Asberry.org

Author: aron

  • 5k Friday & Computer Woes

    It’s been a rough week at work and I felt like pushing a little harder so I did a 5k at the gym today, or more appropriately I walked 6200 steps at the gym today which is my best approximation of 3.1 miles. It still takes me 50 minutes which is a bit off of my best time of 18:20 but that was 35 years ago.

    Decided to put in the 2TB (drive? chip?) non-ram memory in the computer and reformat. While the BIOS seems to find the drive just fine, Windows 10 doesn’t. Really? I felt like it was back in the 90’s and trying to install NT 4.0. So I booted with the new chip seated to the old drive, it saw it just fine so now I need a driver for the Windows 10 Pro install to see it, grrrrr.

    Work is killing me, the Ross job didn’t pan out so I’m stuck for now. I’m beginning to see some desperation in the company, it makes me sad. But that’s why I got the degree and I’m not one to abandon team-mates but I’m also not one that will take a paycheck I don’t earn. It’s time to find the next gig but I’ll still be there for the crew I’ve been with for a decade. Not looking to burn bridges in this act.

  • New Tank Ordered

    I bit the bullet and bought a new tank for the truck. I had Sandy pick up the old one and because the new truck is a crew cab, there’s just less room from the front wall of the bed to the wheel rise. This tank will give me 60 gallons but I loose the toolbox and pump. But since it’s diesel I don’t need the pump and can let the fuel gravity feed from the upper tank to the truck tank.

    So the idea here is going to be to tie into the auxiliary panel in the cab so that (in theory) I should be able to pull over, push a button, and watch the onboard fuel tank fill up. But I’m looking at solenoids and the standard 3/8 NTP only allows for a .6 GPM flow, it looks like the 1/2 offers 4.6 which would be bare minimum.

  • Haircut Day

    I had a coupon for Great Clips that expires tomorrow. And, considering that it’s 109 in the shade, time for a haircut. The coupon is $10 off so $7 and I still paid $20 but most of it went for a tip which makes me happy.

  • Rain on a Sunday

    Life is good, water washes dirt away and makes new, according to STP circa 1992… I got caught in a downpour but not made of sugar…

  • On My Own

    So for better or worse, Sandy is leaving for her new job today and I become a bachelor for two months. I’m not sure this is a good idea but the money will be good and hopefully there will be a trip to visit her.

    In the mean time it’ll give me some introspective time and time to get that Linux certification. Also it’s time to start strength training and I’ll have time to do that. Here’s hoping I don’t get too used to being on my own!!!

  • Animal Issues and Birthday Party

    TGIF BTW. So the morning started out early when Sandy informed me that our racoon trap was doing double duty and was acting as a possum trap. Cute little guy but not very friendly.

    So we let him go and sent him on his way. Then, on my way to the gym, I ran over a squirrel… I was not happy about it but he was suicidal so there wasn’t anything I could have done. And when a 4 ton truck rolls over your head it’s pretty instant. But on my way home I saw that a buzzard was having a fresh meal on me. Circle of life yada yada…

    Then the evenings entertainment was Hanna’s birthday at Park Place. Always good to catch up and hang out with the extended family.

    We finished off the evening by stopping to visit mom and Ron before Sandy takes off for the new job tomorrow. Long day but lots of fun.

  • Endless Entertainment

    While I love all animals, I’m currently living with two cats. The dogs will come when I have property. In any case I was sitting in my office and I hear a din from the kitchen, I heard Sandy say something to the cats and then some crashing. As I got up to see what the issue was, a blur blew by my legs on the way into the bedroom, Sandy was trying to catch her breath from laughing and I realized the cat had gotten tangled up in a bag and was blindly running through the house.

    She finally came to rest on the cat tree where we were finally able to cut the bag away from her and freed here from the most traumatic experience of her life. It’s okay Sammy, we still love you:)

  • Computer Upgrade Time

    My development rig lost 16GB of ram, it’s so super rare for RAM to go bad but after moving all the 8 DIMMS around, I figured out which pair is causing the issue. So it’s time to replace a couple of DIMMs to get back to 64GB and while I’m at it, let’s go ahead and put in a TPM chip so we’re ready for Windows 11 and (while the patient is open) let’s upgrade the hard drive to a 2TB Samsung PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD

    We live in an amazing time that these just show up the next day. I’ve installed the RAM and I found out they now apparently have LEDs on the memory, I have no idea why but at least they modules are the same as the others. More unneeded lights sigh…

    Digging out the Windows 10 Pro installation media and will start clean over the weekend so when Monday comes there will be a bunch of re-installations but should be screaming fast.

  • Keep Apples from Browning

    In the vein of healthier eating, apples are kind of a holy grail. Relatively inexpensive, they last forever in the fridge, super tasty and are rumored to keep doctors away. But once cut the clock is running at a screaming pace. And while the browning doesn’t impact the taste, presentation is everything.

    I ran across this site researching the issue and seems they researched and tested the issue so all I had to do was try their recommendation to see if it addressed the need and super happy to say it’s amazing. This opens up apple slices and fruit dip as a dish that can be brought to picnics and gatherings. Here’s the best for my reference:

    Apple Treatment Method: Salt Water

    For this method, I followed these instructions for the best way to keep apple slices from browning and dissolved 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt per cup of room-temperature tap water, soaked the apples in the solution for five minutes, and then rinsed them in a colander under running tap water.

    Just like the honey-treated apples, these slices didn’t get a hint of browning after 12 hours at room temperature, and did not taste at all like salt. Along with the honey-treated apples, I stored the salt-treated apples in the fridge overnight, and the bagged slices were still perfectly crisp and intact. (The plated slices had shriveled a bit, just like the honey apples.) This is my personal favorite method for preventing apple browning, and the one I’ll be using in the future.

  • Independence Day (from car payments)

    I wrote about it a while back but today, I finally sent the 31k payoff check and depending on how slow the post office is, I own the truck!!! And to celebrate that (not really) Sandy and Shelly took it to Erie, PA. This means the first time the truck is out of state under my ownership and I’m not even in it. Sigh…

    But the good part is she’ll be bringing the extra tank back adding an extra 50 gallons to the capacity giving a total of ~80 gallons and around 800 miles hauling the RV. Part of me really wants to put in a true transfer tank and I could get a 100 gallon for about 1k, but I already own this one and the pump makes sense if I’m going to use it to fill up equipment at a job site.

    And with Sandy and the truck in PA, I’m left to my own devices for the 4th of July, lord help us all:)