malada

In an earlier post I documented fixing the fobs for my car with a little glue and aluminum foil. Because the aluminum pieces are bigger than the original contacts activating the circuit the fob can be quite sensitive. Several times since the repair my trunk has opened up when I put the fob in my pocket or when starting the car. I'm both amused and annoyed. At least my 2011 Chevy is smart enough to tell me the trunk[s open.

Every since we moved into the house back in 1999, the dead bolt lock on the side door was a little cranky. It was nothing serious, you just had to twist the key and give the door a little giggle and it would respond with a satisfying *click* when it locked or unlocked. I've given it little thought until this last winter. It was sticking more and wouldn't *click* like it's supposed to suggesting that the bolt was not engaged all the way.

After examining the lock more closely I came to the conclusion that it might be the bolt that's sticking. A few drops of 3-in-1 oil and a little manipulating and now the lock is working as smooth as silk! No *click* when locking up. But since I'm so used to that little *click* I'm sort of missing it.

Don't miss jiggling the door though.

Things accomplished yesterday night and so far today:

Towels done in the laundry last night. Nice. Sheets done this morning. Nice. Early winter jacket in the dryer and my older but fluffier winter jacket out of the closet. It's not as fluffy as it used to be but it's still warmer than the early winter jacket.

Resurrected my housemates old Windows 7 machine with a BIOS update. Upgraded said machine with a M.2 SATA drive, and installed Linux Mint. The M.2 is faster than a solid state SATA drive so it flies. I'm not a big fan of the graphics card that I've got in there but the machine is up and running. It's off the bench and set aside.

Diagnosed The Craiger with a dying graphics card and swapped in what I had on hand. It's no longer crashing after 15 minutes. Not happy about the graphics card I put in there but it works. I'll want to do more software updating on it. I want to update the OS to Ubuntu Studio but not use the main distribution, but start with Xbuntu (already installed) and adding the Ubuntu Studio package. I've been using the main Studio distro but it uses KDE instead which looks pretty but I just don't care for it. I prefer XFCE which is lighter and cleaner. This will be a test machine to see how the Studio package works before upgrading my main editing rig. Off the bench and set aside.

On the bench presently - an old Win 7 machine that I played with before and had some kind of Linux on it. I'm hoping to reload Windows 7 on it because you never know when you'll need a Windows 7 machine. The graphics card is appropriate to the age of the machine and I don't really care. The bench is now occupied.

Vacuumed the house.

Mopping the floors and cleaning the toilets will have to wait a little bit but it's on the to do list today.

Pausing for lunch now.

My housemate and I both agree we need to exercise more. Although I walk almost every day, I could use more. I've bought a few cheap second hand bikes but they were either poorly made or not fit for the task.

After much research my housemate found one that they liked and ordered it. Some assembly required. The instructions weren't the clearest and the parts could have been machined better - some of the screws needed to be fussed with - but the bike is assembled and looks and feels sturdy.

Now to use it every day.

Maybe I should get some weights too. I won't mind having a body that all the lesbians go, "Oh... my!" when they see me.

-m

I've exited out of my depressive stage and I'm now in one of my rarer manic stages. No, this doesn't mean I'm all happy... I just need to GET THINGS DONE RIGHT NOW. Preferably ALL THE THINGS.

Also, they tend to be more physical things like mowing the lawn, cleaning the basement, painting the basement walls, doing electronic things.

At the moment, I'm handling it well. I'm getting things done that I was too depressed to even start on. It still takes a bit of a push to get going and I may not have the physical or mental energy to do them all. In any case, I want to configure the basement into a crude video studio for my Youtube channel. Up to this point I've been setting up in the living room since it has the most natural light. The basement will need more lighting but that can done after I wash the walls, patch the walls and paint the walls.

-m

Our kitchen has really weird lighting: fluorescent tube fixtures mounted onto the ceiling with a grid of clear plastic panels covering them. As the years have gone by the fixtures have failed one by one. Or mostly failed.

They're wired weird too... I can easily describe it... but there must be some four conductor wire in there so every other light is controlled by a different switch.

At last, tired of darkness and dead lights, me and my housemate wrestled one of the fixtures out - well, I did most of the wrestling up on the ladder while they handed me tools and used the flashlight - and replaced one dead fixture with an LED light. It took a few hours as the mounting holes were different and I had to cobble together a different mounting system. There were new fancy wire connectors that I've never seen before and it took me a while to figure out how they worked.

It throws *a lot* more light.

If I had the budget I'd have some professionals come in and tear the kitchen down to the original plaster and lathe. I'd leave the old plaster alone - just put up new plaster board, fix the lighting, replace the cabinets, rearrange the fridge and stove, and put in a proper vent. I swear, every time something goes wrong I have to fix the mess the former owners made when they remodeled.

I'll leave the hardwood floor alone. It's dinged and scarred but it's oak and it has character. They originally covered it with linoleum.... and then a shag rug. That was awful to take up but well worth the effort.

-m

My eyes have gotten really bad over the past few years. However, I've had a pretty good eye surgeon to help restore my vision.

Cataract removal, implant lenses, laser surgery and even cornea replacement has brought my eyes from 'it's getting hard to drive' to nearly normal. My night vision isn't as good as it used to be though.

One thing that has changed since my eyesight has improved is the realization of how lax I've been in the cleaning department. I'm a cluttered person (I'm still working on that) but I'm not a dirty person. Well... I can now clearly _see_ that the floor needs to be mopped more often and my shelves need to be dusted. So, I'm getting back to regular cleaning around the house.

Decluttering isn't something I need to do periodically but to do *all the time*. I understand people who hoard things - I'm borderline there. I keep stuff around forever just in case it might be *useful*. And I have thrown stuff out I've kept for years and then found a use for it a week later.

That said I've kept stuff for decades and never used them.

Slowly, I make progress. The first part is to not *collect* stuff in the first place. Then to weed through what I have and slowly, make room.

And keep an eye on the dust and dirt.

-m