Laptop Repair

There is always something to do around the house, and my list of back logged work seems to grow everyday. I save a lot of money by doing things myself. And in this modern age, maintaining a house means maintaining the technology within the house too. That's when I play Computer Fixer Guy. Luckily, I have a background in computer repair.

6 or 7 years ago my wife and I each bought a laptop. She uses her laptop to track our finances and to do the taxes. I use my laptop as part of our business.

One of our kids dropped my wife's laptop over the summer. Laptops really don't like to be dropped and her laptop simply died. She was due for a replacement, and we got a great deal on Black Friday. However, she needed all the information from her laptop.

Luckily, because we both bought our laptops at the same time, I was able to remove her laptop's hard drive and put it into my laptop.

This worked perfectly and allowed me to save all of her data. The data is now encrypted and on drop box to avoid this situation from happening again!

Gym Project: New Receiver

The replacement Dolby 5.1 Receiver arrived!

The receiver came with its own speakers, which I don't need. But I like this new subwoofer. My subwoofer is an amplifier which worked good with my old receiver that required a pre-amp subwoofer. As a result, I replaced my subwoofer with this new one.

Then I wired in all the cables to the receiver.

And then ran through the setup: boosting the back speakers and lowering the front.  

It sounds great!  

Pinewood Derby Car

'Tis the time of year for the Cub Scout's Pinewood Derby! When it was my first year with a son in cub scouts they told us the kids have to make the car. We showed up with a sanded square block of wood versus a sea of glossy racing cars obviously made by the fathers. That year I was deemed one of "those fathers" - the ones who don't take the time to "help" their kids with their cars. Lets set aside all the BS and get to reality. The Pinewood Derby is actually an excuse for grown men to be kids again. Grown men make these toy racing cars and their kids race to see whose father is the best designer. It shouldn't be that way, I agree, but after my first year I swore I would never be one  of "those fathers" again!

This year I reviewed the design ideas with Mike and considered the many cars we have made over the years. I have determined there are too many people tweaking every last dynamic in attempt to win. Unlike previous years we were going to make a car that probably looks better than it will perform.

It all started with drawing the design on the block.

Then "we" (which means me) cut the design out using the jigsaw.

I had my oldest son hand sand that first derby car that we made years ago. We don't hand sand anymore. I set the belt sander up and use it like a lath to shape the car.

"We"  had the car shaped. And by "we" I mean that Mike is watching to the tolerance of his attention, and then he is playing with things in the wood shop and eventually his attention is completely gone.

Next goes the base coat, spray painted on.

Once that dries, we add decorative paint: chrome silver and neon orange flames.

Attach the wheels and the car is ready to race!

The cars can not weight more than 5oz. That usually isn't a problem, in fact we usually have to attach weights to the car to get it near 5oz.  I have some weights that I will take with me to the weigh-in. The best we have ever done is 2nd place one year. So, my expectations are to have a good time but not necessarily a winning car. And just like how I still have my derby cars that I raced as a kid, my youngest now has another car to add to his collection.