Via This Isn’t Happiness: Brenda Cablayan, a painter in Honolulu.
We had a workday north of Baltimore the last week in October, and I was lucky enough to have about five sets of hands helping diagnose my fuel sender issue. What we were able to sort out is as follows:
- My wiring loom up to the bulkhead is not original, but contains original green wiring.
- The ground spade on the sender wasn’t connected (it must have come off at some point after we installed it) but it is now.
- The sender is working properly. We tested it for resistance and it works when we slosh fuel around in the tank.
- The PO put in a grounding wire directly to the frame, which I cleaned up with some sandpaper.
- The wire going up to the bulkhead connector works.
- The bulkhead connector is a mess, and has been screwed with quite a bit.
- Everything behind the dash is a mystery.
The service manual says we’re looking for wire 36-16, which checks out behind the dash but the wire going from the sender through the loom looks like 11. Additionally, the 11 loop (the one which appears to ground on a stud welded to the backside of the dashboard) was loose, so I reconnected that.
While I was there, I bought a Thermoquad from Jason H. for tinkering (it’s the one on the left; the one on the right will get rebuilt as my spare).
→ This is a syndicated post from my Scout weblog. More info here.
I’ve had my MacBook Pro for almost 4 years and up until last night never realized the slot in the side is made to read SD cards. (This could be because it’s only been until recently that I’ve had a camera that uses SD cards).
What better way to start the day than to be woken by breakfast in bed? Finn and Mama surprised me with a tray of warm food to kick off a day outside amongst the leaves and sun and wind. Even though we raked the front yard last weekend, the incessant wind has covered it back over, and the backyard was beginning to collect great mountains of maple, oak, and sycamore leaves. I got to work building Finn a great twig-free pile and she jumped in it while I kept moving.
We made a brief trip to the store to collect more bags, and stopped at the dump to drop off some old electronics. While we were there I spied a Polk subwoofer sitting in the recycle bin. Now, I work for a good company and I get paid a great salary, but when I see something I can repair (and that I’ve been mulling the purchase of for years), I’m grabbing it. So in the back of the Scout it went. Then we stopped for a photo op on the way home.
Then I treated her to lunch down the street, something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. She talked me into a double-chocolate cupcake for dessert, because I’m a sucker.
Then we got back to work. By this time the sun was behind a low layer of gray clouds, so I brought out the firepit and loaded it with some dry elm. With a pile of recently collected twigs, I had a blazing fire going in minutes.
After filling about 20 bags, it was getting colder and Finn was bored, so Mama and I enjoyed the fire for a few minutes before loading up some forks with hot dogs so that Finn and I could roast them for dinner. Then we hit the den for movie night: Monsters University was funny and scary and just what we all needed.
And, guess what: The subwoofer works!
Pique the cat, after a long dry spell, has been two for two vs. our household mice this week. On Monday he dropped a very dazed adult mouse on the floor in front of Jen as she lay in bed; I was able to trap it under a glass and release it (well, honestly I flung it) on the lawn of the church across the street. Tuesday evening he did the exact same thing at the same time of the evening, and I trapped and flung this one further away from the house. I don’t think they were the same mouse, but I’m hoping the extra distance and Frederick road dissuaded the two of them from coming back.
After suffering through spotty wireless connectivity at the house (and the attendant expensive cellular data bills), I used some money from my first paycheck to purchase a new Airport Express, which should be here today. At that point I’ll shut the wireless built in to our FIOS router off for good and hopefully we can save some money.
Last weekend I got the IPA kegged with Finn’s help and got it set up for gas; unfortunately I lost the better part of a Co2 bottle and about 4 pints to a faulty dip tube in the Dubbel keg, so I had to drag Finn to the homebrew store for some gasketry and supplies. I still seem to be having issues with the one-way valve I installed on the gas line, and I need a new shank for my second tap line, so I’ll have to go back out this weekend for another trip. But the IPA tastes very good!
Last night I started cutting sheets of MDF board down for new speaker cabs, based on new calculations and the hardware I’ve got. I have to replace the original the tweeters I bought in 1992, one of which has died mysteriously, so I found a new inexpensive set that should be easy replacements. I’m cutting the wood down on a table saw and making everything with 45˚ joins, which will help make these cabs much more aesthetically appealing than the last ones. I’m also going to be buying premade ports and tuning them specifically to the cabinets, as opposed to roughing in ports made from wood, rubber feet, and new binding posts for the wiring.
I deposited my first official paycheck from WRI this evening, but I can’t shake the feeling that someone is going to knock on my office door with a sad look on their face and say, “I’m sorry, but this is all a big mistake…” Yes, I’ve got an office, and yes, everyone I’ve met at WRI is nicer than the last, and yes, they all seem happy I’m there; it’s just that all of that feels too good to be true.
Since I started, I’ve been neck-deep in meetings trying to catch up with everything that’s happening around the organization and meeting all the key players, which has taken some time. I’ve done some light design work, some illustration, some art direction, lots of strategy meetings, and management. There’s also the matter of a cabinet’s worth of gear to explore, catalog, and learn how to use. And there’s a huge pile of oncoming design work to tackle between now and the end of January: two annual reports, several conferences, some strategic reports, and a pile of infographics. The jury is out on whether I’ll be able to tackle all of this, but I’m sure looking forward to sinking my teeth into some of it.
Here’s the video I mentioned last week; Finn is featured practicing her excellent manners (right at the 2:00 mark), and the Scout even makes a brief appearance in the background!
If I was the kind of guy who had thousands to blow on lifestyle accessories, the Nikon Df would be a tempting purchase. It’s essentially a D4 packaged in a throwback F-body; silver metal and leatherette are the design cues. Add a bespoke brown leather case and I’d be ready for the GQ photoshoot.