Haier Air Conditioner Makes Watery Noises (fixed)

Most of the people who currently read my blog are immediate family members. I don't imagine any of them being entertainedby posts like this one. This is for the people out there who bought the same air conditioner and are wondering if they can make that awful water noise stop. You can. It is far from rocket science too. I dismantled the thing and as I suspected, the water that condenses on the coils is caught by a pan on the bottom and then when it gets deep enough the fan blade splashes through it endlessly. Most air conditioners drain the water. I don't know why Haier doesn't. Initially, all I did was drill a hole in the bottom to let the water out. That worked, but the water was continually dripping on my sill and I thought that over time it could cause some damage. So, I purchased a grommet and some tubing at the local hardware store ($.69) and piped the water away.

Voila, no more puddle for the fan to splash in, and a tube that constantly provides me with distilled water!

The "Next" Button

I have only recently begun appreciating (and contributing to) the blogosphere. I initially managed subscriptions with MS Outlook, but it wasn't pretty. I was soon converted to Google Reader and thought it was awesome. I tried to share its joys with others but people had lots of objections, especially Bobby. He noted that Google Reader sterilizes everything. I couldn't disagree with him. Below is a comparison of a blog in original form and the reader version.Well, while Stephanie and I were visiting her relatives in San Diego, her cousin introduced me to Google Reader's "Next" Button. It is pure genius. Simply log into google reader, click setting and then go to the Goodies tab. Not just click and drag the highlighted "Next" into your favorites bar. From now on, all you have to do is click next and it will take you chronologically through your blog subscriptions one at a time and you don't have to miss a thing. It has revolutionized my computing experience. Multiple times a day I walk up to the computer to do two things; check my email, and click the "Next" button. When you are out of new blogs to read, it kindly informs you that you have reached the end of the internet.

Homebrew Series: The Barley Crusher

This past week, I brewed my first lager with and for Andy. I documented most of the process and will use this opportunity to introduce much of our fancy equipment. Today I highlight the homemade barley crusher. I merely mentioned to Andy that I wanted to build onee so that I could savee the $120 or so that they retail for online. Within a week he had a pretty goodd working machine. He continued to refine it for a few weeks as we tried it out and I better clarified what we needed it to do. Below are videos of it:

Financial Scheme #2

Back in April I finaggled some money through the US Mint and my credit card. I later applied for a credit card to do this again, but my activation attempt failed. After agreeing to give her 80% of the proceeds, Stephanie came with me to the bank to activate the card. I then ordered $9750 worth of Native American $1 coins. That is more than three times the amount pictured here. Last time, the bank was a little annoyed, so I am going to keep them packaged this time.

Nice toes huh? This direct ship program is a perfect example of why the US government is broke! They sent me just about 200 lbs worth of package next day air! I went to UPS and used precise measurements to calculate how much the shipping charges would be. According to UPS.com, to ship 200 lbs from Indiana to Canal Winchester via next day air, it would cost over $600! This makes me feel a little guilty. Also, why on earth didn't they use the Postal Service!?

Anyway, we already are able to claim $100 from Capital One, and over time should be able to earn interest on the money for the next 9 months!

Alarm Clock

I need one of these!

Saving Money at Garage Sales!

Over the past year I have acquired some excellent equipment at incredible prices! Garage sales do require patience, but they sure are worth it! If you really want something, but cannot justify paying full price, start looking! Below are my best four finds in the last year.

1. Air compressor. I thought I paid $40 for the thing, but jealous friends just reminded me that I got it for $25! From what I can find on the internet, it retails for around $150.

2. Coffee Grinder. 50 cents! True, we don't need one, but when you are a man who sells whole bean coffee it is worth giving away a 50 cent grinder to secure a good customer.

3. Bike Trailer. $50 is all I paid for this pre-assembled, never-used bike trailer. It retails for $130. I used craigslist RSS to be the first one to get this sucker.

4. Sander. $2! It wasn't working when I bought it, but the man selling it was pretty sure it just needed a new cord--a gamble worth taking. He was right. Retail value over $50 I am sure.
Here are my tips for good garage saling.

1. Look for community garage sales. You can really maximize your gas milegae this way.
2. Know what you are looking for.
3. Know how much you are willing to pay ahead of time.

4. Bargain! It never hurts to ask. People often times don't know how much their stuff is worth.

5. Don't feel obligated to look at everything. Sometimes you can size up a sale within 1 minute. Don't waste your time on sales that don't interest you. Walk away and move on!

Craigslist RSS

Have you ever been looking for something on craigslist, but whenever you find something, it is two days or two hours too late? Well, if you use use RSS technology (google reader, outlook, etc.), you can have the right craigslist posts sent straight to you!! Simply perform your search like you normally would and scroll down to the bottom, right click the RSS emblem and copy the shortcut.
Then, paste the shortcut into your RSS manager. Now, whenever someone posts something that meets your search criteria, you will be notified right away and you can be the first one to jump on the great deal! This is how I secured our bike trailer on Saturday, as well as the air conditioner I am picking up this afternoon! I also have one feed set up that notifies me whenever anything free is posted in Canal Winchester. I love this technology. I hope it helps you snag some great deals this summer!

Ho Ho Sheet Cake

Usually a person would take a picture of the whole cake and then one of a nice fresh slice. Hindsight is 20/20. Oh well, this captures how good it was. We bought a piece of this many moons ago at the little bakery in town and Stephanie found this "Ho Ho Cake" recipe on allrecipes.com. I took a picture of the last morsel right before I devoured it.
The bottom is just a box cake, but the top is glorious. It was quite a bit of work, but it was totally worth it. This recipe is a keeper. One step in the process was too add 5 Tbsp. flour to 1 1/4 cup milk and cook stirring continually until thick. It became a really neat goop. I thought it was cool.
Anyway, if you are looking for some good dessert to make, give this a try!

Bike Riding

On Saturday, Stephanie, Thor, Jacob and I went on a 9 mile bike ride. It was awesome and we hope to log many miles this summer. Yesterday, Bobby, Thor, Perry and I logged a few miles during Probitous. Bobby wrote a nice post about it here. There is a cute picture of Thor.

Archaeology

I borrowed Andy's edger the other day to spruce up my sidewalks. It led to an archaeological dig. I carefully and meticulously unearthed 8 feet of sidewalk I never knew we had! Again, I would give anything for a before picture. I used to think they just quit pouring. Nope. The sod monster had been claiming inch after inch for only God knows how many years.

Coffee Roasting Honed

Stephanie took it upon herself to photo document the entire coffee roasting process a few weeks ago. Both the machine and the process have been highly refined since last time. Andy got an old grill for free so he cut it down and mounted the roaster semi-permanently over the existing burners. We upgraded to a 5/8" shaft and reinforced the shell. It now dons a hopper with a valve, and the fanciest modification is the adjustable drum. This way, we can manipulate the location of the drum on the fly.

Here it is in all of its glory. It will comfortably roast a pound of coffee in under ten minutes.Here is a close up of the fancy adjuster. The end of the shaft is threaded and is free to move within the bearing. The cylinder extending from the bearing is secured to the shaft collar on the bearing as well as the nut on the threads. Therefore, if you hold the shaft and turn that collar, the shaft will be adjusted in our out by the threads. This allows us to adjust for the expanding and contracting of the drum. The weight of the door is the only thing that keeps the beans in while they roast. You can see the chaff resting on the machine. Maybe one day we will install an after-burner, but for now it is just a messy process.While roasting, I continually assess the progress by the sound of the beans cracking, the smell of them roasting, as well as continual visual inspections using the tryer shown below. The difference between a light light roast and charcoal is only about 120 seconds.

Here is an action shot of the beans being dumped! You can see the flame below! They look perfect!

This last photo is of my beautiful mother overseeing the high-tech cooling process. It actually works remarkably well. Note that the fan is blowing down. If it was blowing up, the coffee beans would be everywhere! That's it folks! If you want a pound send an email to bumblesboast@hotmail.com We should have a label soon!

Summer Projects

I am not quite positive why it has been so long, but I am going to blame it on summer projects. I have a huge list of things I want to get done this summer, and it is never too early to start. I already have checked one off of the list and am kicking myself for not taking any before pictures. I NEVER remember to take before pictures! My north gutter has had problems since day one. The home inspector even told me that the gutter sags in the middle. He misspoke. The house sags in the middle. In fact, it sags 3 inches in the middle of a 30 foot span. Since the gutter was essentially an elevated pool, it would drip for a good 4 days after every rain. The drops were eating away at the pavers below, carving out the grout in my footer, and slowly eroding the substrate beneath the pavers. The continual moisture and lack of sunlight also make that side of the house prone to mossy walls. one fix would take care of everything.

I took the gutter down and tore off everything down to the rafters. A lack of drip edging had allowed lots of moisture to get back in there and rot away quite a bit. Andy came over the following day and we made pretty quick work of the whole deal. We had to get creative with the flashing but I am pretty happy with it all. It functions perfectly.

The only problem is that it looks kind of silly. My roof is low in the middle, and my gutter needs to be high in the middle. My brain plays a trick on me and makes me think that the gutter is super sloped, but the gutter only slopes a half an inch on both sides. The stupid roof is the problem. Anyway, it was exciting to accomplish and it was nice to scrub the siding and know that the moss won't be back in 6 weeks.

Literal Video

Apparently this has been an internet fad for awhile, but I just learned of it today. Someone simply rewrites the lyrics to a song to match what happens in the music video. We thought that it was quite hilarious. All other literal videos we looked up were quite disappointing after this one though.