured this was the kind of project that might never had an ideal date and time on which it ought to be completed, so I just went for it, carpe'd the salvē, and decided to fix that rafter once and for all. My plan was to sandwich the broken joint between two pieces of plywood, so the first step was to cut the plywood:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkxEyLzHn-MYr40x3brJADhDj7ysfJQB7tWer7_Un5345t164zLKZ6F3tjllfS1XD0Cpb6PHb0iQhOSz_4BVfiyvrPVqrFAZALl7HBKtvVNrj5PaL5Uz4DEoHbd28Z9y6_tkEV/s1600/P1110146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkxEyLzHn-MYr40x3brJADhDj7ysfJQB7tWer7_Un5345t164zLKZ6F3tjllfS1XD0Cpb6PHb0iQhOSz_4BVfiyvrPVqrFAZALl7HBKtvVNrj5PaL5Uz4DEoHbd28Z9y6_tkEV/s320/P1110146.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A circular saw. One of those tools you don't use every day, but sure is nice to have when you need it</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">.</td></tr>
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I cut two pieces of 3/4" plywood, 3.5" by 9", which was plenty long enough to run the length of the broken joint and then some. The next step involved taking everything up to the attic and getting started on the repair.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Q6VLx63yh0Mjump8zcng6F_a5_ATVsfnS7UN4x3OxtGq7vkL0BqvMmklg1rHrSvMYcYcNi8mvW7q3QYX-a8AFiPzFrtQlolphxDfm6GUiUFiCy23Uyvzddk54SoRxM2Mt2Kw/s1600/P1110143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Q6VLx63yh0Mjump8zcng6F_a5_ATVsfnS7UN4x3OxtGq7vkL0BqvMmklg1rHrSvMYcYcNi8mvW7q3QYX-a8AFiPzFrtQlolphxDfm6GUiUFiCy23Uyvzddk54SoRxM2Mt2Kw/s400/P1110143.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My trusty little halogen work light. Because, y'know, it wasn't hot enough already in the attic</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJV3ESHU7C3yHwwCbnV9OrSk3WMZHI9BEeegXTe5zYxsUAE6dyRZV5wDDibF-bijq1AumgUMD7MbuJcVAqGlvIV8BC0OG96c-LDYati459CPzjM1J4oRDmR8h3iBxuPG_3mzam/s1600/P1110149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJV3ESHU7C3yHwwCbnV9OrSk3WMZHI9BEeegXTe5zYxsUAE6dyRZV5wDDibF-bijq1AumgUMD7MbuJcVAqGlvIV8BC0OG96c-LDYati459CPzjM1J4oRDmR8h3iBxuPG_3mzam/s400/P1110149.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DeWalt 7.8-amp drill...check. Self-boring torx-head wood screws...check.</td></tr>
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Once I was in the attic I got to work on securing one side of the board sandwich to the rafter. Think of this like two pieces of bread (the plywood) with a rafter in the middle. Delicious, eh? Though I doubt they'll be selling this at Burger King anytime soon. Wait, on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JUu8sHpH6Y" target="_blank">second</a> <a href="http://www.theonion.com/audio/burger-king-unveils-new-trudgethrough-window,28671/" target="_blank">thought</a>...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjApnfo19DjMnq7sFwTG8caX33CA7yR5TjPDlOHneagTJ7IAI4pxQWhLApXTSkHnkMTebGBWy9RaK6sm80zu4YajzXwwbpdyqs4E_Po5i71Aygan7mO5Fe8gnJES13w_Nzd6488/s1600/P1110153.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
So anyway, here's what things looked like after I got one side taken care of:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjApnfo19DjMnq7sFwTG8caX33CA7yR5TjPDlOHneagTJ7IAI4pxQWhLApXTSkHnkMTebGBWy9RaK6sm80zu4YajzXwwbpdyqs4E_Po5i71Aygan7mO5Fe8gnJES13w_Nzd6488/s1600/P1110153.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjApnfo19DjMnq7sFwTG8caX33CA7yR5TjPDlOHneagTJ7IAI4pxQWhLApXTSkHnkMTebGBWy9RaK6sm80zu4YajzXwwbpdyqs4E_Po5i71Aygan7mO5Fe8gnJES13w_Nzd6488/s400/P1110153.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The broken joint is right in the middle, and I figured three screws on either side would be enough to hold it. On the left side you'll see two screws, because I twisted the head right off the first one. Oops. Other than that things went rather swimmingly, and the final product looks something like this:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-f3M8mOhyg_bhtHsu4o16SM5S8E894_NB6Fai0gBBcvrYfPdA1DQGq3eHh4qVnUfsrjwxpoRYrJSeKgXGKTnHyoXa4GJ2vudb848j8KfsLB8xoZ1Txbfk94hYixAnfkMkF-O/s1600/P1110155.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-f3M8mOhyg_bhtHsu4o16SM5S8E894_NB6Fai0gBBcvrYfPdA1DQGq3eHh4qVnUfsrjwxpoRYrJSeKgXGKTnHyoXa4GJ2vudb848j8KfsLB8xoZ1Txbfk94hYixAnfkMkF-O/s320/P1110155.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The joint is solid and should hold for the life of the house, but I do wish I could have gotten the broken ends to line up a little better. It's the best I could do while working solo, and all in all I am very pleased with the result. All in all the whole project took a little less than an hour too, which meant there was plenty of time for my wife and I to watch our latest Netflix pick, <a href="https://twitter.com/walkingtaco/status/219784762636775425" target="_blank">The Green Lantern</a>. It only took about 10 minutes before we mutually agreed that our time would be much better spent watching <a href="http://www.walkingtaco.com/star-trek/" target="_blank">Star Trek</a> :)</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23924084.post-14866897172946002282012-07-02T11:15:00.000-05:002012-07-02T11:15:38.626-05:00Low HorseSome of my friends are in a band called Low Horse, and they have a couple songs streaming online from their new EP, "Songs." I really like their tunes, and you might too. Enjoy!
<iframe width="500" height="355" style="position: relative; display: block; width: 500px; height: 355px;" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=2304163562/size=grande2/bgcol=faf5f1/linkcol=ff8906/" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0"><a href="http://lowhorse.bandcamp.com/album/songs">Songs by Low Horse</a></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06866783813098084830noreply@blogger.com0