Results matching “10”

i just wanted to say some amazing things about PEX piping. This stuff is simple, and it works. I'm not a marketing guys, but here's some things I love about it:

• Smooth-walls: avoid build up of corrosion


• Flexible: bend it around corners


• Flexible: will expand to 7 times its size (frozen water) without any lasting effects


• Simple connectors: Crimp it down, no glue, torch, or threading needed


• Cheap: 100' costs less than $25 (Zimmerman's/Ace Hardware stores/Lowes)


• Less measuring -- run what you need and cut off the excess

Anywho, I had the *opportunity* to do some plumbing last week. I had to replace two runs of pipe (hot and cold) running about 13 feet each, with 7 elbows (and small sections) on each pipe. I had a few holes 6"x6" each cut into my wall to see the existing pipes. I left these pipes in place, and did not remove an entire section of wall to do this. I started from the top and pushed the pipe down until I could grab it from the first hole. I repeated this all the way down to the floor, where I had to wiggle the pipe around until I was able to bend it and shove it into the basement.

This process, repeated twice (once for the cold, once for the hot) took me less than 20 minutes to do. Along the way, I eliminated the need for 14 elbows. Then on Saturday, I rented the crimper tool ($10/day; $150 to buy) and crimped the downstairs into place in about 5 minutes. I made a mistake here with the red pipe. I had pulled it down and then crimped the excess. This left me 2" too short up top. The blue pipe had no issues. I spent probably another 10 minutes struggling with the red pipe before giving up and buying an inline coupler for $2. I crimped that to a piece of scrap pipe and had Robin turn on the water. She reported some dripping downstairs at the valve, but up in the ceiling was dry. The dripping downstairs was actually in the metal, threaded, shut-off valves. A bit of cranking with the monkey wrench fixed one, the other seems to have a leak in the older, galvanized pipe. The leak is so small, I'm not going to worry about it (Randy's suggestion: put a cup underneath and use it to water your plants). But I'd say it would have taken less than 10 minutes to crimp it down, turn on the water, and fix the leaks on the threaded pipe, if it hadn't been for my mistake on the red pipe. The entire experience took less than 30 minutes all told.

So the last several weeks weren't the worst I've had.  I've been in some pretty messed up situations before.  That being said, the last few weeks sucked. I ran out of oil, so no heat or hot water, my car went on the fritz, Robin wrecked her car, and some new bills started coming my way.

So first let me tell you about the car.  I had some bald tires due to a bad alignment, plus the steering was sloppy.  I put two new tires on the car (making all 4 new again), then got the axle bushings replaced in the front.  Once I got the car back from that, I took it back to the tire shop to get a 4-wheel alignment. With this last bit of work, the entire front end has been completely redone.  The axle bushings were the only part of the front end that had never been replaced.  I was feeling good about this car -- since 2002, this car has not broken down or stranded me once (with the exception of some bad/cheap tires I put on it back in November popping open on me -- my fault).  The next day, the car overheats in front of Wal-Mart and shuts off.  I get it off to the side of the road, refill the radiator, put in some sealant, and things run hot, but fine for the next couple weeks.

Two weeks ago, the engine was a decent temperature, I'm driving down 26 and coolant starts spraying all over my hood -- I blew a top hose.  As it turns out, the head gasket is blown -- has been for months.  I had taken in to my mechanic many months ago complaining about the smoke in the morning.  He didn't figure it out, but Clark's Radiator knew right away that the head was dumping coolant into the exhaust system.  So while my car *will* run, only God knows for how long.

So around this time, the temperature drops into the single digits, bringing the overall temperature of my house to 38F, and freezing the pipes going to my bathroom.   I put 10 gallons into the tank to warm up the house, thaw out the pipes, etc.  I discover that the pipes going up to my bathroom have not only frozen, but developed a leak.

I, being the super inelligent plumber that I am, punch my way through the wall till I find the leak, cut off the offending piece and take it to Zimmerman's for a replacement.  There I am told (in the nicest possible way they can) that I screwed myself over (it's galvanized steel pipe) and will have to replace an 8 foot section of pipe, plus the two elbows piece I have.

Finally, things did start to look up.  I got ahold of the guy who's name is on the title of my Jeep and we agree to transfer the title next Saturday.  Chuck calls me to tell me where to get some coil springs for that same Jeep.  I discover that PEX tubing is the greatest thing to happen to plumbing since the pipe wrench.  So I begin my planning, researching and implementing phase.

Along the way, my Dad lets me know that their oven has died and would like some help getting it fixed.  I checked it out on Friday and determined I did not have the stuff needed.  The wires inside the oven appear to be wrapped in asbestos, not plastic like my wire has.

Saturday, everything comes to a head.  In the morning we go up, get the title transferred, registration, and plates needed for the Jeep.  I drop Robin off and head home.  I get all the pieces I need off of my existing pipes, and the pieces I need from Zimmerman's.  While there, I find their appliance wire ($1.29/foot!) and the correct connectors.  Randy stops by and helps me get the shut-off valves in place.  While Randy is there, the oil man stops by and fills up the tank.  Once he's gone, we get the water turned back on, and then I turn on the furnace.  I have water!  I have heat!

After Randy leaves, I put together the wire for the oven and take it to Mom & Dad's and we get the oven working.  Amazingly, I have accomplished four tasks in one day and it all worked.

For those of you that don't know -- I live by myself. Now that winter truly seems to be here, I have only been heating the living room in my house (with a space heater). The living room has become my office, my bedroom, and my changing room. This one room stays between 65F and 70F while rest of the house seems to hold around 49F.

Anyways, I came home tonight and went up to my living room/office to do some work on the computer. I'm designing a mysql database for a recurring/real-time ISP billing system that I am writing when my gaim pops up and this "ann" is messaging me. I am dumbfounded as to who it could be. She obviously knows me, but how do I know her? Slowly, it hits me. This is Minnesota Ann! Actually, I thought it was Missouri Ann (I get those M states confused all the time), but she soon set me straight. But let me tell you about Minnesota Ann. Ann is "my first". By that, I mean she is the first person that I met online that I talked to more than once. I met her on IRCNet in either late '97 or early '98. She introduced me to Skeletor1/Mike and #cool_teens. She was the first girl I ever knew that had a bot.

I've talked with Ann many more times over the years. Somewhere in '02, I stopped getting on IRC as much, but we still messaged each other through AIM and related networks, occasional emails. But I would say I haven't truly heard from her in about 3-4 years. She had changed her screen name. But she found my site off of Mike's new site (she talks regularly with Mike), read my blog, and sent me a message out of the blue.

Talking to her again brought back many memories. I almost want to hop back on IRC again (even though neither of us are still on). Now let's think about this. I first registered sqbnet.net with InterNIC in '98. My first post on here was in '99 telling people about my joining the USMC. There were more posts since then, but I ended up loosing them in '02 through my own fumbling. I've had the same screen name (squegie) since 1997. I've been "Squegie T. Sanest" for 10 years. I am ancient according to Internet time.
Ann has has the same email address since '98. Mine has shifted around. I had squegie@sqbnet.net and still do since '01. I now use john@yourtech.us and probably will for the rest of my natural life. My snail mail address stayed the same from '01 to '06. My phone number has remained the same from '00 through now. With LNP, it will probably stay with me until the phone number structure changes. I find myself amazed at the number of things that have changed since I was 15, and the number of things that have stuck around.

I invite anyone that's known me for a long time, or even if you've just been reading this site for a while, or anyone really to post a comment on here for me to read. If we haven't talked in a while, I'd love to hear from you. Post a comment, send an IM, or even send me an email. If you're really up to it, give me a phone call.

New Year's Eve 2006 has come and gone. My "party" if you can still call it that was a lot smaller than planned, but still an enjoyable evening.

The end of December has given me a lot of of time to reflect on the past year or so, on where I am, and think about what I want to do next.

Reflection:
In April of '05, I got home from my second trip to Iraq. By May of '05, I had received my last active duty paycheck and was living entirely off of income from my business (not counting the reserve pay of $100-$200 per month -- most of that went right back into Marine activities). In December of '05, I had survived eight months of "on my own", survived Christmas, and I met Robin. In March of '06, I took another step and separated from the active reserves. No longer would I be making the trip to Ebensburg once a month. Two months later, in May, I committed to purchasing a house for me and my business, finalizing the paperwork and closing costs in June. In August, my business acquired Access Lightspeed, a nationwide dial-up ISP. In November, I took Robin to the Marine Corp Ball, and in December, we had Christmas together (multiple times). Overall, an excellent 21 months for me.

Where I Am:
While the last 21 months looks good on the surface, it was not without its rough spots. You can be moving along real good for a month or two, and then all of a sudden, you have a couple weeks of crap that leaves you spending the next two (good) months trying to catch back up. As it is, I have no real source of income I can count on to meet the bills each month.

I am not as good as some people believe me to be. There are some people I don't think very highly of. While everyone has been known to fall on hard times, these are the people that do it chronically. You know the type. They always have a reason for it, a story even. Somehow, through a series of seemingly unavoidable circumstances, the person has run out of money, and quite likely they have no work to make more of it. They live in a constant state of crisis. Well, it seems I am well on my way to becoming one of these people. I go from seemingly having plenty of work to having no work for no apparent reason. When there is no work, there is no money coming in, so I can't pay the bills that are due, were due, are now past due. Something always comes up at the same time like needing heating oil for the house, or tires for the car, or (currently) axle bushings for the car. And you start to realize that if you told someone a story in August or September about why you couldn't pay your bill right now, and then you're telling them another story in December, you're not doing quite as well as it seems. I hate having to tell someone that while I did agree to pay this amount before, I can't make good on that agreement. So what do I do? I screen my calls with caller id. There are two people that call me, and I know their numbers. I know from previous times that if I do answer and tell them that I can't pay right now, they will ask when I can, and I don't know. It might be in three days, it might be in three weeks. And then I do something, I make the money, I call them up and make a payment, and everyone is happy for another month or two. But until I do that, I'm one of those people, either screening their calls or telling stories. I will *tolerate* those kind of people, but I can't stand being one -- even though I am.

I remember once back at the unit, everyone was expected to throw $2 into a fund each month (it went towards various "fun" things for the unit). I did have $2, I just didn't have it on me in cash, so I borrowed from a friend. This prompted a conversation with another friend from Pittsburgh. I explained how I was essentially broke after I put gas in my car to go home (all in good cheer though) and she asked how that could be. I told her that self-employment doesn't pay as much as one would think. She told me that she had two jobs to make ends meet. There was a hint of an accusation in that.

The truth is that even though I am really good at cutting corners, budgeting to save money, and stopping myself from buying things I can't afford, I'm not really financially responsible. If I was, I would be doing everything in my power to make sure that I had enough money to make good on my promises. If I want my promises (fiscal or otherwise) to mean something, I have to stand behind them and honor them.

What I want to do next:
Basically, I am going to do what it takes to get my bills paid. Overall, my debt is mostly from advertising and total less than $5000 ($416/month). Compared to a lot of people I know, that is a small debt, but a debt nonetheless. To take care of this, I am going to take an actual W2 job that will provide me with a steady income. I'm calling it a part-time job because it will only be 3 days a week, but in truth, it will total 36 hours. I can always add more hours/days on as I need them. All income from this job will go towards my debt and immediate living expenses. It will take away from running the business and being available to clients, but is a necessary step for me to get things back on track.

1. Always avoid alliteration.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. Avoid cliches like the plague—they're old hat.
4. Employ the vernacular.
5. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
7. Parenthetical words however must be enclosed in commas.
8. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
9. Contractions aren't necessary.
10. Do not use a foreign word when there is an adequate English quid pro quo.
11. One should never generalize.
12. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
13. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
14. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
15. It behooves you to avoid archaic expressions.
16. Avoid archaeic spellings too.
17. Understatement is always best.
18. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
19. One-word sentences? Eliminate. Always!
20. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
21. The passive voice should not be used.
22. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
23. Don't repeat yourself, or say again what you have said before.
24. Who needs rhetorical questions?
25. Don't use commas, that, are not, necessary.
26. Do not use hyperbole; not one in a million can do it effectively.
27. Never use a big word when a diminutive alternative would suffice.

28. Subject and verb always has to agree.
29. Be more or less specific.
30. Placing a comma between subject and predicate, is not correct.
31. Use youre spell chekker to avoid mispeling and to catch typograhpical errers.
32. Don't repeat yourself, or say again what you have said before.
33. Don't be redundant.
34. Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed.
35. Don't never use no double negatives.
36. Poofread carefully to see if you any words out.
37. Hopefully, you will use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
38. Eschew obfuscation.
39. No sentence fragments.
40. Don't indulge in sesquipedalian lexicological constructions.
41. A writer must not shift your point of view.
42. Don't overuse exclamation marks!!
43. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.
44. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
45. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
46. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
47. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
48. Always pick on the correct idiom.
49. The adverb always follows the verb.
50. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
51. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be by rereading and editing.
52. And always be sure to finish what

First off, if you're a regular visitor, you'll notice that for the first time in over 3 years, we have radically changed our site design and moved to a more "standard" platform for publishing articles and rants. Please read the Site History for more information on this change. Also take note that we will be moving away from using numbers to using names.
Speaking of history, my Aunt Dorothy turned 80 just a little bit ago. This is a fairly interesting to think about. From the mid 1920s to today, we went from a recovering country, to color photographs, to fax machines, to computers, to cell phones, to the Internet, and beyond. She has kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, and even great-great-grandkids. I have cousins that have grandkids, even great-grandkids.

As you can imagine, this has turned into a family reunion. Our family is scattered out across the US, so it takes something big to get everyone together into the same state. Before this, I remember going to my sister's wedding and having the family there, and before that was my Grandpa's funeral. If I remember correctly, he lived to the ripe age of '97. As far as family gatherings before that, I was too young to remember. I recall visiting one or two of my Aunts, or one of them coming up to visit us. I'd say that our get togethers seem to have happen every 7-10 years. Some of these people I haven't seen in 12 years, and because of their age, I might not see again. Actually, probably the next event to get all of us together would be my own wedding, assuming I were to have such a thing. ;}

Later, I'll gather up as many pictures as I can and put together an album, but I had some spare time in the middle of the night.

I was born sometime around 1981, not in the 1950s like some people assume. I make my abode in Everett, PA and I use the name of "John." However, online I am known as Squegie.

I grew up in an isolated farm area, and spent a lot of time reading books by JRR Tolkein, Isaac Asimov, and Douglas Adams. A LOT of time spent reading books. I also have always been fascinated by those whirring, beeping, blinking things that we know as electronic devices.

I can say without shame or reservation that I am a technology geek. I love playing with gizmos and gadgets. There's nothing more refreshing than the smell of rosin core solder in the morning. My "hobby" eventually led me to computers, from which there was no return.

I started out with a Tandy 1000 with a single 5.25" floppy drive. Not the classic Commodore64 that other people brag about, but still a nice little device. It wasn't long before someone mentioned "batch script" to me and I was hooked. I started writing these little batch scripts, and before long I was making a multi-disk menu system. (I had a games diskette as well as dos 3.2). From the bootup disk, you would get a menu. Hitting the desired item, you would be prompted for the correct disk. Insert that disk, it runs the program (in the case of the games disk, it would display another menu). When you finish the program, it prompts you for the main diskette. Put the main diskette back in, and it brings back the menu. True, everyone else was running Macintosh and Windows 3.11 at the time, but I had designed a truly user-friendly system that even my Mom could use.

It wasn't too much longer that I moved up to a discarded 286 from my Uncle. This has an 80mb hard drive. I setup a BBS and at night, I would disconnect the phone and one of my friends would call in. Oh yes, we were l33t in those days.

Through the course of high school, I started getting a massive collection of discarded computers and parts. I was fortunate enough to get into an Electronics program at BCTC (don't knock the web- site. I never finished it, and then they have only touched the index page since I left) before they stopped offering the electronics program. While there I got to play with all the toys of the trade.

More and more, I got away from electronics and into computers. I thought I'd balance out somewhere. At least, that's what I thought until I discovered Linux. I downloaded Debian 2.0.34 (kernel 1.40- 2.1) onto several floppys and installed it on my most powerful computer, a home-brew 386sx/25 with 7mb of ram (don't ask). I have never been the same since.

I've worked as a Network Technician for Cannondale Corp, a Network Engineer for Pennswoods.net, and then Access Lightspeed. I've also spent six years in the USMC, driving supply (wether it be food, mortars, ammo, snipers, or grunts) trucks through the town of Iraq. On my second trip to Iraq, I ran an Internet communication facility for Marines stationed in and around Fallujah, Iraq.

Nowadays, I survive by running my own computer consulting firm. We deal with computer repairs, network implementation, serverer administration, and assorted programming tasks. Recently, I took over the management of Access Lightspeed, a nationwide dialup Internet provider. I am also working heavily with wireless communication technologies in the 900, 2400, and 5800 Mhz unlicensed bands.

Not too long ago, I purchased an old doctor's office/house that I am remodelling as the Hogenmiller Professional Building. I have an apartment upstairs, while using the downstairs for my workshop and network operations center. I keep my house awash in half-assembled computers, odd devices, and an atari hooked up to my Sony Trinitron flat-screen tv.

Now you know as much about me as everyone else, perhaps more. I am amazed that you actually cared enough to read all that. It's so touching *snif*.

Joe Normal 39 % Nerd, 43% Geek, 30% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored less than half in all three, earning you the title of: Joe Normal. This is not to say that you don't have some Nerd, Geek or Dork inside of you--we all do, and you can see the percentages you have right above. This is just to say that none of those qualities stand out so much as to define you. Sure, you enjoy an episode of Star Trek now and again, and yeah, you kinda enjoyed a few classes back in the day. And, once in a while, you stumble while walking down the street even though there was nothing there to cause you to trip. But, for the most part, you look and act fairly typically, and aren't much of an outcast. I'd say there's a fair chance someone asked you to take this test. In any event, fairly normal. Congratulations! If you enjoyed this test, I would love the feedback! Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in any of the following: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Professional Wrestling Love & Sexuality America/Politics Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 18% on nerdiness You scored higher than 61% on geekosity You scored higher than 50% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on OkCupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

The times seem so exciting
but what's with all the rhyming?

I met my girlfriend Robin in December
But it feels like we've been together forever.

In March I parted ways with the Marine Corp.
I won't be going to Iraq any more.

I bought my house in May.
It's a nice place to stay.

My parents have been married for 40 years.
We celebrated with crabs, hot dogs, and beers.

(10:13:38 AM) Kara G: u ur old
(10:14:22 AM) Kara G: since i am on maernity leave i would go crazy
(10:15:03 AM) me: i'm old?
(10:15:19 AM) me: i'm 25, remember?
(10:15:32 AM) Kara G: o im sorry i am old
(10:18:14 AM) Kara G: im 28, second child