Jun 18

I finally updated WordPress for my website. What did it was helping out my family put up a quick WordPress site for donations. I hopped on the fresh WP install and prepared myself for a lengthy plugin install process… and was blown away by the new search/add/activate interface. I must note that I haven’t updated in years.

Awesome. I recently added a video comment plugin to my site. If you have a webcam (I know MacBooks work hehe), you can now leave me video comments. Really not sure if anyone will use it more than just novelty at first… but there you have it. Also added a plugin which pops up those links to my social networking sites in the upper right corner.

Jun 28

I have not posted on here in some time. My previous post where I say that I am super busy was quite accurate. A lot has transpired since then.

(1) To my own astonishment, I completed my Masters Thesis. I defended, completed the paper, and have recently submitted both the PDF version and printed version to the HSU Graduate Studies Office. I decided to get 7 (seven) bound copies of the thesis. Since figures in my thesis are not possible to fully understand without color and there are a lot of figures, the entire thesis (all 107 pages) needed to be printed in color. As it turns out, 749 pages printed single-sided on acid-free (100% cotton) paper is not cheap. It came to the tune of $700. Instead of paying someone to do this, I bought a $900 color laser printer that was on sale for $250. The toner that came with the printer covered all seven drafts and now we have a super nice color laser printer to boot!

(2) Sharyn and I got married at the beautiful Mendocino Woodlands. Many who read this were in attendance. The wedding surpassed most of our expectations succeeding in being our dream wedding. There were a few rough patches but overall an incredibly memorable event. I know that we got more time than most newly-weds to say hello and spend time with their guests but it was not enough time. I think a week might have covered it. I am still in the process of uploading the hundreds of photos we got. I am so happy with Sharyn and us together and the wedding and everything to the point where I keep waiting for my “bad luck” to come around. I hope it never does. :)

(3) Eight days after we returned home from the wedding, we picked up the U-Haul and stuffed it full of our belongings. We completed our move-out and began the long trek to Texas. We stopped at some favorite spots along the way — Ruth McGowans Pub for a final burger and beer; Grover Beach to visit some of Clan Ross; Sun City and San Diego to visit some of the Radke’s, Werdeman’s, and more; then on to Phoenix to visit Ruth, Dave, and Makayla. Laurie kept us company on the drive from Humboldt to LA and then Ron helped us tremendously by driving the U-Haul while Sharyn and I switched off on the Jeep out to Abilene. We are all moved in here. I start work in three days.

Texas-isms #1 – In Texas, in order to register your vehicle, it must pass the “State Inspection” similar to the “Smog Check” in California. The difference is that Texas does not look at emissions of the vehicle. Texas wants to make sure your wiper blades work, your headlights work, your blinkers work (by the way if one of the lenses is cracked, it must be replaced).

Texas-isms #2 – Capris – that apparel somewhere in between shorts and pants – are called Crops. No wonder the sales assistant was confused!

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On another note, this site will likely be overhauled sometime soon-ish. Well maybe not so soon. But WordPress is a bit old and Joomla is my new favorite. Soon… ish.

Feb 22
An idea for converting an old bicycle frame to a spinning wheel.

An idea for converting an old bicycle frame to a spinning wheel.

Was just pondering spinning wheels since my housemate’s boyfriend built her an electric one that works pretty good. However, it IS electric which means it is still post-industrial revolution and requires a 110V 60Hz power hookup.

What if you cut a bicycle frame (see photo) such that the sprocket, gears, rear wheel, and seat were all still intact. You could attach a treadle to where the crank-shafts once were and make sure the rear hub couldn’t rotate freely. You could run the gear changers (if it’s a multi-speec bike) up near the seat post allowing the spinner to change speeds. With the wheel no longer on free-rotate, the break would be unecessary.

The flyer, bobbin, and other-parts-I-don’t-know-the-names-of could be attached to the seat post and the quick-release used to quickly adjust distance from the wheel or to remove that section for necessary repairs, loading, etc (again I don’t know enough about spinning wheels to judge what is necessary there).

One thing the boyfriend mentioned was the difficulty of keeping costs down… I’m sure you can find part of a bike to use for around $20 and it comes with so much built in. If anyone ever implements (or has already implemented) a design like this, please let me know. :)

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