No Pride of Workmanship

— Posted inEclectic — 1 min read

This post shows two of the worst problems with our recent fence installation.

gate bottom

The chain link extends down so far beyond the bottom rail of the gate into the pergola area that it drags on the patio after only opening this far. The frame of the gate has a terrible welding job and it is not square. The installers obvious never tried to open the gate to this side after installing it, or they just didn’t care if it didn’t open all the way.

top of outside gate

This is the gate into our side yard. It was installed upside down. Those sharp ends should not stick up above the rail.

This is the gate into our neighbors side yard, and is only a few feet away from our gate. This is the way the chain link should terminate at the top of the gate. There are other more minor problems in other areas of our installation. They are coming out in a few days to inspect it. Once it is fixed to our satisfaction they will be paid for the installation. I hope they realize the degree needed to satisfy my wife is very, very high.

HDD Imminent Failure

— Posted inTechnology — 2 min read

Having the above warning show up on the monitor of my HP Envy 27 Recline K350 all-in-one computer, it was time to see how easy it would be to replace the HHD. My first stop was to that greatest of all how to fix something websites, YouTube. After watching a few videos I knew where the HDD was located and how to remove it.

Computer

The computer laid out on cloth pads on the kitchen counter. The back cover has been remove revealing where the HDD and RAM are located. (I’ve already removed the hard drive cage).

closeup

The RAM is located in the left side compartment. The arrow points to the button that was depressed to release the hard drive cage on the right side. Sliding the cage to the left allowed it to be be removed. It took some force to slide it, but there is a stop so it can’t hit the RAM compartment.

HDD

Four screws hold the hard drive in the cage. The Seagate 1 TB spinning HD exposed. I wanted to be sure exactly what the existing HDD was which was why I removed it. With the price of Solid State Drives being so low and their speeds being so fast I decided that was only way to go with a replacement. I will do a future post on what my research will uncover about the best SSD to buy for my needs.

Adding a Chain Link Fence

— Posted inEclectic — 1 min read
  • Post ready for holes to be dug
  • Holes
  • Pouring concrete into post hole
  • Drilling holes for posts
  • Installing fence
  • Side of lot fence

Cool Again

— Posted inEclectic, Travel — 2 min read

When the RV (caravan) air conditioner stops working

Replacement going up

It takes two to change out the front roof top air conditioner. The unit that failed was a combination air conditioner/heat pump. We opted to replace it with an air conditioner only unit since we never use the front unit as a heat pump. We like it cool to cold at night.

Unit on the slide out

We think of the slide outs as delicate, something you would never stand on the roof of. But when we think about them, we often have both of us standing or sitting in them, so why wouldn’t it be okay to put weight on the roof.

Installing the AC

Once the new unit was on top of the RV it took less than half hour to complete the installation. My wife was very happy when the cool air began blowing out the overhead ducts. The reason she was happy is because the front area of the RV is much larger than the front AC can cool on our 90 degree (32 Celsius) plus days, so she has a fan that blows cool air from the front (bedroom area) down to the main area keeping it nice and cool.

the old unit

The failed unit. The smell of Freon was very apparent. Not the first time we have replaced a unit in an RV and it likely won’t be the last time. The wife is happy. I’m happy she is happy. It’s as good as it gets. (Without Helen Hunt, of course.)