Home projects: Heating!

This is my inaugural post in regards to home improvement projects.

Our first "Major" project will be to replace our Fuel-Oil based heating with a Wood Pellet Stove. Initially, we looked into having it done by a local resource.  Unfortunately, the cost was almost 4 times the cost of doing it myself.  Considering the specifications as to what needs to be done is all online or included with the stove, I'm going to take a stab at doing it myself.

On Thursday, I talked with the Fire Marshall about the prospect of doing this myself.  He said that most people, if they take the time to read the instructions/UL requirements, can do this themselves.  Once we are done with the installation, we just have to give the building office a call and they will verify our work.  Feeling confident, I told him that Robyn would be down to pickup the permit the next day.  $25 later, we have a piece of paper that says we can do it!

We picked up the King/Ashley 5500m Pellet Stove from our local TSC on sale.  We also picked up the vent kit as well.  This thing is a Beast!  I'll post pictures of it tomorrow, after I have a few friends over to help get the darn thing out of my truck!

So, here we go!

 

Another update!

Crazy to think I haven't posted in MONTHS, and now I have two...but that's the case!

This update is better than the other one though...

We're Expecting baby #2!! Currently, the ETA is 4/5/2012, but we'll see if Baby Peterson 2.0 (BP2 for short) actually arrives on time...#1 showed up 10 days late.

Maybe we'll have to start pool to see who can guess the due date.

There wouldn't be any prize, but the satisfaction you were right.

Goodbye Smartphone

I've decided to cancel my Smartphone plan and revert to a "feature" phone.

I'd love to say the main issue is the cost (Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of getting ~$30 a month back to spend on other things) but I think I would be lying..

I can't stand being always reachable by so many different methods.



Currently, I can be reached by:

1. Email on my DROIDX


2. My Work provided Pager


3. My Cellular phone number


4. My On-call phone when I'm at work.

All of these, except for #4 are with me at work and at home.

Now, added in with those, let's take a look at other connected ways I can access information:

1. Personal Windows Machine at home


2. Work provided Laptop


3. iPad


4. cr-48

That's a total of 8 ways to access information/communicate with people at home/work. On a given day, I have 6 of them with me. At home, I have 7. SEVEN different ways to get in touch with me...

...Do I really need to be that accessible? AM I really that important? I'm going to with, Mostly.

I am responsible for several servers, and my team does have business hours on-call paging, but let's be realistic here: What I do is not "Patient Critical" or Super time sensitive. If there is an issue on the weekend, 9.9/10 times it can wait until Monday morning. I don't need to be constantly interrupted on the weekend by emails that can wait. If something comes up during the day, we get paged, not sent an email. If someone needs to reach me immediately, they either page or call my OCP/Cell.

If something goes wrong with a server, I do get pinged on it, but I could easily redirect those emails to my pager. If one of my servers/services goes down, it will most likely be a hardware issue, and my boss and his boss and I decided to have next business day for all parts, and for the "critical" pieces, we have support contracts that the vendors will be alerted by the servers themselves and they will come out and do the repairs with no interaction from me, other than to authorize their entrance to the data center.

So that brings me back to the immediate contact issue. If I dump my DroidX, that leaves me with two options instead of three...

To me, Two out of three Ain't Bad.

It begins...again!

The BBS challenge is back on after the long hiatus!

we own...

JENGA!!

Enough said...

Totally staged, but no less bad a$$

Well...that was fun!

Apparently one of my plug-ins decided to take down my blog.

 

That has since been fixed!  Hooray for remembering MySQL Syntax!

Health Update for March 2011

it’s time for another update:

Weight on 2/28/2011: 164
Weight on 3/31/2011: 163
Weight Change : -1 pound!  I've definitely lost a bunch of Fat Weight, and have been doing more strength training.  I'm beginning to see definition in my arms, as well as my Legs.  I can also see my abs!

Total Miles Run this Month: 97.15 Miles  Another month of not missing a day!  I walked to the Parking lot a few times, which adds another mile or so each way.  Hopefully, the nice weather will allow me to do that more often and get even more exercise in.

Total Milage for 2011: 258.43 Miles …That’s a lot of miles!  I've worn down my shoes enough that I have ordered a new pair!

Total Workout Minutes This month: 941  It is staggering to think that this monthly total surpasses the YEARLY amount I did 5 or 6 years ago...

Total Workout Minutes for 2011: 3,242

Total Calories burned from Working out: 11,186

All in all, I'm shocked and excited.  I've come far in a short amount of time.  I haven't felt this good in a long time, if ever!

The other amazing thing is how quickly "exercise" became "my morning routine."  I used to have to make plans to go to the gym either during lunch or after work...that made it feel more like a job than what I see it for now: Fun.

Here's to another fantastic month!  April weather will slowly warm up, which means not so many layers!  I really LOVE running in the summer in the morning...I can't wait!

 

 

Bonus Health Update!

Well, I just had my physical...

 

And apparently I'm healthy!!

 

I had a health Screening back in January which said my Cholesterol was 231...not good!  So I made a change or two to my diet, and Have been running 6 days a week since then.

 

The results:

Total Cholesterol: 192

LDL(Bad cholesterol): 109

HDL (Good Cholesterol): 73

Ratio: 2.5

 

These are awesome numbers!

Also, my resting heart rate is 54...Nice!

Health Update for February

It’s time for another update:

Weight on 1/31/2011: 167
Weight on 2/28/2011: 164
Weight Change : -3 pounds!  Not as much as last month, but I've included more fiber in my diet, and have been really trying to not be starving myself.  I've pretty much lost my spare tire, but there's always room for improvement!

Total Miles Run this Month: 66.14 Miles

Total Milage for 2011: 127.23 Miles ...That's a lot of miles!

Total Workout Minutes This month: 728  I think I might have missed a day or two here...as it is way less than January...but the Milage seems right.

Total Workout Minutes for 2011: 1980

Total Calories burned from Working out: 8356

For the second month into this, I've definitely noticed a difference.  By altering my eating habits, and including more Fiber and greens, my Calorie intake has leveled off, and that has helped keep my weight fairly constant.

I've also added some basic Strength training a couple days a week.  Nothing too fancy, just some pushups, dips, and Plank(ing) to help improve the "T-Rex" arms as Robyn calls them ;)

 

All in all, Going well and I'm really enjoying it.  I've slipped a few days as far as tracking my intake, but I think I've got it down to a fairly good science: I don't change up my eating too much and stay away from Sweets...I've really started paying attention to portions, and ensuring my "helping" of food really isn't four or five.

 

Here's to another good month!

 

Weekend Activities

This weekend has been pretty low key.  After dealing with some "plumbing"  emergencies the past couple of weeks (Base board heat pipe leak and shower engager break) I am happy to NOT have to play with Piping.

I took advantage of the calm and bottled the All-Grain IPA I brewed back in January.  I was going to write up that experience, but...reference plumbing experiences referenced above.

I started by running the beer through cheese cloth to help snag any residual Crud.  I discovered that there is a vast difference in cheese cloths:  This one didn't seem to catch much.  A test glass was very cloudy.  After letting it rest in the Bottling bucket for a few minutes it seemed to clear up a bit, but I didn't have a good way to re-filter the beer again so I had to make due with what I had.  I suppose I could have put some sort of filter on bottle bucket spout if I had more time or didn't have beer anxiously waiting for bottles. :)

I need to devise a good way (or find a pre-made solution) to filter beer.  I'm thinking a two stage filter: A first stage that stops "large" crud from even leaving the carboy, and then the second stage that catches any smaller/fine crud before it enters the bottling bucket.

I already have the second stage, a funnel with Cheese cloth..I just need better Cheese cloth.  For the first stage, I"m thinking a steel "balloon" that  I can attach to my tubing.  This would make it easy to clean/replace.

Now to find some decent cheese cloth..

 

I'm thinking I"m going to tackle a small water related project this weekend.  I need to move our washing machine about three feet.  Currently, it sits right in front of the Utility Sink in the Laundry space...this makes it really hard to use said utility Sink.  To move it, I need to get slightly longer Water line tubing.  I think I can handle this.

 

Well, Anya is asking for food, so I'm off to feed the baby!

 

 

new fun!

Yesterday I came home from work to a surprise...

A cr-48 was delivered to me!!!

I was completely shocked when I opened the box, as I thought they either gave them all away or wasn't "googly" enough for it..

So far, I'm really liking it.  I treat it like a netbook/iPad replacement, and it does well...in fact there are a few things it does better than the iPad ( and a few that I wished it did like the iPad)

I hope to try to get a "review" of it up, just to get me to really put it through its paces, and to help loosen the writing fear/block I have.  The only way to get better is to practice, practice, practice....or something :)

But for now, off to see how it does with more multimedia type things!

Health update!

I'm not sure who many people will care, but it's my blog damnit! So here are the updates from this month:

I've been using sparkpeople.com for about a month, and it's time for an update:

Weight on 1/1/2011: 178
Weight on 1/31/2011: 167
Weight Change : -11 pounds! (I think this might be a bit off...I'm not super confident in our scale, but I have definitely lost some spare tireage)

Total Miles Run: 61.09 Miles

Total Workout Minutes This month: 1252

Total Calories burned from Working out: 8315

All in all, I've felt good! Tracking my eating has shown me that there are days that I do not eat enough...So I'm working on incorporating more nuts and greens to help bring up the Calorie count, yet not adding too much in the way of Cholesterol or anything.

All in all, Going well!

Weekend House Projects 2

Well another weekend, another few projects done!

Saturday found me lurking in the garage trying to organize the "gift" the previous owners left us: a loft filled with random wood scraps. I pulled it all down, and sorted it into keep and throw piles. While sorting, I discovered a full box of the flooring they used in the kitchen! This could come in handy...I stacked the wood up in the loft, and managed to put Robyn's Tires and our non-sleeping camping supplies up there along with the Chairs I need to fix (which I think I can with some of the gifted wood!!) at some point. I then threw away the broken baby swing they also left behind. After all this work, I then began trying to see if I could fit both vehicles in the garage AND still be able to pull the snow blower out....turns out I can! There is just enough room at the front of the garage to park the snow blower between the vehicles and be able to open the doors without hitting anything! I'll admit, it kind of felt like a losing game of Tetris for a bit...but then finally getting the long piece needed! I have some finishing touches (like hanging the bikes on the wall to free up the front right corner) but for this coming brewing weekend, We'll have plenty of room!

I then moved on to our bed that needs some more bolts to complete it. I found that the bolts are hard to find! The original bolts are 2 1/4" in length, while the closest I could find at Lowes was either 2" or 2 1/2". I decided to go with the 2 1/2" screws. I used them to secure the head/base boards to the frame, and utilize the original bolts for the canopy. I ended up using one of the new screws in the canopy, and it fit nicely.


The next project I tackled was the mirror on Robyn's Dresser. The mirror was not put on when we moved because one of the support wood blocks had split at some point and time. I decided to use some of the scrap wood I organized from the garage to replace it. I measured the good block and set off sawing, chiseling and sanding the block until it was as close to the original as I could get it. IT wasn't a clean piece, but it was usable!

I drilled the holes for the screws/bolts and secured it to the back of the dresser. Low and behold! The mirror was supported! I tightened down the bolts, and angled the mirror so it rested against the wall to give it a little more support.

After that, I consulted with Robyn about our Dryer Dilemma: Our Current dryer vents out the opposite side of the house with a 50 foot run with about 7 90 degree turns...This might be one reason why things never dry!

We talked about it, and decided that the best answer would be to move the dryer to the pantry, so that way the dry run is about 2 feet. I took a look at our current dryer electric line, and realized I could safely disconnect power, and thread it through our closet into the pantry. This will require drilling two holes, but I think it is doable. After that, I can use a standard wall dryer venting kit, and should be all set!


All in all, another successful weekend! This coming weekend will be brewing weekend, so probably no project updates, but who knows? Maybe Sunday I'll feel like drilling test holes...

Spark People

I decided to do a better job of tracking my health this year (I guess it's a resolution). I joined the site SparkPeople.com as a way to track my activities.

If you want to follow along, go here!

http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage.asp?id=mpeterson221

Weekend House Projects

Well, after the fun of the Boiler last week, I decided to keep our house projects to a dull roar. I mean, as much fun as it would be to start tearing down walls, or installing new lights, you kinda need capital for that, and the boiler sucked most of that dry, like are nice WARM air! (Heat is a great invention :) )

The original plan was to put plastic on the windows, to help cut down on the drafts. Notice the use of the words "original" and "was" in that sentence. Those priorities soon changed. Friday night, as I prepared for bed a new, more pressing matter came up:

The Toilet handle.

Through the use of my sheer manly strength, I managed to snap the mighty plastic handle at the joint where it meets the resistant plastic handle the lifts the rubber stopper in the water tank. My original idea was to replace the entire tank mechanism, until Robyn pointed out that the toilet works, just the handle is broken. I wasn't if Lowes/Home Depot would carry such an exotic product like that...but we took a gamble.

Who knew they sold just toilet handles! :) And the amazing thing is: Handles are WAAAY cheaper than the entire kit! Crazy!

So, after finding that, I was feeling good. So good in fact, we took another gamble that there may be a replacement drain for our tub. The tub used to have one of those Push down drains that doesn't have a strainer. Notice the use of the phrase "used to." That's right! We replaced the push down with a strainer AND a rubber stopper! After two Anya Tubbers, it appears to be holding up fairly well. No leaking, and the strainer is catching hair and debris (chucks of soap mostly) that normally would just go down the drain and potentially cause a problem later on.

I was feeling really good at this point. So good in fact, I went down to the basement and grabbed the storm window for the kitchen window that never go put on for some reason. I set it in place, tightened the screws, and marveled at...well me!

We also managed to de-christmas tree the house (which involved a lot of needle sucking/sweeping) and put the canopy posts back on our bed. We're short a few screws, but I took measurements and plan to pick some up this weekend, along with the raw materials to fix the mirror on our Dresser. One of the wood supports has split, and I plan on replacing it with all new pieces. Robyn and I also started planning for the big bathroom re-do that will hopefully come to fruition sometime later this summer/fall.

All in all, a fairly successful Home repair weekend...granted they were all small, but baby steps people, baby steps.

Home adventures!

In my previous post, I mentioned I wanted to write about the adventures of owning a home and the projects I will be working on.  I had no idea the first project would require an entry so fast!

Yesterday, I get a call from Robyn saying the house is cold.  Our house is heated by Baseboard water heaters with a fuel oil boiler.  I figure it must have tripped a breaker or just needed to be reset.  I had her go down and check it out.  Unfortunately, it wasn't that.  Her dad stopped over to take a look, and said the pilot light wasn't on and it appeared to be dead.  Hmm...this can't be good.  I really don't have a real firm grip on how the boiler system works, so I was out of my element for sure.

I did what any Semi-handy guy would do: I freaked out and called a professional.  Little did I know how much fun that would be!

I learned very quickly that to work on Fuel Oil Systems, you need to be certified...and not many people are.  I also learned the two big heating companies in the area are not, which filled me with such....dread that I was out of heat until I spent thousands of dollars (which I don't have).  Thankfully, our oil company had a recommendation for a company and they agreed to come out and take a look (at after hours pricing of couse!).

Well, I'll bore you with the details, but suffice to say I learned a lot about Fuel oil and boilers last night.  I also learned the "cleaning" we required before purchasing was just that: A cleaning that was apparently blind to nagging issues.  Freaking great!  But now, we have the correct size nozzle and a new relay, which wasn't as bad as I expected...but still a nice punch in the gut.

At least we have heat!

Happy new year!!

This year, I will blog about bread and beer more and also my various home remodeling/upgrades

2010 Holiday Newsletter!

That's right, it's our kinda annual Holiday Newsletter!

ChristmasNewsletter2010

Our decorated tree!

Here is our first decorated tree in our house!!

Almost looking like home...

It is almost there...