What did you do today? - 2021 version

[REWahoo]

Drove up to Chicagoland for a seasonal stay. It’s been a year and a half since we were last here and the house shows it. It needs lots of TLC.

Yep, welcome home - now get to work!

 

[rodi]

Had a busy day yesterday, and a fun morning today.

Yesterday - saw the youngest son graduate at Petco Park (all the high schools did their graduations at the ballpark - great for social distancing.) It was awesome seeing my son and all of his friends on the jumbo-tron as they walked across to get their diploma cases (diplomas issued today.)

Today - son was inspired by friends who graduated from a different high school on Saturday - and went surfing in cap and gown with a buddy this morning. Learned that the mortarboard cap does not hold up to surfing. One hat was lost the other disintegrated.

 

[MichaelB]

Had a busy day yesterday, and a fun morning today.

Yesterday - saw the youngest son graduate at Petco Park (all the high schools did their graduations at the ballpark - great for social distancing.) It was awesome seeing my son and all of his friends on the jumbo-tron as they walked across to get their diploma cases (diplomas issued today.)

Today - son was inspired by friends who graduated from a different high school on Saturday - and went surfing in cap and gown with a buddy this morning. Learned that the mortarboard cap does not hold up to surfing. One hat was lost the other disintegrated.

Congratulations to your son and you !

 

[street]

rodi, that is a great day! Kids grow up fast and sure it is a bitter, sweet day.

 

[W2R]

Rodi, congrats to your son, you, and your whole family!

It got up to 103 here today, not as hot as Western desert areas but awfully hot for New Orleans. My Trane central HVAC is working nicely, so after going out for our usual restaurant lunch I stayed home most of the day, cool and comfortable. Fixed a few minor things around the house, and Frank did his laundry here, but then just relaxed playing video games and surfing the net (so I'm here now). Sure beats working for a living.

 

[Walt34]

Met my R/C airplane student at the club field with his new Timber X airplane and radio. We didn't get to fly it because the wind was too high and gusting. The issue is not that the airplane can't handle it, but when in the early learning stages a student wouldn't be able to tell whether the wind gusts or his control inputs were making the airplane do what it did.

He was fine with that, he doesn't want to risk crashing it so we'll wait for calmer weather. So instead we spent about three hours setting up his airplane and radio, discussing the "why" of each step. The Timber X is not an airplane that I would recommend for a new student because it is designed more for 3D acrobatics, but with so many others out of stock or back ordered it will have to do. "Toned down" with reduced control throws (i.e., dual rates) and the gyroscopic stability system engaged it can be a decent trainer airplane if an instructor is available. But the student has to have the self-discipline to not try to push the limits yet or he'll find himself in deep doo-doo very quickly and probably destroying the airplane. I think this guy will do okay, he doesn't strike me as overly impulsive or impatient.

I did get a few flights in with a powered glider because I wanted to experiment with setting up a gyroscopic stability system myself. What it does is damp out any uncommanded movements but it does not interfere with controlling the airplane. The difference in flight is pretty dramatic - without the system engaged the airplane is bouncing all over the place but with it engaged it makes the airplane fly very similarly to a much larger and heavier aircraft. To set it up one starts out at low gain and creep up with more and more engagement until you start to see feedback oscillation, then back off a bit and set it there.

Oh, and cut the grass when I got home from doing all that.

 

[Ronstar]

Had a busy day yesterday, and a fun morning today.

Yesterday - saw the youngest son graduate at Petco Park (all the high schools did their graduations at the ballpark - great for social distancing.) It was awesome seeing my son and all of his friends on the jumbo-tron as they walked across to get their diploma cases (diplomas issued today.)

Today - son was inspired by friends who graduated from a different high school on Saturday - and went surfing in cap and gown with a buddy this morning. Learned that the mortarboard cap does not hold up to surfing. One hat was lost the other disintegrated.

Congrats! And excellent re-use on the cap and gown.

 

[finnski1]

Our rates are the third highest in the country, after Alaska and Hawaii. See here https://www.electricchoice.com/electricity-prices-by-state/

Although they say it's just 21.62 cents/kwh. That probably excludes the fixed charge (which based on my usage would be about 2.5 cents) and maybe some state mandated fee that goes to something else. Just dividing my bill by the kwh used works out to 26.56 cents/kwh.

You made me check.
Here in NH my last bill was $62.59
That breaks out at 288 kWhrs at $.16938/per kWh=48.78 plus a $13.81 customer charge.
If i divide the total bill by 288 it comes out to $.217/kWh
We have no evening rates either.
According to that chart we are right behind you in 4th place
My usage is pretty low and I have averaged only $60.44/month for the last 6 months. That's pretty darn good for the 4th highest rate state.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I fixed my Salt Water Pool Salt Cell! (Chlorine Generator) A `$700 saving. Cost me Nada as I had a 8.2k Resistor. The Salt Generator was Reading 150*F Temp and 2000ppm Salt. Water was actually ~80*F and salt is ~3,500ppm.

This is a common fault as the Salinity is a calculation not a measurement. It takes the Temp from an internal sensor on some cells, some sensors are external, mine was in-cell. Performs a calculation with Temp, Cell Current and Voltage and comes up with the salinity. This goes to hell if the Temp sensor is bad. The vendors do not replace the sensor (Thanks grossly overpriced Hayward parts) and tell you to get a new cell. Mine was out of warranty.

I bypassed the Sensor with an 8.2k Resistor for now and life is good. Pool temp is 84*F and Salt cell is reading 86*F, I can deal with that. The Resistor is on a socket so can be changed as desired. I will most likely replace it with an in-line 10k Sensor and wire it into the cell.

Being as the pool stays between 80*F and 90*F for the next 4 months, I have plenty of time. I have a traditional thermometer in the pool so it is easy to compare. Most 10k Thermistor charts/Tables will show the resistance at any given temp, so resister selection is easy for any time of year.

I simply removed the wire cover on the cell, cut the Red and Blue sensor wires, replaced the in-cell sensor with a small push socket and inserted the resistor, then put the cover back on. Result! Job done.

I am very pleased with myself, and chlorine is being generated as I type.

 

[MBAustin]

Cleaned out the garage ... you'll see why in the Blow That Dough thread next week. Hadn't done it in several years and it showed. Took a load to Goodwill and will take another load to a high end thrift shop shortly.

 

[ncbill]

Just out of curiosity, did you get your neighbor's permission before you cut the branches? The reason I ask is that about 10 years ago my neighbor's crape myrtle's branches were growing across our yard, blocking access from my gate to the back yard. They were also starting to press up against my garage windows and siding. So I cut them back to the property line, and never thought twice about it.

Recently we did something really minor that pissed them off, and they wrote us a nasty letter (he's a lawyer, so good at that) that included everything we've done to annoy them over the past 13 years. He specifically mentioned cutting the branches as trespassing and destruction of property. My response was to tell him to piss off, and then to go back to ignoring their existence.

But it makes me wonder. Do people normally ask permission to trim offending tree branches that are growing over their property? I might have mentioned I was going to do it if we'd ever had any kind of neighborly relationship, but they've hated us ever since we built next door to them. As far as I can tell, our offence was building next door to them. But all my life we've just cut branches off trees that have overhung our property. Is that not the norm?

Not once it crosses the property line.

A neighbor has a tree leaning against our HOA's wooden fence.

They won't grant our tree service access to their property, so we're basically going to leave them the bottom 2/3rds of the trunk (cut right up to the property line) where we would have paid to take it down to a stump had they granted access.

 

[aja8888]

I fixed my Salt Water Pool Salt Cell! (Chlorine Generator) A `$700 saving. Cost me Nada as I had a 8.2k Resistor. The Salt Generator was Reading 150*F Temp and 2000ppm Salt. Water was actually ~80*F and salt is ~3,500ppm.

This is a common fault as the Salinity is a calculation not a measurement. It takes the Temp from an internal sensor on some cells, some sensors are external, mine was in-cell. Performs a calculation with Temp, Cell Current and Voltage and comes up with the salinity. This goes to hell if the Temp sensor is bad. The vendors do not replace the sensor (Thanks grossly overpriced Hayward parts) and tell you to get a new cell. Mine was out of warranty.

I bypassed the Sensor with an 8.2k Resistor for now and life is good. Pool temp is 84*F and Salt cell is reading 86*F, I can deal with that. The Resistor is on a socket so can be changed as desired. I will most likely replace it with an in-line 10k Sensor and wire it into the cell.

Being as the pool stays between 80*F and 90*F for the next 4 months, I have plenty of time. I have a traditional thermometer in the pool so it is easy to compare. Most 10k Thermistor charts/Tables will show the resistance at any given temp, so resister selection is easy for any time of year.

I simply removed the wire cover on the cell, cut the Red and Blue sensor wires, replaced the in-cell sensor with a small push socket and inserted the resistor, then put the cover back on. Result! Job done.

I am very pleased with myself, and chlorine is being generated as I type.

Nice job...I love stories like this!

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Nice job...I love stories like this!

Thanks. I feel pretty good about it too. So far it has worked as desired all day.

 

[NW-Bound]

I fixed my Salt Water Pool Salt Cell! (Chlorine Generator) A `$700 saving. Cost me Nada as I had a 8.2k Resistor. The Salt Generator was Reading 150*F Temp and 2000ppm Salt. Water was actually ~80*F and salt is ~3,500ppm.

This is a common fault as the Salinity is a calculation not a measurement. It takes the Temp from an internal sensor on some cells, some sensors are external, mine was in-cell. Performs a calculation with Temp, Cell Current and Voltage and comes up with the salinity. This goes to hell if the Temp sensor is bad. The vendors do not replace the sensor (Thanks grossly overpriced Hayward parts) and tell you to get a new cell. Mine was out of warranty.

I bypassed the Sensor with an 8.2k Resistor for now and life is good. Pool temp is 84*F and Salt cell is reading 86*F, I can deal with that...

This sensor sounds like it's a common NTC 10K thermistor (Negative Temperature Coefficient). It is very popular for temperature measurement in various applications that do not deal with extreme heat or cold.

The value of this thermistor is 10K ohm at 25C (77F), and decreases with rising temperature. At 84F, the value should be about 8,860 Ohm. Your 8.2k resistor corresponds to the temperature a bit higher than 85F, which agrees with your readout of 86F.

This thermistor costs only a few pennies in quantities. You should be able to find it on eBay or Amazon. If it is immersed in the pool water, then the original sensor must have been encapsulated somehow. I would bury the replacement in a gob of silicon caulk.

PS. You can also buy the same thing already encapsulated inside a small metal probe.

 

[Retire2013]

My 3-year old iPhone had been shifting into low power mode before the end of the day much too often lately, so I went to the local Apple store to get a new battery put in it. Great experience -- it was ready in less than an hour. That should give me at least another year of good performance.

The Apple store is in a big mall and I was surprised to see that they, and many other stores in the mall, are still requiring everyone to be masked. No requirement in the mall outside those stores.

How much did the new battery cost? Or did they give you a free new battery?

 

[Retire2013]

I had a nightmare last night. I was back at work and my team and I were totally behind in our work. I was feeling so stressed in my dream. I woke up soooooo happy that I've ER'd. I spend all day cleaning my house and doing yard work today and feeling grateful that I didn't have to go back to work in a corporate job. I'd happily mop my floor and scrub my bathroom any day in ER.

And I didn't consider myself to be someone who hated her job!!!

 

[ShokWaveRider]

This sensor sounds like it's a common NTC 10K thermistor (Negative Temperature Coefficient). It is very popular for temperature measurement in various applications that do not deal with extreme heat or cold.

The value of this thermistor is 10K ohm at 25C (77F), and decreases with rising temperature. At 84F, the value should be about 8,860 Ohm. Your 8.2k resistor corresponds to the temperature a bit higher than 85F, which agrees with your readout of 86F.

This thermistor costs only a few pennies in quantities. You should be able to find it on eBay or Amazon. If it is immersed in the pool water, then the original sensor must have been encapsulated somehow. I would bury the replacement in a gob of silicon caulk.

PS. You can also buy the same thing already encapsulated inside a small metal probe.

Yes but, it needs to be waterproof as it gets immersed in water. I will use this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q8RHK7D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[NW-Bound]

Yes but, it needs to be waterproof as it gets immersed in water. I will use this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q8RHK7D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't know if your original looks like that, but if not, this one looks like it can be mounted by drilling a hole in the PCV pipe, then clamping it on.

I always like to improvise to save money, particularly the ridiculous $700 for the original part.

 

[CardsFan]

Just got back from an outdoor concert, sponsored by local businesses. Great music. BIG crowd (more than usual pre-pandemic). Trixie Delight is the band, if you get to the STL area.

Best part, however, was the after party (remember we are old, so the after party stars at 7:30)

Some friends have a band and played in a local bar just up the street when the main attraction ended, again outside.

When was the last time you heard a live band play "Dark Side of the Moon", full version, 20 minutes long?

Pretty neat.

 

[Freedom56]

We are now installing new LED well and spot lights in front of our home. We had to get our low voltage wire from our garage where the transformer was located to one side of the front yard with poured concrete walkway separating the two. Since we have a 5" drain pipe running along the side of our property under the concrete walkway, we decided to use that to run our low voltage wire. First we fished a wire 1/2" flexible conduit though a landscaping drain that runs under concrete (about a 15 feet run) and then fished 100 feet of low voltage wire through the conduit into our garage where the low voltage transformer is located.

 

[RobbieB]

Not much. A hundred and 5 outside. Cut some wood in the morning when it was less than 90 and been staying indoors after doing a lunchtime takeout sushi run.

The good news is the evaporator coil replacement is doing well. Replaced under warranty (parts only, I paid $1700 labor) just before the warranty expired which was about this time last year. AC has been running 50% today (10 minutes on, 10 minutes off) keeping the house at 77.5 when it's 105 outside. Pretty cool, that's the way it's supposed to work.

Life is good! Now drinking Corona & Tequila -

 

[Ronstar]

Did some woodworking waiting for morning rain to end. Then went for a hike at 86°. It was hot and humid. Took my drone and flew it a little. Came home and realized that I was missing my drone case and spare batteries. So went for hike 2 back to where I thought I had left the drone case. Got it. Total 8 miles for the day. Then went on a beer run and grilled some burgers.

 

[street]

Spent almost all day at the hospital. My wife had a colonoscope and Doc was about 5 hours behind with emergencies and surgery that needed more time. That is country/rural doctoring and just the way things are. All in all we where blessed with a good report.

Was a beauty of a day high of 73 degree and a blue bird day. Drove me crazy to be inside but tomorrow I will make up for today.

 

[NW-Bound]

... AC has been running 50% today (10 minutes on, 10 minutes off) keeping the house at 77.5 when it's 105 outside. Pretty cool, that's the way it's supposed to work...

A variable-speed AC on the other hand is supposed to run nearly all the time, varying its speed to match the cooling requirement. The continuous movement of air keeps the air temperature more constant.

 

[Gumby]

Spent almost all day at the hospital. My wife had a colonoscope and Doc was about 5 hours behind with emergencies and surgery that needed more time. That is country/rural doctoring and just the way things are. All in all we where blessed with a good report.

Was a beauty of a day high of 73 degree and a blue bird day. Drove me crazy to be inside but tomorrow I will make up for today.

I'm glad your wife got a good report, street. Enjoy your day tomorrow.