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Christmas Presents and Chopping Wood

Kevin Pendleton — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 05:32:15 +0000

So the day after Christmas was a good day. I took the day off and did lots of stuff. I setup the present I got my wife, an HP OfficeJet 7410, which is an all in one device, with an extra special feature. It comes with built in wireless network connectivity, which was just what we needed in our house since we use laptops and it’s always a pain to hook up to the printer. So now we can just have the printer somewhere in the house and print from anywhere. I had no problems setting it up on my WPA enabled 802.11b network and it is working great.

I also took the chance to split some wood for the our wood stove. I forgot how fun it is to split wood. It took me back to the good memories I have of splitting wood with my Dad as a teenager. I remember my Dad telling me that wood provides us with heat twice, once when you cut it and split it and then the second time when you burn it. He was definitely right.

Gas Guzzler?

Kevin Pendleton — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 05:13:51 +0000

I have a ‘87 GMC Sierra pickup truck, a 3/4 ton with a 454 engine, so it’s not surprising that I don’t get very good gas mileage with it. Well, recently I learned how to overhaul an engine by using the truck as the guinea pig. My brother-in-law is really good at this, so I it was a neat opportunity to learn. I was hoping that after the engine work was done, not only would my oil leak be gone, but I thought it might perform better and get better gas mileage. Well, I figured it out the other day and I am still getting 10 miles to the gallon. Not very good! :( However, everytime I get out of my truck I smell gas, which is also not good. I had looked under the truck a couple times when the smell seemed pretty strong and I could tell one of the connections on the fuel filter appeared to be leaking. So I bought a new fuel filter and installed it tonight. The truck has two fuel tanks and I had also noticed some dripping by the switch that decides what tank gives the engine gas. So I took the cover off of that and looked at all of the connections. Everything looked about the same (old and worn hoses), so I started the truck up. The new fuel filter worked like a charm, with no leaking, but one of the hoses that connects to the switch was leaking pretty bad. I shut the truck back off and found the crack in the hose. The crack was close enough to the end and the hose was long enough that I was able to cut the end off and still put it back on. Now that is no longer leaking either. Unfortunately, I still have one leak left. There is a pin size hole in the bottom of the passenger side tank, that has a very slow leak in it. It makes me mad that it is there because I just had the tanks replaced a few years ago. I need to find out what kind of warranty I got on it and see what it takes to fix something like that. Either way, I’m going to use the gas out of that tank first! So after fixing all of these leaks, I can’t help but wonder, was I only getting 10 miles to the gallon because a bunch of it was leaking on to the ground? I will have to run some more mileage checks to be sure.

Patriot Games

Kevin Pendleton — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 03:55:11 +0000

So I just finished reading the book, “Patriot Games”, by Tom Clancy. I’ve been reading it for a couple of weeks now, I haven’t been able to sit down and read a book straight through for many years now, but as I got closer to the end, I just had to read it to the end. Sunday afternoon was the perfect time. Although the book is obviously fiction, it reminded me of the freedoms and safety that I take for granted living in the United States. It also made me think about how rewarding it must be to work for a government organization like the CIA or FBI, actively trying to fight for good.

Cleaning the Swamp Cooler

Kevin Pendleton — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 02:13:49 +0000

So yesterday I cleaned out the swamp cooler and prepared it for Winter. I realized that this is something that is pretty specific to Utah and the surrounding states. I don’t remember ever seeing them anywhere else that I have lived. So when you winterize a swamp cooler, you remove all the water from the inside and the water supply line so that nothing freezes when it gets cold outside. Then you cover it with a canvas cover and close off the inside as well.

Fall Weather

Kevin Pendleton — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 05:22:19 +0000

I just love fall weather. Right now the highs are in the 70s-80s and the lows are in the 50s and I just love it. The air is nice and cool and the leaves are changing colors. We are also getting plenty of rain to make the grass green. The only thing I don’t like is that the days are getting shorter. Everyday after work I get less and less time to work outside.

It’s My Birthday!

Kevin Pendleton — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 05:47:21 +0000

Today was a great day, it’s a great time to be alive! Enjoy life before it’s gone. (I’m now 32.)

Grape Harvest

Kevin Pendleton — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 04:56:55 +0000

Well, we had our first frost last week, so it’s time to start harvesting the grapes and making grape juice. We have four grape vines and so far we are half way through the first one. Cindy has been able to bottle about 20 quarts of grape juice already and it tastes really good. I love the fall, the cooler weather and the harvest season.

Bird in the Wood Stove

Kevin Pendleton — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 05:02:23 +0000

So today, I came home for lunch for an emergency bird removal. Apparently, in the big storm that we had hit Utah this past weekend, a bird flew or fell into our chimney and got stuck. Since birds can’t just fly straight up a chimney, it flapped around like crazy in the wood burning stove and up and down in the pipe coming off it. Well, with a plastic bag and the usual stove tools (the little shovel, poker and broom), we were able to capture the bird and release it back to nature in the backyard. I was amazed that as soon as I let go of the bird, it just flew right off into a tree like nothing had ever happened, and without even saying thanks!

Painting and computers

Kevin Pendleton — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 04:56:31 +0000

So my wife and I painted my son’s room today and talking about stupid computer users, made me come up with this analogy. I don’t know if it makes sense to everyone or not, but here goes: A computer is a tool, just like a paintbrush. If you want to use a tool, it’s better if you learn how to use it. Anyone can pick up a paintbrush or turn on a computer, but if you really want to use the tool effectively, you need to take the time to learn how to use it and as you gain more experience with it, the better you are. Computers, like paint brushes, can be purchased easily, they are ready available, but just because you bought one, doesn’t mean that you’ll be any good at it. If you want your house to be painted well, you hire a professional. The same should go for computers. Unfortunately, people just assume that since they know how to turn on a computer, they should be instant experts at it, and if not they can call someone who is and get them to come over and fix their computer, or walk them through step by step, or whatever for free. Why is that? If you are going to paint a room and have absolutely no idea how to do it, do you start the job and then call an expert painter at home and say, “How am I supposed to paint the trim?” Of course, not. But then again, I’m not a painter and maybe people do. But my theory is that they don’t and the reason people are so willing to ask how to do something on a computer relates to a lack of respect for computer skills. There is this thought that anyone and everyone can use a computer. Unfortunately, there is a very small percentage of people with real computer skills, so next time you need help, be thankful for that person you ask for help. Well, I guess I’ve gotten off of my analogy/topic, maybe that’s why my wife says I should come up with analogies.

Starting my blog

Kevin Pendleton — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 03:57:43 +0000

Well, being in the web hosting business, and being a system administrator here in Utah, I decided to finally enter the world of blogging and decided to start off with a highly popular program - WordPress. I recently purchased this domain name, hoping that someday it might be a good name to use, we’ll see if that ever happens, but in the meantime, it’s a great place for my blog. Hope you enjoy!